Warhammer 40K: Every Faction Ranked From Least To Most Evil

12. The Tyranids

The Tyranids are undoubtedly one of the most fearsome factions in 40K, a gargantuan, overpowering swarm of billions of bladed, fanged, acid-spewing monstrosities that slaughter their prey without mercy. The hapless victims are then reduced to an organic mush used in the creation of the next generation of horrors.

But savage as they are, calling the Tyranids evil is like calling a swarm of Army ants evil: while their collective consciousness does coalesce into a hive mind which guides the actions and evolution of the swarm, they lack any real higher order intelligence, and without it, any form of ideology or the concept of ethics. The Tyranids are driven simply to feed and reproduce, creating better and ever more lethal varieties of themselves.

There is no malevolence here, only instinct, and while the Genestealers hint at more devious and horrific intent, the Tyranids are ultimately little more than a galactic-scale bug infestation.

Small consolation when you’re being eaten alive.