who made them???

[knight-of-nurgle]

hi i was wondering how were the tyranids formed or did somthing make them cos this has had me confused for ages???????

[IronWarriorofChaos]

ummm....knight why dont u just by the dex??

[knight-of-nurgle]

i don't have a dex or know someone who has one thats why and am just curious

[Githros]

That would be an extreme waste of money imo to buy a codex for being curious. I have the Codex Imperialis (from 1993 though so a tad old) I'll add some info on them shortly

[IronWarriorofChaos]

they came from another galaxy beyond known 40k space
no one knows were they came from or very much bout them

[Githros]

Here's what I've gotten from the codex I have, again, its from 1993 so some may be outdated and such.

Of course, their are countless enemies of mankind in the galaxy...Chaos, Eldar, Tau, Necrons and the Ctan, and countless others found on countless planets. In most of these cases, the Imperium has won against such foes. However, with the Tyranid, it is a completely different story. The Imperium has only been able to contain the Tyranid forces they have encountered.

Now, of course the galaxy is a big place, and the Imperial Explorators in the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy began to discover evidence of a new alien threat. With the Imperium being as they are, they just saw this evidence as another xenos form being discovered. They filed the report and nothing else was done as the worlds were not occupied by humans or any other significant form. They found more and more worlds that had been obliterated but were helpless in what they could do with this information.

However, this information caught the attention of an Inquisitor from the Council, Inquisitor Kryptman. On his way to the Eastern Fringe, another world was found empty and destroyed. The Imperial world of Tyran. This world was nothing special, but what came from its doom was..a short and garbled message from the only astropath....a dire warning of doom, and a mental image of skies turned black with swarming monsters. From this message and the world's name do the new xenos get their name. Tyranids.

Over the next few years, more evidence was found...ships floating through space devoid of life on them, with holes drilled through the hull. The Magos Biologis of the Tech-Priests slowly collected a few samples of tissue and from this they began to form truth from all the previous evidences. What they discovered was far more horrifying then they could have imagined...a terror that at first thought could be contained and isolated turned into the greatest threat the Imperium has seen for ten thousand years.

The first great taste the Imperium got of the Tyranids was when the hive fleet christened Behemoth attacked the Ultramarines. After a long and bloody battle at the Ultramarines home planet of Macragge, the Tyranids hive fleet turned back. Not beaten, just repelled for the time being. The Ultramarines victory came from just merely surviving.

Two hundred and fifty years later, the Imperium has come to know far more then they originally did, however, thsi is still a tiny fraction of fully knowing the Tyranids. They are extremely deadly as seen from the deaths of two space marine chapters, the Lamenters and the Scythes of the Emperor, at the hands(or claws ) of the Tyranids.

The Techno Magi from their evaluations theorize the Tyranids originate from outside our galaxy since their genetic structure is entirely different from any other found in our galaxy. In opposition to human and most galactic organisms which are stable enough to produce different species, the Tyranids genetics are infinitely mutable. As such, they are constantly evolving and new generations bring forth new mutations to suit new roles, from their massive hive fleet organic transporters to the beetle-sized Scatophagoids that digest and recycle waste in the spacecraft.

The Tyranids consume raw material that is required to expand and evolve; They consume biological matter itself. Tyranids break down the matter and use it to evolve new species to fit various functions. To the Tyranids, other life forms are simply and brutally seen as a source of raw material.

[Githros]

There are countless different Tyranid creatures, but there are some main versions.

The weapons the Tyranids use are even composed of genetic material, varying from what the Tech-Priests have cataloged such as the potent Deathspitter with its metabolic acids or the horrific Fleshborer with its voracious living shells.

The best understood creatures are the Tyranid warriors, Genestealers, the massive Carnifexes which the IG normally call screamer killers because of the high pitched squealing they make when the attack. Rarer are the Hive Tyrants, who seem to control the other creatures around it. the Magi have speculated that the entire Hive fleets are controlled this way, with the Hive Queen controlling the various Tyrants who control the other creatures.

The genestealers are known to appear years(sometimes hundreds of years) before the rest of the fleet, because of this, they are assumed to be the forward scouts, preparing the way for the remaining fleet. They make little communities by absorbing DNA of the local species and radiate a physic beacon to the fleet. Once the fleet arrives the genestealers and their hybrids are consumed by the hive fleet to be used again later.

Their are many more Tyranid creatures yet to remain discovered. The battle against the Hive fleets have only begun and so far no effective defense has been found. Only the future will reveal the real threat the Tyranids are.

The Magi have several theories surrounding the Tyranids. One being the viruses that have plagued mankind for so long are nothing less than a simple evolved form of Tyranid. If so, the entirety of Tyranid life could be seen as a massive inter-galactic organism, a multiple creature destined to sweep across the galaxy, erasing all other life forms as it evolves in an all pervading, all consuming, yet ultimately mindless entity holding the universe in its thrall.

Is mankind ready to face such a foe? Only time will tell.

[Templar Mikeel]

The possibility that the 'Nids were created by the Old Ones as one last spiteful move against the C'tan and Necrontyre has been hinted at before.

[Stubber]

Not too likely since the nids are designed to kill and digest lifeforms in order to multiply and evolve.
The necrons don't exactly look like the most nutritious of meals. Orks were made to fight the C'tan.

[Lord Aulianas Darakathos]

Okay, one last time with this rant, I promise:

It's freakin Necrontyr!

I don't mean to sound rude or elitist, I'm just a bit of a stickler for details, and the Necron past is my favorite part of my favorite army.



Anyway, besides, the above rant: I doubt that the Old Ones would ever create the Tyranids, given that they're just as detrimental to their other creations, the Orks and Eldar.

If they were created, maybe it was extragalactic empire that got eaten by their own creations. Or maybe the Tyranids are merely the vanguard of an extragalactic invasion by a completely different species?

They could have been created, and sent to clear planets for colonies.

I just don't buy the whole 'accident' thing, actually, given... what are the chances of evolution creating such a species?

[ShotgunFacelift]

Originally Posted by Lord Aulianas Darakathos

Okay, one last time with this rant, I promise:

It's freakin Necrontyr!

I don't mean to sound rude or elitist, I'm just a bit of a stickler for details, and the Necron past is my favorite part of my favorite army.



Anyway, besides, the above rant: I doubt that the Old Ones would ever create the Tyranids, given that they're just as detrimental to their other creations, the Orks and Eldar.

If they were created, maybe it was extragalactic empire that got eaten by their own creations. Or maybe the Tyranids are merely the vanguard of an extragalactic invasion by a completely different species?

They could have been created, and sent to clear planets for colonies.

I just don't buy the whole 'accident' thing, actually, given... what are the chances of evolution creating such a species?

From a checks a balances point of view the Tyranids would be the Anitthesis of the Necrons.

A vital, constantly evolving and changing organism that can adapt to most enviroments and expand constantly, versus an ancient, mechanical instrument designed to cull organix live when it becomes to numerous.

I'm not up to speed on the 5th ed codex'es though, most of the fluff I know comes from the RT and 2-3rd edition books.


Though its possible a species like this could evolve, but not probable.

From the Aliens series you find out that the Xenomorphs evolved on an extremely harsh planet and then eventually killed everything and had to start hitching rides on space ships.
I tend to think of the nids and the xenomorphs as similar species.
(when I do get the money together for my expanded nid force, Ill be converting all the genestealers and Hormigaunts to look like HR Geiger's Aliens)

[Comrade]

Well, from what I hear, the Race best fit to fight the Tyranid in ever lasting warfare is the Orks, I hear that they have been in never ending struggle on some Galaxy Somewhere.


Ohh.. the genetics of both seem to make it so that they will continue fighting each other for the next few..... centuries.

But yeah, all fluff points to that the Tyranids came from another galaxy, seeing as all the attacks seem to come from the eastern Fringe, if you look in the TAU codex, there empire borders the edge of our Galaxy, and yet the Tyranids still come from the east, which is just space.

So meh..... GO ORKS!!!!!!!


Anyways, ORks will take the universe, its said that chatter picked up on distant Imperial probes nearing other galaxies, the Vox Chatter is all Ork. Tyranids will meet their match.

[TerminatorinHell]

scythes of the emperor are all dead?

[Lord Aulianas Darakathos]

Ehh. I don't see it coming down to Orks vs Tyranids.

The other galaxies didn't have Space Marines.

And besides, everyone knows that when the last particle of dust is stirred by a living creature, it'll be a Necron that shoots it.

[masterofweirdness]

The space marines got pwned by the 'nids.

The entire 1st company of the Ultramarines were killed by behemonth, them, and all the IG on the planet, and all the PDF... they weren't enough to face ONE group of 'nids.

If we assume that the rest of the nids are coming, the Imperium is doomed. But who are we kidding? The Imperium of man is doomed anyways... 'crons, 'nids, Chaos, orks, Tau, they have enough problems as it is.

[TheKiller333]

The Old Ones weren't fools. They'd have never created a race they couldn't control; namely, the Tyranids. The only reason the Orks got out of hand was because of the Enslaver plague which wiped the Old Ones out.

It'd also be stupid to presume that they were made at all. Perhaps they just came from a planet where there were no obstacles to stop their mass evolution, and once they expanded to other places, they merely swallowed the opposition like they are doing to the Imperium? I believe they merely went through a stage of heavily accellerated evolution - causing them to never stop endless mutations.

[Icarus Athrasuriel]

The point people are making about the improbability of Tyranids evolving involves a great misunderstanding of how evolution - and more specifically natural selection - works.

Natural selection occurs when minute and random mutations survive. The culmination of mutations may give an advantage to a creature, making it less likely to die out at the expense of creatures without that advantage. Often mutations have several uses (E.g. Our brain has many uses. It increases out chance of surviving in the wild due to our advanced thought processes, which also allow us to do maths. The two are completely unrelated, but gifted to us by the same mutations). If you still don't quite understand (I found it difficult to get at first, lol) then I advise you read Richard Dawkins' 'The Blind Watchmaker'.

It may be improbable that the Tyranids evolved, but the anthropic principle negates that.

[ShotgunFacelift]

possible but not probable, eh?

[plagemonk]

it does say in the rule book the some think that the fleets are scouts for the main force or maby even running from sumthing else the is even bigger

[Lord Aulianas Darakathos]

Originally Posted by plagemonk

it does say in the rule book the some think that the fleets are scouts for the main force or maby even running from sumthing else the is even bigger

>.<

What does it say about me, that the first word to appear in my head after reading this was Azathoth?

And kudos to everyone who gets the reference.

[GeneralSturnn]

Originally Posted by masterofweirdness

The space marines got pwned by the 'nids.

The entire 1st company of the Ultramarines were killed by behemonth, them, and all the IG on the planet, and all the PDF... they weren't enough to face ONE group of 'nids.

If we assume that the rest of the nids are coming, the Imperium is doomed. But who are we kidding? The Imperium of man is doomed anyways... 'crons, 'nids, Chaos, orks, Tau, they have enough problems as it is.

Well, where's the proof? last I remember, Nids got their intergalactic asses handed to 'em and were thrown off Maccragge!

PDF? their a joke! IG are a lot better then PDF but they gotta have the tanks/Baneblades/Titans all the cool stuff!

[Lord Aulianas Darakathos]

Originally Posted by GeneralSturnn

Well, where's the proof? last I remember, Nids got their intergalactic asses handed to 'em and were thrown off Maccragge!

PDF? their a joke! IG are a lot better then PDF but they gotta have the tanks/Baneblades/Titans all the cool stuff!

Ahhhh the PDF


What happens when large numbers of conscripts get an aristocrat as a commander.

Also known as the Imperial Guard, but with less guns, less armor, less conscripts, more volunteers, less competent commanders, less support, less organization, less...

I could go on.....

[Azgodeth]

define having your ass handed to you? the smurfs *cough* pardon, the ultramarines nearly got whiped out, and it took the combined power of the whole chapter, whittled down to half strength to shove one bioship off maccragge.. if the bugs wanted to, they coulda just smothered the place, but they were only testing defences in a probative strike.



and as i posted before the database crash, the nids are a congolmeration of every major sucessfull species from a nearby galaxy. they arnt from the milky way, but more likely one of the larger melagenic clouds or even andromeda. whereever they came from they likely picked the whole galaxy clean, leaving a swirling jumble of stars and rocks somewhere out there. exactly what they plan to do here, eventually. so far they are just stiking on diffrent planes of the galaxy, testing out the fertility, and defensive capacity of the various races that have grown up way over here. im sure the wide spread humans, and quicky reproducing orcs are a banquet laying itself out on the table for them! mmmmmm.. meat in a can.. *drools*