Hetwan

The Hetwan are a race of fictional alien creatures from the K. A. Applegate series Everworld. The Hetwan are large, sentient insects that seem to exist as a collective hive rather than as a group of individuals. Male Hetwan consist of two arms, a pair of wings, fly-like eyes, and three constantly moving claws near their mouths. The claws are used to grasp a tube that is then used to project the Hetwan’s acidic saliva. They continue moving at a slower pace after death. Female Hetwan are flying translucent sacks of organs. They travel in packs, where, upon encountering male Hetwan, are savagely torn apart and eaten, thus birthing perhaps a dozen Hetwan on the waist of the male.

Little is known about the Hetwans’ life before encountering Everworld, but like all alien species (those not from human mythology), they were brought there from another world (not “our” world) by their particular deity, the dread-god Ka Anor. They then began to conquer everything they came across, while collecting gods for their deity to consume. The Hetwan kingdom in Everworld alternates between perfectly hemispherical hills and gullies, giving a scooped-out appearance. The alien trees make strange musical sounds. The Hetwan capital, where Ka Anor resides, is a massive tower (dubbed “Junkie Dream Mountain” for its needle-like appearance) in the middle of a lava and glass filled crater. The only transportation across this gulf is by means of the “Red Wings,” giant insects that can carry passengers.