The Neomorphs of the Alien universe are the Xenomorph-like beings present on Planet 4 in 2017's Alien: Covenant. These aliens are similar to the modern-day Xenomorph in many ways, including their distinct step-by-step life phases and destructive 'births.' But they still differ, making them a distinct species of their own rather than a simple branch in the Xenomorph tree of life.
Neomorphs are an alien variant that is, at least so far, confined to the barren landscape of Planet 4. Rather than living and evolving on Planet 4 for millennia, as you would imagine, the Neomorph is a relatively new species introduced as a result of a Synthetic named David
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The Neomorph's story begins at the very end of 2012's Prometheus. There, a crew of scientists followed an ancient star map to a moon called LV-223 in search of humanity's creators. What they found was a derelict ship/bio-weapons compound that was, indeed, owned and run by our creators, the Engineers.
What they also found was a sticky tar-like substance called Black Goo that the Engineers were gathering to drop on Earth in an effort to wipe out the human race. Unfortunately for them, the Black Goo became uncontrolled and wiped out almost all Engineers on the moon LV-223.
In the final scenes of Prometheus, Dr. Shaw, a scientist from the crew exploring LV-223, asks David to take her to the home planet of the Engineers. David took her to Planet 4.
It is later discovered in Alien: Covenant that upon David's arrival on Planet 4, he dropped the ship's entire cargo of Black Goo on the planets inhabitants, wiping them all out. The Black Goo is a DNA mutagen with unpredictable and often horrifying effects. It is capable of either killing on contact, changing a victim's genetic code and turning them into a highly aggressive and monstrous version of themselves, or using their body as a host to grow a parasitic alien species.
The most common example of the sort of parasitic alien species the Black Goo is capable of spawning is the iconic Xenomorph. In the case of Planet 4, however, the Black Goo spawned a similar yet distinctly different species called the Neomorph.
Alien: Covenant Cast of Characters
Neomorph Biology
Neomorphs have a similar amount of 'steps' in their life to Xenomorphs, but a few of them are vastly different. Namely the first step. Rather than spawning from traditional eggs, the Neomorph penetrates its host via mutated intelligent spores from a fungus growing on the forest floor on Planet 4.
As it grows and matures, it becomes a creature far more reminiscent of the modern-day Xenomorph.
The Neomorph's life begins as a small collection of fungal sacs. When disturbed, a puff of small black spores called Motes leave the fungal sacs and make their way toward any viable host. The way Motes congregate in the air and move in the same direction as a herd indicates that they do possess some level of intelligence and autonomy rather than your average fungal spore that simply floats around and hopes for the best.
They behave more like a herd of miniature insects, detecting life and beelining straight towards an open orifice, such as an ear or nose canal. Once inside the host's body, the Motes rewrite their victim's DNA, facilitating the growth of the Neomorph's next stage, the Bloodburster.
Bloodburster
The Bloodburster is the Neomorph version of the Chestburster and is somehow even more vicious. They have arms and legs, unlike the Xenomorph, light grey fleshy skin, and razor-sharp spikes on their backs specifically designed to rip through flesh and bone when they are ready to dispose of their hosts.
The Bloodburster embryo that is delivered by Motes can seemingly grow in any vein or artery in the body, meaning it can end up in unpredictable locations that could be difficult to get out of. The spikes are used to help force their way out of their victim's bodies.
Once born, the Bloodburster is extremely volatile and on edge, eager to reach a safe place to grow into its final form, the Neomorph. They are small, fleshy creatures with no eyes and a gaping mouth.
The other interesting aspect of the Bloodburster is that it scuttles about on four legs instead of the traditional two. In the Xenomorph evolutionary line, the creatures only spawn with four legs if they have absorbed some quadrupedal DNA from their host via the DNA Reflex. These specimens, however, seem to naturally move around on four legs until they mature.
Neomorph
The Neomorph is the last stage of the Neomorph's life cycle and is the equivalent of the Drone phase of the Xenomorph. Once the Bloodburster fully matures, it rises up onto two legs, creating a gruesome, bizarre, and almost too human silhouette.
The Neomorph has fleshy-colored skin, similar to our own, and completely lacks any of the biomechanical aspects of the Xenomorph. They are similar to Xenomorphs in some ways, like the elongated head that the Neomorph still sports, but the two species are drastically different.
The most interesting feature of the Neomorph is the lack of eyes. Their skin is stretched straight over their skull, showing no suggestion of eye socket development at all. They also have a small, circular mouth ringed with sharp, pointed teeth.
They are extremely brutal, preferring to destroy their prey rather than use them as hosts to expand the species. This is mainly due to the difference between Xenomorph and Neomorph biology. Neomorphs don't behave in the same parasitic manner as Xenomorphs because they rely on the fungal Black Spore sacks to infect their victims instead of trapping them and using them as sacrifices to the Facehuggers.
They also appear to have a higher level of intelligence than Xenomorphs or most other alien varieties. This is shown when David was attempting to communicate with the creature. The creature certainly did take a pause when David was trying to communicate with it, and it did look like it may have been thinking, but the specimen was killed by the captain before any meaningful communication was made.
Neomorphs also have extremely short life-spans, only surviving around 24 hours after birth.
Neomorph Appearances
The Neomorph is not the most popular alien species, but it still appears in lots of Alien franchise media: