Headcabs endangered?

[heer0]

I got this idea while browsing the "New Zombie" poll thread.

Think about it, it's obvious that the headcrab's physical structure is designed so that the headcrab is particulary suited for human hosts (heads). They got a big round 'mouth', and are fans of the surprise in-the-back-from-the-corner attacks. I really doubt they could leap on any other non-human creature (garg, vort or antlion).
And since the headcrabs originate from Xen (as long as i know), how did they managed to survive out there, before the resonance cascade brought them the new type of 'steak' to feast on :E

Or maybe they are designed on earth to be used as a biological weapon (as the combine eventually uses them)?


Just a thought...

 

[Acerbus]

Maybe the headcrabs did feed on somebody else. There clearly has to be more creatures in Xen, cos just a few species can't make up a whole eco-system. From what we know, the headcrabs could have used some other species which weren't teleported to earth and humans just happened to good enough hosts. Besides, the bullsquids seemed to be hostile towards headcrabs, so maybe headcrabs were using them?

 

[heer0]

I doubt they could. Can you marely point me where the bullsquids's head really is? And i don't think it's suitable enought for the headcrab. This will produce a Bullsquid Zombie...cool! :E

 

[AJ Rimmer]

headcrabs didn't evolve on Xen

 

[d00d]

Barnacles feed on headcrabs so I think that is good enough. And Vortigaunts seem to have a rounded head so I think that covers it.

 

[Tagger135]

Well that would be wierd to see a vort zombie, with the ability to use electricity.

That would actually be disturbing

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Well that would be wierd to see a vort zombie, with the ability to use electricity.

That would actually be disturbing

If by "disturbing" you mean totally freaking unbelievable awesome! Oh my god, now I want that!!! VAAAAAAAAAALVE!!! GIVE ME A VORTI-ZOMBIE! NOW!

 

[Para]

Vortizombie wouldn't be actually that dangerous - to us that is. Since most of the inherited abilities headcrabs get from infesting a body are basic functions without the finer elements it would mean that the vortzombie would just zap electricity randomly around and most likely fry itself while doing that.

Just think of it. Zombies don't use guns, zombines don't throw grenades, gonomes didn't do any fancy combat movements beyond rushing.

As for other sources of food for headcrabs, all they need is acceptable biomass to couple with and I can think a huge variety of creatures which have human-sized head or slightly smaller or larger, for example larger dogs, baby manatees, seals, deers, lynx, monkeys of course...and who says headcrabs are not omnivorous if needed?

 

[d00d]

Vortizombie wouldn't be actually that dangerous - to us that is. Since most of the inherited abilities headcrabs get from infesting a body are basic functions without the finer elements it would mean that the vortzombie would just zap electricity randomly around and most likely fry itself while doing that.

Just think of it. Zombies don't use guns, zombines don't throw grenades, gonomes didn't do any fancy combat movements beyond rushing.

As for other sources of food for headcrabs, all they need is acceptable biomass to couple with and I can think a huge variety of creatures which have human-sized head or slightly smaller or larger, for example larger dogs, baby manatees, seals, deers, lynx, monkeys of course...and who says headcrabs are not omnivorous if needed?

Yes but zombines used grenades.

 

[Para]

Yes but zombines used grenades.

Pulling the pin hardly counts as using it.

 

[heer0]

lol

 

[heer0]

headcrabs didn't evolve on Xen

Then where? Earth?

I suppose there are other round-headed creatures for them to feast on in Xen, that weren't covered in the HL series. Wow, this means alot of different cool zombies! :E

 

[TaoFan]

headcrabs didn't evolve on Xen

Of course they did. Gonarch's lair was in Xen, and he is the mother of the headcrabs. Are you dumb or what?

 

[Acepilotf14]

Headcrabs > Zombies.

 

[heer0]

Who told you that Gonarch was the mother of the headcrabs? It can spawn small gonarchs, but they are not headcrabs, as long as i know. :hmph:

 

[ríomhaire]

Barnacles feed on headcrabs so I think that is good enough.

Barnacles feed on crows, crows are from Xen!

Vortizombie wouldn't be actually that dangerous - to us that is. Since most of the inherited abilities headcrabs get from infesting a body are basic functions without the finer elements it would mean that the vortzombie would just zap electricity randomly around and most likely fry itself while doing that.

But if headcrabs evolved with Vortigaunts as their natural prey would they not be more suited to them? Perhaps they could shoot electicity accuratly and maybe that's also why headcrabs aren't good with human legs (the regular headcrabs ones anyway)

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Of course they did. Gonarch's lair was in Xen, and he is the mother of the headcrabs. Are you dumb or what?

According to Marc Laidlaw, no creature we have so far seen are originally from Xen, but escaped there. Because we saw a gonarch on Xen doesn't mean his race evolved there. Using the horribly tiresome argumental technique used by others on these forums; "I've seen a kangaroo in a zoo in Sweden, ergo, kangaroos are from Sweden!"
Also, if Gonarch was "the mother of the headcrabs" (incidentally, why is the mother a "he"?) where do all the HL2 Headcrabs come from? There are more than one Gonarch.

 

[heer0]

So, if the headcrab didn't evolved on Xen, it must be designed on Earth, for a biological weapon maybe :| But it looks like a failed experiment to me, instead of neutralizing human population, it makes them more dangerous (as zombies).

I'd better ask Dr. Kleiner about this :E

 

[AJ Rimmer]

So, if the headcrab didn't evolved on Xen, it must be designed on Earth, for a biological weapon maybe :| But it looks like a failed experiment to me, instead of neutralizing human population, it makes them more dangerous (as zombies).

I'd better ask Dr. Kleiner about this :E

Nooooo, they came to Xen from somewhere else.

 

[heer0]

Now this i call a dead end

Any ideas where the headcrabs may've comed from, if not Xen or Earth?

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Now this i call a dead end

Any ideas where the headcrabs may've comed from, if not Xen or Earth?

Headcrabworld? Where the only other creatures are big, immobile floating heads?

 

[heer0]

lol, this is a headcrab paradise!

 

[Jintor]

They escaped there along with the Vorts from the Combine!

 

[Gordon-Shepherd]

it has been found out somehow(cant remember how) that headcrabs dont hook into the brain, but the nervous system, meaning that theoretically they could hook on anywhere. sooooo bullsquids, shocktroopers, you name it I guess.

 

[heer0]

But the headcrabs have a small round body with a big 'mouth' under, which they use to 'suck' a head in, and four hook-like legs to keep themselves steady on the victim. How did they manage to stay on top of the bullsguid's smooth body, when there's not even a thing you can call a head?

Maybe i'm being too overstrict to Valve, after all, They created a game, not an ecosystem

 

[Jintor]

i assumed the hook-like legs were to puncture them into the victem and hang there. So you'd just hold on as best you can. And i thought the head was those weird tentacle mouth thingies on a bullsquid.

And they did create an ecosystem. A much better ecosystem than most other games bother to.

 

[heer0]

I can't imagine the bullsquid's big head to fit into the small headcrab

And Valve surely created a virtual ecosystem, but bothering with such small details is not the point of their creation. If you played HL1 then you've been on Xen in the latest chapters. Then you've noticed that the Xen world represents countless 'islands' that seems to be 'floating' in some sort of athmosphere. (i am not going to discuss here the physics of this world, asuming that in Xen there are other phsical laws than on Earth). And since most of the Xen creatures we saw in HL can't fly, then those islands must be some closed ecosystems. But how such a small number of creatures (predators and preys) could exist in such a small territory? The preys need a place to hide, and food (presuming vegetables, which are scarce), and the predators need a constant supply of fresh meat to survive.

Well, this could be explained if the creatures knew how to use the teleports between the islands, but this is getting more and more rediculous.

 

[Jintor]

My personal theory is that while Xen can support life, the animals that live their did not originate there, but rather came from elsewhere and landed on the islands.

That or Xen was originally some sort of true planet but then broke apart into chunks.

 

[bigburpco]

What's a headcab?

 

[Darkside55]

it has been found out somehow(cant remember how) that headcrabs dont hook into the brain, but the nervous system, meaning that theoretically they could hook on anywhere. sooooo bullsquids, shocktroopers, you name it I guess.

Opposing Force. Cranial MRI depicts zombified marine's brainwaves and an X-ray of the skull. The brain is untouched, suffering no lesions or swelling. Furthermore, one of the scientists in that area remarks about how the crabs "completely control the host's nervous system."

Further evidence from a 2001 concept art picture for a poison headcrab, in which it creates a zombie without swallowing the host's head. Rather, it is digging its claws and beak into the host's neck/shoulder, proving that headcrabs don't necessarily need heads to zombify.

And the last thing I can think of at this moment are the cords that were clearly visible in the maws of HL1 headcrabs, having since disappeared from the model in HL2, but still exist thanks to a little drawing on Dr. Kleiner's corkboard that confirms their existance. The headcrabs have a little flap from which these cords extend and can plug in to the host's spinal column, and tap into its peripheral somatic nervous system.

My personal theory is that while Xen can support life, the animals that live their did not originate there, but rather came from elsewhere and landed on the islands.

Everything from Xen is from somewhere else. Presumably the headcrabs came from the same world as the rest of the Xenian fauna. Nihilanth's great migration of his planet apparently included every living thing from that planet, or at least most of it.

 

[Kornflake™]

Opposing Force. Cranial MRI depicts zombified marine's brainwaves and an X-ray of the skull. The brain is untouched, suffering no lesions or swelling. Furthermore, one of the scientists in that area remarks about how the crabs "completely control the host's nervous system."

Further evidence from a 2001 concept art picture for a poison headcrab, in which it creates a zombie without swallowing the host's head. Rather, it is digging its claws and beak into the host's neck/shoulder, proving that headcrabs don't necessarily need heads to zombify.

And the last thing I can think of at this moment are the cords that were clearly visible in the maws of HL1 headcrabs, having since disappeared from the model in HL2, but still exist thanks to a little drawing on Dr. Kleiner's corkboard that confirms their existance. The headcrabs have a little flap from which these cords extend and can plug in to the host's spinal column, and tap into its peripheral somatic nervous system.



Everything from Xen is from somewhere else. Presumably the headcrabs came from the same world as the rest of the Xenian fauna. Nihilanth's great migration of his planet apparently included every living thing from that planet, or at least most of it.

Meaning that the host can theoretically be alive whilst zombified. The host is conscious but kept in a catatonic state as the headcrab has taken control of his or her central nervous system. This may also explain why zombies “cry for help” when set on fire, it’s the still live host regaining some control in their dying seconds as the headcrab fries.

 

[heer0]

Ouch, this is cruel and inhumane! But it's better him than me :E

There were some discussion whether or not the headcrab can zombify a strider or gunship. These creatures are half-machine half-alive. So, if they have some sort of a biological nervous system, then this is possible, but if they have the good old HDD + cables , the headcrab will have a hard time zombifying it.

 

[TaoFan]

...he is the mother of the headcrabs.

 

[The One Freeman]

Pulling the pin hardly counts as using it.

than how do you use a grenade?
ask it nicely to blow up when you throw it?

 

[MiccyNarc]

Note that you're rolling your eyes at the stupid thing you said.

 

[Korgoth]

headcabs will take you wherever you want to go!

 

[Para]

than how do you use a grenade?
ask it nicely to blow up when you throw it?

Have you ever thrown a grenade? It's not just pull the pin and throw if you actually want to hit something with it. Throwing is a natural trait for us humans though so it's kinda easy for us but from technical aspect throwing is actually a complex process involving fine control of muscles and perceptive sensors like eyes and whatnot.

 

[Danimal]

Mouse1 held down and released.

The art of throwing a grenade.

 

[heer0]

But the headcrabs have quite a good control over the muscles of the victim. They can walk (even a bit clumsy though), run (zombines, fast zombies), jump, attack with their claws...

I think the Zombine's grenade throwing ability is just some sort of reflex left after the headcrab took over the cerebral tissue of the victim. And since the headcrabs don't know how to use any of the weapons of the combine (like MG's and grenades), they usualy end blowing themselves up.

 

[Para]

Controlling the gluteus group of muscles (the ones that make you walk) isn't that hard. It's beyond reflex to us so naturally headcrabs can make their host body do that. And like heer0 said, it's more of a reflex for a combine to lob a grenade but since headcrab can most likely only intercept the "...pull...pin...grenade..." part of that reflect they end up messing themselves.

That's the exact same reason why vortzombie would zap itself.