Ultramorph

leading from

Prometheus creature designs

a) In his Alien Engineers script, Jon Spaihts included the monster creature The Ultramorph, it erupts from the space jockey/ engineer in the derelict as a chestburster and withing a short time grows to man height before leaving the confines of the crashed derelict ship known as the Juggernaut, and then hunts the character Shaw down amongs the wreckage of the Magellan, (soon to be renamed at the Prometheus). The creature impales her thigh with its tale as if it were a spear, and as this thing is about to kill her she rams a diamond bladed saw into it's face and kills it. It bleeds green acid blood. Despite this thing bleeding such a corrosive substance, she brings the head with her as a hunting trophy to hang over the door at the Vickers module. In this version of the script, he didn't actually describe it with any particular detail.

b) It appears that Carlos Huante initially worked on some designs for the creature known as the Ultramorph,  the fully grown biomechanical version of the alien that was supposed to have chestbursted itself from an Engineer, and in the earlier script, this Engineer would have been the space jockey from the original Alien movie but one that was a tall humanoid within a suit that gave the Space Jockey it's strange look. Perhaps this creature would have grown to about fifteen feet in height assuming that the humanoid in the pictures below is of regular human height.
 

c) Designing these Ultramorphs meant going back Giger's painting Necronom IV and designing and Alien creature with a head even more similar to the one shown in Necronom IV than Giger's Alien would finally have. Carlos went as far as to include the bulbous black eyes in one version however in other versions he would include a greater swelling in the front of the dome around the face as if it had a bulbous forehead. Carlos kept on with designing variations of this it for a while before he had thoughts with Ridley about taking the creature concept in a different direction.

d) Carlos wrote in his notes about how The Ultramorph - unlike the "Alien" from the first Alien which were covered / or had a exoskeleton, the Ultramorph should still be covered with skin as genetically it is still "New"... and its host are the engineers. It would be an evil variant of the  Engineers that would be in a sense Angels.  Also it was decided that the Ultramorphs should still have a regal Quality about them as that quality has been inspired by their host. So, to carry the "No Bones" motif.

e) However instead of the Ultramorphs being clean and skin covered, after some discussion with Ridley and what needs to happen sequentially with the story of how we end up with this "Alien" in the first film. Carlos thoughts about what if the engineer technology is all that ribbing and boney architecture that's all over the ship  and the "Alien" itself. So... the "Aliens" that come out or are born out of the humans should be clean and the skin covered because they are not saturated with he Genetic material of the source (Engineers) yet. So, they are more human looking, the "Ultramorphs" should be the first we see of the boney Exoskeleton on a creature.

f) Almost as if he were talking about casting the alien suit in latex rubber, he imagined that the engineer technology would form as water (Milky Liquid) that pours unnaturally upward and over them (The Engineers) to form boney plating or ribs, and architectural surfaces. As if they they control it at a molecular level. How though the biomechanics becomes infused with the alien ultramorph itself remains unclear.

Quote sources

1. Carlos Huante (talking about the development of the Deacon by way of the Ultramorph): The genesis of that character came after a  conversation I had with Ridley about a design progression of the  creatures to the Xenomorph of the first film. I went home and thought  about it but kept on with the Gigeresque Ultramorphs. Then as I worked I thought “wouldn’t it be cool if these Aliens who are born  of humans and haven’t been mixed genetically with the Engineers yet would look  more human and less biomechanical“, of course this was for a  different version of the script but that’s where the Deacon (or Bishop, as he was originally named) came from. He later became an Ultramorph and as the script changed slightly after I left the show, it became that thing at the end.   (Carlos was talking about the development of the Deacon by way of the Ultramorph in an interview with ThisBethesdaSea for www.avpgalaxy.net)
2.  Carlos Huante: The Ultramorph - unlike the "Alien" from the first Alien which were covered / or had a exoskeleton, the Ultramorph should still be covered with skin as genetically it is still "New"... and its host are the engineers. it would be an evil variant of the (ANGELS) Engineers. Ultramorphs should still have a regal Quality about them as that quality has been inspired by their host. So, to carry the "No Bones" motif. (Carlos Huante's Prometheus notes)
3. Carlos Huante: Okay, so instead of the Ultramorphs being clean and skin covered, after some discussion with Ridley and what needs to happen sequentially with the story of how we end up with this "Alien" in the first film. I'm thinking that what if the engineer technology is all that ribbing and boney architecture that's  all over the ship  and the "Alien" itself. So... the "Aliens" that come out or are born out of the humans should be clean and the skin covered because they are not saturated with the Genetic material of the source (Engineers) yet. So, they are more human looking, the "Ultramorphs" should be the first we see of the boney Exoskeleton on a creature. The engineer tech should form as water (Milky Liquid) that pours unnaturally upward and over them (The Engineers) to form boney plating or ribs, and architectural surfaces. Like they control it at a molecular level.(Carlos Huante's Prometheus notes)
4. INT. JUGGERNAUT - PILOT CHAMBER On the floor, DAVID’s eyes open. With his jaw he hitches his severed head around. Gets his eyes on the Sleeper. In the pilot chair, the Sleeper convulses. An ALIEN erupts from his chest. Big as a wolf even at its birth. Dark gray, armored, lethal. More hideous than any chestburster we've seen. An ULTRAMORPH. It wails hideously. The Sleeper dies. The Alien slithers free (Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p110)
5. LATER Watts is awakened by a beeping alarm. She looks at her wrist. Her suit flashes an oxygen warning: 20 MINUTES REMAINING. She looks up. The Juggernaut's doors are wide open in front of her. The ULTRAMORPH ALIEN emerges from the Juggernaut. As large as a man already. It sees her. With a sob of terror she pulls herself to her feet and runs.(Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p112-113)
6. EXT. MAGELLAN CRASH SITE - DUSK Watts flees through the storm, across the burning debris field. A wilderness of lightning, fire, and twisted metal. A thunderstorm with dust instead of rain. She looks back through the darkness. In a strobe-light flicker of lightning, she sees a gray demon approaching through the wreckage. She scrambles through a section of ductwork...under a hull fragment...running and clambering... The Alien hunts her, cat-and-mouse, among the fragments of the Magellan: corridors that go nowhere, shattered compartments. Jetsam. Her eyes sweep frantically through the stormy night: searching for a weapon. A hiding place. An answer. She stumbles into the remains of the Magellan's laboratory. A hypersleep freezer lies on the barren ground. Watts climbs inside. Pulls the lid shut. The Alien passes by, inches away. She watches it through the plexiglass, holding her breath. The Alien roots in the wreckage. Finds the rotting Engineer's head among the shards of its vat. It begins to feed on the head - GROWING as she watches. Her suit’s oxygen alarm goes off again. 15 MINUTES REMAINING. The beeping draws the Alien away from its dead meat. Watts is paralyzed. The Alien noses closer. Sniffs at the plexiglass case. With sudden, horrific violence, it lashes out. Sends the freezer flying. Watts tumbles out. Lurches to her feet and runs. The Alien follows. Ravening. She leads it a twisting chase through fragments of burning metal. Watts trips and falls hard. Picking herself up, she sees she’s tripped over a HULL SAW - the same diamond-bladed tool DAVID used to dismantle the terraforming engine. She seizes the saw - straining to manage its weight. Hides in the hollow of a massive girder. The Alien passes by. Scenting the air. She freezes. Her arms trembling with the weight of the saw. Waiting for it to pass. Almost it leaves. But a tiny rattle of metal from the quivering saw brings it back. Out of options, Watts powers up the saw. The blade whines up to speed. They lunge at one another in the same moment. The diamond blade shears off one of the Alien’s claws. The monster screams and recoils. Its lashing tail sends Watts sprawling. She loses the saw. The Alien comes after her, slinking low to the ground, injured arm tucked to its chest. All vengeful fury. Watts scrambles for the saw. The Alien leaps for her. She rolls aside - and like a scorpion the Alien impales her thigh with its spear-tipped tail. Nails her to the ground. Watts screams in agony. Reaches for the saw, still buzzing on the ground. Its grip tantalizing inches from her fingertips. The Alien stoops over her, slavering face inches from her faceplate. Its hideous jaws open. With all her strength, Watts pulls against the spike in her leg. Drags the point of the spear through the dirt. Excruciating pain. She snarls through her teeth. The Alien strikes - just as Watts GRABS the saw. She meets the Alien’s head with the buzzing blade. IMPALES THE ALIEN’S SKULL. A gout of green acid onto Watts’s helmet. The Alien falls aside, thrashing its death-throes, the saw still growling. Watts sees ACID COMING THROUGH HER HELMET - fast. With frantic haste she unlatches her helmet. Wrenches it off as it crumples and melts. She stands bare-headed in the toxic air. Desperate, she looks around with tearing eyes. In the distance she sees an intact module of the Magellan. She runs for it. Slaps the door switch. Incredibly, it opens. (Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p113-114)
7. EXT.VICKERS MODULE-DAY
   Watts arrives at the Vickers module. The ultramorph Alien’s head has been fixed like a grisly trophy above the door. (Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p116)