Editing Tyranid (section)

=='Masters of Evolution'?==

In real life, evolution is not about being the strongest/fastest thing around. It means adapting to fill specific niches that aren't already full.

So, it should be noted that the Tyranids have been hit with the idiot ball a couple of times recently, which has led some to believe and fear that the Nids are quickly approaching [[Avatar of Khaine]] levels of [[Star Trek|Worf]] [[Nerf|nerfing]]. From an entire [[Hive Fleet]] being ''somehow'' tricked into an [[FAIL|evolutionary dead-end]] by the [[Bullshit|TAU]] of [[EPIC FAIL|ALL PEOPLE]] to the [[Swarmlord]] getting its shit kicked in just before attempting to use its killing blow on whatever random hero of the day. The status of the Great Devourer being a threatening force seems to be chipped in little by little. Indeed, when you hear statements that entire Hive Fleets could literally ''STARVE'' to death if they don't Nom constantly or that the [[Harridan]] [[EPIC FAIL|<u>DIES</u> by just simply landing on the ground,]] it kind of undermines the horrors that Black Library writers and GW themselves like to sell on the Nids. Furthermore, as [[Devastation of Baal]] showcased, the Nids may be adaptable, but they are not infallible if the Thirstwater from Baal Secundus was anything to go by. Thirstwater is one of those microorganisms so dangerous and abstract that even the [[Hive Mind]] shat bricks, as it literally could not find a solution to bypass its ridiculous moisture-sucking power.

This is made worse with the recent release of the Belisarius Cawl novel, in which it outright confirms that the Nids <u>ONLY</u> consume the surface of a planet, whilst leaving organisms living beneath the surface mostly unmolested because the Hive Mind [[Wat|physically could not penetrate deep enough onto the planet's crust,]] which is why Cawl was able to literally re-terraform Nommed worlds like Sotha and Baal Primus. Mix in the fact that the Nids consume a typical world for a lengthy 60-100 days on average and it turns out that the Great Devourer isn't even really that great at devouring shit if sub-surface life could literally weather a Nid invasion.

The crux of the problem (And a problem that GeeDubs is quickly realizing as a major fuckup, narratively speaking) lies in balancing. Despite contrary beliefs, the 40k universe is not an omnipotent, overpowered force that could crush everything in their way because BIGGATONS! No, if this was the case, Chaos would have won a long time ago. The reality is that WH40k lies on the foundations of the balance of power; no faction (Other than the Tau who are irrelevant) has absolute domination among the others, to do so would break the status quo. Hence why the Chaos Gods aren't omnipotent, neither is the Imperium, the Orks, Necrons, and most definitely Tyranids. If one breaks the status quo, the balance of power is broken and that would destroy 40k as we know it. This means that the power of the Tyranids needs to be capped or the balance would be broken. In the hands of a good or decent writer, one could still pull off why the Nids are a threat whilst gimping its ''potential'' power levels (See [[Devastation of Baal]]). But in the hands of a bad writer (See [[Robin Cruddace]]) it makes the Nids absolutely downright pathetic as they constantly self-sabotage themselves because the [[Hive Mind]] pulled a [[Derp]] and the opposing teams have a shit ton of [[Plot armour]]. So while GW has been trying to make the Nids threatening (Silent King returning to wake up his folks to deal with them, main Hive Fleets are merely scouting tendrils, Nids could out-adapt everything, etc), the actual given substance has been...[[Skub|a mixed bag at best.]]

All in all, it is ironic that the Hive Mind seems to be encountering all of the same problems that [[Failbaddon]] did before Gathering Storm: ie, the inability to show the Nids' true potential because it would upset the status quo and therefore, needs to be gimped by the writers so as to not overwhelm the other factions. Smaller factions like the Tau have their potential fully realized and some more due to [[Plot Armor]]; not giving a fuck about consistency as they are too small to upset the status quo and therefore, somehow [[Rage|excuse the Tau in pulling ridiculous feats]] [[Bullshit|as everyone around them got hit in the head with the]] [[Fail|Idiot Ball]], but since any major fight that resulted in the Tyranids winning would result in one or more factions being wiped out, they are forever denied those decisive victories. However, they have just won the [[Octarius War]], and are now more powerful than before, but what will happen next has yet to be seen. One idea that GW has been playing with for a while is to take the other most powerful force in the galaxy, the Necrons under Szarekh, and have them focus almost entirely on countering the Tyranids. That was, after all, the whole reason why Szarekh came back to the galaxy in the first place. That way the Nids can still die in absolute droves without looking too weak, as getting slaughtered by a faction with C'tan killing weapons (and C'tan) is a bit of a given.

In other words, having a faction that simply eats everything and moves on to the next galaxy in an IP where they're a threat to the existence of every other faction tends to produce some narrative issues.

One more part to note is the very real possibility that the Tyranids have permanently crippled themselves long before they ever reached the galaxy that Warhammer 40k takes place in. The Tyranids have never been shown to use anything mechanical in nature, the closest they've ever shown to do so is the use of mechanical items by Genestealer Cultists but not the Genestealers themselves. While natural evolution has been shown to be incredibly adaptive, there are limits to problems that can be solved with biological solutions or can be solved as effectively or efficiently with biological solutions compared to mechanical ones. While it is in the realm of possibility that the Tyranid hive mind is more capable of finding biological solutions to problems than any organization in the setting, those other organizations can still use mechanical solutions to problems while the Tyranids have locked themselves out of a massive realm of potential practical applications.