That critter might seem kinda cute at arm's length, but you shouldn't let it near your head. I think it might be an ideovore -- like a vampire, but for free will. Creepy little noggin-goblin... Wait, you could call it a 'noglin'!
The Noglin is capable of controlling the minds of Survivors and creatures, such as a Rex. Under the right circumstances, the Noglin can attach to said creatures or Survivors, giving control over their minds to its owner.
Appearance
The Noglin is a small, bioluminescent alien creature with large pointed ears that scaly and shaped very similarly to a cobra's hood. It's head is rather large with four large eyes similar to those of a Jumping Spider. On top of its head there are two pairs of antennae: two that are short glowing bulbs, and two that are long tentacle like tendrils. It has a split jaw, which separates to reveal its glowing tongue and many jagged teeth. Its body is cherubic and plump being covered in a mix of skin and scutes. It has clawed fingers on each of it's stubby limbs and a thin devilish tail.
Color Scheme and Regions
This section displays the Noglin's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Noglin. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Noglin will randomly spawn with to provide an overall range of its natural color scheme. Hover your cursor over a color to display its name and ID.
This information can be used to alter the Noglin's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Noglin's "main" magenta.
Type in values of a wild creature to see on which stats it's emphasized. Green values on a high-level creature are very good for breeding. If you have already tamed your creature you can try to recover the breeding stats with an external tool.[1]
Noglin
The stat-calculator does not work in the mobile-view, see here for alternatives: Apps
Note that after the creature is tamed it gets bonuses on some stats depending on the taming effectiveness. This makes it hard to retrieve the levels on a tamed creature, so this tool is only for wild ones, but gives a first impression, how well the stats are distributed.
Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Noglin.
Strategy
If you are looking for a Noglin, do not bring large creatures capable of high damage, such as a Giganotosaurus, Rex, or Spino, especially if you bring more than one tame. If the Noglin controls it, it can devastate your other tames.
Using your Tek Helmet can help with locating Noglins before they latch on.
Weaponry
Bring a harpoon launcher with net projectiles, a weapon capable of killing it (a shotgun is highly recommended,) and a longneck rifle with tranquilizing darts. If you spot a Noglin, you can either net it and kill it, or knock it out to prepare any taming setups that you have brought. They're fragile and also don't have much torpor, though you have to be quick on your choice.
Dangers
Noglins are small and may not be noticed before they're capable of taking control of one of your creatures. Possessed creatures caught by Noglin lose health over time and can die if left on their head for too long. They seem to do a percentage of health as damage to tames while controlling it, so even high-health tames are at risk of death. Moreover, the creature will not be responsive to you while its possessing the mind.
If the Noglin mind controls you, it will make you punch yourself.
Weakness
Noglins have a long cooldown before they can repossess the same creature again, so if you've brought a solo creature and it gets controlled, you can kill it quickly afterwards. They also have low health so killing them is easy if you get the first move against it.
Taming
For general information about domesticating a wild creature see Taming.
Taming Strategy
Similar to the Troodon, you must offer your tames to the Noglin. Unlike the Troodon, the Noglin will instead mind-control your creatures, adding to its taming progress per full mind-control session. This is however, very inconsistent and can sometimes take a fairly long time before it will ever begin to mind control a tame. There is currently no known way to speed up the chances of a mind control session occurring, though if they refuse to attack your dinos, knocking them out can "reset" them and make them more likely to do so.
It is recommended to bring packs of relatively low-damage, durable creatures, to ensure that you will not die from your own tames, nor will the mind-controlled tame kill the others. Unless you're looking for 100% taming effectiveness (see below,) the Carbonemys is the best creature to have mind-controlled for all the above reasons. It's even quite slow so it won't run off.
Important Note: Wild Noglins prefer not to mind-control the same dino more than once per taming attempt. It is recommended to have several high-level Brontos, swapping them out one by one with Cryopods when the wild Noglin mind-controls one and releases it. Cactus Broth is also suggested, as getting too close to the Noglin after it releases one of your dinos may spook it, causing it to run away. You can use both bred and unbred dinos to tame the Noglin, but unbred dinos give far more taming affinity. Cloned tames work just as well as the original.
Trapping Strategy
If you wish to contain the Noglin, search for a flat area as that will be necessary for constructing an area to tame it. You can knock out the Noglin with a tranquilizer dart from a Longneck Rifle, then create a small box with some fence foundations and 1-high walls around it. While it's knocked out, position up to 8 Carbonemys on passive around the box with their heads facing inwards towards the box, then surround them with a circle of stone dinosaur gateways and reinforced dinosaur gates. The gateways should be able to snap to one another to create the circle. The Carbonemys themselves should be leveled into health and not into melee since you want them to be as survivable as possible.
Once everything is set up, remove the box around the Noglin to set it free. Do not mount one of the dinos you want it to control. If this happens, it may try to go towards you as the player, get onto the creature, then bug out to where it won't attack any other creatures. If this happens, knock out the Noglin with another dart to reset it. Once it wakes up, you should be out of the box and watching from above. Let it mind control the Carbonemys one by one. While it's controlling one, you can cryo a Carbonemys it has already controlled since it takes an extremely long time before it will want to control it again. Bringing spare Carbonemys would be wise to deploy if needed.
If the Carbonemys' heads get to where the Noglin can't reach them, try to move them to where their heads are accessible by the Noglin, preferably with whistling so you don't risk yourself getting controlled. So long as you can supply the Carbonemys, you'll tame the Noglin quickly and safely in no time.
Voidwyrm Strategy
Every creature supplies a certain amount of taming effectiveness to the Noglin, though there doesn't seem to be a particular formula for determining what is best. If you are looking for 100% taming effectiveness, you need to use a maximum of 5 tames. If the Noglin mind controls more than 5 tames in the process, it will lose effectiveness. As of now, there are only 2 known creatures to work with this, and they are the Brontosaurus and Voidwyrm. The Voidwyrm has some advantages over using max level immunity
They're easy to transport across the map.
They don't lose health while being mind controlled. (Unsure if this is currently a bug or a feature.)
Despite being quite powerful, they don't seem to attack while being mind controlled. If they do manage to attack, it is infrequent.
This strategy doesn't require any trapping, though be mindful that the Noglin will run rampant with your Voidwyrm and you will need to have the others ready for it to control.
Utility
Noglin has the ability to temporarily mind control non-allied survivors and creatures within range for a limited time. However, these can't be used for taming other creatures as it kills the creature if either it runs out of time, or if the creature is knocked out from high Torpidity.
When controlling survivors the Noglin can interact with some of that survivors structures such as Doors or Generators. However the mind controlled survivors can not ride their own dinos.
Creatures that have bleed damage or increased stats only while wild, such as Giganotosaurus, have their stats brought in line with its tamed variant and lose their wild bleed ability, Additionally. Some buffs such as the Spino water buff also seem to disappear
The target needs to have at least 50% of their Health, and be a lower level than the Noglin, reducing it's effectiveness in the middle of a fight or against high-level hyper-mutated dinos.
Additionally, as Noglins cannot be bred, once mutated tames reach levels higher than a max level wild tamed Noglin with 100% taming affinity, mutagen, and all levels applied can reach (>332 on official) they will be entirely immune to all Noglins from that point forward.
Keep in mind when planning to use a Noglin that they always suffer from cryosickness when thrown out of a cryopod so make sure you get it out 5 minutes before planning to use it. They do wake up quickly due to low torpor and high drain, an may be carried on your shoulder once awake, but they will be unable to move on their own until the 5 minute timer is finished, even when activating brain hunt mode. If you successfully throw them onto a creature even while they are suffering from cryosickness, you may control that creature as normal, but the moment the Noglin disconnects, if it is still in it's 5 minute sickness period, it will return to being immobile.
Saboteur: The Noglin can be used to control the minds of enemy creatures or Survivors and turn them against one another. By controlling an enemy survivor, you can lead them to turn off generators supplying power to turrets, allowing your assault to advance without resistance. By controlling enemy creatures, you can disrupt enemy formations or create take control of a support dino, such as a Yutyrannus, to further aid your other creatures.
Distraction: The Noglin is a small creature rendering it useful as a distraction for other bigger creatures. Their small size and nimble movement make them difficult to hit with firearms.
Wild Dino Surprise: By mind controlling wild dinosaurs, you can use them against unexpected foes. If one is daring enough and the conditions are right, you can take control of a wild Giganotosaurus to cause havoc against enemy bases that happen to be in the area. (Note that wild creatures controlled will be treated as tamed creatures, meaning any stat changes, such as the Giga's harsh health and damage nerf, apply. They will also not retain any abilities they had only in the wild. and they will not have any taming affinity making them weaker than a tamed 200+)
Assassin: Removing a Noglin from a wild creature appears to kill the possessed creature instantly dealing 10,000,000 damage. (Unaffected by Attack Damage). Holding Square (PS4) or X (Xbox) allows you to instantly kill a target and stay as a Noglin effectively allowing you to transport between creatures. Keep in mind that creatures killed by a Noglin will not reward any trophy.
The Noglin's code name is BrainSlug which may be a reference to the mind controlling slugs from Futurama.
The Noglin bears a resemblance to the gremlins from the Gremlin franchise.
The Noglin is the second creature to have two eyes on each side, first being the Megachelon and the third being the Astrodelphis.
The Noglin cannot attach itself to any unmountable tame, aside from the Onyc
If you play on Creative, mind-controlled creatures can fly.
Do not attach your Noglin to an Arthropluera or a Kentrosaurus. The recoil damage from detaching will kill your Noglin.
The Noglin is not targeted by enemy turrets.
Noglins can be considered one of the smartest creatures due to having the knowledge required to control survivors efficiently and use their Weaponry/Firearms through their body. In addition it can control several dinosaurs and retain their motor functions compared to the usual stumbling zombie in other fiction featuring Mind Control.
It is also possible that as Noglins are either under control of Rockwell or the players, that they don't need this intelligence themselves, and instead just blindly follow direct commands.
Noglins cannot be cloned.
The way that the Noglin's mouth splits open and separates and the appearance of the tongue inside (minus the bioluminescent lights) bears a striking resemblance to the "Reaper" strain of vampires seen in the movie Blade II
Lore
The Noglin is one of Rockwell's creations since it revolves around controlling other survivors.
This is further supported by what Gabriel heard in his last note "It assured me I would go now to dig up more of the prima materia that belonged to him." referring to Element suggesting that the Noglin was created for slavery.
The Noglin plays a small part in the new Lore released with Genesis part 2. Gabriel’s last note depicts his encounter with Rockwell until a creature, assumed to be a Noglin, attaches itself to his head and starts taking control of his body, he eventually dies from the critters deadly bite.
Yes
No
Region 0:
Region 1:
Region 2:
Region 3:
Region 4:
Region 5:
HLN-A
Rex. Under the right circumstances, the Noglin can attach to said creatures or Survivors, giving control over their minds to its owner.
Health
Stamina
Oxygen
Food
Weight
Melee Damage
Movement Speed
Torpidity
Tek Helmet can help with locating Noglins before they latch on.
Health, and be a lower level than the Noglin, reducing it's effectiveness in the middle of a fight or against high-level hyper-mutated dinos.
Onyc), and Vehicles cannot be controlled:
Achatina
Alpha King Titan
Ammonite
Archaeopteryx
Basilisk
Bloodstalker
Bulbdog
Bunny Dodo
Bunny Oviraptor
Cnidaria
Coelacanth
Compy
Corrupted Avatar
Corrupted Master Controller
Corrupted Survivor
Desert Titan
Dilophosaur
Diplocaulus
Dodo
Enforcer
Eurypterid
Featherlight
Ferox
Ferox (Large)
Forest Titan
Giant Bee
Glowbug
Glowtail
Hyaenodon
Ice Titan
Jerboa
Jug Bug
Kairuku
King Titan
Lamprey
Leech
Lystrosaurus
Megalania
Meganeura
Mesopithecus
Microraptor
Moschops
Nameless
Noglin
Onyc
Otter
Oviraptor
Pegomastax
Phoenix
Piranha
Purlovia
Reaper
Sabertooth Salmon
Seeker
Shinehorn
Tek Stryder
Titanomyrma
Titanosaur
Trilobite
Troodon
Zomdodo
Element suggesting that the Noglin was created for slavery.
Wild Noglins can now be targeted by 
Plant Species X.
