'Prometheus' Dictionary: Translations For Earth-Dwellers

If you're gearing up to see Ridley Scott's sci-fi flick for the first time, make sure you're well-versed in its extraterrestrial lingo.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Michael Fassbender in "Prometheus"
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox

If you're headed out to theaters this weekend to see Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," there are two likely explanations: You've been hounded by your friends who have already seen it with theories and a need for discussion or you're one of those friends and need to see it again.

Either way, "Prometheus" is a dense movie filled with symbolism, call-backs to the original "Alien," and mysteries with elliptical answers, so it might be best to go into the theater with a bit of a primer for what's about to happen.

Whether you're new to "Prometheus" or you're very familiar with the work of Weyland Industries, here are some things to consider before heading into the theater. There are no major spoilers here, but if you want to go into "Prometheus" completely fresh, you should probably stop reading.

Prometheus: The titan who molded man from clay and gave them fire, which he stole from the gods. As punishment, an eagle repeatedly ate his liver, which regenerated daily.

Weyland Industries: The corporation that funds the mission in "Prometheus," creators of the David 8 android, and antecedent to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the "Alien" films.

Peter Weyland: Founder of Weyland Industries, played by Guy Pearce.

David 8: An android programmed to assist human life and understand human emotions. He is played by Michael Fassbender in "Prometheus."

Xenomorph: This classic creature from "Alien" bleeds a corrosive acid. It is "a survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality." The perfect organism.

Space Jockey: An enormous, dead humanoid found at the beginning of "Alien" with his chest burst open, surrounded by xenomorph eggs.

Facehugger: A developmental stage of the classic "Alien" xenomorph. This creature attaches itself to a host's face and deposits an embryo in his or her stomach.

Chestburster: The phase after facehugger. Once an embryo fully develops, it will exit its host through the abdomen.

"Lawrence of Arabia": The 1962 David Lean film starring Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence. This film appears in "Prometheus" and is the origin of such quotes as "Big things have small beginnings," "There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing," and "The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts."

LV223: An Earth-like moon where scientists travel to in "Prometheus" after finding star maps on several prehistoric drawings.

LV426: An inhospitable planetoid where the crew of the Nostromo encounter the Space Jockey and the xenomorph eggs.

Check out everything we've got on "Prometheus."

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