Editing Chaos Space Marines (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Black crusade by yogh art-d5bqzea.jpg|thumb|450px|left|Birds have not been so scary for 66 million years.]]
Chaos Space Marines are basically Imperial Space Marines who have forsaken their oath to the Imperium of Man to serve the Ruinous Powers, which is [[Heresy]]. Marines do this for a number of reasons, although the cause of this is usually finding that the ways of Chaos suit them more than the Imperium, or the classic case of the Imperium dicking them over (largely the case for post-heresy chapters).

The origins of Chaos Space Marines go back to [[Erebus]] of the Word Bearers, the first Chaos Marine, who then corrupted the recently-emotionally-discouraged Primarch [[Lorgar]] to Chaos. Erebus would then set into motion the events that would lead to Warmaster Horus being wounded on Davin's moon, where he would fall to the corruptions of Chaos. Horus, supreme Warmaster of the Imperium, would then gather [[Mortarion|<s>7</s>]] [[Omegon|8]] [[Konrad Curze|more]] [[Alpharius|of]] [[Angron|his]] [[Magnus the Red|distraught]] [[Perturabo|brother]] [[Fulgrim|Primarchs]] to his cause, along with a good fraction of Imperial forces and the Adeptus Mechanicus in full-scale rebellion, resulting in the Horus Heresy. [[Not as Planned|That didn't go so well]]. When Horus got roflstomped by the Emprah during their duel (at which point he was the only remaining traitor primarch that hadn't been [[Mortarion|banished]] [[Magnus the Red|into the]] [[Angron|warp]] [[Konrad Curze|or else]] [[Lorgar|simply]] [[Fulgrim|fucked off]] [[Perturabo|and went AWOL]]), most of the Traitors fled to the Eye of Terror because of the loss of leadership, resulting in what would be known as "Chaos Space Marines".

Naturally, they fight just like Space Marines except <s>on average they are stronger, more experienced, and older, given that the majority stood with their Primarchs during the Great Crusade</s> only worse because Mary Sues need punching bags. They keep using shit they were equipped with prior to the Horus Heresy such as [[bolter]]s and the ever useful Space Marine [[plot armor|plot]] [[pauldrons|armor]], which would explain why they didn't fistfuck each other to death before reaching the Eye of Terror, or why they would follow the lead of a particular [[Saturday]] [[Abaddon|morning cartoon villain]].

Chaos Marines are also commonly known to compensate their aging weapons (which didn't really age much, considering how fucktarded Imperium tech support is) by using demon magic for that extra edge in combat. Naturally they lack some of the weapons and [[Standard Template Construct|equipment Imperium "invented" (or rather dug up) for the last 10,000 years]], such as [[Razorback Transport|Razorbacks]], [[Centurion Squad|Centurion suits]], [[Autogun|assault cannons]] or [[Grav-Weaponry|grav guns]], and although they often get their hands on such pieces of tech (mostly by killing corpse-worshipers who own them), their Dark Mechanicum allies have few to zero spare parts and/or ammo for them, those trophies rarely last in use for a long time. The latter reason is also why Chaos Marines no longer use some of them more delicate and advanced tech like Land Speeder variants or Whirlwinds, which they definitely HAD before the Heresy - those things require just too much maintenance to fit into their more independent and chaotic combat doctrines.
[[File:1286933675792.jpg|400px|right|thumb|The eternal war rages on.]]

For all their powers from Chaos, however, most of them are nowhere nearly as organized as their loyalist counterparts. Turning to Chaos tends to drive Marines insane, usually causing them to lose much of the tactical prowess they had as loyalists. That said, organized legions like the Word Bearers, Thousand Sons, Iron Warriors, Death Guard (once they got their shit together), and Black Legion still remain much more of a competent military force than one might think. This is emphasized in the Black Legion novels, where the narrator has to explain to the freaking Inquisition, of all people, that the Chaos Legions don't have any dedicated supply lines, logistics, infrastructure, shipyards, independent manufacturing, or even the ability to feed their own forces. And since the Imperium can't effectively garrison every world (at least not without sacrificing the initiative on all fronts) the Chaos Space Marines still remain a great threat despite their shortcomings...

...though many of those problems were eventually solved as the Traitor Legions regained their Heresy-era numbers (or even more in some cases), and various industries were built or captured from the Imperium; the Idolator ship and two Planet Killers were made 100% from Chaos factories.

After all, the tree of heresy can grow from the smallest seed.

Different warbands of Chaos Space Marines are every bit as prone to fighting each other as they are anything else for any number of reasons; evil doesn't get along with evil, they're all nuts and just want to fight something, or the other warband worships a different Chaos god. Yeah, these guys are nuts. The phrase "the devil is not mocked", comes to mind, as was aptly conveyed by [[Alpharius]] during the height of the Horus Heresy. Infighting inside individual warbands is not unheard of, and their leaders always have to watch their back because every single Marine has hopes of killing their superiors and taking over. So yeah, if they didn't have the [[Eye of Terror]] to hide in and the Imperium wasn't so idiot-ball prone, it probably would have killed them by now. However, when they DO get their shit together, they fuck up the Imperium on a scale undreamed of by [[War of the Beast|almost]] every other race in Warhammer. See the Dominion of Fire or the Cholercaust Blood Crusade. '''GODDAMN IT, KHORNATE BERZERKERS ARE AWESOME.'''

They ''were'' the oldest fogies (or at least the ones from traitor legions are anyway) in the setting, barring the [[Eldar|space elves]], [[Bjorn the Fell Handed|that one angry viking dreadnought]] (who's about their age), the [[Necrons|Tomb King expys]] and maybe a few of the [[Tyranid|Omnivorous Space Bug Lizards things]] but now they've been retconned. CSM today may be some of the veterans from the Heresy or they could just be newfags that decided they were too cool for the Imperium. Fucking hell this is depressing.

Many Chaos Marines eventually dedicate themselves to one of the four [[Chaos Gods]], becoming little more than an extension of the god's will. This path has great risk and great reward, as the Chaos Gods are quite capricious; between two equally-dedicated champions, one will become a [[Chaos Spawn|horrific beast that should not be named]], whereas the other will achieve apotheosis and become a [[Daemon Prince]].

*'''[[Khorne|Khornate Champions]]:''' Those who worship Khorne (such as the [[World Eaters]] Traitor Legion) become close quarters badasses full of [[rage|RAAAAAAAAAGGGEEEE]]!. Khornate champions are among the best dedicated melee fighters in the setting. They are insane, ruthless, and barbaric, and continually lust after BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD and SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! Marines dedicated to Khorne are usually called [[Khorne Berzerkers]], after the Berzerkers of the World Eaters Legion, of whom [[Kharn]] (swell guy by the way) is the most famous. They are famed for their use of the [[chainaxe]] and their fucktastically fearless charges. They also get the best speeches. Although do note that Khornate followers are not all pure-CQC fighters, any weapon that spills blood in honorable combat like heavy weapons or vehicles is welcomed by Khorne. '''"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES!! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE!!"'''

*'''[[Nurgle|Nurglic Champions]]:''' These guys are rotting, diseased, decaying sacks of flesh who can take hits that would kill a squad of Terminators. They're something of a meat shield as far as Chaos is concerned (although not as much as [[Cornholio the Cultist|Chaos Cultists]]). They've contracted every disease in creation and then some. Despite looking like a bag of things best not described, Nurgle's followers won't hesitate to give you a big, long, family hug. D'awww. The [[Death Guard]] fell to Nurgle, but it wasn't really their fault.

*'''[[Slaanesh|Slaaneshi Champions]]:''' The followers of Slaanesh simply want to experience pleasure to the highest degree, most of which usually involves the euphoria gained from killing another person. Thus, Slaaneshi followers typically hype themselves up on drugs in order to intensify the sensations they experience, whether from sex or from slaughter. Slaaneshi Marines have taken so many drugs their bodies ''start to produce them normally.'' And yes, this is really canon. They also get penis fingers to give them the extra edge in combat (somehow) and hyperactive awareness, meaning that Slaaneshi followers typically move so fast that they're at par with Eldar reflexes. [[Doomrider]] is one of the most famous Slaaneshi champions (at least on /tg/), although he isn't from the [[Emperor's Children]], the Chaos Legion that fell to Slaanesh; [[Lucius the Eternal]], on the other hand, is.

*'''[[Tzeentch|Tzeentchian Champions]]:''' All followers of Tzeentch are tricky and conniving, and many of them are also powerful [[psyker]]s (as Tzeentch is the god of magic). Warriors under Tzeentch tend to rape anything in ranged combat with either enhanced weapons or SPACE MAGIC that would turn heroes into [[Chaos Spawn]], squa-'''GRAABBRLBLLRBLRLRBLR'''{{*BLAM*}}
**Ahem. To continue where the previous writer left off... squads of infantry into ash, and vehicles into puddles of molten goo. The [[Thousand Sons]] Legion is dedicated to Tzeentch; their (former) chief diviner, [[Ahriman]], is one of the better-known Tzeentchian sorcerers.

*'''[[Chaos Undivided|Undivided]]:''' Back in the good ol' days, Chaos Undivided was the concept of worshiping Chaos as a combined entity or pantheon. The [[Word Bearers]] were probably the most well-known worshippers of Chaos Undivided. Since then, it has been largely retconned; instead, Chaos Undivided refers to Chaos Marines with the support of all four Chaos gods... because apparently that's different somehow (the former is monotheistic worship of Chaos as though Chaos itself was a god, the latter is the worship of aspects of Chaos as separate deities). This has left the Word Bearers in something of a weird spot, as their core concept has been badly mangled. Although, this is not completely out of place: Undivided followers ''do'' have the support of all four Chaos Gods due to their doctrine, but because they don't swear complete servitude to one like what the [[Death Guard]] and [[World Eaters]] did, they don't receive the full power of each Chaos God either. This isn't a bad thing, though, as even at a glance it's easy to see how the gods of Chaos compliment each other when undivided. And undivided worshipers are usually not insane. Plus, the more you do to prove yourself to each god, the more benefits you get from each. It's a longer game than swearing yourself to just one, but the end benefits are larger as well. If you can survive long enough to reap your rewards. Most importantly, perhaps, is that the critical flaws of each of the four is balanced out by the others, so while you'll be a jack of all trades you aren't going to be a one-trick pony most of your enemies know how to counter. And you'll still have Chaos empowerment and the sanity to use it intelligently.

Note that many bands of Undivided Marines exploit Chaos for their own gain and feel little devotion to the Ruinous Powers, seeing it as no more than a tool for their goals. The [[Alpha Legion]], for instance, are closet loyalists (or double heretics, or triple heretics, or brothas doin' it for themselves, nobody knows), whereas the [[Night Lords]] Legion only cares about spreading terror, which Chaos is undoubtedly useful for, but they look down upon the religious. Similarly, the [[Soul Drinkers]], a Renegade Chapter with an entire book series, are enemies of both Chaos and the [[Imperium of Man]] (though they fight for the [[Emperor]]'s ideals; it's complicated, but likely has roots in the current Imperium being the antithesis or something akin to the [[Imperial Truth]]), although most in the Imperium would consider them "Chaos Marines".

*'''[[Malal|Malice]]:''' Way back when, [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] had a [[Chaos Gods#The_Other_Ones|minor Chaos God]] named Malal. Malal was a paradox, in that he is the embodiment of Chaos' chaotic behavior. His main goal was the spread of chaos (not the Warp energies, but actual chaos like anarchy and disruption) by screwing up the plans of the other Ruinous Powers, so he had dedicated Champions that hunted down other Chaos Champions and generally dicked over the Chaos Gods. However, [[Games Workshop]] had to remove him from the setting due to a trademark dispute with the author that invented him. In 40k, meanwhile, there's a warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] that hunt down other Chaos Marines and seem to worship a minor Chaos power named "Malice." This has led /tg/ to believe that Malal/Malice exists in 40k and can be invoked upon for power, although this is of dubious canonicity at best.