Nah, they're not actually aliens. They just take forms that aren't really recognizable as any known species. They're basically the 'other' classification for Kaiju, where any Kaiju with an unrecognizable species gets put. Xenoforms, not Xenomorphs, usually look alien or chimeric, often have insectoid qualities, tentacles, or other traits that you don't often see in Legends, and Xenoforms are pretty much all radically different from one another. With legends, you have sort of 'subspecies' like dragons, Tikbalang, and Kelpie, but every Xenoform might as well be it's own subspecies. Xeno more refers to 'strange' in this context, rather than 'alien'.

And no, we don't have interstellar travel. That's a bit beyond our capabilities at the moment.

I think you're mistaking hostility for non-sapience. Not every Kaiju out there lives in human civilization, and not every Kaiju wants to live among them as equals. The Leviathans have their own underwater society, and they tend to see humans as little more than pests or prey. I don't know if there are any peaceful Leviathans. If there are, they stick to the depths of the sea. The ones that show up near the surface almost always attack on sight, and rarely attempt to communicate, but signs indicate they could be even more intelligent than humans in some ways.

Pestilence is definitely a weird case, and a tragic one. It was an Elder Kaiju which could only sustain itself by consuming diseased flesh or plant matter. It used to be revered long ago as a sort of guardian against plague, as it would consume the terminally ill to prevent the illness from spreading. A grim role, one I'm told it never enjoyed.

Then, medicine got better. Most of the more serious illnesses it would feed on were cured or prevented. Terminal illnesses stopped being terminal. Since Pestilence requires diseased bodies, it couldn't find enough food to sustain itself. So it started to starve.

What we see now is a hunger-crazed monstrosity, desperately seeking a meal. It can think of nothing else, and the diseases within it's body have putrefied it's flesh and twisted its mind. Rot took it's body, and the fungal parasites it had consumed started growing in it's skull. It's one goal is now to spread disease in an effort to cause a plague. Maybe something remains in its mind, hopeful that by doing this, it will be able to finally sate it's hunger.

All Kaiju as we know them are Sapient. The Elders, the Leviathans, the Legends, the Colossi, and the Xenoforms are all of human intelligence or greater. However, I've heard of possible non-sapient hyperfauna in the world that might be considered Kaiju, but they aren't actually related to the rest of us.

He was brought up in a small town with little in the way of conflict. The majority of Kaiju there are Tikbalang, and the Tikbalang who live there tend to value traditional roles and responsibilities. Kaiju in his town are taught to act a certain way, and the family of Tikbalang who traditionally leads that town tend to hold themselves to high standards. Humans, Zoomorphs, and Kaiju all work together to help their town thrive. Everybody knows everybody else, and generally everyone in town gets along and shares in the town's prosperity. If any Tikbalang has behaved beneath those standards, they are certainly not admitting to it.

Contrast that with Crater City. We have the city counsel consisting of powerful people who get quite wealthy off of their investments and their ability to make the decisions that determine if those investments grow. As long as they keep their doners happy, usually wealthy corporate entities, then those doners will continue to ensure they get elected regardless of whether they actually do anything useful in office. Meanwhile, people spread fear about Kaiju, hunters blend in with the crowd, and Kaiju are too afraid to live openly. Eventually, that fear turns into resentment, which turns into anger, which turns into a 'rouge Kaiju' attack, which turns into more anger and fear directed at Kaiju, and the cycle repeats ad infinitum. The city is full of hostility, and there are too many people living too close together for the system of trust found in Thunder Bay to be feasible.

Mordecai arrived in the city and was met immediately with distrust. He saw the city's fear of Kaiju. He saw the anger, and the hatred. Unfortunately, he has no actual idea why the city is the way it is. He seems to believe that Tikbalang are immune to the kinds of things that cause a Kaiju to 'go rouge' and that Tikbalang traditions are the reason why everyone gets along in Thunder Bay, and the lack of discipline Kaiju have in Crater City is the reason why there is so much fear about us around here.

Everything is simple and straightforward in Thunder Bay. Nothing is so simple in Crater City.

Well, you know he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corp before transferring over to the newly formed West Coast KDF and being promoted. You're right in that he used to be a lot more strict. He was known for being rough during training, and having extremely high expectations. He was in many ways even more strict and intimidating than Heather."

"That being said, he was always fair. He was strict for a reason. He came from a military background, and was trying to ensure we were all prepared for anything we might face. When he retired, he sort of followed the footsteps of Bob Ross, dropping the rigidity and letting his sense of humor flourish without the pressure to remain strict."

"He's turned into a great father to Amy and the one person everybody in town feels comfortable talking to. Quite the change from how he used to be."

Avian zoomorphs are not capable of true flight. They're just too heavy, and generally the wings on their arms aren't long enough to support the weight in flight. In addition, their legs being so large and positioned for bipedal stance means even if their wings were strong enough for true flight, they'd be pretty off balance."

"That said, those wings of theirs are apparently sometimes capable of letting them glide, although this is apparently a skill they need to practice with, and keep in shape if they want to use. It's not a common skill, since people don't tend to want to take the risk of injury that tends to come with practicing gliding, but I have seen some avians attempt to parasail using their wings to... mixed results."

Heather: "I was born a 14 lbs child, and have always been roughly twice the mass of other girls my age. Probably would have been bullied for it more if I hadn't shattered Big Billy's forearm in second grade for picking on a smaller kid at recess. I knew the other girls were calling me 'Troll' and 'Ogre' behind my back, but none of them dared say a word to my face. I was fine with that."

"As you can probably tell, I was always big, and always strong. When I joined the Navy and started getting military training, I got even stronger. When I joined the KDF and started training to deal with Kaiju, I got stronger and faster."

"Lately though, I've been getting these bursts of strength. They're sudden, and they can end up being too much for my body to handle. We had a mole infiltrate the KDF a short while ago, and he tried to make a break for it. I hit him hard enough to break some of his bones, and he was a disguised Kaiju. The force of the hit shattered my arm. I've always been strong, but not THAT strong. I still don't know what caused it, but I and my bones would much prefer if it didn't happen again."

You better believe it! I love Halloween! It used to be the one day I could go out in my half-form without people freaking out since they just assumed it was an elaborate costume and I was just some sort of reptilian zoomorph. Nowadays, I go out in half form regularly, so I've started dressing up or coloring my scales for a costume. I've done a dracolich, I've done Maleficent 's purple and black while breathing my green nature's fire, I've gone as some of the dragons from Spyro... It's usually some color scheme or scale pattern from some dragon in pop culture, and people take a guess as to which dragon it is. It's fun! Though some years I just color my scales in festive fall colors and just go out as myself, just looking like autumn. It's not really a costume though, just a theme.

Though I tend not to do much in the way of masks. I had to hide who I was for a long time, I'm not exactly enthusiastic about putting a mask on for fun.

Amy: "Oh! Yeah, that's my Dad. Adoptive dad, that is. His name's Robert, Rob or Bob for short. He's an eagle zoomorph and I'm a cornucopia Kaiju, so we're not really related. After the KDF found me, they took me into protective custody. Dad personally made sure I was looked after. See, Dad was the original colonel of the West Coast KDF at the time, having transferred over from being a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines."

"He retired from the KDF when he adopted me so he could help give me a proper home. Eventually, we started the Kaiju Café as a way to help feed the Kaiju members of our community! It was my idea at first, since I always wanted to use my Kaiju power to help the hungry. I couldn't leave town because hunters are always after Cornucopia horns, so the café was the next best choice!"

"Anyway, Dad is still highly respected by humans and zoomorphs as a Marine and a retired Colonel, and Kaiju respect him because of his leadership when he was in the KDF. Colonel Heather is often considered the most feared and respected KDF Colonel in the short history of the branch. Dad's the guy she goes to when she needs advice."

Well, I mentioned before that they are a family of Kelpie. Basically a similar species of Kaiju as the loch ness monster. As for what they were like, I think you could probably compare them to the Wayne family. They're wealthy, have a controlling interest in a number of major businesses in the Crater City area. When the KDF first came around, they were highly supportive of it, and tend to be pretty generous with charities. I like to think I had a hand in keeping the family honest, considering I helped raise two generations of them.

Anyway, they've been more than my adoptive family to me ever since I first met Ryan's grandfather when we were kids. They've been my best friends.

Heather: "I have only met him once, when he was helping to secure some witnesses. He appears to be well-connected and intelligent, if stubborn. I am aware he has a poor view of our organization due to his interactions with Wildfire, though I feel he would dislike the KDF even if he hadn't encountered Wildfire before, simply because the our existence brings a lot of unpleasant facts to light. We wouldn't exist if Kaiju and non-kaiju lived in peace like they do in Thunder Bay. I feel that he would see us as just one more symptom proving that the city is diseased. That said, I am making assumptions here, myself. I would hope he would give us more benefit of the doubt than that, given we are actually working to improve the situation here."

"But, as I said, he's stubborn. He has a high view of his people's traditions and culture, and I believe being in a city with such tension between Kaiju and non-Kaiju has resulted in a kind of culture shock."