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Edgy

2021-05-31T05:02:23Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:EC9F:722:6923:D581: /* How Can I Tell If My Character Is An Edgelord? */

{{Topquote|As far as I can make out "edgy" occurs when middlebrow, middle-aged profiteers are looking to suck the energy--not to mention the spending money--out of the "youth culture." So they come up with this fake concept of "seeming to be dangerous when every move they make is the result of market research and a corporate master plan".|[[Daria 40k|Daria]], Episode [3.05] The Lost Girls.}}

{{Topquote|My name is Not Important; what is important is what I'm going to do. I just fucking hate this world, and the human worms feasting on its carcass. My whole life is just cold, bitter hatred, and I always wanted to die violently. This is the time of vengeance, and no life is worth saving, and I will put in the grave as many as I can. It's time for me to kill and it's time for me to die; my genocide crusade begins... here!|The player character of ''Hatred''}}

{{Topquote|So maybe ordinary people ''don't'' always crack. Maybe there ''isn't'' any need to crawl under a ''rock'' with all the ''other'' slimy things when trouble hits... maybe it was just ''you'', all the time|Batman, The Killing Joke. Which also unintentionally criticizes the edgelord mindset}}

{{Topquote|Make it [[World of Darkness|dark]], make it [[Grimdark|grim]], make it [[ANGRY MARINES|tough]] but then, for the love of God, [[Comedy Marines|tell a joke]].|Joss Whedon giving a nice example on how to avoid being edgy even while creating a dark world}}

[[File:Marvel Edge.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Unabashed Edginess from the 1990s]]
'''Edginess''' refers to people pushing violent and controversial subject matter in their stories, especially when they're doing it to to try and be popular with tragic, violent or controversial stories. This often takes the form of senselessly driving a vague argument, a plotline or a scenario to its darkest possible outcome, all the while openly expressing their disdain for whoever "the establishment" is, rationalizing villains or finding a middle ground in discourses. Like most internet terminology, it has been beaten to death, resurrected hastily, and then beaten some more. Has no relation to ''[[Hunter: The Reckoning]]''.

Another far less negative use of the term is to describe something on the 'edge' of what's acceptable, pushing established boundaries of convention. For example, by this definition ''Batman: The Animated Series'' was edgy for making an animated series which defied expectations of how true to its base concept and generally well-written a show designed to sell toys could be. Some more examples of this would be Ren and Stimpy (which was crude and vulgar) or Invader Zim (which could get dark in subject matter, and used a fair bit of black humor); in both cases, a decent bit of the comedy was of the "I can't believe that they did ''THAT'' on a kid's cartoon show!" variety. A milder version of this was Sonic the Hedgehog in contrast to Mario. In 1989 the Simpsons was the Edgy take on the classic family sitcom archetype and in 1999 Family Guy had slotted itself in as the Edgy version of The Simpsons. For the 1990s and early 2000s Edgy was a favored term of cynical marketing types which drew the attention of the world's sarcastic snarkers, many of which came to congregate on sites such as 4chan.

An "edgelord" is someone who essentially is guilty of serial attempts to be edgy, like [[that guy]] at your tabletop role playing group who always, without fail, makes a specific type of self insert or wish fulfillment character; brooding loners skilled at violence who hate anyone else having authority over them, are anti-conformist and have a troubled past - all without the nuance or skill to actually pull it off (with their opponents often being stand-ins for whoever the edgelord considers "The Man™" or representing "the establishment™" such as big business, law enforcement or organized religion). The end result is they makes themselves look silly. "Art" done by edgelords contain characters who are as dark, brooding and as painfully unhappy as possible, conflicts have zero compromise, institutions are the villains unless the edgelord made them and any conflict of interest will have the worst possible outcome. In writing, edgelords will go out of their way to make the story extra depressing, and subject multiple aspects of it to an increased shock factor when it's clearly '''illogical''' to do so. Needless to say, it can drive a perfect idea to make an entertaining story into the shitter, grating the nerves of even the most jaded audience. When commenting, the "edgelord" will simply push any predicament in the artwork to the darkest, deepest, worst outcome, while describing his fantasies. For example: In an adult and/or bondage predicament picture, edgelords can be found describing a paragraph of horrible fate the captive would suffer, *should* suffer because slaves are shit, and *deserve* abuse, even when the picture was of a predicament with nothing in context. Or he will simply fill the comment of any NSFW picture with his own sick fantasies, surely adding "women DESERVE it".

This is not to say that said dark elements like murder, slavery, rape and bodily harm are bad for literature, but rather that their sloppy execution with no regard to their depth is. As shown above, even the most "edgelord" of concepts can be salvaged and even made bearable with proper handling, especially going by the latter definition - but if you do it enough, the boundaries shift and what was edgy becomes the new norm, and there is always the risk of falling ''over'' the edge. This is why the old definition has fallen increasingly out of favor as time has gone on — people began seeing the dross sold under the title of "edgy", and the idea of what it meant thus moved away from the positive connotations marketing execs desired and closer to the qualities described above. Plus, this is the internet, and people would rather a word just be an insult or a compliment to reduce confusion.

==The Anatomy of Edginess==
Edginess is in some ways like a cargo cult. During WWII in the Pacific, the US military set up bases on remote, but inhabited islands, bringing with them a lot of stuff like planes and cars and so forth that was quite amazing to the stone age natives, to whom the world had been a few dozen square kilometers of land surrounded by ocean, with hazy stories of other such islands. When the military left, some of the natives took to making coconut and wooden radios and flight towers based off of some vague recollection of the military variants, unaware that making the shape alone does not get you the functional item.

[[File:Pizza-slicer.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The ultimate apotheosis of an edgelord: All edge, no point.]]
In that vein, most of what comes to mind when people envision "edgy" artworks tends to be the result of people who wanted to make ''morally grey'' characters and subject matter, but lack the maturity/experience/focus necessary to NOT end up with anything other than a multiple-personality-disordered mess or a power fantasy wrapped in propaganda. Someone with (at best) mediocre creative abilities sees some fiction that makes good use of melodrama, gritty settings, dark humor and such, made by people who know what the hell they're doing and figures "I can do that!", leading to said person haphazardly applying those elements incorrectly. The results of such efforts are either tiresome, unintentionally funny or just painful. The stereotypical teenager, especially one with gothic/emo tendencies or problems with authority, commonly embody this - all too eager for "adult" things (eg: violence, sex, etc.) in their limited perception of such, often born of denial. Individuals who pander to said demographic (or are otherwise just downright hacks) will favor this approach over any sense of complexity, subtlety, nuance and some actual understanding of the human condition.

===Edgy and [[Grimdark]]===
While edginess is frequently associated with invoking grimdark [[Derp|for the sake of it and nothing else]], it's important to remember that this alone does not edgy make. As an example, [[WH40K]]'s [[Imperium of Man]] has reasons to be fair and kind when capable: though it has plenty of genocide, xenocide (completely annihilating species even when they are gentle and kind), torture, forced labor (they draw the line at commercialized chattel slavery, but un-unionized indentured servitude is fair game), witch hunts and militarism that would give Hitler a chubby beyond the grave, said horrors have reasonable justifications. Aliens were buying and selling humans like pets and culling them by the billion, operating slaver outposts even in our solar system before the Emperor came into leading humanity into a roaring rampage of revenge. And regarding souls and the universe after the Heresy, any deviation from faith in the Emperor will ''literally'' send a human to hell upon death, with their soul becoming dæmon food (and/or sex toys).

Any mistreated machinery will attract foul entities and corruption that will fuck you up seven ways till Monday and chew you out; any ill-coaxed [[Machine Spirit]] will jam and blow up in your face; and any laxity will make [[Chaos]] cults pop up by the billion in a week. Then there's [[Necrons|the genocidal robots from another age]], [[Eldar|space elves that would murder a planet on the off chance that their]] [[Farseer]] would break a nail otherwise (and they're still the nice space elves despite that, as their [[Dark Eldar|webway dwelling cousins are even worse - murdering entire planets just because they like the sound of millions of people screaming]]), [[Orks|the ambulatory (AND belligerent) fungi that plague the entire galaxy in a series of wars]], and [[Tyranids|extragalactic horrors that intend to eat everyone's face.]] [[TL;DR]] The Imperium acts like an asshole Hitler/Hirohito bastard child because the alternative is much, MUCH worse.

At the level of narrative, the fact that things are very very bad is a core thematic element of this world. As pointed out there are reasons why things are so miserable in this world which flow logically and despite this there can be points of contrast. Imperials still have the same potential to love and be kind like modern real world humans do. The Tau are hopeful despite the evils of this world. Occasionally pragmatism can overcome the deep seeded prejudices to overcome greater evils, if only for a while. And even if it is preformed by Conscript Guardsmen, Commissars or Space Marines, each the product of horrendous military institutions, can fight to achieve acts of genuine (if still typically brutal) heroism.

Now if you want a senselessly edgy story in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, an example would be the now non-canon [[Khornate Knights]].

===Who's An Edgelord?===
Who's a cute little Edgelord? Yes, you, you adorable little mass-murderer, you!

"Edgelord" gets applied to two groups: '''Authors''' fixated on making edgy material, and the '''Edgy characters''' they write. While most of this article assumes the latter definition (as we at least try to avoid authorial mind-reading), it's quite possible for an Edgelord author to create an edgy work without an Edgelord character<ref>How? Well, just to start with, picture a modern retelling of The Little Match Girl (the one where the title character freezes to death on the street--looking back on it, Hans Christian Anderson was Edgelord as fuck).</ref>, and a non-Edgelord author to create an Edgelord character (either unintentionally, satirically, or de-constructively).

===Edgy Villains===

There's an important argument to be made about villains and edginess. Frequently, it's necessary to engage in authorial behavior that would be considered edgy in order to properly develop a bad guy. There are a few important questions to ask in this case, the largest ones being "is this a [[Mary Sue|Villain Sue]] situation, and if so, what kind of Villain Sue are we dealing with?"<ref>For an example of a non-Edgelord Villain Sue, there are plenty of Villain Sues who the author clearly hates, but can't bring themselves to kill off for reasons of marketability. It's usually only when the Doylist definition of Mary Sue comes into play, where the Author sees themselves as the villain and has more sympathy for them than the protagonist, that Edgelordery starts to set in.</ref> and "is the author's sympathies clearly with the villain's agenda?"<ref>Not with the villain himself; plenty of villains clearly have the author's sympathy (what [[TVTropes]] might call a "Villain Woobie" or "Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds"); what matters here is does the author believe what the villain believes. That may sound odd, but many cases of "The Bad Guy Was Right" involve characters created by another author, or are (usually bad) parody of such.</ref>

===Edgelords and [[Mary Sue]]s===

A lot of edgy characters also qualify as [[Mary Sue]]s. This is because many writers who aim for "edgy" in their works are terrible at writing, and writing a [[Mary Sue]] is a common result of terrible writing. Another reason is the "Power Fantasy" route, where the author uses their work and the character in question to attack something or someone from real-life that they oppose. There are a few important questions to ask in this case, the largest ones being "is this a Jerk Sue situation?", "do the villains represent a work the author hates?" and "do the villains represent a real-life person or group the author is against?"

Be on the look out for plot armor, protagonists who not only share their author's values, but are not challenged on these views in any way, and the other major Sue factors covered in our [[Mary Sue]] article.

===Sidenote: Chunni===

In some Weeb circles, an "Edgelord" is called "Chuuni", short for "Chuunibyou". This delightful Japanese word combines the concepts of "Sophomoric" ("Chuunibyou" literally translated means "Middle [School] 2[nd Year] Syndrome") and "Edgelord", with an optional side note of "I have supernatural powers". Importantly, the "Stupid and Lame" part is baked right into the word, while "Edgelord" is usually only ''implies'' stupidity.

===In closing===
There are many paths to success for a storyteller, some of which include going over dark territory in various ways or by innovating and pushing boundaries. However, all of them require care and attention to detail to pull off well. Being dark is not a magic bullet for achieving profoundness without trying, and using it as an outlet for personal grievances is the writing equivalent of walking through a minefield.

==How Can I Tell If My Character Is An Edgelord?==

Every edgelord has at least four qualities; skilled at violence, aggressive, has easy access to weapons and are some kind of non-conformist. These alone or even together do not make a character an edgelord. If the character has these four traits, each "Yes" answer from the list below gives your character a piece of edgelorddom;

* Are they a power fantasy against "The Man™" or "the establishment™"? Note, while it's possible to have an edgelord who's not targeting "The Man™" (since their targets can include enemies of what's considered "the establishment™", such as criminals or foreign enemies), a "yes" answer here automatically grants the character edgelord status (with one exception below).
** Bonus points if the writer's targeting [[Capitalism|big business]], organized [[religion]], education, law enforcement or any combination. Double bonus points if it ''is'' a real-life group or industry, and triple bonus points if the real life group is already frequently targeted this way (like oil companies for industries or the Catholic Church for religious groups).
** The one exception are antagonistic characters who '''start out''' as merely mildly edgy (particularly antagonists of the "right target, wrong methods" variety), and only graduate to full edgelord status if other writers are allowed access to them or the current writer gets carried away.
* Do they openly mock altruistic traits like hope and love, compromise or faith or the Powers-That-Be (the latter ranging from openly mocking religious characters to an outright war on the gods)? Bonus points if they do so without suffering negative consequences for it.
* Do they have a backstory full of suffering?
* Are forgiveness and redemption things the character disregards if not actively despises?
** Partial credit is granted if they themselves are seeking redemption... by using the exact same methods they used to use, just against a different set of targets.
* Do they not care if they live or die? Or do they want to die?
* Do they have problems with authority? As in a negative attitude towards anyone besides themselves having authority over them.
* Are they heavily scarred individuals? (physical, emotional, whatever...)
* Do they regularly quote-mine philosophers or works of fiction and spout these quotes to validate their worldview? Bonus points if they alter the original quote.
* Do they share any of the same beliefs as the work's creator and openly express them? (for example, the protagonists of stories by [[Ayn Rand]] or [[Jack Chick]]). Bonus points if they're nihilistic. <ref>This item is more a [[Mary Sue]] trope, but there is significant overlap between edgelords and Mary Sues.</ref>
** Are these views never challenged or refuted in the story? Or, for partial credit, are the challengers clearly strawmen?
** The [[Star Trek]] Captain Exception: If said belief is cleanly confined to one speech towards the end of the story/episode, and the author seems to be legitimately trying to just sum up and state the message of the story, it usually doesn't count. (Normally not an issue for edgelords, but it has happened occasionally.)
* Do they always wear sinister-looking attire?
** Do they wear a cloak, a coat or an overcoat that looks like a cloak.
** Does their attire have [[Chaos|blades or spikes]] built in to it?
** Is it emblazoned with insults, profanities, curses or threats of violence?
** Does it come in dark colors?
* Do they wear warpaint?
* Do they have body modification, ranging from minor such as tattoos to extreme examples such as horns or wings? Bonus points if the modifications can be weaponized.
* Do they swear like a drunk pirate?
* Do they have a vice, such as smoking? Bonus points if they have an addiction (fantastical addictions count).
* Do they have plot armor? (such as the Punisher being able to go toe-to-toe against superpowered beings who’d mop the floor with him otherwise)
* Are they a protagonist or antagonist written by [[Gav Thorpe]], Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, [[A Song of Ice and Fire|George RR Martin]], Pat Mills or Alan Moore? (Note, an edgelord can be written by someone who's none of these people. And Moore and Martin, at least, are capable of writing protagonists and antagonists who aren't Edgelords despite lots of their characters being unnecessarily edgy.)

==Notable Edgelords==

===Comics===
* The Punisher (pictured above), depending on the writer but especially when it's Garth Ennis. The ultimate example being Ennis' professionally published Hate Fic [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher_Kills_the_Marvel_Universe "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe"].
* Billy Butcher from "The Boys", a comic series using [[Original character, do not steal|knock-offs of Marvel and DC supers]] in an anti-superhero genre power fantasy, with Billy himself being a racist Punisher knock-off and author mouthpiece.
* The Joker, depending on the writer.
* Lord Edgelord, later Lord Edgegod from Slackwyrm Keep. He's aware, and <s>he's loving it</s>***CLANG!*** There's no love in edge, only chaos!
* Adversary from DC comics (pictured below), as a jab at edgelord characters and perhaps also their fans. In addition to meeting most of the criteria above, he works for a demon named Lord Satanus who gave him his powers and is actually a kid in a wheelchair.

===Film===
* Jared Leto's Joker in "Suicide Squad (2016)".
** Compare this to Heath Ledger's Joker in ''The Dark Knight'' and Joqauin Phoenix's Joker in ''Joker''. Ledger's and Phoenix's portrayals were "edge with a point"; the former was about exploring human evils regarding terrorism and the latter was about exploring the origins of evil (both avoiding ideological baggage).
* Tyler Durden from "Fight Club". While he started out as "edge with a point" trying to give men catharsis from, and criticizing, the growing cultural and familial vacuum of the 90's, later in the film he descended into being a full-blown edgelord.
* [[Star Wars|Kylo Ren]] AKA Krylo Ben AKA Ben Swolo. The writers were doing it on purpose, to play up the First Order's dogmatic North Korea in space schtick, and to that end made Kylo an incredibly unsubtle Darth Vader pastiche. While "Kylo" may be the worst Skywalker ever, there is no denying that the edge is strong in his family. His mom's side are a bunch of crybaby desert backworlders with an incestuous sex drive and his dad was a scruffy, nerf herding spice smuggler - and all were war criminals, some with body counts in the hundred thousands and some with children's blood on their hands... He probably fits the mold better than we'd like to admit. Also his edge is undermined by fact that he never won a fight against [[Mary_Sue|Mar-Rey Sue Palpatine]] which doesn’t help things either.

===Live Action TV===
* Stargate's Sohkar- It's hard to get more edgelord than literally masquerading/cosplaying as Satan.

===Video Games===
* [[/v/|Shadow the Hedgehog]] for the PS2/XBox/Gamecube. For the unfamiliar: An edgy game about a cartoon hedgehog shooting enemies, yet ESRB rated for Everyone 10 and up.
** The villain Infinite from ''Sonic Forces'', as a parody of edgy Villain Sue characters.
* Several characters from World of Warcraft, prime examples being Deathwing, Sylvanas, Sargeras and Illidan Stormrage (pictured below).
** Special mention goes to pre-retcon Sargeras. Originally, Sargeras was so traumatized by the evil of the demons he fought... [[Stupid Evil|he became convinced that good was futile and conscripted those same demons into an army to destroy the cosmos]]).
* Reaper from Overwatch.
* Caesar's Legion and Caesar himself in [[Fallout|Fallout: New Vegas]] (along with some of their fans and the writer who created them).
* Not Important aka The Antagonist aka The Crusader from Hatred. Imagine every trope related to nihilistic spree shooters, push them to their uncomfortable extremes and then plop the result in a monochromatic mess of a game. What you get is the story about a very unlikable man with dialogue written by less likeable people (including an edgy as fuck death metal band) going around and killing everyone because...fuck you, it's edgy.

===Literature===
* [[Elric]] of Melnibone, arguably the first one.
* Euron Greyjoy, Littlefinger, and Ramsay Bolton from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]].
* Hamlet (yes, THAT Hamlet), possibly an example predating Elric. After his father dies dies, he wears black, becomes foreboding, dramatic and revenge obsessed for at least 6 months, monologues with skulls and murders his friends including the harmless father of his girlfriend (though to be fair he thought he was stabbing the man who he suspected killed his father).

===Tabletop Games===
* [[Blackguard]]s
* Vlaakith, the Queen of the [[Githyanki]]. On top of being a callous, violent, paranoid tyrannical lich who hates systems of authority unless they benefit her, especially religion... but she wants to become the goddess of her people. She values strength... but kills people who ''might'' become powerful enough to challenge her; textbook edgelord.
* [[Lolth]] from Dungeons and Dragons. Started with trying to overthrow her divine husband because she didn't like her job and it all went downhill from there. For more information, look at the [[Drow]] and remember they're like that because her laws require it.
* Warhammer settings have too many to list them all;
** 40k is the worst offender in that regard, so let's just say the [[Black Templars]], the [[Marines Malevolent]] and most [[Chaos Space Marine|traitor marines]] for this one.
*** On that note [[Konrad Curze]]...
*** ...[[Fabius Bile]]...
*** ...and the [[Dark Eldar]], to such a degree they each deserve a separate bullet point all to themselves..
** For Warhammer Fantasy there's [[Valnir the Reaper]], [[Nagash]] and most [[Dark Elves]]. (None of whom are quite so ''needlessly'' edgy as to deserve their own separate bullet points, unlike the 40k Edgelords above.<ref>Nagash might come close, but is presented as more "he's just an asshole", compared to the "he might have a point" presentation of Bile or full Tragic Backstory of Curze. A similar point can be made about the Dark Elves (just assholes) compared to the Dark Eldar (who need to feed Slaanesh because if they don't s/he eats them).</ref>)
** On that note, [[Malal]] among the other [[Chaos Gods|Ruinous Powers]].

===Fan Works===
* [[Drizzt]] clones with extreme Alignment leanings, either towards good or evil.
* Various [[Original character, do not steal|fan-made]] and canon Sonic characters, particularly Shadow.
* The protagonist of "Ambience: A Fleet Symphony" and the story itself. A Fallout KanColle crossover fanfic that thinks it's a regular KanColle fanfic. It revolves around rape, killing, eugenics and an violent solipsistic protagonist with enough plot armor to make Ciaphas Cain look like a [[Star Trek|redshirt]] one day away from retirement. When the story was posted to a forum and scorned, the writer went ballistic against their critics.
* The whole "*teleports behind you* Nothing personal kid. *stabs you*" [[meme]] originated as a parody of edgelord characters.

===Anime===
* Half of the [[Animu]] protagonists in existence. Bonus points if the genre is [[Isekai]], triple points if there's a harem involved.
* Bakugo from My Hero Academia probably counts as a deconstruction/parody of one. What else do you say about somebody who chooses the codename "King of Explodo-Kills" and later "Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight" while training to be a super''hero''?

[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Lord_of_the_edge_by_takfloyd-d99sq48.png|The edgelord mindset in a nutshell.
File:1699592-elric_of_melnibone_by_isra2007.jpg|If any fictional edgelord could be called well-written, it'd be Elric.
File:Adversary_01.jpg|"Adversary" from DC Comics. Sinister clothes, aggressive name, smoking, swearing, trying to kill Superman for "rep"...
File:Tyler-durden-7.jpg|The face that launched a thousand edgelords (ironically doesn't wear dark clothes).
File:Darion Mograine.jpg|There's a small but distinct line between edgy...
File:531939-vertical-blizzard-wallpapers-2560x1440.jpg|... and edgelord.
</gallery>

Edgy

2021-05-31T04:30:51Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:EC9F:722:6923:D581:

{{Topquote|As far as I can make out "edgy" occurs when middlebrow, middle-aged profiteers are looking to suck the energy--not to mention the spending money--out of the "youth culture." So they come up with this fake concept of "seeming to be dangerous when every move they make is the result of market research and a corporate master plan".|[[Daria 40k|Daria]], Episode [3.05] The Lost Girls.}}

{{Topquote|My name is Not Important; what is important is what I'm going to do. I just fucking hate this world, and the human worms feasting on its carcass. My whole life is just cold, bitter hatred, and I always wanted to die violently. This is the time of vengeance, and no life is worth saving, and I will put in the grave as many as I can. It's time for me to kill and it's time for me to die; my genocide crusade begins... here!|The player character of ''Hatred''}}

{{Topquote|So maybe ordinary people ''don't'' always crack. Maybe there ''isn't'' any need to crawl under a ''rock'' with all the ''other'' slimy things when trouble hits... maybe it was just ''you'', all the time|Batman, The Killing Joke. Which also unintentionally criticizes the edgelord mindset}}

{{Topquote|Make it [[World of Darkness|dark]], make it [[Grimdark|grim]], make it [[ANGRY MARINES|tough]] but then, for the love of God, [[Comedy Marines|tell a joke]].|Joss Whedon giving a nice example on how to avoid being edgy even while creating a dark world}}

[[File:Marvel Edge.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Unabashed Edginess from the 1990s]]
'''Edginess''' refers to people pushing violent and controversial subject matter in their stories, especially when they're doing it to to try and be popular with tragic, violent or controversial stories. This often takes the form of senselessly driving a vague argument, a plotline or a scenario to its darkest possible outcome, all the while openly expressing their disdain for whoever "the establishment" is, rationalizing villains or finding a middle ground in discourses. Like most internet terminology, it has been beaten to death, resurrected hastily, and then beaten some more. Has no relation to ''[[Hunter: The Reckoning]]''.

Another far less negative use of the term is to describe something on the 'edge' of what's acceptable, pushing established boundaries of convention. For example, by this definition ''Batman: The Animated Series'' was edgy for making an animated series which defied expectations of how true to its base concept and generally well-written a show designed to sell toys could be. Some more examples of this would be Ren and Stimpy (which was crude and vulgar) or Invader Zim (which could get dark in subject matter, and used a fair bit of black humor); in both cases, a decent bit of the comedy was of the "I can't believe that they did ''THAT'' on a kid's cartoon show!" variety. A milder version of this was Sonic the Hedgehog in contrast to Mario. In 1989 the Simpsons was the Edgy take on the classic family sitcom archetype and in 1999 Family Guy had slotted itself in as the Edgy version of The Simpsons. For the 1990s and early 2000s Edgy was a favored term of cynical marketing types which drew the attention of the world's sarcastic snarkers, many of which came to congregate on sites such as 4chan.

An "edgelord" is someone who essentially is guilty of serial attempts to be edgy, like [[that guy]] at your tabletop role playing group who always, without fail, makes a specific type of self insert or wish fulfillment character; brooding loners skilled at violence who hate anyone else having authority over them, are anti-conformist and have a troubled past - all without the nuance or skill to actually pull it off (with their opponents often being stand-ins for whoever the edgelord considers "The Man™" or representing "the establishment™" such as big business, law enforcement or organized religion). The end result is they makes themselves look silly. "Art" done by edgelords contain characters who are as dark, brooding and as painfully unhappy as possible, conflicts have zero compromise, institutions are the villains unless the edgelord made them and any conflict of interest will have the worst possible outcome. In writing, edgelords will go out of their way to make the story extra depressing, and subject multiple aspects of it to an increased shock factor when it's clearly '''illogical''' to do so. Needless to say, it can drive a perfect idea to make an entertaining story into the shitter, grating the nerves of even the most jaded audience. When commenting, the "edgelord" will simply push any predicament in the artwork to the darkest, deepest, worst outcome, while describing his fantasies. For example: In an adult and/or bondage predicament picture, edgelords can be found describing a paragraph of horrible fate the captive would suffer, *should* suffer because slaves are shit, and *deserve* abuse, even when the picture was of a predicament with nothing in context. Or he will simply fill the comment of any NSFW picture with his own sick fantasies, surely adding "women DESERVE it".

This is not to say that said dark elements like murder, slavery, rape and bodily harm are bad for literature, but rather that their sloppy execution with no regard to their depth is. As shown above, even the most "edgelord" of concepts can be salvaged and even made bearable with proper handling, especially going by the latter definition - but if you do it enough, the boundaries shift and what was edgy becomes the new norm, and there is always the risk of falling ''over'' the edge. This is why the old definition has fallen increasingly out of favor as time has gone on — people began seeing the dross sold under the title of "edgy", and the idea of what it meant thus moved away from the positive connotations marketing execs desired and closer to the qualities described above. Plus, this is the internet, and people would rather a word just be an insult or a compliment to reduce confusion.

==The Anatomy of Edginess==
Edginess is in some ways like a cargo cult. During WWII in the Pacific, the US military set up bases on remote, but inhabited islands, bringing with them a lot of stuff like planes and cars and so forth that was quite amazing to the stone age natives, to whom the world had been a few dozen square kilometers of land surrounded by ocean, with hazy stories of other such islands. When the military left, some of the natives took to making coconut and wooden radios and flight towers based off of some vague recollection of the military variants, unaware that making the shape alone does not get you the functional item.

[[File:Pizza-slicer.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The ultimate apotheosis of an edgelord: All edge, no point.]]
In that vein, most of what comes to mind when people envision "edgy" artworks tends to be the result of people who wanted to make ''morally grey'' characters and subject matter, but lack the maturity/experience/focus necessary to NOT end up with anything other than a multiple-personality-disordered mess or a power fantasy wrapped in propaganda. Someone with (at best) mediocre creative abilities sees some fiction that makes good use of melodrama, gritty settings, dark humor and such, made by people who know what the hell they're doing and figures "I can do that!", leading to said person haphazardly applying those elements incorrectly. The results of such efforts are either tiresome, unintentionally funny or just painful. The stereotypical teenager, especially one with gothic/emo tendencies or problems with authority, commonly embody this - all too eager for "adult" things (eg: violence, sex, etc.) in their limited perception of such, often born of denial. Individuals who pander to said demographic (or are otherwise just downright hacks) will favor this approach over any sense of complexity, subtlety, nuance and some actual understanding of the human condition.

===Edgy and [[Grimdark]]===
While edginess is frequently associated with invoking grimdark [[Derp|for the sake of it and nothing else]], it's important to remember that this alone does not edgy make. As an example, [[WH40K]]'s [[Imperium of Man]] has reasons to be fair and kind when capable: though it has plenty of genocide, xenocide (completely annihilating species even when they are gentle and kind), torture, forced labor (they draw the line at commercialized chattel slavery, but un-unionized indentured servitude is fair game), witch hunts and militarism that would give Hitler a chubby beyond the grave, said horrors have reasonable justifications. Aliens were buying and selling humans like pets and culling them by the billion, operating slaver outposts even in our solar system before the Emperor came into leading humanity into a roaring rampage of revenge. And regarding souls and the universe after the Heresy, any deviation from faith in the Emperor will ''literally'' send a human to hell upon death, with their soul becoming dæmon food (and/or sex toys).

Any mistreated machinery will attract foul entities and corruption that will fuck you up seven ways till Monday and chew you out; any ill-coaxed [[Machine Spirit]] will jam and blow up in your face; and any laxity will make [[Chaos]] cults pop up by the billion in a week. Then there's [[Necrons|the genocidal robots from another age]], [[Eldar|space elves that would murder a planet on the off chance that their]] [[Farseer]] would break a nail otherwise (and they're still the nice space elves despite that, as their [[Dark Eldar|webway dwelling cousins are even worse - murdering entire planets just because they like the sound of millions of people screaming]]), [[Orks|the ambulatory (AND belligerent) fungi that plague the entire galaxy in a series of wars]], and [[Tyranids|extragalactic horrors that intend to eat everyone's face.]] [[TL;DR]] The Imperium acts like an asshole Hitler/Hirohito bastard child because the alternative is much, MUCH worse.

At the level of narrative, the fact that things are very very bad is a core thematic element of this world. As pointed out there are reasons why things are so miserable in this world which flow logically and despite this there can be points of contrast. Imperials still have the same potential to love and be kind like modern real world humans do. The Tau are hopeful despite the evils of this world. Occasionally pragmatism can overcome the deep seeded prejudices to overcome greater evils, if only for a while. And even if it is preformed by Conscript Guardsmen, Commissars or Space Marines, each the product of horrendous military institutions, can fight to achieve acts of genuine (if still typically brutal) heroism.

Now if you want a senselessly edgy story in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, an example would be the now non-canon [[Khornate Knights]].

===Who's An Edgelord?===
Who's a cute little Edgelord? Yes, you, you adorable little mass-murderer, you!

"Edgelord" gets applied to two groups: '''Authors''' fixated on making edgy material, and the '''Edgy characters''' they write. While most of this article assumes the latter definition (as we at least try to avoid authorial mind-reading), it's quite possible for an Edgelord author to create an edgy work without an Edgelord character<ref>How? Well, just to start with, picture a modern retelling of The Little Match Girl (the one where the title character freezes to death on the street--looking back on it, Hans Christian Anderson was Edgelord as fuck).</ref>, and a non-Edgelord author to create an Edgelord character (either unintentionally, satirically, or de-constructively).

===Edgy Villains===

There's an important argument to be made about villains and edginess. Frequently, it's necessary to engage in authorial behavior that would be considered edgy in order to properly develop a bad guy. There are a few important questions to ask in this case, the largest ones being "is this a [[Mary Sue|Villain Sue]] situation, and if so, what kind of Villain Sue are we dealing with?"<ref>For an example of a non-Edgelord Villain Sue, there are plenty of Villain Sues who the author clearly hates, but can't bring themselves to kill off for reasons of marketability. It's usually only when the Doylist definition of Mary Sue comes into play, where the Author sees themselves as the villain and has more sympathy for them than the protagonist, that Edgelordery starts to set in.</ref> and "is the author's sympathies clearly with the villain's agenda?"<ref>Not with the villain himself; plenty of villains clearly have the author's sympathy (what [[TVTropes]] might call a "Villain Woobie" or "Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds"); what matters here is does the author believe what the villain believes. That may sound odd, but many cases of "The Bad Guy Was Right" involve characters created by another author, or are (usually bad) parody of such.</ref>

===Edgelords and [[Mary Sue]]s===

A lot of edgy characters also qualify as [[Mary Sue]]s. This is because many writers who aim for "edgy" in their works are terrible at writing, and writing a [[Mary Sue]] is a common result of terrible writing. Another reason is the "Power Fantasy" route, where the author uses their work and the character in question to attack something or someone from real-life that they oppose. There are a few important questions to ask in this case, the largest ones being "is this a Jerk Sue situation?", "do the villains represent a work the author hates?" and "do the villains represent a real-life person or group the author is against?"

Be on the look out for plot armor, protagonists who not only share their author's values, but are not challenged on these views in any way, and the other major Sue factors covered in our [[Mary Sue]] article.

===Sidenote: Chunni===

In some Weeb circles, an "Edgelord" is called "Chuuni", short for "Chuunibyou". This delightful Japanese word combines the concepts of "Sophomoric" ("Chuunibyou" literally translated means "Middle [School] 2[nd Year] Syndrome") and "Edgelord", with an optional side note of "I have supernatural powers". Importantly, the "Stupid and Lame" part is baked right into the word, while "Edgelord" is usually only ''implies'' stupidity.

===In closing===
There are many paths to success for a storyteller, some of which include going over dark territory in various ways or by innovating and pushing boundaries. However, all of them require care and attention to detail to pull off well. Being dark is not a magic bullet for achieving profoundness without trying, and using it as an outlet for personal grievances is the writing equivalent of walking through a minefield.

==How Can I Tell If My Character Is An Edgelord?==

Every edgelord has at least four qualities; skilled at violence, aggressive, has easy access to weapons and are some kind of non-conformist. These alone or even together do not make a character an edgelord. If the character has these four traits, each "Yes" answer from the list below gives your character a piece of edgelorddom;

* Are they a power fantasy against "The Man™"? Note, while it's possible to have an edgelord who's not targeting "The Man™" (since their targets can be enemies of what is usually called "The Man™", such as criminals or foreign enemies), a "yes" answer here automatically grants the character edgelord status (with one exception below).
** Bonus points if the writer's idea of "The Man™" is [[Capitalism|big business]], organized [[religion]], education or law enforcement. Double bonus points if it ''is'' a real-life group or industry, and triple bonus points if the real life group is already frequently targeted this way (like oil companies for industries or the Catholic Church for religious groups).
** The one exception are antagonistic characters who '''start out''' as merely mildly edgy (particularly antagonists of the "right target, wrong methods" variety), and only graduate to full edgelord status if other writers are allowed access to them or the current writer gets carried away.
* Do they openly mock altruistic traits like hope and love, compromise or faith or the Powers-That-Be (the latter ranging from openly mocking religious characters to an outright war on the gods)? Bonus points if they do so without suffering negative consequences for it.
* Do they have a backstory full of suffering?
* Are forgiveness and redemption things the character disregards if not actively despises?
** Partial credit is granted if they themselves are seeking redemption... by using the exact same methods they used to use, just against a different set of targets.
* Do they not care if they live or die? Or do they want to die?
* Do they have problems with authority? As in a negative attitude towards anyone besides themselves having authority over them.
* Are they heavily scarred individuals? (physical, emotional, whatever...)
* Do they regularly quote-mine philosophers or works of fiction and spout these quotes to validate their worldview? Bonus points if they alter the original quote.
* Do they share any of the same beliefs as the work's creator and openly express them? (for example, the protagonists of stories by [[Ayn Rand]] or [[Jack Chick]]). Bonus points if they're nihilistic. <ref>This item is more a [[Mary Sue]] trope, but there is significant overlap between edgelords and Mary Sues.</ref>
** Are these views never challenged or refuted in the story? Or, for partial credit, are the challengers clearly strawmen?
** The [[Star Trek]] Captain Exception: If said belief is cleanly confined to one speech towards the end of the story/episode, and the author seems to be legitimately trying to just sum up and state the message of the story, it usually doesn't count. (Normally not an issue for edgelords, but it has happened occasionally.)
* Do they always wear sinister-looking attire?
** Do they wear a cloak, a coat or an overcoat that looks like a cloak.
** Does their attire have [[Chaos|blades or spikes]] built in to it?
** Is it emblazoned with insults, profanities, curses or threats of violence?
** Does it come in dark colors?
* Do they wear warpaint?
* Do they have body modification, ranging from minor such as tattoos to extreme examples such as horns or wings? Bonus points if the modifications can be weaponized.
* Do they swear like a drunk pirate?
* Do they have a vice, such as smoking? Bonus points if they have an addiction (fantastical addictions count).
* Do they have plot armor? (such as the Punisher being able to go toe-to-toe against superpowered beings who’d mop the floor with him otherwise)
* Are they a protagonist or antagonist written by [[Gav Thorpe]], Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, [[A Song of Ice and Fire|George RR Martin]], Pat Mills or Alan Moore? (Note, an edgelord can be written by someone who's none of these people. And Moore and Martin, at least, are capable of writing protagonists and antagonists who aren't Edgelords despite lots of their characters being unnecessarily edgy.)

==Notable Edgelords==

===Comics===
* The Punisher (pictured above), depending on the writer but especially when it's Garth Ennis. The ultimate example being Ennis' professionally published Hate Fic [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher_Kills_the_Marvel_Universe "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe"].
* Billy Butcher from "The Boys", a comic series using [[Original character, do not steal|knock-offs of Marvel and DC supers]] in an anti-superhero genre power fantasy, with Billy himself being a racist Punisher knock-off and author mouthpiece.
* The Joker, depending on the writer.
* Lord Edgelord, later Lord Edgegod from Slackwyrm Keep. He's aware, and <s>he's loving it</s>***CLANG!*** There's no love in edge, only chaos!
* Adversary from DC comics (pictured below), as a jab at edgelord characters and perhaps also their fans. In addition to meeting most of the criteria above, he works for a demon named Lord Satanus who gave him his powers and is actually a kid in a wheelchair.

===Film===
* Jared Leto's Joker in "Suicide Squad (2016)".
** Compare this to Heath Ledger's Joker in ''The Dark Knight'' and Joqauin Phoenix's Joker in ''Joker''. Ledger's and Phoenix's portrayals were "edge with a point"; the former was about exploring human evils regarding terrorism and the latter was about exploring the origins of evil (both avoiding ideological baggage).
* Tyler Durden from "Fight Club". While he started out as "edge with a point" trying to give men catharsis from, and criticizing, the growing cultural and familial vacuum of the 90's, later in the film he descended into being a full-blown edgelord.
* [[Star Wars|Kylo Ren]] AKA Krylo Ben AKA Ben Swolo. The writers were doing it on purpose, to play up the First Order's dogmatic North Korea in space schtick, and to that end made Kylo an incredibly unsubtle Darth Vader pastiche. While "Kylo" may be the worst Skywalker ever, there is no denying that the edge is strong in his family. His mom's side are a bunch of crybaby desert backworlders with an incestuous sex drive and his dad was a scruffy, nerf herding spice smuggler - and all were war criminals, some with body counts in the hundred thousands and some with children's blood on their hands... He probably fits the mold better than we'd like to admit. Also his edge is undermined by fact that he never won a fight against [[Mary_Sue|Mar-Rey Sue Palpatine]] which doesn’t help things either.

===Live Action TV===
* Stargate's Sohkar- It's hard to get more edgelord than literally masquerading/cosplaying as Satan.

===Video Games===
* [[/v/|Shadow the Hedgehog]] for the PS2/XBox/Gamecube. For the unfamiliar: An edgy game about a cartoon hedgehog shooting enemies, yet ESRB rated for Everyone 10 and up.
** The villain Infinite from ''Sonic Forces'', as a parody of edgy Villain Sue characters.
* Several characters from World of Warcraft, prime examples being Deathwing, Sylvanas, Sargeras and Illidan Stormrage (pictured below).
** Special mention goes to pre-retcon Sargeras. Originally, Sargeras was so traumatized by the evil of the demons he fought... [[Stupid Evil|he became convinced that good was futile and conscripted those same demons into an army to destroy the cosmos]]).
* Reaper from Overwatch.
* Caesar's Legion and Caesar himself in [[Fallout|Fallout: New Vegas]] (along with some of their fans and the writer who created them).
* Not Important aka The Antagonist aka The Crusader from Hatred. Imagine every trope related to nihilistic spree shooters, push them to their uncomfortable extremes and then plop the result in a monochromatic mess of a game. What you get is the story about a very unlikable man with dialogue written by less likeable people (including an edgy as fuck death metal band) going around and killing everyone because...fuck you, it's edgy.

===Literature===
* [[Elric]] of Melnibone, arguably the first one.
* Euron Greyjoy, Littlefinger, and Ramsay Bolton from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]].
* Hamlet (yes, THAT Hamlet), possibly an example predating Elric. After his father dies dies, he wears black, becomes foreboding, dramatic and revenge obsessed for at least 6 months, monologues with skulls and murders his friends including the harmless father of his girlfriend (though to be fair he thought he was stabbing the man who he suspected killed his father).

===Tabletop Games===
* [[Blackguard]]s
* Vlaakith, the Queen of the [[Githyanki]]. On top of being a callous, violent, paranoid tyrannical lich who hates systems of authority unless they benefit her, especially religion... but she wants to become the goddess of her people. She values strength... but kills people who ''might'' become powerful enough to challenge her; textbook edgelord.
* [[Lolth]] from Dungeons and Dragons. Started with trying to overthrow her divine husband because she didn't like her job and it all went downhill from there. For more information, look at the [[Drow]] and remember they're like that because her laws require it.
* Warhammer settings have too many to list them all;
** 40k is the worst offender in that regard, so let's just say the [[Black Templars]], the [[Marines Malevolent]] and most [[Chaos Space Marine|traitor marines]] for this one.
*** On that note [[Konrad Curze]]...
*** ...[[Fabius Bile]]...
*** ...and the [[Dark Eldar]], to such a degree they each deserve a separate bullet point all to themselves..
** For Warhammer Fantasy there's [[Valnir the Reaper]], [[Nagash]] and most [[Dark Elves]]. (None of whom are quite so ''needlessly'' edgy as to deserve their own separate bullet points, unlike the 40k Edgelords above.<ref>Nagash might come close, but is presented as more "he's just an asshole", compared to the "he might have a point" presentation of Bile or full Tragic Backstory of Curze. A similar point can be made about the Dark Elves (just assholes) compared to the Dark Eldar (who need to feed Slaanesh because if they don't s/he eats them).</ref>)
** On that note, [[Malal]] among the other [[Chaos Gods|Ruinous Powers]].

===Fan Works===
* [[Drizzt]] clones with extreme Alignment leanings, either towards good or evil.
* Various [[Original character, do not steal|fan-made]] and canon Sonic characters, particularly Shadow.
* The protagonist of "Ambience: A Fleet Symphony" and the story itself. A Fallout KanColle crossover fanfic that thinks it's a regular KanColle fanfic. It revolves around rape, killing, eugenics and an violent solipsistic protagonist with enough plot armor to make Ciaphas Cain look like a [[Star Trek|redshirt]] one day away from retirement. When the story was posted to a forum and scorned, the writer went ballistic against their critics.
* The whole "*teleports behind you* Nothing personal kid. *stabs you*" [[meme]] originated as a parody of edgelord characters.

===Anime===
* Half of the [[Animu]] protagonists in existence. Bonus points if the genre is [[Isekai]], triple points if there's a harem involved.
* Bakugo from My Hero Academia probably counts as a deconstruction/parody of one. What else do you say about somebody who chooses the codename "King of Explodo-Kills" and later "Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight" while training to be a super''hero''?

[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Lord_of_the_edge_by_takfloyd-d99sq48.png|The edgelord mindset in a nutshell.
File:1699592-elric_of_melnibone_by_isra2007.jpg|If any fictional edgelord could be called well-written, it'd be Elric.
File:Adversary_01.jpg|"Adversary" from DC Comics. Sinister clothes, aggressive name, smoking, swearing, trying to kill Superman for "rep"...
File:Tyler-durden-7.jpg|The face that launched a thousand edgelords (ironically doesn't wear dark clothes).
File:Darion Mograine.jpg|There's a small but distinct line between edgy...
File:531939-vertical-blizzard-wallpapers-2560x1440.jpg|... and edgelord.
</gallery>

Katakros

2021-05-31T02:46:32Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:EC9F:722:6923:D581: /* Wrath of the Everchosen */

[[File:Katakros.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Dude gave himself a bulge bigger than most heads.]]
{{Topquote|I take no joy in this. Nor do I despair. It is merely something that must be done. All we ask is payment of the Tithe. These people had their chance! They chose their fate! Perhaps I am wrong though... perhaps I deceive myself. For in truth, there is... some joy in this.|Katakros on his 9 to 5.}}

{{Topquote|[[Just_As_Planned|All proceeds as I have predicted.]]|Katakros, shortly after losing the majority of his army and having his body destroyed.}}

Full name Orpheon Katakros, the newest member of the <s>DK Crew</s> [[Mortarch]]s, Katakros was revealed after a series of hints. The first was he had died and returned again and again, and had survived "The fall of the Storm God's hammer", which was revealed to mean he'd fought Sigmar himself one-on-one and was defeated. The other hints were that he died a general defending his birth city, and came back in death as an Emperor. His promotional material was visually similar to [[Drachenfels]], while some hopefuls thought that there was Tomb Kings influence in the army he led. This also came after the plot had Lady Olynder working to free an ancient evil that Sigmar had beef with in the past, which got many people thinking he was either Drachenfels or [[Krell]].

What was the end result of all this speculation? Orpheon Katakros; a new character nobody had ever heard about before being introduced in an ''"oh by the way"'' fashion. If he had a voice, it would be Jim Parsons The Big Bang Theory (or for a serious example, Stephen Lang).

==History==
===Life===
Hailing from the Realm of Beasts, in life he was an incredibly talented [[Creed|tactician and strategist]], and thought it was his destiny to conquer and rule everywhere he went, Alexander the Great-style. However, he was bad at making friends due to being a bossy perfectionist and a callous workaholic. It also didn't help that in the army that he served, the vast majority of the upper command structure was made up of appointed aristocrats who did not take kindly to this bossy commoner upstart who had somehow risen all the way to become a general.

He died for the first time against Beastmen when he made a charge but no one was there to support his autistic ass. As a result he got plucked off his chariot and ripped to pieces by a Ghorgon, (just managing [[Awesome|to deal a fatal blow to it as he died]]).

===Death and Undeath===
[[File:Katakros-rito.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Katakros back in the Age of Myth.]]
Katakros' manner of death gave him a disdain for mounts of all kinds, so in undeath he walks everywhere. His soul first went to the afterlife Ossia, a place where hard workers are rewarded by getting to do everything they enjoyed about their jobs with none of the downsides. Neighboring Ossia was another belonging to the same culture known as Necros, a place where the very same decadent aristocracy that had criticized and belittled Katakros' work lived out their afterlives being pampered and tended to as they had been in life. Seeing this disparity between Ossia and Necros, and since neither afterlife had a god they were on their own in disputes, Katakros began harboring an ever growing resentment for his spoiled neighbors, feeling that they were unworthy of such a reward in comparison to all that he had done in his life. Katakros' skill saw him rise to the position of general, but no one liked him there either because he was as callous and self-centered as ever - to the point that even Ossia's famously ruthless military officers were shocked - which reminded them of Nagash.

Speaking of the sociopathic super-skeleton, this was at the time Nagash had just started his omnoming of all the death gods and afterlives. By then Katakros led Ossia and wasn't keen to become Nagash's snack, so he annxed Necros under his rule (Necros was so decadent they didn't even have a standing army). When Nagash's armies arrived, Katakros managed to defend his turf better than anyone else, since while none of the people liked Katakros, they could gauge his callousness and he got results. It got to the point Nagash had to step in personally to curb stomp him. Katakros, seeing the situation was hopeless, offered his services before he was stomped out and Nagash actually didn't stomp and said yes, which should say a lot about this boy.

He became one of the first Bonereapers, which was all fine and dandy until Sigmar invaded. Having been ordered to stop Sigmar by Nagash, Katakros took his forces to engage him despite thinking he could not actually win. After Sigmar smashed through his forces, Katakros, being ''"perhaps the greatest military strategist - living, or dead - the Mortal Realms have ever known"'', figured that he would be able to take Sigmar on in a one-on-one duel, guessing that that his glaive might be able to kill Sigmar because it was made using similar Warpstone methods to [[Fellblade|the weapon that slew Nagash in ages past]]. Naturally, Sigmar concaved the fucking idiot's skull with Ghal Maraz and won. In the duel, Katakros is described as putting up a good fight but Sigmar was far too strong for him.

Since this was before Sigmar thought about making the best warriors/leaders into Stormcast, (and apparently he didn't feel like turning ''"perhaps the greatest military strategist (living, or dead) the Mortal Realms have ever known"'' into a Sigmarine later), he threw the general into a Stormvault. Katakros spent his time mulling over tactics, stewing in his rage towards Sigmar and probably [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZa79QGDeo8 bouncing a ball against the opposite wall to pass the time]. Unfortunately, rather than do something sensible like move it someplace Nagash couldn't easily access it, Sigmar trusted the enchantments to hide it from Nagash. Jump forward in time, Lady Olynder opened it up and here he is, ready to start the Tithe.

[[File:Katakros and the boys.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Katakros' final form (note the bulge here is smaller than his model's).]]That being said, Katakros is the Mortarch of the Necropolis, and has his own sub-faction, the [[Ossiarch Bonereapers]] (also called the Ossiarch legions). He also commands his own personal legion of 10,000 Cohorts within the Ossiarch legions called the Mortis Pretorians. Unlike most undead characters inhabiting thin bone-bodies that are inevitably broken, Katakros is a soul housed within a fucking massive bone-construct (one that has a ridiculous bulge that would make David Bowie from Labyrinth blush) and also leads a legion of bone constructs, each housing several souls to make them more effective then brittle skeletons or slow-ass zombies (but for some reason still less effective than grave guard, who cost only 10 points more than mortek guards). Apparently [[Nagash]] saw Sigmar's [[Stormcast Eternals|Stormcasts]] and wanted to steal the gimmick for his own in revenge for all those tasty souls he will never own.

Katakros is also described as being "perhaps the greatest military strategist (living, or dead) the Mortal Realms have ever known", which is at odds with his track record seeing as how he fought and lost three times in three major ways. He is also seen as the paragon of Nagash’s dreams for the Mortal Realms; a consummate professional focused solely of the efficient completion of tasks, unfettered by the weight of emotion or free will despite demonstrating a capacity for joy and self-deluding in the above quote.

Also, he looks like a [[Primarch]] cosplaying as an [[Alien|Alien: Covenant Space Engineer]]. Because apparently THAT is a successful enough idea to rip off, even if it does match the alien molded bone look of his skeleton Stormcasts.

===Wrath of the Everchosen===
[[File:Katakros on the march.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Say what you will about his tactics, he looks cool marching into battle.]]
Currently Katakros is leading an invasion on the Allpoints, which means he was guaranteed to run into Archaon, the guy who beat both Sigmar and Nagash while Katakros beat neither. Joining forces with Olynder and some Nighthaunt, Katakros led his armies in an attack on the Allpoints while Archaon was away. After Olynder killed the Chaos Lord Archaon had left in charge, Katakros fortified the area around the Shyishian realmgate, making a fortress called the Arc Terminus, which looks like a massive skeletal hand reaching out from Shyish.

Then he led the Bonereapers against the Varanspire just as Archaon arrived back with his Varanguard. Unsurprisingly, all of his bodyguards fell before Archaon and Dorghar, so he took on the Everchosen himself and got his ass kicked after a lengthy fight. Convalescing back in the Arc Terminus, Katakros even tried to play it off as a [[just as planned]] moment, having made a series of back-up bodies just like his first one and transferring his soul to one of them. He also planned for a defeat, intending to learn more about Archaon each time they fight and eventually kill him.

So now he's heading right back to the fight, likely leading to Archaon ripping him apart a second time, except now Katakros is now without the majority of his army and, due to the properties of the Slayer of Kings, the pain from Archaon's killing blow(s) doesn't fade even when Katakros transferred bodies, implying his very soul is wounded (for some reason Katakros thinks this soul damage won't be an issue, despite that being [[Not As Planned]]).

It seems he has adopted Nagash's habit of declaring his own failures as mere setbacks, which debatably may hold water, given that both characters are able to continuously come back after getting pummeled or their plans getting disrupted. The main reason for this plan being to gather slowly gather intelligence on the forces of Archaon with each loss, despite the possibility that Archaon could turn it back on him and learn how Katakros' forces work. He already showed his best and brightest soldiers and generals in his initial put down of the Bonereapers, so now Katakros can build a strategy around that.

Katakros isn’t trying to conquer the Eightpoints in a a swift decisive manner, rather he wants to stay dug in and play the long game, slowly building his repository of knowledge and army until he deems the time is appropriate. Why he thinks this is a valid strategy at the rate he's losing ground and troops is left a mystery, especially since Chaos can also resurrect their own champions and keep sending them back in if the Chaos Gods feel like it (and then there's the daemonic armies...), rendering the war of attrition he wants to get into impossible to win.

It is worth remembering that before Archaon returned, Katakros did secure a foothold for Death in the Eightpoints by capturing and fortifying the Realmgate to Shyish, as well as repel Bloodbound armies sent to tear it down. Somehow he thinks he'll be able to keep control of it despite his plan to lose several times in a row.

===Broken Realms===
As part of her scheme to attain godhood, [[Morathi]] petitioned Katakros to launch another attack against the Varanspire so that (most of) Archaon’s forces would be distracted so she and her Stormcast “allies” could accomplish their own goal. Katakros agreed after being paid in a buttload of shadow magic infused bones and deciding that many of the mortals would die anyway in whatever their attack was so it all works out.

What doesn’t work out though is his master Nagash getting his skull caved in by Teclis and friends plus sealed away in Nagashizzar while Katakros was away in his Eightpoints campaign. Though Katakros doesn't seem to put out by this, and just continued with business as usual. He didn't even mind Olynder working with Be'lakor since it hurt Sigmar's plans in a big way and swelled her ranks (even despite Neferata warning him that Be'lakor's plans would hurt them too). Since he’s the most loyal to Nagash (barring the MIA Arkhan) it’s possible he’ll try to stop the more fractious death armies from splitting off if he takes his focus off the campaign in the Eightpoints.

==Trivia==
* Katakros' last name likely derives from, and is an anagram of, the Greek root word for cataphract, which is "kataphraktos". The word literally means "armored" or "completely enclosed", fitting for Katakros' new undead body made of all-enclosing inscrolled bone which acts as armor. It's also fitting as cataphracts were soldiers with a vital tactical role, and Katakros in life and death is both a soldier and obsessed with tactics. There's also an ironic element, as cataphracts were cavalry which Katakros is never said to have been; he was a charioteer in life and in undeath he actively avoids using mounts.

[[Category: Age of Sigmar]]
[[Category: Ossiarch Bonereapers]]

Katakros

2021-05-31T02:38:30Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:EC9F:722:6923:D581: /* Broken Realms */

[[File:Katakros.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Dude gave himself a bulge bigger than most heads.]]
{{Topquote|I take no joy in this. Nor do I despair. It is merely something that must be done. All we ask is payment of the Tithe. These people had their chance! They chose their fate! Perhaps I am wrong though... perhaps I deceive myself. For in truth, there is... some joy in this.|Katakros on his 9 to 5.}}

{{Topquote|[[Just_As_Planned|All proceeds as I have predicted.]]|Katakros, shortly after losing the majority of his army and having his body destroyed.}}

Full name Orpheon Katakros, the newest member of the <s>DK Crew</s> [[Mortarch]]s, Katakros was revealed after a series of hints. The first was he had died and returned again and again, and had survived "The fall of the Storm God's hammer", which was revealed to mean he'd fought Sigmar himself one-on-one and was defeated. The other hints were that he died a general defending his birth city, and came back in death as an Emperor. His promotional material was visually similar to [[Drachenfels]], while some hopefuls thought that there was Tomb Kings influence in the army he led. This also came after the plot had Lady Olynder working to free an ancient evil that Sigmar had beef with in the past, which got many people thinking he was either Drachenfels or [[Krell]].

What was the end result of all this speculation? Orpheon Katakros; a new character nobody had ever heard about before being introduced in an ''"oh by the way"'' fashion. If he had a voice, it would be Jim Parsons The Big Bang Theory (or for a serious example, Stephen Lang).

==History==
===Life===
Hailing from the Realm of Beasts, in life he was an incredibly talented [[Creed|tactician and strategist]], and thought it was his destiny to conquer and rule everywhere he went, Alexander the Great-style. However, he was bad at making friends due to being a bossy perfectionist and a callous workaholic. It also didn't help that in the army that he served, the vast majority of the upper command structure was made up of appointed aristocrats who did not take kindly to this bossy commoner upstart who had somehow risen all the way to become a general.

He died for the first time against Beastmen when he made a charge but no one was there to support his autistic ass. As a result he got plucked off his chariot and ripped to pieces by a Ghorgon, (just managing [[Awesome|to deal a fatal blow to it as he died]]).

===Death and Undeath===
[[File:Katakros-rito.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Katakros back in the Age of Myth.]]
Katakros' manner of death gave him a disdain for mounts of all kinds, so in undeath he walks everywhere. His soul first went to the afterlife Ossia, a place where hard workers are rewarded by getting to do everything they enjoyed about their jobs with none of the downsides. Neighboring Ossia was another belonging to the same culture known as Necros, a place where the very same decadent aristocracy that had criticized and belittled Katakros' work lived out their afterlives being pampered and tended to as they had been in life. Seeing this disparity between Ossia and Necros, and since neither afterlife had a god they were on their own in disputes, Katakros began harboring an ever growing resentment for his spoiled neighbors, feeling that they were unworthy of such a reward in comparison to all that he had done in his life. Katakros' skill saw him rise to the position of general, but no one liked him there either because he was as callous and self-centered as ever - to the point that even Ossia's famously ruthless military officers were shocked - which reminded them of Nagash.

Speaking of the sociopathic super-skeleton, this was at the time Nagash had just started his omnoming of all the death gods and afterlives. By then Katakros led Ossia and wasn't keen to become Nagash's snack, so he annxed Necros under his rule (Necros was so decadent they didn't even have a standing army). When Nagash's armies arrived, Katakros managed to defend his turf better than anyone else, since while none of the people liked Katakros, they could gauge his callousness and he got results. It got to the point Nagash had to step in personally to curb stomp him. Katakros, seeing the situation was hopeless, offered his services before he was stomped out and Nagash actually didn't stomp and said yes, which should say a lot about this boy.

He became one of the first Bonereapers, which was all fine and dandy until Sigmar invaded. Having been ordered to stop Sigmar by Nagash, Katakros took his forces to engage him despite thinking he could not actually win. After Sigmar smashed through his forces, Katakros, being ''"perhaps the greatest military strategist - living, or dead - the Mortal Realms have ever known"'', figured that he would be able to take Sigmar on in a one-on-one duel, guessing that that his glaive might be able to kill Sigmar because it was made using similar Warpstone methods to [[Fellblade|the weapon that slew Nagash in ages past]]. Naturally, Sigmar concaved the fucking idiot's skull with Ghal Maraz and won. In the duel, Katakros is described as putting up a good fight but Sigmar was far too strong for him.

Since this was before Sigmar thought about making the best warriors/leaders into Stormcast, (and apparently he didn't feel like turning ''"perhaps the greatest military strategist (living, or dead) the Mortal Realms have ever known"'' into a Sigmarine later), he threw the general into a Stormvault. Katakros spent his time mulling over tactics, stewing in his rage towards Sigmar and probably [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZa79QGDeo8 bouncing a ball against the opposite wall to pass the time]. Unfortunately, rather than do something sensible like move it someplace Nagash couldn't easily access it, Sigmar trusted the enchantments to hide it from Nagash. Jump forward in time, Lady Olynder opened it up and here he is, ready to start the Tithe.

[[File:Katakros and the boys.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Katakros' final form (note the bulge here is smaller than his model's).]]That being said, Katakros is the Mortarch of the Necropolis, and has his own sub-faction, the [[Ossiarch Bonereapers]] (also called the Ossiarch legions). He also commands his own personal legion of 10,000 Cohorts within the Ossiarch legions called the Mortis Pretorians. Unlike most undead characters inhabiting thin bone-bodies that are inevitably broken, Katakros is a soul housed within a fucking massive bone-construct (one that has a ridiculous bulge that would make David Bowie from Labyrinth blush) and also leads a legion of bone constructs, each housing several souls to make them more effective then brittle skeletons or slow-ass zombies (but for some reason still less effective than grave guard, who cost only 10 points more than mortek guards). Apparently [[Nagash]] saw Sigmar's [[Stormcast Eternals|Stormcasts]] and wanted to steal the gimmick for his own in revenge for all those tasty souls he will never own.

Katakros is also described as being "perhaps the greatest military strategist (living, or dead) the Mortal Realms have ever known", which is at odds with his track record seeing as how he fought and lost three times in three major ways. He is also seen as the paragon of Nagash’s dreams for the Mortal Realms; a consummate professional focused solely of the efficient completion of tasks, unfettered by the weight of emotion or free will despite demonstrating a capacity for joy and self-deluding in the above quote.

Also, he looks like a [[Primarch]] cosplaying as an [[Alien|Alien: Covenant Space Engineer]]. Because apparently THAT is a successful enough idea to rip off, even if it does match the alien molded bone look of his skeleton Stormcasts.

===Wrath of the Everchosen===
[[File:Katakros on the march.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Say what you will about his tactics, he looks cool marching into battle.]]
Currently Katakros is leading an invasion on the Allpoints, which means he was guaranteed to run into Archaon, the guy who beat both Sigmar and Nagash while Katakros beat neither. Joining forces with Olynder and some Nighthaunt, Katakros led his armies in an attack on the Allpoints while Archaon was away. After Olynder killed the Chaos Lord Archaon had left in charge, Katakros fortified the area around the Shyishian realmgate, making a fortress called the Arc Terminus, which looks like a massive skeletal hand reaching out from Shyish.

Then he led the Bonereapers against the Varanspire just as Archaon arrived back with his Varanguard. Unsurprisingly, all of his bodyguards fell before Archaon and Dorghar, so he took on the Everchosen himself and got his ass kicked. Convalescing back in the Arc Terminus, Katakros even tried to play it off as a [[just as planned]] moment by possessing another body identical to his old one and claiming he meant to lose, the plan being to learn more about Archaon each time they fight and eventually kill him. It's revealed that Katakros has as many duplicate bodies as the plot demands (which makes you wonder why Nagash didn't make all of the Bonereapers like that), so now he's heading right back to the fight so that Archaon can rip him apart a second time, except now Katakros is without his glaive, the majority of his army is gone and the pain from Archaon's killing blow(s) doesn't fade even if he transfers bodies (for some reason Katakros thinks the pain won't be an issue, despite that being [[Not As Planned]]).

It seems he has adopted Nagash's habit of declaring his own failures as mere setbacks, which debatably may hold water, given that both characters are able to continuously come back after getting pummeled or their plans getting disrupted. The main reason for this plan being to gather slowly gather intelligence on the forces of Archaon with each loss, despite the possibility that Archaon could turn it back on him and learn how Katakros' forces work. He already showed his best and brightest soldiers and generals in his initial put down of the Bonereapers, so now Katakros can build a strategy around that. Katakros isn’t trying to conquer the Eightpoints in a a swift decisive manner, rather he wants to stay dug in and play the long game, slowly building his repository of knowledge and army until he deems the time is appropriate. Why he thinks this is a valid strategy at the rate he's losing ground and troops is left a mystery, especially since Chaos can also resurrect their own champions and keep sending them back in if the Chaos Gods feel like it (and then there's the daemonic armies...), rendering the war of attrition he wants to get into impossible to win.

It is worth remembering that before Archaon returned, Katakros did secure a foothold for Death in the Eightpoints by capturing and fortifying the Realmgate to Shyish, as well as repel an army of Bloodbound sent to tear it down. Somehow he thinks he'll be able to keep control of it despite his plan to lose several times in a row.

===Broken Realms===
As part of her scheme to attain godhood, [[Morathi]] petitioned Katakros to launch another attack against the Varanspire so that (most of) Archaon’s forces would be distracted so she and her Stormcast “allies” could accomplish their own goal. Katakros agreed after being paid in a buttload of shadow magic infused bones and deciding that many of the mortals would die anyway in whatever their attack was so it all works out.

What doesn’t work out though is his master Nagash getting his skull caved in by Teclis and friends plus sealed away in Nagashizzar while Katakros was away in his Eightpoints campaign. Though Katakros doesn't seem to put out by this, and just continued with business as usual. He didn't even mind Olynder working with Be'lakor since it hurt Sigmar's plans in a big way and swelled her ranks (even despite Neferata warning him that Be'lakor's plans would hurt them too). Since he’s the most loyal to Nagash (barring the MIA Arkhan) it’s possible he’ll try to stop the more fractious death armies from splitting off if he takes his focus off the campaign in the Eightpoints.

==Trivia==
* Katakros' last name likely derives from, and is an anagram of, the Greek root word for cataphract, which is "kataphraktos". The word literally means "armored" or "completely enclosed", fitting for Katakros' new undead body made of all-enclosing inscrolled bone which acts as armor. It's also fitting as cataphracts were soldiers with a vital tactical role, and Katakros in life and death is both a soldier and obsessed with tactics. There's also an ironic element, as cataphracts were cavalry which Katakros is never said to have been; he was a charioteer in life and in undeath he actively avoids using mounts.

[[Category: Age of Sigmar]]
[[Category: Ossiarch Bonereapers]]

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Death/Nighthaunt

2021-05-31T02:30:34Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:EC9F:722:6923:D581: /* Named Characters */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Nighthaunt|Logo=LadyOlynderMortarch.png|Alliance=Death|Motto=Wooo!! I'm a ghosty!}}

Get ready to have [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSaqSVi--Ms Grim Grinning Ghosts] playing on a loop because the ghosts of the Mortal Realms have come out to socialize!

==Why play Nighthaunt?==

'''Pros'''
*Army wide Ethereal rule means enemy rend has no effect at all on your save rolls.
*Army wide ignore wounds and mortal wounds on a 6.
*Army wide fly means you pay no heed to the idea of "Battle lines", just go above your enemy and hit them where it hurts.
*Strong leadership and small army size means routing is never an issue
*Dish out mortal wounds like it's nobody's business.
*GW support, with some of the best models released recently.
*You have one of the best mobility in the game. With deep strike, teleportation, and that all of your units fly. You can run around your enemy(or crash into them like a screaming banshee train) with ease! and you're not all that fragile too.
*12 hero options to choose from. Spoilt for choice.
*Your main motivation is hatred of Sigmarines.
*Our army-specific Endless spells have cool models.
*Stupidly easy to paint. Just prime them white and apply some pale shades of greens or blues to give them a [[spook]]y appearance.

'''Cons'''
*Despite perfectly fitting the aesthetic, Mortis Engines aren't Nighthaunt units.
*Our army-specific Endless Spells suck crunch-wise, either being overcosted for what they do or too unreliable.
*Like a lot of Death armies, your heroes are the chain that binds the army together. If they get killed you might as well go back to the grave.
*12 hero options to choose from. Whaimmagonnadoo?
*Not all those 12 options are all that superb either
*Pray to Nagash for those 10's on the charge, because you're going to need them.
*Eats Mortal Wounds like a chump; you're going to need that 6+ FNP, since that's almost all you get.
*Depending on your opinion of mono-pose models, you will either love or hate the Nighthaunt range.
* They are very bad to transport. Many Nighthaunt models are made with a single small connecting point to the base along with parts that stick out like small bits and weapons. Take a leaf from Sylvaneth (hehe) when it comes to transporting your army anywhere, lest you snap your precious models and doom yourself with trying to superglue a 2mm surface together.
*Ethereal is a HEAVY point tax. You'll feel that all your models are 10-30% more expensive point wise than they would be due to not being affected by Rend. And in some match ups, Ethereal means very little.

==Rulebooks==
The ''Nighthaunt Battletome'' has all the Warscrolls, Battations and Allegiance Abilities.
*This should be supplemented with the Nighthaunt ''Errata'' and ''Designers' Commentary'' from the [https://www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/ FAQs].
*Matched play points are in ''General's Handbook 2019''.
*Alternatively up to date warscrolls can be found in the ''WH AoS'' app. Warscrolls on the GW webstore match those in the Battletome.

As with all factions you'll want:
*The core rules are either [https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Warhammer-Age-of-Sigmar-Rules downloadable] or in the ''Core Book''.
*Games taking place in a Realm need the Realm of Battle rules from the ''Core Book''.
*In you want to take advantage of realm specific artefacts you'll need the Artefacts Of The Realms section from the ''Malign Sorcery'' book.
*Matched play battleplans are split across the ''Core Book'' and ''General's Handbook 2019''.
*''All'' books should be supplemented with any updates from the [https://www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/ FAQs].

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Nighthaunt |points=[https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/e2513c4c.pdf Nighthaunt Errata]}}

==Allegiance Abilities==
===Battle Traits===
*'''Deathless Spirits:''' Each time a '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit takes a wound/mortal wound, if that unit is wholly within 12" of your general or any other '''NIGHTHAUNT HERO''' it can ignore the wound on a dice result of 6. Given how fragile a lot of your units are, this is a godsend.
*'''Aura of Dread:''' -1 Bravery to enemy units within 6" of yours. Decent, but nothing special.... until you read below.
*'''Feed on Terror:''' If an enemy unit fails a battleshock test, a '''NIGHTHAUNT HERO''' within 6" heals 1 wound. Adds a bit of sustainability considering how you desperately need to keep your heroes... unlive?
*'''From the Underworld They Come:''' For each unit you set-up on the battlefield you can keep them in reserve. Then you can deep-strike them with all of the normal limitations (9" range, can't move yadda yadda). No need to roll a dice now!
*'''Wave of Terror:''' When a '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit makes an unmodified charge roll of 10+. The charging unit can immediately fight, and can still fight again in the following combat phase.This is fucking illegal and incredibly powerful.
*'''Spectral Summons:''' A Command Ability for your general. At the start of your movement phase pick a friendly '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit on the battlefield, then teleport it to your general. Entirely within 12" of your general and 9" from any enemy unit. Great to pull a unit away that's been charged by something that's about to wreck them or to charge with something pulled from the backline or to support a unit with another HERO or... you get the idea.

===Command Traits===
*'''Hatred of the Living:''' Your general can re-roll all hits unless the target has the DEATH key word.
*'''Terrifying Entity:''' At the start of the enemy movement phase, roll a d6 for each enemy unit within 3" than your general. If the result is equal to or greater than their bravery characteristic, that unit must retreat. Combos with your -1 bravery aura from Aura of Dread. Amazing against mob armies with low base bravery. Get them to retreat and then charge them again for the chance of that tasty, tasty 10+ charge.
*'''Lingering Spirit:''' The general gets +1 wound. Absolute trash unless for some reason you're using one of the more subpar heroes.
*'''Spiteful Spirit:''' If an enemy unit inflicts a wound on your general in melee combat, roll a d6. If you roll a 5+, enemy unit takes a mortal wound after all attacks have been made. Good on a Knight of Shrouds.
*'''Cloaked in Shadow:''' Gives -1 to hit for ranged attacks vs. the General. It's worth noting that with Look Out, Sir! it becomes -2.
*'''Ruler of the Spirit Hosts:''' At start of hero phase, return d3 models to a friendly '''SUMMONABLE NIGHTHAUNT''' unit within 9" of the general. Use on Hexwraiths or Spirit Hosts for maximum wound-return efficiency.

===Weapons of the Damned===
All Artefacts in this list requires you to pick one of the bearers melee weapons

*'''Shadow's Edge:''' An unmodified hit roll of 6 using that weapon deals d3 mortal wounds and the attack sequence ends. Basically gives a '''HERO''' an improved Frightful Touch, note that this does stack if they already have that rule. Kind of wasted on weapons with a damage stat higher than 1, but funny on a Cairn Wraith who can smack down 2+d3 MW each time he get's a 6.
*'''Reaper of Sorrows:''' Before attacking, roll 2D6. If the rolls exceed the target units Bravery then the Rend characteristic of this weapon is changed to -3. Since there is very little overlap between "units with low Bravery" and "units against which -3 Rend isn't wasted", better skip this one.
*'''Balefire Blade:''' Add 1 to the weapon's damage characteristic. Not bad on a Knight of Shrouds on mount, since it give's him a nice flat 3 Damage. If you're taking the Nighthaunt battalion which gives him an extra attack, consider it.
*'''Slitter:''' Every time the bearer is chosen to fight, but before piling in you can roll a dice against a model within 1". If the roll exceeds their wound characteristic, it is slain. Meaning you can pick the model you want to be removed from the unit, not your opponent. This can lead to some very interesting situations, considering the new rules for cohesion...
*'''Headsman's Judgement:''' Add 1 to the hit roll and wound roll. Just in case you'd like your Executioner to be able to pull his weight. Or stop pretending and give it to a Knight of Shrouds.
*'''Shrieking Blade:''' Subtract 1 from hit rolls made with melee weapons against the bearer.

===Relics of the Underworld===
*'''Cloak of the Waxing Moon:''' In melee, the owner's Deathless Spirits save works on a 5+ (normal wounds only).
*'''Pendant of the Fell Wind:''' Add +3" to the movement of any Nighthaunt units wholly within 12" of this character at the start of their phase. Perfect when the 6" Move of Spirit Hosts and Chainrasps aren't doing it for you, or combine with Chronomantic Cogs for Grimghast Reapers who move 13" and then charge 2d6+2".
*'''Dreadbolt Ring:''' If this model inflicts one or more wounds in the combat phase, then inflict d3 mortal wounds on an enemy unit within 3" after this model has finished attacking.
*'''Mirror of Screaming Souls:''' At the start of your shooting phase, roll 2D6 for each enemy unit within 8" of the bearer. If you roll above bravery, 1 mortal wound. Decent on a banshee or durable beatstick.
*'''Midnight Tome:''' The model becomes a Wizard and can cast/unbind once per phase and knows the two basic spells. If the model is already a wizard, it can cast one more spell.
*'''Covetous Familiar:''' At the start of each combat phase, roll a dice for every enemy unit within 3". On a 2+ they take a mortal wound. Better than the Dreadbolt Ring if you wanna get surrounded by multiple units, plus it goes off before anyone attacks.

===Infernal Lanterns===
Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern only.
*'''Lightshard of the Harvest Moon:''' Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, every '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit wholly within 12" of the bearer rerolls all to hit when they attack in the combat phase.
*'''Wychlight Lantern:''' Add 1 to the bearer's casting roll.
*'''Beacon of Nagashizzar:''' Add +3 to the heal or resurrect roll when the bearer casts Spectral Lure.

===Notable Artifacts of the Realms===
Blade of Secrets- perfect for a dreadblade harrow unit that can teleport next to a caster and stop a specific spell that is causing your army grief for the rest of the game.

===Lore of the Underworld===
Like several armies you get a set of spells available to any '''NIGHTHAUNT WIZARDS'''.

*'''Soul Cage:''' Casting Value 6. If successfully cast pick an enemy unit within 12” of the caster that is visible to it. Until the start of your next hero phase, that unit fights at the end of the combat phase. In addition, the unit cannot retreat. ''A very nice way to deal with deathstars by using this and charging multiple units at it.''
*'''Spirit Drain:''' Casting Value 4. If successfully cast pick an enemy model within 18” of the caster that is visible to it. Roll number of dice equal to the wounds characteristic of the model. For each roll of a 6+ the model suffers 1 mortal wound. ''A Monster killer if there ever was one. Remember it's the Characteristic, so you can use this on a big beastie on it's last leg(s) to finish it off.''
*'''Lifestealer:''' Casting Value 7. If successfully cast pick an enemy unit within 12” of the caster that is visible to it. The unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. For every mortal wound inflicted in this manner, the caster heals 1 wound. ''This works great with Reikenor the Grimhailer. Snuff out your own corpse candle and cast this spell on a natural 4, and have a guaranteed wound to heal!''
*'''Reaping Scythe:''' Casting Value 4. If successfully cast pick one of this models melee weapons. You may reroll all failed to-hit and to-wound rolls made for that weapon until the start of your next hero phase.''Great on any kind of '''HERO''' that you turned into a wizard since most of them are beatsticks.''
*'''Shade Mist:''' Casting Value 6. If successfully cast pick a Nighthaunt unit within 12” of the caster. Until the start of your next hero phase, subtract 1 from all wound rolls made for attacks targeting this unit. ''Great for changing the odds on a unit's survival and complicating your opponent's targeting decisions.''
*'''Spectral Tether:''' Casting Value 6. If successfully cast pick a friendly '''NIGHTHAUNT HERO''' unit within 12”. That unit immediately heals D3 wounds. ''Mediocre use of a spell slot.''

===Endless Spells===
New to Second Edition, you're the other first to gain Faction Exclusive Endless Spells! These can only be cast by '''NIGHTHAUNT WIZARDS''' or '''NAGASH, SUPREME LORD OF THE UNDEAD'''. However, these are honestly pretty crap if used with Nighthaunt.

* '''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Shyish_Reaper.pdf Shyish Reaper]:''' The Shyish Reaper has a move of 8", and damages units by flying over models. The issue is that with its base being nearly 3", it can effectively only move 5", although this can be slightly extended due to it pivoting before it moves. It is more likely to deal damage to stuff with better save characteristics. Think for a moment - what armies around like to field lots of models with a 4+ save or better? Unfortunately, the top of the list is Nighthaunt. This spell is more likely to damage your own units than the enemy, most of the time. Pass.

* '''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Vault_of_Souls.pdf Vault of Souls]:''' It's a floating bomb that deals Mortal Wounds, and it explodes into D6 Mortal Wounds when it dispenses 20 of them. With how hard Predatory Endless Spells are to predict, this thing is too likely to turn and explode next to you at a critical moment. It may be worth considering, however, due to how cheap this bastard is, and how good our mobility is. Dropping it off as a parting gift from a deep striking Wizard can be delightfully good as they get snagged by Spectral Summons.

* '''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Mortalis_Terminexus.pdf Mortalis Terminexus]:''' It's a big floating Hourglass that either deal D3 Mortal Wounds to everything within 6" or heal D3 Wounds to everything within 6". It does not return dead models. In an army that already has great regeneration, mediocre regeneration that can't restore dead models is not worth taking. Avoid it. The model is cool, though, so use it as a proxy for the Chronomantic Cogs.

Some of the generic Endless Spells are also worth considering.

* '''Suffocating Gravetide:''' Now, let's not kid ourselves. The Suffocating Gravetide isn't strictly GOOD, but what it is is cheap. At 20 points, it's worth tossing in if you have a few points to spare once you've built your list, since they won't do anything for you otherwise. The Gravetide deals D3 mortal wounds to each unit it even slightly passes over, and inflicts a -1 leadership penalty on them, which can synergize with the -1 from Nighthaunt. The Gravetide is also on a pretty big base - it can be useful to plop it right in the way of an enemy unit and block them from getting that critical objective. The fact that the Gravetide provides cover is almost irrelevant to you - units with Ethereal can't benefit from cover, and you'll rarely care anyway.
** It also looks good next to your Nighthaunt, with the same design aesthetic.
* '''Chronomantic Cogs:''' Oh here we go. For a quick refresher, you need to have a WIZARD within 9" of the Cogs to activate them, and when you do you choose one ability to last until your next hero phase. If you slow down time, the controlling wizard can cast one additional spell in your hero phase and re-roll save rolls. If you speed up time, you add 2 to the move characteristic of and charge rolls for ''every unit on the board''. While this doesn't sync with your allegiance ability(the rule specifies unmodified 10+), you still really want to get your charges off, and a +2 is huge, especially if you're going for risky charges from out of reserves.
* '''Aethervoid Pendulum:''' Good for a 50 point spend when you don't feel like the Gravetide but don't have the 50 spare for a command point. The Aethervoid Pendulum avoids the main problem of predatory endless spells by always moving in one direction, which means it's telegraphed, but also means it will never turn against you just because you get a double turn. It deals D6 mortal wounds to anything it flies over or lands 1" from - send it towards the enemy, ideally at an allegiance terrain piece or objective they can't afford to step away from. Even if it doesn't do damage, it crimps your opponent's options, and that's always good.

==Warscrolls==
The common keywords of these warscrolls are: '''DEATH''', '''MALIGNANT''' and '''NIGHTHAUNT'''.

===Leaders===
====Named Characters====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Lady_Olynder.pdf Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief]:''' (200pts) First new Mortarch since the End Times. She is all about dealing mortal wounds on the enemy in multiple ways: is surrounded by banshees that deal 6 Spirit Host attacks in melee, once per battle can either heal D6 wounds on herself or deal D6 Mortal wounds on an enemy hero within 6", in every hero phase picks an enemy unit within 12" and inflicting mortal wounds on it on a 2+ roll (the wounds are equal to the roll result) and then heals D3 wounds on herself if she managed to kill at least a model, in shooting phase rolls 2D6 for each enemy unit within 10" and deals them D3 mortal wounds if the result is higher than their bravery, and also adds an extra fleeing model to every enemy unit failing battleshock tests within 12". Her exclusive spell takes an enemy unit and gives it -1 to their hit rolls and +1 to the hit rolls made against it in melee, and her command ability restores a dead model in every SUMMONABLE Nighthaunt unit within 12" - but only if she's your general. If you're looking for a support general it's a toss up between this and a generic general with Ruler of the Spirit Hosts - RotSH can heal multiple models from one unit rather than one per unit, but importantly doesn't use a command point. Olynder isn't really a support unit like her model suggests; she's an assassin that you drop in to your enemies backside or deathstar and wreak havoc upon them with mortal wounds, your other units have better damage-to-point ratio but since her's is almost entirely with mortal wounds you bypass a lot of those 3+/2+ saves with rerolls fuckers that you have a hard time with.
** Be careful using this gal. 7 wounds with a 4+ save and an ignore wounds on a 6 is ''not'' that durable, and the fact that she needs to be fairly close to the fighting just makes her more vulnerable.
**, Unlike the mounted Mortarchs, Olynder isn't a monster and does benefit from the Look Out Sir, which coupled with her unrendable save increases her survivability. She's only just the squishiest Mortarch after Arkhan (healing 2 wounds each time he kills something in combat, potential Ossiarch Legion keyword buffs and rocking a 3 wound auto-heal per turn), Katakros (rocking a combined 20 wounds, superior save and the option to auto-heal 3 wounds on himself a turn), Neferata (superior CC healing to Arkhan and Mannfred, her immune to rend spell and her 1- hit debuff aura) and Mannfred (healing D3 wounds a turn if he kills anything in CC and negating the first wound or mortal wound he suffers in each phase).
**<ASSEMBLY TIP> Gaps ahoy! There is a bulb that helps you to align the 3 pieces that make up her veil and headpiece. Snip that bulb off so you can still get rid of gaps whilst keeping her entire veil as a subassembly for easier painting. Her entire assembly is also resting on one single damned stalk of her gown. Find a way to stabilize her if you don't want to be the one grieving.
**A more viable strategy involving the pale lady now exists via the new Battalion from the White Dwarf. Taking her as your general can help keep her alive thanks to the body guard battalion, which lets her stand around on the field and fight without getting wasted instantly. Plus, her command ability lets you regenerate those Hexwraith body guards, and her spell helps with their subpar accuracy.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Kurdoss_Valentian.pdf Kurdoss Valentian, The Craven King]:''' (180pts) The General Killer. Usurper. Nagash' Monument to Dickishness. A flying beatstick with a very good but unreliable debuff. He has 6 Spirit Host attacks like his wife, his other weapon in melee is the Sepulchral Sceptre, a weapon with 5 attacks on a 3+/3+ roll with -2 rend, each dealing D3 wounds (D6 if you rolled a 6 to wound) and rerolls failed hit rolls against the enemy general. Also, in each enemy hero phase, when they get their command point you can steal it on a 5+ roll, which can take away some armies command abilities. There's really not much else to say about him, fly him into your enemies behind and wreck face.
** When Kurdoss was first resurrected he said "Kurdoss does not serve!", "But neither does he rule!" said the two Servants beside him and they laughed!
** Unfortunately as neat as he is at being a combat character, he does little to nothing for the army outside of CP stealing. Thus he tends to be overshadowed by nearly all the other leaders with the lack of synergy buffs. Plus 7 wounds, even with ethereal, isn't exactly too tough.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Reikenor_the_Grimhailer.pdf Reikenor the Grimhailer]:''' (160pts) Both a warrior and a wizard. Gets a souped-up version of the scythes we saw on Cairn Wraiths, Hex-wraiths and Grimghast reapers, getting the usual reroll on bigger units plus dealing mortal wounds instead of regular one on a hit roll of 6. His spell deals D3 mortal wounds on an enemy unit within 12", plus D3 more if the first ones killed something. When casting, can either deal 1 mortal wound to an enemy within 12" or himself, getting respectively +1 or +3 to the cast roll. Consider using this guy to cast your Endless Spell, just in case your opponent wants to dispel it.
** As this ability targets a specific model in a unit, you can use it to split coherency and open the way to clearing multiple models off the table if you are feeling evil. Use with cogs, do this twice, earn the undying hatred of your opponent.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//aos_warscroll_thorns_of_the_briar_queen_en.pdf The Briar Queen]:''' (180pts) Must include her Thorns of the Briar Queen. The first Mirrorghast Banshee, she's a wizard with 3 ranged attacks with -3 rend, hitting and wounding on 3s... sadly, only doing 1 damage each, breaking the numerical focus. Her melee attack hits at 3", hitting and wounding on 3 as well, -2 rend, doing D3 wounds. Her unique spell hits all enemies 6" of a point 18" away from her; if the roll is either greater than the target's Move value, or a double, it suffers a mortal wound and has halved movement until her next hero phase.

====Others====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG%20Knight%20of%20Shrouds.pdf Knight of Shrouds]:''' (100pts) Our first genuine commander model. Blessed with the same defenses as a Cairn Wraith but with an additional wound, he's pretty tough. With basically a Vampire Lord's melee profile (Damage 2 instead of D3) he's not a pushover. His Command grants Nighthaunt units WHOLLY within 12" +1 To Hit, meaning he can hit on a 2+ himself and can counteract those pesky To-Hit penalties. In a Nighthaunt army with some allies, he's absolutely fantastic. He's tough as nails and regenerates if you kill an enemy '''HERO'''. It also adds a bonus to Dreadblade Harrow as per the dreadblade warscroll.
**With the release of the new book following AoS 2, this guy has had some ups, but mostly some downs. With Spirit Hosts and Hexwraiths getting MWs only on unmodified sixes, and the rampant nerfing of the Mournghoul, this guy isn't cranking out the MWs like he used to. Plus, with the new book, there's not a lot of units that necessarily need that bonus, or can actually fit with his 12" aura, thanks to the accursed Wholly Within change. Plus, he's only got 5 wounds on a 4+, and his movement is rather pitiful. He may not be the worst hero, but outside of maybe buffing some smaller units, stick to the KoS on mount.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_knight_of_shrouds_knighthaunt_2018.pdf Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed]:''' (120pts) Mounted variant of the guy above. Similar stats, with double the movement and, weirdly, only one extra wound (In contrast to the Grimhailer and other mounted heroes who have 2 more wounds than regular) plus the extra attacks from the spooky horse, and his command ability gives +1 attacks at a Nighthaunt unit wholly within 18" instead. Actually a better general for your Spirit Hosts now that they deal mortal wounds on an unmodifiable 6. It also adds a bonus to Dreadblade harrow as per their warscroll. Also, when comparing him to a Vampire Lord, keep in mind that while a Vampire Lord's ability does last till the end of your next Hero phase, it cannot in any way affect units coming in from deep strike; luckily, since the KoSoES's command ability occurs in the combat phase, he is the perfect front-lines commander to help buff a unit that's coming from the underworld.
*Keep in mind, with the right buffs, the KoS can also be surprisingly killy too. Giving him a decent weapon artifact, and taking him in the right battalion can make him a decent beat-stick, perfect for warmachine or hero hunting.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Guardian_of_Souls_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern]:''' (140pts) First real wizard for the army. His exclusive spell restores d6 wounds to a SUMMONABLE unit within 18" '''or''' resurrects models with a combined wound count equal to the d6 roll, while he also makes every Nighthaunt within 9" add 1 to their wound rolls, which is phenomenal for most units and inconsequential to Spirit Hosts.
**Suffers from the "I'm so good at supporting the army that everyone guns for me" syndrome. Many NH players find their guardians dying real fast when people figure out they're the key to victory! Be sure to surround them with bodies and even then aren't protected from Mortal Wound sniping. You should consider taking two - the aura stacks, which means if you've got two of them on hand your chainrasps are wounding on 2s, but even more importantly, it lets you spread your Guardians out for redundancy and keep from losing your wound bonus, your heals, AND your magic to a single model.
**One thing to note is an artifact, the Beacon of Nagashizzar, which the Guardian can take. It upgrades the Guardian's unique Spectral Lure spell from restoring d6 wounds to D6+3 - it's a lot more reliable. However, the Wychlight Lantern does help the spell itself more reliably go off. Your choice between more models returning, or returning models reliably.

*'''Guardian of Souls with Mortality Glass:''' Same as above, but instead of buffing wound rolls forces enemy units within 9" to roll a single die when charging. He uses the spell Temporal Translocation which on a 6 allows one unit within 24" of the caster to make a normal move of 6" that can be used to retreat but still allows it to charge later in the turn. Great spell on everything other than Bladegheists and Glaivewrath Stalkers with a Deathbeat Drummer (they already can do this). Sadly the model was event exclusive, so good luck getting a hold of it.
**As of the GH19, this poor sap is no longer a matched play unit, due to him lacking a points profile. Still fun to use in regular play, and who knows, maybe he'll get a release with a new book. But for now, he's strictly narrative only.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Spirit_Torment_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Spirit Torment]:''' (120pts) The sleeper hit of the Nighthaunt hero lineup. He has a 12" aura that lets friendly Nighthaunt re-roll hit rolls of 1, which can make your force significantly better. He has average defensive stats but packs a surprising punch in melee thanks to his chains being a D3 damage weapon. He also heals units or restores models within 6" provided at least 3 enemy models were slain by the beginning of the Battleshock phase (this checks in both your turn and your opponent's turn, so it's potentially 2d3 models per battle round). The Spirit Torment is a must - put him close to where the fighting is thickest, and you'll rarely go wrong.
**However, do consider what you're actually getting here for 120 points; you get some decent, but conditional, regeneration, and a re-roll 1's aura that you can just pay a command point to get anyways. This guy will be frustratingly useless if you can't kill those 3 models per turn, and is most likely best suited to be paired with a unit of Bladegheists, who get to re-roll ALL hits instead of just 1's. Otherwise, stick him with your Dreadscythes or Chainrasps, as they have the most to gain.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Lord_Executioner_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Lord Executioner]:''' (80pts) Your generic Hero killer. Gets an average weapon that deals 3 wounds if you roll a 6+ to wound, rejects mortal wounds on a 5+ roll and can give -1 to hit rolls at an enemy hero within 3" in melee. That last ability is the only real reason this would be worth taking, and even then he's probably not worth the points.
*What he does boast, however, is being a tougher hero. That 5+ against MW will save your ghostly ass at times, and that -1 against heros can help mitigate flying bricks like Mawcrushas and Keeper of Secrets from totally smashing you.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_dreadblade_harrow.pdf Dreadblade Harrow]:''' (90pts) Mounted lieutenant that can warp on the field instead of moving regularly as long as he's not engaged in melee and a sword that gets different buffs depending on what he does (+1 damage in the turn he charged, +1 attacks in every other turn and can also reroll every 1 to wound if a Knight of Shrouds is within 9" from him). At first, he seems rather pointless aside from flanking long-range artillery or mages. But then you realize that his teleportation trick works at the beginning of the movement phase, much like your deathly summons, and because of this, you pick the order they go off. So say hello to your new Undead Taxi cab.
**Aside from teleportation shenanigans, Dreadblade Harrows are an awkward choice - they don't really offer much damage, they don't have supportability, and they need to buddy up with the Knight of Shrouds to get the most out of them.
**with the expansion of generic command ability. They can reliably deal them out at any time.
** Some conspiracies suggest DBH was supposed to be a unit, not heroes. But some weird book shuffling occurred. After all, it is a little weird to sell 2 heroes in a single EZ to build box

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG%20Cairn%20Wraith.pdf Cairn Wraith]:''' (60pts) The Cairn Wraith was an important forerunner in the aesthetics of the Grimghast Reapers, Reikenor, and lots of other Nighthaunt units. Unfortunately, the fact is that the Nighthaunt update kind of left the Cairn Wraith behind, as it no longer has a niche of its own. But what it still has going for it isn't completely useless; this guy may not be precisely tough or extraordinarily deadly in melee, but what he does bring is a good close combat profile and a incredibly small base; this sucker is on a 25mm round, for some ungodly reason, making it him easy to hide in a horde. Coupled with a 2" range, this guy can sit comfortably in a unit of 20 or so chainrasps, and when they're charged, this guy can help support them via CP abilities while still knocking back some wounds. Plus, while this guy only has 4 wounds, this can often cause an opponent not to throw as much damage at him as they probably need to, or perhaps too much.
** Another neat trick with the Cairn Wraith has to do with his Frightful Touch ability; If you have a spare artifact with no where to go, toss him the Shadows Edge. Now, every time you roll a 6 to hit, this dude is popping off 2+d3 MW. While not exactly reliable, this will suddenly make a Character most people ignore suddenly far scarier.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-tomb-banshee-en.pdf Tomb Banshee]:''' (80pts) For all intents and purposes, a Banshee is more or less a Cairn Wraith with much weaker attacks (though at -2 Rend, that's pretty decent) and a scream attack that causes damage off of Bravery. The Tomb Banshee fills an interesting role in the army, capable of being played both offensively defensively. Thanks to the 10' range on her scream, she can deepstrike in and still fire off a scream; while this is less effective against Death and Celestial Seraphon, this is still a great way to throw some wounds at the enemy with a lucky roll. This can also be especially deadly if you roll high against a misplaced Skaven or Goblin hero. Defensively, she is a nice way to add some punch to what may normally be a lack luster combat unit like Chainrasps or Spirit Hosts. Simply placing her behind them, and firing off your scream can chip away even at the mighty Stormcast or Chaos Warriors.
**is a great choice when facing Skaven, Grots, Khorne, Warclans or Cities of Sigmar. And she should be heavily considered if your running bravery reducing endless spells. Her mobility and scream power is not to be ignored.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/BR_Belakor_Warscroll_Krulghast_Cruciator_eng.pdf Krulghast Cruciator]:''' New Nighthaunt hero. They died during torture and in undeath they became torture technicians who inflict pain on those who defy Nagash. They have a Ranged attack with low damage but good to hit/wound/rend, he upgrades the Deathless Spirits save of units wholly whithin 12" to 5+ (side note, like the Daughters of Khaine ability, he only upgrades the normal 6+ to a 5+ for NORMAL WOUNDS, not MORTALS) if he manages to inflict a wound with it and it is not negated. Kinda boring, not too impactful and his attack is only 12" so the added resilience only works if you are already close to combat.

===Troops===
====Battleline====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-nighthaunt-spirithosts-en.pdf Spirit Hosts]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''' only in a '''Nighthaunt''' army, 120pts, Min:3, Max:12). Compared to other swarms, Spirit Hosts have fewer Wounds, but way better attacks and a 4+ unrendable save, which makes them pretty tough against anything but Mortal Wounds. Effectively, they have a rather low damage output, but the vast majority of their damage is in Mortal Wounds, which makes them great, especially against stuff with big saves and high rend. Be'lakor in particular hates these things with a passion. Their Frightful Touch ability got changed to on work on an ''unmodified'' roll of 6, less synergy but you don't get fucked by hit penalties anymore. Your main reason for taking these guys, however, is their ratio of wounds per model, which when paired with some of Nighthaunt's ability to resurrect entire models, becomes a very lucrative way to bring back wounds. However, keep in mind that a unit of 3 Spirit Hosts is only 40 points away from 20 Chainrasps. Unless you're investing in the requisite abilities, Chainrasps have them beat in points per wound. When you use these guys, make sure you're respawning them, as well as using their 4+ effectively. Also, don't forget that you can almost always count on at least 1 MW per Spirit Host base. This may not seem like a lot, but with a WoT charge, you can effectively get 6 guaranteed MW on a unit just from 3 Spirit Hosts.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Chainrasp_Horde_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Chainrasp Hordes]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''', 80/280pts, Min:10, Max:40) The actual troops for the army, thanks to the new edition. Classic swarmy troops that deal a huge bunch of attacks, also reroll every 1 to wound as long as they're more than 10. Get a bunch of heroes around them to buff their attack stats and enjoy. These guys are your bread and butter horde choice, providing a more numerous battleline. While Grimghasts are deadlier, and Spirit Hosts are both tankier and resurrect wounds more efficiently, Chainrasps have them both beat on cheap bodies. These are the guys you want to stick on objectives and control the board, and while they certainly aren't on the level of Grimghasts, they do have the potential to deal a bit of damage from sheer weight of attacks. 280 points for 40 bodies is a steal, especially with 2 attacks base and a 5+ ethereal. But just make sure that your giving them proper hero support; an unsupported horde of Chainrasps will vanish under a dedicated assault, and bravery 10 only gets you so far in Battleshock. And speaking of Battleshock, your Chainrasps are only Bravery 6 without your Unit Leader AKA Candlabra man. Things that can snipe specific models can make your battleshock test even more painful. A Guardian of Souls is never a bad support choice for these guys, and Shademist is a superb choice if your casting on the first turn. And while the Chainguard battalion is risky, it's hard not to feel satisfied seeing your unrendable horde rematerialize.
**When running these ghosts, your going to want to really pick a role for them and stick with it. 10 Chainrasps serve as a cheap battleline filler, and a decent screen. If you're going for a bit more of an offensive bent to them, using them in 20 with a buffing hero or as part of the Condemned can see them do a bit of damage. 30 is to be avoided, since for 40 more points, you get another 10. But taking 40 can be a real problem as well; It's gonna be tricky as hell to keep them wholly within the range of your buffs unless you bring a KoS on mount or some Chainghasts for your Spirit Torments. But, 40 is good if your really maxing out your regeneration with the Chainguard battalion.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Grimghast_Reapers_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Grimghast Reapers]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''' only in a '''Nighthaunt''' army, 160/420pts, Min:10, Max:30) Band of scythe guys. A troop with a slightly worse version of the Cairn Wraith's scythe, while the leader gets a bell that deals a mortal wound for each model it killed with regular wounds. This unit is a flying blender, so it's no wonder they're your most expensive Battleline. Hordes beware.
**These guys have gotten into a weird position; in LoN and LoG, they're undeniably the best possible choice for an elite blob of anvils that can also grind through enemy units, and then come right back thanks to healing. However, in Nighthaunt, their worth is much more questionable; point per point, they fall behind units like Bladegheists when it comes to damage dealing when on the charge, and against elite units, Dreadscythes are more powerful thanks to the extra attack and bonus damage while also being slightly cheaper. Another knock against them is the fact that their horde bonus only hits at 30; It is nearly impossible to get 30 Grimghasts wholly within our range. Overall, if you run these guys, use them as a horde killer, and keep them in blocks of 20 for better buffing.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_hexwraiths.pdf Hexwraiths]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''' only in a '''Nighthaunt''' army, 140pts, Min:5, Max:20) Kinda average but can still be useful in certain situations. They hit with a bunch of decent attacks, and have a decent chance to damage enemy units they move over the top of by dealing a mortal wound on a roll of 5+ for each Hexwraith that flew over them and are very fast. Do not forget that you cannot end your movement within 3" of the enemy, so think of this ability as 12-3" if you intend to charge the enemy after that. They are also very durable and have a solid if a bit lackluster, weapon profile. These bois are your artillery killers. Fly them right over enemy battle lines and crush enemy archers and the like. You take these guys as a tactical option, rather than as a beat stick.
**One of the few units that can cause damage while retreating, which is done in the movement phase. Flying over a unit or two (don't forget your D6 run while retreating) counts for triggering their special ability.
**If taken in the battalion with the black coach, these guys get an even better chance to strike during the charge phase since they only need an unmodified 9+ charge roll. Another synergy comes with the Black Coach, as it too restores models, not wounds, to a unit. Thus, you can get anywhere from 2 to 6 wounds back per Black Coach.
**In the white dwarf battalion, these guys do become a more viable combat unit, perfect for harrying flanks or hunting down really obnoxious targets like Skyefires or Skaven Warmachine units, while also serving as an awesome bodyguard unit. With a buff from a Knight of Shrouds, you can have each Hexwraith hitting with 4 attacks each with their scythes, and 4 attacks with their horse on the charge; at first, this may not sound like a lot, but in a bigger unit, you can slam an opponent with 80 attacks from just a unit of 10 Hexwraiths. On average, a unit of 5 KoS-buffed Hexwraiths on the charge will do about 4 MW before even factoring in their regular attacks. Not bad for a unit that's also there to take wounds for your boss.

====Others====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Glaivewraith.pdf Glaivewraith Stalkers]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 60pts, Min:4, Max:16) These guys are Bladegheists, but worse in every way. They do reroll every failed hit roll in the turn they're engaged in combat (either if they're the ones who charged or not), and they also can get a drummer to retreat and charge in the same turn. Take note that at 15 points, 6" move and 1 wound a piece, these guys are slightly cheaper then everyone but Dreadscythes, but are by far worse. With a weapon profile thats the same as Chainrasps, these guys are by no means elite. If you must use them, your best bet is running them at max size as a way to try to get the best use out of WoT with their retreat and charge ability.
**Opinion: Never take them. Period. Grimghast reapers do more damage, Bladegheists are faster and do their retreat and charge stick better, and Dreadscythes are cheaper for a better profile. Not to mention the pokey sticks aren't battleline and move slower for almost the same price per model. As a comparison, for 3 points more per model you can bring bladegheists instead.
**Consider: By simply clipping off the horse face to leave an empty cowl and turning the blade 90 degrees, you can turn these guys into more Grimghast Reapers. Probably a better use of the model.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Mymourn%20Banshees.pdf Myrmourn Banshees]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 70pts, Min:4, Max:12) Little tykes that can unbind spells and get an extra attack each if they succeed into doing it (But if you do it on an Endless Spell, they also suffer d3 wounds and basically die a lot). Since they each have 1 attack that does D3 damage, you effectively double their damage output any time you unbind a spell. Also, since spells are one of the main ways of dealing Mortal Wounds, and since Mortal Wounds are the only way to reliably kill your spooks, the fact that these ladies can unbind them makes them a must-have for your army. However, with only 4 models and a 4+ save, they're fragile - run them in blocks of 12 with healers or not at all.
**These ladies can kill; that's for certain. The problem is getting them to the right time and place to do so, without having them get killed before they get there. Like said above, they get crazy good with buffs, so make sure to use your deepstrike and Spectral Summons ability to help keep them alive. Another thing to look out for is their 4+ to hit; this sucks ghost balls. Always make sure they're either in Spirit Torment, KoS or any other re-roll or hit modifier range.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Chainghasts.pdf Chaingasts]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 70pts, Min:2, Max:4) Spirit Torment's best friends. If they're within 12" from him, they extend his "everyone within 12" rerolls 1 to hit" ability by also emitting it. In melee, their scourge weapons dishing as many attacks as there are enemy models in the range. One of not very many NH units to get a shooting attack, and a fairly decent one at that.
**Their role is to boost the Spirit Torment's aura across half the table, and they're good at it. Use them for that and plink with their shooting weapons while spreading the re-roll love to your units. (Let it be noted that unless you got the Soulreach Grasp for your Black Coach, it is the ''only'' shooting weapon any of your units get). However, in a pinch, these guys can do quite a bit of work in melee as well; throwing them against 28mm hordes can really let them shine, and in cases like Plague Monks, these guys can soften the blow for units that come after them.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_bladegheist_revenants.pdf Bladegheist Revenants]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 90/320pts, Min:5, Max:20) With an 8" move and a very good weapon profile, Bladegheist Revenants are great at first glance. Second glance reveals a bonus attack on the turn they charge and the ability to retreat and charge, meaning they get 3 attacks in essentially all of your combat phases. Then you notice the fact that when they're near a Spirit Torment or Chainghasts, these guys re-roll ALL their hit rolls instead of just 1s (note that the Chainghasts do not need to be in range of a Spirit Torment to give this buff). The only downside Bladegheists have is they'll draw a lot of fire. Run them in blocks of 10 or even 15 to avoid losing the entire unit, and keep a Guardian of Souls on hand to revive dead models and make their swords wound on 2s.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads/ENG_dreadscythe_harridans.pdf Dreadscythe Harridans]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 70/260pts, Min:5, Max:20) They apply -1 to hit against enemy units within 3" of them unless they have a Bravery of 6 or more (remember Nighthaunt Allegiance decrease it by 1, so even units with 6 bravery fall within this range). Decent in melee, with -1 rend and a chance for extra damage, with 3 attacks each. With support from a KoS on Steed or an allied Vampire Lord, their attacks can add up pretty quick.
**With the current GHB 2020, these gals have gone down to 70 points, taking the spot for one of the cheapest damage dealer units in the book. For a mere 260 points for 20, when compared to the Bladegheists and Grimghasts 320, these ghoulies are nearly 60 points cheaper at max size. And what your getting for that 70 points is frankly, awesome. Deeply consider taking these as your cheap damage dealers, or part of the shrieker host battalion, since their bang for their buck is absurdly cost effective.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//aos_warscroll_thorns_of_the_briar_queen_en.pdf Thorns of the Briar Queen]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 0pts) The Briar Queen's personal squad of six Chainrasps; can't be taken without her. In lieu of numbers, they reroll ones if an enemy unit is within 3" of 2 models of theirs(so almost always). Otherwise, a slightly undermanned Chainrasp Horde. Use them as a road bump, or something to tie up ranged units or warmachines.

===Behemoths===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Black_Coach.pdf Black Coach]:''' (220pts) This thing is not only aesthetically stunning but also a monster in-game: With 12 wounds, 14" movement with fly, and a 4+ ethereal save, it's not going down anytime soon. It has either a single shooting attack with a petty 10" range, but it does do D3 damage and has rend -3 or it's regular Cairn Wraith scythe. However, it is downright terrifying in combat: Not only does it have <s>4</s> 3 melee profiles, but the reaper scythe of the rider can also reroll hits against units with 5+ models (or a single attack with a rend characteristic of -3, D3 damage if you took the ranged profile.) These weapons along with the relic bearers' Spectral Claws(which goes down in attacks as it gets wounded) have the Frightful Touch rule. It's Evocation of Death works like this now: At the start of each battle round roll 3 dice, <s>on a 4+</s> on EACH 4+ it gains one level of power. Each level stacks and lasts for the rest of the battle.
*#'''Level 1''': Heal d3 wounds at the start of your hero phase and return d3 slain models to a '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit within wholly within 12" of it.
*#'''Level 2''': Re-roll 1's to hit for this model and can run and charge in the same turn
*#'''Level 3''': After charging pick a unit within 1" of it, roll a dice, on a 2+ that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds
*#'''Level 4''': Can retreat and charge in the same turn.
*#'''Level 5''': At the start of your hero phase, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 3" of this model on a 4+ deal D3 mortal wounds.
** While it's a bit of a mixed bag, the mix is all things that you want and your opponent doesn't want on the table. It is almost impossible to ignore thanks to the huge amount of attacks and mortal wound opportunities it has. And it needs a huge amount of firepower to remove so even if it gets taken down early the rest of your army should be in quite good shape still. Also, the synergy this thing offers to Nighhthaunt is pretty excellent; outside of Olynder and RotSH, this baby is your other primary way to bring back multiple models at once, AKA, bringing back Hexwraiths and Spirit Hosts.
** Now, with GHB19, this baby is a cheap as chips 220 points; to put it this way, it offers almost the same amount of damage as a Cairn Wraith and 10 Chainrasps would put out anyways, with plenty of Frightful Touch. The general way to use this bad boy is start it off as a defensive piece, using it to help regenerate your screen of Spirit Hosts or Hexwraiths, and maybe giving a bit of damage through it's scythe. But once you get that second or third level, it's time to let this bad boy fly into the enemy and help finish off lightly wounded units. It's also worth noting that this thing is pretty easy to keep in tip-top shape since most Nighthaunt heroes and spells have ways to heal this bad boy.

{{anchor|FWMourngul}}
*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-mourngul.pdf Mourngul] (Forgeworld):''' (270pts) As of the new edition a whole bunch of FW big boys have had stat changes. The Mourngul has been changed to be a bit more in line with the rest of the new Nighthaunt. First, his 3+ save is now a 4+ save, which is bad. And second his 6+ to hit that generated extra attacks that became 6+ deal additional damage has been replaced with Frightful touch, dealing 2 mortal wounds on a 6+ to hit, which is good (especially against well armoured heroes). With 8 attacks this is very scary note that it's an unmodified hit roll, so a Knight of Shrouds won't affect it's mortal wound generation. 10 wounds and his -1 to hit aura makes him quite tough in combat, but will melt to shooting. Fact is, the Mourngul was never a real beatstick, more of a distraction Carnifex. He's definitely lost some of that power, but now you have a whole army of synergies to play with, so he might still have a place in your lists.
** If the FW Model is too expensive, simply build two Mournghouls from one Aleguzzler Gargant - and you still have the lower half left to build a zombie gargant.
**The Mourngul is no longer the all-star that he was in GA:Death back in AoS 1.0, but after some serious point drops, he has some viability. The key to using this monster is mostly in picking his fights, and helping support other units already wedged into combat. His -1 to hit aura helps keep other units alive, while throwing down some MW with his claws. He can't finish off whole units anymore on his own, but he can certainly eat through a wave of chaff and draw attacks (and attention) from more important units.

==Battalions==

===Chainguard===
(580pt. min. - 820pt. max)

'''''A Guardian of Souls and two Chainrasp Hordes with 20+ models each'''''

'''The Heart of the Horde:'''The Guardian of Souls can bring back D6 models to one of the units of Chainrasps when he casts Spectral Lure.

When paired with the Beacon of Nagashizzar the Guardian can bring back 2d6+3 models (average 10) every turn on a 6. This is ridiculous, and will force your opponent to spend their limited unbind attempts on it, every turn.
What's that? Your massive damage unit almost thrashed the battleline of Chainrasp Horde? Don't worry about it, they'll all be right back. This is almost mandatory for anyone wanting to attempt the "endless horde" army style in Nighthaunts.
** Keep in mind that his Battalion ENTIRELY relies on being able to get the Guardian of Soul's spell off; and sure, it may be sweet to see that 2d6+3 Chainrasps pop back up, but the second the enemy sees this, their going to start throwing their considerably more powerful anti-magic at us. This makes this entire battalion a gamble, since if you happen to fight army that's good at magic, or has good ways at stopping magic, then congratulations, you just spent a bunch of points on an artefact and a CP.

===The Condemned===
(670pt. min. - 990pt. max)

'''''A Spirit Torment, a unit of Chaingasts and two Chainrasp Hordes with 20+ models each'''''

'''Cruel Taskmasters:''' Re-roll failed hit rolls for attacks made by the Chainrasp Hordes while they are wholly within 15" of the Spirit Torment or Chainghasts. This is an excellent pick, and choosing between this and the above battalion is hard. Extending the aura and making it a full reroll miss effectively makes chainrasp 3+ to hit. Add in guardian of souls buffs and you have 3+/3+ battle line that can get to four attacks each with other effects.
* First and foremost, this is our most expensive Battalion; and it is for a good reason as well. In a similar vein to the Death Riders, ShroudGuard and Chainguard, this is more of an "upgrade" rather then a straight up bonus. But arguably, this is one of the better bonuses we can get, since it gives the Spirit Torment and Chaingheists a formidable buff to their range. Another good thing to note is, that just like the Bladegheist rule, you don't actually need to have the Spirit Torment nearby to get the bonus for the Chainrasps, meaning it's entirely viable to run one block of Rasps with the Spirit Torment and then another block of Rasps with the Chaingheists. Than way, both Blocks get those sweet, sweet re-rolls. If your going to be running offensive Rasps, pass over the Chainguard and look towards these bad boys.

===Death Stalkers===
(580pt. min. - 1380pt. max)

'''''A Cairn Wraith, 2 units of Grimghast Reapers and 2 units of Glaivewraith Stalkers'''''

'''Soul-marked Prey: '''After setup is complete, pick an enemy unit to become 'Soul Marked' by this battalion. Add 1 to hit and wound rolls for attacks made by this battalion against the marked unit. This can be used to get rid of your opponent's power-units, like large groups of chaos warriors or sequitors.
* How do you balance being forced to take a really good unit with a really good buff? By making you take 2 terrible units and a slightly mediocre one. The Glavewraiths are a tax, simple as that, and an expensive one at that. Costing you at the very least 120 points, this effectively doubles the cost of the battalion. Until Glaviewraiths get better or cheaper, this battalion should be avoided at all costs.

===Deathriders===
(830pt. min. - 1890pt. max)

'''''1-2 Dreadblade Harrow, 2 units of Hexwraiths and a Black Coach'''''

'''Spectral Spearhead:'''Add 1 to charge rolls for units in this battalion. In addition, an unmodified charge roll of 9+ allows the unit to fight immediately (replaces allegiance ability). Overall, this is a solid choice, and if you were planning on bringing a Dreadblade, a Black Coach and some Hexwraiths, this should be your go-to. All three units synergize really well, and a Dreadblade is a must for a really fast moving army. The Black Coach works very well with the Hexwraiths, since it can help heal them, and then help finish off the enemy.
* Funny enough, after the discount, it's entirely possible to make a complete 2000 point army by just taking two battalions, and then running four units of 10 Hexwraiths each. Is this a good use of your points, and or money? Probably not, but it could be fun.
* Raises your chances for the charge bonus from 16.7% to 27.8%.

===Execution Horde===
(540pt. min. - 1620pt. max)

'''''One Lord Executioner and 3 units of Spirit Hosts'''''

'''The Headsman's Masses:'''Subtract 1 from the hit rolls of attacks that target this battalion's Lord Executioner while a Spirit Host unit is within 6" of the attacking unit. In addition, add 1 to the hit rolls of attacks made by the Lord Executioner while any Spirit Hosts are within 6" of the target unit. His job will be to tarpit enemy heros or sit around and bring back his spirit host buddies with the Ruler of the Spirit Host command trait.

===Shrieker Host===
(560pt. min. - 1280pt. max)

'''''A Tomb Banshee, 2 units of Dreadscythe Harridans and 2 units of Myrmourn Banshees'''''

'''Mournful Wailing:'''Re-roll battleshock rolls of 1 for enemy units while they are within 6" of any units from this battalion. In addition, Inspiring Presence cannot be used on enemy units within 6" of any units from this battalion.

Really good for the 'Leadership attack' strategy, however given that Seraphon, Daemons and well, DEATH, are popular armies, and have almost exclusively Bravery 10, this will be fairly hit and miss. Even with the maximum -3 to bravery, a bravery 10 model goes to 7, averaging 0 mortal wounds from banshees. This is probably more for someone who wants to run a gimmick list, or know that their local meta is low-bravery armies. In the latter case, it will be "frightening" how fast you lose your friends. heh...

===Shroudguard===
(410pt. min. - 930pt. max)

'''''1 Knight of Shrouds or Reikenor the Grimhailer and 2 units of Bladegheist Revenants'''''

'''Frenzied Fervor:''' Replaces the 6+ ignore wounds from the allegiance ability to a 5+ for the Bladegheist while wholly within 12" of the KoS or Reikenor.

This one has some really neat Synergy with the Ruler of the Spirit Hosts Command Trait. Make the Knight of Shrouds your General and pick this as his Command Trait. Now your Knight of Shrouds has a -1 to hit with Ranged Weapons (thanks to the Bladegheist Revenants blocking him), the Bladegheists can shrug off wounds and mortal wounds on a 5+ (thanks to the Battalion ability) and should a Bladegheist Revenant fall, this Command Trait will instantly let you set up some extra Bodyguards.

===The Forgotten Scions===
(440 pt.)

'''''1 Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed and 2 Dreadblade Harrows'''''

'''Gharest Malcor, the Traitor Knight:''' Add one to the attacks characteristic of the Knight of Shroud's Sword of Stole Hours. In addition, once per battle round, you can use the command ability on his warscroll without a command point being spent.

===The Dolorous Guard===
(400 pt. min. - 2360 pt. max)
'''''2-4 units of Hexwraiths'''''

'''Knights of Regret:''' Add one to the attacks characteristic of melee weapons used by units from this battalion if they charged in the same turn. In addition, if your general is within 3" of any friendly units from the battalion, on a 2+ you can pass on wounds and mortal wounds.

==Super-Battalions==

===Nighthaunt Procession===
(3730pt. min. - 12350pt. max)

'''''1 Shroudguard and 6 Battalions chosen between the others in the Battletome'''''

Do you know Deathless Spirits? That allegiance ability we described above that makes everyone ignore wounds at a 6+? The battalion units replace it with... something a little better? The drawback is that it only works on heros from this battalion, but that hardly matters, since your bound to have 6 seperate heros due to the battalions. What it does give is that it removes the word "Wholly" from our Deathless Minions aura. So we get the (longer range) legion version of it, and makes larger battles a little easier to manage.

===The Emerald Host===
(900 pt. min.)

''''' 1 The Forgotten Scions, 1+ The Dolorous Guard, and any number of The Condemned, Chainguard or Death Stalkers'''''

'''The Emerald Curse:''' After armies are set up, but before the first battle round, you can pick 1 enemy hero. Subtract 1 from save rolls for attacks that target that hero.

Note that the way this ability is worded, you don't need to be part of the battalion to take advantage of this ability, so only take optional sub-battalions if you're trying to get a single drop army.

==Army Building==

===1000 pt.===
Start with Soul wars, and then get another Soul Wars half. This gives you the 40 chainrasps you need as the core of most lists. Converting Glaivewraith Stalkers into Grimghasts is as easy as trimming the skulls and spikes and turning the blades 90 degrees. Run a Knight of Shrouds on Steed, two Guardians of Souls, two blocks of 20 Chainrasps, a unit of 10 Grimghasts, and the Chainguard battalion, and you have a decent list that's exactly 1k.

===2000 pt.===
A sweet/fun spot for this army. Tons of heroes. Tons of ghosts. Since nearly the entire Nighthaunt range is easy-to-build, putting together a functional 2000pt list is fairly inexpensive and beginner-friendly. At this points value, you should be allying in a Vampire Lord for extra healing(give him the wings so he doesn't get left behind if your force has to jump a wall). Generally at this level you'll want to have a big, powerful deathstar of your chosen killer unit(Grimghasts, Bladegheists, or even Harridans) surrounding and buffed by your heroes(Spirit Torment, at least one Guardian of Souls, and Vampire Lord at a minimum) plus two blocks of 20 Chainrasps to hold terrain. Once you've filled in those essentials, you'll still have a few hundred points to play around with - maybe add Lady Olynder for serious mortal wound output, maybe an endless spell and a unit of 12 Banshees to feed the endless spell to so you can boost their attacks. So many possibilities....

==Allied Armies==
Definitely consider taking a Vampire Lord. The ''DEATHLY INVOCATION'' ability is amazing, as it can dish out a huge amount of healing to your most critical units. The Vampire Lord costs only a little more than your Knight of Shrouds on Steed and has the same Command Ability and similar damage output. The only difference is the lack of Ethereal (And the lack of a Deathless minion save) and more reliable self-healing.

If you want to deploy a '''MALIGNANT''' army consider the Mortis Engine, if only because it's part of Start Collecting - Malignants. Otherwise, build it as either a Bloodseeker Palanquin or Coven Throne, since Soulblight are Nighthaunt allies while Deathmages are not for some reason. The Coven Throne deserves a special mention. They provide Deathly Invocation to help regen your ghosts, they are a Wizard, and their command ability is pretty good allowing any DEATH unit to reroll 1s of attacks, wounds, and saves. If you bought the Nighthaunt start collecting, it might be time to convert those Mortis Engines into Coven Thrones. Keep in mind that the Coven Throne is pricey though. But giving your Nighthaunt re-rolls to wounds, hit, and essentially a AoS 2.0 Mystic Shield, it is very recommended. For added fluff points, give it the Ethereal Amulet from Malign Sorceries for a ethereal save, just like your ghostly pals.

The foot-slogging/flying/Nightmare-riding Vampire Lord has a great buff to toss at your Hexwraiths, though sadly the one on zombie dragon is too expensive to take as an ally. Mannfred von Carstein is also nice because his Dread Abyssal is surrounded by spirits so he fits the theme, because he's very powerful and his buff aura is amazing and because he can summon more Nighthaunts for you every turn.

For Legions, no cheese is spicier than the triple whammy Grimghasts. Take a vampire lord, a Necromancer and a Knight of shrouds on ethereal steed, a guardian of souls with lantern, and a giant honking unit of Grimghasts (Preferably 30). Use the command abilities of both the vamp lord and the knight of shrouds to bump your guys up to 4 attacks each. Next, have your necromancer cast Vanhels Dance Macabre on them so they can fight twice. Did someone say 240 attacks at 3+\3+\-1\1? Now you see those four units you charged, now you don't. Add in a Coven Throne for its CA, and suddenly, they're all re-rolling their wounds.

Honorable mentions should also go out to Morghast Harbingers and Arkhan the Black. Morghasts add in a good source of Rend -2 and Damage 3 attacks that Nighthaunt lack outside of spamming Mymourn banshees and Kudross. Mobility isn't as much a problem either, since you'll most likely be dumping half your Nighthaunt army on the enemy turn 1, and the rest on turn 2, so trust me, your enemy will have more to worry about. This lets your Harbringers to get up the field relatively quickly.

Arkhan also fills a hole in a Nighthaunt army, that hole being reliable magic support. Besides having a good unique spell, and the ability to extend both his and your other Nighthaunts spells, he can also cast the spells of other Death Mages, meaning that you'll get essential spells like Soulcage off.

Lastly, as of his new (Ossiarch Bonereapers) warscroll, his Deathly Invocation will return a flat 3 wounds worth of models to 4 different units - that's guaranteed Spirit Hosts or a crapton of 1 wound models returned.

*'''Big Drogg Fort-Kicka''': A Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant available to all Death factions as an ally. Functions like Gotrek in the Order factions where he uses up your whole allies allowance in exchange for a very destructive monster of a unit. His most important feature is the ability to destroy terrain, including faction terrain. He also has a unique breath attack that attacks one unit within 3" at the end of the combat phase; roll a dice for each model in the unit and deal 1MW on a 6+.

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}

Lizardmen

2021-05-31T01:36:40Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:EC9F:722:6923:D581: /* Slann */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Seraphon|Logo=Lizardy.jpeg|Alliance=Order|Lore=Lizardmen|Motto=Aztec dinosaurs riding bigger dinosaurs that shoot lasers and fuck shit up. This is how Lizardmen do.}}

{{Topquote|Civilization must stand up and combat the current collapse of governance, the rise of violence, and the spread of chaos and fear in many parts of the world.|Rudy Giuliani, Slann}}
{{Topquote|A powerful AI system tasked with ensuring your safety might imprison you at home. If you asked for happiness, it might hook you up to a life support and ceaselessly stimulate your brain's pleasure centers. If you don't provide the AI with a very big library of preferred behaviors or an ironclad means for it to deduce what behavior you prefer, you'll be stuck with whatever it comes up with. And since it's a highly complex system, you may never understand it well enough to make sure you've got it right.|James Barrat}}
{{Topquote|What are you doing in my swamp?!|Shrek}}

The '''Lizardmen''' are a faction in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]]; with the coming of the [[Age of Sigmar]] they have been re-named "'''Seraphon'''". A variation on the [[Lizardfolk]] theme, they are a civilisation of [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mayincatec Mayaincatec], [[Chaos]]-hating, reptilian creatures. Prior to Age of Sigmar they were the isolationist survivors of an ancient empire that lived in [[Lustria]], the Warhammer World's analogue to South America. As Seraphon they were reborn as creatures of star magic who live above the Mortal Realms, descending to fight as per the inscrutable will of their masters.
Though as per the recent retcon, they’re back to being flesh and blood reptiles, though infused with Azyrite magic. They do not have a [[Warhammer 40000]] counterpart, only factions that take after various bits of them; like a caste system like Tau and having a core belief in some metaphysical movement, and being a wholly organic, genderless army with subspecies, like Tyranids.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_conspiracy_theory They also run the government (don't blame me, I voted for the Skaven)].

==History==
[[File:FUCK YOU CHAOS.jpg|400px|right]]
Way back when the [[Old Ones#Warhammer Fantasy|Old Ones]] entered the world, they decided they'd need some extra help in <s>messing this world up</s> guiding this world to its destiny. So, they created the first of the Lizardmen, the Slann. The Slann are obese but highly-magical frog-men that spend most of their days sitting around meditating. The Old Ones, realizing the Slann wouldn't be useful for much when it came to manual labor, then created the rest of the Lizardmen, including the Saurus, Skinks, and Kroxigor. They then left the Lizardmen to make some [[elf|elves]], [[dwarf|dwarfs]], and [[human]]s. In return, the Slann used their new servants to COMMIT MULTIPLE GENOCIDES on the native races of the World, with massive armies of Saurus hunting down and annihilating the races that the Old Ones told them to (notably, the only race that was a target of the Lizardmen's genocidal campaigns and survived are [[Orcs and Goblins|everyone's favorite fungus footballers]]).

However, the Fall of the [[Eldar]] then happe-- wait a minute, wrong universe. <s>Or is it?</s> The [[Webway|dimensional gate]] the Old Ones had come through collapsed, crashing into the north of the Warhammer World and opening a portal to the <s>[[Warp]]</s> [[Realm of Chaos]]. The Lizardmen and Elves had to team up to defeat the [[Daemon]]s that started pouring through the portal. Eventually the Elves managed to redirect the flow of magic into a portal at the center of the island home, [[Ulthuan]], but not before much awesomeness on the part of the Lizardmen. And by awesomeness we mean billions of Saurus' fighting for centuries continuously in battles that spanned continents against an enemy that could warp reality. Little did the elves know, the Slann actually did much of the work on the great vortex, and without them continuously sending magical aid it probably would have collapsed a long time ago. The Slann are also responsible for maintaining the great warding, but don't ever tell the elves that or they'll throw a hissy fit.

Lizardmen for the most part are fairly primitive by the standards of the Warhammer world. Even orcs can take iron and forge it into new choppas and make chariots. Lizardmen mostly use stone tools and weapons with some bronze bits here and there. Only the beastmen are more primitive and they have brains hardwired to despise all that is artificial. This might lead you to underestimate them in battle, but the fact that they use stone swords is a secondary consideration when you consider that the ones wielding them are three meter long semi-sapient therapod dinosaurs with really durable scales. One area where they do make a lot of use of metalworking is in gold plates, which they have a lot of. These they use to keep records and important bits of information on because they live in damp stone cities in the middle of rainforests where paper would fairly quickly rot away. Other species, for reasons the Lizardmen have a hard time understanding, have an odd obsession for this yellow metal beyond simply valuing its corrosion resistance and try to steal these plates to melt them down. This really gets under their scales.

Despite being fairly isolated, they deal with just about everyone. their main problems are [[Dark Elves|emo elves]] to the north and regular human pirates and colonists. They also have a long-standing feud against [[furry|Skavens]]. Recently, the Slann have been getting off their asses and realizing that the threat needs to be met head on, so apparently they have massive armies stationed fighting all over the world, from Brettonia to the southern chaos wastes. Why they never pop up in anyone else's fluff is a mystery, though not so much when you realize they barely have fluff to begin with. They are also similar to [[Tomb Kings|tomb kings]] and [[Grandpa Dreadnought]] with their "get the hell off my lawn" policies.

===The End Times===
With the release of ''The End Times: Thanquol'', the fourth book in [[The End Times]] series, the Slann forsee that The Great Plan of the Old Ones will fail. The apocalypse begins with the Lizardmen defending their lands from a Daemonic invasion that rivals the initial Chaos Incursion after the Great Catastrophe (somehow, despite the Polar Warpgates not changing and the Elven Vortex still happily sucking up all the Magic). Unfortunately, whilst the Lizardmen put on a smashing show in stemming the [[Daemon|Daemons]], warpstone meteors rain down upon Lustria; the [[Skaven]] Grey Seers had been taught by their Daemonic [[Verminlord|Verminlords]] how to circumvent the Slann's magic and try to bring the [[Morrslieb|chaos moon]] closer to the world. This knocks out all the Slann as they try to protect the continent, just in time for the ''entirety'' of the Skaven Clan Pestilens to invade Lustria. As the booby traps set by the Lizardmen are bespoke for Daemons they do nothing to stem the Skaven tide other than giving a few headaches. Cue rampant swarms of rat-men spreading plague, burning forests, and killing Lizardmen like it's going out of fashion.

Clan Skyre, not to be out done by those pesky Grey Seers, decide to go one further and actually blow up the chaos moon with a giant cannon. As continent-sized chunks of warpstone plummet towards the planet the Lizardmen decide that it's very likely their plan has failed and flee in their temple-pyramids-now--spaceships. The Slann use their mind-powers to disintegrate these fragments, however blowing up their brains under the magical strain. Even as the Slann die still more chunks head for the world, taking the mummified uber-Slann Lord Kroak to will himself back to life in order to contain the rest of the chunks to only fall on Lustria and the Southlands, whilst securing parts of Lustria in magical bubbles and lifting them off the world.

As such only a few Slann now exist, floating about in space.

===Age of Sigmar===
With the release of GW's re-packaged fantasy game [[Age of Sigmar]] the Lizardmen have been renamed into the IP-friendly 'Seraphon', and with it have been re-skinned as "Daemons of Order" whose bodies flow with Azyrite energy (i.e. the Lizardmen now have lightning for blood). A Battletome has been released and the army rebased. The Seraphon have no named characters in Age of Sigmar outside of Lord Kroak, with the other characters either being given new, generic units (such as Tetto-Ekko and Gor-Rok), or have been merged with already existing generic units (such as Oxyotl, Lord Mazdamundi, Kroq-Gar, and Tehenhauin).

The new fluff describes the post-[[The End Times|apocalypse]] Slann (now known as Slann Starmasters) as having been found drifting in space by Dracothion, the celestial dragon, and were thus brought to the Mortal Realms. They are described as having an empire in High [[Azyr]] (i.e. space) and travel across the Mortal Realms without the need for Realmgates. All the Seraphon bar the Slann are now memories, materialising when the Starmaster wants to beat down on Chaos. Just *how* physical the Seraphon are is vague - despite being described as materialising at the whim of the Slann they have blood of starlight which, in one story, was said to be soaking in the ground to purify it of Chaos' taint. The Battletome also details a Skink Starpriest to approach a Slann before they materialise on the Mortal Realms with the rest of the army, suggesting that the Seraphon may exist beyond the battlefield. To make matters more confusing, the Seraphon also physically manifest as star constellations, with various hosts forming around a central shiny Slann.

Rather nicely the Black Library has given them some attention in the recent short story "Under The Black Thumb"; nice in that the old Lizardmen were usually left in the shadows as the favourite races got all the attention.

Another Recent shortstory reveals that they actually live in Spaceships with the interiors tending to mimic the jungles of Lustria. Along with showing that they are still spawned the same way they were in Fantasy. The Slann can simply summon them from the ships.

Battletome: Cities of Sigmar also says the "mysterious lizard priests of the Seraphon maintain conclaves in several of the God-King's strongholds." Lizard might refer to Skinks rather than the amphibian Slann, meaning they are even further independent.

The battletome released in March 2020 retconned it so the Lizardmen are flesh and blood but infused with the magic of Azyr (in a manner similar to the Stormcast). After the End Times, the Slann put the Lizardmen into magical stasis so they'd survive the aeons without nourishment (while the Slann themselves, fully immortal, presumably spent the time figuring out the technology of the Old Ones, how to build Spawning Pools, Engines of the Gods, Temple Cities and all their infrastructure contained in spaceships etc. and how to become spiritual energy beings so that they themselves do not lose numbers and further planned out ways to make sure that, if not defeat them, at least stall Chaos and other anti-Order factions indefinitely and create an vaguely Order favored stalemate). Then Dracothion found them and revitalized their vessels. What happened next is shrouded in mystery, but the Lizardmen were infused with Azyrite magic and brought to High Azyr. They've expanded their Exodus Engines into a series of cities and jungles and Lizardmen are once again made from spawning pools. Some of them settle in the realms and work with the Forces of Order, albeit keeping them at arms length, so they've changed their foreign policy and will work with non-Lizardmen as long as they're Order-aligned. While the Azyrite magic dilutes in these Lizardmen, these Coalesced make up for it with savagery.

====Constellations====
Each Seraphon belongs to a host of warriors named after a constellation from High Azyr.
*'''Dracothion’s Tail''': The posterboy subfaction with the best magic and Slann Starmasters around. They are the most attuned to Azyr and very much employ the standard Slann tactic of slowly planning things out and waiting for the Great Plan to line up exactly before acting.
*'''Fangs of Sotek''': Not the second coming of [[Tehenhauin]] sadly, but rather the more proactive cousin of the Dracothion’s Tail. They primarily use skinks and are the most direct in their involvement with the forces of Order. They even have groups of skink priests and chiefs set up in the [[Cities of Sigmar]] to weed out any potential chaos influence.
*'''Koatl’s Claw''': Remember those feral Lizardmen from the Dragon Isles that GW refused to talk about? Well now you got rules and lore for their AoS counterparts! This army of Saurus was royally screwed by the Clans Pestilens and forced to land their flying temple in Ghur after their Slann was mortally wounded and the Skinks went insane. Within the Realm of Beasts, they quickly devolved into savage predators, tearing into any and all who dare set foot in their jungles. This extends even to those who revered the reptiles, such as a Wanderers enclave who wished to thank the Seraphon for unwittingly saving them.
*'''Thunder Lizard''': A Coalesced host originally from Chamon, they specialize in massive war beasts and are tasked with safeguarding the various weapons bunkers of Old One technology. They’ve been dispatched across the edges of realms to reign in the more uncontrollable points of magic and recently this has led to them clashing with [[Ossiarch Bonereapers|Nagash's anti-magic bone boys]]. Most recently they became unwitting pawns of [[Be'lakor]] as he manipulated them into nuking a Silver Tower which triggered a chain reaction of realmgate explosions and now most of Chamon is shrouded in chaos-corrupted clouds. The Thunder Lizards themselves are mostly wiped out after the resulting explosion engulfed everything around it, though a few hosts have survived and will likely reform their lost ranks.

==Mating Habits==
Yes, there's an entire section dedicated to their mating habits. However, while this will certainly disappoint the scalies out there, oddly enough Lizardmen don't have any. No joking. Despite being called Lizard''men'', the entire species (or whatever it's called given that speciation is determined by a lack of reliable inter-fertility between two populations) is composed of genderless individuals to whom sexual reproduction is as alien as a 360-degree field of view is to a human.

But this raises the question: if they don't have any functional reproductive organs, then how do new Lizardmen come about?

Well, there are big, bubbling pools of murky liquid at the heart of each temple-city. These were created by the Old Ones at the dawn of time and scheduled to produce new Lizardmen on a timetable unknowable to any but the long-gone Old Ones. The rate at which the Lizardmen spawn is assumed to be quite high, as they are constantly being worn down in battles of attrition. One source has the pools thrashing non-stop to keep up with a never ending tide of daemons. The new Lizardmen walk as fully formed adults out of the pools and are instinctively able to understand their role in society. They're then toweled off, logged in the records and sent to where they are needed. Each new batch (or Spawning) is usually composed of one specific type of Lizardman and has traits which are distinctly of that batch. Needless to say, as they are the foundation of their civilization, the Lizardmen are very protective of these pools, especially since they can't build more and don't really know how to repair the ones that get broken (usually due to Skaven involvement). If you get close to one (''if'' you get close to one), you will almost certainly get your face eaten. [[Tyranids|Hey, that sounds familiar...]]

It should also be noted that all Lizardmen, with the exception of the Skinks, are biologically immortal. They don't age, they simply get stronger and more skilled at what they do. So their attrition rates are lower than humans. It also means that the greatest Lizardmen warriors are centuries, if not [[Swarmlord|millenia old and are veterans of thousands of battles.]] [[Orks|Hey, that also]] [[Space Marine|sounds familiar...]]

So to sum up while Lizardmen look, walk and talk like Aztec dinosaurs, they are little more than biological variant of robots: mass-produced, pre-programmed and single-minded. They have little to no free will, no goal in life besides those implanted into them upon spawning, and much like robots they often do stupid things due to logical errors in their programming.

==Subspecies==
Like Orcs and beastmen, Lizardmen are divided into a number of distinct subspecies, each fulfilling a distinct role in society and in battle.

===Slann===
The '''Slann''' are the THICCCCC, magic frogs we were talking about above. They're among the most powerful wizards in the entirety of the Warhammer World, and taught the High Elves most of what they know about magic. In previous Lizardmen army books, they had a more active role in leading the species, but apparently they are now more sleepy. Slann are perhaps most known for their extremely lazy appearance. While it is true that their nap time is often spent pondering incredibly important problems with the scraps of instructions they have been left to save the world, and thanklessly channeling raw magical power so the rest of the world doesn't collapse on a daily basis, they are still obese toadmen known for sleeping their way through periods of global catastrophe, and showing up on mobility scooters that run on magical energy when one finally gets annoyed enough by its Skink attendants to get shit done.

When Slann decide to get shit done as a group, the results can quite literally change the face of the world in short order, such as the time a bunch of Slann decided to rearrange some tectonic plates to improve the world's feng shui, and accidentally fucked the Dwarfs over for the rest of time in the process.

Slann are sorted by generation, with the oldest generations being the strongest, and that power diminishing with each successive generation. The first generation is all dead at this point (with one only sorta dead exception that is a testament to just how powerful the OG frog sumbitches were), and the defacto leader of the Lizardmen is a second generation, which is also considered quite rare. Also, there are no longer any more Slann being spawned, so the ones still alive are part of a dying species... welp, [[grimdark]]. ([[The End Times|End Times]] spoiler: All the Slanns are dead or gone. Many were killed by Skaven after being rendered unconscious from stopping the moon from falling, and the rest either left in their pyramid ships or died blowing up continent sized pieces of the chaos moon that the Skaven blew up with Mazdamundi sacrificing himself to blow up like 60% of the Chaos moon fragments by himself and buying the planet a few more years. Even Lord Kroak joined the party. In Age of Sigmar it's revealed some Slann survived, but their numbers dwindled until only five were left. [[Lord Kroak]] is back too. It's uncertain whether he is one of the original five or whether it's Kroak and five other Slann. Honestly not that surprising for Lord Kroak, death is probably just a mildly irritating inconvenience to him. Kroak now serves as racial leader in Age of Sigmar.

===Saurus===
[[File:AwesomeLizardmen.png|400px|right|thumb|SURAS ITZ]]
'''Saurus''' are the main footsoldiers of the Lizardmen and, by and large, the "face" of the army. A "face" that could rip a man in half. The average Saurus is a semi humanoid scaled therapod 2.5 meters tall with a bite that can take off a grown man's arm, a tail strong enough to smash their ribcage and scales as hard as chainmail. On top of that, they carry at least a huge Macuahuitl and a bladed shield. They may seem slow and dimwitted, but don't let that fool you, it's not that they're dumb, they just only care about warfare. Saurus that manage to survive for a very long time do begin to pick up other skills and overall intelligence, eventually becoming good enough at things besides biting people's faces off that they can serve as agents, commanders, or other more unusual roles, though a Saurus growing away from something directly related to combat or warfare is all but unheard of.

Saurus themselves have a few variations, depending on their spawnings. Most of them are regular warriors with colour variations (some of which are taken as signs of greatness, like albinism for Gor-Rok). The two main variations of Saurus are:
* '''Temple Guard''': An elite group of Saurus, spawned to instinctively guard the temples and Slann, their spawning has ingrained this purpose so much they've been know to kill a Skink helper just because he looked at a Slann funny.
* '''Cold One Riders''': Saurus with the ability to get near, control and ride Cold Ones into battle. They produce the same smell as their mounts and have adapted for their feet's claws to grip Cold One' scales more efficiently,[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd9D_7f7zCM you know you want them].

Additionally, during sixth edition the Saurus could be spawned under the blessing of one, and sometimes two or even three for oldbloods, of the Old Ones (which were also named and detailed as having certain portfolios). This granted these Sacred Spawning with some benefits as well as recognizable visual clues:

*'''Tzunki''': Saurus blessed by Tzunki, Old One of water, have green colored scales and show quicker reactions than the regular model, while also being adapted to a semi acquatic lifestyle like skinks.
*'''Itzl''': this blessing somewhat survived in fluff, as newer editions state that cold one riders are a specialized breed with a dinosaur-like smell and hooks for grabbing on scales and that some lizardmen like Kroq-gar are instinctively able to attune to Carnosaurs. All Saurus characters who wanted a mount had to pick this.
*'''Quetzl''': this blessing from the divine Old One warrior manifests as additional bone spurs and hardened scales, which grants added protection. Kroq-gar had this as well.
*'''Huanchi''': no canon look for the Saurus chosen by the jaguar-god Old One of earth and night, but we can assume they are supposed to be more drab or camouflaged as it makes them more stealthy and able to get through harsh terrain without breaking a sweat.
*'''Sotek''': blood for the serpent god! Unsurprisingly, this is for Skinks as well as Saurus, cause Sotek cares not whence the blood flows, and it makes lizardmen even more aggressive, as well as red-crested.
*'''Tlazcotl''': Saurus are already near unflinching, but the yellow-scaled chosen of Tlazcotl took a page of 40K and ran with it as they Know No Fear- as well as no Terror and no other psychology effect.
*'''Chotec''': the Old One of the Sun also makes his orange-scaled Saurus less sluggish, filling them with the power of the sun, except it tranlsates to sprinting speed more than fighting reactions.
*'''Tepok''': the lizardmen apparently had a Coatl themed Old One, and their color was purple and they made Saurus highly resistant to magic.
*'''Xhotl''': only Kroq-gar had this, and he kept it throughout the editions as it is the blessing that provides him and his mount with a magical forcefield and zaps with magic anyone who manages to get through. As this blessing only showed up in Saurus from the lost city of Xhotl (named after the Old One Xhotl, which clearly was not the god of creativity), Kroq-gar is the last recipient of it.
*'''Blessed Mark of the Old Ones''': this was the only one who could not manifest together with any other spawning, as it meant that the Saurus (or Skink!) character bearing it was marked for greatness by all the old ones. It made the chosen lizard albino, a concept that got folded into the character of Gor Rok.

And the two commander ranks of Saurus are:
* '''Oldbloods''': The oldest, strongest, and most cunning of the Saurus caste. They are the Generals of the Lizardmen, and got the rank by being the meanest kids on the block through millennia of fighting just about everyone.
* '''Scar-Veterans''': Saurus Champions who are exactly what it says on the tin: veterans who got through their fair share of battles and are on their way to Oldblood status. They either travel the world alone, seeking lost relics or battle, or lead their fellow lizardmen as secondary commanders.

===Skinks===
'''Skinks''' are the smallest type of Lizardmen and the smartest save for Slanns. They act as the farmers, administrators and artisans of Lizardmen society. They are the most versatile and flexible of Lizardmen and probably the one which would be best suited to have a friendly conversation with a Human. Despite their small size (roughly the same as a [[Goblin]]), they can be a formidable military force, as they have highly-accurate poisoned blowpipes (<strike>they used to have bows and arrows which got retconned for some reason</strike>). They are also the caretakers for most of the dinosaurs used by the Lizardmen, and thus are [[Awesome]]. Awesome enough to get their own [[meme]] (that didn't really survive through the newer editions): "remove X, replace with Skinks."

*'''Skink Priests''': Born to manipulate the winds of magic and attend to the prophecies of events yet to occur, Priests are the highest-ranking members of the skink caste and can lead entire armies as well as they can cast spells with devastating precision. They occasionally have to take the reigns and make the hard decicions for the Lizardmen when a Slann won't wake up. Unsurprisingly, they are the most vulnerable in close combat. They historically come in Heavens and Beast flavors.
*'''Skink Chiefs''': Born to lead with exceptional cunning and tenacity, Chiefs are responsible for overseeing patrols, construction, message delivery, and commanding armies in battle. Skink Chiefs usually fight atop a dinosaur and with blowpipes but when the situation boils down to close combat, they can run circles around the enemy with their speed and agility in a dance of death.
*'''Skink Braves''': Veterans who have survived several battles and display more combat aptitude than regular skinks. Braves will fight alongside each other in their own cohorts or command regular skink cohorts.

*'''Chameleon Skinks''': An extraordinarily rare subspecies that is dedicated to scouting, infiltration, ambush, and hunting. They have the unique ability to manipulate the color and texture of their skin which is the biological equivalent of an integral cloaking device, allowing them to blend in flawlessly with the surrounding area. More badass than the moniker of stealth specialists may have you believe.
*'''Red Crested Skinks''': The alpha variation of the Skink species is blessed with being faster, stronger, sharper and brighter than their peers. Much better warriors than the average Skink as a result. The Temple-City of Chaqua was known for a spawning of Red Crested Skinks before being depopulated and ruined by a terrible plague.

*'''Skinks''': The basic Skink is a workhorse of the Lizardmen, filling light combat roles or as riders and support gunners to the various dinos the Lizardmen bring to battle, but much more so filling out the vast majority of crafting, managerial, logistics, and other work that a society needs done to function. As mentioned, besides the Slann, the basic Skink is far more intelligent, skilled, and flexible in role than any other class of Lizardman. If you can think of something necessary to a society or war engine that hasn't been mentioned, rest assured that a Skink somewhere is scampering along doing it. By far the most numerous member of the Lizardmen, or of the various Skink castes outlined here. Also known for being one of the most adorable things in Fantasy that are absolutely worth the mauling you'd get trying to hug one.

===Kroxigor===
'''Kroxigor''' are to Skinks what Ogres are to [[Halfling]]s (at least in the Warhammer World): giant powerful but dumber versions. They're essentially giant bipedal crocodiles who spawned at the same time and in the same ponds as skinks. They're the main workers and builders of the Lizardmen, which also means they are the least bright as they were literally created with menial labor as their purpose. As such they rely on skinks for direction in almost about everything, and if left by their own devices they will act based on their animal insticts: when marching to war the Skinks tie heavy clubs to the wrists of Kroxigors, so that they do not throw the weapons away in the attempt to RIP AND TEAR the enemy barehan- ehm clawed, and in battle they often work together with Skinks, forming units termed "Skrox" by the fans. '''HOWEVER''', in a cooperative collaboration between GW and CA, Kroxigors have been given something of a sanctioned lore rework in Total War: Warhammer 2 in which they become smarter and stronger with age like the Saurus, meaning that they're not so dependent on skinks for directions and can finally lead Lizardmen armies in battle. The capacity to lead still seems to be a rarity amongst the Kroxigor, but they are much less likely to have an aneurism out of sheer idiocy if left to their own devices. This change has been positively welcomed as a breath of fresh air and goes a long way to explaining the backstory of Nakai, the Wanderer.

* '''Kroxigor Ancients''': These Kroxigors have lived for several millennia and are much stronger and more intelligent than their younger kin, making them significantly more dangerous.

==DINOSAWZ==
Lizardmen are also known for their use of [[dinosaur]]s found on their native continent of Lustria. Thus they have the best monsters and cavalry period. Dinosaurs bitch. Like fucking Jurassic Park. <s>(and like Jurassic Park they are fantasy dinosaurs with little basis in science and firm roots in awesomeness)</s>

===Stegadons===
Probably the most well known dinosaur used by the Lizardmen, this stubborn, motherfucking Triceratops hits like a freight train and can trample all who oppose the Lizardmen underneath his feet. Stegadons are, unsurprisingly given the harsh nature of Lustria being a continent sized Catachan, angry all the fucking time, extremely territorial and not obligatory herbivores, which adds even more thrill to the life of Skink handlers. They usually carry Howdahs on their back which include a Skink crew, and a FUCKHUEG bow. As the stegadons age, their tempers cool and they will be able to carry either 2 massive blowpipes which fire buckets of dice, or a mystical Engine of the Gods that can buff, or shoot lightning bolts like a [[video games|Red Alert]] Tesla coil.

===Carnosaurs===
This guy is based on the large and awesome theropod dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus, and Allosaurus, and can [[RIP AND TEAR|rip the throats out of Dragons]], knocking them down a peg like the pussies they are. In fact, the reason there are no dragons in Lustria is because Carnosaurs kept hunting and killing them so they decided to settle somewhere less hostile. The newest version of the model adds additional cool factor by including a killing claw like the ones seen on Dromaeosaurs, such as Velociraptor. They also have pretty well-developed arms for a theropod, so make short arm jokes at your peril. Only the beardliest of Saurus can ride them, as even the babies can rip a human in half: once again it is up to the unlucky skinks to steal eggs from a Carnosaur nest, which might very well be the most dangerous place in the wilderness of Lustria, dodge an enraged Carnosaur mother and rise baby dinosaurs that can very well take a skink's head off in a single bite. Even when fully trained, for a lack of better term, Carnosaurs are constantly twitching around the edges and even the most strong willed Saurus oldblood rider knows that when a Carnosaur smells blood all they can do is sit tight and enjoy the ride. In summary they spill blood in the name of the Old Ones and don't give a shit about that pushover [[Khorne]].

===Troglodons===
Looks like a Blind ''Spinosaurus aegyptiacus'', freaking [[Awesome|awesome]] and anybody would pay money to see it fight a Carnosaur Jurassic Park style. For some reason a Skink can ride them. This is because they team up and search for the lost plaques of the Old-Ones in a 1970's buddy cop film.

===Bastiladons===
The Lustrian equivalent of Ankylosaurus mixed with a Scutosaurus, the walking tank of dinosaurs, and the first recipient of a 2+ Scaly Skin save. Even a big Dragon, T-rex (ahem, CARNOSAUR), or Greater Daemon sometimes struggle to get through. Perhaps to the relief of Skink handlers, these guys are somewhat more chill that the other dinosaurs and their thicc armor means they are able to carry some of the more unwieldy devices of the Old Ones: the ark of Sotek which constantly vomits poisonous snakes (they can't really bite the armored Bastiladon who can safely waltz around with the tide of sneks coming from its back) or the Solar Engine of Chotec, a literal laser cannon that overheats so hard when firing that other non-naturally insulated beings can't hope to carry one around without risking fifth degree burnings.
Despite their more easygoing nature, they are still quite capable at breaking the bones of whatever poor saps were ordered to stand in the way of one, and their tail clubs can shatter some monstrous knees, though they rarely attain the refined destructive potential of a Stegadon or Carnosaur.

===Cold Ones===
Not to be confused with the [[Old Ones]], Cold Ones are basically [[Awesome|velociraptor-like animals that are used as cavalry.]] They are also used by the [[Dark Elves (Warhammer)|Dark Elves]], who have much cooler Cold Ones. The official, in-universe explanation for this discrepancy is that the two types are related-but-distinct breeds of Cold One; the cool ones are native to [[Naggaroth]] and based off of irl Velociraptors, whereas the derpy ones are native to [[Lustria]] and based off of Spinosauroids.
For once, the Skinks are not left with the short straw as Cold Ones naturally respond the innate magnetism of Itzl-blessed Saurus and the two form a very close couple... no, not *that* kind of couple, what is wrong with you?

Perhaps ironically, they are not clever girls in the slightest, and are noted as being very dull-witted, and easily overwhelmed by chaotic situations, adding to the importance of the bond between rider and mount.

===Horned Ones===
A relative of the Cold Ones that are rare in Lustria, but prominent in the Southlands (the Warhammer World equivalent of Africa). They are distinguished from their counterparts by the fact that they are smarter, slightly faster and are based upon ''pachycephalosaurus'' with sharp teeth. Generally better than Cold Ones in every way, but are too rare to field in any significant numbers. They used to have their own models, known as Tichi-Huichi's Horned One Riders, serving as a unit in Dogs of War armies. Lizardmen mercenaries? Do want!

===Salamanders===
Not technically a Dinosaur but is still [[Awesome|awesome]]. The models seem to be based off of Dimetrodon (again not really a dinosaur(<strike> not dinosaurs at all, but a synapsid </strike> )) and shoot flaming poison like living artillery. They are escorted by teams of Skink handlers who do their best to convince the fire breathing critters to spit in the right direction, while not getting roasted or mauled in the process. While primarily used for their ranged applications, Salamanders are perfectly capable war beasts in their own right, which makes dealing with them a troublesome conundrum for commanders.

===Razordons===
Looks like what would happen if a Kentrosaurus was on steroids. Shoots out spikes at [[Memes| Sufficient Velocity]]. Very nasty, and usually has the side affects of being pinned to a wall like a "Lets pin the tail of a Donkey" game. Deployed in a manner very similar to Salamanders.

===Terradons===
Not a Dinosaur, just an average looking Pteranodon, but as large as a car. Terradons are the sneaky flyers of Lustria, hovering above the canopy for days at a time in search of unaware prey- that is, anything smaller. In battle, Skinks riding them employ primarily ranged weapons, and have the mounts carry large rocks to drop on unsuspecting warm-bloods. Their new models are also very sexy, unlike their retarded brothers.

===Ripperdactyls===
Just look at the name. GW is really phoning it in now aren't they. Otherwise, its a Pterosaur similar to the Terradon but with more of a basis in Pterosaurs like Rhamphorhynchus. These googly eyed bastards, like most of the dinosaur in this list, are simmering pots of pent up aggressions and hold the distinction of being the one cavalry unit where the mount does all the job while the rider tries desperately to hold on. Clearly for the genius tactical minds of Skink Chiefs this flying meatgrinder is not enough, so they have Chameleon Skinks hide Lustrian Bloat Toads (favorite prey of Ripperdactyls) into the pouches of unlucky invaders before sending the Rippers to rip them a new one. Think seagulls swarming pizza leftovers on a beach, but each seagull is bigger than a man and screaming for blood, and some lizard asshole snuck some pepperoni into your pockets.

===Dread Saurians===
Following GW's desire to create big monsters for Forge World to sell, the Dread Saurian was given rules in the Monstrous Arcanum Vol.1 (More was planned, obviously) and was awesome. This thing is larger than even the Carnosaur, is pretty rare and is so powerful that even the Slann can't control it without bedecking it in glyph-inscribed armour. These things are captured, presumably as eggs, and placed inside mountainside Temples, there they are worshipped as a physical manifestation of the Old Ones power. However, when shit hits the fan, a Slann will order a Temples gates unlocked and he'll release the power of the Dread Saurian on Lizardmens enemies. While the Dread Saurians stats are slightly better than a Carnosaur and has the same D3 Wounds bite, its main power comes from its options (which, for some reason, aren't restricted to just Lizardmen, derp). This includes turning it into a ghost (making it Ethereal), giving it Flaming Impact Hits, putting a huge stone disc on its neck to boost it's Toughness to 8(!) at the expense of 2 less Movement, but probably the most amusing (and something Creed would appreciate) is giving it the Ambushers special rule. Nothing says "fuck your Warmachines" than a T7 3+ monster charging you. All these buffs are named after Old Ones worshipped by the Lizardmen. Stick it in a list with Kroak and watch as it takes down whatever models you want it to. If it dies? Just use skele-frog to summon him back to continue his rampage. Can easily take Alarielle with this method.

This isn't the only interesting thing about it. It had a strange development history. It was released in Monstrous Arcanum Vol.1 before Lizardmen 8th edition by Forge World. In the book, the art depicted it as a sail-less Spinosaurus, yet when the model (finally) arrived, it had lost it's crocodile-like head, got more spikes and was now too-swole-to-control. I asked Forge World's Facebook page (when it had a Q&A) why it changed and was told, simply, "She wanted to change it". While this was a simple answer, it was clearly bullshit, as, when 8th Edition Lizardmen was released, we suddenly had a Troglodon, which was essentially a blind Spinosaurus. What clearly happened was a classic "Failure to Communicate" by GW between it's departments. The artist for FW was told to design a "1UP" of the Carnosaur, so based it on a Spinosaurus, the only known carnivore bigger than a T-Rex (Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus want words), then when the time came to actually design the model, FW learnt that the Troglodon had been designed. Thus, not wanting to make a "1UP" of a brand new model, they redesigned it to what it is now. But it gets more interesting still! In the Lustria Campaign Book, there is a conversion model of an Arcanodon with a EoTG's on top. If you compare the Arcanodon's pose with the Dread Saurian, it's nearly identical.

Fun Fact! The Dread Saurian model is so big, a human-sized model can fit inside its mouth. Conversion time, people!

===More Dinosaurs===
Since the Lizardmen have pretty much every iconic Dinosaur, the only thing they are missing now is a massive Sauropod like ''Amphicoelias fragillimus''...That . Would . Be . [[Awesome|Awesome]]. A Thunder-Lizard perhaps? Otherwise they could add it as the Arcanadon which used to exist back from the Lustria Sourcebook (although it is still in the fluff.)

There is several mentions of dinosaurs that the Lizardmen have, which don't have rules or models. Pliodons are described acting as "living ferries across the wide canals", while Voxosaurs "emitted their piercing screams to sound alarms" - A bit like a rooster, I imagine. One could pretty freely imagine a whole host of Flintstones-esque dinosaurs filling various appliance roles, if you wanted to take the piss out of it. As mentioned, the others are Thunder Lizards and Arcanadons.

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen|Tactics/Lizardmen]]
*[[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Seraphon]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3CmxjTFv_Y How you make Total Warhammer II more awesome than Total Warhammer? Add the Lizardmen!]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Lizardmen (Warhammer Fantasy)]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.lustria-online.com/ Lustria-Online.com, the main Lizardmen and Seraphon army forum.]

{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}
{{Template:Playable Factions in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar}}

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
File:Slann and their Magical Force Fields.jpg|Look into this frog's eyes. He's half-asleep, probably drunk, and he's ''still'' going toe-to-toe against a Lord of Change in a magic fight.
File:A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.jpg|A typical Lizardmen city.
File:ThunderLizard.jpg|Please GW. I beg you. ADD THIS (Even if it's ripping off Dinotopia, with some change it'd be a good original idea)
File:ScaliePorn.png|Even Lizards need to beat one off sometimes.
File:Lizard lesbian kiss.jpg | Lizard woman are lesbians!?
File:Seraphon_AKA_Lizardmen_VS_Cowardly_Wizards.jpg|Seraphon riding Derpasaurus
File:Skink.PNG|Love makes us do strange things in our fanon. Like <strike>reinterpreting the Great Plan</strike> <strike>Commiting Heresy</strike> being circumventive and discordant.
File:TWWH2_-_XFHuPdk.jpg|Lizardmen "Watercraft." Watercraft may be a misnomer, seeing as [[Derp|they're completely made of stone]] and are instead projecting a magical repulsion field from the hulls that allows them to skim over the water or at least maintain an artificial buoyancy to prevent them from sinking into the ocean.
File:TWWH2_-_tk5cjjsi56r41.jpg|There's a difference between "can't" and "won't".
File:Warhammer_-_1576358548147.png|Gold may not corrode over the centuries, but it can still break.
File:TWWH2_-_1588681734_Adorable.png|When you're cursed with cuteness and overwhelming adoration.
</gallery>
</center>