Why do the engineers hate humans in the ‘Alien’ universe?
Within the Alien franchise and universe conceived by Ridley Scott, the engineers, an ancient and technologically advanced extra-terrestrial species, play a significant role in the overarching mythology. First introduced in Scott’s 2012 science fiction film Prometheus and brought back in 2017’s Alien: Covenant, it’s revealed that the engineers are the creators of humanity.
A band of explorers discover evidence of the engineers on a distant moon and further find that they once visited Earth prior to the advent of human life and, therefore, played a key hand in humanity’s existence. However, as Prometheus and Alien: Covenant continue, audiences learn that the engineers actually harbour a deep-seated hatred for human beings, but why exactly?
When appearing on the Empire podcast, Ridley Scott explained how the engineers went around imbuing many different planets with life and would respond to that planet’s inhabitants based on how they treated their habitat. That’s why, when looking at human beings, the engineers feel hatred because of the way that they disrespected and killed their own homes.
“If the planet went wrong, they would want to wipe it clean,” Scott stated. “But that could take 500 years. When they revisit – because different visitors would come back and see we’re not doing so well – they would look at these human beings that are jerks, that are killing the planet, killing themselves, can’t settle down, they’re like a bunch of children. We should wipe it clean.”
The greed and hubris that humanity displayed were perceived as an act of betrayal by the engineers, which is why they plan to destroy planet Earth, erase its inhabitants and start again. The failure of our species to live up to the expectations of the engineers, given their ideal environmental conditions for life, is what fuels their creators’ hatred and contempt.
In addition, there seems to be an existential threat posed to the engineers by our civilisation that also contributes to their negative emotions for them. Throughout the films, there is a hint of a destructive event that occurred and wiped out much of the engineer’s civilisation on moon LV-223 and viewing the technologically advanced weaponry of humanity. They perceive humans as a potential threat that could once again lead to their existential downfall.
On a smaller basis, there might be a sense of pride within the engineers that makes them see human beings as a lesser species, seeing as they themselves created them. Once the sole technologically advanced species in the universe, perhaps there is an arrogance in the engineers that makes them look down on humanity with hatred, as though they are unworthy of the gift of life that was granted to them and, therefore, should be erased from existence.
However, it’s important to point out that there’s still room for interpretation in Scott’s films that leaves much of the engineers’ background and motives open to an audience’s choosing. In summary, the reason the engineers hate human beings in the Alien universe is likely because humanity wasted the lives they had been granted and saw this as an act of betrayal, leading to their hopes of wiping them from the universe with a planned biological weapon, a weapon that would ultimately destroy the engineers themselves and eventually and inadvertently give birth to the xenomorph species from the rest of the Alien movies.
Who are the engineers in Prometheus and Alien?
In the Alien universe, the engineers are an ancient and technologically advanced extra-terrestrial species who are portrayed as being the creators of humanity. A team of explorers find evidence of the engineer’s existence in Prometheus and proof of their once visiting Earth in the distant past.
However, the relationship with humanity is complex. While they once sought to nurture their creations, they eventually became dissatisfied with their actions and sought to destroy all human beings with a biological weapon. This weapon, though, would lead to the downfall of the engineers’ existence, and humanity survived.
