So, you all know the classic explanation for different xenos - they take host DNA. But what if that wasn't all there is to it? What I'm trying to say is, even though host DNA is probably still a big part (evidence is runner) perhaps the environment is also a major factor. For example, look at the original Drone. It blended into the environment perfectly. The warriors in ALIENS were fast and armored (possibly due to human resistance?) The runner was red and mush more resistant to heat that the Aliens in other movies. It had to have adapted physically because the ox/dog would not have been used to high temp- it was not in it's DNA.
Well I mean the reason for their coloration is because the make up artists were trying to make them harder to notice, and let them blend in with their surroundings.
A perfect example is Predator and Predator 2. Stan Winston (Who worked on the Warrior from ALIENS) specifically made the Predator after 'the jungles fruit', a (ripe) banana. That's why the Predator was that golden color, and the brown spots and specs were like the ones you see on a ripe banana. In Predator 2 he made the City Hunter Predator a red fire color, to resemble the bricks you would see on a building in the city. He also adapted this technique into the Warrior Alien when he was working on ALIENS (That's why it looked like part of the hive, though you could argue he just slightly modified the colors from Alien, but the original Alien contained colors to resemble rust highlights on top of the solid black)
So that's why the creatures always seem to blend in with the environment in the Alien and Predator franchises (Because of the make up artists). Those are the facts.
But as a fan with his imagination running wild then yeah I'm 100% game with that theory because naturally, most of the time at least, animals adapt to blend into their environment for camouflage purposes.
The theory is not that the xenomorphs take absolutely every one of their features from their host, as you make it sound, Dronehive. They are, as a species, resistant to several hazards, such as extreme cold or extreme heat, due to some biological features that they all share.
While this is true DeathWraith, the xenos in ALIEN and ALIENS seem to be scared of fire, but the runner in ALIEN 3 seemed to at least partially survive molten lead. But my main support for this is the camouflage, as the Giger drone looked like the NOSTROMO, and the Runner looked like the prison. In addition, it seemed to me that the ALIENS RESSURECTION Xenos (yes I know it was bad) seemed to be ideal for swimming due to the large source of water from nowhere, but the Drone, Warrior and Runner were not equipped to do this.
Fire and extreme heat are not the same thing at all. And how can you tell the drone and warriors were not equipped for swimming, if they were never even exposed to deep water? The aliens in Resurrection swam with their tails, exactly like crocodiles. All xenomorphs have tails.
Yeah Im going to have to agree with DW, also in ALIENS you can see the warrior swimming, or at least infer it as it comes out of the Colonys water system or sewage system. (The scene where Newt is separated)