List of X-COM: Apocalypse races
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The video game X-COM: Apocalypse has fourteen fictional races of alien beings. Each race has various strengths and weaknesses, and some races are dependent on other races. The "alien life cycle" plays a crucial part of the game and starts with the Multiworm Egg.
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[edit] Brainsucker
They are small, yellow creatures that resemble mites. They are unarmed but are highly agile and capable of jumping long distances. In combat, they will blindly rush and jump towards agents, aiming for the head. On contact, a Brainsucker latches on and attempts a process that most often results in the irreversible conversion of the victim into a drone of the aliens. Failure leaves no ill effects to the target, but both outcomes are fatal to the attacker.
The creatures are remarkable in that they are outside the usual alien life cycle. Serving as living weaponry far more literally than even the Poppers, Brainsucker pods are fired from specialized hand-held launchers. Mature specimens emerge within seconds and attack immediately. They have no way of acquiring nutrition and cannot survive in the wild.
While Brainsuckers are feeble and very vulnerable to weapons fire, a converted agent retains all capabilities and gear, especially high-explosives. The tactical implications are therefore profound and the race is the biggest single reason to move in groups. A Brainsucker attack will incapacitate the victim but take several seconds, long enough for others present to aim and shoot. Armored soldiers have the last-ditch option of dropping live grenades immediately before an assault.
Advanced biochemistry research reveals that Brainsuckers are an integral part of the alien attack. The vast majority of invaders are non-viable on Earth, but Micronoids, the microscopic hive mind race that controls the rest, are perfectly capable of suborning and using human hosts. These are the active ingredient in a Brainsucker attack.
[edit] Multiworm Egg
The eggs are a part of the alien life cycle, preceding the Multiworm. They are immobile and their only defence is the ability to spit an acidic compound at nearby enemies.
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[edit] Multiworm
Their appearance is that of a large triangular slug that starts with a large mouth ringed with large teeth. About the size of an agent, these aliens are slow as they slither toward their targets.
Their bodies are used to rear two to four Hyperworms until they are ready to hatch at which time they consume the Multiworm. Killing a Multiworm can induce an early birth of the Hyperworms within.
[edit] Hyperworm
This metallic colored worm is extremely agile and quick. They are spawned by the Multiworm in groups of 2 to 4. These long slender worms typically attack in groups. Their life cycle is short and consists of metal consumption. At the end of the life cycle they each inflate like balloons into the Chrysalis alien.
[edit] Chrysalis
The name is to be taken literally. A Chrysalis is the penultimate stage of the alien life cycle that results in the advanced alien warriors. The Queen lays an Egg, which hatches into a Multiworm, which violently gives birth to four Hyperworms, each of which eventually balloons into a Chrysalis. After an incubation period, any of the more dangerous aliens emerge; Anthropods, Spitters, Skeletoids, etc.
A Chrysalis in itself is immobile and not dangerous in any way. After a player finishes pacifying an area, his team will automatically capture the Chrysalises for research.
[edit] Anthropod
One of the more evolved aliens, it is a basic foot soldier. Its skin is a dark blue bordering upon purple. It possess three-fingered hands with each finger ending in a spike-like claw. Its mouth is full of short shark-like teeth and it has two large, lidless eyes.
Unlike the Hyperworm that it came from, Anthropods stand on two legs and can carry weapons like Brainsucker launchers and disruptor weapons. Slightly more agile than a Multiworm, these aliens pose a more serious threat to agents than earlier stages as they have near human abilities.
[edit] Psimorph
They create an anti-grav field that allows them to float in the air as well as surport their skeleton-less body. They are very skilled with psionic attack and defence.
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[edit] Spitter
Spitters are the 2nd lowest of the evolved alien forms. They look similar to Anthropods they have a funnel like tube except instead of a head and they are dark purple. The rest of their body is virtually identical to an Anthropod.
Like its name suggests, a Spitter uses its funnel to suck up organic debris into its stomach. This matterial is then turned into acidic projectiles which it launches at its target.
[edit] Megaspawn
Four times larger than an agent, these juggernauts carry a large arsenal of weaponry. They have two artificially added weapon systems. One fires an energy beam with the destructive force of several disruptor rifles and the other fires an organic missile-like projectile, created by special glands.
[edit] Popper
A small, blue biped lifeform, it is basically a self-delivering biological warhead with the sole purpose of charging at an enemy at a high speed and exploding. It is also likely to blow up when hit by projectile weapons, struck by an explosion or shockwave, exposed to open flame, or recovering from unconsciousness. Energy beam weapons, on the other hand, will kill Poppers without causing them to explode.
The blast can cause serious injury to humans with basic armour, but causes little damage to agents with disruptor technology. The creature is somewhat less dangerous in real-time mode than in turn-based, as the opposition will generally get a better chance to fire at it.
[edit] Skeletoids
They are the same size as an Anthropod but a lot more durable. They are considered an intermediate threat. Their bodies are dark yellow and have holes reminencent of a skeleton, hence their name. Their hands are composed of 2 claws that look like a pair of garden clippers with which they are able to carry handheld weaponry like the Anthropod. They are slightly faster than the Anthropods and are usually found in their company.
Their bodies, however, can receive more damage than any other humanoid alien. Their narrow skeletal bodies make them hard to hit by anyone other than sharp marksmen. They are more resistant to psychic possession due to a better developed brain. Skeletoids enter the later in the game after the player has defeated many UFOs bearing Anthropods and Spitters. They are the primary humanoid alien after the player encounters the destroyer class UFOs. They also possess the ability to float, an ability that agents can acquire by wearing MarSec armor.
[edit] Micronoid Aggregate
Billions of these miro-organisms can be found in the aliens' blood stream. They can function independently and are intelligent. They communicate using psionic projection. Micronoids are the actual alien aggressors; all the alien lifeforms encountered by the X-Com agency are ultimately nothing more than sophisticated vessels for the governing micronoid intelligence.[1]
[edit] Queenspawn
The Queenspawn's destruction is the penultimate goal, the final goal being the destruction of the aliens' dimension gates. She resides in the alien dimension and there can be more than one of them. Players will encounter her when they attack the alien hives.
She is the foundation of all the alien lifeforms as she is the one who lays the Multiworm Eggs. The Queenspawn is enormous, about the size of ten Megaspawns, and is usually found on a pedestal in the center of any of the alien hives. She is heavily guarded by hordes of aliens.
Her appearance is similar to that of a giant squid. Two small eyes adorn the top of her cylindrical body. Not far from it at the very front of her body is a small mouth lined with sharp teeth which point inward. Surrounding her mouth are about one to two dozen tentacles, each the width of a human and ending in clipper like claws.
[edit] Overspawn
A hybrid creature based on the Megaspawn. The size of buildings, these creatures can easily trample the city into dust. But unlike the Megaspawns, they have no weaponry built into them but make up for this in size and hand to hand capability. They have high defence stats and are extremely difficult to bring down. They are usually released by Alien Motherships after a player has entered the Alien Dimension. They are the Aliens' last effort to do as much damage as possible before their defeat.
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