Forget Newt, This Is The Alien Character Who Suffered The Worst Death In The Franchise
Newt may have a suffered a brutal death in the Alien franchise, but it's not the worst demise in the franchise. After surviving the events of Aliens, Newt seemed poised to become a major figure in the Alien series' future. However, Alien 3 opens with a fire breaking out on their ship, leading to their escape pod landing in water. Newt drowned off-screen in Alien 3 while still unconscious, an inglorious ending for one of the more important characters of Aliens.
However, Newt's death while she was asleep seems positively quaint after the far more gruesome demise that awaited the protagonist of a more recent Alien film. While plenty of characters suffered brutal deaths in Alien: Romulus, it still doesn't compare to one of the most horrifying revelations included in the proceeding Alien film. In fact, another off-screen death in between Alien films but confirmed in Alien: Covenant is the worst death in the entire franchise.
Shaw Was Betrayed, Killed, And Experiment On Between Prometheus And Covenant
Shaw Was Killed Off-Screen And Used As Part Of David's Experiments
While Newt remains an infamous death in the Alien franchise, the off-screen brutal demise of Elizabeth Shaw between the events of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant is one of the worst elements in the entire franchise. Elizabeth Shaw was the primary character of Prometheus, serving as the lead scientist looking into the origins of the mysterious Engineers. Shaw was the only other survivor alongside the android David, and ended the film journeying into space with him. However, David embraced human experimentation, starting with Shaw.
By the events of Alien: Covenant, Shaw is long dead. Daniels, the protagonist of Alien: Covenant, discovers the remains of her body while on Origae-6. It's clear that Shaw has been dissected, with no hint that she died well. The fact that David was the one who carried out her execution and then the experimentation her body makes the situation even worse, as she had ended the film seemingly on peaceful terms with the machine. Yet, at some point, David turned his crew mate into a science experiment, and used her corpse to help develop his monstrous Praetomorph.
Alien Killing Shaw Offscreen After Prometheus Is One Of The Franchise’s Strangest Decisions
Getting Rid Of A Genuinely Interesting Character Like Shaw Was A Mistake
It's a particularly odd decision, especially after the role Shaw played in Prometheus. Shaw presented a unique perspective within the Alien franchise. While Ripley and the various characters she encountered were largely working-class characters who were overwhelmed by their circumstances, Shaw's role as a scientist with a genuine curiosity about the unknown and alien life made her a compelling figure to explore the origins of the Xenomorph. She could have provided a human perspective in contrast to the ambitious but cruel David, a sympathetic figure to center Alien: Covenant around
It's an oddly brutal turn from a typically ruthless series, a wasted opportunity that stings especially hard in retrospect.
Even her potential death at the hands of David could have been a turning point for the android, a sign that the character had fully transitioned from a casually cruel inventor to a genuine villain. Instead, her brutal death off-screen and use as lab equipment for David's experiments means she will never be fully mourned and that her full potential as a character could never be achieved. It's an oddly brutal turn from a typically ruthless series, a wasted opportunity that stings especially hard in retrospect. Shaw's death is one of the biggest mistakes the Alien franchise ever made.
- Movie(s)
- Alien, Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Prometheus (2012), Alien: Covenant (2017), Alien: Romulus (2024)
- Created by
- Ridley Scott
- Upcoming TV Shows
- Alien: Earth
- First Film
- Alien
- Latest Film
- Alien: Romulus
- Cast
- Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Pete Postlethwaite, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir
The Alien franchise, which began with Ridley Scott's 1979 film, is a Sci-Fi series comprised of several horror films, games, and comic books centered on humanity's encounters with a hostile extraterrestrial species known as Xenomorphs. Characterized by their lethal prowess and capability to reproduce at an alarming rate, these creatures pose a profound threat to human existence. The primary series protagonist, Ellen Ripley, acts as the voice of reason as she seeks to keep the creatures out of the hands of greed-driven corporate scientists.
