Rippers are small, maggot-like species of Tyranids which serve as the primary means of devouring bio-mass and the genetic imprint of a planet.[3]
Description
They are the most numerous of Tyranid creatures, and in great swarms they can pull down and consume creatures many times their own size. However they are completely mindless and will perish if they lose a synaptic link with the Hive Mind.[1]
During the final stages of a planetary invasion, they scour the entirety of a planet ingesting all biological material on the planet and leaving only an empty and desolate wasteland. Eventually, the Rippers will become bloated full of biomass, unfit for combat. At this point, they simply crawl into Reclamation Pools where they and the bio-mass they've fed upon are broken down and absorbed by the Hive Fleet.[1] However, in some cases they might be evolved to perform higher functions depending on the genetic material they have absorbed.[3]
In certain instances, hive ships have been driven away from a world, leaving Tyranid ground forces isolated. Rippers appear to respond to such circumstances by burrowing below ground and metamorphosing into higher life forms. This has led many among the Magos Biologis to believe that Rippers are an immature form of the prime Tyrancii genus. This would mean they are theoretically capable of gestating into any kind of Tyranid creature with the right impetus from the Hive Mind, from Hive Tyrants to Hormagaunts. The wonder that Tyranids routinely produce and sacrifice their young so prodigiously serves only to reinforce how inhuman they truly are[3]. All Rippers are equipped with some combination of Claws, Teeth and/or Mandibles[4a] but they can also be mutated to have their mouth replaced with a Spinemaw[10].
Ordo Xenos Classification
| Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Record[11] | |||
| Designation | Ripper | Main Weaponry | Claws and fangs |
| Common Title | Anklebiters | ||
| Species Name | Minoris omniphagea | Secondary Weaponry | None |
| Average Height | 0.3 m[11], Varies[12] | ||
| Average Weight | 0.1 tonnes[11], Varies[12] | Tertiary Weaponry | None |
| First encountered | Tyran[11], Unconfirmed[12] | ||
| Role | DNA reclamation | ||
| Threat evaluation | Low | ||
Variants
Eel-like Ripper
Eel-like Rippers are an otherwise undesignated variant of rippers designed to devour lifeforms in a planet's seas.[2]
Scythe Swarm
A Scythe Swarm of Rippers are imbued with Adrenal Glands and the ability to leap great distances.[4c]
Sky-slasher
Sky-slashers are Rippers adapted with wings to allow flight.[1]
Images
See also
Sources
- 1: Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pg. 55
- 2: Deathwatch: The Achilus Assault, pg. 49
- 3: Deathwatch: Mark of the Xenos, pg. 43
- 4: Codex: Tyranids (3rd Edition)
- 5: Codex: Tyranids (6th Edition) (E-Book) - Forces of the Hive Mind
- 6: Games Workshop (site accessed 2010.01.17)
- 7: [1] (last accessed 11 June 2015)
- 8: Citadel Catalogue 2008, pg. 302
- 9: Warhammer Community : Warhammer 40,000: Leviathan – What’s In The Box? (29/04/23) (last accessed 29/04/23)
- 10: Codex: Tyranids (10th Edition), pg. 97
- 11: Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Project, pg. 93
- 12: Imperial Armour Volume Four - Second Edition: The Anphelion Project, pg. 87
- 13: Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond Warhammer 40,000 - Bituminous Blast, Death's Presence
