Xenomorph

Height

7.51 - 9 ft

Diet

Carnivorous

Language

A series of hisses and shrieks ranging from deep to high-pitched

Behavior

Displays predatory behaviour towards any living lifeforms, usually using stealth tactics to ambush its prey

Hive

Xenomorphs operate in hives made of a resin they produce, mixed up with their saliva fluids.

Intelligence

Most Xenomorphs appear to possess an intelligence level equivalent to that of a typical primate. It's well within their capabilities to learn relatively quickly, gathering information and making advantageous use of their environment.

Anatomy

They possess an exoskeleton much like that of a lobster, impenetrable to everything but the most powerful Human firearms. Attached at the ends of both of their arms are a set of long fingers and shiny, black, extremely sharp claws capable of slashing through almost anything within their grasp. Their tail is long and flexible. Some, though not all, individuals also have ridges on top, and a serrated toxic tip at the end of the tail to lacerate enemies. A Xenomorph's outer mouth is filled with sharp teeth, but their main killing device is the inner jaw that shoots out to penetrate directly into the victim's brain.

Culture and society

The Xenomorphs have a caste system similar to that of bees and ants. A major difference is that their caste system is far more complex. It's believed that the Drones (in this instance used to indicate a "worker" caste, instead of mating-capable Xenomorphs) have the smooth cowl while the Warriors display the ridges. The Drones and Warriors have different tasks: Warriors defend the hive, and Drones hunt potential hosts, while some live only to protect the Queen, such as Hive-Warriors or Praetorians.

Praetorian

Praetorians ("Royal Guards"), are bigger and stronger than the Warriors and are seen to have a developing crown. Their primary role within the hive is to guard key locations of importance or interest, and, if nothing else, to protect the Queen herself. Most Praetorians can be found very close to the Queen's chambers. The physical features of the Praetorian are pristine and very similar to the Queen's: it has a crown-like head crest, large size, and great strength. The Praetorian is said to be created by special eggs and facehuggers known as a royal facehugger (these are generally larger and a darker color than normal facehuggers), which carries a genetic code known as the Royal Jelly Line, which is passed from the Queen herself to the facehugger and embryo.

Egg

The Xenomorph is born in egg form, laid in place by the hive's Queen, through the use of a detachable ovipositor. The egg is thick and gelatinous, usually with several membranes attached to the outer layers. It can take nutrients from the ground to support the creature inside. The egg has vein-like structures running through it, showing that it is actually a living creature, sometimes known as an ovomorph. The Xenomorph hatchling - called a facehugger - is protected by a thick fleshy layer at the top of the egg, where the "shell" peels open when the facehugger senses creatures nearby. The sense that detects suitable organisms has to be very specific in what it chooses to respond to.

Facehugger

After the egg opens, the facehugger emerges and seeks out a nearby life form, latching onto its face, wrapping its tail around its airway, and implanting the Xenomorph embryo(s) by sticking a tube down the host's throat. This is seen sometimes when a facehugger is contained in water or lunging at a soon to be host. It will coil its tail tighter around the airway to prevent premature removal, and an attempt to sever the fingers found that facehuggers possess the same acidic blood as an adult Xenomorph. The facehugger supplies oxygen to keep the host alive during the impregnating process. Once the embryo(s) has been implanted, the facehugger falls off, curls up, and dies.

Chest bursters

After attaching itself to a vein and gestating in the chest cavity, Xenomorph infants - called chestbursters - push and chew through the host's chest, causing severe pain, blood loss, shock and death. The host's rib cage is cracked open, bones bent outward.It was also revealed that high amounts of stress can actually make the chestburster more frantic. This causes it to push and chew through the chest at a faster pace, therefore emerging slightly earlier than normal.At this stage, the Xenomorph is small, limbless, and very vulnerable. Among other possibilities, its neck can be snapped. It needs to get to a safe area so it can reach its next life stage. It moves with its long tail, and can coil up and jump. It cannot climb on walls or ceilings, but despite these drawbacks it can traverse an area with astonishing speed.

Xenomorph Kings

The King, also known as the Monstrosity, is a large and rare form of the Xenomorph XX121 species, that are only known to exist in the largest of Xenomorph hives. They are very similar to the Queen caste but are much more built for combat than the egg-laying Queen. Much like its Queen counterpart, the King possesses a large head crest, which is much more ornate than the Queen's. Parallel to its jaws, a pair of tusk-like protrusions jut out of its crest, though they seem too small to be used offensively. The King is also much more rigid and bulkier looking than his "female" counterpart. Another difference is the lack of ventral arms that Queens have. Much like several other castes of Xenomorphs, the King is capable of spitting acid, which is known to be extremely corrosive. It possesses large talon-like claws and a powerful tail which allow it to tear through even the armor of tanks. Its tail possesses rows of spines similar to the caudal whorls of a crocodile instead of the single row of most Xenomorphs. The King also possesses two barb-tipped tail-like structures on either side of its four dorsal spines. Its regular dorsal spines possess a shape similar to most normal Xenomorphs, and not the spike-shaped spines of the Queens and other related castes.