Empress

Empress
Physical Description
Height	15-20'
Skin color	Black
Distinctions	Potentially Larger/Tougher than a Queen.
Other Information
Notable individuals	Empress (LV-1201)

"It has been suggested that a Queen will continue to grow as her hive does, reaching Tyrannosaurus rex proportions in Empress and Queen Mother stages that rule over several Queens and several hives."

― Alien: The Roleplaying Game

An Empress is the evolved form of a Queen Alien and one of the three known types of Xenomorph Monarch. A rarer type, Empresses are superior to Queen aliens, often ruling over several Queens and their respective hives. They themselves only bow to the Hive Mother, supreme rulers of all the Xenomorph species.

Characteristics

Biology and Physiology

"The hive will respond to the empress and the empress will respond to her own instinctive drive for survival."

― Primal Hunt

Aerial view of an Empress' crest.

Empresses are largely similar to Queen aliens in terms of appearance; they are a massive variant of the Xenomorph. Most dwarf all other castes, possibly even the Queen mother herself. They are black, covered in tough mesoskeletons, and possess a primary set of arms as well as a smaller secondary set of arms which seem more developed than many of the Queens observed. It is truly the crest of the Empress, and her potential for size, that distinguishes her from a standard Queen Alien. The crest is double layered, with a glossy foremost layer and duller, wider underlayer. Empresses were said to reach "Tyrannosaurus-Rex" proportions in terms of size, meaning while some Empresses would be comparable to a Queen in height, others would grow to be as big as 20 feet tall and 40 feet long. It is likely that most, if not all, Empresses grow towards the larger end, as ~15 feet would be the "starting point" of their growth from Queenhood. By comparison, the average range for Queen aliens is usually only 15 feet tall, though their length is yet to be known.

Role In The Hive

The Empress attatched to her ovipositor, laying new eggs for the hive.

Empresses serve virtually the same role in the Hive as a Queen, with similar motivations and intelligence; they are the egg-layers of the hive and its supreme authority. She has a sense of self-preservation, both for herself and her brood, but it is more pronounced in the former case; if an Empress must choose between herself and her brood, she chooses herself. Empresses, notably, may co-habit a single territory with several Queens, making the Xenomorph a polygene species. Presumably, the purpose of multiple queens is to increase the size of the brood, which is one of the main objectives hardwired into the Xenomorph species. To that end, Empresses will tolerate the presence of lesser monarchs, which she dominates. Since the Queens are allotted their own hives to rule over, and ruled in turn by the Empress, this means the Empress rules several hives as well as several queens. The presence of a Hive monarch usually prevents further Queens from occuring, but that may not be completely the case with an Empress.

Presumably, Empresses are the intermediary stage between a Queen and Queen Mother.

Creation

A trio of Queens, co-existing. (Aliens: Rescue)

Empress

It has been suggested that a Queen becomes an Empress as her hive grows, growing larger with it. The presence of other, lesser Queens does not appear to be a requirement for this to occur. In fact, the presence of several queens in a hive usually leads to violent conflict among them, with the victor killing her sisters. Similar to a Queen, the presence of an Empress inhibits any Praetorians from developing into Queens themselves and her absence would encourage such development, per the Theory of Competitive Discourse. The circumstances, then, of how additional queens occur is unclear, though it may be possible an Empress expressly allow Queen development from her own Praetorians, which would be her subordinate daughters rather than her competitive sisters. Xenomorphs are known to absorb smaller hives, and those Queens may be conquered by the Empress, instead of killed.

It is also possible an Empress develops from a pre-existing groups of Queens, which will sometimes co-exist peacefully, sometimes even within the same egg-chamber. One of these Queens may develop further into a Empress, with the remaining queens being subordinate to it.

War Empresses

The Warrior Queen (Avp: CCG)

War Empress (AVP: Extinction)

The War Empress is a variant of the Empress caste, driven not by the growth of the hive but by the presence of an offensive host species. When a hive breaks out into all out war with it's prey, the War Empress is one of several adaptations that the Xenomorph undertakes in order to compete and dominate. A War Empress is largely identical to a typical Queen, only her mesoskeleton is 70% tougher than her previous form. This new hardened shell can deflect all but the heaviest munitions. Finally, she develops green-yellow marks on her crest as well as a long stinger, and can will her offspring into a battle frenzy. This battle frenzy makes the already deadly adult-form of the Xenomorph even more so, though "pure" castes such as Praetorians, Ravagers, and Carriers were unaffected by it.

The Warrior Queen is a similar beast to the Empress. After taking damage, a Queen can mature and molt into a Warrior Queen.

Trivia

• A very large Xenomorph appears in Aliens: Infestation. Its caste is never revealed in game. A Queen, much smaller, appears earlier in the game, meaning it's not this one. It's very similar in appearance to the MUGEN Empress. It also bears some resemblance to the much later released Sideshow Collectibles King Xenomorph design, which would also appear much larger than a Queen in its Alien vs Predator: The Hunt Begins appearance.
• The Aliens/Predator Collectible Card Game has an apparent "Warrior Queen" stage they may be adjacent to a War Empress.

Appearances

• Aliens Online
• Aliens versus Predator 2
• Aliens versus Predator: Extinction
• Alien: The Roleplaying Game (mentioned only)
• Building Better Worlds
• Aliens: Infestation

Gallery

A possible Empress from Aliens: Infestation.

Ditto.