Giger's Alien

Giger's Alien (see Xenomorph for a description about the beast itself) has been called many things since it has been created, like many famous icons. But not only does the creature have many names, but fans have an active bickering over what to call and what not to call the creature. No single name for the creature has satisfied fans, and in fact some names for it seem to have caused dissatisfaction. This is a common problem, as is the case with some ethnic or racial groups that are inappropriately lumped together or referred to by an offensive Exonym. Such is the problem with the creature created by artist H.R. Giger. Here are the names of the creature from the movie Alien (film).

Starbeast
This probably one of the least popular names for Giger's Alien. It is virtually unknown to the general public. It was the original title for the first movie by the original story writers Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shusett.

Alien
The name for the beast and the title of the original movie. Most people will comprehend it as Giger's Alien, rather than one of the Greys, once it has been associated with the Facehugger. Opponents to this suggest that the term "alien" is to ambiguous; it could refer to anything from Spock to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Giger's Alien
The term "Giger's Alien" is used to solve the problem with ambiguity by fans referring to the creature and also to allow for the artist H.R. Giger to retain a sense of credit for the work. Unfortunately, at least for Giger, more people know what the creature is and less people who he is, so the usage of "Giger" is often found confusing.

Xenomorph
The creature was first referred to as a "Xenomorph" by the colonial marines in the second movie in the series. The name itself "xeno-" suggests and alien, and "-morph" that of the function of the creature. This name is probably currently the most popular name for the creature in the circle of the Alien cult fans. Opponents to using the name as a standard, however, say that it is non-canon giving the argument that if the first movie had flopped and the franchise never taken off, Giger's Alien would never have been called the Xenomorph, and it would have remained analogous to Frankenstein's Monster.

Bug
The colonial marines in the second movie refer to the search for the alien as a "bug hunt," thereby creating the term for the creature. It is more slang that technical. The term was ambiguous to begin with, but since many spinoff creatures since have used the same word (see Bug (Starship Troopers)).

Dragon

 * This name is from the third movie. It is an unpopular usage as the ambiguity is just as confusing as "Alien" itself.