Brainsucker (Apocalypse)

The life span of a Brainsucker is very short, eight hours at most. It has no reproduction or feeding system. Instead it attacks human victims by grasping the head with its claws and inserting its proboscis into the victims throat. The Brainsucker dies immediately after a successful attack, but our tests reveal that the victim is subsequently transformed into an Alien controlled entity. We will not understand the mechanism which causes this until we have completed studies on the full Alien life cycle.  From: Apocalypse Ufopaedia

Brainsucker

Grown-In Weapon = special Health = 20 Speed / Time Units = 90 Accuracy = 100 Reactions = 5 Stamina = 70 Strength = 10 Bravery = 100 Armour¹: 5/5/5/5/5/5 Psi Energy = 0 Psi Attack = 0 Psi Defense = 100 Size = small Inventory = no Movement = ground Infiltration Influence = weak Score = 4

¹ armour values : Head/Body/Left Arm/Right Arm/Legs/Under (approximately)
Image, top to bottom: Pod, Alive, Unconscious, Dead.

This life form appears to have a simple structure with no distinguishable organs apart from an efficient heart and cardiovascular system. There appears to be no means of ingesting food or separate brain structure rendering it immune from Psionic influence. It seems that this creature has little purpose in life except that it is known to attack humans and seems to be designed to do only that. Its complex organic structure may be useful for developing toxins to counter any threat to our race.  From: Apocalypse Ufopaedia

A quick, small orange ball with protruding legs and a thick, short proboscis.

A Brainsucker appears when it hatches from a Brainsucker Pod.

Infiltration
An alien infestation spreading across the city from the initially infested building will have loose brainsuckers only early on, since their lifespan is very short. Brainsucker Pods will provide more brainsuckers when needed when fired from a Brainsucker Launcher during a battlescape mission. A launcher will be always be used in every encounter with aliens when fighting Anthropods or Skeletoids.

Combat

Unit

A Brainsucker is immune to psionics.

Brainsuck
Action

A Brainsucker is an extreme threat since it relies on surprise and can jump upwards to four levels high when trying to grab the head of a victim to attempt a brainsuck. Brainsucker Pods on the battlescape may break open (hatch) when detecting a suitable victim nearby. Many hatching at once can overwhelm a small X-Com squad.
Brainsuckers do not have any grown-in offensive weaponry of any kind but have a special ability of being able to permanently make human or hybrid X-Com agents 'change sides' and fight with the aliens against X-Com. A successful conversion is not always the outcome since a brainsuck action may fail randomly, irrelevant of headwear worn by the victim. If a brainsuck attempt succeeds or ends in failure after successfully grabbing and holding the head, it is always fatal to the brainsucker.
A Brainsucker does not actually 'suck brains'. It attacks the throat. A brainsucker cannot grab onto a victim's head if there is not enough room to do so (eg: an overhead structure, doorway, a flying agent directly under an overhang, etc.) or if the potential victim is too high off the terrain. Access to the throat area is not possible if an agent is laying on the ground since the Brainsucker's proboscis is too short to reach. If any attempt is made and it cannot grasp the head, the brainsucker may briefly fall unconscious. If it cannot successfully latch onto a victim's head (eg: the victim is running or weaving through obstacles) it will expend all its stamina from chasing and jumping many times.
Android agents are not targeted by brainsuckers or detected by pods whereas civilians, defence forces and mind controlled aliens may be detected however, they will not be targeted for a brainsuck.
A loose Brainsucker Pod will instantly hatch a single Brainsucker if any human or hybrid is detected typically within a five-cell radius on the same level. Detection works through walls.

Resistance
Brainsuckers are resistant to stun gas and stun grapples.

Brainsucker research is a critical step for understanding alien infiltration.

Next: Multiworm Egg
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See Also

• Anti-Alien Combat Tactics
• Unit Attributes
• Research
• Grown-In Weapons