Welcome to Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum! Log in and join the community.

Zoat

From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
Revision as of 17:48, 20 February 2006 by Admiraldick (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

Zoats were a centauroid race, first introduced to the Warhammer 40,000 universe in the Rogue Trader rulebook, and were avaible as mercenaries to fill out a retinue of any race (although they were most common in Eldar wargparties). In later game developements they were remodeled into members of the Tyranid race.

Inspiration and Etymology

A Zoat carrying a Flamer and Powerfist
Zoats were originally introduced in Warhammer 40k as an independent race but as the game developed, they, Genestealers and Squigs were used as the basis to form the emerging Tyranid race. Even though Zoats eventually disappeared from the game, their lasting influence can still be found in Tyranid weapons; fleshborers were oringinally Zoat weapons that have been adopted by the Tyranids, although background reasons that fleshborers were originally Tyranid and only gifted to the Zoats.

History

Once the most common of the Tyranid's many specially engineered slave races, Zoats were unlike most of the Tyranid's assimilated worker-creatures, having independant thinking, and were therefore often used by Tyranids as a type of ambassador. Hence it was Zoats that were the first members of the Tyranid race to make contact with the Imperium of Man. Retrospective accounts talk of a race, assumed to be Zoats, having first made contact with the Imperium as early as M38 as their fleet of semi-organic spacecraft attempted to enter Imperial Space, claiming they were escaping slavish oppression. It is clear that via their intial contact the Zoats did not declare their true intentions, nor the true intentions of their masters.

Alternatively, it is possible that as the Hive Fleets evolved more, the Zoats became a less useful tool, their free thoughts an undesired quality. Many of the Zoats, sensing that they were soon to reach the end of their helpfulness to their brutal masters, staged a rebellion. It quickly was crushed, and the rebel Zoats were soon purged from the Hive Mind's forces. Those who survived fled ahead of the main Hive Fleets, and made up that first fleet, and were soon trapped between their former masters and their new aggressors who saw them as an invading force. Being warlike by nature, they typically reacted in kind, and so ulitmately allied themselves against the Imperium regardless.

Eventually, as Tyranids became a more common sight in the galaxy, after the invasion of Hive Fleet Behemoth, Zoats were no longer seen outside the ranks of the Tyranids. Their sightings became less and less frequent, and they appear to have been entirely absent from Hive Fleet Leviathan. If the only Zoats to have entered the Galaxy were those of the inital fleet, known as Collossus, then their absence can be explained, as the last known vessel of that fleet was destoyed above Zorastra in 226.M39, after the fleet provoked the Zorastra-Attila war.

Physiology and Biology

Zoats were built for combat, having a more centaur-like appearance then the rest of the Tyranids, standing on four legs with their two fore-limbs acting as stocky arms. Zoats also differ from other Tyranids physically, as they do not have an exoskeleton but instead have thick scaly skin as bodily protection. Overall they stand taller than a man, and are extremely muscular, being more than a match for most in combat. They are also proficiant in ranged combat, and have access to a number for weapons and are equally deadly with each. One weakness they do suffer is their possible in ability to breath all but the most specific atmospheres; this is one possible reason that Zoats almost always wear respitory masks.

Zoats have highly developed brains, meaning the do not require the control of the Hive Mind, and are therfore capable of travelling far beyond its range. Nevertheless, like Tyranids, Zoats have strong inherent psychic powers, cheifly telepathy. Their powers differ from other Tyranids though as they are capable of communicating to members of other races via their telepathy, which the seem incapable of doing verbally.

Technology

Zoat technology seems to be a very unusual cross between symbiotic, organic devices and entirely mechanical devices. They are able to both carry living weapons, such as the fleshborer and bonesword, and more standard mechical weapons, such as the flamer and missle launcher at the same time. Their spacecraft also dispalys this odd mixture, being partially organic, in that they are conch-like and grown, but also inanimate, in that they are formed from stone rather than the bone-like material Tyranid ships are made from.

A possible reason for this is their independence from the Tyranid race as a whole and need to be able to interact with the universe around them without the influence of the Hive Mind. Either way, their dependence on non-organic technology is now complete, as all Zoats appear to have to wear respirator masks.

Reference