Now this space creature is a little closer to home. In the setting of one of the most iconic enemies in video games. Half-life, in the near future mankind of experimenting with alien technology and well, all goes wrong. Enter the aliens and the aliens food, the headcrabs.
The headcrabs are a small parasite, roughly the size of a pumpkin which is all mouth and legs. It latches onto a host and starts to mutate it. Causing the host to grow a large mouth and claws itself. And then to search out food. Oddly enough for such an iconic character in such an important game to the industry there isn't a lot on the way headcrabs work. What is known is that they do not kill the infected host and thus must feed so both the host and headcrab can continue to survive in this strange relationship. A rather inefficent process compared to many other parasites. The headcrabs take control of the body while leaving the host's mind conscious and in control of unimportant functions such as speach. This may be a strategy of the headcrab to induce fear in further victims but sinse the headcrabs show no other signs of higher intelligence (even in their methods of attacking, using claws to beat instead of stab or tear) I feel safe in assuming this is not the case.
Cause: Parasite
Undead: No
Body: Humanoid (mutated)
Freewill: Somewhat
Infecious: No
Fear: No
While Half-Life was called by many people one of the scariest games ever I am glad and slightly disturbed to say headcrabs are infact nothing like a zombie besides being a parasite. Infact the biggest difference and the part that would make them scary were they real is the fact the human infected is still alive. Which also thus makes Gordon a murderer of countless innocents in addition to unleaching the alien hordes on humanity.
Stay vigilant, may the necrotics never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Check out Edgar Rice Burrough's Chessmen of Mars and the description of the Kaldanes. Very similar and 100 years earlier. The bodies the Kaldanes use are very zombie like, but are a genetic mutation and are not undead.
ReplyDeleteJust looked into it. Very similar. No one ever has an origanal thought as they say. The Kaldanes, or Tunnel Crabs as they are called in Larry Niven's story set in the same universe. Are a bit different though in that they are intellegent (Being nothing more then a large brain on legs) and have emotions. The Rykar bodies though are definately more zombie like, what with the giant mouth instead of a head and the single impulse to feed when not being controlled by a Kaldane. Pretty creepy spieces though too be sure, esspecially the casual way in which they regard the Rykars. Like horses, bred for strength and beauty, used for their physical abilities and sensations, and abandoned if they get sick or injured. Or worse eaten if the Kaldane runs low on food.
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