Star Wars Unveils Its Version Of The Xenomorph | Screen Rant
Warning: contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic #3!
Star Wars has unveiled its version of the xenomorph from the popular franchise Alien in The High Republic #3, written by Cavan Scott with art by Ario Anindito. In the book, an alien species that has been mentioned in The High Republic titles before is finally shown in full. Its home is also revealed and it bears an uncanny resemblance to those that the Alien franchise's xenomorphs constructed in the films.
The High Republic has focused on young Jedi Knight Keeve and an ongoing investigation she has been part of with her master Sskeer. On the planet Sedri Minor, strange things are happening. One of the twins has disappeared mysteriously and Keeve, along with her other Jedi companions, is trying to find answers. Instead, they may just end up with even more questions.
This issue, the story takes a dark turn. The twins are in obvious pain and dark elements are at work. Keeve tries to locate Ceret and eventually succeeds. She finds herself in an underground tunnel full of vines - vines that combine to form a freaky nest and reveal a darker purpose. Keeve finds a Drengir nest in a scene very reminiscent of Alien.
Keeve sees not only Ceret, but also a villager who had gone missing. Both are strung upside down by Drengir vines with vines sticking out of some of their orifices. This is surprisingly dark and creepy for Star Wars. It also mirrors the nest structure that xenomorphs have. Thin, tubular structures often lead into xenomorph nests and there are always gooey restrictive components holding onto host bodies. The nest construction is largely the same, just with vines instead of hive resin. To add to the creepiness, the Drengir speak through Ceret's body. They are able to communicate, but what they say makes them even more horrifying. They have taken Ceret and the villager, now dead, to feed on. This adds to their creep factor and actually makes them scarier than xenomorphs in some regards.
Xenomorphs takes humans and other creatures to their nest in order to reproduce. Face huggers from large eggs plant a smaller egg into a human host, which then bursts out violently to grow into a full xenomorph eventually. Humans are hosts and not much more. For Drengir, humanoids and other alien species are food, meant for eating. xenomorphs don't appear to eat and they don't fully possess beings. Drengir do. They eat beings, speak through them, and at the end of the issue, it appears as though they can control beings as well. Keeve and Master Kriss will have their hands full with their new foes when the next issue of The High Republic eventually releases.