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here is a quick question how did the necrons look before they were turned into our lovable killing machines

I don't believe there has ever been any pictures or good descriptions given.

I don't think that there has ever been a hint.

Never saw one...

But here's a hint: they bodies are "transfered" to this metal body's. So it may be possible that Necrons are look exactly like Necrontyr.
Again, it may be resemble to their skeleton system ( same like the Pariah resemble the Human skeleton system ).

Only the Old Ones know, and they are extinct.

I assume they are roughly humanoid, don't the flayed ones wear skin to make themselves more like they once were?

Yes but being machines anything organic is closer to their original appearance than their current look.

Since they developed without interference from the old ones they could be non humanoid (the only reason all current species are humanoid is because the old ones made them so). Since the C'Tan made them with the intention of being soldiers it's very possible their current look was chose purely to scare the enemies.

In short we really have no idea.

It's a fanon theory, but I've always thought of the Necrontyr as looking exactly like the Tau.

Probably closely resemble the current Necron bodies, bipedal and humanoid. Otherwise current Necrons would have issues walking around in them.

They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Hawkward wrote:It's a fanon theory, but I've always thought of the Necrontyr as looking exactly like the Tau.

Funny, that's what I thought, only I included a few tumorous mutations in that picture on account of their sun.

I always imagined them being gaunt, hairless, grey-skinned and thin, on account of the super-cancer they had from their sun. In fact just take the current Warrior models and imagine him with a thin layer of flesh and skin and there you go.


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Mr Nobody wrote:They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Why would they look like their drones? The closest to a Necrontyr could be Necron Lords since their retain some memories and have the ability to change their appearnce. Or possibly the C'tan, since the shells they have were made by the Necrons, and there's the whole god in man's imagie thing that's popular. Then again the C'tan also have the ability to reshape themselves, so perhaps they look quite different.

asimo77 wrote:

Mr Nobody wrote:They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Why would they look like their drones? The closest to a Necrontyr could be Necron Lords since their retain some memories and have the ability to change their appearnce. Or possibly the C'tan, since the shells they have were made by the Necrons, and there's the whole god in man's imagie thing that's popular. Then again the C'tan also have the ability to reshape themselves, so perhaps they look quite different.

The C'tan live in living metal, they decide their own form so it doesn't really help.

The idea of them originally looking like 'insects' isn't that wierd, scales or chintin could be useful in giving some protection from the damaging sun. To also turn your own phase, the Necrons could have been made in the C'tans' image ideal.

Sickly, short lived, bodies racked with cancer caused by the radiation from their planets unforgiving red giant of a sun.

BluntmanDC wrote:

asimo77 wrote:

Mr Nobody wrote:They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Why would they look like their drones? The closest to a Necrontyr could be Necron Lords since their retain some memories and have the ability to change their appearnce. Or possibly the C'tan, since the shells they have were made by the Necrons, and there's the whole god in man's imagie thing that's popular. Then again the C'tan also have the ability to reshape themselves, so perhaps they look quite different.

The C'tan live in living metal, they decide their own form so it doesn't really help.

The idea of them originally looking like 'insects' isn't that wierd, scales or chintin could be useful in giving some protection from the damaging sun. To also turn your own phase, the Necrons could have been made in the C'tans' image ideal.

Well from a design standpoint I would find it odd if GW decided Necrontyr were not skeletal but in fact insectoid despite having far far more skeleton imagery than bug ones. The only bugs are the Scarabs and Tomb Spyder and the former is probably just a shout-out to the Egyptian vibe.

asimo77 wrote:if GW decided Necrontyr were not skeletal but in fact insectoid despite having far far more skeleton imagery than bug ones.

Why would they be skeletal? its pretty hard to just be a skeleton.

By skeletal I meant thin, gaunt, emaciated humanoids, who were sufferring under the effects of super space cancer.

Not multi-limbed, chitinous, bug men.

Necrons probably look like some type of Exo-Skeleton bug that ccan stand on two feet and talk .

This picture pretty much shows along the lines of how i imagine Necrontyr to have appeared.

http://www.dangerouscreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ghoul.jpg

with a slightly blockier chin

with the living metal bodies being stylized (at least with the chest inserts etc) versions of the necrontry skeletal system

I always thought like the pariahs, since they are te most alive out of them.

or something like a pale EQ1 Erudite.

Pariahs are essentially human blanks forced into a necron body, where necron warriors are Necrontyr put into living metal bodies.

BluntmanDC wrote:

asimo77 wrote:

Mr Nobody wrote:They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Why would they look like their drones? The closest to a Necrontyr could be Necron Lords since their retain some memories and have the ability to change their appearnce. Or possibly the C'tan, since the shells they have were made by the Necrons, and there's the whole god in man's imagie thing that's popular. Then again the C'tan also have the ability to reshape themselves, so perhaps they look quite different.

The C'tan live in living metal, they decide their own form so it doesn't really help.

The idea of them originally looking like 'insects' isn't that wierd, scales or chintin could be useful in giving some protection from the damaging sun. To also turn your own phase, the Necrons could have been made in the C'tans' image ideal.

They were definitely humanoid. This is established in Fall of Damnos when revealing the memories of one of the lords in particular.

Gridge wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

asimo77 wrote:

Mr Nobody wrote:They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Why would they look like their drones? The closest to a Necrontyr could be Necron Lords since their retain some memories and have the ability to change their appearnce. Or possibly the C'tan, since the shells they have were made by the Necrons, and there's the whole god in man's imagie thing that's popular. Then again the C'tan also have the ability to reshape themselves, so perhaps they look quite different.

The C'tan live in living metal, they decide their own form so it doesn't really help.

The idea of them originally looking like 'insects' isn't that wierd, scales or chintin could be useful in giving some protection from the damaging sun. To also turn your own phase, the Necrons could have been made in the C'tans' image ideal.

They were definitely humanoid. This is established in Fall of Damnos when revealing the memories of one of the lords in particular.

Being insect-like and humaniod are not mutally exclusive

Well from a design stand-point it would be rather silly to pump out all this skeleton imagery and art then go "joke's on you they're actually bugs!"

And they would look stupid...

They probably looked like their bodies do now, if you covered said bodies with flesh a bit. Gaunt cancer-ridden, life-hating types.

They could have been a Bipedal Insectiod species.


that or scarabs and other insectoids were the dominant Megafauna biomorphs, as opposed to mammels being the dominant animal life on terra(largest body mass on a individual basis anyway)


like herds of space scarabs being tended by the gaunt and disease ridden Necrontyr.

mr.ultramarine wrote: Necrons probably look like some type of Exo-Skeleton bug that ccan stand on two feet and talk .

BluntmanDC wrote:

Gridge wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

asimo77 wrote:

Mr Nobody wrote:They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Why would they look like their drones? The closest to a Necrontyr could be Necron Lords since their retain some memories and have the ability to change their appearnce. Or possibly the C'tan, since the shells they have were made by the Necrons, and there's the whole god in man's imagie thing that's popular. Then again the C'tan also have the ability to reshape themselves, so perhaps they look quite different.

The C'tan live in living metal, they decide their own form so it doesn't really help.

The idea of them originally looking like 'insects' isn't that wierd, scales or chintin could be useful in giving some protection from the damaging sun. To also turn your own phase, the Necrons could have been made in the C'tans' image ideal.

They were definitely humanoid. This is established in Fall of Damnos when revealing the memories of one of the lords in particular.

Being insect-like and humaniod are not mutally exclusive

True, there could be bipedal insects but the memories of the Flayer Lord mention such things as his tanned flesh, eyelids and fingers amongst other things. Not to mention the musings of the other Necron lords. There are many clues that strongly suggest they were of a form similar to humans.

Howard A Treesong wrote:I assume they are roughly humanoid, don't the flayed ones wear skin to make themselves more like they once were?

They wear skin to scare their enemies.

and no, there has never been any hint to what the necrons looked like before there transformation to necrons.

Gridge wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

Gridge wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:

asimo77 wrote:

Mr Nobody wrote:They could be closer to their scarab counter parts, why make those look like insects?

Why would they look like their drones? The closest to a Necrontyr could be Necron Lords since their retain some memories and have the ability to change their appearnce. Or possibly the C'tan, since the shells they have were made by the Necrons, and there's the whole god in man's imagie thing that's popular. Then again the C'tan also have the ability to reshape themselves, so perhaps they look quite different.

The C'tan live in living metal, they decide their own form so it doesn't really help.

The idea of them originally looking like 'insects' isn't that wierd, scales or chintin could be useful in giving some protection from the damaging sun. To also turn your own phase, the Necrons could have been made in the C'tans' image ideal.

They were definitely humanoid. This is established in Fall of Damnos when revealing the memories of one of the lords in particular.

Being insect-like and humaniod are not mutally exclusive

True, there could be bipedal insects but the memories of the Flayer Lord mention such things as his tanned flesh, eyelids and fingers amongst other things. Not to mention the musings of the other Necron lords. There are many clues that strongly suggest they were of a form similar to humans.

All the things you mentioned don't stop them from being insect-like or having chintin covered bodies. Not all insects are completly covered in chintin, they have skin like flesh between the plates. You have to remember that this is a race that evolved completely seperately from the meddlings of the Old Ones, so the standard norms of zoalogical classification don't count, there is nothing to say that a class of creatures developed a mixture of features combining the best of endo and exo skeletons.

Also humanoid as a word has a massive range of meaning, and covers alot of characterists seeiung as vespids (and obviosly insectoid species) are humanoid.