What Are Facehuggers in the Alien Movies?

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Horror expert Sydney Bermudez explains what facehuggers are, what they look like, & what they symbolize

Co-authored by Sydney Bermudez and Hunter Rising

Last Updated: March 2, 2026 Fact Checked

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What is a facehugger?

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Characteristics

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Appearances in ''Alien''

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Behind the Scenes

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Symbolism & Themes

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Are they real?

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Video

Facehuggers are one of the most iconic horror movie monsters and arguably one of the most frightening too! These creatures from the Alien franchise don’t have much screen time, but their look and behavior has scared generations of viewers. If you want to learn more about what a facehugger actually does when it attacks, look no further. In an exclusive interview with wikiHow, a horror expert breaks down what facehuggers are and what they symbolize. We’ll also deep dive into the facehugger’s origins and appearances throughout the years.

Facehuggers from Alien: Quick Facts

Horror expert Sydney Bermudez says facehuggers are spider-like parasites that attach to a host’s face and implant an alien embryo inside them. The embryo grows into a Chestburster that breaks out of the host’s chest and eventually develops into a full-grown Xenomorph.

Section 1 of 6:

What is a facehugger?

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Facehuggers are fictional aliens that implant embryos into hosts. The facehugger first appears in the 1979 movie Alien, and it’s the second stage in a Xenomorph’s life cycle. Bermudez says it finds a host and attaches to their face. While it's attached, the facehugger impregnates the host with an alien embryo.^{[1]
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Sydney Bermudez
Horror Expert

Expert Interview}
- The embryo is the next stage in the Xenomorph’s life cycle.
- Facehuggers appear throughout the entire Alien franchise.
- In universe, the scientific name for facehuggers is Manumala noxhydria.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Sydney Bermudez is a horror content creator who shares paranormal cases, internet mysteries, and psychological horror stories to her over 400k followers on TikTok and Instagram.

Section 2 of 6:

Facehugger Appearance and Behavior

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According to Bermudez, facehuggers are spider-like parasites.^{[2]
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Sydney Bermudez
Horror Expert

Expert Interview} They are usually shown as tan or dark brown creatures that have 8 legs that look like long fingers. The underside of a facehugger has an opening like a mouth and an appendage that can insert into a person’s mouth. Their tails resemble a long spine or umbilical cord that they can use to leap or swim.
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Facehuggers attach to a host’s face when they attack. Facehuggers hatch out of an egg called an Ovomorph, which is the first stage of the Xenomorph life cycle. When a person or other host gets close enough to the egg, the facehugger leaps out and latches its legs around the host’s head. It wraps its long tail tightly around the person’s neck and inserts a tube into their mouth.
- Bermudez notes that facehuggers are fast, aggressive, and extremely difficult to remove without killing the host.^{[3]
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- In canon, facehuggers are difficult to remove because they poison their victims and have acidic blood that could burn or hurt the person they’re attached to.
- The facehugger has air bladders that inflate and deflate to keep the host alive and breathing.
- Facehuggers can sense heat and noise to find a host if one is not nearby when they hatch.
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Facehuggers implant Chestbursters into their hosts. While the facehugger is attached to a host, it inserts an egg or embryo into the victim’s chest. When the facehugger is sure the embryo is set, it detaches and dies. The embryo quickly grows into a Chestburster, a smaller alien that breaks out from the host’s body and kills them.
- Chestbursters are the third stage in the life cycle, and they quickly grow into an adult Xenomorph.

Section 3 of 6:

Facehugger Appearances in the Alien Franchise

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In the original Alien movie, Kane is attacked by a Facehugger that breaks through his helmet and latches onto his face. Ripley and the others try to remove the facehugger, but are unable to without hurting Kane. After about a day, the facehugger detaches and dies, leaving Kane impregnated with the Chestburster and unaware of what happened.^{[4]
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Multiple facehuggers appear in an abandoned lab, showing their entire life cycle until they’re fully developed.^{[5]
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Research source} Eventually, one of the facehuggers breaks out of containment and attacks while Ripley and Newt are sleeping, but they’re able to overpower and escape them.^{[6]
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Alien 3 introduces the Queen Facehugger, also known as the Royal Facehugger or Super Facehugger. When this facehugger attaches to a host, it implants an embryo for a queen Xenomorph as well as smaller warriors.^{[7]
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In this movie, military scientists raise Xenomorphs to research and study. A scene from the movie shows several human test subjects placed in front of hatching eggs. As the eggs hatch, the facehuggers leap out and attach to their hosts.^{[8]
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There are no traditional facehuggers in Prometheus, but the large Trilobite behaves in a similar way. The Trilobite is a large squid-like creature created in the ship’s med lab. When the Trilobite attacks the Engineer, it implants an early version of the Xenomorph known as The Deacon.^{[9]
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In Alien: Covenant, the praeto-facehuggers are created by the android David after years of genetic experiments. The praeto-facehuggers are larger and faster than normal ones. When they find a host, they implant an embryo for a Praetomorph Imp, which looks like a small, white Xenomorph alien.^{[10]
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Alien: Romulus The characters in Alien: Romulus discover an incubation chamber on the Renaissance space station that’s filled with facehuggers. Scientists used DNA from “Big Chap,” the Xenomorph from the original film, to create these modified facehuggers. They have a darker coloration and barbs at the ends of their fingers.^{[11]
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- The facehuggers in Alien: Romulus are attracted to heat and noise.
In the first Alien vs. Predator film, multiple people are attacked by facehuggers in a sacrificial chamber to create more Xenomorphs. Facehuggers also attack one of the Predators. When the chestburster appears out from the Predator’s body, it grows into a Predalien hybrid that becomes the main antagonist of Alien vs. Predator: Requiem.^{[12]
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Section 4 of 6:

Facehugger Behind the Scenes Origins

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H. R. Giger was a Swiss artist known for his surreal, biomechanical art style. When the first Alien was being made, Giger was hired as a concept artist to create the Xenomorph in all of its forms. His first version of the facehugger was initially a lot larger, but his redesign closely resembles what made it onto screen.^{[13]
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Special effects artist Roger Dicken created the facehugger props used in the original Alien movie.^{[14]
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Research source} The facehugger models had mechanical fingers that could be fully puppeted and air bladders that could inflate.^{[15]
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Facehugger Symbolism and Themes

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Facehuggers can symbolize pregnancy and something invading your body. In a TikTok by @longmirelp, he explains that Alien is a feminist horror franchise that plays off the fears many women have in the real world. The facehuggers look like two hands reaching out to grab their host’s face. He notes that the way they forcibly implant the eggs or embryos can represent a common fear of being overpowered and having something invasive enter your body.
- He also notes that the facehugger has a tail that resembles an umbilical cord. While an umbilical cord usually provides life, a facehugger’s tail wraps tightly around someone’s neck.
- Bermudez agrees and notes that facehuggers tap into people’s fears of bodily invasion.^{[16]
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Section 6 of 6:

Are facehuggers real?

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No, facehuggers do not exist, but some real animals have similar characteristics. Facehuggers only exist in the Alien franchise, so any ones you see in the real world are just props. However, real-life animals may have inspired the facehugger design, and some species were even discovered after the first Alien movie came out.
- Horseshoe crabs have a similar appearance to facehuggers, with a large outer shell covering their body and long legs hidden underneath.
- Sea spiders have long, spindly limbs that definitely may have inspired the facehugger’s iconic look.
- Parasitoid wasps implant their eggs inside other insects or their eggs, and the larvae grow inside until they reach adulthood.^{[17]
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