Psyker

A psyker, in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, is an individual with psychic powers, capable of accessing the Warp. This is both a blessing and a curse; though psykers are often able to achieve spectacular feats with their abilities, the Warp is a perilous place, and whenever a psyker uses their abilities there is a chance that they will be subject to the Perils of the Warp. Death is one of the milder results of this; extremely unlucky psykers might actually be raped in countless ways by Daemons and used as a gateway from the Warp into the physical world.

The different races of the setting perceive psykers in different ways.

• The Imperium of Man regards most psykers as extremely dangerous because of the threat of Chaos possession, and thus the Inquisition hunts them down so they can either be sacrificed to the Empra or sanctioned and made to serve the Imperium (under an inquisitor's watchful eye). Such Psykers appear as a unit in the Dawn of War games and like to scream incomprehensible one-liners so mind-numbingly loud that they may very well actually make your head explode. Just as planned. Space Marines make their psykers Librarians, who in turn compile records in the Librarium, serve to assist in battlefield communications, and test their brothers for Chaotic contamination. Imperial Guard Sanctioned Psykers combines Psychic Powers with Standard Issue Balls of Steel that every Imperial Guard members have; they have a nasty reputation for being BLAMMED by Commissars. Rogue Psykers are often hated by more puritan worlds, in extreme cases being hunted down and killed, but on most worlds being sactioned (assuming you survive and don't mind the side affects) gives an air of authority and orthodoxy to an otherwise hated thing. People still hate you, but instead of hating you like a conservative hates homeless people, now its more like how no one really likes the auditors. Astropaths are beyond such hate, because they are less prone to possession and because they are a planet's only way of communicating with the greater Imperium. People still feel uneasy around them, but even Black Templars and monodominant nazis have to cope with them and make nice faces. Pointing out that the Emperor was a psyker usually results in the person struggling to make a retort for a few moments before beating you to death.
  • .Probably because Psychic Powers (and any other Superhuman powers, unless performed with strictly technological equipments) are the bane of Humanity Fuck Yeah... Or not. A sanctioned-psychic human killing the enemies of the Imperium is still a human killing the enemies of the Imperium (until the daemons get them, of course).

• The Eldar are a strongly psychically-attuned race, and their most powerful psykers become Farseers and leaders of their people. They're ridiculously powerful psykers because of that deep imprint in the warp to draw power, combined with their Spehss Ehlvan minds and willpower. They just need to be fucking careful and never use their full strength unless they like the feeling of tentacles.

• The Dark Eldar however, avoid using Psychic powers due to their whole "I own your soul" gig with Slaanesh. They do have extra fun torturing, killing and then weaponizing psykers though. The only psychic power they do use is some sort of emotion-vampirism ability that can replenish their bodies and souls. And kamehamehas, for mandrakes.

• The Tau have almost no presence in the Warp owing to the fact how their race is incapable of producing psykers. Although some of their vassal races have psychic abilities.

• The Necrons can't manipulate the warp with their minds and have no presence in it, but they have managed to conquer the warp with technology, fucking up the warp and psykers with gloom prisms they mount on their spiders, Cadian-like pylons or even giant city-sized mechanisms that cut entire planets from the warp. Problem, demons?

• The Orks have their own "psykik" energy in the power of the WAAAAAAGH, which they tap via Wyrdboys and they're one of the most powerful psykers in the universe considering that this psychic energy actually makes their stuff work just because they think it should work like that. That, and it has an amusing tendency to make people's heads explode with absolutely no warning. Unlike other races, the Orks draw psychic energy from each-other and themselves, not from the Warp, which makes them virtually immune to chaotic influences.

• The Tyranids are innate psykers but they use the energies of the Hive Mind rather than the warp, the same way a Wyrdboy would tap into the WAAAGH. Save for the Zoanthroape which is the only Tyranid specie capable of weaponizing the Hive Mind's psychic energy to fire tank piercing mind-lasers, Tyranid species cannot readily use pure psychic energy to attack their opponents like how human and Eldar Psykers fire bolts and mind bullets. They instead use it as a form of control called "synapse", which keeps the Tyranid horde from going feral and killing everyone and everything they see. The main problem is however, is if the Hive Mind gets driven away from the horde it's supposed to be controlling or gets killed, the Tyranid synapse link collapses and everyone turns feral, how Zoanthroapes still manage to remain psychic despite loosing their link the Hive Mind is still not understood either. Also, before Genestealers got retconned into being Tyranids, Genestealer Magi DID use the power of the warp to power their abilities and could dedicate themselves to Chaos. There's an image of a Khorne Magus in one of the 2ed books...

• The Squats that grow very old are called "living ancestors". They are extremely rare, and develop psychic powers by communing with the spirits of their predecessors. And you could put them in an egg-shaped terminator armor, then onto a trike, with a bolt-firing cavalry lan...

Psyker hierarchy

Note: deamons not included in this list, since they aren't psykers. More so Chaos Gods.

• 1. God-Emperor of Mankind
• 2. Magnus the Red
• 3. Malcador the Sigilite;
• 4. Lorgar; Eldrad; Azhek Ahriman;
• 5. Tigurius; Sevrin Loth, Njal Stormcaller, Hyperion;
• 6. Eldar Farseers; Rubric Sorcerers; Ravenor; Mephiston; Swarmlord; Ezekiel; Zaraphiston, Grey Knight Prognosticars, other Alpha+ level psykers.
• 7. Chaos Sorcerers; Grey Knight Librarians.
• 8. Regular Librarians, Zoanthropes;
• 9. Primaris Psykers; Eldar Warlocks, Hive Tyrants;
• 10. Wyrdwane/Sanctioned Psykers; Ork Wyrdboyz.
• 11. Regular Grey Knights; Astropaths (they are powerful, but their powers are normally so specialized on being a cell-phone, most of them are no match for true psykers).
• 12. Regular Eldar.
• 13. Regular Orks.
• 14. Regular Humans.
• 15. Blunted Humans; Tau.
• 99. Blanks/Pariahs
• 100. Culexus Assassins/sisters of silence, Necrons - farthest from Psyker as possible, soulless anti-psykers.

I'm not sure about the place of Greater Daemons here; also, Tyranid psykers.

Gallery

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  You should never invite psykers to your poker night.

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  Culexus assassins are psykers' worst nightmare, though they are very friendly.

• Psyker Dredd knows you were gonna say that.

  Psyker Dredd knows you were gonna say that.