Tickers are vile, scuttling creatures that appear in the Gears of War games. These small creatures dwell down in the Hollow, the subterranean network that runs throughout Sera. The Locust Horde have found a use for Tickers as living weapons and breed and train them as easily disposable and replacable suicide bombers. Tickers bred by the Locust have imulsion tanks attached to their bodies and in battle are deployed in swarms to devastate groups of entrenched Gears.
Combatting Tickers[]
Tickers are so-named by the ticking sounds they produce with their both their mouths and legs as they crawl. They can move very fast and can be difficult to shoot, especially when encountering them in dark areas. When a Ticker gets close to a human target, its imulsion tank ignites and explodes violently, killing both the Ticker and its target. Spraying the combat area with rapid fire seems to be the best way to dispatch Tickers, but such a tactic can also drain ammo if employed recklessly. Tickers can also be beaten back, as Gears have demonstrated by booting or clubbing Tickers just as they close in. There is a slight delay before a Ticker's imulsion tank detonates, presenting a brief window of opportunity for Gears to use their rifles to bat Tickers away.
Wild Tickers have also been witnessed by Gears during the Lambent Pandemic, scurrying about freely on the surface of Sera following the flooding of the Hollow. They only attack humans if hungry or threatened, but generally they are skittish and will usually just run away. As wild Tickers haven't been equipped with explosives by the Locust, they are much less dangerous.