Squig

Squigs are fictional creatures from the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 universes. The term "Squig" is a contraction of Squiggly Beast, and refers to a race of half-flesh/half-fungus creatures.

Squigs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and all are extensively used by the Orcs (and Goblins) in Fantasy and Orks in Warhammer 40,000. The most common type of Squig used in-game somewhat resembles a space hopper with a huge pointy toothed mouth. The huge mouth seems to be the only constant feature through all types of squigs.

*Hair Squigs have hairy growths (actually gills), and Orkoids like to stick them on their heads to give themselves hair or beards (in which case the Squig bites onto the Orc/Ork or Goblin's/Gretchin's skin).
*Attack Squigs (sometimes Cave Squigs in Fantasy) are one of the most common types. It's a bouncing ball of claws and razor-sharp teeth up to a foot in height. Night Goblins use them as both a food source (if the Squig doesn't eat them first!) or as a weapon of war, pushing herds of them into the enemy. Orks like to keep them as pets, and sometimes even as weapons as well.
*Squighounds are a variation of Attack Squig, used by Ork Runtherdz to help them keep the Grots in line.
*Buzzer Squigs are more insect-like, and have voracious appetites. Feral Orks will often load several of them into pots, which are then launched at the enemy by catapults. As Buzzer Squigs can strip the flesh off a man in seconds, but dislike the taste of greenskins, this is horrifyingly effective in battle.
*Squiggoths are the largest type of Squig, huge quadruped monsters used by Orks as a primary food source. Since they're so large and tough, some Orks (primarily Feral Orks) like to lash armor plating and guns onto them, and ride them into battle like War Elephants. The largest Squiggoths, sometimes called Orkeosauruses, can rival tanks and buildings in size.
*Oil Squigs are very small Squigs that look like tiny elephants. They squirt oil from their trunks and are used to maintain war machinery.
*Ball Squigs look like a football, and are sometimes swapped with the real ball in Blood Bowl games as a practical joke.
*Squigdeons are a "bird" that the orks use to transport warplans to faraway bases (as seen in the ' comic strip Deff Skwadron). Known for being just a bit smarter than your average Ork Pilot, who are often called to try to shoot them down. Squigdeons are a reference to Yankee Doodle Pigeon in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines.
*War Boars seem to show up with Feral Orks wherever they appear, but it is unknown if they are real boars, or a type of Squig that happens to resemble one. They are large enough for Feral Orks to ride them as mounts, which they like to do, and they're every bit as ferocious (not to mention thick-skulled, stubborn and smelly) as the Orks themselves.,

In the first and second editions of the Warhammer 40,000 game, it was revealed that Squigs were the result of Tyranid manipulation of Orkish gene-matter. Orks discovered the first Squigs aboard a Tyranid bio-ship and subconsciously recognised them as being "Orky", subsequently taking the little creatures home. Squigs then spread throughout Ork space. This backstory neatly explained how Squigs could appear in both Ork and Tyranid armies. Since then, Tyranid Squigs have been retconned into Ripper Swarms.

In the Gorkamorka background, however, it was said that each of the orkoid species (including Orks, Grots, Snots, Squigs, and forms of fungus) included the genetic material for each of the others. It described how even a single orkoid spore would eventually produce food every type of flora and fauna needed to support Ork society. In this respect, each type of Squig would fulfill some sort of function in ork society. This was confirmed as canon by Codex: Orks (3rd Edition) in a detailed explanation on "Orkology" by Techmagos Anzion, and later by Xenology (Black Library).

Squigs and the Tyranids
Squigs were first seen in the Ork armies in first edition books like Freebooterz and 'Ere We Go. During the last year or so of first edition 40K they were integrated into Tyranid armies as creatures built from Ork DNA. The most notable of these Squigs was the "Grabber-Slasher" which consisted of a large claw above the head and a scythe like tail.

Shortly before the release of second edition a story in the Tyranid army list stated that the Tyranids were engineering a Tyranid species from Ork DNA. When other Orks found out about this outrage, they raided several bio-ships to rescue their compatriots. The were too late, but a glimmer of Orky spirit still remained in the hideously changed creatures, as both Ork and Squig recognized each other. The Orks took back with them as many Squigs as they could, and since then squigs have become part of their civilization. Meanwhile the Tyranids have succeeded in ironing out the last remnants of the Squigs' free will.

Since the release of the First Codex Tyranids (2nd edition game) there has been no mention of the Squigs as being related to the Tyranids, the Rippers have replaced them, although the squigs still exist in the Ork civilisation.

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