Lusus

The Lusus Naturae, also known as custodians, are the Hivebent equivalent to a Guardian. They look after the young trolls whilst the adults besiege other star systems in the name of Alternian glory. Trolls and their custodians have a peculiar arrangement of codependence. 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 horrifying beasts found in the ceremonial brooding caverns once the young trolls have completed their many dangerous trials. Together the young troll and custodian surface from the subterranean vaults and build a new hive using carpenter drones.

It was revealed that all but one of the trolls Lusus' would die due to the effects of the Mobius Double Reacharound virus, and that all would be used to prototype their respective troll's Kernelsprite. They were all protoyped before entering the medium so the Troll's enemies have all their characteristics. Through the prototyping the Custodians gained the ability to talk with their charges for the first time.

It seems likely that the custodians will each correspond to the zodiac symbols of the trolls.

Aradia's Lusus
Aradia claims that her lusus is dead as a result of The Accident. Hers is HS 003988 (the one that is not prototyped). It is also possible that it is actually her lusus talking to her, or at the very least, one of the voices talking to her. One implication of this, if confirmed, is that her lusus is also in control of her fetch modus. It is quite possible that her lusus was similar in form to the Baphomet.

Tavros's Lusus
Tavros's lusus, strangely enough, is a fairy/bull hybrid lusus that's barely any bigger than his head. Affectionately dubbed 'Tinkerbull' by the forums, and later referred to as Tinkerbull by Tavros himself. They seem to have a very good relationship, often playing Fiduspawn together. It appears to have been killed by Tavros, who had inadvertently crushed it underneath his wheelchair. Oh dear.

Sollux's Lusus
Sollux's Lusus is a massive two-headed, horned giant called a Bicyclops. It has one eye on each head, one red and one blue, fitting with Sollux's red/blue theme, and a barely visible mouth below each eye. It eats mind honey, harvested from Sollux's beehouse mainframes, to "keep it from being an idiot all the time". Sollux chains him to the roof of his communal hive stem, (apparently the troll equivalent of an apartment building). It has likely been killed by the catastrophic release of Sollux's psionic energy that demolished the upper levels of his hive, as a result of inadvertently consuming mind honey.

Karkat's Lusus
Karkat's custodian is a towering, bipedal crab monster with a taste for chilled roe cubes. It was killed when Karkat's computer exploded as a result of running Sollux Captor's Mobius Double Reacharound Virus, thereby implementing the curse that leads to the death of the other troll's lusus as well.

Nepeta's Lusus
Nepeta's lusus, Pounce de Leon, is a small feline creature with two mouths, and is "pawssibly the cutest and purrhaps the bestest kitty you have ever s33n!". She and Nepeta often went on adventures together to search for the "fountain of cute" taking turns riding eachother, before she was crushed when Nepeta's hive caved in for currently unknown reasons.

grimAuxiliatrix's Lusus
grimAuxiliatrix has been shown to have a large, flying bee/moth-like lusus. It has a skull-like face, lips, and two horns, one of them bent like gA's. It is possibly based off of the Grammia virgo, or Virgin Tiger Moth. Due to ##HS|004026|similarities with the Mother Grub skull}}, it is possible her Lusus is of some relation to a Mother Grub.

Terezi's Lusus
Terezi's lusus is a large sightless dragon. She was not raised by her lusus as the hatching of its egg would tip the Doomsday Scale and cause the end of the world. She later goes to hatch the egg as the world will end anyway. It dies, struck by a meteor, presumably due to an inability to see them raining down at the time of its hatching.

After Terezi's accident it was her Lusus that helped teach her the skills to function without vision, by smelling and tasting her surroundings, much like the dragon. The species apparently is born without sight and must learn to function that way themselves.

arachnidsGrip's Lusus
Nothing yet is known of AG's lusus. It likely resembles a scorpion, or another arachnid.

centaursTesticle's Lusus
centaursTesticle's lusus looks like a centaur, but with an udder and a mustache. cT may have punched the poor monstrosity in the eye, judging from his bruise and look of sadness on his face. It resembles a creature from one of the author's older works, Humanimals.

Gamzee's Lusus
Gamzee's lusus is a giant goat-like sea creature. It had apparently often been out to sea instead of caring for Gamzee as a custodian is supposed to. It was killed after Karkat ran the Mobius Double Reacharound Virus, speared by what appears to be a harpoon or something similar.

caligulasAquarium's Lusus
Nothing yet is known of CA's lusus. It is most likely aquatic in nature.

cuttlefishCuller's Lusus
Nothing yet is known of CC's lusus. It likely resembles (or is) a cuttlefish.