Alien: Chestburster to young Adult

Leading from

Dan O'Bannon's Original Alien

 

sketch credited to Dan O'Bannon, Phobos #1, Summer 1977

a) Dan O'Bannon's Original Alien 
The facehugger soon dies and falls off the host, the inseminated creature, an animal comparable to a cow is led off to an enclosure somewhere to await the birth and the foetus develops inside.

The host is just an incubator for the things that will ultimately emerge, eventually chewing its way out and killing its host.

The creature, known as the chestburster is the Alien's second stage, and it simply runs about eating, mindlessly carnivorous.

It's tremendously hungry and needs to reproduce.

But at this stage, the creature is still controlled and nurtured by adult aliens. It grows to maturity with incredible speed, until the chestburster begins losing appendages and becomes more and more harmless.

Finally, its bloodlust gone, the Alien becomes a mild, intelligent creature, capable of art and architecture, which lives a full , scholarly life of 200 years.

 

With that , it was intended that in Alien movie, the creature that pops out onboard the spaceship has never been subject to its own culture, never been subject to anything at all except a few hours in the hold of the ship, and therefore doesn't have an education. 

 

This Alien is not only savage, it's also ignorant.

 

Ron Cobb's young alien adult

b) Earlier Alien drawing
In the early stages he worked with Ron Cobb on an idea for the alien that looked roughly like a lobster  on two legs and also he did a sketch of something roughly inspired by details from Giger's painting Necronom IX from 1976 probably in a way as far removed as Giger's work from his own inspirations. (See also: The biomechanoid that O'Bannon wanted)

O'Bannon's alien sketch

Cobb painting based on O'Bannon's sketch

1. Dan O'Bannon: The "face-hugger" soon dies and falls off, then they'd lead the inseminated animal off to an enclosure somewhere to await the birth. The fetus develops inside. (O'Bannon talks to Don Shay. Cinefex 1.p48) 
2. Ron Cobb: Eventually chewing its way out and killing its host. The creature, the "chest-burster" is the Alien's second stage, and it simply runs about eating, mindlessly carnivorous. (Alien Portfolio , written and compiled by Jeffrey Walker) 
   
3. Dan O'Bannon: The host is just an incubator for the thing that will ultimately emerge. It grows to maturity with incredible speed. It's tremendously hungry and has a need to reproduce (Book of Alien, Scanlon and Gross , p88 approx ).
   
4. Dan O'Bannon: But the creature that pops out onboard the spaceship has never been subject to its own culture; it's never been subject to anything at all except a few hours in the hold of the ship. And therefore quite literally, it doesn't have an education. The Alien is not only savage, it's also ignorant
   (Book of Alien, Scanlon and Gross , p88 approx ).
5. Ron Cobb: Until the "chestburster" begins losing appendages and becomes more and more harmless. Finally, its bloodlust gone, the Alien becomes a mild, intelligent creature, capable of art and architecture, which lives a full, scholarly life of 200 years.  (Ron Cobb.interviewed, Alien Portfolio , written and compiled by Jeffrey Walker)