Trygon
Trygons are huge Tyranid creatures, similar to giant Raveners.
Contents
Overview
A Trygon is a monstrous serpentine species of Tyranid capable of tunneling through just about any material - carving out underground tunnels that can be used by other Tyranid creatures to bypass enemy lines. For the enemies of a Trygon, an attack from below is incredibly hard to detect and even harder to defend against. The emergence of a Trygon will often herald a larger Tyranid attack as hordes of smaller creatures pour out after it using the freshly created tunnel.[1] It appears that Trygons use their bio-static charge to assist with tunnelling, as their tunnels have been found coated with a fused, glass-like silicate layer on the inside. This effect stabilises the tunnel walls and prevents them from collapsing behind a burrowing Trygon.[4]
Trygons have also been known to dig deadfall traps by leaving a thin crust over a deep conical hole. Sufficient weight in troops and armour will collapse the roof of the sinkhole and deposit the victims into the Trygon’s waiting claws. A Trygon’s greatest weakness is probably that it can be baited or misdirected while burrowing by the first tasty morsel to cross its path.[4]
A Trygon is also heavily armoured in shifting carapace plates that generate a bio-static charge as the creature moves. Known as a Bio-Electric Pulse[1], this energy can be channeled into a sudden powerful arc that is strong enough to kill by exhaling an ionised spray from its gills.[1]
Basic Info
| Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Record[7] | |||
| Designation | Trygon | Main Weaponry | 4x scything claws |
| Common Title | Mother Ravener/Slash-tail | ||
| Species Name | Tyranicus subterra-extremis | Secondary Weaponry | Bio-electric field |
| Average Height | 7.1m | ||
| Average Weight | 9.7 tonnes | Tertiary Weaponry | Other claws and fangs |
| First encountered | Beta Anphelion IV | ||
| Role | Subterranean assault | ||
| Threat evaluation | Very high | ||
Variants
Trygon Prime
A Trygon Prime is a variation of the Trygon modified to wield Containment Spines running the length of their bodies that can better harness their bio-electric buildup and further direct it into a more terrifying lightning bolt. They are also adapted to share a synaptic link with the Hive Mind, allowing them to influence lesser Tyranid creatures.[1]
Bioshock Brood
Instead of generating individual bio-static fields, Trygons can work in a Bioshock Brood to combine and greatly amplify their own charges into a single bioelectric field covering the whole brood. Lightning arcs from beast to beast with a build-up of power so great that the generated field can disrupt, absorb, and even deflect incoming enemy fire. When released it has the power of a raging tempest which reduces targets to charred corpses. Tell-tale signs of an imminent surfacing from a Bioshock Brood include hairs standing on end, the tang of ozone, or unusual electronic static through comms channels - though these warnings usually go unnoticed.[3a]
Images
Trygon (5th edition), based on the Forge World sculpt but adapted by Aly Morrison and Tom Walton [2]
Trygon from Forge World, sculpted by Simon Egan [2]
Trygon Prime (5th edition), alternate build of the Trygon kit [3b]
Pre-Forge World Mike Biasi Studios Tyranid Trygon[6]
See also
Sources
- 1: Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pg. 50
- 2: White Dwarf 361 (UK), pg. 22
- 3: White Dwarf 362 (UK)
- 4: Deathwatch: Mark of the Xenos, pg. 45
- 5: Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond Warhammer 40,000 - Trygon Prime
- 6: The Lost and the Banned (saved archive page, dated August 2007, last accessed 20 March 2025)
- 7: Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Project - pg. 89
