Aliens are fairly agile, an advantage that is increased by their ability to cling to most surfaces and their prodigious leaps. Their partially silicate structure provides them with considerable strength, enough to fatally injure a human being with a single blow or tear light steel. For this same reason, their armored exoskeletons are very tough, being able to deflect small arms fire at oblique angles and provide above-average resistance to extremely high temperatures, but once compromised their internal organs are somewhat fragile. Indeed a sufficiently violent impact (such as a machine gun burst) may shatter an Alien’s body due to its crystalline structure. While they do not see light in the visible spectrum, they do have many other advanced senses including infrared vision and extraordinary hearing.

Below - alien Queen

In addition to providing a balance weight for their acrobatics, the Aliens’ tails have stingers that can inject a paralyzing toxin into grappled prey, allowing them to be taken back to the hive with minimal struggle. They sometimes attack their prey with a secondary jaw that can extend approximately 12 inches out of their mouth, striking much like a Terran rattlesnake (note: this can be represented in game mechanics as a standard Critical Blow as it is usually aimed at a target’s head).

Much of the ubiquity of the Aliens is due to their remarkable ability to survive in most environments. In addition to their previously-noted protective advantages, they can function in most any atmospheric or liquid environment and can even continue to function in vacuum for brief periods. If conditions are too harsh or no prey is nearby, the Aliens will go into hibernation until conditions change.

Though they are not self-aware in human terms, they are highly cunning and display disturbingly intelligent predatory behavior. They will carefully maneuver to cut off individuals from a group before attacking and will often try to kill any Alphas (the group member perceived to be dominant).

History

The origin of the Aliens is unknown. It is not even certain whether or not the Aliens are a natural lifeform or if they are the product of genetic engineering by unknown, probably non-human, parties.

The first recorded contact with the Aliens as an infestation aboard a ship piloted by another alien species. They were presumed to be cargo aboard that ship, though that assumption may be erroneous. Humans have visited a planet that may have been the Aliens’ homeworld in at least one account, but these events may have been apocryphal and even if they did occur the planet in question may not have been the Aliens’ true place of origin. Though they have no technology to speak of, the Aliens have been encountered on many different occasions on a wide range of worlds and starships because of their incredible ability to infiltrate and infest populations.

Description

Aliens are 2-meter tall, glossy insectile/biomechanical beings. Aliens are usually black, but may sometimes be a dark reddish brown. They take on the general body type of the their host (humanoid, quadrupedal, etc.), but always have an elongated skull (shaped like an upside down canoe, sometimes smooth, sometimes ridged like an exposed spinal column) and a long skeletal tail. Aliens usually have four S-shaped tubular spines on their back in parallel rows of two ; the function of these spines is unknown, but may be part of their resin-secretion. Their teeth are chrome-colored, as is the cartilaginous “tongue” that they can extend from their mouth.

The last two illustrations are Predaliens ; the rest are normal Aliens.

Personality

As noted in the Facehugger write-up, an Alien adult begin its life cycle as an implant in a host. When an embryo reaches maturity —- usually 24 hours after implantation — the Alien tunnels its way out of the host’s body. The so-called chestburster grows rapidly, reaching full size (roughly equivalent to a large human) in a matter of hours. A Chestbursters will avoid contact with other lifeforms until reaching maturity, but it will explore its environment as much as possible. Thus, by the time it reaches adulthood or soon afterward, it will be completely familiar with the surrounding area.

Once mature, an Alien adult’s behavior varies depending on the situation. A single Adult with no other Aliens nearby will capture hosts one by one and inject them with a special enzyme that turns them into Facehugger eggs. An adult that senses embryonic Aliens nearby will do the same, while protecting implanted hosts until the Chestbursters are born. In either case, one of the eggs will mutate into a Queen Facehugger egg (see Queen entry), thus eventually establishing a hive. If a hive already exists, the adult will head toward it to join the swarm.

Once an adult Alien joins with or builds a hive, its behavior from then on becomes fairly simple. Its first priority is to protect the hive. Its second priority will be to capture suitable hosts for implantation. 

DC Universe History

The Aliens have had crossovers with several other universes, including the DCU. Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern have encountered the creatures on numerous occasions, both on Earth and on planets as far away as Apokolips.