Could the Flood successful infect a Xenomorph?

Mattie G Indahouse · February 22, 2015, 04:43:37 AM

With an infection form as soon as it makes contact with its blood it will be destroyed. Flood spores would be pointless since the thing doesn't have lungs. Even if it did would they still be able to take control of the thing? As soon as they breach out and make contact with the blood they would be destroyed.

Doctor Doom · February 22, 2015, 05:17:47 AM

Likely not.

BaconShelf · February 22, 2015, 05:26:25 AM

I imagine there is some way around acidic substances, I mean, I imagine that one of the Forerunner's many plans involved chemical weapons and acid- evidently this failed considering that the flood we see in containment isn't surrounded by a big pool of acid.

Even if the creature cannot be infected, much like Unggoy, Kig-Yar and Lekgolo, they are still useful when dead to be used as raw biomass, and the intelligence of the creature would undoubtly be useful for a Gravemind, and their generic template- a hunter-predator, could even be at leat partially replicated by a pure flood form.

Another question about the anatomy of a xenomorph arises; do they have enough calcium in their bones and do they have a nervous system for the infection forms to control? Te first ending responsible for why there are no Unggoy or Kig-Yar combat forms and the latter for a Lekgolo form.

Mordo · February 22, 2015, 02:46:46 PM

I don't see why not.

The FSC works on a microbiological level, which means that any host cell targeted would be converted into a Flood cell. There's no evidence to suggest a Xenomorph exoskeleton would be able to combat this, nor its acidic blood (acidity operates on the chemical level, not the biological level. Cells in the blood would just as easily be converted as any other cell in the body). Unless the Xeno has a cellular defense mechanism, it's as much Flood food as anything else.

Sigma617 · February 22, 2015, 04:53:41 PM

The thing about Xenomorphs, is that they have extremely foreign tissues, and formidable defenses.

They were kind of designed to be that way.

Sandtrap · February 22, 2015, 05:03:06 PM

Come to think of it, Xenomorphs have an adaptable biological and genetic structure, considering that they gain attributes associated with their hosts. As far was we know Xenomorphs don't need oxygen or even breath it as in the first movie Ripley ejected it into space and it neither depressurized or suffocated. It didn't even freeze.

That could be attributed to movie effects at the time but considering ripley killed it with the firing of the engine we can only assume that otherwise, the xenomorph would have been fine if left un-toasted.

Right there we have a creature that can't be infected through breathing in spores, has a tough exeoskeleton that might even contend with the needle of an infection form, and blood that will dissolve anything physically injected into it's system.

Take into account that a xenomorph has an exoskeleton.

Most life forms with an exoskeleton have no internal skeleton, so what does that mean?

No bones, no calcium deposits.

So theoretically, the flood would have to adapt a toxic form that produced toxins on par with a xenomorph's blood, breach the exoskeleton, and then infect it. But the lack of bones would dictate that the flood in an early feral stage couldn't infect a Xenomorph unless they already had plenty of calcium deposits and could create pure forms.

And I'd wager that's not easy.

Doctor Doom · February 22, 2015, 06:00:51 PM

Quote from: Sandtrap on February 22, 2015, 05:03:06 PM

Come to think of it, Xenomorphs have an adaptable biological and genetic structure, considering that they gain attributes associated with their hosts. As far was we know Xenomorphs don't need oxygen or even breath it as in the first movie Ripley ejected it into space and it neither depressurized or suffocated. It didn't even freeze.

That could be attributed to movie effects at the time but considering ripley killed it with the firing of the engine we can only assume that otherwise, the xenomorph would have been fine if left un-toasted.

Right there we have a creature that can't be infected through breathing in spores, has a tough exeoskeleton that might even contend with the needle of an infection form, and blood that will dissolve anything physically injected into it's system.

Take into account that a xenomorph has an exoskeleton.

Most life forms with an exoskeleton have no internal skeleton, so what does that mean?

No bones, no calcium deposits.

So theoretically, the flood would have to adapt a toxic form that produced toxins on par with a xenomorph's blood, breach the exoskeleton, and then infect it. But the lack of bones would dictate that the flood in an early feral stage couldn't infect a Xenomorph unless they already had plenty of calcium deposits and could create pure forms.

And I'd wager that's not easy.

Not to mention the penis for a head. Not even the flood can infect a creature that has a penis for a head.