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

[Immortan Jonesy]

I prefer a xeno prince to be honest. A King would commit regicide in order to take over the hive

#davidsavethequeen!

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

I prefer a xeno prince to be honest. A King would commit regicide in order to take over the hive

#davidsavethequeen!

That was what The Rogue had done in all fairness. But a Xenomorph Prince-that does sound like an interesting premise-how would such a creature look and act like?

[Huggs]

Just have the king be the war form of the queen.

No need for bringing in human gender roles. Say sh*t goes south, and badly in any number of scenarios. The queen can't afford to be slow and clumsy, not like she was with Ripley. So it evolves, like a warrior does when it becomes a queen. Slightly taller, less weight, more agility and strength, and increased aggression. Not a king, nor a queen. Just geared towards a different purpose.

As far as I'm concerned, the alien is not an insect with a predetermined role. It's not remotely human either. It is a singular organism capable of mutation. The needs of the hive determines its evolution. They are all the same cancer.

[SM]

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

Has anyone ever figured out where this 'Palatine' thing came from?

[Local Trouble]

Probably to differentiate them from ordinary praetorians since they guarded the queen mother, not just a mere queen.

Kinda reminds me of Dark Empire when Palpatine replaced his ordinary royal guards with even more badass "sovereign protectors."  Someone must have had a thesaurus handy that day.

Such wank.

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

Probably to differentiate them from ordinary praetorians since they guarded the queen mother, not just a mere queen.

Kinda reminds me of Dark Empire when Palpatine replaced his ordinary royal guards with even more badass "sovereign protectors."  Someone must have had a thesaurus handy that day.

Such wank.

Admittedly it is a bit excessive. I am sorry if this whole thing is turning into something stupid. I admit that perhaps a part of me had made this thread and clung to this idea so dearly out of some stupid feeling of emasculation from having the Aliens be considered female, immature as it sounds, as it was also partially rooted that, to me, they're huge walking rape metaphors, and their phallic design doesn't exactly bring forth a very female moniker, although perhaps that's what makes them so alien in that they do turn gender identities on their heads. Heck, personally what I think would be cool are Xenomorphs being more 'masculine' or 'feminine' depending on the host they came from, at least in slight variations of build or color (we do see some individuality amongst hives, and autonomy of various Drone Xenomorphs from Grid to Six, so I don't think it's too unreasonable).

Another part of it was perhaps that the fact that a lot of people DO reduce them to mere ants also irks me, which is why I also bring up all the other versions of Eusocial Insects with more unique characteristics, namely worker/not useless males. And finally, the idea that the Alien being female makes it 'feminist'-which I find immensely stupid and annoying. Is Ripley a feminist icon? Sure! But the Alien is hardly what I'd call a good role model...I'unno, reading this over it really does make me sound like a whiny man-baby, but I figured I ought to try and come forth with a proper apology for all this.

I DO still like the idea of a 'King', but I think Rogue and having the King be mostly a fun concept/EU idea is for the best. And honestly, as far as a ' Royal Warlord' caste goes, the Ravager variation is honestly pretty solid, next to the Carrier being another cool evolution for the Praetorian besides the Queen. Maybe someday we'll get to see more of the other Purebred Xenomorphs, and if nothing else I do thank you all for continuing to post in this thread despite how I've made it devolve (which is on me for my stupidity).

[SiL]

Most people seem to agree they're sexless, not male or female.

[Still Collating...]

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.

And Ripley survived the hive encounter cause a movie is not real life. How's that relevant? I get you're trying to say that a game concept might not work in a movie, but I don't see the reasoning.

First of all, termites (influenced Aliens) and ants (which are closely related to wasps that directly influenced Alien) have a cast system and I know that some especially huge warrior ants don't show up until a colony is big enough etc... So there is a real world precedent for such a thing.
Second, I'll say it again. The original alien was deadly, big and had a way of reproducing via eggmorphing. Cameron's Queen is basically there to do a better job of reproducing faster and more efficient, whilst at the same time was for Aliens a big boss battle. The whole concept of its insertion can seem very game like, yet it has a precedent. The same goes for a Praetorian. Not needed, just as the Queen wasn't, but completely possible to be inserted for the same reasons. To do a better job at guarding the Queen and to have a unit that can take on greater human weapons such as tanks etc.

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

Most people seem to agree they're sexless, not male or female.

I'm aware, and this isn't exactly about giving an Alien male genitals or anything, much like it isn't about giving one breasts (Although an Alien that can directly impregnate or 'rape' much like Big Chap does I think would be horrifying) I guess it's more that I'm not a humongous fan of all Aliens having to evolve or be genetically pre-determined to become 'Queens' like a lot of EU shows them becoming, which both nullifies the Royal Facehugger and Royal Jelly arguments and dictions, and kind of ruins the whole 'alien' angle for me when they lose their bug like theme and just become outright bugs that all must 'serve the hive!'.

TL;DR-Basically just Xenomorphs that don't morph into Queens and stay as a different caste.

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.

And Ripley survived the hive encounter cause a movie is not real life. How's that relevant? I get you're trying to say that a game concept might not work in a movie, but I don't see the reasoning.

First of all, termites (influenced Aliens) and ants (which are closely related to wasps that directly influenced Alien) have a cast system and I know that some especially huge warrior ants don't show up until a colony is big enough etc... So there is a real world precedent for such a thing.
Second, I'll say it again. The original alien was deadly, big and had a way of reproducing via eggmorphing. Cameron's Queen is basically there to do a better job of reproducing faster and more efficient, whilst at the same time was for Aliens a big boss battle. The whole concept of its insertion can seem very game like, yet it has a precedent. The same goes for a Praetorian. Not needed, just as the Queen wasn't, but completely possible to be inserted for the same reasons. To do a better job at guarding the Queen and to have a unit that can take on greater human weapons such as tanks etc.

I do think that AVP: Extinction did a good job at this-The various alien castes there each served a different purpose, and were generally only made as a last line of defense or for specialized warfare on the planet (ie the Carrier is like a Nursemaid, caring for the eggs and face-huggers while helping to mass impregnate, and the Ravager is a Warlord that focuses on raw offense and territorial expansion).

[The Kurgan]

Most people seem to agree they're sexless, not male or female.

I guess it's more that I'm not a humongous fan of all Aliens having to evolve or be genetically pre-determined to become 'Queens' like a lot of EU shows them becoming, which both nullifies the Royal Facehugger and Royal Jelly arguments and dictions, and kind of ruins the whole 'alien' angle for me when they lose their bug like theme and just become outright bugs that all must 'serve the hive!'.

TL;DR-Basically just Xenomorphs that don't morph into Queens and stay as a different caste.

I think both could work with some tweaking. Have the born queens\royal facehugger as the primary method of reproduction and in case of a missing or destroyed queen and no royal eggs to replace it, have a warrior make one via eggmorphing or morph into some kind of temporary  pseudo-queen to keep the hive from dying until a new queen is established.

To keep room for the born queen, it would stay an emergency measure resulting in the warriors death from overstraining and increasing imperfections in the offspring with every generation not made by a born queen.

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

I think both could work with some tweaking. Have the born queens\royal facehugger as the primary method of reproduction and in case of a missing or destroyed queen and no royal eggs to replace it, have a warrior make one via eggmorphing or morph into some kind of temporary  pseudo-queen to keep the hive from dying until a new queen is established.

To keep room for the born queen, it would stay an emergency measure resulting in the warriors death from overstraining and increasing imperfections in the offspring with every generation not made by a born queen.
[/quote]

That could definitely be cool-I have been considering adding eggmorphing or some form asexual reproduction to the Aliens lifecycle, as the King is more of a title than an actual gender or sex. It's more an idea for a solitary strain of Xenomorph-sort of an autonomous self reproducing drone or something, maybe with 'face hugger' traits seen in its adult form (a long prehensile tail, spidery dorsal tubes, an ovipositor of some sort). Maybe such a creature could occur in areas with the lack of a Queen, or be an alternative strain or evolution for a solitary variation or something of Xenomorph (ie like The Deacon, Neomorph, Protomorph, etc). I'm well aware that an impregnating adult isn't immensely popular *cough cough* Predalien *cough cough*, but I think there is some sort of good Gigeresque horror that could abound from something being able to directly infect you with its brood, stringing you up in its nest and either turning you into an egg or a cocoon for its brood to properly gestate, or perhaps it grows curious what you and does to you what happened to poor Lambert.

[SM]

And Ripley survived the hive encounter cause a movie is not real life. How's that relevant? I get you're trying to say that a game concept might not work in a movie, but I don't see the reasoning.

Because in the movie, Aliens aren't bullet sponges.

First of all, termites (influenced Aliens) and ants (which are closely related to wasps that directly influenced Alien) have a cast system and I know that some especially huge warrior ants don't show up until a colony is big enough etc... So there is a real world precedent for such a thing.

Aliens do have castes - warrior and Queen.  And that's it.

[Local Trouble]

And Ripley survived the hive encounter cause a movie is not real life. How's that relevant? I get you're trying to say that a game concept might not work in a movie, but I don't see the reasoning.

Because in the movie, Aliens aren't bullet sponges.

They're not even bullet sponges in the comics.

[Kenner_Alien_Kaste]

And Ripley survived the hive encounter cause a movie is not real life. How's that relevant? I get you're trying to say that a game concept might not work in a movie, but I don't see the reasoning.

Aliens do have castes - warrior and Queen.  And that's it.

I guess part of that feels a little stifling sometimes, y'know? Like, admittedly the movies only show the two types, but at the same time there can be so many more variations or changes to be done that it can be stifling. It can be fun to come up with new castes or ideas, especially ones that can both fit thematically into the movie-verse/established canon, at least as far as what can be considered as such (ie deleted scenes being re-instated, etc).

I admit that some of my ideas can come across as stupid, but at the same time it feels like having two alien types, barring some basic differences in each iteration, can get stale after a while. And when we do get a brand new Alien type (ie Deacon, Neomorph) it's quickly shoved aside just to have more of the same creature that only looks or behaves slightly different (ie the Planet 4 Xenomorph/Protomorph). So in my mind, having a more masculine/haploid caste that functions as a disperser or Alate drone would be cool-maybe it could be used to help start a new hive, eggmorph some folks, that kind of stuff, and it dies when its done so the Queen and her daughters can take over.

[SiL]

But we've seen they don't need anything like that to start a hive. They manage just fine on their own.