Khorzain wrote:
Psionara wrote:On the Warhammer Community page, the reader sees that they are trying to "liberate" themselves, but beyond that what exactly are they trying to accomplish? What exactly are they trying to liberate themselves from? Do they know that they will be absorbed by the Tyranids? If so, do they want to be absorbed by the Tyranids?
So, Genestealer Cults are a favorite faction of mine, and I've tried to read up on as much lore as possible over the years, so bear with me while I try to explain things from the bottom up.
First you need to know a bit about Genestealers themselves, because they are typically the origin of every cult (there are exceptions but it's not the norm), and it helps explain why cultists act the way they do. Genestealers have two distinct "personalities" (for lack of a better term) depending on whether they are connected or separated from the Hive Mind. While controlled by the Hive Mind, they act as the usual Tyranid vanguard assault organisms that you've heard about. They're led by a Broodlord, but they're all directed by the Hive Mind, so the Broodlord acts more like a synapse conduit than a completely independent leader (though it can function as one when needed). Genestealers that are separated from the Hive Mind's influence, and those that are produced from cults, are referred to as Purestrains. These genestealers initially behave more like a pack of wolves than shock troops, have about the same intelligence, and are also connected to one-another through a telepathic link called the Broodmind, which is essentially just a smaller independent version of the Hive Mind — this is important for later.
There are innumerable ways for a genestealer infestation to begin, but it almost always starts with a very small number of genestealers (sometimes even 1) infiltrating a human city, ship, space station, or other large population zone. Purestrains will only attempt to start a cult if they sense there are enough prey organisms for a cult to thrive. When they arrive, Purestrains will spend days or weeks learning about their new hunting grounds before they make their first move — which is to infect someone, rather than kill them — because somehow they know that killing people will draw unwanted attention. The genestealer infection — referred to as the Genestealer Curse — isn't completely understood, but we know the gist of its effects and transmission. A genestealer's tongue has a barbed ovipositor on it like a wasp stinger — but instead of venom, it injects tyranid genetic material into the host — usually through the neck, wrist, arm, or somewhere inconspicuous. An infected human has no visible symptoms, and can act completely normal. From what I've read, the only way to check if someone has the Genestealer Curse is to run their DNA through a special gene-scanner that is set up to detect the genetic material. There is no known cure for the Genestealer Curse, and a single infected survivor can begin a new infestation even if the entirety of his cult was killed.
The genetic material subtlety changes the host's DNA to cause the following effects:
It makes the host forget encountering and being infected by a genestealer by inducing amnesia for the past hour or longer.It psychically enslaves the host to the genestealer's Broodmind, although the initial hosts are unaware of this connection because the Patriarch hasn't matured yet. In some cases, hosts never become aware of the connection.This psychic domination also changes the host's perception of genestealers and the Tyranid race. Think about the way imperial citizens revere Space Marine Primarchs, the sons of their God-Emperor — that is how infected humans view genestealers, which is why they are worshiped as children of the gods. The Genestealer Curse literally forces you to think of Tyranids as god-like figures, another reason why cultists are so religiously devoted. If a human gets pregnant after being infected, that child will be a Genestealer Hybrid — and the curse turns the host's sexual drive up to '11' to expedite the process. The infection can also be spread via sex, so it's basically an STD.
Now up until this point, there was no leader or alpha organism in the pack of purestrains, they were all considered equals. The first genestealer to infect someone in a new population zone will trigger an evolutionary adaptation that gradually turns it into a Patriarch, the leader of a Genestealer Cult. The Patriarch assumes control of genestealers from its brood, and has a direct psychic link to every infected human and genestealer hybrid. The Patriarch's power and intelligence increases with every new person that joins the Broodmind, and they tend to develop human-like personalities as their cult grows in size. To me, this makes Patriarch's interesting characters that can be radically different from one-another. They all have one common driving factor though: to grow their cult as large as possible and spread it to every corner of the galaxy in preparation for the arrival of their gods: the Tyranid Hive Fleets. Every action they take is to further that goal in some form.
The Tyranid Hive Mind has a different goal though: A genestealer cult creates a psychic signal that becomes more powerful as the cult grows in size, and that signal acts as a giant dinner bell for a Tyranid Hive Fleet which basically shouts "hey, we have a planet full of biomass ready for consumption here". A natural side-effect of a Genestealer Cult overtaking a planet is that there will be no resistance to the Tyranids, so the Hive Fleet won't have to expend its biomass fighting a war.
A quick note about the lifecycle of hybrids and purestrain genestealers:
The first child of an infected human will be a 1st generation hybrid that will grow up to look just like a human-sized genestealer. When that hybrid infects someone, that person's child will be a 2nd generation hybrid, which looks very similar to a genestealer but has human-shaped facial features and can actually speak the language of its parents. That hybrid's offspring will in-turn be a 3rd generation hybrid, which looks like a hunched-over human mutant, some still have 3 arms, others only have 2. The final, 4th generation hybrid looks just like an ordinary human but with a ridged forehead — although some 4th-
gen hybrids are actually indistinguishable from normal humans. 4th-
gens can either infect humans or have children naturally — but rather than hybrid children, these create a new batch of Purestrain Genestealers — and the cycle repeats. Hybrids grow about twice as fast as a normal human, but it can still take decades for a cult to grow large enough to overthrow a planet.
It's important to realize the distinction between hybrids and infected people. Infected humans are known as Brood Brothers, and the only difference between us and them is the Genestealer Curse. Hybrids are entirely different creatures, as you can see there are many different types, but they all have Tyranid blood flowing through their veins and are much more directly connected to the Patriarch. Both brood brothers and hybrids are psychically bound to the Broodmind — but they aren't mindless slaves. They all have independent thoughts and feelings and typically act as if they had a free will — although they are utterly devoted to the Patriarch and their cult. The Magus and Patriarch can directly control people who are connected to the Broodmind, but this usually only happens when necessary — remember a cult can have millions of people in it — the Patriarch might be omnipresent but it doesn't have the willpower to directly control all of them all of the time.
Now, with that background in mind, what are the Cultists trying to liberate themselves from? That answer is simple: the oppression of those who seek to stop a Genestealer Cult from growing and spreading. The cult wants to be free to carry out the will of their Patriarch, and they'll fight to conquer anyone who would deny them that. The Patriarch and Magus are masters of the human psyche, and will exploit human weaknesses to make people join their cause. They offer salvation to the masses through their new religion, they offer freedom for the working class against their elite rulers, they make their cult look like the heroes of a new revolution. Many people aren't even aware that the revolution is being led by genestealers, and while they may fight for various different reasons, the end result will be something that furthers the goals of the Cult.
The ironic thing is that Genestealer Cult society actually is as close to a Utopia as it gets in the
40k universe. You have humans and xenos all working together For the Greater Good (of the Genestealer Cult). The cult wants everyone to start a family and prosper. There is no infighting among cultists, they don't have cutthroat power struggles, and they aren't trying to screw eachother over for a percentage. It's kind of an interesting concept.
"Do they know that they will be absorbed by the Tyranids?"
The typical Genestealer Cult does not know that it will be absorbed by the Tyranids, at least not the way it actually happens — all they know is that they will experience some Rapture-level event where they are freed to join their Star Gods. Obviously the interpretation of that can vary widely, but its suffice to say being eaten alive is not what they are expecting. Which brings us to the next part:
"If so, do they want to be absorbed by the Tyranids?"
The answer to this is complicated, because it's not fully explained. Interestingly, when a Hive Fleet is very close, the Purestrain Genestealers in a cult will suddenly have an instinct to leave the planet! While this might seem like an act of self-preservation, it has an alternate role: When humans see a hive fleet approaching, many will attempt to escape by flying away on ships. The Purestrains will hide in these ships, and consequently be taken to a new population zone to begin a new Genestealer Cult as their current one is devoured by Tyranids.
The Patriarch doesn't seem to have that instinct though, and he generally remains on the planet while the Hive Fleet arrives. Remember when I said that the Broodmind was separate from the Hivemind? Well the two cannot continue to coexist, and so the broodmind is eventually overtaken by the Hivemind, which causes chaos amongst the Genestealer cult. Based on the novels, this is not an instantaneous process, and the Patriarch slowly loses its free will until it once again becomes just another mindless organism as part of the Hivemind. When that happens, the link between the Patriarch and its cult is shattered.
Now this part is speculation on my end, but is generally supported by the lore: I believe that the Brood Brothers and the Hybrids have very different feelings about the Tyranids once the Broodmind is gone.
The genestealer Hybrids continue to be overjoyed at the arrival of their Gods — being part-Tyranid themselves, they can likely hear the song of the Hivemind. These are the cultists you hear about marching into the digestion pools hand-in-hand, the ones that freely offer themselves to be devoured by Tyranid feeder-organisms, the people that remain unfazed by the oncoming horde of teeth, claws, and chitin.
The infected humans are a different story. Remember that brood brothers are only connected to the cult via the Broodmind — once the Broodmind is gone, the psychic domination is also gone. These are the people you read about who suddenly realize everything they've believed was a lie, those who can finally see the Tyranids for the ravenous monsters they truly are, the one's who kill themselves because of the atrocities they've committed, and generally the people who definitely do not want to be absorbed into biomass. There will surely be a few crazy people that will hold onto their beliefs even after the psychic link is broken, but I think they are the exception rather than the norm.
Anyways, this was a bit of a rant hah, but I hope you enjoyed the info
