[GabrialSagan]

"They are coming! I feel them scratching inside my mind, scratching, screaming, running, so many - so, so many voices. They are coming for us - flesh, body and soul!" Tyranid codex 4th ed.

This quote got me thinking. What if the Tyranids are consuming the galaxy's life with the best of intentions? If the Tyranids can consume souls (being a psychic race, it is not out of the question) perhaps the Hve Mind thinks that by making all life part of itself, it is doing sentient races a favor. It could be that the Hive Mind thinks that being part of the Hive Mind is pretty awesome and it wants to share this awesomeness with everyone. Those silly sentients who resist are just ignorant and will thank the Hive Mind later when they to are part of the Hive Mind.

The really crazy thing about this line of thinking is that when you consider what probably happens to humans who die and what definitely happens to eldar who die without a soulstone, the Hive Mind might have a point.

 

[LordNecross]

Ugh, this is along the line of Technological singularity, except bio-Singularity.

I'd fight against that crap too. "Benevolent" doesn't really suit something trying to force something on you.

 

[GabrialSagan]

Ugh, this is along the line of Technological singularity, except bio-Singularity.

I'd fight against that crap too. "Benevolent" doesn't really suit something trying to force something on you.

True. But it would make them bigger good guys than the Tau.

 

[Deus Mortis]

Not really. Even if that were the case it would be no different than the Flood or the Borg.

If you are going to argue that the Hive Mind is benevolent, then the Imperium is like even more so. I mean, they only reason they murder all those countless billions is because the Imperium is so great and they just want to share it.

 

[Serpion5]

There is a short story in the Fear the Alien short story compilation, it's titled Belly of the Beast or something similar that somewhat supports this theory.

Essentially, a group of neophytes are led aboard a damaged or dormant Hive Ship to destroy it. One of the neophytes is a psyker, and he hears a voice telepathically coming from the ship or something inside it. The tyranid urges him to surrender, to kill his comrades, to become a part of something grand and eternal. It is difficult to know from an objective standpoint, but from the boy's perspective at least he is convinced that the tyranid ship's offer is a genuine one. To be forever a part of their collective mind.

However, due to Imperial dogma in his mind already as well as space marine training, he resists and continues alongside his neophyte brothers and their space marine commander. Eventually he is killed among most of the others and devoured by the ship. The last words he hears in his head are One way or another, you will be a part of me.

So, I can believe this theory, and it seems at least loosely supported. I doubt it would be something the tyranids would resort to under normal circumstances, but an intelligence as vast as theirs is surely capable of communicating in one form or another if the need or purpose truly arises.

I wouldn't call the tyranids benevolent, I'd see it as more a case of scouting for powerful minds to add to their own in the same way they favour superior genetic traits.

 

[SwedeMarine]

If the Tyranids can consume souls (being a psychic race, it is not out of the question) perhaps the Hve Mind thinks that by making all life part of itself, it is doing sentient races a favor. It could be that the Hive Mind thinks that being part of the Hive Mind is pretty awesome and it wants to share this awesomeness with everyone. Those silly sentients who resist are just ignorant and will thank the Hive Mind later when they to are part of the Hive Mind.

What you just described means tyranids are Fleshy Borg.

 

[Over Two Meters Tall!]

What you just described means tyranids are Fleshy Borg.

I'd disagree with that a little bit. From what we know of the Borg, there is still some form of individuality - or self-awareness - within the gestalt conciousness. From the internal narrative by The Spawn of Cryptus, a mega-Broodlord I believe, in 'Deathstorm' by Josh Reynolds the individual consiousness is completely subsumed (eventually) by the Hive Mind with no trace of the individual remaining.

 

[SwedeMarine]

I'd disagree with that a little bit. From what we know of the Borg, there is still some form of individuality - or self-awareness - within the gestalt conciousness. From the internal narrative by The Spawn of Cryptus, a mega-Broodlord I believe, in 'Deathstorm' by Josh Reynolds the individual consiousness is completely subsumed (eventually) by the Hive Mind with no trace of the individual remaining.

This is true and im not saying there arent differences. However, What i'm getting at is that Both species (Borg Collective and Tyranid Overmind) are singular in purpose. Assimilate all life. Whether for food, or for producing more of itself. Incidentally Tyranid Genestealer cults must have some autonomy from the Overmind . Otherwise their more normal members would not be able to function in society effectively. But whether or not these organisms have individuality doesn't really have that much of an impact if you look at it from the bigger perspective and the organisms controlling elements as a whole. They still both have the exact same goals.

 

[GabrialSagan]

What you just described means tyranids are Fleshy Borg.

There is a distinct difference between the Borg and the Nids and it has nothing to do with organics vs cybernetics. That difference is Daemons.

When a human dies their soul fades into the warp. Either to face total disillusionment or an eternity of torture by eldritch abominations. Though the Ecclesiarchy teaches that the Emperor keeps the souls of the righteous I am unaware of any fluff where this is emphatically confirmed from the point of view of the dead.
The fact that Hell is a real place and you are most certainly guaranteed to be going there after you die makes the Hive Mind both more attractive and more benevolent. The Hive Mind is not just collecting you for itself. It is saving you from Damnation.
This is especially true for the Eldar.

 

[Vaz]

What you are suggesting is what the original emperors plan was.

The emperor came with the Imperial Truth to remove the galaxy of superstition, as like beetlejuice, saying it causes it to be real. So, stopping customs of worship through integration into the Imperial Truth, he would eventually have prevented Chaos from existing. Those who didn't comply were killed or punched in the face by Legionaries.

Some were completely eradicated

What you are suggesting is what the Emperor was doing, just without the saving humanity bit. And is turning the nids into the biomatrix.

 

[el_machinae]

I like the OP's idea. There's a certain horror waiting for the souls of the dead, and this changes the nature of the 'benevolence' of the forced conversion. It doesn't create a post-life 'Heaven', but it might be better than the alternative of what a person goes through when they die a natural death. The fact that humans keep creating new souls to feed into the pit is even more horrific. If there was some continuity for the consumed soul (instead of mere obliteration), that might even be seen as even more benevolent.

The logic is similar to why you put a pet to sleep as they fall too ill.

Further to play with within this idea is the fact that the 'nids create so few intelligent, sentient organisms (when intelligence is such a stupendously valuable tool). Each sentient organism created is at risk of being 'caught' by Chaos (even if the Shadow makes it unlikely). The Ymgarl Genestealers might be part of this tragedy.

 

[Serpion5]

Normal genestealers are engineered to fear and flee the main tyranid hive fleets. Whether this was by design or by circumstance ultimately doesn't matter, as the tyranids follow the psychic trail of a thriving genestealer cult and home in on the worlds they have infiltrated. In their drive to continue fleeing their masters, the genestealers will continually seek to infest newer worlds. But once the Hive Mind gains proximity via an invading Hive Fleet the genestealers are once again slaved to its will the same as any other tyranid.

The ymgarl genestealers are exactly the opposite. They actively seek to rejoin the hive fleets but are rejected for reasons stated in the codex as biological instability. There's something wrong with their genetic makeup that somehow makes them too dangerous for even the tyranids to re-integrate. Interestingly, the ymgarl factor existing in the newer codex suggests that this may not be the case, or that accidents have occurred and the odd ymgarl stealer has slipped through the cracks. But generally these stealers are used then abandoned once a world has been stripped.


Both of these examples show that the tyranids are capable of understanding, using and creating the concept of individually minded creatures.

 

[Reaper45]

What you are suggesting is what the original emperors plan was.

The emperor came with the Imperial Truth to remove the galaxy of superstition, as like beetlejuice, saying it causes it to be real. So, stopping customs of worship through integration into the Imperial Truth, he would eventually have prevented Chaos from existing. Those who didn't comply were killed or punched in the face by Legionaries.

Some were completely eradicated

What you are suggesting is what the Emperor was doing, just without the saving humanity bit. And is turning the nids into the biomatrix.

Or is it still the emperors plan? Especially considering what the nids are drawn towards.

 

[Vaz]

If that was what the Nids were drawn towards, why bother with the Great Crusade and eradicate the Xenos like the Eldar?

 

[Reaper45]

If that was what the Nids were drawn towards, why bother with the Great Crusade and eradicate the Xenos like the Eldar?

Perhaps it's a stop gap measure to ensure the nids have the best chance of taking over the galaxy?

 

[Vaz]

That'd require a lot of exposition that just isn't present in the fluff. I can't say you're wrong, but really that is not supported in any way, really in the background.

After all, why would the Emperor not wipe out hukanity as he went along?

 

[Reaper45]

That'd require a lot of exposition that just isn't present in the fluff. I can't say you're wrong, but really that is not supported in any way, really in the background.

After all, why would the Emperor not wipe out hukanity as he went along?

Maybe wiping out humanity would have the opposite effect as in it would make chaos much more powerful, or perhaps when a human dies in the shadow in the warp they don't return to the warp instead the hive mind takes control.

Perhaps the emperor is powerful enough that when the nids finally reach terra and consume it his presence would be enough to turn them from a bestial hunger into something more perhaps creating humans as a bioform and finally having a way to starve chaos of it's most potent source of power.

 

[el_machinae]

Did the fluff suggest that the genestealers flee the Hive Mind out of fear? Or that they just sought to stay ahead of the wave?

 

[Serpion5]

Did the fluff suggest that the genestealers flee the Hive Mind out of fear? Or that they just sought to stay ahead of the wave?

It is described as a relentless will to survive, fleeing the destruction that the Hive Fleets bring.

 

[GabrialSagan]

It is described as a relentless will to survive, fleeing the destruction that the Hive Fleets bring.

The fluff I have read suggests the exact opposite. Once a planet is completely overwhelmed by the nids the genestealers willingly enter the digestive pools so that their biomatter can be reabsorbed into the hive fleet.