
The second largest is the Praetorian, the Royal Guards of the Queen. The largest Xenomorph is the Queen, which produces a Hive. The Xenomorph species also differs in the size and the headcrest. Mortal Kombat X also follows this by producing the first Tarkatan-born Xenomorph exclusive to the Mortal Kombat series. Predator after a Xenomorph is born from a Predator in the film's ending, called a Predalien. This is seen in the third film, ALIEN³, with the Alien being born from a dog, or ox, and in Alien vs. The uniqueness of this process is that the Xenomorph takes on traits based on the host. Impregnating the host with an embryo, the Facehugger then dies and the Xenomorph, in this stage called a Chestburster, erupts from the host's chest and grows into adulthood. Acting as a sort of parasitic organism that requires a host to grow, it starts out in an egg, or Ovomorph, that hatches into a Facehugger that will then attach itself to a host. One of, if not the most iconic features of the Xenomorph is its life cycle.


While absent in the fifth film, Prometheus, a larger, modified version called a Praetomorph appears alongside a subspecies called the Neomorphs in its sequel Alien: Covenant. In the first and third films respectively, a lone Xenomorph serves as the primary antagonist, while in the second and fourth film, a hive of multiple Xenomorphs serve as the antagonistic catalyst for the story. The Alien is the primary antagonistic species of both its origin franchise and the shared Aliens vs.
