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Tyranid

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Tyranid swarm[22]

The Tyranids, also known as The Great Devourer are an extragalactic alien race, whose sole purpose is the consumption of all forms of genetic and biological material in order to evolve and reproduce. Tyranid technology is based entirely on biological engineering. Every function is carried out by living, engineered creatures, each of which collectively forms the Hive Fleet, directed by a single Hive Mind.

The Tyranids are seen as one of the gravest threats to the entire Galaxy. They seek only to consume all organic life and cannot be reasoned with or deterred in this quest. Worse still for the Galaxy, thus far the Tyranid Hive Fleets that have been encountered are merely the furthest stretched tendril of the main invasion fleet that is still traveling in the void of space.[10]

History

Tyranids battle the Howling Griffons.[18]

The exact origin of the Tyranids themselves is unclear, save the fact that they are not of this galaxy and have only recently arrived here after traveling countless millennia in the intergalactic void. It is unknown which galaxy they originated from, or for how long the Tyranid race has been on its genocidal rampage, but it is believed that it is the Astronomican that is drawing the Tyranid Hive Fleet to threaten the Galaxy.[1j] The Tyranids were first attracted to the Milky Way Galaxy when the Xenos communication device known as the Pharos was overloaded in the Battle of Sotha during the Horus Heresy.[12] Indeed their very name is but a title given to them by the Imperium, named after the planet where they were first encountered (Tyran). It is possible that they have been preying on other galaxies since time immemorial.[1b] According to another source, they have consumed one thousand galaxies and are responsible for the annihilation of millions of intelligent species.[3]

The Imperium's first official contact with the Tyranid race was in 741.M41, when the Hive Fleet later known as Behemoth invaded the Eastern Fringe and annihilated planet Tyran. However, reexamination of Imperial records has led to speculation that the Tyranids have been invading, or at least probing, the Galaxy for much longer. Some of the Galaxy's most notorious predatory beasts, such as the Catachan Devil[2a] or the Fenrisian Kraken,[8] are guessed to be the descendants of ancient Hive Fleets. Records kept by the Ordo Xenos of the Inquisition suggest contact with Tyranid bio-forms as far back as M35; even more remarkable, in 937.M41, a Bio-ship was discovered beneath the surface of Nusquam Fundumentibus, where it had lain dormant since around M34. This discovery raised the disquieting possibility that other dormant Hive units are already "salted" around the Imperium as a whole, waiting for a new Hive Fleet to awaken them.[9]

Hive Fleet Behemoth was largely defeated at the Battle of Macragge in 745.M41.[1d] However this was hardly the end of the Tyranid menace. After Behemoth, the next major Hive Fleet to move into the Galaxy was Kraken in 992.M41, though tendrils of this Hive Fleet were defeated by the Imperium Ichar IV Campaign and by the Eldar at the Battle of Iyanden.[1j] Despite these setbacks, the Tyranids continued to advance into the Galaxy through a variety of smaller Hive Fleets. In 997.M41 the largest Tyranid Hive Fleet encountered so far, Leviathan, moved into the Galaxy below the galactic plane.[1l] However, thanks to the formation of the Great Rift, much of Leviathan was cut off as it made its main assault on Baal, homeworld of the Blood Angels. Most of Leviathan was destroyed during the period known as the Blackness against the defenders of Baal, the Indomitus Crusade, and newly materialised Daemonic armies.[16] Nonetheless, the Hive Fleet still has many tendrils remaining, which are now surging towards Segmentum Solar.[17]

A report given by the Strategic Collective in 998.M41 stated their belief that their extrapolated findings indicated that Hive Fleets Behemoth, Kraken, and Leviathan were the vanguard of a yet unseen main force, likening them to talons of a claw. This main force was projected to be brought to bear against the Imperium within a century. The report also stated that an increase of mobilisation levels by a minimum of 500% would be needed to slow this main force. Additionally, the drafting of every able-bodied man and woman on every world of the Segmentae Solar, Obscurus, and Tempestus would be needed to have a chance at repelling said force.[2b]

In M42, the Tyranids sent shocks throughout the Imperium by unleashing a new, massive invasion throughout Segmentum Pacificus.[25]

Hive Fleets

Tyranid Incursions[11]

Tyranid forces are broken up into huge Hive Fleets which appear to be moving independently of each other. In some cases, Hive Fleets have even been observed attacking one another.[15b]

Some most of the major Hive Fleets include:

Biology

Dissection of a Hive Tyrant, displayed with Spore Mine and Ripper[38]

The Tyranids do not communicate with the other races of the Galaxy. The Tyranids cannot be reasoned with, appeased or surrendered to. There can be no hope of mercy from such a foe. To face the Tyranids is simply a matter of survival: kill or be consumed.[14b]

The Tyranid forces are constantly changing and evolving at an unnatural speed. It is unlikely that all types of Tyranids have been seen by the Imperium, and less likely still that they will ever all be seen. However a few key traits are identical to nearly all Tyranids, such as tough chitinous armour, a hexapodal anatomy, and multiple redundant organs which make them incredibly difficult to kill.[15a]

The Six Limbs

The terrestrial Tyranids of the 41st Millennium display unique adaptations, particularly in their limb structure. Their third set of limbs typically ends in hooves, resembling those of ungulates, with an elongated lower leg and a prominent ankle joint. These limbs are often specialised, featuring spurs for stabilisation, or additional weaponry. However, some Tyranids, like the Trygon, use alternative locomotion, freeing their limbs for weaponry.[35a]

The first and second sets of limbs are highly mutable, adapting to the Hive Mind's needs. Close-combat variants often have Scything Talons for the first limbs, while larger species like Lictors have clawed middle limbs for grasping and tearing. Smaller creatures, such as Hormagaunts, typically have vestigial middle limbs. For ranged combat, projectile weapons are carried differently based on posture: upright walkers like Hive Tyrants use their middle limbs, whereas hunched-over species like Termagants and Tyrannofexes use their first limbs. Gun-beasts have reinforced limbs to manage bio-gun recoil.[35a]

Some Tyranids are spawned with bifurcated limbs to handle large bio-weapons. These specialised limbs feature an upper section to operate the firing mechanism and a lower section to hold the weapon, often supported by an additional digit for stability.[35a]

Spore Chimneys and Heat Sinks

Dissection of a Genestealer and Lictor[38]

Smaller organisms, such as Termagants and Hormagaunts, feature ribbed, open slots on their limbs and weapons, acting as heat sinks to dissipate heat efficiently. Larger creatures, like Tyranid Warriors, have more heat sinks, while massive species such as Carnifexes and Tervigons include rows of fluted chimneys for enhanced heat distribution.[35b]

These chimneys scale with size and energy needs; for instance, Zoanthropes have large chimneys despite their smaller size due to their high energy output. Some organisms utilise chimneys for dual purposes: Toxicrenes and Venomthropes use them to release spores and toxins, while the Psychophage emits smog from its chimneys, showcasing its assimilator function.[35b]

Chitinous Carapace

Tyranids are equipped with an organic, armoured carapace that moves with their bodies. These overlapping plates feature striations along the edges, where battle damage typically occurs. The head always has five plates, which may merge into the torso or extend into elaborate crests or blades.[35c]

Body Structure

Beneath their carapace, Tyranids have a smooth, hard exoskeleton similar to that of insects or crustaceans, with ridges around flexible joints. This contrast between the striated carapace and the smooth exoskeleton highlights their layered anatomy, transitioning from hard to soft textures. Additional features include spiracles on their heads, necks, and tails for respiration, and umbilicals on some weapon symbiotes, like the Hive Tyrant's bonesword, for transferring bioelectric energy.[35c]

Adaptations

The Hive Mind continually adapts Tyranid organisms for specialised roles. Predatory creatures like Von Ryan's Leaper have extra eyes for enhanced vision, while Hive Guard and Neurogaunts lack eyes entirely, relying on synapse creatures for direction. The Zoanthrope possesses two additional necks to support its massive brain, and the Exocrine features dual spines to manage the recoil of its bio-plasmic cannon. Ymgarl Genestealers use feeder tendrils to extract knowledge from prey, and the Hive Crone wields a Drool Cannon instead of a mouth.[35c]

Bio-Weapons

Every weapon and projectile used by the hive fleets is a living organism, grown from the reconstituted biomatter of previous invasions. The Tyranids have no form of mechanical technology and instead harness an advanced form of biotechnology. These creatures live in a highly symbiotic fashion, fusing into each other’s flesh so that it is often impossible to say where one Tyranid creature ends and another begins. This relationship is most obvious in the larger constructs, whose repurposed anatomies still retain recognisable biological shapes. However, this "forced parasitism" exists at every level, with examples such as "thinking blood", organs that can live separately from the creature they served, and subsidiary brains that serve as a "backup" in case of primary brain death or contain some specialist knowledge necessary for the current invasion.[15]

In this way, Tyranid warrior-beasts wield living weapons that are literally extensions of their own bodies, each one a killing machine, perfectly adapted to slaughter its victims. In addition, Tyranids are highly toxic to all forms of life, and many of their organisms expel toxic spores during invasions to make a world uninhabitable to non-Tyranid life.[14b]

The bio-construct nature of the Tyranids makes them a terrible foe to face, for their armies contain a creature specialised for every conceivable facet of warfare, which can be altered and regrown to suit a battle’s needs in a short space of time. Thus can a hive fleet adapt to generate a force capable of overwhelming any opposition, unleashing a vast throng of ferocious alien monsters that can fly, run, burrow and stalk through the defenses of any foe.[14b]

Tyranid organisms can rapidly adapt to any threat presented against it. Tyranids that have battled the Dark Eldar have quickly developed a higher resistance to pain, those that battle the World Eaters have become even more bloodthirsty and savage, and those that have fought the Orks have become greatly enlarged.[28a]

A Tyranid swarm[29]

Species

The Tyranid swarm is endless and constantly evolving, and in any given Hive Fleet there are an endless variety of creatures that have been incorporated into the Swarm.[15c]

A list of all known Tyranid species and sub-species.
A Biomorph is an evolutionary adaptation of the Tyranid species developed by the Hive Mind to create the perfect killing beasts needed to defeat its current enemy. Biomorphs are symbiotic creatures organically attached to more complex Tyranid organisms, serving as their organisms primary means of attack.[10]
Tyranid Fleets are massive swarms of spacegoing Tyranid Bio-ships.[1f]

Zoats have also appeared alongside Tyranid forces, but the nature of their relationship is presently unclear. Various theories have been proposed, from the Zoats being slaves or heralds of the Tyranids to them simply trying to escape them.[24]

The Hive Mind

Main article: Hive Mind

Within the Tyranid swarm there is no idea of individualism as each unit is linked to the next in a form of swarm consciousness. There is only one reason for the creation of any of the forces involved in Tyranid armies: to implement the will of the swarm, be it a Hive Tyrant or Ripper Swarm. This gestalt consciousness is commonly referred to as the Hive Mind.

Tyranids battle Daemons[14d]

Synapse Creatures

Main article: Synapse Creatures

Certain Tyranid units are considered Synapse Creatures, whose job it is to control the lesser species within the swarm and exert the will of the Hive Mind. They are capable of receiving and sending orders via the Hive Mind and this connection is vital to the effective running of the Tyranid race for, without it, the swarm would collapse into disarray. Usually Synapse Creatures are fielded in relatively large numbers to allow a rapid advance of the lesser creatures to remain in range of a synapse creature.[Needs Citation]

Individual Tyranids

Though the Tyranids are wholly controlled by the Hive Mind and lack any sense of individuality,[1b] a number of individual organisms have been repeatedly encountered by the Imperium and others within the Galaxy. These genetic abnormalities have gone on to earn dreadful reputations for themselves.[1m]

Notable individual Tyranids include:[1m]

Interstellar Travel

Tyranid Bio-ships battling the Imperial Navy[1d]

The Tyranids seem able to achieve Faster-than-light travel through an organism known as a Narvhal, which is able to harness a targeted systems gravity and propel its accompanying Hive Fleet's Bio-Ships to its destination. The arrival of the Tyranids is often met by psychic disturbances dubbed the Shadow in the Warp.[14b]

The Tyranid's form of interstellar travel draws upon the gravity of the targeted system's star and used to pull the fleet towards its goal. This often causes geological instability and seismic disruption on the targeted system's worlds.[36]

Planetary Consumption

Although the Tyranids will do minor harvesting from uninhabitable worlds, such as gas giants or comet clouds, living worlds are a hive fleet's primary prey. Tyranids will always seek genetic material over baser forms of sustenance. Tyranids are surface feeders that strip a planet's surface and move on. They do not delve deep to extract hidden resources locked deep beneath stone, such as promethium reserves or subsurface water reserves, unless it is easily accessible from the surface. The Tyranids’ favoured mode of attack is ground invasion. Imperial scholars theorise that it is the most economical means of offence and risked the least damage to their food source.[13]

In the process of assimilating a planet's biological and inorganic materials, the most important stage is the location of a suitable target. One method by which they accomplish this is the spectral analysis of distant stars to determine their likelihood of supporting life.[4] However, the fastest and most common method is the use of vanguard organisms, millions of which range hundreds of light-years ahead of each Hive Fleet, investigating each star system they encounter for signs of life.[4] Once a suitable world has been detected, these bio-vessels spawn infiltrator-organisms, such as Lictors, Genestealers, or specialised Gaunt strains, and launch them onto the world via Mycetic Spores. Once inserted, these organisms will seek out all life and target those of a highly-organised nature, such as humans, restricting themselves to lone targets so as to avoid revealing their presence.[4] Genestealers in particular will seek to infiltrate communities and create cults, not only to signal the planet is ripe for consumption but to weaken its defenses against the Hive Fleet's arrival.[4]

Invasion & Predation

The Ultramarines battle Tyranids during the Battle For Macragge[14a]

As the psychic beacon of the infiltrator-organisms flourishes, indicating a rich feeding ground, so does the Hive Fleet home in on it, in the process cutting off all interstellar communications as the Shadow in the Warp blankets the target system as the hive fleet grows nearer. Upon arrival to the planet, the Hive Fleet will disperse within the planet's upper atmosphere and begin launching millions upon millions of Mycetic Spores.[5] Prior to this genestealer cults, if present, typically lead civilian uprisings or attempt assassinations of those in authority to destabilize the world for the oncoming hive fleet. More subtle efforts might also be seismic instability, possibly causing minor shifts in the crust of worlds as the hive fleet pulls itself towards its target using the gravity of a system's star.[36]

Once the hive fleet arrive and the first spores fall on a world, the dreadful process of Tyrannaforming begins. Vanguard bioforms such as Lictors and Warriors immediately begin culling and devouring the planet's top order predators, while xenophagic viruses and bacteria infect plantlife, causing them to grow out of control, drawing nutrients from deep in the soil and concentrating them in more easily collected biomass on the surface. Swarms of Tyranids attack the most vulnerable and energy-rich settlements. On all ecological level, from mitragation patterns down to Tyrannoforming, the world's biosphere slowly succumbs to the Hive Mind's will. Areas of high Tyranid activity are thick with spores. Breathing such spores is a risk, even for a Space Marine, as the constantly adapting toxins can challenge any immune system.[37]

Many Mycetic Spores will contain Tyranid warriors of various strains, from Rippers to Bio-Titans, and so come in a multitude of sizes. Others will deliver zoomorphic symbiotes and parasites, which target and mutate the planet's flora at a rapid rate. Within hours, verdant forests are replaced with highly-aggressive alien vegetation, including Capillary Towers, which begins the process of transforming the planet's atmosphere into a hothouse, turning the sky a sickly red and raising temperatures at an accelerating rate.[5] Other spores are nothing more than giant cyst-bombs, filled with viral and poisonous organisms which burst over population centres, killing millions of people in the opening hours of the attack. Each one will cover an area many hundreds of metres across with acidic digestive bile, starting the process of future ingestion.[5]

After the initial attack, vast swarms of flying Gargoyles will herd the native population into the path of fast-moving hordes of Gaunts to be viciously slaughtered. The defenders, often underestimating the Tyranids' intelligence, make fighting retreats to buy themselves time to regroup from the onslaught, only to be encircled and destroyed as it becomes apparent they were merely herded into prepared killing grounds.[5] These last pockets of resistance will become the targets of larger Tyranid species, from Warriors to Carnifexes and Bio-Titans, which eradicate the defenders with sheer offensive power.[5]

Consumption & Assimilation

Bio-ships feeding from capillary towers on a world in the final stages of assimilation.[27]

With resistance ended, consumption of the planet's resources begins. Bacterial agents and vast tracts of feeder organisms, pupated from the carcasses of native life forms, ravage the landscape of every ounce of biological matter before being collected into Reclamation Pools, where the matter is rendered into a thick, nutrient-rich gruel.[6] This includes all mutated plant-life, which has finished altering the atmosphere into an oxygen-rich environment, and any infested organisms, who march blank-faced into pools' depths to be consumed by the Hive Fleet.[6] As the digestion pools swell, the Hive Fleet's ships cluster in low orbit as vast capillary towers emerge to link with proboscis-like feeding tubes and pump the biomass into them.[6] The final stage of the harvest is the consumption of the world's atmosphere and seas, with vast drone-ship haulers descending to low orbit and sucking up every useful element left. Eventually the Hive Fleet will depart, having left the world a desolate airless rock stripped down to the molecular level, to begin the consumption process on another world.[6] The Tyranids will also consume metal, rocks, and other minerals for microscopic life, but usually can not obtain much biomass from this.[13]

Below is a general outline of a typical Tyranid planetary assault (in particular, this data is collected from the Tyranid invasion of Dalki-Prime)[26]:

Planetary Assimilation[26]
Day Description
00 Initial mycetic spores are dropped, generally containing Lictors or Genestealers. Infiltration force led by a synapse creature of some kind; reproduction of Tyranid creatures likely begins immediately.
09 By day 9, Tyranids will have expanded to around 200 km from the drop point, and will likely present a significant threat to planetary defence and resident Imperial Guard forces.
13 Tyranids will have expanded to 700 km from the drop point; may begin infesting local water sources.
37 Tyranids control area within 2000 km radius of the drop point; basolithic infestation to 5000 km radius.
48 Tyranid population growth skyrockets, with population doubling approximately every 2.5 days.
50 Main Hive Fleet arrives, craft generally numbering around 1.5 billion. Psychic contact with planet is cut off by the shadow of the Hive Mind. Any attempts to escape are quickly stopped by the Hive Fleet.
51 Primary consumption of bio-mass begins (resistance has generally been eliminated by day 51). Brood ships land, releasing Ripper swarms, which consume all remaining organic material and depositing them at the reclamation pools. Capillary Towers (and the Brood ships) send the material into orbit.
80 The hive ships descend into the upper atmosphere and begin collecting it. Reduction in atmospheric pressure causes oceans to boil away, which are also collected. Lack of oceans causes plate tectonic shifts, dramatically increasing volcanic activity. Upon completion, the Hive Fleet move out of the system in search of fresh prey.
100 The Imperial Navy arrives in response to the distress call to find the world lifeless.

According to Belisarius Cawl, the Tyranid consumption of a planet is only surface-deep. Water and microbes continue to live on deep below its surface. Thus with the right terraforming technology and time, it is possible for worlds consumed by the Tyranids to return to life.[13]

Rear Guard

After assimilating a world, the hive fleet leaves behind rear guard organisms, typically made up of genestealers. These creatures are scattered across a consumed world, laid up in a hunting net, buried in wait under stone and rubble. Such genestealers have a breathing symbiote creature attached that allows them to recycle air on the now barren worlds the hive fleets have stripped of atmosphere. Genestealers are believed to be able to already be able to survive weeks without taking a breath when active, and for centuries when in hibernation. They lay in wait before for attacking any non-Tyranid organisms that come near they're hibernation location. They can hibernate for an exceedingly long, if unspecified, amount of time.[13b]

This rear guard largely dissuades any large-scale recolonization efforts on a world previously scoured by Tyranids. If sufficient biomass returns to a world the rear guard's purpose is to send out a psychic beacon or summoning call for a hive fleet to return to the world and feed again. However small expeditions parties typically aren't enough to trigger this.[13b]

  • Stage 1: Invasion[27]

  • Stage 2: Predation[27]

  • Stage 3: Consumption[27]

  • Stage 4: Assimilation[27]

Tyranids and Chaos

The raw matter of Chaos offers no nourishment to Tyranids, and this is why the Hive Fleets normally avoid areas plagued by Warp Storms and Daemonic activity. This has become more difficult, as the impure essence of the Warp increasingly pours from the Great Rift and across the galaxy. This has caused vital resources to be denied to the Hive Fleets and Kronos appears to be the Hive Mind's solution to this problem.[14e] The Tyranids have demonstrated the ability to resist Warp Rifts by spawning large amounts of Psyker organisms.[28b]

Related Videos

Development History

TriviaScrollTrans.png

The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

Tyranids were one of the original factions introduced in 1987's Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. At the time of their introduction they were the first faction without an exact Fantasy equivalent (i.e. Eldar = Elves, Squats = Dwarfs, etc.). While depicted as a strange extragalactic race that utilised grown bio-technology, they had a number of differences from modern Tyranids. They were less instinctual predators and utilised some mechanical technology, and were depicted as the ruling core of the Hive Fleets as opposed to its sole species. Tyranids also stripped planets of minerals, fuel, and technological components in addition to biomass.[30a]

During the 1st Edition, the Tyranids engineered many slave races to fulfill their goals, such as the Zoats.[30a] Tyranids were also depicted as even taking prisoners, which included an early form of Marneus Calgar.[31] During this era, Genestealers and Genestealer Cults were not explicitly stated to be a branch of the Tyranids.[30b] However, 1990's Advanced Space Crusade retconned Genestealers as being a vanguard to the Tyranid swarm.[34]

The 2nd Edition heavily revamped Tyranid lore into what it is today. 1995's Codex: Tyranids (2nd Edition) gave them a more insectoid and bestial appearance, perhaps inspired by the Alien film series. It also introduced the three primary Hive Fleets of Behemoth, Kraken, and Leviathan[32a] as well as the all-encompassing direction of the Hive Mind.[32b] The 3rd Edition Codex in 2001 cemented modern Tyranid aesthetic and model range.[33]

  • In some, very early sources, the Tyranids' name is spelled as Tyrannid.[23]

See also

Sources

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