xenomorfo

Queen

Generally, all Xenomorphs are asexual except for the queen. Her and their lives are similar to those of ants or bees. She is the leader, ten times larger than normal Xenomorphs. She can control more than half a million Xenomorph soldiers through pheromone control. The queen is similar in form to a drone, but has a larger, thicker exoskeleton with crown-like ridges on the back of her head; her limbs are longer and thinner, with an additional pair of smaller arms on her thorax beneath her main arms. Her strength is greater than that of any member of her species, and she possesses a superior intelligence that allows her to telepathically control every member of her colony. The Queen is around 6 or 7 meters tall, including her tail, and weighs around six tons. Despite being constantly surrounded by the rest of the hive, who are willing to kill or sacrifice themselves before letting any danger get close to her, she is truly the strongest creature in her society. In case any danger overcomes the hive's defenses or power, the queen can tear off her reproductive system, which is located under her legs in the form of a giant pod or caterpillar from which the eggs come out. Once free of this part of her body, her maximum speed easily exceeds 66 km/h and she has the freedom of movement necessary to directly confront threats to her colony. However, if there is no successor, the colony will be destined to extinction, since the queen will never be able to give birth again. Queens can appear in different ways. One, the most common, is through facehuggers like normal Xenomorphs, with the difference that the embryo takes longer than normal to emerge from the host; queens that are born by facehuggers.

queen two

like normal Xenomorphs, except that the embryo takes longer than normal to emerge from the host; queens born by facehuggers, although they are the most common way in which they multiply, are not produced in large numbers in order to maintain a stable hierarchy. It has been said that occasionally a queen breeds, unlike the rest of the species, it would not use a host to gestate since even being born directly from the egg it is strong enough to survive in the environment. The queen is responsible for laying the eggs, the means by which this species reproduces: from these the immature form is born that infects the host to complete the second phase of its life as parasites. As the queen's offspring grow, they go through the Praetorian stage, which looks similar to a queen's but lacks the reproductive organ and its two extra arms, as well as being smaller in size. In the absence of an adult queen, the Praetorian envelops itself in a cocoon to become the new queen. Another way in which the Praetorian stage is activated is through the drone Xenomorphs, which if they have exceeded the age of one hundred or have more than fulfilled their Queen, are rewarded with a jelly that the Queen can create, with which they would transform into Praetorians with their alternative metamorphosis that is activated in the case of the absence of a queen; this allows them to develop a reproductive apparatus with which to lay eggs, as well as their crown, intelligence, size and strength. In some comics and video games, not only do regular Xenomorphs change shape over time, but the queen also evolves, eventually becoming an "Empress", larger, stronger, with a more elaborate crown and another pair of arms.

xenomorfos

Xenomorphs are eusocial organisms that make up a colonial superorganism, which live in colonies similar to those of hymenopteran insects, governed by a strict hierarchy, at the top of which is the queen or mother of all the Xenomorphs in that particular hive; she is in turn protected by young queens or "sterile" queens or more commonly called praetorians, which do not develop their psychic powers or their reproductive system until the death of the previous queen or until they find new territories for expansion. Next in the hierarchy are the drones, or common Xenomorphs, which defend and support the hive. For this reason, it is believed that they originally evolved from a variety of arthropods, thus explaining their appearance and way of organizing themselves in relation to the rest of their species and their environment. However, this hierarchy can be broken in the case of Xenomorph hybrids with other species, which do not accept each other. Finally, the eggs and facehuggers, these last two although they do not have great strength or power are considered the most important of the colony, not counting the queen, since they are the basis of its existence.

eggs

This is the first life cycle of the Xenomorph. It is shaped like a bird or reptile's egg, but the similarity ends there. It does not break, being made of organic tissue; instead, it has two pairs of lips through which it expels the facehugger when it detects a suitable life source. They are ochre-colored, and have a sticky texture when freshly laid, although over time this dries out without altering the facehugger. Its appearance is similar to a carnivorous plant.

facehugger

At this larval stage the xenomorph resembles an orange hand (or spider) with eight long, multi-jointed legs and a tail, which it uses as a grasping appendage. They emerge from eggs laid by the queen upon detecting a sizable supply of living organisms, jumping and attaching themselves to the victim's head, wrapping their tail around the victim's neck, trapping the face with their phalanges, and inducing a coma-like state that lasts until shortly before birth. After attaching itself to the head of its prey, it apparently dies, but in reality the xenomorph larva has taken over the host with a new body, nesting in the host's stomach or thorax. Its blood is a highly corrosive yellow-green organic acid. In this larval state its mind is extremely rudimentary, to the point of not discriminating against the host even though its influence on gestation means a danger to the colony, as in the case of the Yautja. Trying to extract it would mean death for the host, since it is responsible for the function of the respiratory and circulatory systems during infection.

facehugger 2

Its appearance is that of an adult, but its exoskeleton has not matured, so it has a whitish color; as it has not developed and its limbs are still small, it gives the impression of looking like a snake with sharp teeth (if it is removed early, its limbs do not develop until it grows a little more). After a period of incubation inside the host, it bursts out of its chest and kills it; when this occurs in a place other than its own nest, it flees to a safe place to grow, since during this stage it does not yet have the shell and strength of the adults. As it grows, it sheds its skin, leaving it where it has been. When incubation is in the burrow, the adults trap the hosts in the walls, made of resin (solidified saliva) also called cocoons, where they are infected and after dying they will be the food of the young. Its development inside the host varies between a few minutes and several hours, it is believed the time changes depending on the place where the host was inoculated, because if the facehugger clings to its victim in the burrow, or another space controlled by the Xenomorphs, it can develop calmly and slowly, making the incubation time longer, but in a foreign environment (the forest in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem) its development is usually more accelerated. The Chestburster is believed to have a connection to its host that allows it to sense its reactions, such as in Aliens vs. Predator when Alexa finds Sebastian in the nest, or in Aliens when the Marines find the woman in the pod, who upon awakening indicated to the Chestburster that they were approaching. In other cases, the host has enough willpower to temporarily delay the Chestburster's emergence as happened (Alien: Resurrection).

young adult

The most common life form, representing 80% of their species. Generally defined as a living weapon. The head is black and elongated; when young, it is smooth, but when it matures, the cover falls off, revealing grooves to prevent the weight from overcoming the xenomorph. It has a dolichocephalic skull (in Giger's model, the design was a semi-transparent head which had a human-like skull, but without eyes or orbits). It has two pairs of jaws, an external one located in its jaw and a retractable internal one that can extend about 20 cm. The latter is used as a weapon, since it moves at great speed (it is often confused with a tongue, but it is the upper end of its esophagus). Although it has eyes, these are rudimentary and it prefers to be guided by its keen sense of smell, detecting the pheromones of its prey. They have an endoskeleton and an extremely resistant exoskeleton, as well as a great capacity for regeneration typical of their species. They have six sharp fingers on each hand and foot, and a whip-shaped segmented tail that ends in a reinforced stinger-shaped tip. They are extremely agile, being able to move at high speeds even on ceilings or underwater. Their blood is a rare mixture of potassium chloride and highly corrosive sulfuric acid. Their appearance varies depending on the host from which they emerge, and they can inherit some of its characteristics. They not only kill: they also hunt victims that incubate new Xenomorphs. They usually hunt at night or in places with little light, which is why they are considered nocturnal creatures, but some individuals can also be found active during the day (basically squads patrolling the nest and the queen), if necessary, the entire colony wakes up and becomes as ferocious during the day as at night. They generally cannot stand the heat. It is the state in which they spend most of their lives, about a hundred years before becoming Praetorians.

young adult 2

Unlike humans, these Xenomorphs lack genitals, as they are asexual. They measure around 2.30 meters, have a tail approximately 4 meters long and usually weigh around 120 kilos.

praetorians

Looking like a large, robust xenomorph, the Praetorian is often considered to be the growing stage of a young alien queen that has not yet developed her massive size, reproductive organs, or 2 extra arms. It can also be a drone that has lived for over 100 years or served its Queen well and is rewarded with royal jelly. With this, the drone has a kind of "sex change." Its job in the hive is to be the protector of the queen and her offspring, like a good helper, or to replace the Queen in case she dies or there is a possibility of expansion. They tend to be more robust and heavier than common xenomorphs, have a head similar to that of the queen and are much more dangerous, although it is believed that they lose some abilities, such as walking on ceilings and walls or spitting acid.

other varieties

When they hatch, facehuggers look for a host that is large enough (not too large, not too small) to house an embryo. However, facehuggers do not distinguish between species that are suitable for infecting and possibly hybridizing, so different variants have appeared throughout the history of the species. Sometimes, hybridization can also be created artificially through genetic manipulation, but usually they appear spontaneously due to the Xenomorphs' DNA reflex ability, which, depending on the host and the amount of assimilated DNA, will transform the appearance and characteristics of the creature. Upon hatching, facehuggers seek a host large enough (not too large, not too small) to house an embryo. However, facehuggers do not distinguish whether a species is suitable or not when it comes to infecting and producing a possible hybridization; thus, different variants have appeared throughout the history of the species. Sometimes, hybridization can also be created artificially through genetic manipulation, but usually they appear spontaneously due to the Xenomorphs' DNA reflex ability, which, depending on the host and the amount of assimilated DNA, will transform the appearance and characteristics of the creature. Upon hatching, facehuggers seek a host large enough (not too large, not too small) to house an embryo. However, facehuggers do not distinguish whether a species is suitable or not when it comes to infecting and producing a possible hybridization; thus, different variants have appeared throughout the history of the species. Sometimes hybridization can also be created artificially through genetic manipulation, but usually they appear spontaneously due to the Xenomorphs' DNA reflex ability, which, depending on the host and the amount of assimilated DNA, can cause the Xenomorphs to become more capable of reproducing their DNA.

data

In the prequel Prometheus, three other forms or varieties of Xenomorph are seen, a more primitive snake-like variety (possibly a hatchling); and a squid-like one (called the "Trilobite"), which is apparently born from the assimilation of human genes. After the so-called "Trilobite" is impregnated with an Engineer, a hybrid Xenomorph also called Deacon is formed; which has a very similar shape to the Xenomorphs that humans face decades later. The Deacon has a soft blue body, four fingers, a thumb and plantigrade legs, has herbivore-like teeth and does not have a second jaw like the rest of the Xenomorphs. Its head shape is also different from that of the Xenomorphs, it seems to emerge from its host using its pointed skull instead of simply biting or striking through the ribcage. In the comic Fire and Stone, it is implicitly indicated that over the decades and affected by the genetic accelerants of the Engineers' ship, the Deacon mutated into a gigantic organic mountain.

newborn

In Alien: Resurrection, the result is a human-xenomorph hybrid born to a genetically altered queen and given birth viviparously. It is a grotesque creature of great stature, lacking a tail and exoskeleton (only an endoskeleton), flesh-colored skin, a dolichocephalic skull, with great physical strength in contrast to its bony build, very small eyes, a very visible nasal cavity, but no nose (its face looks like a skull), and a human tongue with no secondary teeth. He feels a greater affinity towards the "altered host" than towards the Queen Mother, considering her his "true" mother. This creature displays emotions of antipathy towards humans and Xenomorphs alike. Since Ellen Ripley is the result of cloning while she had an alien inside her, she absorbed alien abilities (such as her blood, which partly turns into corrosive acid), and the same thing happened with the Alien Queen, since Ripley added a second human cycle to her (that's why the Alien Queen gave birth to the newborn through her womb) through a genetic alteration caused by a failure of Ripley's cloning. For this reason, the newborn killed the Queen (his true nurse) and recognized Ellen Ripley as his true mother. According to the film's novelization, the newborn's tongue, despite being similar to a human's, can act as the xenomorph's second mouth, producing small teeth. This being possibly possesses more characteristics than are known, as it was destroyed within a few hours of birth and did not fully develop.