The
Xenomorphs- that is, the
aliens from the movie
Alien and its sequels- are partially so named because they pass through an
insectile variety of forms during their
life cycle. Having just finished watching the movie, I decided to
node what I now know. And so, it all starts like this...
Egg: The Xenomorph starts out as an
egg. It does, in fact, bear some resemblance to a
terrestrial egg, being
oval in shape, but instead of cracking open, a sort of
seal at the top opens into four '
petals'. These eggs are very
durable, and the
embryo inside can remain
viable for
indefinite amounts of time.
Facehugger: The first stage of the
newly-hatched Xenomorph is the
facehugger. This name is rather
self-explanatory, since the first stage involves leaping from the egg to latch onto a
host's face, wrapping itself around him and inserting a
tube into his throat. The host (if
human, at least) enters a
coma, in which he stays until time for stage two.
(Unnamed?): This stage, stage two, is a very brief sort of
commensalistic symbiosis. The facehugger has fallen off and
died, leaving a sort of embryo inside the host. During this stage, the host
awakens from his coma and eats as much as possible until the Xenomorph has enough
energy and
nutrients for stage three.
Chestburster: During stage three, the Xenomorph '
hatches' from its host and begins to grow into its
adult form. Like stage two, it spends
relatively little time in this stage, having already
gathered most of the
requirements for full growth. Stage three begins with the Xenomorph
erupting rather violently from within its host, then attempting to find a safe place to grow.
Adult: This is the stage that most
commonly comes to mind when thinking of a Xenomorph. It's basically a
humanoid, taller than most humans, with an elongated, eyeless
head (though perhaps containing some
sensory organs),
claw-tipped limbs, and a long
prehensile tail.