Locust Horde
From Gears of War
The Locust Horde is a race, or alliance of several races that, until Emergence Day, remained in the subterranean regions of Sera. The Locust Horde has decided its ultimate goal is the extermination of the human race down to every man, woman, and child, however, it's reasons for doing this remain a mystery. It is possible that the locust horde fight to keep the imulsion from being depleted. All attempts at negotiating with the Locust Horde have ended in violence. Locusts consist of a common race of drones and all manner of mutants and monstrosities. The Locust Horde exists in underground tunnels known as the Hollow, which is a short term used to describe the hollow portions of planet Sera. The Locust Horde technology appears to be at around the same level as that of humans. Locust troops will use nearly any weapon, whether it is one of their own or human made.
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[edit] Locust Weapons
[edit] Hand-held
[edit] Mounted
[edit] Leaders
[edit] Locust Queen (Myrrah)
The Locust Queen is the enigmatic leader of the Locust Horde. Though she is never present on the battlefield, she is able to observe skirmishes with the COG and possibly even command the units of her army. However that may just be another General. It is unknown if she is a member of any known Locust races. Since locust speech in general is deep and sometimes unclear (Drones not Therons), it brings up the question of her clear speech, and whether she is a different species.
[edit] General RAAM
General RAAM is the Leader of the Locusts second to the Locust Queen. He appears as a large Locust shrouded in Kryll. RAAM has pronounced facial features, with large, bony eyebrow ridges and a seemingly constant snarling expression.During the final battle RAAM fights, he carries a Troika machine gun (although this weapon is always mounted on a turret, RAAM wields the weapon by hand, with apparent ease.) Eventually he is killed by Marcus, with the help of Dom and the King Raven helicopter.
[edit] Foot Soldiers
[edit] Drones
Drones appear to be the common race among the Locust Horde. They seem to appear larger than humans with white skin with gray patches which are most likely harder to protect them from damage. Some Sniper Drones wear red-lensed goggles for increased accuarcy. They were bred in the hollow to be bloodthirsty fighters. When ordered, Drones will throw their lives away by the hundreds to kill one Gear. They often crawl out of "emergence holes", which the Locust use as a bridge between underground and the surface world. These holes can be closed by tossing a frag grenade in, or firing the Hammer of Dawn, Boomshot, or Torque Bow into the hole. Drones are relentless opponents who follow basic infantry tactics of flanking, dominating the terrain, and setting up ambushes. As Gears will often tell anyone, I have never seen one turn tail and run.
They will usually wield the Hammerburst, a burst-fire assault rifle. Some regular Drones have taken to using the human Lancer assault rifle, and will use the chainsaw bayonet to lethal effect. Most basic drones wear a helmet and body armor while Grenadiers (who normally wield gnasher shotguns and frag grenades)mainly go into battle armorless except for minor protection by their rock like skin.
Aside from standard drones, there are several variants that are basically the same creature:
[edit] Boomers
Among the least sophisticated of the Locusts, Boomers are large Locusts that can take a lot of damage. A Boomer's weapon of choice is the Boomshot (a sort of grenade/rocket launcher), which they will fire while shouting "Boom!" (thus the 'Boomer' moniker) which acts as a warning for Gears to move out of the way. They also sometimes say "For Queen!" (see Locust Queen) They are often seen partnered with other Boomers, but they do not use infantry tactics, instead they move forward slowly and fire their weapons. Any Gear who can use cover can defeat this type of Locust. Their simplistic tactics and speech suggest a lower level of intelligence than the average drone.
There will be a new type of boomer in gears of war 2 called the Mauler.
[edit] Berserkers
Berserkers are huge female monsters, and they cannot see, but rely on smell and sound. These Locusts will gain enough momentum when running to smash through a solid brick wall. They are unaffected by all weapons except the Hammer of Dawn. Any Gear that fights a Berserker will have to be quick with their feet to defeat her. To kill a Beserker, you must first shoot it with the Hammer of Dawn, then attack it with another weapon while it is stunned and glowing red.
[edit] Theron Guards
Delta Squad first encounters Theron Guards guarding the Imulsion pumping station. They are usually found in the underground or near seeder encounters. They are easily distinguishable from Drones because they wear long leather-like coats that trail behind them when they move and metallic masks. Their sibilant voices have been known to scare Gears into fleeing. Their voices are similar to that of the Ring Wraiths from Lord of the Rings. Therons are stronger, faster, and excessively more intelligent than an average drone. They mostly wield Torque Bows. They are also the only known locust race to carry and use more than one weapon at any one time.
There is also a 'subspecies' of Theron Guards, known as Theron Sentinels. They are taller and slightly tougher than Theron Guards, but other than the slight differences in size, armor, helmet and durability, there is little difference.
Some Therons do not wear helmets so it is unclear if that is a third ranks of the Therons, they usualy appear on the backs of reavers.
[edit] Mauler
A new Locust thet is fought in Gears of war 2. It is basically a Boomer with a silver shield that provides great cover. The shield can be wielded by the player. They are most often carying a Flail or a Boomshot.
[edit] Wretches
Small, jittery members of the Locust Horde, they are able to climb on almost any surface. Their attack tactics are similar to the Fast Zombies of Half-Life 2, the Flood of Halo, or Zerglings, climbing on surfaces, and jumping forward in a frenzy to attack their prey. They are weak yet fast and come in large numbers, often used as a distraction or cannon fodder by the Locust. They often make their presence known before becoming visible by letting out a horrid, extremely high-pitched scream that can make the Gears grab their heads and ears in pain and smash nearby glass or objects (hence the name Wretches). They are very dangerous to Gears that forget to look up or are overwhelmed by a subsequent attack. Another type of Wretch also exists, a type that has become,mutant, lambent after exposure to Imulsion. This kind of Wretch is called a "Dark" or "Lambent Wretch" and explodes when killed, injuring anyone who is too close, making them extremely dangerous. Wretches can be dispatched in any conventional manner, including Melee attacks. Dark/Lambent Wretches also kill one another when they explode, causing chain reactions, sometimes clearing entire rooms.
It seems to be two kinds of glowing Wretches. Those found in the Imulsion factory have a cyan glow to them because of the refined imulsion they are exposed to there, while those underground and those attacking you in part 5 of the game, have an orange glow. Other than that, both types are the same when it comes to damage, damage resistance etc
[edit] Beasts
[edit] Seeders
Large, insect-like Creatures that launch Nemacysts into the air, flying jellyfish-like creatures that act as flying mines and anti-air intercepter. When Seeders are present in an area, they immediately scramble COG radio frequencies. These enemies then home in on the player, exploding on impact and injuring anyone around it. Seeders can only be killed using the Hammer of Dawn.
[edit] Reavers
Large, flying creatures about twenty times the size of a drone. They are saddled up and ridden by a pilot Drone as well as a passenger Drone (or Theron Guard), who guns down enemies. The passenger often wields a Torque Bow. Reavers have very weak armor, and can be killed easily by Troika machine guns or the by the human chaingun.
[edit] Corpsers
Corpsers appear as horrific giant spider-like monsters covered by a mysterious armored helmet. Their heads appear almost humanoid except for their insect like eyes. Corpsers have eight thick rock camouflaged legs that guard their vulnerable underbellies, which is the only exposed part of one's body besides their mouth. The Locust Horde uses Corpsers to dig tunnels through the soil of Sera, allowing the other members of Locust to move about undetected, and even allows the Horde to dig behind COG lines. Corpsers are often seen moments before Locust attacks, and they are often symbolized leading the Locusts out of the ground on Emergence Day. The Jacinto Plateau, which is positioned on a huge slab of granite and marble, it is the only place on Sera that the Horde can not dig through which made it suitable for the COG's main Headquarters. You only fight one in the game in act 3 angry titan.
[edit] Brumak
Brumaks are huge Monsters with extraordinarily thick hides. They often grow to 12 meters in height and tend to weigh around 10,000 kilograms (22,046lbs). They were apparently bred by the Locust Horde from smaller native apes. Brumaks are lethal at close range, and they have also been rumored to carry energy beam cannons to kill at a range. Their head-gear resemble the Corpser's helmet, but their bodies have more in common with humanoids than spiders. Brumaks appear to be a form of a Sentient being, and can carry weapons on their back for attack.
[edit] Kryll
Kryll are nocturnal small flying bat-like creatures. They stay deep underground during the day and come up to the surface the moment the sun has subsided into the night. Kryll avoid lit areas and can be dispatched by a UV light or direct sunlight which causes imense burns when exposed (weapons fire being ineffective thanks to the Kryll's small size). Kryll are carnivores that will feed on humanoids, and they will literally strip the flesh and bone away to nothing within a few seconds. They will eat both COG Soldiers and Locust Drones if they are foolish enough to step into open darkness. However, in locations close to their habitat, they are spread sparcely, since they are feeding in the cities. So far only General RAAM knows how to control the Kryll, which he uses as an advantage to shields himself.
[edit] Other Locust
During the last cutscene what appears to be a subspecies of Reaver or a new species all together is shown. It looks like a reaver but it has jaws like that of a Rhinoceros Beetle.
Also there is a unknown locust rider on the rhino reaver. It is unclear if it is just another locust general or it could be the locust queen herself. One thing is for sure. The Rhino Reaver is currently the largest known animal in the game and even surpasses the mighty Brumak in size and possebly power.
In Gears of War 2 there is a new tall locust unit called Kantus. They are around 6'5 in height and the Kantus are essentially the locusts priest's, there chanting can communicate with other locust (drones,rockworms and tickers) often directing them to the enemies concentrating on them. Kantus can also revive there dead locust team mates, it is advised to kill the Kantus hanging back before wiping out the other locust.
Joining the Locust are large beasts called the Rock Worms, they are bigger and tougher than Brumaks themselves and have tough hides and the new Kantus have the ability to direct them, however Marcus and his team can take advatage of the rockworms mobility and actually use its hides as cover. They eat the glowing green fruit that grows from the celling of the Hollow. 
[edit] Tickers
This type of Locust seems to resemble a white dog with squat legs. It is a walking time bomb and, as its name suggests, it emits a 'ticking' sound. Players can melee the Ticker to flip it, and it will explode moments after. The new Kantus unit are tall drones around 6'8 and can call upon these to help defend itself against an assault.
