Does anyone know where the hivemind is?

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**ULTRAMARINE_DART**

Any one have any info on the hivemind?

**Lorgar's_Blessed**

It's in an another Galaxy or beyond the Imperial gaze in this one. They are beyond the Veiled Region or whatever and it is pretty much thought as a certainty fluffwise and fanwise, that the fleets they have thus far sent or less than a percentage of their entire possible fighting force.

**Nurglitch**

I don't know, where do you keep your mind when you're using it?

**Dastardly Dave**

I always had the impression it was more like a collective consciousness of all the tyranids, just manifested through the larger ships, which is why killing the largest ship/creature sends the rest of the fleet/army into dissarray, but just killing the biggest tyranid in existence won't end the threat.

**Lorgar's_Blessed**

No. The Hive Mind is a being beyond our knowledge which is able to control every Tyranid through larger creatures of its own. basically, it is a giant Pyramid in the Nid hierarchy. At the top is the Hive Brain (Possibly many minds or a collection of thoughts of one being), next is Norn Queens, Monstrous Creatures/lead creatures, and finally at the bottom is the little critters. Of course, there's ships in there too, though for all we know they may answer to a Hive Tyrant leading an assault, so I left them out.

**Nurglitch**

For a being beyond our knowledge, you sure do know a lot about this here Hive Mind....

**Ktulhut**

I'm pretty sure various 'nid codexes have explicitly stated that the hive mind is located in the hive tyrants themselves, that they as a subspecies embody the hive mind (though through synaptic control, the other tyranids indirectly account for some of the gestalt entity).

So theoretically, if you somehow killed every hive tyrant in the universe at once, before any respawned, the hive mind would flip off like a light.
That's the beauty of the system. If there's even a few tyrants left (and as has been said, large parts of the tyranid forces are generally considered to be outside the galaxy), then they can embody the whole of a somewhat deminished hive mind, untill such a time as they can produce more tyrants. Think of them as parts of the human brain.

You can damage 50% your brain and potentially not suffer any ill effects, despite having lost half your brain cells. But more than that, many tyrants is like a healthy brain. Always growing, and all the synapses link up to all the other synapses. The less tyrants (synapses) you have, the more deminished a hive mind (brain function) you get, but you're still the hive mind (yourself), just a slower, more confused hivemend (you). And just like a brain, I think it's likely that the hive mind can regrow itself under the correct conditions. I do believe this is why they refer to them as synapse creatures in the first place.

**Lord of battles**

Inside that one ripper you can never kill...

**Leigen_Zero**

I think it's kind of like starships troopers 3 (yes, I know the movie was appalling).

There is some greater organism that is just a giant brain, but it lies way way way beyond the reach of anyone now (as the system it was born in now lies in the heart of tyranid space).

I also think it works a bit like distributed computing, where the processing is shared out between the lesser beings (like the hive mind says 'consume' and it's up to the hierarchy to do the actual planning and stuff).

Also, I think the hierarchy missed out a few bits, I know that dominatrices come between norn queens + tyrants (and I think there may be another layer or two in there?

**belial**

She's sat on the sofa opposite me, watching the olympics, sulking cause I wont drive to the garage to buy chocolate.

**children of filth**

check behind the couch, every time i lose the hivemind, it seems to end up there.

**ZacktheChaosChild**

I don't think the Hive Mind is a physical being, but a psychic bond between all Tyranid organisms that is amplified and connected by the big nids, like a Hive Tyrant for example. The different Hive Fleets are connected to each other differently.

If ONE Hive Mind controlled EVERY Tyranid, they would have completely killed everything already.

And also, why would different Hive Fleets fight each other? That's like cutting your own balls off for no good reason.

**chaplaingrabthar**

The hive mind is like the force from star Wars. It's a malevolent form of energy that permeates all living things, or at least all Tyranid living things...

**Auxellion**

He's in the UK. In Warhammer World

Right now

**Space_Potato**

Slightly to the left of where everybody thinks it is

**Nightwatch**

ZacktheChaosChild wrote:I don't think the Hive Mind is a physical being, but a psychic bond between all Tyranid organisms that is amplified and connected by the big nids, like a Hive Tyrant for example. The different Hive Fleets are connected to each other differently.

If ONE Hive Mind controlled EVERY Tyranid, they would have completely killed everything already.

And also, why would different Hive Fleets fight each other? That's like cutting your own balls off for no good reason.

There are good reasons?

**Kilkrazy**

It's in your castle, killing your dudes.

**Jon Touchdown**

Sly Marbo knows where the hive mind is, he just allows it to live because he enjoys killing nids

**Orkestra**

I'm sorry ULTRAMARINE_DART, but your hive mind is in another castle.

**Jon Touchdown**

Orkestra wrote:I'm sorry ULTRAMARINE_DART, but your hive mind is in another castle.

Haha damn, how about we just go get tacos? Nids fear the almighty taco

**Klawz**

The reason hive fleets would fight is to allow genetic info and biomass to go to the stronger fleet.

**Lemming eater**

If the hive mind is a physical being out side this galaxy how do the Nids in this galaxy get all the food that they eat to the hive mind or do they need to do they store it all in a warehouse or in a shed in there back garden.

I would like to know your opinion Dakka Dakka

**Gwar!**

The Hive Mind is a Gestalt Conciousness, it isn't a "thing". It works in the same way as an Ant Super-colony. Each Hive Fleet has it's (Norn) "Queens" who control the local nid population, but every nid is connected by the Gestalt Hive Mind, Greater than the Sum of it's Parts.

**Snikkyd**

Auxellion wrote:He's in the UK. In Warhammer World

Right now

Good one.

I think the Hive Mind is either an essence or an organism, regardless it has its own conciousness and controls all Tyranids. If it is a living being, it is probably in the Nid's home galaxy. Think about it, why would it come with them.

I also heard that some believe it is an old one.

**HiveFleetGoliath**

ZacktheChaosChild wrote:I don't think the Hive Mind is a physical being, but a psychic bond between all Tyranid organisms that is amplified and connected by the big nids, like a Hive Tyrant for example. The different Hive Fleets are connected to each other differently.

If ONE Hive Mind controlled EVERY Tyranid, they would have completely killed everything already.

And also, why would different Hive Fleets fight each other? That's like cutting your own balls off for no good reason.

Actually they fight each other to weed out the weaknesses of the other hive fleet, the winning fleet has the better adaptations and consumes the weaker fleet and takes what was good from the weaker fleet while leaving out the weaknesses of it.

When a hive fleet attacks another hive fleet NO biomass is lost and it only serves to better equip another fleet.

**Ktulhut**

Snikkyd wrote:
I also heard that some believe it is an old one.

More like a C'tan.

**Lexx**

The Hive mind from what I surmised is the collective will of all the higher Tyranid Synapse creatures. The bigger the hive fleets and splinter fleets get the greater the overall will of the consciousness as more synapse creatures join the web of minds. Thus the power grows the synaptic web extends its links. Like when humans learn and more connections form between brain cells. When a new scenario is invovled. new links are formed where there were none. You can liken this to a hive fleet encountering a new foe and learning from defeats and overcoming them as such.

Maybe this Gestalt consciousness is aided by a few linchpin synapse creatures that we haven't seen yet that are stronger than norn queens. Maybe if enough high end synapse creatures were destroyed at once in a short enough window of time it could stall many hive fleets in their paths or at least make the overall control of the hive more tenuous. As documented with entire portions of severed hive fleets going to ground and hibernating till sufficient synapse creatures arrive with a new fleet. The old troops awaken ready to fight again now reconnected to the hive.

Unfortunately this kind of undertaking would require cooperation ( or at least manipulation. Maybe from eldar and sympathizers? ) unseen before in the galaxy. Though maybe if the necrons got riled up enough they could give the nids a mighty bloody nose enough for another inquisitor krpytman to come along with radical ideas to help the imperium. In the end the only way to realistically kill off all tyranids is to literally hunt them all down. And good luck with that

.

On a similar note. Maybe untouchables are the answer to countering the hive mind? Those rare people that are born as the absolute opposite of psykers? If they can nullify psychic powers maybe that can counter the shadow in the warp?

**HiveFleetGoliath**

Nah, as far as I know the shadow in the warp isn't a psychic thing the tyranids are using, its just a part of the warp around their fleet that is so distorted that warp jumps can't be used and communication with astropaths are lost. The shadow in the warp already nullifies powers I think.

ANYWAY, I still believe the Hive Mind is one entity in another galaxy that is using it's will to control the hive fleets in the galaxy they're in now. (There could also be tyranid fleets in other galaxies as well throughout the universe and of course they were probably started in another galaxy) What I like about this is that there could be BAKAMIJILLIONS of Tyranids and Tyranid fleets out there in the universe, so killing them all seems very unlikely, especially when they can absorb bio-mass to create more tyranids.

So to me the hive mind is a single entity, probably a huge bug the size of a planet(or two.. or three) with such a powerful psychic mind that it can control these Hive Fleets. Orders are passed to Hive Tyrants and big synapse creatures and the Hive Tyrants, etc, control the lesser creatures. So like a pyramid, Hive Mind at the top, some blank spots for other big synapse tyranids, norn queens, dominatrices, Hive Tyrants, warriors, then lesser creatures at the bottom that are controlled by the Hive Tyrants, which are controlled by the Hive Mind.

Also the Old Ones have created new races before they died out, and the Tyranids could have been their last scornful "feth You" to the Star Gods and created this Uber powerful race that has an unimaginable hunger.

**Mattlov**

The official answer:

"Off yonder." *Waves hand in a vague direction*

**Deff Rider Warboss**

I just came from that direction, No hive mind. but I did see a Giant planet compossed of Tyranids...