The two most prominent Xenomorph-killing species in the Alien Universe are seemingly humans and Predators, but as it turns out, neither of them can even begin to qualify for the title of their ‘greatest threat’, as that honor goes to something that is driven to eradicate the Xenomorphs’ entire species–and has the means to do so.
The first Xenomorph fans ever saw was introduced in 1979’s Alien, and it was killed by the end of the same movie. In the sequel, Aliens, fans are shown an entire hive of Xenomorphs, complete with a Queen and a hierarchy of roles and positions assigned to each Xenomorph in the hive. This small civilization of Xenomorphs was completely destroyed by the end of Aliens, and only a few Facehuggers survived into the third movie. Those survivors gave life to two of the last-known Xenomorphs in the universe–and they were also killed. This trend confirms that humans (specifically Ellen Ripley) are very good at killing Xenomorphs, though arguably not as good as Predators. Predators hunt Xenomorphs as part of their Blooding Ritual, which is a rite of passage a Yautja must go through to become a mature member of their clan. In fact, Predators seed entire planets with Xenomorph life to ensure their hunt can continue forever, as Xenomorphs are that important to their culture. Both of these examples prove how effective humans and Predators are at killing Xenomorphs, but even so, they are nothing compared to their true greatest threat: the Red Xenomorph.
Red Xenomorphs are Xenomorphs’ Evolutionary Successor, & Seek Only Genocide
In the four-part miniseries Aliens: Genocide by Mike Richardson, John Arcudi, and Damon Willis, readers are introduced to a planet known as Xenomorph Prime, the homeworld of the iconic alien creatures. After the first Queen Mother of Xenomorph Prime was stolen from the planet, the species underwent an evolutionary change with the birth of the Queen Mother’s replacement: the first Red Xenomorph. The Red Queen gave life to a horde of Red Xenomorphs, and they quickly maneuvered to overtake the planet from what remained of the original Xenomorphs. However, the originals were able to recover without undergoing mutation, and a new Queen Mother took the place of the first. This meant that there were two Queen Mothers on Xenomorph Prime, one of the original Xenomorph species, and one that ushered in the new era of the red variants. Both Queen Mothers called out to their children, and ordered them to do one thing: eradicate the other.
This series confirms that the Xenomorphs’ natural predators are the Red Xenomorphs, as they are born with the single-minded goal of replacing the original strain, which makes them way more of a threat to Xenomorphs than humans or Predators. Firstly, humans can only really handle a small horde of Xenomorphs at most, and that’s only with nuclear capabilities, so the idea that humans are a serious threat to the Xenomorph species as a whole is a joke. As far as Predators go, they are actually responsible for the protection and expansion of the Xenomorph species across the cosmos. Sure, they kill them regularly as part of their ritualistic hunt, but Predators have arguably helped the Xenomorphs way more than they’ve hurt them.
After breaking down these relationships, and looking at the actual threat-level each of these species/subspecies pose, the Red Xenomorphs are an easy choice when naming the Xenomorphs greatest threat in Alien, as their entire existence revolves around killing Xenomorphs, and they have the means to do so.
