Hmmm... where were these new species of headcrab in HL?

[Darkside55]

Azzman, it's not speculation, which is why I asked earlier in the "Gonarch is a biological weapon?" thread exactly how that little bit of spoiler info got out to be common knowledge. Someone leaked (no pun intended) the poisonous property of the black headcrab.

Dalamari, what are you even talking about, guy? As Brian said, we've seen different crabs, Valve has said there are new types of headcrabs, and the previewers have seen some of them and written about them. We know at least that there are three from the photos those students took on their trip to Valve.
Before you start throwing out veiled criticisms about how people here overanalyze things, you should get your facts straight.

And yeah, those deadcrabs don't look like babies at all. They do seem to be a bit slicker-looking than the classic headcrab, from what I can tell in the screenshots, and they have their "arms" on the victim differently. They're crossed over on the chest like it's holding on tight, instead of latching on by digging into the chest, like normal. Could just be a regular headcrab though, and they're not going to permanently bond to those hosts, so it wouldn't dig in.

 

[Brian Damage]

I dunno, they look differently-shaped to the normal headcrabs, like the sort you see in Ravensholm in the demo... Less dumpy, and more like spiders, at least from what we can see in the screenshots...

 

[eber]

The question is, what would the zombie do? I really hope that flying headcrabs are real, so that we can see.

nah dont even try to guess, the headcrabs may seem very diffrent but the zombies are always the same (exept for that the head of the zombie looks diffrent )

 

[eber]

In my opinion, the different species of headcrab could quite possibly come from different Gonarches, or something. Makes little sense, but I like the idea.

-Angry Lawyer

yea maybe , sounds plausible to me to me

 

[Sprafa]

OMG!!!

I just had an enlightening theory on Xen.

Remember how all the species from Xen look so different, yet they work together as a single race?

Well, I think that although some species may be native, most are not. So, most of the species from Xen are actually other races, that by the result of contact with Xen some reproductive specimens might have stayed in Xen of those foreign races.

So, the Gonarch is actually a reproductive specimen of other planet. So, after the Nihliant Fall and consequential anarchy in Xen, some more headcrabs from the original headbrab planet come along for the ride. Like, without control, headcrabs scatter all around the galaxy, with the other races (read my Grand Unified theory, Xen is a chaos, with many races going thru it as they desire....) so the headcrabs join their original Forefathers (other headcrabs, other subspecies of Gonarchs) and join in for the rollercoaster!!!!

As we've seen they seem to disseminate quickly, it's perfectly possible they become a plague in short-term predictions.

And they eventually come to Earth, of course.

 

[Brian Damage]

So... Xen is a sort of interdimensional/intergalactic zoo?

 

[PatPwnt]

not a zoo... its disney land!

 

[Brian Damage]

Yeah, right... With a giant floating Mickey Mouse and dwarves that fly around launching balls of energy at you...

 

[Sprafa]

please guys!

Yes, it turned into a zoo because some species that passed around, whether it was by accident or intentional, left some procriators in Xen.

 

[Brian Damage]

Maybe a repository of nearly-extinct species? Hence the "What have you done?" when you kill the Gonarch...?

 

[eber]

who knows ...only speculations !!
but i guess thats what we were doing all the time

 

[CrazyHarij]

Variation to prevent dull gameplay?

 

[oldagerocker]

i prefer CrazyHarlj's idea, but imho, the jumping levels were lame :|

 

[Sulkdodds]

Yes, it turned into a zoo because some species that passed around, whether it was by accident or intentional, left some procriators in Xen.

Nice theory. I personally don't think it's correct but, still...I think most species on Xen were indeginous except possibly the Controllers (they could have been invaders intent on control..but I doubt it). Many species were under Nihilanth's command which would explain why they worked together. Otherwise, rogue wildlife like the Bullsquid attack everyone and everything.

 

[Darkside55]

Xen Zoo is the next Jurrassic Park. When the perimeter fences break down, the attractions eat the tourists.

I think all those creatures are native to Xen. They're all very similar in form and seem to fit with the place, and as far as we know Xen was previously untouched by other races (as far as we know), so there's nothing to say that the beasties were all from other places.
Nihilanth (or the Controllers, really) just united most of the sentient beings we saw on Xen, like Sulkdodds said. I say the Controllers in parenthesis because I believe they're the ones that created Nihilanth in the first place, and subjugated all the other species.

BTW, bullsquids act like that 'cause they're really territorial.

 

[el Chi]

On the other hand I assumed they were just at different stages of the lifecycle (I haven't seen the Docks video yet, just some screenshots).

Aaahhh! Enough with the life-cycle/evolution nonsense! Argh!
Is it not possible that, as CrazyHarij has already said, it is simply another kind of the same species in the same way that you get tiny money spiders and huge f*ck-off freaky poisonous ones?
<Sighs>
Anyway - one of them is poisonous, correct (I believe it's the one that - schock horror - looks like a poisonous spider) ? So how'll that work - will it bite you and then your health goes down a bit afterwards? Tomb Raider 3 had poison, but the only way to stop it was to apply a health pack.

 

[Eejit]

Er, I had changed my opinion by about 2 posts down. I no longer think they are different parts of the lifecycle, though I'm still not convinced that they are entirely seperate species.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I believe in CrazyHarijs tehory.

 

[Kouler]

ditto, aj rimmer