How does the Aliens Lifecycle Work? - Alien Romulus

The life cycle of the Alien Romulus Xenomorph from Alien Romulus is a complex process involving several distinct stages and the use of a living host organism as a vessel inside which the infant Xenomorph gestates. The cycle, and in particular the use of hosts that invariably perish when the infant Alien forces its way through their ribcage, is often considered the species' signature aspect and is a characteristic for which they are most well known.
The Xenomorph life cycle is comparable in many ways to certain insects found on Earth, which lay their eggs on live prey that are then consumed by the hatching larvae.
However, the cycle is at the same time unique in other aspects, particularly with regards to the manner in which the infant stage develops – instead of simply being implanted or laid as a fetus and growing within the host, the Alien is actually more akin to a cancerous growth that assembles itself using the host's own cells and biological material as building blocks. The corresponding transfer of genetic material, referred to as the DNA reflex, causes the physical attributes of the adult creature to vary.

Stage I: Ovomorph
The Ovomorph or “Egg” is considered to be the first stage of the Xenomorph's life cycle. Eggs are laid by a Queen and are large, oval-shaped, leathery objects between two to three feet high with a four-lobed opening at the top. As a potential host approaches, the Egg will sense them by some means, and its lobes will unfurl like flower petals, and the parasitic Facehugger exits from within, and attaches itself to the host.

Beyond artificially produced Ovomorphs, there are two ways an Egg can be produced, either birthed by a Queen via an eggsack, or through Eggmorphing.
Eggs produced by a Queen are naturally hardier and healthier than those created through Eggmorphing.

Stage II: Facehugger

A Facehugger is the second stage. As its name suggests, it attaches to a victim's face, and its sole purpose is to impregnate them orally with the beginnings of a Xenomorph embryo.
Upon making contact with a potential host, the Facehugger quickly renders them unconscious through the use of a cyanose-based paralytic chemical.
The Facehugger then inserts a proboscis down the host's throat, supplying it with suitable atmosphere whilst simultaneously implanting the next stage, the Chestburster.
Attempts to remove Facehuggers generally prove fatal, as the parasitoid will respond by tightening its grip and strangling the host; or while still comatose and the parasite removed, without the Facehugger to “breathe” for them, they will suffocate.
Also, the Facehugger's acidic blood prevents it from being safely cut away. Once the Aliens embryo is safely in place, the Facehugger detaches, crawls away and dies.

Stage III: Chestburster

Arguably the most biologically intriguing stage of the life cycle, the Chestburster is not implanted into the host as an embryo but is in fact akin to a cancerous growth; it begins as a tumour that causes the host's body to literally construct the infant creature from its own biological material.
This process causes the developing embryo to take on some of the host's physical traits via a process known as the DNA Reflex, including bipedalism, quadrupedalism or even possessing the mandibles of a Predator.
Within 24 hours, sometimes longer in the case of a Queen, the tumour develops into a Chestburster, at which point the creature emerges, violently ripping open the chest of the host, killing it.
Owing to its cancerous nature, Chestburster development is typically fatal for the host even if the organism itself is surgically removed.
Immediately after the Chestburster erupts from the body of its host, it will typically flee and find a secure location in which to molt into its adult form – at this stage in its life, the Xenomorph is in fact quite vulnerable. Initially, the Chestburster is less than 1 foot tall. However, it soon undergoes a dramatic growth spurt, reaching adult size in a matter of hours; aboard the Nostromo, the infant Alien grew to be over 7 feet in height by the time the crew located it again.

Stage IV: Cocoon

Once birthed, and it has found a suitable hiding spot, the infant Alien will cocoon itself in a protective material, where it will undergo metamorphosis into an adult, growing at an exponential rate from 1 feet tall to over 7 feet in a matter of minutes to a short few hours.

Stage V: Drone

The big chap alien Drone is the most basic and common form of Xenomorph found in the Hive. They serve as both the species' primary assault caste and the gatherers of new hosts for impregnation.

This article uses material from the Xenopedia wiki at Fandom and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

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