Genestealer

The Genestealers (Corporaptor Hominii) are one biomorph of the multispecies Tyranid race that was designed for the infiltration of other intelligent species' settled worlds. The Tyranids are an intelligent, nomadic alien race governed by a collective consciousness known as the Hive Mind and comprising many different genetically-engineered forms.

There are currently two variants of the standard Genestealer: the Broodlord and the baseline Genestealer. In earlier incarnations of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, there were five separate types of Genestealers,, representing the Genestealer Cult variant army, including: Genestealer Patriarchs, the Genestealer Magus, standard Genestealers, Genestealer Hybrids, and Brood Brothers.

Genestealers reproduce by introducing their genetic material into a host from another intelligent species; this is normally a human, but can theoretically be any humanoid race, including the Eldar or the Orks. The Genestealers have no true genders, and require a creature of any species, any gender to reproduce. The Genestealer will find a suitable host and hypnotise them into passivity using its unusual, alien eyes. The Genestealer then thrusts its long, whip-like tongue (which also serves as an ovipositor) into the body of the host where it deposits its DNA which usually takes the form of a type of virus that infects the somatic and germ line cells of the host. Several hours later the infected victim wakes up from the incident, with no wounds or any recollection of what happened. The new host of the Genestealer DNA will go on about its normal life, and eventually reproduce with another member of its species, thus siring (if male) or giving birth (if female) to a Genestealer Hybrid. The Genestealer reproductive cycle is truly cyclical, as an F4 hybrid will always spawn a purestrain Genestealer with a genome identical to that of the original Genestealer that infected the first host.

Newly born Genestealer Hybrids, although fundamentally Genestealers, will have characteristics inherited from the host parent. Thus a Genestealer Hybrid of human stock may have a vaguely humanoid head, or only two arms instead of the usual four, and perhaps its tail will be shortened or missing. A Genestealer of four or more generations of consistent human parentage would pass for a baseline human on cursory inspection, although a closer look would reveal bluish skin, sharp, pointed teeth and a rather disturbing stare. The Ymgarl Genestealers on their homeworld exploited a large, semisentient leech-like creature called a Csith as their usual mate; and matings with a Csith always produce natural Ymgarl Genestealers rather than Hybrids, no matter what the parentage of previous generations.

Genestealer
Genestealers have the same basic arthopodic body structure as all other Tyranid species. They appear as roughly man-sized, six-limbed creatures with both the chitinous exoskeleton and endoskeleton common to Tyranids. Their two lower limbs are legs; another pair of limbs are extremely sharp claws which are used for tearing apart foes in close melee combat - these claws are so sharp that they can even hack through extremely well-armored enemies, such as Space Marine Terminators, with ease. The other set of limbs are arms as well, but their nature varies depending on the type of host species used to create the Genestealers or the needs of the Hive Mind. Genestealers are known for their incredible agility and great skill in close combat.

Genestealers were first encountered by the Imperium of Man on the moons of Ymgarl. After this encounter, Genestealers were further encountered on large derelict starships known as "space hulks"- these ship-borne encounters being the subject of the aforementioned Space Hulk game. With the invasion of the Imperium of Hive Fleet Behemoth in the late 41st Millennium, it was discovered that the Genestealers were in fact a part of the Tyranid race. Genestealers perform two roles for the Tyranid armies: first, they are often found in the main Tyranid hive armies acting as assault troops; second, they can be found as an advance force of the Tyranids, aiding future planetary invasions through the use of their unusual reproduction method.

Ymgarl Genestealer
By the Third Edition of Warhammer 40,000, it was revealed that Imperial researchers of the Adeptus Mechanicus had concluded that the Ymgarl Genestealer was a form of the species that became separated from the main fleet of the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Behemoth, and, having completely lost its psychic link to the Tyranid Hive Mind, had reverted to a feral state. Ymgarl Genestealers appear quite different from normal Genestealers, and this is also believed by the Imperials to be due to the separation from the Hive Mind, and generations of eating almost exclusively a native lifeform of the Ymgarl moons. The original Ymgarl Genestealers had a maw full of tentacles as illustrated in the original WH40K 1st edition book, which were not implemented in the later figures, although the tentacles were revisited with the current 4th edition model set, as Feeder Tendrils.

Broodlord
The Broodlord, or Corporaptor Primus, is the ultimate product of Genestealer evolution and is a new creation for the Tyranids in the 4th Edition of Warhammer 40,000. The Broodlord is immensely strong, agile and durable, which makes it a superb melee warrior. In addition to their already potent melee combat abilities, the Broodlord also has a few Tyranid Biomorphs or biomechanical weapon-symbiotes to chose from beyond just its standard rending claws and scything talons.

The Broodlord acts as an assault commander for Tyranid armies, personally leading attacks while bearing the "synapse" ability frequently observed in higher forms of Tyranids which allows them to coordinate the Hive Mind's psychic commands over other, less-intelligent Tyranid species. They are the only subspecies of the Genestealers line in the recent edition of the Tyranid Codex. In the 3rd Edition of the game, there was no organizational structure of the Genestealer Cult rules. The addition of the Broodlord, while not a complete reproduction of a Patriarch, Magus, or Hybrid, does allow a player to field a "whole" Genestealer army. However, unlike the traditional Genestealer Cult that rises up, takes its followers from among the local populace of an infested Imperial world and psychically dominantes them, and who then proceed to worship the Tyranids as gods, the army led by the Broodlord is an infiltrating vanguard that operates in a similar manner to the Tyranid Lictor.

The original model for the Broodlord looked very similar to the Patriarch model used for the Genestealer Cult. The current model is slimmed down and resembles a taller version of the standard Genestealer.

It has been rumoured on various websites that the the Broodlord will be renamed 'Genestealer Alpha' when Codex: Tyranids is released for the 5th edition of Warhammer 40,000 in January 2010.

Genestealer Cults
All of the members of this unusual "family", including human hosts, Hybrids and full-blooded Genestealers become psychically-linked to each other in a miniature version of the Tyranid Hive Mind, and become fiercely loyal to their "family". Over time, the "family" grows as its members continue to breed and bring in more members, and the "family" will eventually grow large and become a true Genestealer Cult, sometimes worshipping some vaguely defined entity which will 'deliver' the worshipers and their planet from the usual harshness of life in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

The psychic link maintained by the "family" or the Cult - henceforth a Genestealer "brood" - acts as a potent psychic beacon, attracting the forces of the Tyranids' main Hive Fleet to their planet. As more members are brought into the group, this psychic beacon grows stronger. As shown with the events leading up to the Tyranid invasion of Ichar IV (Kelly and Chambers, 2004), a brood can eventually grow so large that it will begin conducting sabotage or causing riots intended to cause chaos and disrupt Imperial governance and defense of the afflicted planet. Broods have even been observed rebelling against Imperial authority, attempting to seize ruling power over the planet for themselves. The ultimate goal (whether the Brood consciously knows it or not) is to sow discord or even neutralize planetary defenses in order to ease the Tyranid conquest and consumption of the planet's biomass.

Although pureborn Genestealers are frequently born from other species, they are said to lack creative intelligence. They are unable to wield weapons, even those of the species from which they are born; Hybrids have some degree of intelligence and are able to make use of weapons. Genestealers do have incredible animal cunning, however - they have even been seen acting as a sort of scout for Tyranid armies, stalking ahead of the main force.

Patriarch
A Patriarch is the baseline Genestealer who first originated a Brood. As the first Genestealer of the group, all other members are psychically linked through it; this allows it to attain a level of intelligence much higher than that of other Genestealers. Over time, it can become a very powerful psyker, and it grows much larger physcially than an average Genestealer, becoming much stronger and more resistant to damage.

As the Tyranids approach the planet that the Patriarch calls home, it will fall under the power of the Tyranid Hive Mind, and begin leading attacks on vulnerable positions to facilitate the inevitable invasion. It is assumed that it knows nothing of its role in the Tyranid invasion, and once the Tyranids are successful, it and its Brood are also consumed by the Hive Fleet. Patriarchs are known to live for hundreds of years. They are seen by the Genestealer Cult as a "father" figure, and should the Patriarch's destruction come to pass, the Cult would be thrown into disarray. The loss of the Patriarch and its hold on the Cult would likely lead to its destruction; the sudden absence of the telepathic link from the Patriarch would lead the Hybrids and remaining purestrain Genestealers of the Cult to revert to little more than feral monsters.

Many have speculated that the Patriarch and the Broodlord are one and the same. This is mainly due to both their psychic prowess and leadership over other Genestealers. Indeed this is even hinted in an interview with a Games Workshop sculptor. However the Broodlord is statted-out as a separate sub-species of Genestealer bred solely for its superior combat prowess and synaptic leadership, while the Patriarch is simply any ancient purestrain Genestealer that leads a Genestealer Cult.

Hybrids
A Hybrid is created by a Genestealer implanting its DNA into a host organism. The DNA implant then slightly enhances the host's physiology, and noticeably alters their reproductive system. When infected hosts breed (it is unknown if only one or both parents need to be infected), their firstborn child will be a Genestealer Hybrid. The parents and any later children will be psychically enslaved to their Hybrid family member, cherishing it with abnormally large amounts of affection. Depending on their generation, the Hybrid offspring range from looking like purestrain Genestealers with human traits to humans with Genestealer traits; F1, F2, and F3 Hybrids reproduce like purestrain genestealers, while F4 hybrids reproduce sexually with another member of the host species. The F5 generation is born as a purestrain Genestealer once more.

Magus
The Magus is an F4 Hybrid that appears almost entirely human, although baldness, denser-than-normal bone structure, hypnotic blue/purple eyes, slightly bluish/purplish-tinted skin, and fangs are common traits. The Magus, unlike a purestrain Genestealer and earlier generations of Hybrids, is highly intelligent and is a powerful psyker, but is absolutely dedicated to serving the Patriarch. It uses its human appearance to act as the face of the Brood, and relays the orders of the Patriarch to the members of the Brood and the Genestealer Cult. Like the Patriarch, it presumably knows nothing of its role in the Tyranid invasion it is aiding. Magi are the exact opposite of the purestrain Genestealer, highly intelligent beings that are nonetheless extremely vulnerable in close melee combat. The firstborn child of a Magus or Hierarch (a non-psychic F4), will always be a purestrain Genestealer, but the species of any later children can be consciously chosen by the F4 parent.

Brood Brothers
The Brood Brothers are those baseline humans or other host species who have been infected by the Genestealer DNA and have been psychically enslaved by their Hybrid offspring. They worship the Patriarch and battle mindlessly for the Genestealer Cult. Their main duty is to join with the local population of the infested planet and help the Genestealer Cult to take over the world.

In the 2nd Edition of Warhammer 40,000, Brood Brothers were able to enter into combat like the Imperial Guard, ally with renegade Imperial troops, or use "liberated" vehicles once owned and operated by the Planetary Defense Force of the planet which they were infesting. They were led into battle by command squads formed of Hybrids.

History of the Genestealers Army
Genestealers appeared in the first edition of Warhammer 40,000 (Rogue Trader), but at the time were not a Tyranid species. They were simply noted as being an "enigmatic monster ... from one of the moons of Ymgarl", now "spread throughout space" and "threatening to become a real menace". Since then it has been revealed that they were the advance forces of the Tyranid invasion and are now often seen as part of a Tyranid army.

The Genestealer Cult is a substitute army that has been introduced several times for Warhammer 40,000. The initial introduction by Paul Murphy, Bryan Ansell, and Nigel Stillman was printed in White Dwarf issues 114-116 (1989). This was followed by an article from Andy Chambers and Jervis Johnson in White Dwarf issue 145 (1992) that detailed the Genestealer Cult as part of a Tyranid army. Later, Tim Huckelbery detailed the Genestealer Cult army in issues 40 & 41 (1999?) of the Citadel Journal, under the title Codex: Genestealer Cults. This official supplemental Codex provided official rules for using Patriarchs, Magi, Hybrids and Broodbrother units. It even included rules for a "Transport Coven Limousine." Later, in the first Codex Tyranids, these rules were incorporated as the "Genestealer Cult Army List" and included all of the characters in their previous form sans Limousine.

In the Codex for the 3rd Edition of Warhammer 40,000, there were no rules provided for the Genestealer Cults. With the introduction of the Broodlord in 4th Edition, Genestealers could once again be fielded as their own army, albeit one that was restricted to HQ and Troops units only (which arguably makes it quiet ineffective). Before the 4th edition, the 3rd edition Genestealers were the oldest models in use to date (they were the same ones from Rogue Trader and the Space Hulk game).

Genestealer is also the name for the second expansion produced for the Games Workshop tabletop miniature wargame Space Hulk. The expansion is named after the Genestealers that the Space Marines battle as the primary adversaries of the game. It features psyker rules for Space Hulk.