Harlequin

Break a leg? Why limit myself?

The Harlequins are the Eldar followers of Cegorach, the Laughing God. They are the performers and entertainers of the Eldar, the self-appointed protectors of the Eldar's pre-Fall history, which they perform in extremely elaborate plays. They are also some of the most dangerous shock-troopers among the Eldar, taking the concept of "break a leg" as far as you would expect in Warhammer 40,000. As part of their role as self-appointed keepers of history, they also guard the Black Library from those who would gain entry, allowing only those who have conquered the Chaos within them to enter.

In times of war, the Harlequins fight the foes they see as posing a threat to the very existence of the Eldar, first and foremost Chaos, the Necrons, and the Tyranids. The Imperials and Tau can be worked with and the Orks are easily manipulated; unlike most Eldar, the Harlequins are free of racial prejudice, so as long as you battle the threats to all things and aren't attacking them/getting in their way, they're perfectly happy to work with you even if you are a Mon'Keigh or Blueberry. Which makes them one of the most levelminded factions in the setting and helps make them a very likeable faction.

The glue that keeps the Eldar together

They owe no allegiance to any Craftworld, Corsair Fleet, Exodite World, or Dark Eldar Kabal, but rather recruit members from all factions, and will fight in their armies on all sides. Their only loyalty is to Cegorach, whom they believe has charged them with the "Great Work" of reunifying the Craftworld Eldar, Corsairs, Dark Eldar, and Exodite Eldar into a single race to fight off Slaanesh, the Necrons, and whoever else has a bone to pick with the chosen people of the Old Ones. It is notable that they do not use the methods to keep their souls safe that other Eldar do—their faith in Cegorach, complete after going through the Trial to become a Harlequin, is enough to keep them safe. Despite this, they are allowed free passage through the Craftworlds and Commorragh, because the Craftworld and Exodite Eldar respect the Harlequins for preserving their history, and the Dark Eldar and Corsairs are too afraid to try and stop them find Death Jesters' humor hilarious; they also couldn't keep the Harlequins out if they tried due to the Harlequins' superior knowledge of, and ability to use, the Webway.

This also makes the Harlequins the closest thing to a central authority the Eldar species has. While the other factions may not necessarily answer to the clowns, when they speak, everyone from Commorragh pimps and Craftworld wizards to Exodite farmers and Corsair pirates stops what they're doing and listens. Even Asdrubael Vect has to make sure and pin it on someone else whenever he gets up to skullduggery that might make the Harlequins mad.

Eldar Ambassadors?

They actually are this hot in the series, but most people are too busy screaming in pain to comment on it.

Harlequins are notable as xenos to the Imperium since the Harlequins do not restrict their visits to the Eldar. In the Harlequins' view, they must perform their work for anyone and everyone who may benefit and learn the lessons from The Fall, and along the way inspire a little more hope for the galaxy. Thus, Harlequin troupes are a frequent sight on Imperial worlds, and exceptionally among xenos, the Imperium allows the Harlequin traveling bands full access to their worlds, as even the High Lords of Terra feel that one can only benefit from their beautiful plays.^{Citation Needed} (The High Lords of Terra also know it'd be impossible to take direct action against Eldar Harlequins as a whole, and maybe bad for their health too.) The Star Leopards Space Marines chapter slapped around a few for desecrating a Land Raider, once, but that was a personal matter. Elaborate in form, but simple in message, the plays allow humans to understand the Great Enemy and what can be done. Unfortunately for pretty much everyone, most Imperials can't tell the difference between different kinds of Eldar, assume that Eldar are dirty liars by default, and tend to answer xenos visitors with volleys of lasfire.

Judging from their allies matrix, it's fortunate at least that humans listen to them (so far as humans listen to any Eldar, anyway), since on the Tau worlds they visit they are inevitably met with an endless earful about the fucking Greater Good. They don't play on Necron Tomb Worlds given that the Necrons are the oldest foes of the Eldar and the two have brought each other nothing but grief over the last few billion years, and Harlequins work to fight against them just as hard as they do against Chaos. Don't even fucking ask if they play on Ork worlds (you know, they probably do, but have to reduce the dialogue to indecipherable grunting, swearing and cockney slang). It's presumed that they did try to play for the Tyranids only once, but found out the space bug-lizards have no appreciation for art; hence the decision to put the Tyranids right next to Chaos and the Necrons on the mandate to kill-on-sight-and-annoy-the-hell-out-of.

During The War of The Beast, Eldrad Ulthran sent a troupe of Harlequins to convey a message to the God-Emperor of Mankind, letting Him know that Chaos had to be treated as the primary threat and that the Imperial Fists successor chapters were on their way. Granted, shouting "Friendship! Friendship!" while eviscerating Guardsmen and Custodians is kind of counter-productive, but in fairness, the Imperials wouldn't have listened anyway.

The Final Act, A.K.A. The Last Troll

In recent years, the Harlequins' war against Chaos has been characterised by a newfound urgency. Full masques have become an ever more common sight among the stars. Appearing from the Webway, they can be found performing within the realms of their kin or battling the galaxy's disparate races in vicious campaigns of apparently random violence. As the 41st Millennium comes to a close, more and more Eldar vanish into the Webway, forsaking their former lives to take up the Harlequin's mask. The Harlequins' numbers are growing, and many among the Eldar wonder why. The truth is inspirational and terrifying in equal measure. At the very heart of the Black Library there lies a silver-lit vault. Therein stands a plinth made of finely graven obstinite, upon which rests a crystalline book said to contain the words of Cegorach himself. Since the Fall, the tome’s covers have remained closed, sealed shut with flickering chains of light. Yet now, long-awaited portents have come to pass. A fallen sorcerer seeks the lore of the library. A king stirs in his court of death and silence, preparing to rise once more. Within madness' eye, the champion of the Ruinous Powers prepares to seize a realm long denied. As the signs have come to pass, so the bands of light about the tome have flickered and died.

Now, at last, the tome has fallen open. Within its pages the Shadowseers have found a script, a secret final act that changes utterly the tale of the Fall. Penned in inks of light and shadow, these words present a slender hope, detailing an intricate, galaxy-spanning performance with the potential to change the fate of the Eldar race. Always, the strands of fate have pointed toward the victory of Chaos during the last, mythic battle known to the Eldar as the Rhana Dandra. Yet within the pages of the crystal tome is recorded Cegorach's ultimate and final jest, a way to trick Slaanesh into expending all her power not to destroy the Eldar, but to save them. How such an impossibility could come to pass is unclear, for on this matter the final act is infuriatingly vague. Yet the Harlequins take their god's words on faith alone, for their devotion to Cegorach is total and his methods beyond question or reproach. Thus they have begun the steps of this final dance, and will see it completed, or else face absolute destruction in the attempt.

This is now also likely the Eldar species’ final and only hope for survival, period, since Eldrad upgraded from dick to dumb dick and went and boned everything for them, failing in an attempt to awaken Ynnead early and ended up killing him, all the progress that had gone into him, and the infinity circuits of every craftworld, instead. Whoops. Course, this is probably precisely why the crystalline book opened in the first place, with Cegorach basically going “Oh dear, who could’ve seen that coming? Oh wait, I did, that’s why I have a plan B ready to go for you dumb shmucks. Let’s open it up shall we? And we’re keeping the Dick out of this one. That fuckup with Ynnead…that wasn’t funny.”

Until Eldrad didn't, of course. Ynnead seems to be doing just fine, if forming the Yncarne is any indication. Though the Harlequins are still working with them so maybe the plan to trick Slaanesh is still on.

Masques

7th Edition introduced numerous subfactions of the Harlequins known as Masques. Masques are pretty small compared to most Warhammer subfactions, only consisting of about three squads or Troupes, each lead by a Troupe Master, plus support in the form of vehicles and specialist performers like Death Jesters and Shadowseers. To get an idea for the scale, the novella "The Masque of Vyle" stated that a Masque consisting of two dozen Harlequins was unusually large. The 8th Edition codex retconned this a little by saying that the named Masques were actually "Grand Masques" that contained multiple Masques within them, with each Masque acting as its own autonomous unit and the Midnight Sorrow being said to consist of "many dozens of Masques". Below is a list of the most well-known Masques.

• The Midnight Sorrow: The blue and red ones you see on the box covers. Are the most dedicated to fighting Chaos, and embrace their roles to the point where they lose all trace of their original identities. All their performances are about the dangers of Chaos to the point where the only acts they put on anymore are depictions of the Fall. Helped Eldrad with his ritual to summon Ynnead, and thus became the first Harlequins to support the Ynnari.
• The Veiled Path: Manipulative bastards, with a history of betrayal so great even other Harlequins don't trust them. Their most famous member is Sylandri Veilwalker, AKA clown Eldrad, whose schemes has manipulated figures ranging from Fabius Bile to Belisarius Cawl. Helped the Ynnari, but also helped Vect who views them as his greatest enemy so who the fuck knows what they're planning.
• The Frozen Stars: Strongly believes that the Eldar race can be saved and their empire rebuilt. Also believes all non-Eldar races are vermin who should be killed for the Laughing God's amusement.
• The Dreaming Shadow: Dedicated not to fighting Chaos but the Necrons. They are known to resent other Harlequins over their disagreement on who the true enemy is, but this sentiment is deliberately exaggerated. Most Harlequins see through this act and hold the Dreaming Shadow in high esteem regardless.
• The Soaring Spite: Dedicated to telling the tales of Cegorach's close ally known as the Cosmic Serpent. As such, are known for using a wide array of jetbikes and skimmers, Harlequin vehicles being named after the Cosmic Serpent's spawn. Are very close to the Craftworld Saim-Hann, supposedly because Saim-Hann's symbol is the Cosmic Serpent but really because both like to go fast.
• The Silent Shroud: A incredibly secretive masque that performs in complete silence. Not only do they not say a word, their weapons are muffled by technology and illusion, making battle against them disorientating and unnerving. As such, they specialize in stealth and terror tactics, like the Night Lords except specializing in the "bad LSD trip" form of horror instead of jumpscares and torture porn.
• The Dance Without End: This Masque specializes in performances that recount the deeds of Cegorach himself, and as such are believed to be the closest to the Laughing God of all his disciples. They were the first Masque to perform the dance representing the Fall of the Eldar. Despite how this lore makes them sound really fucking important, don't have rules in 8th edition.
• The Shattered Mirage: Compared to The Frozen Stars, The Shattered Mirage believe the Eldar are totally fucked, performing dances that are extremely dark and fatalistic. Thanks to their outlook on life, their preferred tactics are to do as much damage as possible, with little regard for their own lives.
• The Twisted Path: These guys are known for letting their audience members into their plays, only to be spirited away by the Harlequins and never seen again. In battle, they often kidnap both enemies and allies as well as strike in the middle of warzones, sometimes leaving right before victory. They explain their actions with complex riddles and illogical analogies.
• The Reaper's Mirth: The most bloodthirsty of Masques, the Harlequins of The Reaper's Mirth see the battlefield as a canvas for their gory arts. Because of this, they have a larger proportion of Death Jester's among their ranks. They are known for committing atrocities like the Fountain of Crimson Tears, which was so horrible that an entire world had to be exterminatused. We can only guess what it was.

We're Our Own Army Now

7th edition saw Harlequins get to be their own Faction, with new models for all members of the troupe, plus new models and rules for the Solitaire and a new Eldar jetbike, the Skyweaver. There are also two new vehicles, the Starweaver (a transport) and the Voidweaver. In addition, Shadowseers got their own Psychic Discipline, Phantasmancy. Harlequins survived into 8th and became all sorts of more killy and speedy, and get to freely mingle with their Dark and Craftworld cousins thanks to sharing the Aeldari keyword. Let the show go on!

See also: Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Eldar Harlequins(8E)