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Ok so after asking your opinions in the thread below, (which got a lot of great responses, thanks wargamers)
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/340839.page#2345781
It has been made abundantly clear that "Tyranid" is pronounced along the same lines as "Tyrannosaurus", except with id instead of nosaurus. Tie-ran-id.

So in an attempt to spark further discussion on the best 40k race, why do I constantly see reference to 'Nids being "Bugs"?
Plain and simple, I think they are more akin to space dinosaurs. Intergalactic Space Dinosaurs. Toothily Yawning Rapacious And Needled Intergalactic Dinosaurs.
So why "Bugs"? Bugs don't have teeth. Teeth require an internal bone structure to grow out of.
Bugs have external skeletons. So is that it? Carapace plating makes them bugs? Ever heard of a Stegosaurus? Those are Tyranid bits glued to the back.

So what do you think? Bugs, Dinos, or a mix? Also need a better expanded acronym.

They're called bugs because they're six-limbed carapaced creatures. That's the exact reasoning given by GW as to why IG call them that, anyway.

Their swarming. 6 limbs and carapace are some pretty strong insectoid characteristics but the 'nids are just a mash up of hundreds of biologies both in fluff and in the models.

Where is that reasoning given Platuan? If its some Black library fluff I havn't read it. I'd imagine that there are no books written from the Tie-ran-id perspective?

I think it's because the sci-fi species that Tyranids seem to be an offshoot of are more insect like in appearance and nature (the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise, Heinleins bugs from Starship Troopers- possibly even a string from the Buggers from Enders game)

Their current art direction has them more of a beast with chitinous plates and a slightly insectoid shape, but when you compare them with any earth insect, or even 'sea bugs' like shrimp, crabs and the like, they aren't bugs.

But they're xenos, so they don't really need to fall into our understanding for the appelations to be stuck to them.

Books written from the Tyranid perspective would be hard...
And afaik Tyranids would break the current taxonomic classification system. They are basically a new Kingdom on their own.
Although there was a story in one of the BL anthologies that had dinosaurs capable of defeating titans so they killed the planet in case the Tyranids got it.

Platuan4th wrote:They're called bugs because they're six-limbed carapaced creatures. That's the exact reasoning given by GW as to why IG call them that, anyway.

Don't disregard the hive mind instincts like bee's or ant's. Albiet the actual phsycic link instead of instinct.

Tyranids came from spiders and beetles having sex with crabs. ;D

I see them as both, their core body structure is very dinosaur like; big mouth, teeth, mostly bipedal and have an endo skeleton. They also have lots of insect structures; exoskeleton, multiple limbs, swarming and hive-like behavior.

I think people prefer the bug appearance because giant insects are scarier than dinosaurs.

Assuming that the IG nomenclature is correct, and that they do get called bugs, then yes I agree with Mr Nobody. Bugs are scarier than dinosaurs. Unless they're these dinosaurs:



That aside, the idea of bugs being intelligent and co-ordinated seems somehow more alien (to me at least) than angry space dinosaurs that want to eat your face. Agreed, the latter isn't pleasant, but I'd rather face barney than a swarm of giant sized killer ants. These are of course glib interpretations, but if your a footsloggin guardsman, thats probably how you're humour works.

The book Starship Troopers, would be my guess. That and the alien xenomorph are what I compaired them too when they can out. Dinos in no way entered my mind.

Bugosaurs! You've answered your own question.

My friend asked me what to get me for christmas once. I told her a carnifex (this was back in the 4th edition when, you know, they were actually GOOD). She didnt know what I was talking about. I told her to just go to the shop, and ask for the bug-dinosaur-monster-thingy-with-the-giant-bug-baby-gun. The store manager, who've never met her before, instantly knew that meant a carnifex.

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:My friend asked me what to get me for christmas once. I told her a carnifex (this was back in the 4th edition when, you know, they were actually GOOD). She didnt know what I was talking about. I told her to just go to the shop, and ask for the bug-dinosaur-monster-thingy-with-the-giant-bug-baby-gun. The store manager, who've never met her before, instantly knew that meant a carnifex.

Because really, what ELSE could that be?

A hive tyrant?

ZING!

oh burn...

I actually think a book from the Tyranid Perspective needs to happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKeGwOKr7K8

As interesting as a concept as it could be, I don't think such a book is really viable- cross culturally we as humans have enough differences that we don't 'get' where people are coming from on different concepts. A non-humanoid species with no real similarities to us couldn't really be done service that way- how would it communicate without any emotions, or express how it sees things (a creature that can see in non-visible to us spectrums trying to explain it would be like us trying to communicate what a sunrise looks like to a someone with a different language and born without eyes)

Slick wrote:As interesting as a concept as it could be, I don't think such a book is really viable- cross culturally we as humans have enough differences that we don't 'get' where people are coming from on different concepts. A non-humanoid species with no real similarities to us couldn't really be done service that way- how would it communicate without any emotions, or express how it sees things (a creature that can see in non-visible to us spectrums trying to explain it would be like us trying to communicate what a sunrise looks like to a someone with a different language and born without eyes)

I agree, it's the same as a book from the perspective of an ant, not alot of deep thoughts or emotions.

So basically 100 pages of nothing but "nomnomnom"?

How about the fact that they get called bugs because of their locust-like feeding tendencies (only on a much larger scale). Sounds like a bug to me.

I think Tyranids are a mix of animal features which are most discomforting to us. Insect body shape and "creepy-crawlyness", cunning intellect of predatory mammals, and the size, teeth and bulk of prehistoric creatures. All things that a human being does not want to go toe-to-toe with.

Stream of consciousness. Have it be all upper case with no punctuation and terse diction, with a bunch of repetition. Chapter one could be the genesis story of a Tyranid Prime as it is gestated in a Norn Queen, done as a first person narrative with the repetition coming in over the characters basic instinctual thought pattern, and since its a Tyranid Prime, Have it get "smarter" as the story progresses, using better grammar and longer sentences as the story progresses. Still run on sentences with just lots of snippets in between commas. "eat kill eat eat eat breathe awaken" in the beginning of the story, with a gradient through to more intelligent.
Sample: Beginning
Light wet surrounded by flesh quiet hunger (Awaken My Child, And Embrace The Glory That Is Your Birthright) eat tear climb scratch air freedom breathe noise loud screaming hive(Awaken My Child, And Embrace The Glory That Is Your Birthright) cough fluid open eyes arms open through membrane legs tear shake stand (Awaken My Child, And Embrace The Glory That Is Your Birthright)

Sample :Last Chapter

"My daggered maw sinks into the succulent roast Fenrisian Wolf, paired with the last of the mulled Ghorala Ork wine, basking in the glow of the burning Space wolf command, I can't help but thinking that this planet did indeed have some of the tastiest biomass I have sampled since three galaxies ago, what are these delightfully crunchy tubes filled with rich, dense hydrocarbon clusters, so crunchy then so chewy, what did they call them, they were yelling for more of them but what were they called, fissle blanchers, no thats not right, oh well they are delicious anyway, burp,
:::Synapse From Command:Tyrant Class Orders:Hive Commander Old Adverse Larry::: PLANETARY DEFENSES OVERWHELMED. ALL THEATRES OF COMBAT NEUTRALIZED, BEGIN DIGESTION. :::End Synapse:::

Slick wrote:As interesting as a concept as it could be, I don't think such a book is really viable- cross culturally we as humans have enough differences that we don't 'get' where people are coming from on different concepts. A non-humanoid species with no real similarities to us couldn't really be done service that way- how would it communicate without any emotions, or express how it sees things (a creature that can see in non-visible to us spectrums trying to explain it would be like us trying to communicate what a sunrise looks like to a someone with a different language and born without eyes)

I fully disagree. As proof of my statement I point to A Clockwork Orange. 90% of the entire point of that book is getting you to think like the protagonist, despite him being so extremely different from what we're used to. It is possible to tell a story from a different point of view. That sort of writing is actually a challenge however. Much harder than 'Brother Captain Doogewder The Awesome charged forth and won the day with his awesomeness'.

If Tyranids are comprised of the Bio-Mass of what they have consumed, then they would be mostly Vegetable matter, and then Insect, since there are infanitely more insects by weight on Earth, and therefore possibly any other planet able to sustain life.

If one were to use the consumed biomass to construct warriors then the usage of the insectoid bio-mass would be preferable to the vegetable-matter biomass...

& therefore insect genetic material would be much more useful than say a "Tree-magant"