Concept Art: A Master

An original Master from the animated series:

I was never happy with the "horseshoe crab" version. They were bug-like, but not scary or creepy enough. And it was a harder stretch having them go around speaking "human".

One idea for the new version:

Basically, a head-sized spider with a somewhat humanoid face on its back. Reaching the creepiness level desired. I'm imagining the leaders among their ranks riding atop decapitated Workers à la Headless Horseman style. They're a work in progress. *EDIT* I had no idea the game Half-Life does something exactly like this last idea... so, back to the drawing board a bit.

The Masters run the Ship, controlling both the factions of dead humans (Workers and Hunters) to do their bidding. From the onset, it seems their goals are to 1) Go about space, plundering for resources to eventually take home, 2) To ever-expand the behemoth Ship to accommodate, and 3) To hunt down human colonies to create more undead slaves. Fun times.