Why does the alien ignore the Working Joes?

[thebugmancometh]

I get that "they're not human", but how would the alien necessarily know that? Or even if it did, why would it care?

It didn't stop Ash or Bishop from getting torn to pieces in the films. XD

(and before you say it's because they're not human -enough-, Samuels somehow made it halfway across the station without being bothered as well.)

[Kethanid]

Originally posted by Distorted Pepsi:

In certain parts of the game, you see dozens of torn apart joes just lying around. I doubt any group of people could tear them apart like that. You could say the alien has torn them apart. Then learned not to, as they weren't made of flesh but instead made of robot goo.

If it's the part i'm thinking about then thats when the Weyland-Yutani model android that's been traveling with you is trying to talk to the Sevastapol VI computer Apollo. They're trying to deny him access and he's not having it, and just decides to DDT all the synthetics that get in his way.

[Berserk Belta]

The comics, like avp, don't have any bearing on the film canon. This is probably why there's no mention of how the creature fared against batman in the films :D perhaps it's a shame as it would give people more info.

With that said it's still a perfectly good and reasonable theory, why not - it also fits in with mine. Personally I work/play on a similar idea it has hearing, smell, touch and "sees" through some kind of electroreception as this is about in line with the films (and what Ridley has said if you want to be meta). It works fine that way. For me the way some large (metal?) objects disturb its "vision" more than they should if you don't move much, whereas it will go straight into a locker if you're noisy, suggests it might use sound and/or electroreception as its primary sense in the same way we do with vision. The thinking there is that an earth creature primarily using smell could immediately follow your odour trail around a pool table or into a locker.


Of course "what an earth creature might do" isn't airtight reasoning with an et creature that seems to have been genetically created/manipulated, but it kind of doesn't matter, because a working Joe won't sound like a person, smell like a person, move like a person, have the electrical/magnetic/thermal characteristics of a person (wouldn't discount wey yu making such an android, but not seegson), etc etc - in fact probably the only creature that is going to think a Joe is anything similar to a human being is one that uses sight as its primary sense + maybe isn't very intelligent (although on this last point it'd be hard for us to tell how unrealistic fake humans are to another species, because the face recognition we do without thinking about it/uncanny valley exaggerates it for us).

Long post, sorry!

[CotaMats]

Originally posted by -=Whack a Mole=-:

Originally posted by Distorted Pepsi:

In certain parts of the game, you see dozens of torn apart joes just lying around. I doubt any group of people could tear them apart like that. You could say the alien has torn them apart. Then learned not to, as they weren't made of flesh but instead made of robot goo.

If it's the part i'm thinking about then thats when the Weyland-Yutani model android that's been traveling with you is trying to talk to the Sevastapol VI computer Apollo. They're trying to deny him access and he's not having it, and just decides to DDT all the synthetics that get in his way.

Maybe. But one was torn in half, which would be unnecessary, as we have seen Samuel take one down in just fine without such brutality. The rest however, do indeed look like they were beaten to a pulp. Not torn apart by an alien. Though i Haven't played in a while so my memory is a bit foggy.

I think however there was a video that showed the alien destroying an andoid. I'll be back with a link if I find it.

[WellyCoaster]

Originally posted by BROOD-SkorpioN:

Originally posted by Lцсᶖаᶇ º¹:

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned, it goes both ways and that matters. The Joes just ignore the Xeno, so they don't get in it's way or even make eye contact with it. If Joes did react to the Xeno and got in it's way the Xeno would most certainly rip them apart.

The Joes don't ignore the Alien, they just don't do anything about it. You can clearly hear them mention the Alien when they see it, saying things like "what are you?" and "unidentified species".

This.

The Joe even mentions something like quarintine or hazard breach and logs it then continues his routine

But humans get attacked

[Wapplino]

Actually, the alien DOES in fact kill Working Joes. In one point in the game, you can see an entire half of a Working Joe's upper body sitting up against the wall, with white liquid oozing onto the floor. I doubt a human could cut straight through a robot's waist, and Working Joes don't attack each other, so my guess is that the alien will only attack them if they attempt to attack it. I don't think that you ever encounter an alien in an area where Working Joes are hostile. (Not counting the time you first encounter Working Joes and the alien pulls you into vents, as it never comes out to kill them, most likely because it doesn't smell them as strongly as it smells Ripley) Especially since in the AVP 3 game, the Xenomorph DOES attack the androids, but the androids are all armed and will shoot the Xeno on sight. So, the alien is pretty much neutral when it comes to robots and ♥♥♥♥.

[Wapplino]

Or it could be because it always knows a Working Joe.

[BROOD-SkorpioN]

Originally posted by YayDude123 FF:

Actually, the alien DOES in fact kill Working Joes. In one point in the game, you can see an entire half of a Working Joe's upper body sitting up against the wall, with white liquid oozing onto the floor. I doubt a human could cut straight through a robot's waist, and Working Joes don't attack each other, so my guess is that the alien will only attack them if they attempt to attack it. I don't think that you ever encounter an alien in an area where Working Joes are hostile. (Not counting the time you first encounter Working Joes and the alien pulls you into vents, as it never comes out to kill them, most likely because it doesn't smell them as strongly as it smells Ripley) Especially since in the AVP 3 game, the Xenomorph DOES attack the androids, but the androids are all armed and will shoot the Xeno on sight. So, the alien is pretty much neutral when it comes to robots and ♥♥♥♥.

The Alien never attacks Working Joes. You can easily test this out: load any mission in the game past mission 5, find any Working Joe, make some noise (if the Joe is not hostile, make noise by attacking it) and see what happens.

[Caidezes]

The xenomorph has no reason to attack Working Joes. They're basically just machinery to it.

Now, if the Joes attacked it then it'd likely retaliate. They don't so it doesn't.

Pretty simple.

[Airwave]

Don't forget how intelligent this thing is, it isn't just some dumb animal. Dogs are pretty stupid creatures but they can tell the diference between a human and a toaster too.

And the whole "Alien should run into the lift doors as they're closing thing"? I was expecting that to happen every time, because if it did hapen I didn't want to ♥♥♥♥ my pants.

[WellyCoaster]

Would be great watching it dent the doors like they do in Aliens.
Or even call the lifts and use them after changing floors. Just as you think you're safe the doors open behind and it starts patrolling

[Berserk Belta]

Originally posted by YayDude123 FF:

Actually, the alien DOES in fact kill Working Joes. In one point in the game, you can see an entire half of a Working Joe's upper body sitting up against the wall, with white liquid oozing onto the floor. I doubt a human could cut straight through a robot's waist, and Working Joes don't attack each other, so my guess is that the alien will only attack them if they attempt to attack it. I don't think that you ever encounter an alien in an area where Working Joes are hostile. (Not counting the time you first encounter Working Joes and the alien pulls you into vents, as it never comes out to kill them, most likely because it doesn't smell them as strongly as it smells Ripley) Especially since in the AVP 3 game, the Xenomorph DOES attack the androids, but the androids are all armed and will shoot the Xeno on sight. So, the alien is pretty much neutral when it comes to robots and ♥♥♥♥.

It doesn't attack the working Joes during the course of gameplay. There's every possibility it attacked working Joes before we got to them, for reasons I outlined earlier in this thread (post marked SPOILER WARNING).

[thebugmancometh]

Originally posted by YayDude123 FF:

Or it could be because it always knows a Working Joe.

*Golf Clap with ear-splitting grin* XD

(Edit)

The comparison that a previous poster made to dogs and toasters is wildly invalid though. The Joes look, move, and speak like humans (close enough to fool something that -wasn't- human, anyway).

(Also that poster has never owned a dog, apparently, since they will bark their heads off at large, reasonably realistic stuffed animals...like a stuffed monkey, for instance.)

Out of curiosity, can someone point me to a "canon" source of alien physiology that explains how the xenomorphs sense their surroundings? I don't necessarily want to bring it up in this thread, but I'm honestly curious now.

If it's just down to "smell"...couldn't you pull an Arnold, except instead of mud, cover yourself in grease or something to smother your "human" smell?

(This is somewhat justified in (I think) Aliens 3 and Resurrection), when Ripley gets "sniffed", but in one case she's carrying a Queen, and in the other she's supposedly part Xenomorph.)

(♥♥♥♥ Resurrection...seriously, but I had to bring it up. Forgive me.)

[Punished Jeremy]

Because shut up and bend over so the game can ♥♥♥♥ you harder

[Kethanid]

From http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Xenomorph_XX121_(Alien)

Senses
Studies by Lasalle Bionational have shown that Xenomorphs possess several senses. First and foremost, the creatures have sensory structures along the sides of their extended skulls that are capable of perceiving atmospheric vibrations (sound).[15] Given the lengthy structure of the head, which gives the creature a wide field of "hearing", this is thought to be the Xenomorph's primary means of rationalizing its environment. The creatures are also capable of detecting heat via highly sensitive thermoreactive organs located behind the skull's frontal plate — which is itself constructed of the unusual C60 carbon-lattice, known to demonstrate exceptional conducive properties.[15] Finally, the creatures possess largely vestigial photosensitive organs flanking the frontal plate; these visual receptors are thought to aid the creatures in seeing each other (Xenomorphs produce no notable body heat, a fact that would otherwise render them blind to their thermal receptors).[10][15] These remnant visual organs are also thought to grant the creature the necessary depth perception required when attacking prey.[15]
During tests, Lasalle personnel discovered that it is possible to stun Xenomorph specimens through the use of a low-intensity ultrasound pulse, rendering them completely inert and relatively safe for manipulation and study.[16] This discovery led to the development of weapons effective at disabling Xenomorphs, such as the Sound Cannon.[17]

According to the research of Dr. Paul Church, the Xenomorph has a "psychic receiver" organ at the front of its head lined with compound cells of fullerite-encased hurlantium. The internal structure is solid neurons in two binary very dense fans. The fullerite and hurlantium pick up E-waves and the binary fans create interference patterns from electro-magnetic fields. This allows the Alien to receive brainwaves and enables it to assess another animal's physical characteristics by seeing its subtle body. That is why strong electromagnetic fields affect the Aliens.

It has been proposed that pheromone detection and the scent of their prey's fear when confronted may determine the behavior and hostility of Xenomorphs during their attacks. Documented study appears to indicate that Xenomorphs may perform excruciating, bloody kills when sensing that their victim is terrified by their presence (Lambert's death aboard the USCSS Nostromo being an example), while cleaner, faster kills take place when the prey either does not notice the Xenomorph or is less aware of its presence.[26] It also seems that pheromone detection may help Xenomorphs to locate their prey, and that, since synthetics do not possess such chemicals, the Xenomorphs usually tend to ignore them as long as they are not disturbed.

[Berserk Belta]

Originally posted by -=Whack a Mole=-:

From http://avp...

Again, AvP does not occur in the same universe as the Alien films, it has no bearing on the Alien film canon at all. Indeed if you have followed both they directly contradict each other.