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Yes and no, its cells may exist in real space, the source of its power so to speak but the hive mind can and only does exist in the warp, its a similar logic ... Logic and chaos gods in the same sentence but bear with me, to the chaos gods, if we take the version of the gods being that their power is derived from the sentient species then the same argument can be made that they are not warp entities like the hive mind (to those using that reasoning), since their cells resides both in and out of the warp.

There's a lot of discussion here over whether or not it counts as a warp entity, and I think it's conflating a lot of different concepts. It's best, I think, to compare it against something else as means of a benchmark. Let's take Crusade-era Magnus the Red as an example.

Magnus is alive. He has a physical body which generates his 'mind' or conscious intelligence. He also has a 'soul' or presence in the warp. These two are quite evidently not the same thing - Ferrus Manus, for example, has a strong soul/presence in the warp and a separate conscious mind - but never exhibited active psychic powers whilst alive. Magnus can detach his 'mind' from his body using his psychic powers and traverse either the material world or the warp at will. He draws energy from the warp, whether detached or not, to perform these psychic feats.

This is all relatively straightforward. Magnus has a 'soul', and the 'soul' is what allows him to interface with the warp. But 'soul' is not mind/consciousness. That is a separate attribute. His 'soul' is present in the warp and a reflection of Magnus in the physical realm - inextricably linked to him. This 'soul' of Magnus could be considered a warp entity (it exists purely in the warp), but the 'mind' or consciousness of Magnus is not one. Magnus breathes, eats, and discusses obscure philosophy through his body in the physical realm.

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So. To turn to the Hive Mind. The Hive Mind is similar, but operates in a fractionally different fashion. First off - the Hive Mind is psychic. That much is clear. It doesn't communicate and link together Tyranid actions through chemical or biological processes, but rather by communicating, commanding, and controlling them through the warp. If you place an untouchable next to a Genestealer or other Tyranid, it cuts off the Hive Mind (this has been evidenced several times). The warp is the method of control and the Hive 'Mind' an entity that communicates psychically.

The Hive Mind functions and exists, in other words, in much the same way that the consciousness of Magnus does when he has detached his astral self or 'mind' from his body. It is a gestalt consciousness and psychic intelligence in the physical realm; albeit one which is generated by multiple physical bodies instead Magnus' single vessel.

And much as with Magnus, the Hive Mind too has a 'soul'. This 'soul' in the warp is separate but inextricably linked to the Hive Mind's 'mind'. It allows the Hive Mind to draw warp energy to perform psychic feats (warp blasts, biomancy, whatever) and casts the 'shadow in the warp'. When you put a normal low grade psyker next to someone like Magnus, they feel oppressed by the strength of his 'soul'. It is much the same with the Hive Mind, but on a greater scale.

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In other words, both sides arguing here are correct. The 'soul' of the Hive Mind is a warp entity, much like the soul of any other creature. And the conscious 'mind' of the Hive Mind is a detached astral consciousness which can exert psychic powers and communication - in the same manner as Magnus or the Emperor - but is not in itself a warp entity. Soul and mind are not the same thing in 40K. That's been demonstrated over and over again -by Ravenor, the C'Tan, and the very basic act of a psyker being able to think when put next to an untouchable. Conflation of these two things is the root cause of the disagreement above.

The soul is merely the the boat the mind uses to travail the warp, the vessel which carries a consciousness and gives it the fuel to perform the psychic feats it desires. In the case of the Hive Mind however, where Magnus' soul is an aircraft carrier moving his consciousness through the sea, the Hive Mind's soul is the size of a bloody iceberg. And the Hive Mind riding atop it rarely bothers to pay attention to what its soul pulls a Titanic on - the case of the Eldar Farseer cited above being one of the extremely rare examples.

I think both Formosa and Ketra are thinking about this way too hard. By formosas understanding the only things in 40k that are not warp entities are the Tau and animals, the C'tan, and necrons.

The math doesn't add up.

Either you reflect into the warp (Because the warp IS a reflection of the materium formed from the psychic impressions of sapient species) or you are born in the warp.

The Hive Mind isn't a separate entity from the tyranid species. It's in every single description of the hive mind. Its the collected consciousness of all tyranids. Remove all the tyranids there won't be a hive mind. The fact that it has a physical form means it's not a warp entity. Even if that physical form is made up of many constituent parts.


For those familiar with mass effect and the geth. It's legion in reverse. Many bodies forming a collective driving whole.

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Because the hive mind doesn't give a single feth about anything in the warp except in so much as it corrupts it's food supply in the materium. This is because the Hive Mind is not a warp entity.

See how that works?

 Lance845 wrote:
I think both Formosa and Ketra are thinking about this way too hard. By formosas understanding the only things in 40k that are not warp entities are the Tau and animals, the C'tan, and necrons.

The math doesn't add up.

Either you reflect into the warp (Because the warp IS a reflection of the materium formed from the psychic impressions of sapient species) or you are born in the warp.

The Hive Mind isn't a separate entity from the tyranid species. It's in every single description of the hive mind. Its the collected consciousness of all tyranids. Remove all the tyranids there won't be a hive mind. The fact that it has a physical form means it's not a warp entity. Even if that physical form is made up of many constituent parts.


For those familiar with mass effect and the geth. It's legion in reverse. Many bodies forming a collective driving whole.

You have misunderstood my comments lance, it is not my reasoning it is the reasoning others definition of what a warp entity is and I am working within their framework to show that it does not make sense, which you apparently agree with, by my reasoning a warp entity is a sentient or semi sentient creature that can only exist within the warp without outside interference, so the gods, hive mind, deamons and warp fauna like enslavers, their natural environment is the warp and they cannot exist outside of it without a great deal of effort.

So as a human that enters the warp without protection would disolve into the ether a demon entering real space would do the same because one is a mundane entity and the other is a warp entity, so the hive mind cannot exist within real space without a large amount of outside influence, in this case its a critical mass of tyranid bioforms to allow the synapse network to form and connect to the hive mind and in turn allow it to influence their actions directly.