Praetorian — avp

"There was one big motherfucker, like twice the size of the others... That thing could really scream. I never heard anything like it."

―Cpl. Tequila, regarding a Praetorian (from Aliens vs. Predator)

The Praetorian, also known as the Royal Guard,^[2] was one of the final stages in the traditional life cycle of the Xenomorph XX121 species. Praetorians were created when a Hive population reached over 300 individuals, and served as Queen or Empress' Royal Guard and army commanders.^[4] Unlike other Xenomorph types, Praetorians rarely operated outside their Hive grounds. Visually, Praetorians resembled a Queen, though they were smaller in size but still far larger than typical Xenomorphs, typically standing at least ten feet tall.

Characteristics

"Size of a goddamn truck!"

―Sergeant Alejandra Herrera assessing the motion tracker profile of an incoming Praetorian (from Aliens: Fireteam Elite)

A Praetorian's most distinguishing feature was its large head crest, similar to that of a Queen, which they would often employ to ram targets in a charging attack. Unlike Queens, however, Praetorians did not possess a second pair of arms on their chest, and their jaws, filled with metallic teeth, were comparable to lower Xenomorph castes. Like Queens, Praetorians typically possessed longer dorsal spines that ended in a sharp point, unlike most other typical Xenomorphs.

Praetorians were dark in color, typically black but sometimes black-blue, and stood over 10 feet tall, towering over their fellow Xenomorphs on the battlefield. Despite this size, they were almost as fast and agile as their smaller Xenomorph siblings, although owing to their bulk, they were unable to scale walls or ceilings. Following this, their feet shifted in appearance from the climbing-adapted Warrior, with the outermost toes becoming smaller and both pointed at a roughly 45 degree angle, while their center pair grew somewhat longer.^[1]

As was befitting of their size, Praetorians were incredibly strong and their thick mesoskeleton, known to be bulletproof in some cases, enabled them to shrug off damage that would be terminal several times over to most other Xenomorph castes. They were capable of defeating entire squads of human Marines single-handedly and were even a match for Yautja in close-quarters combat. Praetorians could spit acid in far larger quantities than other Xenomorphs, and could also use their claws and long blade-tipped tails as slashing and stabbing weapons, making them deadly at any range.^[1]

Intelligence

A Praetorian emitting its characteristic screech, calling reinforcements before a battle — A Praetorian emitting its characteristic screech, calling Warrior reinforcements before a battle

Praetorians were smarter and more cunning than typical Xenomorphs. However, owing to their size and strength, Praetorians simply had no need for stealth and tactical movement in most cases and would attack targets directly.^[1] Though when faced with more dire threats, the Praetorian has been known to avoid conflict, selectively choosing to fight only when it believed it had a high-chance of winning.^[3] However, owing to their role in protecting the Queen herself, they would ferociously combat any threats to her safety without concern for their own survival, making them dangerous opponents.

Due to their role as army commanders, Praetorians were known to emit a deafening screech to summon additional Xenomorphs to their aid.^[1] It was said that killing a Praetorian would temporarily disorient the Xenomorphs it coordinated.^[4]

Creation

When a Hive grew over 300 individuals, the Queen chose adult Xenomorphs from her brood to become Praetorians, the chosen were fed by Workers with Royal Jelly until the transformation began to take place.^[4] During the transformation chosen Xenomorphs would begin to produce a pheromone that would cause the rest of the Hive to turn against and attack them.^[5] This process would result in the deaths of most such individuals, but for those that survived and escaped, the ordeal would serve to strengthen the individual. Once away from the Hive, the pheromone would begin to initiate physical changes in the individual, causing them to grow into the Praetorian form.^[5] Once the change was complete, the pheromone would cease to be produced and the new Praetorian would return to their Hive and take their place beside their Queen.

Royal Guard

Some sources state that there is an intermediary stage between chosen Xenomorphs and full Praetorians, known as Royal Guards, a name which is also used to describe fully grown Praetorians. The Royal Guards were very similar to Praetorians but were smaller and weaker, having a less developed crest, and showed more Warrior-like features in the shape of their carapace, tail, and overall mesoskeleton.^[6] For this reason, it is possible that the Royal Guard merely represents a stage of molting for juvenile Praetorians as their bodies changed from an adult Xenomorph to a fully grown hyperadult Praetorian, and was not a separate caste or evolutionary stage.

Hosts

Traditionally considered a "purebreed" Xenomorph, it was debated whether a Praetorian would adopt genetic traits from its host as with most other Xenomorph castes, but this waas unlikely the case as only Warriors can evolve into Praetorians.^[4] The Crusher^[7] was considered to be the "Praetorian" equivelant of a Runner Xenomorph and was the product of a Royal Jelly force-fed Xenomorph Sentry, the "middle stage" between a Runner and Crusher.^[4]

Evolution

Similar to how Praetorians are said to evolve from lower castes, if a Hive loses its Queen, a Praetorian would molt into a new one so that the Hive could be preserved and not claimed by another Hive^[4], however, if the transformation didn't occur, the Hive was typically taken over and the former Queen's eggs and Praetorians were eliminated.^[8]

Specimen 6 was an example of a presented transformation process, during its journey on BG-386, which it started as a Warrior; it absorbed a great quantity of Royal Jelly and molted into a Praetorian. Later in a Weyland-Yutani transport, it was seen molting into a Queen, as its Matriarch died at the hands of Rookie.

Variants

Egg-morpher

The 'Egg-morpher Praetorian' was a rare and peculiar caste that was believed to be an alternate form of Praetorian, presumably evolving in the absence of a Queen. As its name suggests, the Egg-morpher possessed the ability to use captured hosts to create Ovomorphs through a process known as eggmorphing, allowing it to build up a Hive without having to go through the lengthy process of evolving into a Queen.

It is unknown if Egg-morpher Praetorians themselves possessed the potential to further develop into Queens like normal Praetorians. One of the major physical differencess between an average Praetorian and the Egg-morpher was the shape of their crests, with the Egg-morpher possessing a brown carapace that was very similar to that of a Ranger. Unlike their regular counterparts, Egg-morphers were known to be more defensive in their behavior, less likely to engage in head-on assaults against armed foes.^[9] However, they were also extremely protective of their eggs, and should they be harmed, the Egg-morpher has shown an unrelenting aggression towards the perpetrators.^[10]

Behind the scenes

The alternate color palette Royal Guard in the 1994 Alien vs — The alternate color palette Royal Guard in the 1994 *Alien vs. Predator* arcade game

The concept of a Xenomorph caste that acts a guard for a Queen has its origins in the Elite Guard of the Queen Mother that debuted in the 1990 comic Aliens: Female War, though a guard specific to normal Queens would not debut until 4 years later in the 1994 Alien vs. Predator arcade game, where they were known as "Royal Guards" and acted as mini-bosses.

These Royal Guards were portrayed as large greenish-brown Xenomorphs with spike-like dorsal spines and a distinctive, almost golden, two-pronged crest covering a Queen-like head. A rarer alternate palette of the Royal Guard also existed in the game with a more typical Xenomorph coloration and a pale tan crest.

The Royal Guard would next be briefly mentioned in the 1995 novelization of the comic Aliens: Rogue, where it first received the "Praetorian" moniker. While only encountered as corpses by the novel's characters, the Praetorians in this novel were described as possessing a "different cranial configuration" and "large mandibles", suggesting they may have taken inspiration from the Elite Guard rather than the arcade Royal Guard. The original 1993 comic also featured young Queens that bare a resemblance to later Praetorian designs.

Starting with 1999's Aliens versus Predator video game, the Praetorian was redesigned to feature a more triangular crest, closer to that of a Queen's, while the front of the head was made more like a normal Xenomorph's. They were also fully black, lacked dorsal spines, and was much smaller. These Praetorians acted as rare stronger enemies in the game's Marine and Predator campaigns.

The Praetorian, as depicted in 2010's Aliens vs — The Praetorian, as depicted in 2010's *Aliens vs. Predator*, considered by many fans to be the definitive design of the Praetorian

Following this appearance, the Praetorian became a staple of Alien vs Predator video games throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, going on to feature in 2001's Aliens versus Predator 2, 2003's Aliens versus Predator: Extinction RTS, 2007's Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem game, 2010's Aliens vs. Predator, and 2013's AVP: Evolution mobile game.

The sequel to Aliens versus Predator brought back the arcade design's spike-like dorsal spines and large size among other minor tweaks, with the subsequent video games further modifying the design until the 2010 AVP game's design became the standard, and was also used with minor variations in AVP: Evolution and the 2015 tabletop miniature game Alien vs Predator: The Hunt Begins. The Requiem game's Praetorian featured a brief return to the more Queen-like face of the original arcade design, along with a unique morning star-like tail club.

Subsequent depictions of the Praetorian have been fairly inconsistent, with the 2016 Aliens: Defiance comic introducing the 'Egg-morpher' variant, though have trended towards giving them a brown or tan colored carapace accompanied by a row of spines running down its length. Whether the coloration is an intentional reference to the original Royal Guard design or pure coincidence is unknown.

Trivia

The name Praetorian is derived from the Latin word praetor, the title given to certain high-ranking officials. The Roman Praetorian Guard were the personal bodyguards of Roman emperors.
Praetorians constitute two of the seven "boss" characters in the video game Aliens vs. Predator (designated by an on-screen bar showing their health during the player's battle with them). The others are Wolf, the Matriarch, an unnamed Predator, Karl Bishop Weyland, and the Abomination. The Praetorians are notable in that they are the only boss character to be fought in more than one of the game's three campaigns — both Rookie and Dark fight a boss battle with a Praetorian. In fact, the Rookie fights a further two Praetorians near the end of the Marine campaign, after his initial boss battle with one, although these latter two are not considered bosses.
- Specimen 6 herself was originally intended to be a Praetorian for at least some of the playable Alien campaign, although this was ultimately dropped; however, 6 still gains a Praetorian's shadow beginning in the Jungle mission.
Although never outright stated as such in the actual comics, concept art of the Defiance Alien from Aliens: Defiance makes mention of the creature being a Praetorian, specifically being an "Egg-morpher" variant with a head that bares a striking resemblance to the Ranger from Aliens: Colonial Marines.
Praetorians seemingly share several traits with the way real-life clownfish operate in terms of social structure. Clownfish live in groups led by the largest member (who is always female), the second-largest (always male) being the second in command, and all other members (always male) being of equal rank regardless of size. If the female dies, the male matures into a female, and the largest younger member matures into a male. It is unknown whether the writers were aware of this when the Xenomorph Praetorian was first conceived.