Lictor
Lictors are Tyranid creatures that act as specialist scouts and vanguards, roving ahead of the Tyranid swarm to seek out and locate potential prey.[1]
Overview
Lictors are masters of stealth and can move swiftly through even the densest terrain without any sound. They are covered in a Chameleonic Skin that changes colour to blend in perfectly with their background and renders them all but invisible to the naked eye. They are not instinctively aggressive, like other Tyranid creatures, but are opportunistic hunters that will stalk their prey from the shadows, avoiding situations where they would be outmatched, until they choose to strike. They will often pick off their prey in ones and twos while they are separated from reinforcements. Lictors have in fact been known to wait motionless for days, completely unnoticed by their victims, until the right time to strike.[1]
Lictors are armed with mantis-like claws, Scything Talons, Flesh Hooks, and Feeder Tendrils which are tipped with sharpened bony plates strong enough to pierce a victim's skull and are used to lobotomise victims and devour their brain. From a victim's brain, Lictors can absorb their memories, and so learn the position of enemy forces or any weaknesses that the Tyranids could exploit.[1]
Lictors appear to be a specialist mutation of Tyranid Warriors and are highly adapted to survive in hostile environments and a stalker/predator role. Despite their large size, Lictors are very agile and fast, able to outmaneuver nearly all other enemy units. It is with this speed, coupled with their strength, that Lictors strike from hiding, taking their victims entirely by surprise and unable to react in time. They are intelligent and possess highly developed sensory organs so they can see, smell, hear and taste their prey long before it becomes aware of their presence. They stand far taller than even a Space Marine. They are also known to be the only Tyranid species that will stalk its prey before killing.[1]
Lictors exude a pheromone trail as they locate and hunt their prey which draws other Tyranids to the area. A larger concentration of prey stimulates a stronger pheromone response and so brings a larger group of trailing Tyranids. So even if a Lictor is discovered and killed by the enemy, it doesn't guarantee safety as other Tyranid creatures are likely already on their way.[1]
Basic Information
Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Record [2] | |||
Designation | Lictor | ||
Common Title | Spook, Mantis Stalker | ||
Species Name | Tyranicus chameleo | ||
Average Height | 2.4m | ||
Average Weight | 1 tonne | ||
First encountered | Miral Prime | ||
Role | Infiltration/ambush | ||
Threat evaluation | High |
Named Lictors
- The Deathleaper is a unique Lictor created as the ultimate weapon of terror.[3]
- Bloodslinker - Lictor that terrorised planet of Haedorn II before the Bloodhowl's Riders - Bikers Space Wolves of the Great Company of Sven Bloodhowl hunted down and slain creature.[4]
Images
See also
Sources
- 1: Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pg. 41
- 2: Imperial Armour Volume IV, [Needs Citation]
- 3: GW Medusa V website (accessed 2007.04.18)
- 4: War Zone Fenris: Curse of the Wulfen - Chapter 2, Strike Force Sagablade