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Do Jokaero have any appearances in novels as major characters? If so, what are their personalities like? Do they actually have language, or are they just animals programmed to understand technology?I've read through the Lexicanum article and Codex: Inquisition entry but neither really answers any of these questions.

EDIT: Would it be possible to form a symbiotic relationship with Jokaero, such that someone has them build starcraft, armor, weapons, etc. in exchange for having all of their survival needs met? If not possible under normal circumstances, what about forming a psychic connection in said jokaeros' minds to accomplish the relationship?

I'm mostly just asking because I was hoping to integrate a Jokaero clan into the fluff for my Fallen Angels army.

As far as the Imperium is concerned, the Jokaero are an animal-intelligence primate-like xeno that have a genetic understanding of technology.

The Inquisition uses them to create digi-weapons and the like, but this doesn't work by any set "plan". You just dump a pile of tech-parts in front of some Jokaero and wait. Eventually, they will build something that is both interesting and valuable to you. The rest of the stuff they make might be interesting, such as an advanced Force Can-Opener or digi-shotgun or melta-bathmat.. but it isn't at all useful to you.

The Jokaero have no means of communication intelligible to humans. It is like trying to talk to a pack of howler monkeys. Given that they don't appear to be a sapient species, telepathy may not work. I also do not think that the language of thought is universal in the 40K setting. Thus, even if the Jokaero do have a language, the human Psyker isn't going to be able to speak it, and so the Jokaero's thoughts are not going to make any sense at all.

 Psienesis wrote:
As far as the Imperium is concerned, the Jokaero are an animal-intelligence primate-like xeno that have a genetic understanding of technology.

The Inquisition uses them to create digi-weapons and the like, but this doesn't work by any set "plan". You just dump a pile of tech-parts in front of some Jokaero and wait. Eventually, they will build something that is both interesting and valuable to you. The rest of the stuff they make might be interesting, such as an advanced Force Can-Opener or digi-shotgun or melta-bathmat.. but it isn't at all useful to you.

The Jokaero have no means of communication intelligible to humans. It is like trying to talk to a pack of howler monkeys. Given that they don't appear to be a sapient species, telepathy may not work. I also do not think that the language of thought is universal in the 40K setting. Thus, even if the Jokaero do have a language, the human Psyker isn't going to be able to speak it, and so the Jokaero's thoughts are not going to make any sense at all.

The issue is that impressions, images, etc. ARE universal to any species who share the same senses. If two species have a sense of sight, then they'll likely be seeing the same image, if with slightly different coloration.

The Jokaero might see in, say, ultravision. Or infra-sonics. Or in any other frequency that humans cannot perceive, thus changing the entire model of thought-perceptions they have.

Also, if you imprison a jokaero, they will still make stuff for you - but some of the stuff they make is just designed to let them escape.

They are makers, with no rhyme or reason outside of the making of stuff. That is their entire raison d'etre.

In Pandorax, a jokaero has a significant role. Iirc, it communicated with sign language.

One of the better books from bl as well, featuring Abaddon, Huron, Azreal and Draigo. It's a good book, but it's worth reading just for the last two chapters.

it probably all started when The Emperor found a copy of Curious George in the Lexicanum....

 Psienesis wrote:
The Jokaero might see in, say, ultravision. Or infra-sonics. Or in any other frequency that humans cannot perceive, thus changing the entire model of thought-perceptions they have.

The question then becomes,"Are they sentient?" If the answer is yes, then, due to the fact that emotion is apparently universal in 40k (Eldar, Humans, etc. all feel pain/pleasure/joy/etc.), then forming relationships in the Psyche that would cause pleasure when the Jokaero does specific tasks for a human might also accomplish the desired result, would it not?

Sentience and sapience are not one and the same, and the nervous system of one species is not necessarily the same as that of another, so how one species interprets "pleasure" may be utterly alien to another.

It should also be noted that, at least in FFG's games, Telepaths attempting the various "mind-speaking" powers require a common language in order to understand their thoughts, though in those cases, dialectic differences (such as those inherent in Low Gothic) are ignored.