Runner Alien

Runner Alien's History

The Runner, also known as the Dog Alien, Ox Alien, The Dragon or Scout, is an adult form of the species Xenomorph XX121 spawned from a quadrupedal host animal (such as a dog or an ox). Runners, as their name implies, are fast and agile, and can spit acid from their mouths. They are considered "stage IV" Xenomorphs and molt into Sentries once they've secured a hive and a regular source of hosts.

Runners have variously been portrayed as being slightly larger and slightly smaller than typical human-spawned Aliens, differences that no doubt derive from the animal that hosted the creature. However, the Runner encountered on Fiorina 161 (the individual from Alien 3 also known as The Dragon) was around 7 feet 5 inches tall when standing on its hind legs.

The Dragon was birthed from Spike, a prison dog that was impregnated by a facehugger. The Runner violently emerges out of the dog, coincidentally during the funeral for Newt and Corporal Hicks who were both killed when the escape pod crashed on Fiorina 161. The Runner took residence in the prison's air ducts while it matures and where it claimed its first victim, a prisoner named Thomas Murphy who was cleaning the air ducts. Murphy hears noises coming from a hole in the wall, and goes to investigate, believing it to be his dog, Spike. He soon realizes it is not his pet pooch but the juvenile Runner. Before he can pull his head out of the hole, the alien spits acid into his face. He stammers backwards in agony and accidentally tumbles into a large spinning fan, killing him instantaneously.

After the Runner had reached its mature state, it begins a killing spree by killing prisoners Boggs and Rains while being witnessed by fellow prisoner Golic which caused him to be obsessed with the creature and dubbed it the "Dragon." The Runner then went the the prison's infirmary and killed Clemens, it confronts Ellen Ripley but spares her as it sensed the Queen chestburster within her. It later causes further pandemonium as it killed warden Andrews in front of everyone in the mess hall. Ripley rallies the inmates and proposes they pour highly flammable toxic waste, which is stored at the facility, into the ventilation system and ignite it to flush out the creature. An explosion is caused by the Runner's premature intervention, resulting in several deaths.

The remaining survivors later form a plan to lure it into the foundry's molding facility and drown it in molten lead. The bait-and-chase style plan results in the death of Dillon and all the remaining prisoners, except Morse, who pours the lead. The Alien, covered in molten metal, escapes the mold and is killed by Ripley when she turns on fire sprinklers and sprays the beast with water, causing its exoskeleton to cool rapidly and shatter via thermal shock.