The Xenomorph

Overview

The Alien, known for the film franchise of the same name, is a playable guest character in Mortal Kombat X.

About the Alien

The Alien, or officially known as Xenomorph XX121, is the primary antagonistic species of the Alien film franchise.

The Alien is a recurring major threat, and while its exact characteristics and appearance change between movies, it remains one of the most dangerous creatures in the known universe.

The Xenomorph's life-cycle is arguably their most iconic feature; they start life as an egg (or Ovomorph) laid by the monstrous Queen. When a living being that isn't one of their own comes into physical contact or close range within the egg's radius, it will "hatch" and reveal the spider-like Facehugger. The Facehugger's purpose is to attach itself to the victim's face and orally transmit a Xenomorph embryo down the victim's throat. The victim remains in a comatose state during the process, which can take several hours - once the process is complete, the Facehugger will detach itself and die. Gestation of the embryo is usually incredibly quick, ranging from a few hours to a day for it to fully develop.

Once the new Alien is ready to hatch, it will violently force itself through the host's rib cage and tear itself out of their chest (which has led to this stage being called a Chestburster). The larval Alien promptly flees from its host and seeks out a safe hiding spot as it rapidly molts into a fully-grown Xenomorph. The resulting adult can take on a variety of unique forms, depending on the species it was incubated in.

Xenomorphs are immensely hostile and aggressive towards other life-forms. In most cases, they will either immediately attack other creatures on sight or take them to their nest for harvesting, but they may also stalk their prey for a time in order to ambush them later. Life-forms that are not suitable for harvest are usually killed. The entire Xenomorph species lives to propagate itself by using any lifeforms in whatever ecosystem they've infected to grow their numbers and spread even further. Every nest usually contains a Queen that will instruct the other Xenomorphs on their duties, acting somewhat like a hive mind - larger nests may also include Praetorians, advanced Alien variants that protect the nest from intruders. Regardless, they are still able to function without a Queen. If a Queen were to die or be killed, a Praetorian is known to assume leadership of the hive and eventually molt into a new Queen.

Aliens are also known for their constant association with the Yautja species (better known as Predators). The latter views the Aliens as the "ultimate prey"; those few hunters who survive encounters with the Xenomorphs receive great praise from fellow Predators.

Much like with humans, animals and more recently, Tarkatans, the Xenomorphs have been know to produce Predator-spawned Xenomorphs, commonly known as a Predalien. Although these have been seen, they are extremely rare. The Predalien hybrid takes visual characteristics of its Yautja host, baring mandibles and the "dreadlocks" along with clawed hands while looking much like a larger Xenomorph drone. This hybrid is a deadly organism when created, being able to knock back and pin a Predator with ease and able to kill humans and even Xenomorphs with almost no effort. Only one has been seen with the ability to create a hive, but unlike a Queen that lays eggs, it produces embryos. The Predalien extends its mandibles around the host's face and inserts its inner jaw into their mouth and down their throat to implant the embryo, similar to that of a Facehugger. However unlike a Facehugger that implants its victim with a single embryo, a Predalien is able to produce up to six embryos in one human body by regurgitating them down the host's throat. These hybrids are known to be smaller than a regular Xenomorph Queen, but much larger than both a regular Xenomorph and Predator.

Only one Predator, an elite classed warrior named Wolf, has been know to successfully combat a Predalien. However, their fight ended in a stalemate due to the United States government detonating a nuclear missile on the town that became infected by a Xenomorph infestation.

In Mortal Kombat X, for the reveal trailer for Kombat Pack 2, a Xenomorph is depicted being born from Baraka. In the arcade, it is depicted as being born from a random Tarkatan warrior, creating a new, and exclusively unique variation of the Alien.

Appearance

The Alien retains its standard bio-mechanical skeletal appearance carried over from its namesake series, retaining the black chitinous hide, ribbed sides, double-fingers, inner-jaws, and segmented tail with barbed tip, but also possesses several noticeable differences from the classic look of the creature.

The Alien is much bulkier in comparison to the leaner figure of the standard Drone and Warrior castes of the film series, with the tube like protrusions emerging from its back being much shorter than normal. The elongated cylindrical skull is also much shorter, almost spherical, and the Alien possesses more exposed fanged teeth along its mouth, one of the more obvious inheritances it takes up from its Tarkatan host, including Baraka's cheek spikes.

The most obvious physical distinction this Alien has when compared to its film counterparts are the ridged 'sheathes' along its forearms that hold its Tarkatan Blades. Unlike the smooth, sword-like standard Tarkatan Blades, the Alien's are segmented like its tail and have the same dark coloring of its chitinous hide. While the head of the Alien has been depicted as the smooth style of the original Drone caste, its Tarkatan variation gives it the ridged head of the Warrior caste and its Konjurer variant gives it the larger crest of a Praetorian.

Biography

Mortal Kombat X: The Xenomorphs had descended on Outworld long ago, but the dormant eggs they left behind were only recently found. The leader of the Tarkatan patrol had picked up one of the leathery orbs, only to have it burst open and its occupant latch itself to his face. Later, after the "facehugger" had fallen off, the Alien progeny burst from the unfortunate Tarkatan's chest, bearing characteristics of both Xenomorph and host. It eluded the rest of the Tarkatan soldiers and eventually killed them. The creature now roams Outworld, looking for more hosts. Its amazing strength and animal fury make Alien almost unstoppable.

Combat characteristics

Powers and abilities

Xenomorphs are structurally superior to most other lifeforms. They possess great strength, speed and agility, the ability to stick to walls, a cunning intelligence, and most notably, highly corrosive blood, giving them an incredible defense mechanism. These traits have led many to identify the species as the "perfect organism." Because of this, many humans have attempted to try to control and use them for their own personal gain, usually for military weapons.

The Tarkatan-born Xenomorph retains all of these traits as well as a new feature; segmented blades located in sheathe-like appendages on its forearms. These blades are used to rip, slice and impale targets. As with every Xenomorph, this specimen also has an "inner jaw" in which it can shoot out of its mouth at great speeds, capable of effortlessly punching a hole though tissue and bone.

Signature moves

Tail Flip: The Alien jumps in the air, while simultaneously rolling into a ball. It uses this form to squash the opponent. The move can also be used mid-air. (MKX)
- The enhanced version is called Tail Slam, which does more damage and makes the opponent bounce, allowing players to extend their combo.
Xeno Strike: The Alien pounces onto the opponent and claws at them three times, before biting them in the shoulder. It then jumps off them. If the Alien is in the Tarkatan variation, it will use its arm-blades to attack the opponent instead, though the damage output is the same. (MKX)
- The enhanced version is called Xeno Pounce, in which at the end the Alien uses its Tarkatan blades to impale the opponent and slide them to the far end of the stage.
Tail Snag: The Alien wraps its tail around the opponent's legs and downs them. (MKX)
- The enhanced version is called Tail Slam, which has the Alien trip the opponent and then impale the opponent's gut with its tail. It then lifts them up and throws them away.
Low Krawl: The Alien crawls to the back side of the opponent, inflicting damage in the side area. (MKX)
- The enhanced version is called Quick Dash, which is quicker and the Xenomorph doesn't go too far, allowing players to make or continue a combo.
Exo Sting: Using its acid-oozing tail, the Alien flings acid onto the opponent, which does damage over time. This can be done in the air as well. (MKX - Acidic Variation)
- The enhanced versions are called Exo Splash, in which the Alien shoots two acid sprays instead of one.
Acid Blood: The Alien claws at its dome, creating a puddle of acid on the floor. The move can also flinch the opponent. The Alien will lose a small amount of health after performing this attack. (MKX - Acidic Variation)
- The enhanced version is called Erosive Blood, which has the Alien claw at its chest after it claws its dome, causing heaps of acid blood to gush out onto the floor. The Alien loses the same amount of health during the enhanced version.
Ovomorph: The Alien spawns an Alien egg. Inputting the command for Ovomorph again or if the opponent is in close proximity of the egg causes a Facehugger to come out. It latches onto the opponent's face, knocking the opponent out. This can be summoned from afar or near the player. (MKX - Konjurer Variation)
- The enhanced versions are called Advanced Ovomorph, which spawns the egg faster. The egg also has a much larger radius.
Drone Drop: The Alien roars loudly, which summons a Drone that jumps onto the opponent, knocking them down. This can also be done from afar or near the Alien. (MKX - Konjurer Variation)
- The enhanced versions are called Drone Slams, which bounces the opponent, allowing the player to continue combos.
Tarkatan Rush: The Alien uses its Tarkatan Blades to stab the opponent. The Player is then allowed to continue the attack, by either doing Painful Slam, Blade Sweep, or Nail and Impale. (MKX - Tarkatan Variation)
- Straight Slice: After slicing its opponent overhead, the Alien then stabs the opponent. This attack is required in order to continue the Tarkatan rush and finish with three of the following moves:
- Painful Slam: After using Straight Slice, the Alien jumps up and slams its claws against the opponent's shoulder as an overhead.
- Blade Sweep: After using Straight Slice, the Alien uses its blades to sweep the opponent's legs as a low.
- Nail and Impale: After using Straight Slice, the Alien impales its opponent, lifts them up, then slams them onto the ground, doing the most damage. The enhanced version does more damage and pops up the opponent, allowing extension of combos.
- The enhanced version of Tarkatan Rush is Tarkatan Fury, which does more damage. The player can also delay each upcoming attack if the enhanced version is used.
Chop Chop: Using its Tarkatan Blades, the Alien spins its arms around in a helicopter-esque fashion, dealing damage, similar to its Tarkatan host. (MKX - Tarkatan Variation)
- The enhanced version is called Chop Chop Shop, in which at the end, the Alien impales the opponent in the gut with its tail, then throws them away. It also allows the player to throw the opponent in the opposite direction.
Blade Spin: The Alien uses its blades and spins around, damaging the opponent then sweeps them of the floor with its tail. (MKX - Tarkatan Variation)
- The enhanced version is called Spinner, which shows instead of the Alien sweeping the opponent, it uses its tail to slam onto the opponent's head, bouncing them up.

Other Moves

Throw: The Alien grabs its opponent and bites them on the neck. It then uses its tail to stab its opponent through the jaw, then it throws them away. (MKX)
Bladed Sting: The Alien stabs its tail in an upward, diagonal fashion to strike the opponent's head. (MKX)
Sizzle Strike: The Alien stabs its tail in an upward, diagonal fashion, spraying acid at the opponent's face. If its tail successfully hits, the opponent will take minor damage over time. (MKX - Acidic Variation)
Corrosive Sting: The Alien crouches and stabs at the opponent's ankles with its tail spraying acid in the process. If it successfully hits, the opponent will take very minor damage over time. (MKX - Acidic Variation)
Xeno Krush: The Alien pounces forward, clawing at the opponent and bounces the opponent, allowing for continued combos. (MKX)
Blade Krush: The Alien pounces forward with it's Tarkatan blades drawn, giving it more range to strike and bounces the opponent, allowing for continued combos. Connecting a jump punch before using this attack will turn the attack into Xeno Krush. (MKX - Tarkatan Variation)

X-Ray Move:

Survival: After stabbing the opponent in the gut with its blades, the Alien then proceeds to stab it multiple times in the chest with its tail, breaking several ribs. It stabs him/her yet again, but this time, the Alien lifts the opponent over itself, slamming his opponent's face on the ground, breaking their jaw. The Alien then slowly crawls onto its opponent's back, grabbing their head, then headbites it with its inner jaw, going through the skull.

Fatalities

Killer Queen: The screen fades to black for a moment, and then the opponent is suddenly impaled through the chest by a Xenomorph Queen's tail. The Queen moves in closer and puts her hands on the opponent's shoulders while simultaneously stabbing her tail even further through the chest. Then finally, after snarling, the Queen completely tears the opponent in half, leaving both the upper body and lower body to fall on the ground. (MKX)
Deadly Hybrid: The Alien extends its blades, and stabs the opponent while lifting them up, in a similar fashion to Baraka's Blade Lift Fatality. The Alien then uses its inner jaw to impale the opponent's head, before dropping their body onto the ground. (MKX)

Brutalities

Brutality #1 - Slash and Bash: The Alien pulls the opponent's legs off with his tail, then proceeds to stab them in the gut, lift them up, and throw their lifeless body away. (MKX)
Brutality #2 - Little Head: The Alien proceeds to bite the opponents neck twice. It then looks at its opponent one final time before its inner jaw shoots out, going through their mouth. (MKX)
Brutality #3 - Acid Burn: After jumping in the air, the Alien propels acid towards the opponent, burning their face off instantly. (MKX - Acidic variation)
Brutality #4 - Alien Baby: After summoning an Alien egg, the Facehugger comes out of it, latching onto the opponent's face. The opponent struggles for a bit, before getting knocked out. The Facehugger then dies and a Chestburster bursts out of the opponent's chest. After a few seconds, it jumps out and crawls away. If there is no room for the Chestburster to escape, it will remain sticking out of the host's body. (MKX - Konjurer variation)
Brutality #5 - The Slicer: Using its Tarkatan blades, The Alien spins his arms around like a helicopter, while in front of the opponent, cutting off their arms. After that, it uses its tail to stab its opponent in the gut, killing them, then throws their dead body away. (MKX - Tarkatan variation)

Ending

Mortal Kombat X: "The Alien tore through Shinnok's flesh, reducing him to a bloody pulp. The creature then returned to its nest in Outworld. It continued to venture forth looking for suitable hosts for use in establishing a new hive. The Alien found more than a few intriguing species and dragged them back to its lair. Once a queen had been spawned, the Alien's new hive multiplied quickly and spread unchecked throughout the realm. Emperor Kotal Kahn attempted to save Outworld in a desperate final attack on the Aliens' main nesting ground. The attack failed. Outworld belonged to the Aliens."

Trivia

The Alien is the fifth horror movie guest character featured in the Mortal Kombat series after Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, the Predator, and Leatherface.
- The Alien is the second guest character to come from a science-fiction horror franchise, the first being the Predator while the latter are from the traditional slasher horror genre.
With the release of Mortal Kombat XL, in a technical sense, the Alien is the second Tarkatan featured in the game, the first being Mileena.
- While some characters, like Raiden and Bo' Rai Cho, who clearly notice its Tarkatan traits during interactions with the Alien, Mileena seems to be completely unaware of this.
  - Additionally, the Alien is the second extraterrestrial character featured in the game, the first being its rival and fellow guest character, the Predator.
The Alien, in a technical sense, is the third Tarkatan that is playable in the series, the first being Baraka and the second Mileena who both debuted in Mortal Kombat II. However, unlike the latter, the Alien is non-canon.
- The Alien is also the second playable Tarkatan that is not a purebred Tarkatan like Baraka, instead, it is a genetic hybrid; a Xenomorph born from a Tarkatan. The first was Mileena, who was a genetic experiment created by Shao Kahn's will.
While the other guest characters have minor rivals in the arcade, the Alien is the only guest character to have a rival that is also a guest character and be an enemy to an entire realm.
- Unlike Jason Voorhees and Leatherface whose rivals are Liu Kang and Cassie Cage respectively, the Alien's main rival is fellow guest character Predator and the entire realm of Outworld.
Interestingly, when the player chooses any of the Alien's variations except for the Tarkatan variation, the Alien's play style fits that of a regular Xenomorph from the movies; crawling, pouncing, tail attacks, etc. But when its Tarkatan variation is selected, many of its basic attacks alter in place for the Tarkatan armblades, resembling more of the Tarkatan in it.
The manner in which the Xenomorph Queen stabs through the opponent and tears them in half in Killer Queen is directly referencing the method in which a Xenomorph Queen dispatched the android Bishop in Aliens.
Despite the Alien's highly corrosive blood, its opponent will not die in a finisher that involves ingesting its blood, plunging body parts into its body, having its blood splash all over them, biting them, or any contact with the Alien's blood.
Many of the Alien's combo names are references to the first two movies of the franchise:
- Kombos Here Kitty, Kitty, Lucky Star, Narcissus, Zeta II, Special Orders, Kane's Son, Warning Beacon, S.O.S. and Break Quarantine are all references to the first movie Alien whilst the combo Bug Hunt is a reference to the second, Aliens.
A Shokan Xenomorph can be seen during its ending, with Goro seen hanging behind the Alien. There is also a pair of Aliens that appear to have been birthed from Ferra and Torr.
When the Predator performs his Skinned Alive Brutality on Alien, it will be decapitated instead due to its exoskeleton.
- When Cassie Cage performs her Pop Goes Brutality on Alien, its inner jaw will pop out of its mouth.
When the Alien wins a match without a Fatality or Brutality, it walks up to the screen, which then goes to black. The opponent is shown trapped and bound in an Alien nest, grunting in pain before a newly-born Xenomorph bursts through their chest, killing them. This makes the Alien one of three characters in Mortal Kombat X who will always kill the opponent after a match, the others being Corrupted Shinnok and the Predator.
Depending on the opponent, the Chestburster that appears post-match or in the Alien Baby Brutality may take on a different appearance from it standard form depending on the opponent.
- When used on the Predator, the chestburster is a Predalien from the Alien vs. Predator crossover franchise.
- When used on Tremor, the chestburster is not covered in blood and has rock-like skin.
- When used on its Mirror Match and Mileena, the chestburster has a Takartan's large fangs and little cheek spikes, and spikes on its sides.
- If the Alien Baby brutality is used on Jason Voorhees, holding down on the D-Pad causes the chestburster that comes out to have a hockey mask. However, this does not happen in the Alien's outro.
- If the Alien Baby brutality is used on Triborg or Raiden, holding down on the D-Pad causes the resulting Chestburster to be wreathed in electricity. As with Jason, this does not occur in the Alien's outro.
- Most of the MKX roster will have a special chestburster coming out of them, like Johnny Cage's with sunglasses, Kung Lao's with his hat, and Sub-Zero with his ice mask. This only occurs in the Alien Baby brutality.
While the Alien is hermaphroditic, the announcer will still tell its opponent to "Finish Him" when it's defeated.
It is called "Xenomorph" only by Shinnok.
- Many of the characters will refer to it as "Alien". This may just be instinct as none of them assume it could be from another realm such as Outworld or the Netherrealm.
- Many immediately assume it is an extraterrestrial creature.
While its Acidic and Tarkatan crest represent the Warriors and the Drones seen in the Alien film franchise, the Konjurer crest, which represents the Royal Guards of the Xenomorph Queen known as the Praetorian, has yet to be seen in the movies.
- Interestingly, if a Queen dies, a Praetorian can take over as a new Queen, which can be why the Konjurer variation can spawn eggs and call in Drones for support, although this could be more towards the Queen nature rather than the Praetorian nature.
The Alien is the only character, if Ferra/Torr and Triborg are excluded, who has a secondary source support it during its fatality.
- As the Alien shown is of Tarkatan decent, the Queen during the Killer Queen fatality is a regular Xenomorph Queen, meaning it itself doesn't preform the fataility.
The Alien is one of five characters whose voice will not be mimicked by the Predator, instead the Predator will do its signature laugh. The other 4 being Jason, Triborg, Leatherface, and the Predator in a mirror match.
When the Alien performs the brutality, The Slicer, it will stab the opponent in the chest and throw them away after using Chop Chop regardless if it uses the enhanced version or not. This makes the Alien one of three characters to perform an enhanced special without actually using said enhanced special. The other two are Jason and Goro.
The Alien is one of four characters to have a unique chestburster during the Alien's victory pose after a match. The other three are the Predator, Tremor, and Mileena.
- However, it shares the same chestburster with Mileena.
The Alien is the only character that can inflict multiple damage over time effects at once during a fight, a total of 8 at once.

Errors

When viewing the Alien in the Kollections, its inner jaw will clip through its upper teeth when viewing the Alien's taunt.
- Additionally, it's crest will clip through its shoulder tubes while hissing.
  - The Konjurer crest will also clip through its tail and the tubes on its back.
During a match, the Alien's crest will always clip though its shoulder.
- When hissing at the opponent after winning a round, its head will clip through the spike on its back.
Its lower jaw clips through its neck during some fatalities.
During a fatality or brutality that causes the Alien to fall backwards, its head will clip through the floor or ground of any arena.
- The is easiest to see during the Predator's Ghostin' Us fatality.
Despite its tail becoming limbless during certain fatalities, when a fatality is performed on the Alien that tears it in half from the top of its head vertically down, the tail will also incorrectly split as well despite the angle of where the tail is.
- This is easily seen during Triborg's Team Work fatality.
  - Also, during Kung Lao's Hat Split fatality, his hat doesn't cut the tail enough, but the Alien's tail will still split in half.
If a facehugger attached itself to Kung Lao right as the Alien pounced it with Xeno Strike, Kung Lao's hat had a chance to disappear forever. This glitch has been corrected.
When applying its damage overtime effects on an opponent in the Acidic variation, there is a chance that the Alien's opponent survives with 1% health even though the announcer tells the player to Finish Him/Her.
- This glitch also happens with D'Vorah in her Venomous variation.

References

Mortal Kombat series - Main characters

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Mortal Kombat series - Guest characters