The Kroot are a fictional species in the Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...

game universe. Warhammer 40,000 is a game produced by Games Workshop.

In the game, they are a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of ferocious carnivores that resemble avian

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 creatures. They are aligned with the Tau Empire

Tau (Warhammer 40,000)

In the universe of Games Workshop's table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, the Tau Empire is an alien race, inhabiting a small but dense region of space on the eastern edge of the Galaxy, roughly 300 light years in diameter...

, and contribute auxiliaries to the Tau Hunter Cadres. However, they do also work outside of "The Greater Good" as mercenaries frequently.

The Kroot first appeared as a playable race in late 2001; the result of Games Workshop's plan to introduce a new race to the game . However, the first appearance of a Kroot was in the 3rd Edition Warhammer 40,000 rulebook (Priestley, 1998), in a sketch entitled "Other Dangerous Aliens" .

The Kroot are a subset of the Tau playable army, although special rules have been released to field armies entirely composed of Kroot, or as allies to other forces.

History and development

The Kroot are a relatively new force in Warhammer 40,000, having been released in October 2001. They were one of the two races chosen by the Development Team to become the new entry into the game, but it was decided that the Kroot would be incorporated into the other new race, the Tau

Tau (Warhammer 40,000)

In the universe of Games Workshop's table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, the Tau Empire is an alien race, inhabiting a small but dense region of space on the eastern edge of the Galaxy, roughly 300 light years in diameter...

, as a subservient culture.

The Kroot were designed to be brutal, barbaric and primitive, to provide a contrast between them and the technologically superior Tau. Pete Haines was tasked to develop the character and background of the Kroot, which resulted in the development of the 'learning through consumption' concept that became the core of Kroot society.

In February 2002, rules were released through the Chapter Approved section of White Dwarf

White Dwarf (magazine)

White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop. Initially covering a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing and board games, particularly the role playing games Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller...

magazine for the use of Kroot as mercenaries. These could either be included as allies for most other armies; which had been previously hinted at in the background material in Codex: Tau (Chambers, Haines, & McNeill - 2001). Alternatively, the rules could be used to create a force solely of Kroot and their associated forms, although it was noted that the army would perform poorly against several of the Codex

Codex (Warhammer 40,000)

A codex , in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame, is a rules supplement containing information concerning a particular army, environment, or worldwide campaign....

armies in a standard battle. These rules were updated for 4th Edition Warhammer 40,000 and made available from the Games Workshop website. However, they are no longer available on the website and haven't been updated for 5th edition.

Model design

The Kroot were designed to have the physique of a Maasai warrior or a professional level basketball player. The 'inverted raptor' jaw was one of the elements quickly established, but care had to be taken not to emulate the jaw structure of the Orks. The idea that the Kroot evolved from birds came later, but conformed to the model design. The sensor quills were originally to be dreadlocks

Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...

, but were changed late in the design process.

The Kroot miniatures were almost exclusively sculpted by Brian Nelson.