There are quite a number of science fictions that have the element of an alien species whose only instinct is to consume every other living being. One of those is my topic, the Flood of the Halo franchise. The Flood are a kind of parasite creature that rely on consuming other life forms to grow and reproduce. They are able to take control of, mutate and gain the memory and knowledge of their hosts. As they grow, they will become more and more unstoppable because of their number and intelligence. There are four distinct but continuous stages of the Flood development.

        The first stage is the Feral Stage. During this stage, the behavior of the Flood is “Feral”. They attack with no strategies, focusing on consuming as many living beings as possible. The Flood has many forms. In this stage, there are the Infection, Combat and Carrier Forms. And in the very beginning, there’re only the Infection Forms. The Infection Forms are small but deadly creatures that can instantly kill or infest the victims upon physical contact with their tentacles. Although they are easy to kill, they usually gather in a large swarm, making them incredibly dangerous. After they have taken over their hosts, they will begin to mutate the body. When the mutation is completed, this means that the hosts are killed and the bodies are completely taken over by the Infection Forms. They are now the Combat Forms, fighting other life forms with their mutated body part or using weapons based on their former hosts’ memory. They can also continue to mutate into Carrier Forms, able to explode and send the Infection Forms within them far and wide. Infesting other creatures is not their only goal. They will also gather corpses of their victims and collect biomass from them in order to create an intelligent being called as the Gravemind. Once the Gravemind has fully grown, then the first stage is over.