Xenomorph Facehugger

Species

• Xenomorph XX121

Length

• 4ft

Width

• 1ft

Weight

• 9lbs

Skin Color

• Beige

Distinctions

• Dies after implantation is complete

The Facehugger, known taxonomically as Manumala noxhydria and designated "Stage 1" Xenomorph by Yutani scientists (and "Stage 2" by other sources), is a parasitoid form of the species Xenomorph XX121 that hatches from an Xenomorph Ovomorph - Egg. It is the second stage in the Xenomorph's life cycle, and exists solely to implant a Xenomorph Chestburster within a living host creature via their mouth. As such, it has no real offensive capabilities (beyond an ability to spit acid, which is generally only used to gain access to hosts and not for attack) and must rely on stealth, surprise or their victims being previously immobilized by an attacker to achieve implantation. Notably, a Facehugger dies shortly after its task has been completed.
Characteristics
The Facehugger greatly resembles a pair of skeletal hands fused together, with a spine-like tail. It has eight long, finger-like legs which allow it to crawl rapidly, and a long tail adapted for making great leaps. These particular appendages give it an appearance somewhat comparable to Chelicerate arthropods such as arachnids and horseshoe crabs. The underside of the Facehugger and its orifice (from which extends a proboscis used for delivering the Xenomorph embryo) noticeably resemble a human female's vagina.
A Facehugger's long digits allow it to move rapidly across all manner of surfaces and also grant the creature its crucial ability to "grip" a host's head during implantation. The spindly appearance of these digits should not be underestimated; they are incredibly strong, and have been known to tear the skin from the skulls of human victims when an attempt is made to remove them. Once the digits are gripped around a host's head, they are nearly impossible to remove and implantation is virtually guaranteed. A Facehugger's tail can propel the creature into huge leaps and is also used for additional grip around a host's neck during implantation. Facehuggers have even been known to use their tail to strangle potential hosts when attempts are made to remove them, sometimes fatally. Their potent acid blood further complicates any attempt at removal. Facehuggers are primarily beige in color, giving them a skin-like appearance.
Situated on either side of the creature's body at the base of the tail are a pair of bag-like bladder structures that are used to circulate air into the victims lungs during implantation. Underneath the Facehugger is a small orifice, from which the creature will extend a proboscis into the host's throat for implantation; this proboscis is around 50 to 60 centimeters in length. While fragile and ill-equipped for combat, Facehuggers' small size and rapid movement makes them adept at ambushing potential hosts, and also makes them difficult to kill. Facehuggers have been known to be used in an actively offensive role when transported by a Carrier.
Prior to detecting a host, Facehuggers are actually inert and lifeless within their [Xenomorph Ovomorph. When the Egg detects a host nearby, it will transfer all of the remaining bio-electric potential of its acidic blood to the Facehugger, and it is only then that the creature becomes "alive". The Egg will then open and the creature will launch itself at the victim.
Once outside of the Egg, Facehuggers use a similar set of thermoauditory senses as the adult Xenomorph to track and close in on their prey. Typically, Facehuggers rely on the curiosity or ignorance of the potential host to draw them near to the Egg prior to release, thereby allowing for a lightning-fast pounce that gives the victim virtually no time to escape. However, they are more than capable of pursuing a fleeing host, an act they will carry out with relentless persistence; Facehuggers will chase down their prey with little consideration for their own safety or survival. They are adept climbers and jumpers, using these abilities to quickly overwhelm their victims before they can react. Although Facehuggers can survive outside of their Egg without implanting for a period of time – up to 120 hours has been recorded – this is not thought to be common.
Facehuggers are not deterred in the least by their host's death should it happen despite their determination in getting to them in the first place, they will simply detach from the body and will chase the nearest living suitable host. However, the window for this chance depends on whether or not the parasite had already "implanted" it's host given that most Facehuggers will eventually die afterwards, the creature will be rendered useless.
Being submerged does not appear to affect their ability to operate. They are also capable of healing incredibly quickly, cuts and lacerations closing within minutes without leaving any trace of permanent scarring.
Subduing a host
When a Facehugger initially senses a nearby host, it will attempt to attach to and subdue them. Once in range, the Facehugger will leap towards the host's face, often with alarming force and accuracy, and immediately wrap its tail around their neck and its digits around their skull.
Once securely in place, the Facehugger rapidly renders the host unconscious using a cyanose-based paralytic chemical, administered simply through skin contact. The delivery mechanism is dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a compound used for exactly this kind of transdermal drug delivery in human medicine. Studies done on Facehugger victims at Hadley's Hope revealed that one of the sedatives administered is a neuromuscular toxin, and once this has been metabolized, the victim wakes up. The sedative is extremely effective, capable of rendering an adult human comatose within seconds. The use of paralytic chemical compounds for sedation would imply that the Facehugger (or perhaps the Egg it resides within) is somehow able to determine a potential host's body mass and composition, so as to ascertain a correct dose of toxin; if the dose was either too low or too high, the host may not be affected at all, or could suffer toxic shock and die. Conversely, the chances of the chemical dose being sub-optimal may play a role in the selection process, as it would prevent the Facehugger from impregnating a host of insufficient body mass to support the Xenomorph embryo. The Facehugger's propensity for chemical attack is further seen in its ability to chemically suppress the host's immune system during implantation, to prevent the host's own defensive systems attacking the embryonic Xenomorph Chestburster. This is achieved using an immunosuppressive substance similar to azathioprine.
While the primary method of subduing the host is chemical, Facehuggers can also use their tail, wrapped around the victim's throat, to induce asphyxiation. For example, should a potential host attempt to interfere with or block the Facehugger attaching to the head in some way, thereby preventing the typical chemical sedatives from being administered, the creature will simply use its tail to choke the victim until they are either too weak to resist or they lose consciousness altogether. This method is noticeably slower, however. The strength of the Facehugger's tail has been described as being comparable to a boa constrictor; even Chimpanzees, with their markedly superior strength relative to humans, are unable to pry it loose.
It also seems that not all victims of Facehuggers are rendered unconscious. It has been theorized that hosts cocooned in a Hive may not be rendered unconscious simply out of redundancy, owing to their inability to move or fight back. This may explain why many cocooned victims are aware that they have been impregnated and request to be killed, whereas others attacked in the open have no memory of their ordeal.
Whilst subdued, victims have been known to experience vivid and distressing dreams, often concerning smothering of the face. It is unknown if this is directly linked to the Facehugger's presence, although given the typical subject matter, it seems likely. Such dreams may not be universal to all victims.
Given the size of a Facehugger, humans, Predators or other humanoid-sized victims are the most compatible hosts. It has been suggested that a Facehugger would likely not be able to use a host smaller than a cat. However, there is evidence that even Engineers, which are significantly larger than humans, have been impregnated by a Facehugger. Similarly, it is not unknown for oxen to be successfully impregnated by Facehuggers. Facehuggers are also known to attach to Oswocs, Kurns and Kritics. It is possible that a Facehugger does not need to entirely envelop a host's head to implant a Xenomorph, but merely needs to subdue it and insert its proboscis through the host's mouth.
As the Xenomorph species has occasionally been likened to ants, one theory is that Facehuggers may attack larger hosts in swarms, akin to warrior ants, or with assistance from other adult Xenomorphs. Presumably several creatures would subdue the host while another implants the Xenomorph Chestburster. There have been recorded cases of adult Xenomorphs pinning victims to the ground so that a Facehugger may then attach to them without fear of retaliation.
Implantation process
Once a Facehugger is securely attached to a host, it inserts its proboscis down the victim's throat. This proboscis both supplies the host with suitable atmosphere for breathing and also implants the beginnings of a Xenomorph embryo in their esophagus, a process that takes several hours. It was originally theorized that the proboscis was also used to administer the sedative to subdue its host, however, further studies seemed to conclude that simple skin contact between the host and the underside of the parasite was the primary method.
There have been multiple theories regarding the 'impregnation process' and what it is that the Facehugger implants into its host. The first and initially the most common theory was that once subdued, the host's esophagus is invaded with the parasite's proboscis, which allows the facehugger to implant an embryo. This is also accompanied by a chemical mutagen which may allow for a 'placenta' to form in the host. The main contention with the embryo theory was that since Xenomorph Chestburster gestate within the chest cavity of the host, there would be no access to that area from within the stomach or esophagus, which would be where an embryo would be deposited.
Another theory was that the Facehugger implants some sort of cellular cluster or tumors that would force the hosts body to construct the Xenomorph Chestburster within them, thereby explaining how the Xenomorph Chestburster can be gestating where it is, as the host body grows it.
The third and what is currently accepted is that the Facehugger does not in fact implant an embryonic Xenomorph in the true sense of the word; no fetus is introduced into the body. Instead, the Facehugger deposits a mutegenic substance known as Plagiarus praepotens into the host's esophagus. This mutagen brings about a restructuring of the host's cells, essentially causing the host's body to assemble the Xenomorph Chestburster at a cellular level from its own biological material. Implantation takes only a few hours, although the Facehugger may remain attached to the host for some time afterwards to ensure the Xenomorph Chestburster is secure; this can be from as little as twenty minutes up to sixteen hours. How the Facehugger knows when to detach is unclear, although it has been theorized that the developing embryo sends a recombinant plasmid pulse to inform the parasite when it is secure.
During implantation, Facehuggers are not only able to determine a suitable atmosphere mix for the host to breathe, they are also capable of providing this mixture even in an otherwise unsuitable environment. It is thought that the creature supplies suitable atmosphere by breaking down molecules found in the ambient environment and rearranging them into the appropriate compounds before feeding them into the host's lungs; in the case of oxygen-breathing organisms such as humans, the Facehugger is capable of extracting oxygen from gaseous oxide compounds in the air, such as carbon dioxide. It is unknown if the creature is capable of performing this action in locations that lack an extant atmosphere, such as space, although there has been at least one notable incident where a victum was kept alive by a Facehugger despite a loss of atmosphere.
While there are no external signs of what is happening to the host during the implantation process, in some cases the host has been known to develop a fever and even sweat profusely. It is possible this reaction is a result of the host's immune system attempting to fight off the foreign element being introduced into the body. Paralyzed hosts have also been known to display muscle twitches or spasms while unconscious.
Removal
While Facehuggers have been removed before embryo implantation has taken place, the process is ostensibly fatal for the host. The Facehugger's combination of vice-like grip, its ability to administer sedative chemicals and its highly acidic blood makes them almost impossible to safely remove. Additionally, their outer skin is known to harden shortly after emerging from the Egg, becoming chitinous, similar to the exoskeleton of the later, adult stages of the creature's life cycle, affording the Facehugger an increased resistance to physical trauma.
For example, if a Facehugger senses it is likely to be detached by external forces, it will invariably kill the host rather than allow them to survive. They are also capable of killing their victims with direct strangulation, while some have even been known to use their proboscis to inflict terminal internal injuries to the host when threatened with removal. Attempting to terminate the Facehugger before removal, in order to avoid any such assault on the host, is also likely to prove fatal thanks to the creature's highly acidic blood or simply by way of collateral damage. Even in the very early stages of an attack, before the Facehugger is securely attached to the potential host, very few victims have managed to remove the creature before being subdued. Even Yautja and Engineers (both being notoriously strong) are apparently unable to fend one off once it is attached. It is possible a Facehugger's legs may "lock" once wrapped around a host's head, possibly in a manner similar to rigor mortis, which would make simply pulling it off almost impossible. While a victim could conceivably lift the creature off like a helmet, the Facehugger's powerful tail prevents this.
Aftermath
Once the embryonic Xenomorph is secure, the Facehugger will detach from the host and subsequently die. It is not known how long a Facehugger can survive after implantation is complete; some Facehuggers have been found dead directly alongside their hosts, or even still attached to the host's face, while others have been known to crawl away and apparently even hide before dying. Hosts are often left with no memory of the Facehugger's attack, a possible side-effect of the chemicals it administers to them. They may also experience post-implantation symptoms including extreme hunger, sore throat, dry mouth, nausea, nosebleeds and chest pains, although these may not be present in all victims, and some individuals have been known to display no outward symptoms whatsoever until the Xenomorph Chestburster inside them begins to emerge. Some hosts have also complained about a bitter taste in their mouth or that their mouths feel strange.
Intelligence
Facehuggers do not appear to possess any higher form of intelligence like their adult Xenomorph counterparts, which is especially evident in their single-mindedness and relentlessness while in pursuit of a host, even when at obvious risk of death. However, at the very least they seem to possess a sense of cunning, and have been known to ambush their victims at opportune moments, such as when they are distracted, alone or otherwise vulnerable. They also seem to possess an ability to gauge how much acid to use when melting through helmets or other obstructions to reach a victim's face without causing the host itself physical harm, given that victims never seem to be harmed or have any acid burns upon their faces after implantation. It is also possible that the acid secreted by Facehuggers neutralizes at a much faster rate than typical Xenomorph blood, considering the lack of damage to hosts.
Facehuggers also seem to have at least some ability to analyze the threat a host may pose to their own safety, and will adjust their methods of attack as a result. For instance, they will move aggressively when attacking hosts that can defend themselves, but are more nonchalant and methodical when their victim is cocooned or otherwise immobilized, or even willingly allowing themselves to be impregnated.
Royal Facehugger
The Royal Facehugger has the ability to lay a Queen embryo inside a host, as well as a further standard embryo inside a second host, a tactic designed to give the unborn Queen an immediate "bodyguard" in the form of a normal Drone. The necessity of a Royal Facehugger in creating a Queen has never been definitive – many sources show standard Facehuggers to be capable of creating a Queen. Given that the Xenomorph species is adaptive in so many ways, this may well be plausible.
Engineered Facehugger
These genetically engineered Facehuggers will attach to a host as usual, but then parasitically fuse with it, linking it to the Hive mind, thus creating an Infectoid. The Infected move in a zombie-like fashion. If one infects a Yautja Hunter, it will attack anything unlinked to the Hive that moves.