Devourer
This article is about the the Tyranid infantry weapon. For other uses of Devourer, see Devourer (disambiguation). |
A Devourer is a Tyranid Bio-weapon, typically carried by Tyranid Warrior breeds and their variants (including Shrikes and Tyranid Primes)[1a].
Overview
The devourer is a conical lump of partly rotted flesh, infested by writhing Flesh-worms, parasites with black, shiny heads. When the weapon is triggered, a bio-electric jolt hurls a shower of these creatures at the enemy, where they immediately start burrowing into the flesh, eating their way through the victim's nervous system towards the brain. The agony caused by this process is enough to drive the victim insane.[1b][2][3]
Devourers wielded by the largest Tyranid organisms are loaded with hives of Brainleech worms, a more aggressive and voracious breed of worm.[1b]
When the worms are launched at the target, in a swarm of hundreds at a time, they either shatter against the target and spread acid and poison over it, or pierce the armour to burrow into the flesh as described above[4].
The devourer is more of a hive than a distinct organism. The weapon is meshed with the host in such a way as to provide food and incubation for a host of malformed Ripper larvae; it is these larvae which form the ammunition for the weapon. A large conical horn is perforated with multiple breathing tubes that also serve as avenues of egress in times of danger. Pheromone signals call the larvae to the breather tubes when the host senses the need to utilise the weapon. A bio-electric surge signals the brood to attack. When they encounter any object they immediately begin biting and burrowing in a frenzied attack while secreting highly corrosive bile. These creatures show a distinct taste for neurological tissues and move to the spinal column and brain with extreme haste, causing an agonizing but mercifully quick death.[Needs Citation]
Images
Tyranid Warrior with a Devourer[5]
A Devourer
Inset: Brainleech Worm[Needs Citation]
Sources
- 1: Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition):
- 2: Codex: Tyranids (4th Edition), pg. 30
- 3: Codex: Tyranids (3rd Edition), pg. 8
- 4: Codex: Tyranids (2nd Edition), pg. 56
- 5: Tyranid Warrior Brood
- 6: Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition Rulebook, pg. 217
Uncited