Tyranids and Zerg, Together at Last

Because of my mutual love of both Zerg and Tyranids, I thought it'd be fun to compare and contrast them.

For those who are unfamiliar with Zerg, they're the insectoid alien race from the Starcraft franchise. I've heard anecdotally from folks that the game that eventually became Starcraft 1 was originally a Warhammer branded game, and that the alleged deal between Blizzard and Games Workshop fell apart, resulting in GW suing Blizzard over the rights to the name, "Space Marines". Which is (again, speculatively) why they're called Adeptus Astartes to this day, which is a trademarked name, unlike the more generic "Space Marines".

Now, I have no idea if that's true - honestly, maybe I'll dig more into that at the end of this article. And I really don't super care if someone is "stealing" ideas from someone else - if you work in a creative field, that's not really a thing... that's just how inspiration works. And even if there was actual copyright infringement, I'm not going to go to bat for either giant mega corp, fuck 'em equally. But for now, I mostly just want to talk about cool space bugs!

I'm going to go down the list of Zerg (Mostly because there's fewer and they have less design overlap than the GW units), and focus mostly on Starcraft 1 and Brood War units, and the occasional Starcraft 2 in there for fun flavor.

Rippers and Larvae

These are mostly just similar in visual design rather than in their role. Starcraft Larvae can be morphed into many of the following Zerg creatures as a gameplay mechanic, and they're generated by the town center, the Hatchery. They mostly muddle about safely in the base, far away from combat. Unlike the Ripper swarms, which are intended to be in the thick of it, gooping around and chewing on Space Marine armor. 

Interestingly, though, in the 10th edition of Warhammer 40k, Ripper Swarms have the "Harvester" tag, allowing them consume biomass of enemies to reinforce other units if they're part of and Assimilation Swarm detachment. While it's no "biological progenitor" role in Warhammer, I think it's kinda cool that they are bringing more strategic (as opposed to the immediately tactical, I mean) gameplay angles to the table.

[Entry Missing] and Drones

Similar to the Larvae above, a Drone fills a strategic logistical role in Starcraft that doesn't really exist in Warhammer; namely, that of resource collection and building construction. These are generally called "workers" in the game, and each faction has one and they're generally indistinguishable from each other; it's just such a core need and is just a bottom floor of gameplay for Real Time Strategy (RTS) games. So much so, that I'm using the pictures of the Starcraft 2 drone, since they're design has changed almost none since their introduction.

I don't even have a good pitch for visually similar Tyranids; it's a wedge shape with oversized claws, floating just barely over the ground. (Fun fact, it's one of few Starcraft units that have the "Hover" keyword, allowing them... to ignore Spider Mines of course!)

Tyrannocytes and Overlords

I actually think that the Zerg Overlord is a thematic and visual equivalent to two creatures, but the foremost is probably the Tyrannocyte. Zerg Overlords are a purely logistical unit; they provide Supply (which is akin to raising the total point value for your faction in Warhammer...?) by psychically controlling the Zerg underlings, can detect cloaked units (akin to removing stealth, god I'm making a case for a support unit like this in WH) and can be upgraded to transport units via air. It has no weapons, and is only useful in combat for tanking shots during a dangerous landing, or hotkey grouping with Mutalisks. It's mostly just a flying brain!

Flying? Brain?! Hey, that also sounds like a Tyranid - say, a Zoanthrope! Especially since they're Synapse creatures, which means the exert influence over the smaller Tyranid creatures around them. And they give bonuses to the creatures' defenses. However, Zoanthropes also have several psychic attacks, and the Tyrannocyte has rows of defense cannons - neither is an exact match.

 Hormagaunt and Zergling

It's a Hormagaunt, Lesther. A smaller type of Tyranid.

So, one of the strongest of parallels - The Hormagaunt/Zergling! This one probably feels pretty obvious any players of both - They're swarming little guys large blades for slashing at their enemies. They're entirely melee, and are killed in droves. One small note, the SC1 design used to run on their blades and attack with clawed fingers, and the SC2 redesign made them run on all fours, and attack with their back-claws. Maybe I'll convert some Horms to work like that? Also, it's worth pointing out that the (not pictured) Tyranid Termagants have no real equivalent in Starcraft, and it's always thrown me a little. Why would you give a Zergling a gun? It's why I don't currently have any Terms! In Starcraft 2, the Zergling's morph is actually a suicide unit called the Baneling, which doesn't seem to have a Tyranid equivalent.

Warriors and Hydralisks, Raveners and Lurkers

And now for the Zerg's poster child, the Hydralisk. This one's tough, because I think there's some interesting arguments to be made in terms of similarities to both Tyranid Warriors and Raveners, and then to add in the evolution of the Hydralisk, the Lurker. So, to start with, both the Warriors and Hydralisk are the "Shock Troops" of their respective armies, especially so in Starcraft 1. They're intended to deal out plenty of damage from a distance, and stand upright and taller than their underlings. However, the Hydralisk is much more snakelike than the 2nd edition Warriors, but have some commonalities with the 3rd edition. Interesting, they're much more visually similar to the Tyranid Ravener, that digs into the ground and pops up in the backline of an army. An in interesting parallel, the Hydralisk can morph into a Lurker, which burrows underground to attack in a line of spines.

Gargoyles and Mutalisks

Again, like I said, I'm not going to cry foul and say anybody copied anybody in this article. But for sure, I think there's a case for very clear inspiration from the 2nd edition Tyranid Gargoyles pictured above to the Mutalisks. And, they fill a generally similar role in combat, that of a flocking flyer that rains down acid (or flamespurt goo) onto infantry below. The Mutalisk has an interesting attack mechanic instead of simply being a AoE weapon; it bounces after each hit to a nearby unit or structure, dealing less damage each time. Also, it's worth noting that in Starcraft 1 even in the more balanced Brood War expansion, Mutalisks were wildly overpowered. Two control groups worth of Mut-muts could control a map.

Also how cool are those Gargoyles, chewing on their guns? If I ever get any, I'm definitely converting them to look like that, or to sculpt and print some retro minis. I love the look of them.

Harpy and Guardian

Once more in the realms of "Yeah, but that's a stretch", we have the Tyranid Harpy and the Guardian. Right off the bat, they don't look very similar at all; in fact, the Guardian is a pretty weird looking creature, even for Zerg. It's very crab-like in appearance, and has no apparent flight or propulsive characteristics. It evolves from the Mutalisk on the battlefield.

They do however, serve similar roles on the battlefield, namely that of a tactical bomber. Still, within that they differ; the Harpy is a fast-moving flyer, and the Guardian is a slow-moving, long range siege engine. In Warhammer terms, this might have something like a 72" range, with the indirect tag. But WH games are such constrained spaces to begin with that a unit like this wouldn't make a ton of sense. Also, the Harpy has plenty of anti-infantry and anti-air weapons. The Guardian cannot shoot air-to-air, despite doing so during a cinematic in Starcraft 1.

"But what about the Zerg Devourer?" I hear you asking. Well, I didn't think it really had an equivalent, and I also always forget they exist in Brood War. So there!

Sky-slashers and Scourge

I was actually surprised digging into Tyranids for this one, I didn't suspect they would have an equivalent to the Zerg Scourge. But lo and behold, I think that the Sky Slashers are a fair equivalent! While yes, the Scourge is another suicide unit, I think the Sky Slashers are flimsy enough to only get a few hits in anyway, making them essentially an airborne melee unit that dies quickly.

That said, Scourges cannot attack ground, so they're purely about air control. Warhammer doesn't tend to distinguish between flying and non-flying targets in a meaningful way, at least in terms of allowing or disallowing them as valid targets. I'm aware there are certain weapons that might behave differently if the target has the "Fly" keyword, but that's about it.

Malanthrope and Brood Queen

It's another stretch unit, but I really wanted to keep the [Entry Missing] joke to a minimum, unless it was interesting in some way - like the Drone!

So, real quick - They're both flying creatures. The Tyranid Malanthrope's role is a support role to a group of Venomthropes, which give cover to friendly Tyranid creatures. It's kind of (but not really) similar to the Queen's Ensnare ability, which slows down enemy units significantly. Honestly maybe it's more like a Defiler (see below).

The Queen also has an ability to instantly kill (Yes, it's overpowered, how did you guess) an enemy biological unit, and spawn two broodlings from their body. This is great for sniping heavy enemy units like Templar and Siege Tanks, and doesn't really have a Tyranid equivalent.

Lictor and Defiler

This one was another tough one. I don't think they're especially similar, except in a meta-role within their respective Hives, being that of a special agent and not part of the main army. Tyranid Lictors tend to hunt alone, using stealth, and eliminating high-priority targets like commanders deep in the backlines of combat.

The Defiler was intended to be a rough equivalent to the Terran Ghost, a covert operative. However, in making their creature more swarm-y, I feel like that notion was almost entirely erased, save for the Defilers wildly overpowered Plague ability being similar to the Ghost's nuke calldown - it deals damage over time, either dealing up to 150 damage or leaving the target at 1 hp. But, it also has Dark Swarm, which is clearly for supporting the main Zerg army. That ability shields all Zerg under it from any incoming ranged damage (which, that's a pretty cool ability to put into Warhammer maybe).

Armorcast Haruspex and Infestor

This is one of my departures into a purely Starcraft 2 unit, and I want to make it clear. I think there are no inspirations from each other on this one, they just look interestingly similar, in a case of convergent evolution. 

The Haruspex (and other Armorcast Tyranid tanks) are large, crawling, and covered in chitinous plating. They were pulled from the Epic-Scale Warhammer game, and super-sized by "Armorcast", an American company trying to get interest in larger-scale models for Warhammer built up. You can read more about that here!

The Zerg Infestor, however, is a replacement for the Defiler in the sequel. It has similar abilities, spawning infested Terrans, shooting a big glob of slowing and damage liquid, and mind-controlling enemy units. This last one makes for some very interesting cheese tactics; on the extraordinarily rare occasion you can mind control a worker unit, you can attempt to build a town center that you actually have control over - giving you access to a second faction, entirely. This sounds overpowered on paper, but I don't think has ever been used successfully in a tournament setting; it's just too tenous and random.

Fun fact, when first learning about the modern Tyranid Haruspex, I uttered aloud "What the hell is a Haruspex?". To which my partner, without looking up from what she was doing, answered, "Oh it's an oracle that reads the guts of creatures to determine prophecies". I did not know that, and was amazed at how she knew that off-hand. She's into the occult and tarot and things like that, but still. So yeah, maybe the Tyranid Haruspex can predict the future - after nomming down on a Space Marine.

Screamer-Killer Carnifex and Ultralisk

Another example of really strong correlation, and the last on our Zerg list! I really do think the Screamer-Killer influenced the design of the Zerg Ultralisk, so much so that in Starcraft 2, extra slashing limbs were added to the creatures torso for that classic silhouette. 

They also fulfill roughly the same roles in their respective armies; A massive, living tank designed to stride forth and crash into an enemies' front lines. The Ultralisk (only in SC2, weirdly) also deals splash damage in front of it when attacking, which makes it especially effective at dealing with large groups of infantry units.

 

Well, that's the end of the longest damn post I've written! Here are some additional readings and resources I used when putting this together, and maybe I'll investigate the connection between Starcraft and Warhammer in a future post. Thanks for reading!

 A former SC1 artist talking about not knowing anything about Warhammer

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