Kenshi - The Origins of the Hivers

BEFORE MY USUAL INTRO - I mention the Hive Praetorians at one point for roughly 10 seconds...they are a modded asset which I didn't realize at the time of recording...however they play no part in any of the video beside the brief 10 second mention and everything else has been verified as factual in terms of lore...i will not remove the bit..but be aware as this minor oversight does NOT affect the contents of the video at all beyond mentioning their name..thank you. enjoy the video....
Hello all…it's been a while and for that I apologize, however, to make up for my recent absence I come to you with the sole purpose of finally discerning one of Kenshi’s greatest mysteries. Today my friends we will be taking a deep dive into forgotten history and exploring the depths of its most historically elusive race. So, allow me to spin you a tale of the falling of an empire, crimes that would make the Geneva convention faint with disgust, and the final attempt for a falling emperor to preserve order and his
control on those who sought to ruin him, and the father who stands to this very day against him. My friends I bring to you the dark and twisted origins of the hivers…
#kenshi #kenshi2 #theory #gametheory

[@thegethconsensus393]

Actually I think the southern hive is holding back. They seem to be extremely isolationist as apposed to aggressive. This is shown by the fact that if you kill the western hive queen, the southern hive takes over multiple territories. This shows that they are more concerned with isolation than outright aggression. Also, they may be super violent due their hostile neighbors. They live next to the freaking skin bandits and skeleton bandits of all people. Their queen may have concluded that outsiders can’t be reasoned with while the western queen thinks the opposite. So in killing the western queen you prove the southern queen correct so she decides to exterminate all intelligent life on the continent.

[@varvarith3090]

"With time i came to understanding, that my experience allowed me to understand free will more that those born with it." Beep.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

Great analysis. My theory was simply that they are the natives, but genetic engineering is more interesting. The question is: can hives and humans be hybridized so that we can achieve the third Empire, aka Beeplandia?

[@HeroInHisHead]

It would be the finest empire to ever exist. Led by Kenshi's true main character

[@Czarewich]

I think the fishmen are the natives personally.

[@masterzoroark6664]

The process of mixing humans with hivers would be quite... horrifying, if the speculations are correct, but the outcome might be a successfull race ready to withstand whatever lands of kenshi might fell into.

[@rear9259]

Hell, just have Beep's Great Jihad kill all other life forms besides the strong Hivers.

[@hiiambarney4489]

What Ive come to notice is that Beep is truly one of the good guys in this game where nobody is a good guy. Every faction in Kenshi has their burden, even the Anti-Slavers but Beep? He just wants to get stronger than his bullies.

[@SeaSpartan118]

Nice lore video! However, cannabalism isn't the practice of eating human flesh, but eating flesh of the same species. Fog men are sadistic predatory carnivores, not cannibals.

[@doanprasmana1444]

yea many people i see wrong about cannonballism. but fogman still eat another fogman if you put the fogman in the pole tho..

[@redstarling5171]

All the races are genetically modified from humans or human DNA from the the second empire.

[@SuperKratosgamer]

@@redstarling5171 Still not cannibalism, we humans are close related to primates, people who eat primates are not cannibals, same as fish who eat other species of fish and so on.

[@Deadbeatcow]

@@SuperKratosgamer they're cannibals because they also eat hivers

[@MrReich1918]

If you are a hiver they will still attack you

[@plot6520]

Imagine not starting every playthrough of Kenshi as a hive drone

[@HeroInHisHead]

The horror

[@plot6520]

@@HeroInHisHead drones rule

[@doanprasmana1444]

start as a beep was the best one...

[@plot6520]

@@doanprasmana1444 then learn to kick limbs off.

[@varvarith3090]

>Start with fastest possible character >Run to Mongrel >Recruit Beep >Feed starting character to fogmen Now the game starts.

[@lewisrobinson3380]

I pretty much fully agree on the origin/nature of the fogmen. The queen has to be “alive” to some extent otherwise we can’t possibly explain how the fogmen have continued for as long as they have attacking Mongrel, The Holy Nation, The Western Hive in Dreg, and rarely Cannibals & Shrieking Forest people. Honestly I think it’s probable that Beep’s origin is from around the time the Queen of the Fogmen died/became infected. Chris Hunt confirmed that Hivers name themselves after the 1st thing they see, perhaps the first thing Beep saw was the Queen’s incubator malfunctioning.

[@RecklessInternetting]

I captured the Queen of the South and noticed that her stats were the same colour as a skeleton. I wonder if the Queens were an experimental version of skeleton that could self-replicate without the need for massive factory resources, as hinted at by skeletons when entering Obedience.

[@gunnlaugillugason245]

Why everyone keep assuming some crazy stuff about "deep" lore of kenshi world and totally deny laziness of scenarist and plot holes?

[@trevorkrug996]

@@gunnlaugillugason245 one guy made the game. It's a masterpiece for what it is and he poured like 14 years into it. You think tolkien could have written lotr while also putting most of his effort into creating a new style of hardcore balanced rpg? people are excited about kenshi lore because kenshi 2 is not a solo project. Now he has space to flesh out the world which is inevitable because it takes place during the 2nd empire. it's not a perfect story, it's a story the community is actively affecting through their theories.

[@kazumablackwing4270]

It's more likely an issue of narrative clashing with mechanics. Engine limitations prevent the queens from being mechanically presented as they are in the narrative: a hybrid of organic and synthetic components. Had there been an option to include synthetic vital bits (i.e. head, chest, stomach), it's entirely possible that the queens would have been designed with an entirely organic body, save for the stomach region where the implanted incubator is

[@Ozcogger]

​@@trevorkrug996His Sister wrote most of the lore. He just made the game and she made the lore.

[@minutemadejuiceboxes9991]

@@gunnlaugillugason245the game is made by one guy and his sister cut them some slack.

[@SaltyCrabOfficial]

So you are telling me fogmen have a old full of vomit vase from where everyone is being born?... i love it

[@HeroInHisHead]

It puts the biomass in the bin less it gets the club again

[@SaltyCrabOfficial]

@@HeroInHisHead understandable and horrifying...

[@TheLostWill]

My favorite theory for the fogmen (deadhives) is that the queen was killed from fumes/smoke coming from obedience

[@WiseOwl_1408]

For sure the queen is gone. I think she stopped working. Hives are the robot's idea of perfect humans. Controllable. That why they made them.

[@TurKlack]

That wouldn't explain why they have a semingly never ending tide of Fogmen inside the Fog. I think it would be more plausable if the Fogmen are exiled Western Hivers that ended up insane inside the fog for whatever reason.

[@creed22solar123]

One of my playthroughs ended by my crew of around 10 elite warriors, that have taken down the freaking holy nation, being killed and/or captured and devoured by the southern hiver king.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Yeah king and the southern tribe are absolute monsters.

[@doanprasmana1444]

you dont have chance to do melee attack when fight with 250dex creature... you see he (the king) wal slowly crawling like baby,then when you agro him,he stand and case you with speed... the first experience i try to defeat him and see he run like that really suprise me.

[@user-rq6bp6su3h]

Best kenshi lore content I’ve seen yet, and a big quality jump from your earlier lore videos. Will be eagerly awaiting more!!

[@gunnlaugillugason245]

there is nothing to analyze literally. kenshi is fucking full (ha ha) of holes in lore. It is just laziness of developers

[@skepsisrollins1711]

@@gunnlaugillugason245 i sure agree, a guy working on a project alone for 6 years is the definition of laziness and being pathetic, more people should be exactly like you ❕❕❕❕

[@gunnlaugillugason245]

@@skepsisrollins1711 so, we agreed on the fact that the lore of kenshi is shit. nice! regarding laziness. yeah, mb you right, it is not laziness. 6years of work alone is outstanding perfomance for such a big game. but lore (and many mechanics and onther things) is still kinda shit and have much more controversies then even wh40k (illogicality of wh lore is literally meme). And yeah, Lo-Fi games are pathetic. Guy literally made buggy and unfinished game (with pretty interesting concept, can not disagree) and since then did nothing at all to make this game better. What does he do now? Sell t-shirts and smoke hashish? Cant even find prodecer for new game (how long? 6 month?). Hope, he will not stone himself to death, lol.

[@skepsisrollins1711]

​@@gunnlaugillugason245 Baby need bottle?

[@gunnlaugillugason245]

@@skepsisrollins1711 whoa! relax, dude

[@ReaverTheSurvivalist]

The hivers are such a neat race. They have so much intelligence and potential to be independent, even though many of them are subjugated by their respective queens. They aren’t just mindless eating machines, they have structure and culture, and often times they integrate themselves really well into the cultures of various human and Shek. The mere fact that the most noble and kind person in Kenshi could be a bug person that came from a hive is immensely creative, and fun to toy with. They also have cute hammerhead hivers and I love seeing them run around my camp

[@bubblehearttime1029]

In the intro you call Kenshi a planet, however it is a tidally locked moon. Besides that great video

[@lsswappedcessna]

Depending on the overall size of Kenshi, it could be both a planet AND a moon. I'm guessing it's far larger than the continent the game takes place on. Real life examples exist of planet-sized moons in our own solar system, though obviously not with funny bug men, marijuana-dealing ninjas, schizophrenic robot dictators, aggressive bird-horses, hungry bois, warmongering horned purple people, or excessive numbers of weeaboos Naruto Running through the desert. Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, is the largest moon in the solar system, lacking only about 1500 km in diameter of Mars. Compare this to the moon, which is about half the size of Mars. Oh right. The moon is absolutely enormous. We look at it in the sky and go "oh, that's pretty small" but NOPE. It's not too much smaller than Mercury (1.737k km vs 2.439k km) I'm thinking Kenshi is at least the size of Mercury but extremely dense, thus why it seems to have around 1g of gravity. The map's square mileage (~870 mi²) is near the size of Mercury's diameter, but I figure if you account for planets being round and having to stretch those square miles over a generally spherical object, Kenshi's continent would only cover around half of the moon's surface, with the rest either being open ocean, or there being a second continent on the other side currently uncontacted if not completely uninhabited due to society being blasted back into the stone multiple times within the past few millennia.

[@johnwhite1534]

I definitely think you're onto something with the Bugmaster. He even carries a foreign sabre. a skeleton weapon. Though I'm unsure if the skinspiders are a 2nd empire creation or an indigenous creature used as the base for the hybrids that are hivers. Interesting enough though, skinspiders have two variants like the hivers do. It could be why there are two types of hiver. The fogmen stick out though. There are no fogspiders. Clearly something went really wrong with them

[@Pwnicus187]

Fogspiders sounds like even more nightmare fuel than usual 😅

[@benjaminstreet9160]

actualy bugmaster carries a nodachi/big katana, bounty hunted him last night. Vanilla game/no mods.

[@johnwhite1534]

@@benjaminstreet9160 Maybe it's random then. Cause he definitely had a foreign sabre when I fought him

[@Pwnicus187]

@@benjaminstreet9160 I tried linking to Bugmaster's wiki page but my comment never posts. He *always* has meitou foreign sabre in vanilla.

[@krieger8825]

​@@benjaminstreet9160u sure u got the right guy?

[@riotriguez5854]

Oh my god, I knew it wasnt a coincidence the hivers and the spiders looked so similar

[@aldovk6681]

Glad to see you are still doing kenshi lore

[@HeroInHisHead]

It's a really fun subject and I love make stories and theories as well as translating the actual lore for people. Kenshi is a very subtle game in terms of its lore and not everyone wants to piece it all together themselves so I am happy to do it for them. The only downside is it can be a rather finite topic with how little info there can be sometimes so it gets hard to churn out regular content on it. But it's one of my favorite video types on this channel

[@aldovk6681]

@@HeroInHisHead I know there's only so much content you can do lorewise but you could also do lore videos from other games since your analysis and style of presenting events are so good ;)

[@gregoryarvey2793]

I think there are no praetorian in the vanilla game most of your footage are from mods since (for example) the fogmen don't wear bone armor. The theory about the origins though is interesting.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Check the description

[@HeroInHisHead]

And the mods are for asthetic purposes to make the footage more appealing

[@atamalethatwantstotalk5177]

No they are vanilla they're just rare as hell and the fog praetorion even more

[@Fortnite702]

@@atamalethatwantstotalk5177 no

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

Wait- everyone around the Price of Obedience crater became aggressive cannibals. The Cannibal tribes, the fogmen. Even Cat-Lon had no idea why in the heights of the Second Empire. Maybe it’s… I don’t know, the lingering vengeance of the giants? Or maybe a deliberate measure by the First Empire, to prevent civilization from ever returning to that blighted land, and possibly unburying them.

[@Biouke]

Well maybe melting a bunch of metal giants is a sure way of intoxicating neighbouring areas with toxic fumes that contaminate the air, soil and water for ages and strike the local life with all manners of debilitations ;)

[@ivanhu]

I really like your speculative approach towards lore interpretation. Amongst all the vagueries, speculation is after all the best we could do. Very refreshing content to dispel the mists of the unknown.

[@Justintheinsane]

You filled in the holes on the reproduction. But this was mostly a recap for me. Over 200 hours of game play and I still know nothing in Kenshi lol All in all I think you explained everything really well. Most of the info cant be learned until you reach those mobs and fight/win. So Awesome Job

[@HeroInHisHead]

If you are invested in kenshi lore I also have 2 videos giving the entire kenshi timeline. Almost an hour of indepth historical lore for several thousand years of history leading up to the first game as well this weekend I'm releasing the entire history of the shek

[@silverd20]

To be fair reporduction involves filling a lot of holes.

[@diogopinto6039]

Great video as usual!! I just started playing Kenshi and your videos are being so helpful! Thanks for it :)

[@Kuvantor]

At this point the hivers expanded mod is just canon for me, so the mention of praetorians seems right

[@HeroInHisHead]

I use it pretty much as a must have too. I did mention in the description that it was an oversight though and the one mention of them has no affect on the rest of the video

[@32h289]

The quality is outstanding

[@freddiewhite6119]

glad you're back my dude

[@noanswer1864]

For some reason I'd always just assumed that the hivers were made to go with the artificial planet, and were 1st empire creations. It makes a sick sort of sense, though. Catty would have never trusted humans to actively participate in healing the planet on any level above "raw resouce."

[@danielb1194]

How do I double like this video? Awesome awesome work dude

[@dichebach]

Really good content bro!

[@KRG30001]

Great vid! Would love a Shek origin vid since you mentioned their appearance has changed over time

[@jukuren2969]

This is definitely gonna give my world more meaning

[@TheVampireAzriel]

I'm curious, the Fogmen reproduction part... Have you seen the Fogman regurgitation while playing or is this just a guess based on the story from the traveler "just back from the Hive lands" you can find in some bars? Either way, it's a pretty cool theory. 😁

[@HeroInHisHead]

The southern hives dialogue implies heavily that genetic material is mashed down and used in the process of reproduction. Also the hiver buildings are made of essentially vomit as confirmed by ingame dialogue. Lastly the hive queen incubators solve the issue of having no gender or genitalia with the queens body acting as the supplier of nutrients and pheromones while the incubator acts as the artifical womb. With all of that in mind to me it really spoke to itself that the hivers have to deliver some kind of organic material to act as a base for the incubator and the fogmen have no queen but an endless number of drones that seem to be devolved, weak, paler, and canablistic. All things that can be attributed to heavy genetic damage such as in the case of multi generational inbreeding. All of those things together were the base of my theory about how the fogman maintain the numbers because for all intent and purpose we don't know the 100% truth. This just made the most sense to me.

[@TheVampireAzriel]

@@HeroInHisHead that makes sense. In bees there are false queens, basically workers who develop the ability to reproduce, but the reproduction is faulty. That may have been a basis for the Fogmen (or maybe CH just wanted a zombie race, 😂)

[@HeroInHisHead]

@@TheVampireAzriel that's a really good idea actually I never would have thought of that. And can we really blame him though?

[@TheVampireAzriel]

@@HeroInHisHead not at all. I play the Zombie Apocalypse mod a lot, myself 😂

[@tongpoo8985]

@@TheVampireAzriel ooh ive never heard of that mod

[@unregierbar7694]

I think the Bugmaster tried to lead a human rebellion against the Second Empire(ruled by Skeletons) in order to revive the First Empire(humans with high tech). So he prepared everything over centuries but now for some reason he is bitter. Either because his spiders are too reckless and kill everyone including humans or because the human population is mislead by the Holy Nation to hate technology so they will hate him now. They obviously hate technology because it caused chaos and destruction in the world of Kenshi. This is his dilemma now. The people he fights for hate him. He went crazy and will never speak again.

[@indigowells]

Sadly this wouldn't make any sense. Same with the bugmaster being from Second Empire considering Second Empire hasn't been a thing canonically speaking for 1,000 Years from the Current game's time. Idk if the guy who made this video thought bout this, but theres no way the bugmaster knows Cat Lon or even lived for over 1,000 years. There's no life span expanding technologies in Kenshi technically speaking. There's more proof that the bugmaster just found a technological device that allows him to control them. Infact its more assumed and shown he wants to invade the Ashlands rather than he's from it.

[@misombra]

@@indigowells yeah it's dumb this guy is 100% up his own ass It's like saying that Elon Musk was secretly one of the guys that betrayed Julius Caesar

[@Smilemonster1912]

@@indigowells The spiders fight with the bugmaster, how is that not a form of control or manipulation. Also just based on how long the shek have been fighting him he most likely has found a way to slow aging. He wants to invade the ashlands as revenge against Cat Lon.

[@indigowells]

​@@Smilemonster1912 I suggest you to look at the real lore then. The bugmaster has not slowed down aging nor has some psionic power crap, its most likely a technology relating to the creation of the spiders to begin with. No slowed aging or any such as well He doesn't have any revenge against Cat-lon as far as we know, that is just spitballing a theory based entirely on the video. You need to get your information from a better source since this video didn't. We know nothing of them being connected in fact there is more proof that the bugmaster wouldn't know Cat Lon. There are also better reasoning and ideas that would provide for a better theory than what you mentioned about invading the ashlands. But in location. Keep in mind he resides in a ancient lab in a specific area of the map that is highly dangerous and a breeding ground for spiders. Which also just happens to be next to HIVERS and SHEKs and their birthplaces. 1. He could literally be and there's hints he may of just been a tech hunter who stumbled across this ancient technology and started using it to control the spiders to have domination like a king. Enthralling any spiders may be linked. (Hivers are linked through the Queen and by commands as well. Could VERY WELL be a similar kind of technological device the Queen has on her that connects to the Hiver's DNA (Hence the Deadhives even) 2. Sheks have been dealing with the Spiders for a long time, and also known for making legends out of anything not knowing the full details, which this one they got multiple stories about the bugmaster same with other rumors about him you can hear/read. NO ONE really knows who they are and how long they got in possession. One thing we do know. PSIONIC ABILITIES DO NOT EXIST IN KENSHI. 3. It would make more sense if he was an Tech Hunter since majority of them know ALL about the continent or bits and pieces but all of them seem to know what the Ashlands are and how its suppose to be "the strongest and most dangerous place for those who aren't weak." He may of literally got his tech from an Ancient lab he is currently in and found that it was connected to the Ashlands and most definitely related to Cat-Lon's enforcers which is heavily implied to be the Sheks. Which their labs were hinted to be In that exact location he's in. So he may be trying to go after the source of technology to get MORE. Not because he actually knows Cat-lon. Hes a Mad Power Hungry naked person with a control of hundred of thousands of Spiders. What do you think would happen?

[@Smilemonster1912]

​@@indigowells 1. So you are saying spiders have just infested this area for a very long time and Bugmaster is a recent thing (decades not millennia). He just walked in there and found some tech and used it? 2. I never mentioned anything about psionics. 3. So he just wants a challenge and wants more tech, so he targets ashlands. I think this is basically the understanding I got from the game except for the lifespan of bugmaster. They do make it seem like he is at least 100 years old

[@dylangrizzle]

Cool ideas and interesting video, thanks for making it. 😎👍

[@willgnue2240]

Gnue... Very much liked your theory, similar to how i see there story, tho i had not figured on the Bugmaster, but it make sence. Watched and 👍 Liked.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Always happy to see your comments my friend! Glad you like it

[@1994_toyota]

One thing I don't understand is the Skeletons at the Deadlands don't Recognize any Hiver and mistake them for a Different human species. Could the hivers maybe have been isolated any other contact with the Second Empire citizens and maybe just worked in the grid or something? A Secret Mass of Cheap and efficient workers working in the background of the Second Empire?

[@HeroInHisHead]

The second empire didn't collapse at once it was gradual. And the famine was at the tail end of it just before the enthralling started. Many skeletons probably never saw hivers as they would have been in early development or just started being prpduced by the queens. They also stay close to the queens themselves especially early on I imagine. No hives were likely not a thing until some time later as their societies continued to build and hivers became seperated from the queens. The skeletons who fled the empire to the dead lands during the enthrallment likely never saw a hiver before their full emergence and as such only recognize them as what they were not what they are.

[@Arkimedus]

I really like and tend to agree with a lot of your theories here

[@cinnamontoast9999]

This was awesome

[@omarelric]

Kenshi is just.. is more than a videogame. I'm glad there's a very cool community for it.

[@14dcook]

I got a rather badass soldier hiver the other day. Fade joined my group to strengthen his swordsmanship, and he's rapidly become one of my big four. This beast protected the party from beak things, broke from his bonds when captured by the fog men and killed a good 5 before the party got there, and lopping the arm off a cannibal Chieftain.

[@powerfulnoun2608]

Love these videos

[@HeroInHisHead]

I love that you love them ♥️

[@sasha1mama]

Dude, the Geneva Convention would faint and die if you so much as threw a soggy bean at them. It is a *low* bar to clear. (Mostly because they keep lowering it, like they expect humans to someday not be monsters.)

[@Draxtemsklounts]

Yayy new video!!

[@masterzoroark6664]

Great vid. I already was thinking that hivers are 3D printed in a way

[@patrickrobinson545]

I think the fog men queen is still a live but i think yes there is something to them in what kind of condition she is in! If the fog men queen is dead then i would think they would die out but they could somehow of learned or its auto programed to keep making fog men!

[@kraanz]

Jesus christ, the spelling. I''m guessing English is your first language. "somehow of learned," fuck me, you missed school entirely, didn't you?

[@hozic9929]

Sincirelly a wonderfull video

[@matteocdt5214]

Can somebody train beep to be a martial art master that knocks off limbs with one punch? That would be a sight to behold for sure

[@jesfest]

Kinda? I got beep to do over 230 damage in a single strike, but it's the double kick. The palm strike gets so underutilized at high MA that you're unlikely to see that specific move manage it But yeah, I've double-kicked a holy nation's arm off before, good times.

[@allones3078]

Nice job. Would like the to get your bugmaster references as I could find none of that in the game files when I did my hive video

[@HeroInHisHead]

The bugmaster portion is more of a theory based on the surrounding facts. The bugmaster is functionally immortal. There is plenty of evidence he is at least 1000+ years old. So how did he achieve this ageless eternity? Well he is surrounded by the ruins of what looks like advanced buildings and has seemingly domesticated horrifying skin spiders. This lends to the idea that he created them. So he has knowledge of generic manipulation which explains how he might be so old. He paused his internal clock with old world tech. Now the hivers look like skin spiders as well as appearing at a time when famine was a massive issue and the second empire was starting to fall apart so it reasons to me that simply showing up at that point is too convenient considering they are perfectly built to combat the same issues arising in the 2nd empire like famine, rebellion, and population decline. They were probably made especially considering the high their tech such as the incubators and King. So we have established the bugmaster was likely involved with the second empire. Has knowledge of genetics and manipulation of DNA. Has access to 2nd empire tech. And lastly has a grudge against a skeleton who has been sitting on his dead throne for 1000+ years without moving or leaving the ashlands. So he must have had a relationship with catlon DURING his reign. All of that together to me is what created my theory on the bugmaster.

[@allones3078]

@@HeroInHisHead Oh okay I was thinking of doing a video on the Bug master soon and was hoping you found something I missed. Keep up the good work by the way.

[@HeroInHisHead]

@@allones3078 I'm excited to see it. Maybe we could even collaborate on a project some time. It's rare to find another lore master for kenshi!

[@AquaStockYT]

In my headcanon the great enemy that caused them to make the behemoth robots were the Hivers. They likely lost so terribly that they became a broken genetically altered caste system with giant units all of whom except the livestock species have been annihilated. Low laborers, low guards, low managers, and low incubators. The livestock are the Titans.

[@CM-bk8lo]

Hey guy, thanks man

[@Draxtemsklounts]

Another idea is the local fauna. If the world used to be predominantly water then where did all the animals come from? A topic with most likely no story behind it but idk.

[@hansdampf640]

i think we all got it wrong... the hivers were the "others" in the big war of the ancients. it´s not clear if the hoomans were the invaders or the defenders.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Wouldn't that be cool. The hivers are the savage remains of what once was the mighty enemies that fought the ancient humans. The lore and evidence we have doesn't mention hivers until around the end of the second empire but what if they were just hidden that whole time until the water levels dropped and they were able to expand out from their subterranean refuges

[@Draxtemsklounts]

I have an idea where none of the humanoids are from kenshi. Even the scorchlanders and greenlanders being made in the image of the creators. I also have an idea where the bugmaster is the last of the engineers of the first empire who created the newest race: the hivers.

[@JoshSweetvale]

The Greenlanders and Scorchlanders are _definitely_ from Earth. Kenshi is just a lost colony.

[@evanracer9]

Hey, loving your videos keep it up! I do have a question about the Bugmaster though. Is there any physical proof that he was around during the second empire and created the hivers/spiders? Or is this mainly a theory. Never heard of this before, and it doesnt show up on the wiki at all.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Contextual theory based on the things we know. His presence as a long standing part of the Shek religion, his apparent indepth knowledge of Catlon and the crimes he committed despite most of kenshi being largely unaware save for the skeletons. His ability to seemingly create and control skin spiders. His stats being amongst some of the highest in the game (not that that is definitely indicitive of anything just something to note that typically only older characters have stats like that - and even then many are skeletons who are functionally immortal) and his apparent madness and insane desire to prep to fight catlon and the second empire legion implies he not only knows of catlon but has a full understanding of the legions capabilites. I suppose it's possible he was a tech hunter but I find that unlikely since NOONE seems to know who or how he got there. You'd think if he was a tech hunter someone in the tech hunters or anyone really would have some dialogue to hint at who he is/was. They don't. All of that kinda culminated into my belief he is older than anyone who could reasonably identify him. That mixed with everything else got me here.

[@crustybomb115]

the genetic engineering idea can hold water due to the existance of shek(who if you snoop around in dialog and various books are basicly said to be the enforcer class of the 2nd empire tailor made for their post in the skeletons artificially crafted society)... HOWEVER they bear no resemblance to humankind short of bearing a pair of arms and legs... if anything they bear more resemblance to the spiders of kenshi, who each have 3 fingered hands, and no feet, but rather sharp pointy legs... however i have to point out that the southern hive is more isolationist than violent warlike species and fogmen being a degraded version of hivers by default...

[@benbosco7904]

Skeletons actually can't tell the difference between humans and Shek. Go to the Skeleton capital as a solo shek and read. Very eye opening.

[@crustybomb115]

@@benbosco7904 because shek ARE biologically modified humans... rather than a completely separate race.

[@privateuser3726]

The similarities to the spiders could be explained away as they simply could be the basis of the genetic modifications (another theory touched on in the video is that they were the early failed experiments in attempting to create the hivers) made to the humans and it begs the question of how could they naturally evolve if their queens need artificial wombs to birth hivers

[@ProffessorYellow]

As a biologist I am not so sure about the pheromone effect on the fogmen, However their are many many cases of fungal infections having these similar effects on various insect populations, so are the hivers insectoid? or are they flesh homunculi? very important to figure out

[@minutemadejuiceboxes9991]

The hive king, much like the cleanser units of the ashlands is modeled after a species of creature we can see in game. Whereas the cleansers are leviathans the king is a gorillo. It says so in the files if their appearances weren’t enough to go off of. I don’t think the king was actually purpose built to perform for the southern hive but he was rather discovered and “tamed” by whatever the queen is using to control the rest of the hive.

[@Tirze]

In my actual playtrough, i took the fire of Orkan and defendet the holy nation. I try to cleans the fog with my holy crusaders. But the more we kill, even more will come. Like the screeming bandits.

[@skydevil644]

I really like this video, but I have a theory on The Fogmen. Instead of a parasite, they suffered a form of cordyceps and give them a zombie mentality, like in the game The Last of Us. Except without all the form on a wall and manifest.

[@willh2739]

12:34 crushing blood, that makes sense.

[@J0J0_950]

Also what mod do you use for the better Wester Hive capital? I really like it.

[@Bondrewd__21]

I think it all hivers expended

[@wither5673]

i always figured they were a left over engineered labor force that continued to evolve/adapt to their environment over time. but that's as good a theory as any.

[@williamcarter3259]

What graphics mods are you using? Looks really good

[@HeroInHisHead]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJ22oaiMhJh8mM0

[@cancerbucket2245]

I always use crumble jon as lure/bait to hunt fof princes Edidt:spelling

[@awsomepersonpowers]

Unrelated, do you have any graphical mods installed? Feel like my Kenshi looks way worse than the clips in this video. Great lore content by the way!

[@HeroInHisHead]

I actually have a full video on my graphical set up on my channel. Shows a full walk through for my PC specs, optimization of your PC, and graphical set up got Kenshi.

[@santiagogallego8695]

great video but it seems more like skin spiders are native and the hivers are spliced spider into humans, not that the spiders were themselves created. Similarly the shek would be humans spliced with bonedog or bull

[@patrickdixon3552]

What mods are being use in those clips

[@Tichondrius1]

What mod gives the fogmen those bone weapons and armor?

[@rick_4045]

Nice lore video bro! I have an opinion about the origin of the hivers. I think they are a nature race of the moon kenshi, but in second empire they used biological engineering to control that race. I think they was a different form before the biological control that they suffer, this is because looking othes animals present in Kenshi, the hivers are too much natural for that moon, its like the kenshi is they house.

[@riftenguard2761]

And to think this game was done by 1 dude, I absolutely fucking LOVE Kenshi

[@_--Reaper--_]

You make fogmen seem like such a threat, but they're easy to plow through once you have a fairly well trained team...

[@perhaps1094]

In the lore they are described as a pretty formidable foe so it makes sense

[@_--Reaper--_]

@@perhaps1094 they're only formidable against noobs, once you have a couple of decently trained people, they're fodder

[@perhaps1094]

@@_--Reaper--_ I understand but obviously that's not the same as what people actually living in the world say. I can't remember what the city with the fognen surrounding it is called but it's mentioned that the creators of the city ran there in order to throw off a holy nation group that was chasing them, they describe the group all being eaten and talk about how they have to hide from them. Also most characters will just describe the fog lands as a place to completely avoid as the likelihood of a large group of fogmrn spotting you is too much of a risk.

[@wcs9582]

How do you get your kenshi to look like that? Mod list?

[@justinwheeler5614]

I wouldn't mind a list of the mods shown in these clips.

[@coniferous4637]

Is this cannon lore or speculation? Very cool either way.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Little bit of both. The biological processes. History of the second empire. The dates of their appearance on the continent. All that stuff is canon as explained in some of my other lore videos. The actual origins of the hivers and the fogmen is my theory based on the Canon. But we won't know for sure until kenshi 2 as confirmed by Chris Hunt in an AMA a few years ago. But I feel this story makes the most sense when the Canon details are taken into account

[@tooslow4065]

i never tried it, but can the western and fogmen hives be eliminated and the lands clear for the other races to move in?

[@HeroInHisHead]

If you kill the western queen they will become overrun by the fogmen. However there is no way to rid kenshi of the fogmen

[@tuahsakato17]

What is the graphical mods??? Those light looks awesome!!

[@HeroInHisHead]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJ22oaiMhJh8mM0

[@tuahsakato17]

@@HeroInHisHead Thanks!

[@FlippedHands]

at 3:50 Is that a mod or player made? the Hive settlement with the bridge.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Vanilla settlement that is enhanced by Mods.

[@johndoe4004]

what was going to be said around 11:38 it cuts off the end of the sentence

[@HeroInHisHead]

The word Island got buried in the audio edit is all. Wasn't a full cut off just me still learning to effectively record and edit audio at the time

[@Davesoft]

0:48 starts

[@juanpabloorselli4515]

But how can the Bugmaster be alive from the times when Cat-Lon (supposedly) put him to do biological experiments to the actual time?. Kenshi takes place (if I´m not wrong) a few centuries after the fall of The 2nd Empire. Is it becuse of his experiments too?. I mean...he clearly kind of buffed himself. Did he also increase his longevity?.

[@SuperKratosgamer]

Great question

[@thezanzibarbarian5729]

So speaking in terms of real life. These _"hives"_ are actually like ants with their queens -ruling- controlling, overseeing(?) their respective nests and producing offspring to further their separate species. And much like latterday ants, they would definitely not coexist. However. We have the southern queen and the western queen. Both of whom repopulate their numbers. Much like a queen ant would do. And if that queen dies, then maybe there is a successor. But if there is no successor, then that nest would perish and die. But for those Fogmen, there is no mention of a current queen to keep their numbers up. There is mention of their _"top ranking"_ Fogmen, The Princes. But this would imply that they are male and cannot produce. So how come they are still there in their massed numbers hidden under that blanket of fog? They have no _"nests"_ or town to speak of, unless that foggy area is their _"nest"?_ And while this video, good as it is answers questions about how these hives became, it still poses a huge question over those reclusive, but fiercely territorial Fogmen species. _Hmmm...?_

[@dkelrk1]

Huh? So, Fogmen queen died but the incubator is still operational?

[@HeroInHisHead]

Either that or the queen is the one infected with a parasite and her pheromones drive her offspring into mad cannibals but I thought my story was a bit more horrifying and fun while still being possible in terms of lore

[@dkelrk1]

@@HeroInHisHead That is very interesting but still, unless the machine itself is capable of transmitting pheromones I think we need a device that replaces the organic part of a queen... What if some kinda "Parasite alpha" has replaced the original organic part's function? Right? So, it swallowed or ate or whatever to the queen but the machine stuck and it's automated protocol integrated with the new host or something. So fogmen are like parasite drones with hiver's body. And the parasite queen is stuck in some ant cave or whatever hidden beneath the fog, guarded by elite drones.

[@HeroInHisHead]

@@dkelrk1 well my idea was that the fogman are born WITHOUT any exposure to pheromones which makes them more animalistic and less sentient so the queens lack of presence makes more sense and then the incubator still churning out genetic defects explains their seemingly endless numbers

[@dkelrk1]

@@HeroInHisHead oh ok i misunderstood some. So that explains the queens death.

[@Talulah_Artorius]

I wonder if the fogmen are capable of existing on their own?, we know they see no issue in eating each other, anything that's tied to the post is fair game for them.. I wonder if in a world where they had consumed the entire world could they survive? does newton's second law of thermodynamics apply in kenshi?

[@HeroInHisHead]

Can The Fogman Survive Independantly? #kenshi #gaming #kenshi2 #lore #shorts

[@user-wk2cx2ss6c]

@Hero In His Head у меня вопрос, где в ваниле Kenshi упоминаются протареансы? Протареансы показаные в видео это мод на разширения роя. И моя теория которой я придерживаюс, это то что рой это древние, которые с помощю вакцины одаптировались к условиям жизни под землёй, а поже вышли на поверхность

[@HeroInHisHead]

Check the description to answer your question

[@cugitay]

pls share your modlist

[@AFilthyWeaboo]

I just want to let you guys know but the praetorians do not actually exist in vanilla but instead appear in the hivers expanded mod

[@HeroInHisHead]

Check the description

[@fabiansw8]

Video starts at: 1:20

[@zakarybourbeau5750]

i looked up on the wiki and Praetorian dosent show up any where, so i think they might be from a mod or that even the wiki dosent know.

[@HeroInHisHead]

Check the description.

[@zakarybourbeau5750]

@@HeroInHisHead Yeah i just realized error on my part sorry.

[@HeroInHisHead]

@zakarybourbeau5750 lol no problem. Easy mistake and it's really my fault. I was less thorough back then

[@YouWarhammer]

Arnt praetorians added by the hivers expanded mod and thus arnt vanilla?

[@HeroInHisHead]

Check the description

[@YouWarhammer]

@@HeroInHisHead my bad

[@HeroInHisHead]

@@YouWarhammer you're good lol - a few people have done it

[@hugohom2280]

What visual mods do you use?

[@HeroInHisHead]

A combination of ingame settings, Genesis, and a very customized version of TSUKI.V2 reshader

[@hugohom2280]

@@HeroInHisHead thanks man. I’ve watch all your kenshi video and I can’t wait to see your kenshi 2 videos when the game is out!

[@HeroInHisHead]

@@hugohom2280 hell yeah my guy. It's gonna be amazing. Stay tuned as i have a TON of projects im working on. One of which is a full break down of my graphical/mod set up because it's easily the most asked question I get lol

[@indigowells]

There's no way the Bugmaster worked with Cat-lon as we already know he is just a dude that found a device that allows him to control the skin spiders. Theres also no life span expanding technologies in Kenshi or any way he lived over 1,000 years. He's also implied more to be wanting to invade the Ashlands with the skin spiders rather than he's from it. Changing your DNA also much like in Kenshi's lore with other genetically modified beings, doesn't allow you age slower. I do believe the skin spiders are related to Hiver's and some form of creation related to them. They bleed, look and have similar limbs and body structures and design.

[@logy650]

Yeah, I thought that part of the theory was weird too. He’s clearly just a guy.

[@RAlNS]

its not canibalism unless they eat other hivers, if not its only eating. canibalism means eat from the same species.

[@josey_8204]

Im getting some strange feelings looking at those pratoreans. It's like looking at an alien in lingerie from a distance.

[@Jason.Goldstriker]

Kenshi is not a planet but a small moon 1:30

[@HeroInHisHead]

I'm aware. I realized after the fact that I said planet not tidal locked moon like I usually do but i had already uploaded and I hate deleting and reuploading especially for minor things like that. Good eye on catching it though

[@Jason.Goldstriker]

@@HeroInHisHead lmao had to do it dude! Thanks for the video solid content appreciate it

[@doanprasmana1444]

so ,that explain why we dont see people using a boat and swim really slowly. because gravity made water less dense... but i dont see a big wave. really tho i was wandering how low gravity in kenshi because at night we see big planet.

[@CanuckBacon]

*Beep!*

[@J0J0_950]

Wait you're saying the Bugmaster is from the Second Empire? That sounds far fecthed ngl.

[@HeroInHisHead]

The lore and evidence states he is centuries old. The shek have been fighting him for long enough to be considered a part of their religious beliefs. He has deep understanding and a grudge against catlon despite the fact catlon has been sitting in his throne deep enough in the ashlands where almost if infact noone has ventured since the second empire. Infact he has a map yo EXACTLY where he is suggesting he knew where the capital of the second empire was and that catlon was still there. He possesses combat abilities typically only really present in characters who have lived for extended periods such as catlon, tinfist, Quinn, and other high value skeletons who have had years to hone their skills. He also resides in an area that has no 1st empire ruins buy plenty of second empire ruins suggesting the decline of habitability in arach didn't start until after the second empires collapse. Aside from that his ability to work and cohabitate with skin spiders suggests a connection with them beyond training them as pets. His relationship to me is that of creator and monster not master and pet. And if he is capable of creating those beings through genetic manipulation then it's not outside the realm of probability to say he could extend his own life as well with the tech that was present in the second empire. While it is a theory. I don't believe it's as farfetched as you may think. But that is just my own option of course

[@guilhermef.cabral8252]

I mean kenshi contradicts itsel I till like to take what the skeleton cientists eith tech hunters say, that hivers are native insects that have been highly modified and forced jnto evolution

[@D--FENS]

Given the Bugmaster's expertise in biological engineering, could it be possible that he is a skeleton wearing a living suit of flesh? If he is as old as you theorize, that's the only explanation I can conceive. It would certainly help him hide from Cat Lon until he's ready to strike. Maybe the skin bandits are linked to him in some way...

[@brutstorm3309]

I always found there where the 4 hiver tribes: North, South, West and the Fogman. For how fare you can call the The Fogman a tribe.

[@YouWarhammer]

North hivers are added by a mod, in vanilla the northern hive towns are part of the western hive empire

[@beatleunboxing]

you should cut your pheromone link!

[@MrSandman9151]

The Praetorians are a mod, aren't they?

[@HeroInHisHead]

Check the description

[@DaddyMaster76]

Are Praetorians in the game?

[@HeroInHisHead]

Check the description

[@DaddyMaster76]

thanks.@@HeroInHisHead