What is Royal Jelly?

[Extroheal]

In the old comics and novels there was this strange substance called Royal Jelly that was extremely addictive to humans. There was even one comic where it was used to create a race of 'Bug Men'. But where does it come from? Which type of alien creates it and what is it's purpose in the alien life-cycle?

[Corporal Hicks]

It's used to turn Drones into Queens and Queens make it.

[Extroheal]

But in Aliens vs Predator Prey it was said that drones could turn into queens when there were no queens around simply by shifting hormones.

[SiL]

Hence why novels/ comics aren't canon

[Kimarhi]

It would be difficult to fit all of the comics/novels into coninuity with each other, let alone with the movies.

I wouldn't really worry about it. 

[StrangeShape]

It would be difficult to fit all of the comics/novels into coninuity with each other, let alone with the movies.

I wouldn't really worry about it.

Actually the continuity within the Alien series is pretty good and the previous stories are often referenced. Royal Jelly thing stuck for many years, and while the Queen Mother dissapeared more or less after some long while, it was still referenced.

Anyway, as far as I know, Royal Jelly is a substance that comes from Queen Mother, thats why the Grant Corp went to get the Queen Mother on her homeplanet even tho there were many Queens and hives still present in some parts of Earth

[SM]

Pretty sure all Queens produce it - what with being Royal and all - but the really good stuff came from Queen Mothers.

[StrangeShape]

I think they changed it later on to get rid of the Queen Mother concept. I believe Harvest first showed a regular queen being the source of the jelly

[Xenomrph]

As far as I know they haven't "gotten rid of" the Queen Mother concept, it just haven't been referenced in recent stuff.

[StrangeShape]

Well yeah, thats pretty much what I meant

[Xenomrph]

Also worth mentioning: "royal jelly" is a real-world concept - queen bees, termites, and ants produce it and it essentially serves a similar function for them as it does for Aliens in the comics. Also it's basically Queen-spit.

[predxeno]

Here's a quote I made awhile back, hope it helps.

Xeno-Zip is a new kind of drug produced by the jelly that is excreted off of Alien Queens (royal jelly), sometimes the jelly is also taken off regular female aliens as shown in Aliens Harvest; it's street name is Fire.  Aliens Genocide shows that Xeno-Zip can provide one with longer endurance and stamina.  One racer even used it to outrun all his competition in a race, unfortunately he didn't get to enjoy his victory as he kept running into a bloody splatter as he slammed himself against the wall of the track.  Xeno-Zip is thus demonstrated to make the user over-confident and drive them into some sort of maniacal state.  In Aliens Harvest, it is said that Xeno-Zip can cause one to feel elation and some feel an orgasm that seems to last forever (wonder what that would feel like).  However, it may also cause personality changes.  It is also depicted in much of the EU that Aliens don't like it when humans take their jelly and they hold the jelly as the highest priority to the point where they even abandon opportunities to acquire hosts so they can retrieve stolen jelly.  In AVP2010, it isn't practical for Alien 6 to retrieve all the jelly that the humans took so she destroys the canisters they're in and the jelly seeps out and evaporates.  The consumption of royal jelly in its pure form is also depicted in Aliens Colonial Marines comic (not to be confused with the upcoming game) to be more potent than Xeno-Zip and thus have a greater effect than Xeno-Zip on the human body.

[Corporal Hicks]

I think they changed it later on to get rid of the Queen Mother concept. I believe Harvest first showed a regular queen being the source of the jelly

No, it definitely came from normal Queens in Genocide too. At least in the novelization because I remember them finding it during the introduction chapter for the marines on Earth.

[predxeno]

Royal Jelly can be found on all female Aliens, however those that come from Queens are the purest.

[StrangeShape]

I think they changed it later on to get rid of the Queen Mother concept. I believe Harvest first showed a regular queen being the source of the jelly

No, it definitely came from normal Queens in Genocide too. At least in the novelization because I remember them finding it during the introduction chapter for the marines on Earth.

I dont think so. In Genocide during conference theres live feed showing soldiers still fighting in different parts of the world and there are Queens present. An expensive and risky expedition to alien homeworld for royal jelly wouldnt make sense if regular queens still present on Earth could produce it
Also, Wyckoff specifically said that the royal jelly came to Earth with the Queen Mother

X The consumption of royal jelly in its pure form is also depicted in Aliens Colonial Marines comic (not to be confused with the upcoming game) to be more potent than Xeno-Zip and thus have a greater effect than Xeno-Zip on the human body.

In Harvest they also use pure royal jelly and dont mutate