The Carrier is a semi-humanoid beast employed by the Swarm in the Gears of War series, first appearing in Gears of War 4. Heavily armoured and capable of launching explosive Cankers, this monster is a deadly threat either up close or at a distance.
Biology[]
The Carrier is a large, semi-humanoid creature with leathery, white skin and red chitinous plates covering its forearms, back and chest. It has no legs and so it moves by using its huge arms to drag itself around. The plates covering most of its body act as natural armour to protect it from attacks, making it very difficult to kill without large-scale ordnance.
The Carrier earns its name by way of its main method of attack; its chest plates open up to reveal a nest of parasitic Cankers which will emerge from the Carrier's torso and launch themselves at distant enemies, exploding on impact. The soft tissues that the Cankers nest in are the Carrier's weakest point, but the chest closes immediately after the Cankers are launched, leaving very little time to target this area.
Behaviour[]
Carriers are deployed against more persistant enemies of the Swarm and normally only one at a time depending on circumstances and the location of an engagement. During combat, a Carrier will drag itself towards enemies and attempt to smash them with its heavy arms, soaking up whatever firepower is thrown at it. To strike at enemies that are further away, it will open up its chest plates and release a swarm of Cankers that will fly in the target's direction and explode on impact.