Lusus

Lusus naturae ("freaks of nature"), also known as custodians  (although custodian appears to refer to the role while lusus refers to the creatures themselves), are the Hivebent equivalent to a Guardian. They look after the young trolls while the adults besiege other star systems in the name of Altenian glory.

In Latin, the plural of "lusus" is "lusus". In English, "lusus", "lususes", "lusii" and "lusi" have all been used.

Trolls and their custodians have a peculiar arrangement of codependency. The lusus behaves as a lifelong bodyguard, caretaker, and visceral sort of mentor, while the young troll must learn to function as a sort of zookeeper. They are almost always seen in some variation of Hero Mode, especially those of the Sea Dwellers.

They are horrifying beasts found in the ceremonial brooding caverns once the young trolls have completed their many dangerous trials. A troll's lusus is dependent on their blood color and possibly by gender as well. Together the young troll and custodian surface from the subterranean vaults and build a new hive using carpenter droids.

It was revealed that all but one of the trolls' lusus would die  due to either the effects of the game itself, and would then be used to prototype their respective troll's Kernelsprite. They were all prototyped before entering the medium so the troll's enemies have all their characteristics. Through the prototyping the lusus gained the ability to talk with their charges for the first time.

The lususprites seem to have all died, either through the end of the game.

Fox Lusus
Callia's lusus is a fox-like creature that she refers to as Foxmom. She is cunning much like Callia and even when Callia is out on adventures, she tends to stalk her grub to make sure she is safe. It is rather well known that Callia deeply cares for her lusus, seeing how she always looks after her mother and makes sure she is well fed before Callia feeds herself.

Crane Lusus
Viridi's lusus is a Gray Crowned Crane and roughly as tall as Viridi as of now. Viridi fondly refers to her lusus as 'Dad' even though of their tense relationship.

Cranedad is a bit snippy for a bird. He is commonly found squabbling at Viridi over childish things. He lives up to his species being rather snooty and cocky. He is full of himself and tries to teach Viridi the ways of being a proper girl. Its rather weird to take care of a grub of the opposite sex, but Cranedad wants to raise a proper girl.

He enjoys teaching Viridi the art of dancing, and he seems to be strict by how hard he pushes the girl around till she gets her posture correct. Cranedad was strict until he accidently nearly killed Viridi as a young kid. He had tried teaching the girl how to swim, much like how he does, and this leading to the girl nearly drowning when something tried to drag her underwater. After the incident, Crandad keeps Viridi away from water and always backs her up when she visits the Sea Dwellers.

Lyrebird Lusus
Lierin's lusus which is a giant bird, probably known as a Lyrebird, which fits perfectly with Lierin's constellation Lyra. Everyone but Lierin refers to Lierin's lusus as Lyredad.

His lusus is a troublemaker out of all of their lusus. He is also the most amusing according to Spiria and Certae who are always over Lierin's hive to say hello. Lyredad is a lusus who is "really smart" due to the fact that he can learn how to copy any sound and replay it. He also learned how to speak Alternian and often chirps out small phrases to Lierin in an affectionate gestures.



He and Lierin have a strained relationship. This may be that their personalities are quite the opposite. Lyredad is carefree and always causing nothing but trouble, while Lierin is a sheltered level-headed boy who spends his time tinkering with his music in solitude. Sometimes Lyredad's pranks get out of hands much like one day he observed Lierin watching Troll Chainsaw Massacre, learning some interesting chainsaw and scream sound effects. When Lierin was asleep one evening Lyredad decided to wake up up with loud shrieks of horror which caused Lierin to shoot out of his bed faster than others would believe. This led him to get the silent treatment for a good week.

When Lyredad died in the game, Lierin was actually heartbroken to see his dad go. In fact, off screen it was revealed that when he was prototyped as a sprite Lierin nearly broke down at the sight of him.