The name ‘Xenomorph’ for the Alien franchise’s iconic monster is a bit of a misnomer as it isn’t exactly a name so much as it is a general title, leaving the terrifying creatures with no official name throughout the ever-expanding franchise. However, when a clan of ancient humans had a run-in with a Xenomorph, they came up with a name for the creature that is way better than this ongoing placeholder.
‘Xenomorph’ was first coined in the 1986 film Aliens as it was used to refer to the mysterious species after they overtook the human colony of Hadley’s Hope on LV-426. The word ‘Xenomorph’ literally means ‘strange (or unfamiliar) form’ and is essentially just another way of saying ‘alien.’ The word was used as a way to describe the creatures for the benefit of those sent to kill the Xenomorphs by their commanding officer as it was a way of saying that they weren’t like other ‘bugs’ (or lower alien life forms) that the marines had faced in the past, and that they had no real information on them aside from the insight offered by Ripley. Since then, the creatures have been referred to as Xenomorphs by fans and in-continuity characters alike despite the fact that it isn’t the official name of the species.
In Aliens: Stalker by David Wenzel, a lone Xenomorph is loose in the world during the age of the Vikings and apparently has been for decades. The seemingly unkillable beast has plagued their lands for some time, and every fifty years, a new group of Vikings try to hunt it down and kill it once and for all. However, when they come into contact with the it for the first time, the Xenomorph proves how truly deadly it is. It nearly decimates their forces as the primitive weaponry of the Viking age isn’t strong enough to deal with the intergalactic monster. Before the fight, however, the Vikings reached out to someone who knew first hand how deadly the Xenomorph is and how previous Vikings fought the beast in the past, all the while referring to the monster as a ‘Crawler.’
‘Crawlers’ is actually a perfect alternate name for the Xenomorphs as it truly captures the eldritch horror of the aliens themselves. The thought of a nearly unkillable monster known as a Crawler lurking about and waiting to either brutally kill or impregnate someone with another creature of its species is absolutely bone chilling and easily way more intimidating than the name ‘Xenomorph.’ ‘Crawler’ is a great descriptor of the beast and only heightens the most terrifying aspects of a Xenomorph–the silent, stalking predator that can be right on top of someone without them even knowing, waiting to deliver the most gruesome of fates to anyone it comes across.
All-in-all, the name ‘Crawler’ is just creepy and invokes just as much terror as the Xenomorphs themselves, whereas the name ‘Xenomorph’ doesn’t quite create the same reaction. Since it was first uttered, the name ‘Xenomorph’ was never meant to describe the alien or invoke fear or dread as it was deliberately used to let people know that they know nothing about the mysterious creature. While the ambiguous nature of the name does force one to project their worst imaginings of what the alien might be, ‘Xenomorph’ is still a bit too technical of a name to be scary–proving that the ancient humans within the Alien universe came up with a way better name for the creatures with ‘Crawler.’