"I feel that Magos Locard has let his studies stray into the realms of paranoia; surely not every aberration and monster encountered in the galaxy has links to the Tyranid race."
- —Inquisitor Agmar
Michael Philippi's original rendition of a Von Ryan's Leaper for the Warhammer 40,000: Collectible Card Game.
The Von Ryan's Leaper is a Tyranid bioform whose origins were speculatively connected by Adeptus Mechanicus Magos Biologis Vianco Locard to the Tyranid Gaunt genus, who gave the new bioform the scientific name of Gauntii ryanis. Locard's colleague Magos Kinstrom had previously considered the possibility that Hormagaunts were the original subspecies of Gaunt the Von Ryan's Leaper had been developed from by the Hive Mind.
A squad of Von Ryan's Leapers
The Tyranid Hive Mind has numerous ways of waging war -- overwhelming the foe with hordes of Termagants, melting bastions apart with the living artillery of the Tyrannofex, or by ambushing with more subtle, fear-inducing organisms such as the Lictor. Added to this last list are the Von Ryan's Leapers.
These creatures are the ultimate ambush predators -- swift, agile, and utterly lethal. When the time is right, they emerge to eviscerate their unfortunate enemies in a murderous fury. As ambush predators, they have much in common with Lictors, but rather than being lone wolves, these xenos are pack-hunters.
Quick Answers
How are Von Ryan's Leapers related to the Tyranid Gaunt genus?
What is the origin of the Von Ryan's Leaper in Warhammer 40k?
What role does Magos Locard play in the study of Von Ryan's Leapers?
Who named the Von Ryan's Leaper as Gauntii ryanis?
How do Von Ryan's Leapers differ from other Tyranid bioforms?
Sources[]
- Codex: Tyranids (3rd Edition), pg. 37
- Codex: Tyranids (4th Edition), pg. 16
- Warhammer 40,000: Collectible Card Game - Von Ryan's Leaper
- Warhammer Community - The Hive Mind Finds Clandestine New Ways To Eat Its Enemies with the Von Ryan's Leaper.
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