Chryssalid (species)

A Chryssalid is a large insect-like alien from an unknown world. They were brought to Earth and Equestria by the Elder aliens during the Dimensional War.

Chryssalids are infamous for their speed, savage nature and powerful melee attacks. The insects may look fragile, but they can tank a surprising amount of damage seemingly unfased and are agile enough to actively dodge attacks.

Chryssalids have been fought many times by the XCOM Project and the Midnight, and have been observed to have four subspecies. Those being Primitive, Evolved, Mutated and the kind in the Equestrian Wasteland known simply as Chryssalids. The Primitive and Evolved forms have also been observed as hatchlings, with seemingly weak and flimsy body armour but otherwise identical to a "grown" Chryssalid. The age progression of Chryssalids is highly irregular as the species has been known to go from an egg to a full grown Chryssalid in less than an hour.

Primitive Chryssalids are mostly purple and white, with two glowing orange eyes. They have four pointed legs and two appendages capable of gripping prey above their front legs. Evolved Chryssalids are slightly more brittle than the Primitive Chryssalids, but their body armour is thicker and their legs are a lot sharper, and their eyes are sunken into the head as beady red circles rather than protruding orange balls. Mutated Chryssalids follow the basic trends of the other kinds, but have no eyes, enhanced hearing and are slower with less armour than the other types, but are capable of healing themselves via reassembling the biological mess that they are comprised of. Wasteland Chryssalids are beige in colour and their legs are not as sharp as their predecessors' were, as well as their eyes consisting of small red circles, vaguely resembling the Primitive Chryssalid's orange eyes combined with the Evolved Chryssalid's beady red eyes.

Chryssalids are a parasitic species, requiring a host to both feed from and implant an egg into. However Primitive and Evolved Chryssalids have slightly different breeding methods, while the Mutated Chryssalids have an alternate method altogether. The theory of a Chryssalid's body changing based on the host was debunked after Chryssalids were discovered of being able to host in larger creatures that in no way resemble their normal targets, such as a MegArachnid or whale.

For Primitive Chryssalids, they must acquire a host. The host will be killed and the egg will be planted directly into the central nervous system, taking control of the body as a "Zombie" for up to ten minutes. After that time has elapsed, the Zombie will suddenly burst open and a full-sized Chryssalid will emerge, having fragile plating over it's body which will harden within the next hour. From the instant a Chryssalid is birthed, it is possible for them to reproduce via the same method should they be able to acquire a host.

Evolved Chryssalids also require a host, but do not turn the host into a zombie. Once the host is infested and killed, the body will be cocooned in a gelatinous translucent blob that will, over the course of five minutes, birth up to three hatchling Chryssalids. If the cocoon is destroyed before all three can be birthed, the birthing process is halted. Unlike Primitive Chryssalids, Evolved Chryssalids can poison foes with their front legs as well as bite their prey to infect them.

Mutated Chryssalids have a much slower reproduction rate. After making a kill, the Mutated Chryssalid will return it's prey to the nest and the biomass it is comprised of will slowly consume and overtake the corpse. After an hour, the Mutated Chryssalid that made the kill would be fully fused with the host. Every hour for up to 24 hours, a new Mutated Chryssalid will emerge from the corpse. After the maximum amount of Chryssalids has been spawned from a corpse, the host will be left as a perfect skeleton, devoid of all usable components.

Wasteland Chryssalids (referred to by Red as "Scuttlers") need a living host to reproduce, and their breeding method has been nicknamed the "Trojan Bug." The Chryssalid will bite the target on the neck with it's two large mandibles, and if no other potential hosts are present it will flee for seemingly no reason. This is merely a rouse, as the Chryssalid has planted an egg in the victim's nervous system (much like how the Primitive Chryssalids would) which will slowly grow. The victim will begin to experience hazy vision and trouble breathing, as well as easy exhaustion as the egg develops. After an hour, the egg will develop into a parasitic insect that will slowly devour the victim's organs and assimilate them for itself, using it's own heart to supply the host with blood. Aside from the aforementioned effects, the only way to tell if someone is infected is either seeing the bite itself or seeing major discolouration in the eyes, which will also be extremely bloodshot. After up to a week, the victim will enter agonising pain as the Chryssalid begins to emerge from it's host. The Chryssalid will burst from the host in a very violent way, killing the host, with all of it's armour developed, able to infect another victim the instant it is birthed. Due to the way the insect emerges, a host's body may be completely eviscerated upon emergence.

Though Chryssalids are known for their extreme danger levels and speeds, they are incapable of ranged attacks of any kind and have a natural fear of fire. Despite their stature, Chryssalids of all kinds (excluding Mutated) can leap extreme heights to reach prey. Their underdeveloped brains mean they are resistant to Psionic alteration of all kinds, but they are not immune. Chryssalids are also weak to robotic units such as robots due to their reliance on poisoning and biting foes. Their fangs are, however, able to pierce steel.

Primitive Chryssalids were the first kind discovered, having been used against the Midnight and XCOM during the Dimensional War. These variants were also the ones encountered by the Lost Paladin during his time in Equestria, nesting in a dead MegArachnid underground. Primitive Chryssalids were no longer sighted following the Great Retreat, as Evolved Chryssalids had taken their place. After the Dimensional War ended and the Elders were defeated, Chryssalids were only encountered as remnants of the invasion and a few subjects were taken to the city of Breakthrough for study. The experiments created the Mutated Chryssalid via the fusing of Chryssalid and Faceless DNA. Wasteland Chryssalids came about due to Chryssalids that had gone undiscovered following the Dimensional War, receiving minor changes due to the radiation not reaching their underground nests.

When exposed to DarkTech, a Chryssalid is killed and all that is left is a perfect exoskeleton excluding the fangs.

Evolved and Wasteland Chryssalids have been known to burrow and lie in wait for prey to draw near, springing from their hiding places to strike. While Primitive, Evolved and Wasteland Chryssalids prefer to live in hot and arid environments as well as underground, Mutated Chryssalids require cold and damp areas to nest lest their bodies dry out and they perish. Aside from Mutated Chryssalids, all forms curl inwards like spiders when they expire, while Mutated versions simply collapse to a gooey puddle.

It is possible to survive the attack of a Chryssalid and be unaffected by the poison, as evidenced when Fielde was bitten on the right side of his neck by a specimen and immediate treatment meant he survived unhindered. However the scar of the bites still adorn his neck.

A Wasteland Chryssalid bit Union on the neck during the events of Fallout: Counterpart but due to his Psionic power "Fortress" he was not infected. Super Mutants and Ghouls are also immune to the poison. Upon learning this, Union and Guy delved into the ruined Stable 38 and wiped the Chryssalid nest out. Union then got a tattoo of a Chryssalid head on his right arm, and the words "CHRYSSALID KILLER" are written beneath it.