Warning! This article contains spoilers for Alien #3 Yautja have been hunting Xenomorphs for thousands of years within the shared Alien and Predator canon, and because of this, it seems the Xenomorph species has developed an evolutionary trait that not only protects individual members of their species from Predator attacks, but also their entire hive.
Predators hunt Xenomorphs as a part of their rite of passage ceremony known as the Blooding Ritual. A Yautja or group of Yautja must kill a Xenomorph and/or wipe out a small hive of them, then brand themselves with the mark of their clan with the Xenomorphs’ blood in order to be considered mature members of their society. This ritual was most prominently shown in the 2004 film, Alien vs Predator, which also established that Predators had been conducting this ritual since the dawn of human civilization. And now, after all this time, the Xenomorphs have finally figured out a way to avoid this perpetual conflict altogether. As described in the latest installment of 20th Century Studios’ Alien comic book series, entire hives of Xenomorphs can enter a self-imposed stasis, during which time they become undetectable by motion and infrared scanners.
Xenomorph Hives Become Invisible to Predators When in Stasis
In Alien #3 by Declan Shalvey and Andrea Broccardo, a Weyland-Yutani base is under attack by a horde of Xenomorphs. This base is located on an icy world known as LV-695, which is used for extracting ice/water and then shipping it to the more barren worlds the company is terraforming as a part of its ‘Building Better Worlds’ initiative. While digging through the ice, removing chunks and preparing them for safety testing before shipment, these excavators find what looks like hundreds of Xenomorphs frozen beneath the ice. After some Weyland-Yutani representatives come to investigate these reported findings, the Xenomorphs begin to thaw and immediately start attacking the compound.
While it seems like these Xenomorphs were frozen against their will, perhaps after they were brought to this world for some unknown reason and fell victim to the harsh conditions, the informational page of this comic tells a different story. According to the section that gives readers insight into information the characters in the story already know, but have no narrative reason to discuss, Xenomorphs have the aforementioned ability to enter into a self-imposed stasis, making them invisible to motion and infrared scanners. This is significant because – as shown in every Predator film to date – the Yautja’s primary vision is infrared, and their heightened technology implies the inclusion of motion scanners. These two functions are used when Predators are looking for Xenomorph hives to hunt and/or infiltrate to extract their Queen and force her to create a new hive specifically for the Yautja to hunt. Either way, the Predators scour the universe looking for Xenomorph life, and this newly established trait keeps the Xenomorphs hidden from their ultimate enemies.
So far, Xenomorphs and Predators haven’t crossed paths in 20th Century Studios’ comic book canon. Though given that the events of the films are considered canon – including Predator 2, which features a Xenomorph skull (and presumably the AvP films) – it is only a matter of time before the comics bring these two cosmic killers together. But when they do, this issue seems to indicate that the Predators are going to have a hard time finding their first hive to hunt, as Alien’s Xenomorphs have evolved the perfect anti-Yautja camouflage.
Alien #3 by 20th Century Studios is available now.
