《异形：地球》是《异形》宇宙的前传剧集，该剧开篇通过一段引人入胜的介绍，为观众梳理了未来世界中三种主要生命形态：赛博格（Cyborgs）、合成人（Synths）和混合体（Hybrids）。赛博格是经过机械增强的人类，保留人类意识但拥有机械部件；合成人是完全人造的生命体，拥有人工智能大脑；而混合体则是将人类意识下载到合成人身体中的存在。剧集通过具体角色如安全主管莫罗（赛博格）、普罗迪吉员工科什（合成人）以及拥有人类记忆和情感的温蒂（混合体）等，生动地展现了这些概念，并暗示了科技发展对未来社会形态的决定性影响。

🤖 **赛博格（Cyborgs）**：赛博格是指通过机械装置进行增强的人类，他们保留了人类的大脑和意识，但身体的一部分被替换或加入了机器人组件。例如剧中的安全主管莫罗，他拥有人类大脑，但手臂经过了高度的机械改造，具备多种工具功能，展现了人类与机械结合的形态。

🧠 **合成人（Synths）**：合成人是完全由人工智能创造的人造生命体，拥有先进的人工智能大脑，可以执行复杂任务。在《异形》系列中，经典的“艾什”便是合成人的代表。在《异形：地球》中，科什作为普罗迪吉公司的员工，展现了合成人作为高科技劳动力的角色。

🧬 **混合体（Hybrids）**：混合体是将人类的意识下载或转移到合成人身体中的存在。这意味着他们不仅拥有合成人身体的超凡能力（如超人的速度和力量），同时还保留了原先人类的记忆、情感和个性。剧中的温蒂就是一个例子，她是一个患有绝症的孩子，其意识被转移到合成人身体中，成为混合体的早期实验对象。

Alien: Earth is packed so full of near-sociopathic characters that it's sometimes easy to lose track of whether you're dealing with an AI, a human, or some combination of the two.

The good news is, although there are various artificially intelligent beings in Noah Hawley's Alien universe prequel, the show starts by providing us with a handy guide to remember them all. We've transcribed that opening lore below, along with some more information (and examples) of the different types of being in Alien: Earth, from cyborgs to synths and hybrids.

What does the Alien: Earth intro tell us about cyborgs, synths and hybrids?

At the start of episode 1, text appears briefly explaining the difference between three beings: cyborgs, synths, and hybrids. We've transcribed it in full below:

"In the future the race for immortality will come in three guises:

Cybernetically enhanced humans: Cyborgs
Artificially intelligent beings: Synths
Synthetic beings downloaded with human consciousness: Hybrids

Which technology prevails will determine what corporation rules the universe."

Let's break those three down in some more detail.

What are cyborgs?

Cyborgs have a rich history in sci-fi, and Alien: Earth is no exception. A cyborg is essentially a human being with some kind of robotic enhancement. We meet our first one fairly early on in the form of Morrow (Babou Ceesay), the head of security onboard Weyland-Yutani's USCSS Maginot, the doomed ship carrying multiple alien species that crash lands into Earth.

Morrow may have a fairly robotic demeanour, but he has the brain of a human. His arm, on the other hand, is pretty much a Swiss Army Knife, complete with a blade and various handy power tool attachments.

What are synths?

Remember Ash (Ian Holm) from the original Alien movie? He was a synthetic, which is basically an entirely man-made being with an AI brain. Our main Alien: Earth synth is Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), a Prodigy employee who works alongside Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) and his new batch of hybrids (more on those below).

What are hybrids?

Synthetics crossed with humans, hybrids are Prodigy's brand new experiment and the core focus of Alien: Earth. Wendy (Sydney Chandler) is the first of a group of terminally ill children who have their consciousness' transferred into the bodies of synthetics. This means Wendy is capable of super-human speed and strength, but still has the memories and emotions of the little girl she was before her procedure.

Alien: Earth premieres Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. ET on Hulu and FX with two episodes, then weekly on Tuesdays.