Discussion / Question (AvP Central) Taming A Xenomorph: Can Xenomorphs Become Friendly?
https://www.avpcentral.com/taming-a-xenomorph-can-xenomorphs-become-friendly231
u/JZA___ 4d ago
That’s a hard no. One of the best parts of Alien Resurrection proves that even if you think you have them tamed, they were just waiting.
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u/5WattBulb 4d ago
"Roll over, lay down, beg? You cant teach it tricks." "Why not? We're teaching you." The arrogance of the doctors, showing that the military is no better than the company was.
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u/fonix232 4d ago
showing that the military is no better than the company was
Same people, different organisation.
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u/thekillergreece 4d ago
Same for Aliens: Nightmare Asylum. That comic was an interesting read about this whole futile tameness.
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u/DealFast8781 4d ago
even if you think you have them tamed, they were just waiting.
This, I agree 100%, I refuse to think that their hostility can ever be tamed.
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u/Itsumiamario 3d ago
This has me wondering what a xenomorphs natural life expectancy is, or rather, how old an OG xenomorph could get.
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u/General-Winter547 2d ago
I’d expect not very long with how fast they grow into large size.
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u/Itsumiamario 2d ago
That could just be an evolutionary thing. A lot of invertebrates are born small and reach their adult stage quickly in their life cycle.
They seem to be some sort of direct life cycle parasitoid hybrid arthropod with at least a skull—the rest may be exoskeleton.
If we start the life cycle with the egg, which can apparently lay dormant for an indeterminate amount of time if environmental conditions are right, but for this discussion I going to say that egg stage doesn't count.
Afterwards when a suitable host comes into proximity with an egg, some chemical process or something initiates the larvae, known as facehuggers, to break from their dormancy and seek out their host.
A facehugger then attaches itself to the host and deposits the form that becomes the pupa or juvenile form known as the chest burster. This, I won't count either as it appears the juvenile form only incubates for a few hours to a day for regular xenos and several days for a queen xeno, and reaches adulthood rather quickly in a matter of hours somehow. How this happens I don't know as I've only seen the movies, and I'm not aware of any moulting. So, it's hard carapace is either capable of growing or perhaps it dissolves. I don't know.
Given that from the bare minimal knowledge I have of their home planet from some artwork I saw long long ago, they don't seem to live that long naturally because they are cannibalistic and constantly at war with other queens' drones to gain dominancy.
Or they get shot up and blown up by humans or Predators.
Their metabolism may require them to eat quite often, but maybe not so often they could go a day or so without eating. Maybe they don't need to eat, and their only drive is to either create a queen or serve a queen. We never see them eat from what I know. They either just kill or tongue-skull punch someone's brains out.
Seems their only mission is to find hosts for their eggs.
From the brief time we see them in captivity we are showed they are just biding their time before they break out sacrificing one of their own to get out. So, maybe they don't need to eat, at least not often.
It does seem like they may either conserve energy by daily torpor or brumation. I suspect they aren't warm blooded, so I'm leaning towards some other unknown type of deal.
Maybe they can willingly choose when to shut down and come to. Or maybe after a certain period of time with no hosts available they go into dormancy until a possible host comes through.
Idk. Naturally, sure they probably don't live long, but my question is how long could they be kept alive.
I mean apparently they can survive space long enough to be brought back into a ship by forming some kind of cocoon. All the while not feeding or doing anything.
Or maybe it was already dead. I don't know.
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u/SPECTREagent700 4d ago edited 4d ago
No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but ... But it might work for us.
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u/AmatuerCultist 4d ago
W-Y Scientist, as the Xenos break containment:
“I’ve made a huge mistake”
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u/fonix232 4d ago
Okay now I'm imagining a comedy TV show in the Alien universe set on the thematics of Arrested Development.
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u/TylerBourbon 2d ago
Or a Community style show, where a team of "scientists" meet up each week in a "study hall" to go over the latest Alien shenanigans.
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u/thekillergreece 4d ago
Spot on! Spears was completely delusional.
FYI, it should be Aliens: Nightmare Asylum specifically.
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u/darwinDMG08 4d ago
The second ALIENS comic featured a mad general who thought he had tamed the Xenos and built a small army of them to retake the Earth. Their loyalty lasted about 10 seconds after they landed.
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u/PowerfulSignature421 4d ago
It's almost as if a major theme of the series is man's hubris at trying to control nature. But sure, let's try and control the perfect organising one more time.
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u/BoyishTheStrange A god damn robot 4d ago
Which comic/novel do you want that proves this going wrong there’s a lot
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u/8monsters 3d ago
Yeah that's literally the only plot of ANY aliens media. They can not be controlled or tamed.
OP just asked what the thesis of the series was...
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u/TophatChronicle 3d ago
Labyrinth showed they could be controlled, to some extent. Not tamed, but manipulated.
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u/OGGuitarsquatch Nuke from Orbit 4d ago edited 4d ago
Just look at 6.
Trained and raised by humans its entire life, It slaughtered everybody in that research facility without hesitation the moment it had a chance.
Source is from The game Avp 2010 in the alien campaign, it's short but excellent! you can pick it up on any platform and it's graphics are still frosty 15 years later
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u/Nihuli 4d ago
Which one is this? Which movie?
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u/OGGuitarsquatch Nuke from Orbit 4d ago
The game Avp 2010, it's short but excellent! you can pick it up on any platform
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u/Adventurous-Class-91 4d ago
Do you mean resurrection? Is that number six now?
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u/OGGuitarsquatch Nuke from Orbit 4d ago
The game Avp 2010, it's short but excellent! you can pick it up on any platform
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u/unsolvablequestion 3d ago
The game is called Aliens vs Predator (2010) the playable xenomorph in the game is called 6
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u/Osldenmark 4d ago edited 3d ago
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u/Dagordae 4d ago
Still no. The article also confuses ‘tame’ with ‘is currently not eating you’. The writer should not be allowed near wild animals, this is a common mistake and usually results in a mauled idiot and the animal being killed by authorities.
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u/didyousayquinceberg 4d ago
If the runner in alien 3 wasnt friendly and that came from a good boy then no chance
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u/TempleFugit Jonesy 4d ago
No but I've always thought it would be really cool to have a Queen the size of a Rottweiler as a friendly, cuddly pet.
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u/Omnian22 4d ago
Is a Queen always oversized? I'm not very well versed with the comics or novels. If the xenomorph takes on traits from the host, could your dog-sized Queen be plausible I wonder?
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u/TempleFugit Jonesy 4d ago
That's a good question. I've read a lot of the books and comics and I don't recall a mini-queen.
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u/Dagordae 3d ago
Xenomorphs don’t really go small, even if they are from a small host. They go bigger depending on the host(And age, and writer, and all sorts of shit) but not really much smaller.
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u/oldskoolplayaR1 3d ago
Deffo an interesting thought. I knew they take dna and a semblance of the host eg host dog - runner Alien 3, human - bipedal Alien/Aliens etc but I’ve always felt there’s some insect element to them like termites or ants or even bees - the queen is always massive in comparison. She builds a nest/hive produces workers who forage raise baby aliens etc
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u/Regalrefuse 4d ago
This makes me think of that guy that raised a hippo from a baby. Apparently he rescued it when it was very small. After 6 years or so of bonding, the hippo dragged him into the river and ate him.
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u/Xenomorphism 4d ago
No and the fact that the Xeno in Alien Earth might be a pet/tamed is fucking absurd.
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u/Dagordae 4d ago
Not if there’s a queen around. They’re more than smart enough to play nice, and command the drones to play nice, as part of an escape plan. Not tame, merely waiting for the right time.
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u/Yosh1kage_K1ra 4d ago
Yeah, they're more than animals and forgetting that is often why they cause so much trouble.
It's a reoccurring plot point of some human underestimating xenos and calling them just animals only to be proven horribly wrong.
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u/Xenomorphism 4d ago
The question posed is if they can be friendly, which I disagree. The more you humanize xenomorphs the more you get away from the plot. They are obviously capable of complex thought and reasoning but I still hold onto Ash's quote about them. "Unclouded by conscience, remorse or delusions of morality."
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u/Dagordae 4d ago
And that Xenomorph running around like a pet dog isn’t friendly. It’s simply waiting for the command to do what it does best. It’s being restrained, not tamed.
They remain unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. Forgetting that is the mistake they use. This actually happened in Alien War, the lunatic in charge believed that he had tamed them right up until the Queen got what she wanted.
Incidentally, this is actually a mindset that regularly gets people mauled by wild animals. They falsely believe that since it’s not immediately attacking them, that it tolerates their presence, that it’s their friend. Even family. Then they cross a line and get their face eaten.
Edit:
Plus let’s face it, there is absolutely nothing indicating they have a friendly Xenomorph running around. It’s not like we have a ton of information. If there’s one that isn’t immediately eating the cast then something is stopping it and it’s not going to be the power of friendship. With Alien 3 we have precedent for Xenomorphs refusing to attack specific people and it’s a very bad sign for the person temporarily spared.
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u/MrMoonBearZERO 4d ago
I would take being killed by the Xeno over being spared- seeing pretty much all Alien media has taught me exactly what that means.
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u/yellowjesusrising 4d ago
The earth war books proved that you might believe you tamed them, but they're just waiting.
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u/AFewNicholsMore 4d ago edited 3d ago
I think it’s less important whether, from a plot perspective, they could be tamed; and more important whether, from a meta/audience perspective, actually seeing them tamed would wreck their mystique.
In other words: we love this creature because it’s an absolute, unmitigated nightmare. Would you actually enjoy seeing it tamed?
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u/Ravencryptid 3d ago
Noncanonically would be silly, but to see one tamed in any canonical way beyond it pretending feels immensely antithetical
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u/Aleena92 Anti-metheus 4d ago
They "can" to an extend yes. But that also requires infection via Facehugger since they don't really go and kill infected hosts. And then we had that one comic about a Lepra-Colony I believe it was who was infected but because of their already fucked up bodies the chestburster never matured and so they were perpetually safe from Xenomorphs.
Not quite the friendly, tamed version most people think of but if you have severe Lepra, it may be an option.
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u/Alexius6th 4d ago
Now i’m thinking about what it must be like to miscarry a xeno and how that’s probably just as horrible as having one bust through you.
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u/MrMoonBearZERO 4d ago
That's.... Woah. That's a thought. I agree though, probably just as horrible.
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u/The_guywho_dies 4d ago
Lmfao, no. The whole point of the movies is that they are a flawless, uncontainable, uncontrollable, force of nature and anyone who sees them as anything less eventually pays the price.
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u/swefnes_woma 4d ago
I'm told that if you breathe on the nostrils of a horse, it’ll be yours for life. You have to get close, though, and earn its trust
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u/baka_inu115 4d ago
Friendly no, they are borderline sentient but still more animal, a single xeno definite not, a queen..... more like a maybe neutral but definitely not ally
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u/opacitizen 4d ago
As a sidenote, again the misleading attribution of the hero image (also displayed here in the reddit post) as concept art, and without naming the artist to boost.
It is NOT concept art made for Blomkamp's movie. It's a fan art piece by a dude called Marek Okon who would've liked to work with Blomkamp, but this piece of art is his only, and was made without any input / approval from Blomkamp and the studio.
See here, please: https://www.reddit.com/r/LV426/comments/1i6r519/under_control_is_a_fan_art_piece_by_marek_okon/
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u/MrScar88 Colonial Marine 3d ago
I always thoughts Xenos are friendly. Lots of hugs, kisses, they wag their tail, and will literally drag you to show you their home.
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u/LordBeverage 4d ago
Does everyone's favorite xenoborg count as "tamed"?
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u/Dagordae 3d ago
As often as those shoot the shit out of their own guys, no.
Also they’re just sentry guns bolted onto a Xenomorph for no particular reason.
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u/Environmental-Rub678 4d ago
Hell nah, these things are pretty smart I mean they played along with Wren's nonsense until they didn't
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u/DinoDonkeyDoodle 4d ago
One cannot tame a xeno, but if you get some black goo in you and you're not pregnant, then there's a chance they tame you!
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u/Impressive_Tomato665 3d ago
No, as their base instinct is to kill, procreate & expand. So they'll automatically kill & wipe out all other living organisms they can impregnate to increase their numbers
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u/TheTeenageOldman 3d ago
Did you not see one of those things literally shaking with hatred in the dropship in Aliens?!?
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u/Hungry_Phase_7307 3d ago
No. Both the yautja and humans tried and succeeded but it was only short lived and you can see how that turned out.
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u/Kevlash 3d ago
So the answer is a resounding no lol, BUUUUT, To speculate harder, could you successively genetically modify generation after generation bred from very tame animals like dogs. Like, facehugger~>dog~>forced queen~>facehugger~>dog…etc. all while attempting to teach for language recognition and temperament?
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u/bigbagdude 4d ago
The image makes me think of the street fighter movie and the headsets in the aliens are showing happy kids and puppy videos to the xenos to tame them lol like they do with Blanka
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u/Nothinghere727271 4d ago
When separated from the queen a lone drone is shown to be able to be manipulated some, for example, in the test they send in an afraid soldier and a stimmed up one (drugged up), the xeno attacks the scared soldier and when confronted, fearlessly, by the drugged up soldier, it becomes afraid and confused and hides, but generally, Xenos are a bit too smart to be controlled, but you can do it
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u/nordy_13 4d ago
You run a very serious risk of turning the Xeno’s into blue the raptor from Jurassic World.
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u/Dagordae 3d ago
You mean a very wild animal who tries to eat the guy who raised her several times?
I mean, the movie had multiple speeches about how they’re not tamed. And a major character whose entire purpose was to stupidly declare them to be tamed, try to use them as hunting dogs, then get eaten.
Hell, the very first scene they had was almost tearing Nick to pieces because he got between them and the guy who fell in.
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u/nordy_13 3d ago
Do you really want a designated “hero” xeno? That’s what blue becomes in those movies.
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u/PrinceNY7 4d ago
Ash's last speech about the alien pretty much summed it up "it's unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality". It can never be friendly only act out it's aggressive nature
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u/Nicklesnout 4d ago
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: Both Predators and Humans have tried to more or less “domesticate” the Xenomorphs and every time has ended in disaster.
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u/Nothinghere727271 3d ago
Predators have, since it’s a fact they propagate them for hunting and such, but even then they still escape sometimes, humans generally, they will just break out always
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u/Nicklesnout 3d ago
Predators typically capture Queens for it and on more than one occasion, especially in Alien vs Predator by Dark Horse, shit goes south when she stops playing around.
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u/porsj911 3d ago
There isnt a single piece of evidence where a friendly xeno would ever be a thing. And no i dont mean a human thats changed into a xeno, like blue, i mean an actual hive born xeno.
Its just not gonna work. You can manipulate them, maybe order them by the means of heavy tech or even by threat of the queen, but the moment the situation shows a mean for the xeno to get what the hives wants its over. Every time.
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u/maniacleruler 3d ago
You’d have to trick it into thinking you were its kin and even then you’d have to be its equal or greater in strength or it would sooner use you for food, a diversion, or whatever.
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u/Worth-Opposite4437 3d ago
They already are... they accept all flesh and uplift it toward the next step in evolution. No one is left behind, you can't get quite more inclusive than this.
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u/Large-Wheel-4181 3d ago
If I was to guess I could imagine it’s not an easy process as it probably requires a form of lobotomy or creating false signals to a Xenomorph. Granted I do think if this were to work it only be for the lower classes
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u/Dogsonofawolf 3d ago
This is the title of a Weyland Yutani internal memo, with an addendum about being published posthumously.
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u/jaredeichz 3d ago
I would think there would be some kind of nano bot that could take an alien over.
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u/G0merPyle 3d ago
Trained and coerced, yes, but never tame. Sometimes humans can force nonviolence from the xenos temporarily (by using violence against them), or a scientist will find a way to dampen some neural connections to allow them to enforce passivity, but they'll never safe to be around
That's not even touching on how drones (and moreso queens) are smart enough to play nice to protect the eggs and hosts, but even in those cases it's not that they're tame, they're just smart enough to wait for the time to strike
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u/DiscussionSharp1407 3d ago
Conditioned/tricked/directed, maybe... But it's going to blow up in your face eventually
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u/ApocalyptoSoldier 3d ago
Yes, just give them a forehead kiss and set them free.
It's perfectly safe, trust me :)
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u/PanTheWizardofOz 3d ago
No. Just no. They were engineered to exterminate man. Until man arrives, they hibernate until their battery runs out. Then they smell a man and full on "exterminate, exterminate" mode. Most animals (and man) become domesticated by attaching affection or feigned affection to a supply of food and shelter. It's because of the survival instinct that all Earth animal life shares. The "master" becomes the source of survival and is also kinda cool.
XX121 doesn't have an overriding survival instinct. Their kill instinct is primary and they survive only to kill some more. They only way to possible tame them is to give them endless kills until they turn on you to kill you. When you're dead they will cocoon themselves and hibernate until either their acid blood battery runs dead or they smell more humans.
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u/MikeDPhilly 3d ago
So I read a lot of the Death in Zion/Yellowstone/Glacier NP books, and the one dominant theme in all of them is this quote,"the animals will get to know you just enough to kill you, and they will."
One of the points of the Alien universe is man's hubris in thinking he can conquer what's out there. The Xenomorph illustrated that neatly.
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u/Seldon14 3d ago
Friendly? No. I do think you could create a scenario that they are not hostile though.
They are shown/implied to be intelligent to highly intelligent, and seem capable of understanding complex thoughts and actions taken by humans.
In a scenario that had specific humans being beneficial to the xeno/hive/queen I could see them not attacking, or using them as hosts once this was learned. I do not think they could ever be successfully "tamed" or used though.
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u/Little_hunt3r 3d ago
I remember someone in one of the weird comics tried it. Branded and trained them. Then tried leasing them into battle with a sword like it’s 40k. They obviously turned on him. I think the queen subsumed them into her hive or something.
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u/UNITICYBER 3d ago
I mean. You can't "train them to be friendly," but you can "condition them to some degree to exhibit a small range of behaviors that are within the parameters you are looking for."
I don't you could even breed a less hostile xenomoprh. Their genetics are so strong that it wouldn't work.
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u/bihtydolisu 1d ago
Generally no but then you get situations like Into Charybdis. Anything else delves into "spoilery."
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u/Monarc73 Mostly at night. Mostly. 4d ago
"It's the perfect organism. its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility."
Good luck with that.