Topic: Necron Fluff - Which ones talk / take names?

[spalding3093]

Necrons! I've done a bit of codex-crunching and still can't quite puzzle out which Necrons actually "talk". As far as I can tell, 3rd Edition Necrons couldn't do much - They could relay stuff between themselves, but only the Pariahs talked (the C'tan also, of course).

With 5th Edition, things are a lot more open. We have Nemesor guys, Phaerons, Astromancers etc. etc. These ones have names and seem to be able to speak / trade with other races. Are the majority of the named characters just fancy Necron Lords or are some based on lower-tier units (Vargard Obyron = Triarch Praetorian / Lychguard?). If Obyron is a Lychguard or what-have-you, can other Lychguards also be special?
 
The 5th Edition Codex, while I really enjoy it and consider it one of the better "new" codexes, is sorta vague on some things.

Anyway, I guess my ultimate question is: What types of Necrons have consciousness enough to take names and communicate as a "character"? I'll start a list and anyone who wants to fix it, just copy / paste!

UNIT	SPEAK?	PERSONALITY?	SPECIAL CHARACTER?
Necron Lord  / Overlord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Destroyer Lord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cryptek	Yes	Yes	Yes
Necron Warrior	No	No	No
Necron Immortal	Yes	No	No
Lychguard	Yes	Yes	Yes?
Deathmark	Yes?	Yes?	Yes? "Master of the Pathfinders"
Flayed One	Yes? For a bit?	No?	No?
Triarch Praetorian	Yes	Yes?	Yes?
Triarch Stalker	No?	No?	No?

PS: I suppose certain "notorious" Necron units could be given names by their enemies (ala Old One Eye), but that's not what I'm after

[Idaho]

Destroyer Lords are extentions to Overlords and Lords (even Phaerons can become a Destroyer Lord!) so they share the capacity for personality etc that all others do.

[spalding3093]

Destroyer Lords are extentions to Overlords and Lords (even Phaerons can become a Destroyer Lord!) so they share the capacity for personality etc that all others do.

So Destroyer Lords are just more morose Lords / Overlords? The Dark Eldar of the Necrons

Is it assumed (or known) that Destroyer Lords, after awakening, just fashion (or commission) their floaty bottom bits on their own once they've decided that they're a Destroyer Lord? I thought that Necrons were sort of a "what you see is what you get" race where they woke up exactly as we see them today.

[Idaho]

I'd say less morose and more noncholantly aggressive towards all life, with a hint of arrogance and a dash of clinical indifference.

[Rampart]

The Stalker can talk, since its being piloted by a Triarch.
Ghost/Doomsday Ark appear to be piloted by a Lychguard or Triarch, so I would assume they can talk too.
Scythes, Barges and Tomb blades are piloted by Warriors, so they can only moan or scream when they die.
It says in the Codex that Destroyers have to come from the upper ranks in order to have enough free will to become obsessed with death.
Actually, almost all necrons are suffering from Engramic Decay of some sort, leading to personality quirks ranging from those found in a nursing home to Arkem Asylem.

As for names, I'd say the elites(lychguard, triarchs, deathmarks) and up (lords, overlords, crypteks)retain enough of themselves to take names. Some may remember their fleshy names, other may just take one they like.

And I'm pretty sure Obyron's a full fledged Overlord.

[Idaho]

No, Obyron is a Vargard.

[spalding3093]

And a Vargard is a special type of Lychguard? Or it's own thing?

Thanks a lot, by the way!

[Sir_Godspeed]

Lychguards appear to be the traditional name for the personal guards of Necron Overlords. Obyron is the personal bodyguard of Zahndrekh - I'd say this suggests at least some similarity, although it seems from the statements about Obyron being a capable commander in his own right, as well as being capable of arranging non-combat matters for his master. This to me suggests that he's either somewhat of an oddity (a unique or near-unique creation in the grand scheme of things), or that he belongs to an extraordinary group of - for lack of a better term - "super-Lychguards".

Either way, he seems to be effectively on Overlord-levels in terms of intelligence and self-awareness.

[Benis]

Personally I prefer for the organisational structure to be less static and actually contain capacity for rise in the ranks, to some limits. Basically I would break down the categories into: Warriors - basically just a step above Canoptek constructs, no free will and only advanced programming runs through their minds, Immortals - party members who were allowed a more prestigious biotransformation allowing them to keep a sliver of their old self consciousness and by that they have a certain (low) level of free will, Overlords/Lords/Crypteks/Triarchs/Lychguard - Inner circle and the ones that got the most complete biotransference of consciousness possible by the technique used, these are the guys that can actually rise in ranks (well maybe not Crypteks, but the others) and serve different purposes for the Tomb World. So if a prominent Overlord is destroyed for the Tomb World it is possible for a Lord to step up and become an Overlord and the same goes for Lychguards and Lords too. Triarchs might not be able to actually rise in ranks due to their military structure but they are still on the same level of self-awareness.

There are some oddities like Destroyers, Deathmarks and Flayers, I would put all of them on the level of Immortals with Flayers on the level of Warriors given how programme-driven they are.

Mind you, this isn't really based on canon but more of an extrapolation of canon.

[spalding3093]

Yeah, I think that makes sense. I was just looking at the codex again and I see another Vargard; "Osirok -- Bodyguard to the Phaeron" (Imotekh).