The Alien King/Male Counterpart to the Xenomorph; Suggestions and Ideas

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

After seeing the various discussion online here, I've decided I'll try and offer one final shot/design at the 'King' caste and what it can mean, while hopefully keeping it tonally/thematically fitting into the universe it came from without making it overpowered or too ridiculous. I will be borrowing some of 'Freighttrain's ideas over here (https://www.reddit.com/r/LV426/comments/b3e746/dictum_on_xenomorph_hive_dynamics_and/) to do it, because this guy (or girl) has put in a huge amount of effort that I think really shines through, and I think could really help out w/ this

For starters, a Drone or Warrior would be metamorphosed into a Praetorian, which is a sort of 'transitional' royal caste for 'Pure Blood' Xenomorphs such as The Queen-These massive, towering clones would be fed Royal Jelly and kicked out of the hive before eventually returning, having to fight the onslaught of its sisters/brethren (depending on you dichotomy for them) until it gets into the hive and the Drones and Warriors stop attacking it. As more Praetorians begin to develop or are born, some amongst them start to fight or compete, with the stronger and or more experienced beginning to outrank (or even outright kill) its competitors. From there, provided a Queen is still available and the Praetorians do not need to transition into a Queen, the veteran Praetorian will moult into a 'territorial expansionist caste', in this case the King. The King basically acts as a territorial male, defending its 'mate' (The Queen) from intruders and acting as a frontline attack class, while also remaining sterile and reaching a form that makes it impossible for it to reproduce or turn into another Queen (like how Praetorians can be considered princesses if they go elsewhere or do not have a Queen leading them, nest bound Praetorians turn into an alternate transformation)

[Local Trouble]

I knew this would eventually go full praetorian.

[The Kurgan]

Never understood the logic behind the infighting part of the praetorian lore. Seems way too wasteful.

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

I knew this would eventually go full praetorian.

Yeah, I admit it's kinda stupid-It's more just a dumb justification as most people don't really like the King as an idea on its own-And it has to come from somewhere if it exists whatsoever. It's really just a dumb idea, and I'll have to try and give some more thought as to how such a creature could work, if at all. Sorry if this is becoming stupid

Never understood the logic behind the infighting part of the praetorian lore. Seems way too wasteful.

Kind of the same way why a lot of Xenomorphs of almost any strain tend to hurtle themselves at a threat-Numbers and Hive Mind. The Queen or ruling castes don't give a flying f**k if the lower level workers and soldiers die in droves, especially if they can easily make more. As for Praetorians, it's basically a way for the strongest and most competent to survive-weed out the weaker or less useful guards, especially considering rival hives can send over their own Aliens and what not, and a Praetorian that doesn't have experience in fighting another equally strong Xenomorph isn't as useful as one who has (and ironically, a lot of insects compete this way via Lek Mating or outright combat, like in Ergatoid Ants)

Overall I just thought a King would do better as just a 'Warlord' caste as before, or a slightly more experienced Praetorian or Palatine (the mandibles and design of the latter are quite reminiscent of The Rogue's) rather than some OP winged bullshit monster like how AVP wanted their King to be, or how Prodos Games took the King being a counterpart to the Queen and just turning it into an even stronger Empress because of its title.

Honestly, at the same time, I do admit that the whole 'Guardian For The Queen' angle is old and tired (even if solid) so I want to hear how you think such a beast could exist-I had been thinking maybe The Rogue could be a whole production line or the proper weaponization of Kleist's research and Rogue prototype-They basically act as asexually reproducing berserkers that are unleashed upon Xenomorph hives and tear them apart, trying to kill the Queen and then helping to smash apart the eggs to ensure that the Hive stays dead.

[The Kurgan]

A threat has to be dealt with by all means to ensure survival, the infighting is more or less useless.

I don't doubt the queen would sacrifice her warriors for the greater good, even if she was shown to care for her brood. But if you consider that for every warrior, there had to be a host and a completed life cycle it just seems wasteful. If you skip the infighting you would have a bunch of warriors atop of your returning praetorian.

Same with having the praetorians compete agianst each other. Two praetorians would be more effective than one slightly more experienced one for guard duty.

Also, aren't aliens supposed to be born killers anyway?

[The Old One]

I prefer the AVPE caste system, theoretically speaking.

[SM]

Honestly, at the same time, I do admit that the whole 'Guardian For The Queen' angle is old and tired (even if solid) so I want to hear how you think such a beast could exist

There's no need for it to exist.  The Queen at Hadley had 'guardians' and they were just normal warriors.

[Local Trouble]

OP may find this old thread interesting...

https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=58833.0

[Samhain13]

Honestly, at the same time, I do admit that the whole 'Guardian For The Queen' angle is old and tired (even if solid) so I want to hear how you think such a beast could exist

There's no need for it to exist.  The Queen at Hadley had 'guardians' and they were just normal warriors.

They didn't do a very good job though. Look at the damage Ripley did all by herself. An alien hive rekt by one civilian that had just learned how to use a gun. If only those warriors had praetorian gains...

[SM]

They still would've been shot.

[Samhain13]

Quite. But Praetorians can take more bullets than the average warrior, they would have reached Ripley before they were killed.

In the case of the ones from AVP2 pulse rifle bullets can barely pierce their thicc skin, they wouldn't even notice they were getting shot, they are also immune to fire so get rekt Ripley.

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

A threat has to be dealt with by all means to ensure survival, the infighting is more or less useless.

I don't doubt the queen would sacrifice her warriors for the greater good, even if she was shown to care for her brood. But if you consider that for every warrior, there had to be a host and a completed life cycle it just seems wasteful. If you skip the infighting you would have a bunch of warriors atop of your returning praetorian.

Same with having the praetorians compete agianst each other. Two praetorians would be more effective than one slightly more experienced one for guard duty.

Also, aren't aliens supposed to be born killers anyway?

I suppose that having the Praetorians being a male caste (or as male as the Xenomorph can get) would work, but then there's the whole wonky Queen evolution thing-Do they come from Chestbursters implanted by a Royal Facehugger? Can any Drone or Warrior become a Queen if they need to, is the Queen considered the 'final and true state' or is it just an alternate/extra step?

I'll admit that the infighting angle was dumb, so I'll try and remove that entirely. And you are right-they are supposed to be killers as is, I supposed that having a more 'experienced' killer would be advantageous, although here it is rather wasteful.

I prefer the AVPE caste system, theoretically speaking.

It was definitely interesting all things considered, and I'll admit having several different 'Royal' castes as a sort of Xenomorph hierarchy would also/is also very interesting. I do think some tweaking of designs (ie especially for the Ravager) would be in order, especially considering the aforementioned caste, while very cool in concept and good at the 'Rip and Tear' aspect of the King/Rogue, just seems over the top when you see the humongous blades coming out of its arms.

[SM]

Quite. But Praetorians can take more bullets than the average warrior, they would have reached Ripley before they were killed.

It's not a game.

[Local Trouble]

They still would've been shot.

Like this?

Spoiler

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And this?

Spoiler

[close]

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

They still would've been shot.

Like this?

Spoiler

[close]

And this?

Spoiler

[close]

I think the Palatines are among my favorite Xenomorph castes-Their design is so simple but unique, and can be genuinely unnerving to see while still looking cool. Not to mention those massive mandibles are very cool. Heck, if anything I'd argue they'd make a solid 'King' in of themselves, or at least as a male counterpart to the Queen and Empress. And I know I'm kind of ragging on and on about it, but I mean hey, that is the point of the thread. To try and brainstorm

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/aliens/images/2/22/Palatine.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100907220449