Every Death In Alien: Romulus, Ranked By Goriness

The following contains spoilers for Alien Romulus

Alien: Romulus has some pretty brutal deaths, even when compared to the gruesome plot turns in the other entries of the series. The film is a love letter to the long-running sci-fi/horror Alien franchise, playing with many tropes and much of the lore, all while raising the stakes in some unexpected ways. Set between Alien and Aliens on the franchise timeline, Alien: Romulus pits a group of young adult scavengers against the univere's most perfect killing machine, with the expected gruesome results.

However, the film doesn't rely entirely on the common forms of death seen in the series. While there are some Alien: Romulus character demises that feel in-debted to the original Alien, others use the realities of the situation for gruesome effect. Some of the most brutal deaths are the film's most inventive, including one that stands out as the creepiest turn of events in the series. Here are all the deaths that happn by the ending of Alien: Romulus, and how they rank in terms of brutality.

7 Rook

Rook Is Played By Daniel Betts

Rook's death in the ending of Alien: Romulus is brutal, but far from the goriest death in the latest Alien film. Rook is an android found on the ravaged research satellite, constructed from the same model as Alien's Ash. Although he suffered brutal damage from the Xenomorph during the creature's previous rampage — literally getting torn in half — Rook's robotic construction allowed him to be reactivated with a great deal of remote control over the station. Rook plays an important supporting role in the film, but avoids most of the danger by remaining in the lab during most of the film.

Ultimately though, his decision to prioritize the serum over the humans gets him left behind as the station descendeds into Jackson's planetary rings. Rook is left to be shredded apart in the process, his robotic endurance prolonging any potential suffering Rook felt. It's largely unseen, with the last shots of the character focusing on his spiteful rantings about humans. Still, the nature of Rook's death is a good reminder how even the setting can be a lethal force in the Alien series. While androids may not feel pain the same as humans, Rook's brutal death stands out in the film.

6 The Xenomorphs

The Xenomorph Is Played By Trevor Newlin

Over the course of Alien: Romulus, Xenomorphs are revealed to be on the station. Having been in stasis since the slaughter of the station's research staff, Rain and the others quickly discover a seemingly unstoppable Hive worth of Xenomorphs. This escalates the film's tension, building up from the Xenomorph spawned within Navarro. It's only when Rain is able to utilize a pulse rifle that the Xenomorphs can be countered, with the young woman using the weapon to bring down an attacking swarm so she and Andy can make their escape. Using the rifle, Rain shoots many Xenomorphs in the head.

The gory aftermath of the scene is that the sprays of yellow acidic blood all over the hallway set up an entertaining challenge for Rain to navigate when gravity shuts off. It's gratuitous but rewarding in the moment, given the terror the monsters have been putting the characters (and the audience) through. The monstrous nature of the Xenomorphs downplays the brutality of the deaths. The colorful nature also reduces that brutal element. It's a certain kind of gory , and inherently comparable to the scores of Xenomorph deaths in Aliens, but without the particularly gruesome touches of other grisly Xenomorph deaths.

5 Navarro

Navarro Is Played By Aileen Wu

The first of the main cast to die, Navarro is the latest character to suffer from the classic Chestbuster. Introduced in Alien, the Chestbuster is one of the earliest stages of the Xenomorph's growth, exploding from the chest of the host before rapidly growing to full size. It's one of the most iconic elements of the series, and the trailers for Alien: Romulus didn't even bother trying to hide that Navarro would become the latest victim of that motif. After being caught by a Facehugger while helping free Tyler and Bjorn from the storage lab containing them, Navarro is infected.

It's not long before the creature bursts out of Navarro. Notably, the event isn't a particularly quick one. It causes the creature steadily bursts out of her chest and crawls out of her, horrifying Kay and leaving Navarro with enough agonizing awareness to beg for her friend's help. The fact that it's a slow and bloody incident only draws more attention to the gory aspects of the process. It's a gruesome death that takes cues from previous deaths in the series but makes sure to add plenty of gore and enough tragic edge to it to make the moment land.

4 Bjorn

Bjorn Is Played By Spike Fearn

Bjorn is the second of the main cast to die in Alien: Romulus, and in a brutal (but largely bloodless) way. After being informed that Navarro is as good as dead now that she's become a host for a Xenomorph embryo, Bjorn abandons Rain, Andy, and Tyler on the station in a futile effort to save her. When Navarro is killed, Bjorn ends up using the electric taser he found on the station to take revenge and attack the still gestating Xenomorph. While this does successfully injure the alien, this results in the creature bleeding profusely on a surprised Bjorn.

The acidic blood has already been established as strong enough to eat through solid steel, meaning it cuts through human flesh no problem. The acid eats through Bjorn's fingers and arm, burning holes through his body. What actually ends up killing him is acid landing on his chest, quickly searing a horrifying hole in his body and suddenly putting him down once it burns through his heart and other organs. While it's not the bloodiest death in the film, Bjorn's death is a gruesome one, especially with the shots of fingers melting off him highlighting the pain of the process.

3 Tyler

Tyler Is Played By Archie Renaux

Tyler is effectively the leader of the young crew that Alien: Romulus focuses on, and surives for much of the film. However, the group's attempt to reach their ship through the Xenomorph Hive leaves them all being surrounded. When a Xenomorph goes to kill Rain while she's tending to Kay, Tyler jumps in front of the attack. This leaves him impaled on the Xenomorph's tail. Run through, he is then dragged deeper into the hive by the Xenomorph. Surrounded by multiple Xenomorphs, the audience gets to see Tyler scream in defiance before he gets an alien tongue through the head.

The sequence even shows the Xenomorphs still attacking him after his death from the first blow. It's a brutal and bloody ending, leaving a river of blood trickling down into the rest of the scene. It's also notably a death the camera doesn't cut away from. The moment is a clear example of how Alien: Romulus more openly approaches horror. Other films in the series often cut away from the worst results of the alien infestations, dragging victims away and out of sight. By contrast, Tyler's death is fully shown and is one of the bloodiest ones in the film.

2 The Offspring

The Offspring Is Played By Robert Bobroczkyi

The Offspring is the tall and monstrous alien/human hybrid, and the final threat of the film. A killer creature born after the pregnant Kay injects herself with the compound created on the satellite. The presence of an alien on the escape ship recreates the ending of Alien, with the Offspring proving to be a lethal, durable, sneaky, and sadistic creature. Rain is able to lure it into the hangar and eject it out of the ship along with tons of sand. This shreds the skin of the Offspring, leaving it screaming in apparent agony but failing to kill it.

Ultimately, it's the same thing that kills Rook that finally brings down the Offspring for good. Exposed to the asteroid filled rings of the nearby planet, the Offspring is presumably shredded into millions of little pieces. Even landing on a planet would likely destroy what remains, burning it up in the atmosphere. The Offspring gets one of the most horrific deaths in the film, with its body a bloody mess by the time it's finally shunted off into the void. However, considering the dangerous nature of the creature, the moment comes with a certain sense of victory for the viewer.

1 Kay

Kay Is Played By Isabela Merced

Kay is Tyler's sister and has the most gruesome and gory death in Alien: Romulus. The pregnant Kay is portrayed as one of the more innocent characters in the film, making all the injuries she endures trying to dodge the Xenomorph all the more horrifying. On the verge of death, Kay ends up using the serum to try and save herself and her baby. This ends up actually causing her death, as it results in her having a bloody birth where she lays an egg on the ship. This quickly grows to become the Offspring, who matures into adulthood quickly.

After incapacitating Andy, the Offspring tracks down Kay and kills her. Although Kay's actual death isn't shown on screen, it's clear that the creature ends up draining her of blood. When Rain returns to the scene, she finds the creature draining a pale and lifeless Kay. Kay has the scariest death in the film, building from her various earlier injuries to the sheer horror of having one's child turn into a cannabilsitc monster that feasts on you. Kay's death is the most brutal in Alien: Romulus, a contender for the most horrifying deaths in the Alien series as a whole.

Alien: Romulus' Gore Compared To The Rest Of The Franchise

Alien: Romulus is one of the goriest Alien movies so far. The 2024 installment makes full use of advances in CGI since the 1979 original, Alien, and 1986's Aliens (which many consider to be the highpoint of the series). However, while deaths like Kay in Alien: Romulus are among the most visceral seen so far, the latest entry into the Alien franchise still isn't the goriest overall.

Rather ironically, the goriest film in the series is also the installment many fans consider to be the weakest Alien movie overall. Alien 3 is the goriest Alien movie so far, at least when it comes to the gritty realism of its many deaths. The 1992 sequel to Aliens has some incredibly gory moments, and many aren't even at the hands of the Xenomorphs. For example, there's a shocking moment when Thomas MUrphy is blinded by acid before being shredded to ribbons by a fan in a ventilation shaft. There are also multiple prison inmantes who are burned alive, all depicted with a harrowingly realistic use of practical effects.

Still, while Alien 3 may be the goriest Alien movie overall, it doesn't contain the most iconic deaths in the series. What's more, there are several individual deaths in other Alien films that stand out and sometimes top those seen in Alien 3. The first time audiences were introduced to a chestburster in 1979's Alien still ranks among the most gory moments of the franchise. The same can also be said of the moment a baby Xenomorph claws its way out of a victims back in Alien: Covenant.

These individual moments stand out more than many of the deaths in Alien 3, but in terms of overall gore, the third film in the franchise takes the top spot. Alien: Romulus is definitely close though, and still exceeds Alien, Aliens, and Alien: Resurrection when it comes to the sheer amount of grizzly deaths in its runtime. Gory moments have always been a staple of Alien as a franchise, and Alien: Romulus certainly doesn't disappoint in this regard. What's more, with there already being teases about a sequel to Alien: Romulus, there's every chance that the visceral violence of Alien 3 may be overtaken sooner or later.