This discussion is fun!
So, just to see if I got it right:
- CarrotBun supports the theory that the Space Jockey in Alien was always supposed to be a humanoid inside a suit, just like was shown in Prometheus.
- Sabres supports the theory that the Space Jockey was a bio-mechanical alien creature, unlike what was shown in Prometheus.
That's about the gist of it, right?
Well, here's my thoughts on it:
Giger clearly stated that the Space Jockey was a bio-mechanical alien creature, one with its chair and possibly the ship itself. Scott never said anything contrary to this and never hinted at a humanoid being inside that "suit".
It was all part of the mystery.
In the film "Alien", it's quite clear that the Space Jockey is a fossilized skeleton. The face clearly looks like a skull with some sort of proboscis that merges into the "sternum" of the creature. The color of the whole thing is that of old bone, and you can see what appear to be teeth, sunken cheeks and empty eye-sockets. All apparently "fused" to the chair. Very strange, very alien. What we would later learn to call "bio-mechanoid". The creature is shown to be very large in the open shots, Dallas and his team looking very small next to it (notice that it doesn't matter that Scott used his kids in mini-suits to make the SJ look larger, that is irrelevant outside of the universe of the movie).
Of course there were many other, earlier drawings relating to the life-cycle of the Alien that contained images of humanoid suited figures, but since they didn't make it into the final film, they too are irrelevant.
Fast forward to Prometheus.
In the film we see large humanoids who wear suits that bear a resemblance to the fossilized remains of the Space Jockey and climb into chairs very much like the one the SJ was one with, and even fly spaceships almost identical to the derelict ship of Alien.
However, these humanoids are much smaller than what was implied in Alien, and the suit and proportions are actually quite different from the creature in Alien. Just look at how the proboscis juts out from the top of the mouth almost, and the shape of the cheekbones and jawline. The size of the arms and hands (disproportionately large in comparison to the head), and how far pushed forward the head sits in relation to the shoulders. That is a very different shape from the engineers in Prometheus.
On the face of it, one would have to conclude these are two very different creatures.
But Prometheus does want us to believe they're one and the same.
We've already been asked to believe this in the Alien franchise once before. The aliens from Aliens looked very different and acted very different from the one in Alien, but we all accepted it.
In the end, Ridley Scott decided to make the Space Jockey into a humanoid in a suit for Prometheus. That's the story he wanted to tell, and that's how it is now.
Maybe they are two different species.
Or maybe the Space Jockey from Alien is just another victim of the black goo and was terribly mutated and fused into his chair...
Or maybe we just don't need to believe both films are in the same universe.
One thing is clear to me though. The Space Jockey in Alien wasn't meant to be or designed as a milky white, 8 foot tall, (mostly) benign forefather of humanity.
As for HT's figures, if Tsang gets the job of sculpting the Engineers, we should brace ourselves for more disappointment regarding accuracy.
