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Orc

2022-01-27T08:49:26Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* Monstergirl Depictions */

[[File:Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|An average Warhammer Orc.]]
{{Topquote|These have not had a fair press. They are fanatically brave in spite of being weaker and less practiced than most other humanoids, and must be kind to animals, since they train them so well. It is interesting that Tolkien’s characters describe them in terms very similar to those used by medieval chroniclers to describe Mongols, who in our day are considered a nice friendly people of slightly eccentric lifestyle.|Phil Barker, Sue Laflin Barker & Richard Bodley Scott, ''Hordes of the Things''}}

'''Orcs''' are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with tusks and green or gray skin(or some combination of the two). Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well.

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf and proceeded to invent orcs as a fantasy race out of whole cloth.

== The Master Template ==
While many traditional fantasy races (elves, dwarves, dragons and wizards) can be traced back to folklore and mythology, orcs are entirely a product of modern fantasy literature. Here we have a basic rundown of the image that comes up when people say "Orc" and how it evolved.

===Tolkien===
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|right|400px|The origin of the original Orcs.]]
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor (later known as Morgoth) shortly after the first elves awoke, before humans existed. It should be noted that Tolkien never definitively stated the true origin of Orcs , and most of what we have comes from notes and decisions he left to his son Christopher when he passed control of the setting over.
According to one account published after Tolkien's death in The Silmarillion, some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's Maiar ("fallen angels" futher down the hierarchy, Melkor being basically Satan) and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. Because Melkor was bitter about being unable to create life they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got Orcs, [[What| because obviously torture is totally going to influence the physiology of your offspring]]. The result was a species of ugly, bad-smelling, fanged, bow-legged, long-armed, claw-handed, hairy apelike humanoids which were 'sallow', 'swart' or 'black' in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to almost as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and later Sauron's armies.

Tolkien's Orcs are not stupid, described as "making no beautiful things, but many clever ones" and their speech, while crass, is articulate. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets, mail and scale armor supplemented by salvage), effective if unpleasant medicine (prosthetic limbs are literally stabbed into the stump, for example), and are pretty good engineers on top of creating assembly lines; one of the general morals of Tolkien's works is rampant industrialization is a path to evil and/or misfortune, and making Orcs more advanced than other races reflects this. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are even if their work ethic leaves something to be desired. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among Orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented (to the point where they have serial numbers). There are also different breeds of Orcs, besides the garden variety Orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding Orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, eating, drinking, looting, blowing stuff up, gaining power, bossing their subordinates around, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear, their psychic influence over them and the fact that everyone who is not under their authority despises them and wants them dead. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other Orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-Orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how Orcs live their lives on a day-to-day basis as their role in the story is as a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually nasty, brutish and short. Some of the interactions between different groups of orcs frequently results in back-stabbing and violent power struggles, so we can assume that they operate on a grimdark version of Klingon politics. All the orcs mentioned are male which is usually interpreted as "orcs don't bring their womenfolk along on campaigns" (which is basically what Tolkien said in one of his letters) but has led a few to say that orcish sexual dimorphism is basically nonexistent or that female orcs don't exist. Given Sauron's proclivities and the various castes in mordor they were likely subject to some form of selective breeding program.

In Tolkien's published works, "Orc" and "goblin" are synonyms (at least at first; later he said that goblins were a subtype of orc, and later still he said that they were totally unrelated). In later editions of The Hobbit, he says that "goblin" is a translation of "orc", which is "not an English word". "Uruk" means Orc in Black Speech, a mix of Elvish, human tongue, and Sauron's attempts to give them their own language. Most fantasy fiction typically distinguishes between Goblins and Orcs: most of Tolkien's Orcs would resemble other works' Goblins (Frodo and Sam disguised themselves as Orcs, so we can assume at least some are Hobbit height). The largest Orcs in Middle Earth - the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor - appear to be somewhat smaller than Men.

====Grey areas====
The question of whether they are [[always Chaotic Evil|intrinsically evil]] is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race. Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. Unlike Melkor, Sauron, and Balrogs who were spiritual beings that made an active choice to be evil, Orcs are universally portrayed as evil which means they could be evil from birth which was strongly against Tolkien's strong Catholic beliefs in the nature of good and evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature. Christopher similarly has not come up with a satisfactory answer and has largely avoided the subject, avoiding talking about Orcs as anything but adult militant antagonists and leaning back on his father's suggestions of corrupted man/elf hybrids descended from enslaved elves.

Fans divide into different camps of explanation. Orcs could be born adult and "male", like the Warhammer Orcs discussed below, and thus be more intelligent animal like Dragons as opposed to inherently evil people. Another suggestion is they could also be people who are indoctrinated from youth, such as their closest inspiration as the Central Powers in World War 1 (trying to kill Tolkien in the Somme) and Axis (who blew up his barn while he and the family hid in the cellar during the Blitz) which would make Orcs antagonists with horrible leaders and a corrupt ideology as opposed to naturally evil; this would make them as evil as the Easterlings. Some have reasoned, in the vein of the second suggestion, that Orcs are not all unified on Melkor/Sauron's side, which is supported by a single line from Tolkien that no race stood united for or against Sauron; this is dismissed by some with the elf/man origins as all Orcs evil and all elves good, but can be interpreted either way. In this view some have reasoned there must be neutral tribes of Orcs who did not participate in conflict and are as unmentioned as the Stoorish Hobbits (Gollum's original people, who's only importance at all and thus only mention is just that; being Gollum's people before he degenerated into a [[Ghoul|ghoulish]] being), that these Orcs could possibly even be good for all that is known. Another idea is that Melkor's corruption of the Elves he kidnapped either diminished or removed their capacity to do good, which would make creating the Orcs one of the most monstrous acts he had ever committed, and considering this guy was capital-E Evil in every way he could think of that says a whole goddamn lot. The final suggestion is Orcs have no souls, and much like the Little Mermaid (not the Disney version, but rather the original story where they are Feyfolk who are sea foam come to life in the forms of people that can love and grieve, but return to sea foam in oblivion when they die because they have no souls) are just some natural material come to life with no real importance or moral rights because they were not intentionally created by the omnipotent creator (Dwarves are exempt from this fate, being creations of the Vala Aulë who were granted life and 'adopted' by Eru Illuvatar). In this view you could do anything you want to an Orc from killing to torture because they have as much natural rights as their base components, similar to the destruction of the Golem in Hebrew myth, and would explain the ostensible absence of orc-souls in the afterlife of Tolkien's cosmology, though one could find moral problems with this as well depending on your worldview. Tolkien seems to have considered this explanation at one point but ultimately rejected it, as he believed that the Orcs would have been no more intelligent than any other animal if they were truly soulless.

In any case, Tolkien invented Orcs and what is discussed above served as the inspiration of of MANY spinoffs that to various degrees A: took the idea and ran with it while expanding on it to fill in the blanks, B: took the basic idea and gave it a few tweaks, or C: deliberately subverted what people expected from Orcs, making it possible for them to be the good guys. There have been various takes on the "are Orcs fundamentally evil?" question. As a general rule more people tend to go with some flavor of "no, strictly speaking" in that regard as it opens up more narrative possibilities as opposed to a race of set-in-stone killer meatbots utterly unable to deviate from their programing though still cast them primarily in a villainous role.

====Direct Adaptations====
For the most part the Lord of the Rings movies created by Peter Jackson have done a reasonable interpretation of the orcs from the books, though they have cranked their aggression up a bit, uglied them to a great degree, often used the green skin-tones that were popularized later, made them much taller across the board, and ''possibly'' confirmed females. No females are pointed out, but some actresses that played Orcs have insisted their characters (who are usually killed by Elf acrobatics in the same scene or just screech at the camera and shoot an arrow) are female; Jackson has never confirmed or denied this but still made a point of including these interviews on the special features sections of the home release of the movies. Then again, he also put Elves at Helms Deep...

Notably, the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, while mostly known for being "actually pretty good" for what was essentially an Assassin's Creed clone, also showed Orc culture. Essentially, they were a naturally evil race ruled by a hierarchy of tribe chiefs who use grimdark Klingon politics; meaning whoever could knock around his fellow Uruks became boss, and a boss who could honorably duel, assassinate, or otherwise neutralize his peers climbed the ladder. While they were the Chaotic Evil monsters Tolkien didn't want to portray them as, this didn't mean that they weren't interesting. Their mindset was that when they weren't focusing on eliminating other tribes, most Uruks just wanted to put in a hard day's work (of bossing around human slaves), made small talk, had drinking songs, and at the end of the day just go have a drink with his mates. With the mental influence of Celebrimbor's shade on them they are rendered neutral in terms of good/evil, but will still fight and kill each other for promotions; this is generally interpreted as mind control, although a large number of Orcs following you without Celebrimbor in the sequel suggests it may also be you reducing Sauron's influence on them and allowing them to make their own moral choices.

===Warhammer===
[[File:Black Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The modern interpretation of Orcs.]]
[[Games Workshop]] was originally a company that produced quality boards for games like Chess, but after two out of three of the original team fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons after [[Gary Gygax]] sent them a copy (believing they were a legitimate company based on their name, rather than three guys in an apartment sending out stuff through the mail) they began distributing licensed games and later producing miniatures for use in these games under the brand [[Citadel Miniatures]].

As time went on, they had a surplus of unsold miniatures and had trouble retaining the rights to sell their products, so they began to have members of their team create new games owned by Games Workshop to use the models they produced (which unfortunately made many of the early Warhammer designs that survive [[Broo|extreme]] [[Daemon|ripoffs]]). The most successful of these was [[Warhammer Fantasy]], then just Warhammer, which was a wargame version of Dungeons & Dragons that existed mostly just to sell models. Warhammer didn't get its own setting and story until 3rd edition, where [[Orcs & Goblins|its Orcs]] were described as having green skin and red eyes with tusks in their mouths as well as being savage brutes that gathered in hordes and attacked civilization, or just about anything capable of fighting, every so often. Although later on this lore became more complex with Warhammer greenskins becoming genderless mushroom-apes with the creation of [[Warhammer 40000]] which was ported back into Fantasy, the prototype Warhammer Orc still had females and Half-Orcs.

With this, the master template of Orcs was completed. Almost every fantasy setting to use Orcs after Warhammer made them green and sometimes gave them red eyes with tusks, which eventually migrated back into Dungeons & Dragons and even the Lord Of The Rings movies. However, one thing was missing. Orcs were still Always Chaotic Evil which greatly limited their use, and non-evil Orcs were a footnote that didn't even have a [[Drizzt]] to be their posterboy example.

===[[Warcraft]]===
The importance of Warcraft isn't actually in any evolution in any master template. In fact, what it mostly did is combine concepts from previous fantasy settings into a setting and use the appearance of Warhammer Orcs, which was thrust into mainstream public perception and made Orcs "cool" causing a boom of fantasy gaming both on the tabletop and in video games, as well as the movie screen.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released in 1994, and featured generic knights VS generic Orcs in the Warhammer style (indeed, rumors persist that Warcraft was a canceled Warhammer game as Games Workshop had been experimenting at the time with video games). Orcs were controlled by Demons from some obscure Satanic force, and used Ogres as their minions. The only real innovation was Orcs coming from another planet through a portal, although the theme of Satanic forces invading from portals was largely dropped and instead lived on in the Diablo franchise. The game was a surprising success, being low budget from a minor studio.

It was followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1996, which sold RIDICULOUSLY well and sparked a boom in the entire Real Time Strategy genre which quickly became a staple of PC gaming. The setting was expanded a great deal, although Orcs remained mostly the same but were joined by Goblins (who coincidentally looked similar but were a different race), Trolls, their persisting Ogre slaves, the undead (created by the Orcs from their own dead Warlocks), and enslaved dragons. The most diverse change to be found here was Goblins being a race of money-obsessed mad scientists, and Trolls being intelligent. An expansion pack was released that involved the humans invading the Orc homeworld to end the war.

Setting their eyes on the horizon, Blizzard planned an explosion of lore with a book series beginning with Of Blood And Honor which went into the friendship between a human Paladin and an aged Orc ex-Shaman who hated what his race had become which created complexity in what had previously been just a generic "kill it all and loot/eat then march again" race. The second book was Day Of The Dragon, expanding a minor plot involving Dragons into the war between good and evil which had used the Horde and Alliance as a proxy for their own machinations. Lord Of The Clans delved deeper into Orc lore, explaining that they were a race with souls naturally attuned to other sources of energy that had communed with the forces of nature itself until they were tricked into a Daemonic curse that affected them like meth, giving them fanatical boosts of power until it diminished their body and soul into a husk; the main character of the book, named Thrall by humans who used him as a pit fighter, learned nature magic and freed the defeated Orcs to lead them to a peaceful natural existence again. Finally the book The Last Guardian detailed the madness of the human supreme wizard Medivh who had summoned the Orcs into the world in the first place and gave context on the Burning Legion, transforming them from a vaguely satanic demon army into a varied force of cosmic enemies that would fit right into Doctor Who.
Here finally Warcraft added new flavor to their Orcs although unlike previous versions of non-evil Orcs the Warcraft version had identical culture only without malice. The major difference here was making them neutral race that actually got to be in the spotlight, as all previous non-evil Orcs were minor races left mostly undescribed beyond the basics that never starred in a story and always were just an option for exotic PCs; Warcraft was the first setting to make them a core race in the starring role with equal importance to humans in the first person narrative, which catapulted Orcs across fantasy fiction in importance.

In Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos, released in 2002, Blizzard took the mantle of villains entirely away from the Horde and rendered the judgement of gray morality into all factions. The Alliance were racist arrogant bastards that hated each other, were ineffective, and easy to corrupt. The Horde was full of the same assholes from Warcraft I and II that were missing "the good old days" and jumped at a chance to suckle Daemon teat for power again (although the curse was broken during the game). Undead wore the mantle of villainy, but that's because they were lead by a soulless human merged with the ghost of the Orc who set in motion the events which made the Horde evil in the first place. Also, there was forest Elves who wanted everyone to get the fuck out of their forest.

Warcraft III became THE game on the PC at the time, and Warcraft mania had made the image of Orcs something the average non-gamer person could identify. Green skin, tusks, gigantic frame with large shoulders, and sometimes red eyes (which just meant "evil Orc" in Warcraft) became THE Orc as a result of Warcraft, which very little since then has drifted away from. Very few fictional works with Orcs that came after left out these details.

Next in 2004 came World Of Warcraft, '''THE''' MMO which destroyed or outlasted every competitor, surviving for <s>12</s> '''15''' full years and which is still ongoing today. While most of the changes added in WoW remain only important to Warcraft continuity, as they haven't migrated into the mainstream yet, non-evil (or at least neutral) Orcs put upon both by their own evil kin and the hateful humanity became the default Orc. As the game's story moved on, the main racial plot for the Orcs concern itself with its heritage as bloodthirsty conquerors, with the younger lads wondering whether or not wanton genocide really was all that bad... One of them even took the Horde to... [[Nazi|An interesting place]]. So the nature of Orcs as evil/not-evil-just-really-fighty is still being discussed within the game.

So while Warcraft didn't pioneer the idea of non-evil Orcs, greenskins with tusks, or Orcs being in control of their own destiny rather than being pawns in the schemes of a greater power, it did make the Master Template a staple of fantasy fiction. Stories like the Styx and Divinity video games have continued using the new template since then, with more on the way. Even Warhammer itself dropped the most outright evil of their Orcs since then, making them Chaotic Neutral destructive forces that can be allied with rather than Chaotic Evil.

==Mold-Breakers==
{{topquote|Look at them. Ranks, files, locked in everlasting conflict at the whim of the player. They fight, they fall, and they cannot turn back because the whips drive them on, and all they know is whips, kill or be killed. Darkness in front of them, darkness behind them, darkness and whips in their heads. But what if you could take one out of this game, get him before the whips do, take him to a place without whips‚ what might he become? One creature. One singular being. Would you deny them that chance?|Lord Havelock Vetinari, '''Unseen Academicals''', on the subject of [[Terry Pratchett|Sir Terry Pratchett's]] Orcs}}

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic [[barbarian]] rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, this isn't always the case, and a number of notable exceptions have developed over the years.

'''Discworld''' (Also the universe where the above quote comes from) barely mentions orcs, only saying that they were made as cannon fodder for an evil empire before it was destroyed. There is, however, one orc Character; Nutt, who is Perhaps the most intelligent being in the whole setting, incredibly strong and fucking brilliant at football, although he avoids becoming a [[Mary Sue]] due to Terry Pratchett's Incredibly good writing.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Orcs generally tend to live in few places and have vastly different cultures, some good, some evil, some neutral. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have just as much an expectation of being born from consensual relationships as anyone else, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings.
*Shadow Marches, said to be orc homeland, is home to the the Gatekeeper druids who saved the world from aberrations severl thousand years ago and are busy keeping evil unkillable daelkyr lords of madness locked in their prisons. But it's also a home to cults of Kyrzin, one of those evil lords of madness and orc tribes loyal to Gatekeepers and those loyal to Kyrzin are constantly fighting. Both tend to kill outsiders wandering through their lands, because those outsiders are usually enemy agents and it saves time, so don't get confused by Gatekeepers being the good guys, they're by no means nice guys.
*Droaam, right next to Shadow Marches is a multi-cultural nation of monsters and orks are a sizeable population of it. Gaa’aram tribes are your typical evil barbarian orcs, only difference being they form multi-racial tribes where orcs, goblins, ogres and trolls work together. Gaa’ran on the other hand are "peaceful" farmers and about the only people in Droaam who do agriculture. "Peaceful" is in brackets is because they would only fill you with axes and hang your mutilated corpse on a stick to deter future trespassers if you trespass on their lands, being the epitome of "get off my lawn".
*Demon Wastes have two competing cultures, both made of orcs, humans and half-orcs fighting together. Ghaash'kala clans are "good" human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. That being said, things they fight are mostly evil orcs of Carrion Tribes who worship demons and make your typical Faerun orcs look like saints in comparison. Just like in Shadow Marchers, don't assume Ghaash'kala are nice because they're good - they operate under assumption that anything that comes from the wastes is corrupted and needs to die (an assumption that is right 99% of times), so don't expect eny mercy if you come to their lands from the wrong side.
*Finally, separated from all other orc lands are Jorash'Tal, the asshole racist orcs of Mror Holds who hate dwarfs with fiery passion for invading and colonizing their mountains thousands of years ago and refuse to let it go. They're nomad tribes roaming valleys between the mountains and are generally nice people that ''won't'' kill you for trespassing on their lands unlike other orc cultures generally painted as "good". Unless you're dwarf. In which case they kill you for the sins of other dwarfs that lived so long ago no one remembers them. Generally they're a case study on how racial grievances won't do you any good, no matter how justified they are. Dorfs, being both more numerous and technologically advanced are locked in indecision what to do with them as half their clans want to make peace and integrate Jorash'Tal, putting them to work since most holds are in need of more labour, while the other half pushes for the ultimate solution to orcish problem.

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, has exceptions too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to [[Eldath]] (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here]. It's also worth noting that many D&D fans take the stance that orcs, goblins, ogres, and other "always evil" monsters are only evil because ''they're brought up in an evil culture'', and that an orc raised in a human household would be just as Good as their adoptive parents (assuming the parents actually ''are'' Good-aligned, that is). There's also the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, a nation of orcs that seeks to have diplomatic ties to their neighbours, though they do occasionally raid their neighbours, especially the local human barbarian tribes.

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments - in other words, very close to how [[hobgoblin]]s have come to be defined in modern editions. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]].

'''[[Warcraft]]''', as covered above, may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil warlock and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s <s>refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys</s> revolving door of insane and genocidal Horde warchiefs who get overthrown every 2-4 years, with Orcs on both sides of the warchief's agenda. The plot twist is that this time, the warchief is not an Orc at all, but an undead elf which adds layers of complexity. For example, the Orcs go along with her orders in an attempted genocide of the Night Elves after the demons are defeated, but one of the key figures to rise against her was an Orc.

While '''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' **prepare for shitelf cope** Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) weren't even considered ''people'' in the first game, by the time the third game rolled around they had become fully integrated into normal society and weren't looked upon any differently from elves or humans. They are as intelligent as anybody else (in the fifth game one even runs the library at the local mage's college) and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah [[Vore|ate (and shat out)]] their greatest champion/god, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

'''[[Sharakim]]''' seem like this at first glance, as they are orcs who are highly organized, discipline, civilized and benevolent people, but arguably don't count: they're the descendants of humans who were cursed to ''look like'' orcs for sacrilege, not really proper orcs.

'''[[Monster Hunter International]]''' orcs, while green and tusked, are among the few monsters that aren't evil as a species. Unlike most of them they are not PUFF exempt, so they do their best to stay hidden from the government. Monster Hunter International helps hide the orcs at their headquarters in Cazador, Alabama and, in return, gets a help from a few orcs. Appearance wise MHI Orcs are pretty standard, though they wear masks to hide this from humans (though the one look at their village suggests they may do this beyond just secrecy). What makes them interesting is that they have an (Orc) god given talent that makes them very specialized in a particular area, yet utterly incompetent at something related to but outside that area. These include a master of bladed weapons that can't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun, and a helicopter pilot who can make a [[MI-24 Hind]] do things even current helicopters can't, but is unable to drive a car (Upon hearing this, one character speculates that Top Gear's Stig is an orc). They can also make magical healing potions, though they need to be made for specific people and don't keep well. Female orcs greatly outnumber males, so polygamy is the norm. MHI Orcs also worship heavy metal musicians. Most information about orcs in this world is based on the depiction of one friendly tribe, and the only other tribe mentioned was willing to slaughter this friendly tribe, so it's likely other tribes differ in some or all aspects.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
[[File:DnD Original Orc.jpg|thumb|right|400px|1st Edition D&D Orcs, now commonly referred to by some variation of "P'Orcs" by fans.]]
In the first edition of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], Orcs were among the first monsters inspired by folklore and fantasy literature added to the game in a reissue set. They became the primary antagonists out of the many enemies in the game due primarily to their statline rather than their iconic nature, since they were the best "always an enemy" humanoid to accompany a [[Big Bad Evil Guy|BBEG]]. Early DnD Orcs were pig-like monsters resulting from savage tribals that bred with all other races they warred with (so reproducing via rape) with no unified culture or language, but interestingly were also described as having a "reputation for cruelty that is deserved, but humans are just as capable of evil as orcs" which suggests they weren't anything extraordinary to the setting.

Half a decade after their introduction, they were given a more neanderthal appearance as well as being given a size-increase to that of a gorilla (which is actually shorter than the average human, btw), were made able to breed with humans resulting in the [[Half-Orc]] playable race, and given their own mythology (which in most D&D settings is the explanation for why a race behaves the way it does). The leader god is named [[Gruumsh]], who was screwed over in inheritance of the world by the gods of the fairer races causing him to be a bitter asshole and make his race into entitled "might makes right" pricks like a father passing on their shitty life to their kids. Gruumsh's family are below him in importance and include his wife [[Luthic]], goddess of the submission of Orc females as the inferior gender, who goes barefoot and never wields a weapon and just serves to run the home and [[Meme|make babby]], and their son [[Bahgtru]] who's pretty much the god of "stupid, but strong", along with Gruumsh's second in command [[Ilneval]] who is the Orc god of war that directly guides mortal Orcs, with the four together representing the Neutral and "Lawful" (as in they are willing to take orders and respect their place in society) side of the pantheon. Also added were [[Shargaas]] the god of general bad magic and spooky things, and [[Yurtrus]] the god of ruin and death, neither of whom have any loyalty to Gruumsh's side of the pantheon and represent the truly Chaotic "for the evulz" aspect of Orcs.

An article for [[Dragon Magazine]] later gave the option of making the traditionally evil races like Orcs and [[Kobolds]] player characters of any alignment. This lead to the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting having two races of Orcs that are capable of any alignment, the pacifistic Ondonti who culturally are closer to Hobbit than Orruk, and the Gray Orcs who are treated as another among the fair races. All other D&D Orcs remained stupid-evil.

Dungeons & Dragons became the standard for most fantasy that came after, but ultimately for Orcs the only purpose was to move forward to the next step in the master template.

Despite their traditional role as bad guys, since at least the days of Basic D&D, where they had their own [[Known World Gazetteer]] in "The Orcs of Thar", orcs have actually been a full-fledged PC race. True, you typically need DM permission, but the option was there.

Though... not a lot of people took it, as in accordance with their fluff, orcs could be mechanically rather... lackluster. It's a well-known fact in 4th and 5th edition alike that, really, you're better off using and reflavoring the [[half-orc]] or even the [[goliath]] races instead. Especially in 5th edition, where they are literally ''the only race in the game'', aside from [[kobold]]s, to get an ability score penalty.

===BECMI Orc:===
In BECMI era [[Mystara]], there are two different Orc race-classes; the standard Orc, as seen in [[Known World Gazetteer|The Orcs of Thar]], and the horse-riding Krugel Orc, seen in the [[Hollow World]] subsetting.

;Standard Mystaran Orc
::Orc Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc has racial ability score caps of 18 in all scores bar [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]], which are capped at 16.
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtacting the result from 9.
::Orc Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become [[Shaman]]s (6th level) and [[Wokani]] (4th level).

{| class=wikitable
!Orc's's level || XP Required || Orc's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8
|-
|1||1,000||2d8
|-
|2||2,000||3d8
|-
|3||4,000||-
|-
|4||8,000||4d8
|-
|5||16,000||5d8
|-
|6||32,000||6d8
|-
|7||64,000||-
|-
|8||130,000||7d8
|-
|9||260,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||200,000||+2 Hit Points
|}

[[file:orc MCV1.jpg|thumb]]

;Krugel Orc
::Racial Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity, maximum of 16 Intelligence and 16 Wisdom
::Prime Requisite: Strength - Strength 13+ for +5% to XP earned, Strength 16+ for +10% to XP earned
::Save as [[Fighter]] of equivalent level
::Can reach 6th level as Shaman and 4th level as Wokani
::Mandatory Skill: Riding (Horse or Bounder - a kind of far-leaping bipedal carnivorous [[dinosaur]])
::Unlike normal Mystaran orcs, Krugel orcs have lost their Infravision
::Cultural Melee Weapons: Dagger, Sword (Short/Broad/Bastard), Mace, Club, Warhammer, Spear, Javelin, Lance, Net, Whip
::Cultural Missile Weapons: Crossbow (Light/Heavy), Bow (Long/Short), Sling
::Cultural Armor: Leather, Scale, Mail, Chain Mail, Banded Mail, Shield (including horned, knife, sword and tusked), Leather Horse Barding
::Shamans can use: Mace, club, warhammer, lance, net, all cultural armor
::Wokani can use: Dagger, club, net, whip

Krugel Experience Table: Krugels can reach level 36
::1: 0 XP, 1D8 Hit Dice
::2: 1,000 XP, 2D8 Hit Dice
::3: 2,000 XP, 3D8 Hit Dice
::4: 4,000 XP
::5: 8,000 XP, 4D8 Hit Dice
::6: 16,000 XP, 5D8 Hit Dice
::7: 32,000 XP, 6D8 Hit Dice
::8: 64,000 XP
::9: 130,000 XP, 7D8 Hit Dice
::10: 260,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)
::+1 Level: +200,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)

===AD&D Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 2e.png|thumb]]
::+1 Strength,-2 Charisma
::Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
::Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
::Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
::Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
::Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
::35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
::25% chance to spot sloping passages
::Infravision 60 feet
::-1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
::Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 3e.jpg|thumb]]
There are several different orc stats, scattered across multiple sourcebooks. The "common" orc in the [[Monster Manual]] featured the following statblock:
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

In the [[Forgotten Realms]], however, there are three different varieties of orc:

The "Mountain Orc" is the most common of the three races, and is the most generic, being pretty much standard Monster Manual orcs. They inhabit the Frozen North, predominantly the Spine of the World mountains and other hilly regions (hence the name), and for the most part at generic would-be conquerors foiled by their own inability to focus on anything besides killing - except for when [[Obould Many-Arrows]] tried to forcibly drag them out of their pits and show them that the best way to get respect is to actually make a kingdom of their own. These guys use the standard orc profile.

Deep Orcs, or [[Orog]]s, are a stronger, smarter (but somewhat shorter) breed of orc native to the [[Underdark]]. See their page for more details.

Finally, Gray Orcs are a strange race of emotional, impulsive, and deeply religious orcs originally hailing from another world. Long story short, centuries ago, an archmage created a portal to their world, but wound up being killed for an unrelated incident before anyone ever found out about this portal - which meant nobody ever shut it off. Five years after his death, the orcs found the portal and swarmed through in a religious crusade, battling the empires of Mulhorand and Unther in the 6-years-long Orcgate Wars, which ended with the closing of the portal, the defeat of several of the incarnate gods of Mulhorand and Unther, and the scattering of the gray orcs into loose, fractious tribes that still haunt the Moonsea and the Endless Wastes. Though physically weaker than their mountain orc "relatives", gray orcs are much more strong-willed and independent, and retain a knack for divine magic which makes them dangerous. They also possess a far swifter stride and keener senses of smell. Gray Orc PCs have the following racial stats:
::+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium Size
::Base Speed 40 feet
::Racial Weapon Proficiency: Great-Axe and Longbow
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::Scent (Ex)
::Orc Blood: For all effects and special abilities that target a creature's race, Gray Orcs count as '''Orcs'''.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Cleric]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===[[Midnight]] Setting Orc===
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Weapon Familiarty: Vardatches are Martial Weapons for Orcs
::Night Fighter: Darkvision 60 feet, +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when fighting with no light.
::Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty on attack rolls in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
:: Resistance to Cold: Immune to nonlethal damage caused by cold weather, severe cold, exposure or extreme cold. Halve lethal damage (rounding down) inflicted by extreme cold.
::Natural Predator: Orcs add their Str modifier to Intimidate checks as well as their Cha modifier.
::Spell Resistant: +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects, -2 spell energy points for orc casters.
::+1 racial bonus on damage rolls against dwarves.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls when fighting in groups of 10 or more orcs; allies and enemies both count for triggering this feature.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina, -2 Intellect (Note: Con and Int by different names)
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===4e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 4e.jpg|thumb]]
::+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares
::Vision: Low-light
::Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
::Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===[[Pathfinder]] Orc===
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
::Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
::Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

As nameless monsters who won't survive the encounter anyways, Ferocity effectively adds their constitution score (''score'', not modifier) to their HP. This make them quite dangerous at low levels, since it ''triples'' their HP (the standard Orc has 6 HP and 12 con). This isn't enough to put them next to [[Cat|house cats]], incorporeal foes or [[Swarm]]s as slayers of low level PCs, it does make them quite hard for their supposed CR 1/3.

===Pathfinder 2nd Edition Orc===

::Hit points: 10

::Size: Small

::Speed: 25 feet

::Ability Boosts: Strength, Free

::Languages: Common and Orcish, as well as any other languages equal to your intelligence modifier.

::Darkvision: You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Compared to their previous edition, and the DnD 5e, the Orcs of second edition is a lot more fleshed out. With the APG sidesteping a lot of their more "violent" tendencies of pillaging and "conception" of half-orcs, preferring to focus on their glory-seeking, honesty and unbreakable loyalty to those they see as equals or treat them nicely. They are a society looking to surpass their shitty upbringings, wanting to move on from their long history of conflict.... by way of conflict.

===5e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 5e.jpg|thumb]]
Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters as a monster race. They get the following traits... which are, as more than one person has noticed, essentially the 5e [[Half-Orc]] stats with -2 Intelligence tacked on and with the gloriously beefy Relentless Endurance (survive a killing strike with 1 [[hit point]] left 1/day) and Savage Attack (+1 die of damage on a melee weapon critical hit) replaced with the okay Aggressive trait and the pathetically overvalued Powerful Build trait, something that [[skub|has caused its fair share of arguments]].
::+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::30 feet base movement speed
::Size is medium, but they get <strike>almost large</strike> Powerful build which gives them the carrying capacity of a large creature.
::60 feet darkvision
::Aggressive (use bonus action to dash, must finish dash closer to your enemy than where the dash started)
::Menacing (Intimidation proficiency, same as half orcs)

Amazingly, orcs got an official retcon with an official PC writeup in the 5e [[Eberron]] splatbook. "Rising from the Last War" uses the above orc as a base, but strips away the pointless -2 Intelligence penalty and trades the Menacing for ''Primal Intuition'', which gives them two free skill proficiencies chosen from a list made up of Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception and Survival. This is much more useful, and better meshes with the theme of the orcs as the primary [[druid]]ic race in Eberron, and overall makes them a powerful and viable PC race... still, from a flavor perspective, there's something to be said for switching the Half-Orc and Orc stats around.

This version of the Orc was subsequently reprinted in the [[Exandria]] splatbook "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount", so it seems to have become more or less the official replacement for Volo's initial shitfest.

And as of the October errata, that is now the case, and the change seems to be a step in the right direction for orcs and [[Kobold|kobolds]]. Even so, it goes without saying, but [[Skub|it's simply impossible to please everyone]].

====Arkadian Orc====
The [[Orc]]s of [[Arkadia]] are a race born from the blood of the Great Hydra, and native to the broken wastes of Garagos. Also known as [[Giant]]s for their mighty stature - orcs typically stand 6 to 7 feet tall, though the orcs of Gargaros can grow even larger - the race has long been the traditional enemy of the Arkadians, as the race seems possessed to the last by madness and the need for destruction. But... Arkadian orcs are not a monolithic racial force. There are many tribes of orcs scattered throughout Gargaros. The Cerberans train cerberus worgs to hunt and kill; the Cyclopax fight alongside [[Cyclops|cyclopean giants]]; and the Hydrak, the largest and most hated — even by their own kind — who worship the bound titan, seeking to free it through fire and blood. Despite the ancient animosity between orcs and men, some tribes of orcs have come to find a place in Arkadia, especially among the Krytans who value strength and physical prowess above all else. These orcs were first taken as slaves during one of the many wars with Gargaros. Thrown into the fighting pits and gladiatorial arenas they displayed such power and ferocity that the king, impressed, granted them freedom and a place in his army. Many Orcs have since taken to the worship of Krytos with abandon, finding in the mighty god a surrogate father who shares their savagery and love of combat.

Arkadian orcs resemble humans, but with leaf-like ears similar to those of the [[Arkadian Elf|elves]], powerful builds, and jutting lower canines. Their skin is the color of ochre clay; orange, reddish brown, or ashen grey, often varying from tribe to tribe. Many orcs wear black warpaint in stark bands and square keyed patterns. Valuing strength and dominance above all else, orcs, as a Hyperian general once put it, make excellent warriors and terrible soldiers. Their physical prowess and violent nature make them most at home in Kryta, whose army cares more for the might of individuals than the discipline of lines. Their fearlessness and unbridled aggression on the field make them an unstoppable force, ideal as linebreakers, often turning the tide of battle almost single-handed. Some, lacking even the control for this, become mercenaries. Others take to the fighting pits or, with some luck, the grand coliseums of Illyria, untouched by Gargaran raids, where their prodigious size and strength are coveted for their exotic nature.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision: 60 feet
::Colossal Build: Your carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift is doubled as if you were one size category larger.
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

====Farlandish Orc====
Orcs in the [[World of Farland]] come in a number of different subspecies, as part of their home setting's homage to the [[Lord of the Rings]] books that inspired it.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Orcish Weaponry: You are proficient with the Hand Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe, Scimitar and Great Sword.
::Aggressive: Once per short rest, you can use a Bonus Action to move up to your speed towards a creature that you can see.
::Subrace: Choose the Snog, Skaruk or Irzuk subrace.

'''Snog''' orcs, or "Slave Orcs", are the root-stock of the orcish race; first bred as fodder for the wars of dark masters, they are still used in that role to this day, and are literally bred like livestock for that role.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Indefatigable: You have Advantage on all Constitution checks relating to exhaustion, forced marching, going without food and water, and going without sleep.
::Armored: You have Proficiency with Light and Medium armor.

'''Skaruk''' orcs, or "Wild Ones", are orcs descended from tribes that fled their creators and have since pursued independent existences in the wilderness.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Wild Rage: After you first take damage in battle, you deal +1 damage with each attack for the next minute until you are knocked unconscious, or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then.

'''Irzuk''' orcs are a new race of orcs bred for their resistance to the cold and their ability to track victims. They are visually distinguished by their uniquely crimson hides.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Tracker: You have Proficiency in Survival and gain Advantage on Survival checks relating to tracking by scent.
::Cold Endurance: You have Advantage on Constitution checks relating to resisting natural cold and are Resistant to Cold Damage.
::Enhanced Aggression: When you use your Aggressive trait, you can move up to +10 feet over your normal movement limit.

====Scarnish Orcs====
Orcs of the [[Scarred Lands]] are semi-nomadic tribals who live in the plains and savannahs of [[Ghelspad]], noted for their talents in astrology and riding [[Dire Animal|Dire Wolves]], strong tribal identities, and a preference for a simple life with a few great luxuries. They originally fought on the titans side in the Divine War, but most of them took the asylum offer given by the gods. They all have the following stats:

::Ability Score Increase: +3 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkivision 30 feet
::Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see.
::Menacing: Proficieny in the Intimidation skill
::Orcish Combat Training: You are proficient with the battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and lance.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Language: You speak Orcish and one other language.

===[[Starfinder]] Orc===
[[File:Orc sf 1.png|200px|left]]
[[File:Orc sf 2.png|200px|right]]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Orcs in Starfinder were long ago enslaved by the Drow and forcibly underwent social engineering to make them servile to the Drow on an almost genetic level. Their once green skin has turned blue, to better blend in with the tunnels of the Drow planet's underground caverns and to resemble their masters' more purple skintones.

Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, –2 Cha

Hit Points: 6

Size and Type: Medium humanoid (orc).

Conditioned Focus: Due to her conditioning, an orc can choose one skill that becomes a class skill for her. If the chosen skill is a class skill from the class she takes at 1st level, she instead gains a +1 bonus to checks with that skill. In addition, due to her confidence with that skill, once per day, before she attempts a check with the chosen skill, the orc can grant herself a +2 bonus to that check.

Darkvision 60 feet

Fierce Survivalist: Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Survival checks.

Light Sensitivity: An orc is dazzled as long as she remains in an area of bright light.

Orc Ferocity: Once per day, an orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he takes additional damage before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Orc ODD1.png|Original D&D
Orc miners First Quest.jpg|AD&D orcs with some klingon-like head ridges.
4e Orcs, Monster Vault.jpg|4e. Orc sexual dimorphism is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair.
4e Orcs, Dragon 374.png|4e.
</gallery>

==Green Skin==
One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, [[kobold|red]], brown, and [[goblin|yellow]] are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

''In-universe'' reasons for their chartreuse complexions vary between IPs; While earlier editions claimed that the Orks of 40k are said to be animate plants, current lore dictates that Ork DNA is a combination of animal, plant, and fungal DNA, thus their colors are effectively the result of chlorophyll running through their bodies (while the animal part conveniently allows them to bleed red for grimdark purposes). Meanwhile, the green skins of the orcs of The Elder Scrolls and Warcraft universes are the result of demonic tampering; The Orsimer are a result of the above-mentioned champion-devoured-and-shat-out incident, while the Warcraft Orcs were convinced to drink the blood of the Pit Lord Mannoroth, changing their normally brown or grey skin into that distinct hue, with further ingestion of Pit Lord blood turning them red. Some orc clans turned down the offer however, and still keep their original skin tones in the present.

Though for what it's worth, D&D orcs are grey, not green, as of 5e. Seriously, open your monster manual if you don't believe us.

==Piggish Looks==
On occasion, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the generally accepted portrayal of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunch-shouldered, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where old-school [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames. For a reference cue there, see the Moblins from the Legend of Zelda series.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
{{Monstergirls}}
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls, despite what many [[/d/]] cliches may lead you to believe, aren't inclined to find orcs attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned [[Amazon]]s; [[musclegirl]]s of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about D&D orc sexual mores. January 2018 saw the release of the "High Orc"; a bigger, stronger, smarter and fiercer version of the standard orc, the "boar-girl" to their "pig-girl". Fearless, cunning and strong, they are natural leaders of their lesser kin, aided by the fact they release a pheromone that whips up a lust for battle (and sex) in any nearby orc. Of course, if you beat them, that knocks the wind out of the normal orcs' sails, and they will generally flee or surrender on the spot. High Orcs fit the same sexual mold as their weaker siblings, aside from their pheromone doubling as an aphrodisiac. In a twist that /tg/ finds hilarious, High Orcs have dark brown skin, which, combined with their status as the natural leaders of the race, immediately puts them in mind of the [[Black Orc]]s of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Most likely they were instead based on the Uruk-hai of [[The Lord of the Rings]], but why let that spoil a good laugh?

[[Daily Life with Monstergirl]] combines the above two, having male Orcs be ugly green pig dudes who lust for human (and human-like) women. Thus far we haven't seen female Orcs yet, but like the [[centaur]]s in the series they will likely be a lot more attractive than their male counterparts. As a matter of fact, a female orc named Ruka actually shows up in the tie-in online game as one of your potential haremettes; if taken as canon, then female orcs in this setting are indeed cute green-skinned pig-girls - unlike the MGE version, they have a pig's tail and trotters for feet, with elf-like ears, as the Daily Life verse tends to avoid more animalistic ears for its beast-girls in general.
Pigfaced Orc Female.jpg
<gallery>
Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Amazon Orc.jpg|In some depictions female orcs are rather [[amazon]]ian.
MGE Orc.jpg|A pig-eared orc from the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.
MGE High Orc.jpg|Bigger, tougher, smarter champions of orcdom, the boar-based High Orcs are essentially the MGE's [[Black Orc]]s.
Monster Musume Ruka the Orc.png|Ruka from Monster Musume showcases an incredibly rare meeting point between p'orc and greenskin.
1642287072.baguette2077 konosubaorc 001.jpg|Who says Pigfaced Orc Women can't be attractive?
Aggralan, Mag'har Shamaness.jpg|The she-orcs of [[Warcraft]] have always been pretty hot.
Pathfinder_Female_Orc_Fighter.jpg|Pathfinder proving [[half-orc]]s don't HAVE to have human mothers.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]]

Orc

2022-01-27T08:48:10Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* Monstergirl Depictions */

[[File:Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|An average Warhammer Orc.]]
{{Topquote|These have not had a fair press. They are fanatically brave in spite of being weaker and less practiced than most other humanoids, and must be kind to animals, since they train them so well. It is interesting that Tolkien’s characters describe them in terms very similar to those used by medieval chroniclers to describe Mongols, who in our day are considered a nice friendly people of slightly eccentric lifestyle.|Phil Barker, Sue Laflin Barker & Richard Bodley Scott, ''Hordes of the Things''}}

'''Orcs''' are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with tusks and green or gray skin(or some combination of the two). Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well.

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf and proceeded to invent orcs as a fantasy race out of whole cloth.

== The Master Template ==
While many traditional fantasy races (elves, dwarves, dragons and wizards) can be traced back to folklore and mythology, orcs are entirely a product of modern fantasy literature. Here we have a basic rundown of the image that comes up when people say "Orc" and how it evolved.

===Tolkien===
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|right|400px|The origin of the original Orcs.]]
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor (later known as Morgoth) shortly after the first elves awoke, before humans existed. It should be noted that Tolkien never definitively stated the true origin of Orcs , and most of what we have comes from notes and decisions he left to his son Christopher when he passed control of the setting over.
According to one account published after Tolkien's death in The Silmarillion, some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's Maiar ("fallen angels" futher down the hierarchy, Melkor being basically Satan) and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. Because Melkor was bitter about being unable to create life they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got Orcs, [[What| because obviously torture is totally going to influence the physiology of your offspring]]. The result was a species of ugly, bad-smelling, fanged, bow-legged, long-armed, claw-handed, hairy apelike humanoids which were 'sallow', 'swart' or 'black' in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to almost as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and later Sauron's armies.

Tolkien's Orcs are not stupid, described as "making no beautiful things, but many clever ones" and their speech, while crass, is articulate. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets, mail and scale armor supplemented by salvage), effective if unpleasant medicine (prosthetic limbs are literally stabbed into the stump, for example), and are pretty good engineers on top of creating assembly lines; one of the general morals of Tolkien's works is rampant industrialization is a path to evil and/or misfortune, and making Orcs more advanced than other races reflects this. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are even if their work ethic leaves something to be desired. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among Orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented (to the point where they have serial numbers). There are also different breeds of Orcs, besides the garden variety Orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding Orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, eating, drinking, looting, blowing stuff up, gaining power, bossing their subordinates around, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear, their psychic influence over them and the fact that everyone who is not under their authority despises them and wants them dead. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other Orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-Orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how Orcs live their lives on a day-to-day basis as their role in the story is as a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually nasty, brutish and short. Some of the interactions between different groups of orcs frequently results in back-stabbing and violent power struggles, so we can assume that they operate on a grimdark version of Klingon politics. All the orcs mentioned are male which is usually interpreted as "orcs don't bring their womenfolk along on campaigns" (which is basically what Tolkien said in one of his letters) but has led a few to say that orcish sexual dimorphism is basically nonexistent or that female orcs don't exist. Given Sauron's proclivities and the various castes in mordor they were likely subject to some form of selective breeding program.

In Tolkien's published works, "Orc" and "goblin" are synonyms (at least at first; later he said that goblins were a subtype of orc, and later still he said that they were totally unrelated). In later editions of The Hobbit, he says that "goblin" is a translation of "orc", which is "not an English word". "Uruk" means Orc in Black Speech, a mix of Elvish, human tongue, and Sauron's attempts to give them their own language. Most fantasy fiction typically distinguishes between Goblins and Orcs: most of Tolkien's Orcs would resemble other works' Goblins (Frodo and Sam disguised themselves as Orcs, so we can assume at least some are Hobbit height). The largest Orcs in Middle Earth - the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor - appear to be somewhat smaller than Men.

====Grey areas====
The question of whether they are [[always Chaotic Evil|intrinsically evil]] is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race. Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. Unlike Melkor, Sauron, and Balrogs who were spiritual beings that made an active choice to be evil, Orcs are universally portrayed as evil which means they could be evil from birth which was strongly against Tolkien's strong Catholic beliefs in the nature of good and evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature. Christopher similarly has not come up with a satisfactory answer and has largely avoided the subject, avoiding talking about Orcs as anything but adult militant antagonists and leaning back on his father's suggestions of corrupted man/elf hybrids descended from enslaved elves.

Fans divide into different camps of explanation. Orcs could be born adult and "male", like the Warhammer Orcs discussed below, and thus be more intelligent animal like Dragons as opposed to inherently evil people. Another suggestion is they could also be people who are indoctrinated from youth, such as their closest inspiration as the Central Powers in World War 1 (trying to kill Tolkien in the Somme) and Axis (who blew up his barn while he and the family hid in the cellar during the Blitz) which would make Orcs antagonists with horrible leaders and a corrupt ideology as opposed to naturally evil; this would make them as evil as the Easterlings. Some have reasoned, in the vein of the second suggestion, that Orcs are not all unified on Melkor/Sauron's side, which is supported by a single line from Tolkien that no race stood united for or against Sauron; this is dismissed by some with the elf/man origins as all Orcs evil and all elves good, but can be interpreted either way. In this view some have reasoned there must be neutral tribes of Orcs who did not participate in conflict and are as unmentioned as the Stoorish Hobbits (Gollum's original people, who's only importance at all and thus only mention is just that; being Gollum's people before he degenerated into a [[Ghoul|ghoulish]] being), that these Orcs could possibly even be good for all that is known. Another idea is that Melkor's corruption of the Elves he kidnapped either diminished or removed their capacity to do good, which would make creating the Orcs one of the most monstrous acts he had ever committed, and considering this guy was capital-E Evil in every way he could think of that says a whole goddamn lot. The final suggestion is Orcs have no souls, and much like the Little Mermaid (not the Disney version, but rather the original story where they are Feyfolk who are sea foam come to life in the forms of people that can love and grieve, but return to sea foam in oblivion when they die because they have no souls) are just some natural material come to life with no real importance or moral rights because they were not intentionally created by the omnipotent creator (Dwarves are exempt from this fate, being creations of the Vala Aulë who were granted life and 'adopted' by Eru Illuvatar). In this view you could do anything you want to an Orc from killing to torture because they have as much natural rights as their base components, similar to the destruction of the Golem in Hebrew myth, and would explain the ostensible absence of orc-souls in the afterlife of Tolkien's cosmology, though one could find moral problems with this as well depending on your worldview. Tolkien seems to have considered this explanation at one point but ultimately rejected it, as he believed that the Orcs would have been no more intelligent than any other animal if they were truly soulless.

In any case, Tolkien invented Orcs and what is discussed above served as the inspiration of of MANY spinoffs that to various degrees A: took the idea and ran with it while expanding on it to fill in the blanks, B: took the basic idea and gave it a few tweaks, or C: deliberately subverted what people expected from Orcs, making it possible for them to be the good guys. There have been various takes on the "are Orcs fundamentally evil?" question. As a general rule more people tend to go with some flavor of "no, strictly speaking" in that regard as it opens up more narrative possibilities as opposed to a race of set-in-stone killer meatbots utterly unable to deviate from their programing though still cast them primarily in a villainous role.

====Direct Adaptations====
For the most part the Lord of the Rings movies created by Peter Jackson have done a reasonable interpretation of the orcs from the books, though they have cranked their aggression up a bit, uglied them to a great degree, often used the green skin-tones that were popularized later, made them much taller across the board, and ''possibly'' confirmed females. No females are pointed out, but some actresses that played Orcs have insisted their characters (who are usually killed by Elf acrobatics in the same scene or just screech at the camera and shoot an arrow) are female; Jackson has never confirmed or denied this but still made a point of including these interviews on the special features sections of the home release of the movies. Then again, he also put Elves at Helms Deep...

Notably, the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, while mostly known for being "actually pretty good" for what was essentially an Assassin's Creed clone, also showed Orc culture. Essentially, they were a naturally evil race ruled by a hierarchy of tribe chiefs who use grimdark Klingon politics; meaning whoever could knock around his fellow Uruks became boss, and a boss who could honorably duel, assassinate, or otherwise neutralize his peers climbed the ladder. While they were the Chaotic Evil monsters Tolkien didn't want to portray them as, this didn't mean that they weren't interesting. Their mindset was that when they weren't focusing on eliminating other tribes, most Uruks just wanted to put in a hard day's work (of bossing around human slaves), made small talk, had drinking songs, and at the end of the day just go have a drink with his mates. With the mental influence of Celebrimbor's shade on them they are rendered neutral in terms of good/evil, but will still fight and kill each other for promotions; this is generally interpreted as mind control, although a large number of Orcs following you without Celebrimbor in the sequel suggests it may also be you reducing Sauron's influence on them and allowing them to make their own moral choices.

===Warhammer===
[[File:Black Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The modern interpretation of Orcs.]]
[[Games Workshop]] was originally a company that produced quality boards for games like Chess, but after two out of three of the original team fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons after [[Gary Gygax]] sent them a copy (believing they were a legitimate company based on their name, rather than three guys in an apartment sending out stuff through the mail) they began distributing licensed games and later producing miniatures for use in these games under the brand [[Citadel Miniatures]].

As time went on, they had a surplus of unsold miniatures and had trouble retaining the rights to sell their products, so they began to have members of their team create new games owned by Games Workshop to use the models they produced (which unfortunately made many of the early Warhammer designs that survive [[Broo|extreme]] [[Daemon|ripoffs]]). The most successful of these was [[Warhammer Fantasy]], then just Warhammer, which was a wargame version of Dungeons & Dragons that existed mostly just to sell models. Warhammer didn't get its own setting and story until 3rd edition, where [[Orcs & Goblins|its Orcs]] were described as having green skin and red eyes with tusks in their mouths as well as being savage brutes that gathered in hordes and attacked civilization, or just about anything capable of fighting, every so often. Although later on this lore became more complex with Warhammer greenskins becoming genderless mushroom-apes with the creation of [[Warhammer 40000]] which was ported back into Fantasy, the prototype Warhammer Orc still had females and Half-Orcs.

With this, the master template of Orcs was completed. Almost every fantasy setting to use Orcs after Warhammer made them green and sometimes gave them red eyes with tusks, which eventually migrated back into Dungeons & Dragons and even the Lord Of The Rings movies. However, one thing was missing. Orcs were still Always Chaotic Evil which greatly limited their use, and non-evil Orcs were a footnote that didn't even have a [[Drizzt]] to be their posterboy example.

===[[Warcraft]]===
The importance of Warcraft isn't actually in any evolution in any master template. In fact, what it mostly did is combine concepts from previous fantasy settings into a setting and use the appearance of Warhammer Orcs, which was thrust into mainstream public perception and made Orcs "cool" causing a boom of fantasy gaming both on the tabletop and in video games, as well as the movie screen.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released in 1994, and featured generic knights VS generic Orcs in the Warhammer style (indeed, rumors persist that Warcraft was a canceled Warhammer game as Games Workshop had been experimenting at the time with video games). Orcs were controlled by Demons from some obscure Satanic force, and used Ogres as their minions. The only real innovation was Orcs coming from another planet through a portal, although the theme of Satanic forces invading from portals was largely dropped and instead lived on in the Diablo franchise. The game was a surprising success, being low budget from a minor studio.

It was followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1996, which sold RIDICULOUSLY well and sparked a boom in the entire Real Time Strategy genre which quickly became a staple of PC gaming. The setting was expanded a great deal, although Orcs remained mostly the same but were joined by Goblins (who coincidentally looked similar but were a different race), Trolls, their persisting Ogre slaves, the undead (created by the Orcs from their own dead Warlocks), and enslaved dragons. The most diverse change to be found here was Goblins being a race of money-obsessed mad scientists, and Trolls being intelligent. An expansion pack was released that involved the humans invading the Orc homeworld to end the war.

Setting their eyes on the horizon, Blizzard planned an explosion of lore with a book series beginning with Of Blood And Honor which went into the friendship between a human Paladin and an aged Orc ex-Shaman who hated what his race had become which created complexity in what had previously been just a generic "kill it all and loot/eat then march again" race. The second book was Day Of The Dragon, expanding a minor plot involving Dragons into the war between good and evil which had used the Horde and Alliance as a proxy for their own machinations. Lord Of The Clans delved deeper into Orc lore, explaining that they were a race with souls naturally attuned to other sources of energy that had communed with the forces of nature itself until they were tricked into a Daemonic curse that affected them like meth, giving them fanatical boosts of power until it diminished their body and soul into a husk; the main character of the book, named Thrall by humans who used him as a pit fighter, learned nature magic and freed the defeated Orcs to lead them to a peaceful natural existence again. Finally the book The Last Guardian detailed the madness of the human supreme wizard Medivh who had summoned the Orcs into the world in the first place and gave context on the Burning Legion, transforming them from a vaguely satanic demon army into a varied force of cosmic enemies that would fit right into Doctor Who.
Here finally Warcraft added new flavor to their Orcs although unlike previous versions of non-evil Orcs the Warcraft version had identical culture only without malice. The major difference here was making them neutral race that actually got to be in the spotlight, as all previous non-evil Orcs were minor races left mostly undescribed beyond the basics that never starred in a story and always were just an option for exotic PCs; Warcraft was the first setting to make them a core race in the starring role with equal importance to humans in the first person narrative, which catapulted Orcs across fantasy fiction in importance.

In Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos, released in 2002, Blizzard took the mantle of villains entirely away from the Horde and rendered the judgement of gray morality into all factions. The Alliance were racist arrogant bastards that hated each other, were ineffective, and easy to corrupt. The Horde was full of the same assholes from Warcraft I and II that were missing "the good old days" and jumped at a chance to suckle Daemon teat for power again (although the curse was broken during the game). Undead wore the mantle of villainy, but that's because they were lead by a soulless human merged with the ghost of the Orc who set in motion the events which made the Horde evil in the first place. Also, there was forest Elves who wanted everyone to get the fuck out of their forest.

Warcraft III became THE game on the PC at the time, and Warcraft mania had made the image of Orcs something the average non-gamer person could identify. Green skin, tusks, gigantic frame with large shoulders, and sometimes red eyes (which just meant "evil Orc" in Warcraft) became THE Orc as a result of Warcraft, which very little since then has drifted away from. Very few fictional works with Orcs that came after left out these details.

Next in 2004 came World Of Warcraft, '''THE''' MMO which destroyed or outlasted every competitor, surviving for <s>12</s> '''15''' full years and which is still ongoing today. While most of the changes added in WoW remain only important to Warcraft continuity, as they haven't migrated into the mainstream yet, non-evil (or at least neutral) Orcs put upon both by their own evil kin and the hateful humanity became the default Orc. As the game's story moved on, the main racial plot for the Orcs concern itself with its heritage as bloodthirsty conquerors, with the younger lads wondering whether or not wanton genocide really was all that bad... One of them even took the Horde to... [[Nazi|An interesting place]]. So the nature of Orcs as evil/not-evil-just-really-fighty is still being discussed within the game.

So while Warcraft didn't pioneer the idea of non-evil Orcs, greenskins with tusks, or Orcs being in control of their own destiny rather than being pawns in the schemes of a greater power, it did make the Master Template a staple of fantasy fiction. Stories like the Styx and Divinity video games have continued using the new template since then, with more on the way. Even Warhammer itself dropped the most outright evil of their Orcs since then, making them Chaotic Neutral destructive forces that can be allied with rather than Chaotic Evil.

==Mold-Breakers==
{{topquote|Look at them. Ranks, files, locked in everlasting conflict at the whim of the player. They fight, they fall, and they cannot turn back because the whips drive them on, and all they know is whips, kill or be killed. Darkness in front of them, darkness behind them, darkness and whips in their heads. But what if you could take one out of this game, get him before the whips do, take him to a place without whips‚ what might he become? One creature. One singular being. Would you deny them that chance?|Lord Havelock Vetinari, '''Unseen Academicals''', on the subject of [[Terry Pratchett|Sir Terry Pratchett's]] Orcs}}

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic [[barbarian]] rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, this isn't always the case, and a number of notable exceptions have developed over the years.

'''Discworld''' (Also the universe where the above quote comes from) barely mentions orcs, only saying that they were made as cannon fodder for an evil empire before it was destroyed. There is, however, one orc Character; Nutt, who is Perhaps the most intelligent being in the whole setting, incredibly strong and fucking brilliant at football, although he avoids becoming a [[Mary Sue]] due to Terry Pratchett's Incredibly good writing.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Orcs generally tend to live in few places and have vastly different cultures, some good, some evil, some neutral. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have just as much an expectation of being born from consensual relationships as anyone else, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings.
*Shadow Marches, said to be orc homeland, is home to the the Gatekeeper druids who saved the world from aberrations severl thousand years ago and are busy keeping evil unkillable daelkyr lords of madness locked in their prisons. But it's also a home to cults of Kyrzin, one of those evil lords of madness and orc tribes loyal to Gatekeepers and those loyal to Kyrzin are constantly fighting. Both tend to kill outsiders wandering through their lands, because those outsiders are usually enemy agents and it saves time, so don't get confused by Gatekeepers being the good guys, they're by no means nice guys.
*Droaam, right next to Shadow Marches is a multi-cultural nation of monsters and orks are a sizeable population of it. Gaa’aram tribes are your typical evil barbarian orcs, only difference being they form multi-racial tribes where orcs, goblins, ogres and trolls work together. Gaa’ran on the other hand are "peaceful" farmers and about the only people in Droaam who do agriculture. "Peaceful" is in brackets is because they would only fill you with axes and hang your mutilated corpse on a stick to deter future trespassers if you trespass on their lands, being the epitome of "get off my lawn".
*Demon Wastes have two competing cultures, both made of orcs, humans and half-orcs fighting together. Ghaash'kala clans are "good" human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. That being said, things they fight are mostly evil orcs of Carrion Tribes who worship demons and make your typical Faerun orcs look like saints in comparison. Just like in Shadow Marchers, don't assume Ghaash'kala are nice because they're good - they operate under assumption that anything that comes from the wastes is corrupted and needs to die (an assumption that is right 99% of times), so don't expect eny mercy if you come to their lands from the wrong side.
*Finally, separated from all other orc lands are Jorash'Tal, the asshole racist orcs of Mror Holds who hate dwarfs with fiery passion for invading and colonizing their mountains thousands of years ago and refuse to let it go. They're nomad tribes roaming valleys between the mountains and are generally nice people that ''won't'' kill you for trespassing on their lands unlike other orc cultures generally painted as "good". Unless you're dwarf. In which case they kill you for the sins of other dwarfs that lived so long ago no one remembers them. Generally they're a case study on how racial grievances won't do you any good, no matter how justified they are. Dorfs, being both more numerous and technologically advanced are locked in indecision what to do with them as half their clans want to make peace and integrate Jorash'Tal, putting them to work since most holds are in need of more labour, while the other half pushes for the ultimate solution to orcish problem.

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, has exceptions too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to [[Eldath]] (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here]. It's also worth noting that many D&D fans take the stance that orcs, goblins, ogres, and other "always evil" monsters are only evil because ''they're brought up in an evil culture'', and that an orc raised in a human household would be just as Good as their adoptive parents (assuming the parents actually ''are'' Good-aligned, that is). There's also the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, a nation of orcs that seeks to have diplomatic ties to their neighbours, though they do occasionally raid their neighbours, especially the local human barbarian tribes.

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments - in other words, very close to how [[hobgoblin]]s have come to be defined in modern editions. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]].

'''[[Warcraft]]''', as covered above, may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil warlock and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s <s>refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys</s> revolving door of insane and genocidal Horde warchiefs who get overthrown every 2-4 years, with Orcs on both sides of the warchief's agenda. The plot twist is that this time, the warchief is not an Orc at all, but an undead elf which adds layers of complexity. For example, the Orcs go along with her orders in an attempted genocide of the Night Elves after the demons are defeated, but one of the key figures to rise against her was an Orc.

While '''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' **prepare for shitelf cope** Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) weren't even considered ''people'' in the first game, by the time the third game rolled around they had become fully integrated into normal society and weren't looked upon any differently from elves or humans. They are as intelligent as anybody else (in the fifth game one even runs the library at the local mage's college) and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah [[Vore|ate (and shat out)]] their greatest champion/god, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

'''[[Sharakim]]''' seem like this at first glance, as they are orcs who are highly organized, discipline, civilized and benevolent people, but arguably don't count: they're the descendants of humans who were cursed to ''look like'' orcs for sacrilege, not really proper orcs.

'''[[Monster Hunter International]]''' orcs, while green and tusked, are among the few monsters that aren't evil as a species. Unlike most of them they are not PUFF exempt, so they do their best to stay hidden from the government. Monster Hunter International helps hide the orcs at their headquarters in Cazador, Alabama and, in return, gets a help from a few orcs. Appearance wise MHI Orcs are pretty standard, though they wear masks to hide this from humans (though the one look at their village suggests they may do this beyond just secrecy). What makes them interesting is that they have an (Orc) god given talent that makes them very specialized in a particular area, yet utterly incompetent at something related to but outside that area. These include a master of bladed weapons that can't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun, and a helicopter pilot who can make a [[MI-24 Hind]] do things even current helicopters can't, but is unable to drive a car (Upon hearing this, one character speculates that Top Gear's Stig is an orc). They can also make magical healing potions, though they need to be made for specific people and don't keep well. Female orcs greatly outnumber males, so polygamy is the norm. MHI Orcs also worship heavy metal musicians. Most information about orcs in this world is based on the depiction of one friendly tribe, and the only other tribe mentioned was willing to slaughter this friendly tribe, so it's likely other tribes differ in some or all aspects.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
[[File:DnD Original Orc.jpg|thumb|right|400px|1st Edition D&D Orcs, now commonly referred to by some variation of "P'Orcs" by fans.]]
In the first edition of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], Orcs were among the first monsters inspired by folklore and fantasy literature added to the game in a reissue set. They became the primary antagonists out of the many enemies in the game due primarily to their statline rather than their iconic nature, since they were the best "always an enemy" humanoid to accompany a [[Big Bad Evil Guy|BBEG]]. Early DnD Orcs were pig-like monsters resulting from savage tribals that bred with all other races they warred with (so reproducing via rape) with no unified culture or language, but interestingly were also described as having a "reputation for cruelty that is deserved, but humans are just as capable of evil as orcs" which suggests they weren't anything extraordinary to the setting.

Half a decade after their introduction, they were given a more neanderthal appearance as well as being given a size-increase to that of a gorilla (which is actually shorter than the average human, btw), were made able to breed with humans resulting in the [[Half-Orc]] playable race, and given their own mythology (which in most D&D settings is the explanation for why a race behaves the way it does). The leader god is named [[Gruumsh]], who was screwed over in inheritance of the world by the gods of the fairer races causing him to be a bitter asshole and make his race into entitled "might makes right" pricks like a father passing on their shitty life to their kids. Gruumsh's family are below him in importance and include his wife [[Luthic]], goddess of the submission of Orc females as the inferior gender, who goes barefoot and never wields a weapon and just serves to run the home and [[Meme|make babby]], and their son [[Bahgtru]] who's pretty much the god of "stupid, but strong", along with Gruumsh's second in command [[Ilneval]] who is the Orc god of war that directly guides mortal Orcs, with the four together representing the Neutral and "Lawful" (as in they are willing to take orders and respect their place in society) side of the pantheon. Also added were [[Shargaas]] the god of general bad magic and spooky things, and [[Yurtrus]] the god of ruin and death, neither of whom have any loyalty to Gruumsh's side of the pantheon and represent the truly Chaotic "for the evulz" aspect of Orcs.

An article for [[Dragon Magazine]] later gave the option of making the traditionally evil races like Orcs and [[Kobolds]] player characters of any alignment. This lead to the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting having two races of Orcs that are capable of any alignment, the pacifistic Ondonti who culturally are closer to Hobbit than Orruk, and the Gray Orcs who are treated as another among the fair races. All other D&D Orcs remained stupid-evil.

Dungeons & Dragons became the standard for most fantasy that came after, but ultimately for Orcs the only purpose was to move forward to the next step in the master template.

Despite their traditional role as bad guys, since at least the days of Basic D&D, where they had their own [[Known World Gazetteer]] in "The Orcs of Thar", orcs have actually been a full-fledged PC race. True, you typically need DM permission, but the option was there.

Though... not a lot of people took it, as in accordance with their fluff, orcs could be mechanically rather... lackluster. It's a well-known fact in 4th and 5th edition alike that, really, you're better off using and reflavoring the [[half-orc]] or even the [[goliath]] races instead. Especially in 5th edition, where they are literally ''the only race in the game'', aside from [[kobold]]s, to get an ability score penalty.

===BECMI Orc:===
In BECMI era [[Mystara]], there are two different Orc race-classes; the standard Orc, as seen in [[Known World Gazetteer|The Orcs of Thar]], and the horse-riding Krugel Orc, seen in the [[Hollow World]] subsetting.

;Standard Mystaran Orc
::Orc Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc has racial ability score caps of 18 in all scores bar [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]], which are capped at 16.
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtacting the result from 9.
::Orc Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become [[Shaman]]s (6th level) and [[Wokani]] (4th level).

{| class=wikitable
!Orc's's level || XP Required || Orc's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8
|-
|1||1,000||2d8
|-
|2||2,000||3d8
|-
|3||4,000||-
|-
|4||8,000||4d8
|-
|5||16,000||5d8
|-
|6||32,000||6d8
|-
|7||64,000||-
|-
|8||130,000||7d8
|-
|9||260,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||200,000||+2 Hit Points
|}

[[file:orc MCV1.jpg|thumb]]

;Krugel Orc
::Racial Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity, maximum of 16 Intelligence and 16 Wisdom
::Prime Requisite: Strength - Strength 13+ for +5% to XP earned, Strength 16+ for +10% to XP earned
::Save as [[Fighter]] of equivalent level
::Can reach 6th level as Shaman and 4th level as Wokani
::Mandatory Skill: Riding (Horse or Bounder - a kind of far-leaping bipedal carnivorous [[dinosaur]])
::Unlike normal Mystaran orcs, Krugel orcs have lost their Infravision
::Cultural Melee Weapons: Dagger, Sword (Short/Broad/Bastard), Mace, Club, Warhammer, Spear, Javelin, Lance, Net, Whip
::Cultural Missile Weapons: Crossbow (Light/Heavy), Bow (Long/Short), Sling
::Cultural Armor: Leather, Scale, Mail, Chain Mail, Banded Mail, Shield (including horned, knife, sword and tusked), Leather Horse Barding
::Shamans can use: Mace, club, warhammer, lance, net, all cultural armor
::Wokani can use: Dagger, club, net, whip

Krugel Experience Table: Krugels can reach level 36
::1: 0 XP, 1D8 Hit Dice
::2: 1,000 XP, 2D8 Hit Dice
::3: 2,000 XP, 3D8 Hit Dice
::4: 4,000 XP
::5: 8,000 XP, 4D8 Hit Dice
::6: 16,000 XP, 5D8 Hit Dice
::7: 32,000 XP, 6D8 Hit Dice
::8: 64,000 XP
::9: 130,000 XP, 7D8 Hit Dice
::10: 260,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)
::+1 Level: +200,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)

===AD&D Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 2e.png|thumb]]
::+1 Strength,-2 Charisma
::Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
::Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
::Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
::Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
::Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
::35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
::25% chance to spot sloping passages
::Infravision 60 feet
::-1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
::Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 3e.jpg|thumb]]
There are several different orc stats, scattered across multiple sourcebooks. The "common" orc in the [[Monster Manual]] featured the following statblock:
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

In the [[Forgotten Realms]], however, there are three different varieties of orc:

The "Mountain Orc" is the most common of the three races, and is the most generic, being pretty much standard Monster Manual orcs. They inhabit the Frozen North, predominantly the Spine of the World mountains and other hilly regions (hence the name), and for the most part at generic would-be conquerors foiled by their own inability to focus on anything besides killing - except for when [[Obould Many-Arrows]] tried to forcibly drag them out of their pits and show them that the best way to get respect is to actually make a kingdom of their own. These guys use the standard orc profile.

Deep Orcs, or [[Orog]]s, are a stronger, smarter (but somewhat shorter) breed of orc native to the [[Underdark]]. See their page for more details.

Finally, Gray Orcs are a strange race of emotional, impulsive, and deeply religious orcs originally hailing from another world. Long story short, centuries ago, an archmage created a portal to their world, but wound up being killed for an unrelated incident before anyone ever found out about this portal - which meant nobody ever shut it off. Five years after his death, the orcs found the portal and swarmed through in a religious crusade, battling the empires of Mulhorand and Unther in the 6-years-long Orcgate Wars, which ended with the closing of the portal, the defeat of several of the incarnate gods of Mulhorand and Unther, and the scattering of the gray orcs into loose, fractious tribes that still haunt the Moonsea and the Endless Wastes. Though physically weaker than their mountain orc "relatives", gray orcs are much more strong-willed and independent, and retain a knack for divine magic which makes them dangerous. They also possess a far swifter stride and keener senses of smell. Gray Orc PCs have the following racial stats:
::+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium Size
::Base Speed 40 feet
::Racial Weapon Proficiency: Great-Axe and Longbow
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::Scent (Ex)
::Orc Blood: For all effects and special abilities that target a creature's race, Gray Orcs count as '''Orcs'''.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Cleric]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===[[Midnight]] Setting Orc===
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Weapon Familiarty: Vardatches are Martial Weapons for Orcs
::Night Fighter: Darkvision 60 feet, +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when fighting with no light.
::Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty on attack rolls in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
:: Resistance to Cold: Immune to nonlethal damage caused by cold weather, severe cold, exposure or extreme cold. Halve lethal damage (rounding down) inflicted by extreme cold.
::Natural Predator: Orcs add their Str modifier to Intimidate checks as well as their Cha modifier.
::Spell Resistant: +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects, -2 spell energy points for orc casters.
::+1 racial bonus on damage rolls against dwarves.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls when fighting in groups of 10 or more orcs; allies and enemies both count for triggering this feature.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina, -2 Intellect (Note: Con and Int by different names)
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===4e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 4e.jpg|thumb]]
::+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares
::Vision: Low-light
::Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
::Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===[[Pathfinder]] Orc===
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
::Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
::Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

As nameless monsters who won't survive the encounter anyways, Ferocity effectively adds their constitution score (''score'', not modifier) to their HP. This make them quite dangerous at low levels, since it ''triples'' their HP (the standard Orc has 6 HP and 12 con). This isn't enough to put them next to [[Cat|house cats]], incorporeal foes or [[Swarm]]s as slayers of low level PCs, it does make them quite hard for their supposed CR 1/3.

===Pathfinder 2nd Edition Orc===

::Hit points: 10

::Size: Small

::Speed: 25 feet

::Ability Boosts: Strength, Free

::Languages: Common and Orcish, as well as any other languages equal to your intelligence modifier.

::Darkvision: You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Compared to their previous edition, and the DnD 5e, the Orcs of second edition is a lot more fleshed out. With the APG sidesteping a lot of their more "violent" tendencies of pillaging and "conception" of half-orcs, preferring to focus on their glory-seeking, honesty and unbreakable loyalty to those they see as equals or treat them nicely. They are a society looking to surpass their shitty upbringings, wanting to move on from their long history of conflict.... by way of conflict.

===5e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 5e.jpg|thumb]]
Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters as a monster race. They get the following traits... which are, as more than one person has noticed, essentially the 5e [[Half-Orc]] stats with -2 Intelligence tacked on and with the gloriously beefy Relentless Endurance (survive a killing strike with 1 [[hit point]] left 1/day) and Savage Attack (+1 die of damage on a melee weapon critical hit) replaced with the okay Aggressive trait and the pathetically overvalued Powerful Build trait, something that [[skub|has caused its fair share of arguments]].
::+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::30 feet base movement speed
::Size is medium, but they get <strike>almost large</strike> Powerful build which gives them the carrying capacity of a large creature.
::60 feet darkvision
::Aggressive (use bonus action to dash, must finish dash closer to your enemy than where the dash started)
::Menacing (Intimidation proficiency, same as half orcs)

Amazingly, orcs got an official retcon with an official PC writeup in the 5e [[Eberron]] splatbook. "Rising from the Last War" uses the above orc as a base, but strips away the pointless -2 Intelligence penalty and trades the Menacing for ''Primal Intuition'', which gives them two free skill proficiencies chosen from a list made up of Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception and Survival. This is much more useful, and better meshes with the theme of the orcs as the primary [[druid]]ic race in Eberron, and overall makes them a powerful and viable PC race... still, from a flavor perspective, there's something to be said for switching the Half-Orc and Orc stats around.

This version of the Orc was subsequently reprinted in the [[Exandria]] splatbook "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount", so it seems to have become more or less the official replacement for Volo's initial shitfest.

And as of the October errata, that is now the case, and the change seems to be a step in the right direction for orcs and [[Kobold|kobolds]]. Even so, it goes without saying, but [[Skub|it's simply impossible to please everyone]].

====Arkadian Orc====
The [[Orc]]s of [[Arkadia]] are a race born from the blood of the Great Hydra, and native to the broken wastes of Garagos. Also known as [[Giant]]s for their mighty stature - orcs typically stand 6 to 7 feet tall, though the orcs of Gargaros can grow even larger - the race has long been the traditional enemy of the Arkadians, as the race seems possessed to the last by madness and the need for destruction. But... Arkadian orcs are not a monolithic racial force. There are many tribes of orcs scattered throughout Gargaros. The Cerberans train cerberus worgs to hunt and kill; the Cyclopax fight alongside [[Cyclops|cyclopean giants]]; and the Hydrak, the largest and most hated — even by their own kind — who worship the bound titan, seeking to free it through fire and blood. Despite the ancient animosity between orcs and men, some tribes of orcs have come to find a place in Arkadia, especially among the Krytans who value strength and physical prowess above all else. These orcs were first taken as slaves during one of the many wars with Gargaros. Thrown into the fighting pits and gladiatorial arenas they displayed such power and ferocity that the king, impressed, granted them freedom and a place in his army. Many Orcs have since taken to the worship of Krytos with abandon, finding in the mighty god a surrogate father who shares their savagery and love of combat.

Arkadian orcs resemble humans, but with leaf-like ears similar to those of the [[Arkadian Elf|elves]], powerful builds, and jutting lower canines. Their skin is the color of ochre clay; orange, reddish brown, or ashen grey, often varying from tribe to tribe. Many orcs wear black warpaint in stark bands and square keyed patterns. Valuing strength and dominance above all else, orcs, as a Hyperian general once put it, make excellent warriors and terrible soldiers. Their physical prowess and violent nature make them most at home in Kryta, whose army cares more for the might of individuals than the discipline of lines. Their fearlessness and unbridled aggression on the field make them an unstoppable force, ideal as linebreakers, often turning the tide of battle almost single-handed. Some, lacking even the control for this, become mercenaries. Others take to the fighting pits or, with some luck, the grand coliseums of Illyria, untouched by Gargaran raids, where their prodigious size and strength are coveted for their exotic nature.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision: 60 feet
::Colossal Build: Your carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift is doubled as if you were one size category larger.
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

====Farlandish Orc====
Orcs in the [[World of Farland]] come in a number of different subspecies, as part of their home setting's homage to the [[Lord of the Rings]] books that inspired it.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Orcish Weaponry: You are proficient with the Hand Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe, Scimitar and Great Sword.
::Aggressive: Once per short rest, you can use a Bonus Action to move up to your speed towards a creature that you can see.
::Subrace: Choose the Snog, Skaruk or Irzuk subrace.

'''Snog''' orcs, or "Slave Orcs", are the root-stock of the orcish race; first bred as fodder for the wars of dark masters, they are still used in that role to this day, and are literally bred like livestock for that role.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Indefatigable: You have Advantage on all Constitution checks relating to exhaustion, forced marching, going without food and water, and going without sleep.
::Armored: You have Proficiency with Light and Medium armor.

'''Skaruk''' orcs, or "Wild Ones", are orcs descended from tribes that fled their creators and have since pursued independent existences in the wilderness.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Wild Rage: After you first take damage in battle, you deal +1 damage with each attack for the next minute until you are knocked unconscious, or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then.

'''Irzuk''' orcs are a new race of orcs bred for their resistance to the cold and their ability to track victims. They are visually distinguished by their uniquely crimson hides.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Tracker: You have Proficiency in Survival and gain Advantage on Survival checks relating to tracking by scent.
::Cold Endurance: You have Advantage on Constitution checks relating to resisting natural cold and are Resistant to Cold Damage.
::Enhanced Aggression: When you use your Aggressive trait, you can move up to +10 feet over your normal movement limit.

====Scarnish Orcs====
Orcs of the [[Scarred Lands]] are semi-nomadic tribals who live in the plains and savannahs of [[Ghelspad]], noted for their talents in astrology and riding [[Dire Animal|Dire Wolves]], strong tribal identities, and a preference for a simple life with a few great luxuries. They originally fought on the titans side in the Divine War, but most of them took the asylum offer given by the gods. They all have the following stats:

::Ability Score Increase: +3 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkivision 30 feet
::Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see.
::Menacing: Proficieny in the Intimidation skill
::Orcish Combat Training: You are proficient with the battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and lance.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Language: You speak Orcish and one other language.

===[[Starfinder]] Orc===
[[File:Orc sf 1.png|200px|left]]
[[File:Orc sf 2.png|200px|right]]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Orcs in Starfinder were long ago enslaved by the Drow and forcibly underwent social engineering to make them servile to the Drow on an almost genetic level. Their once green skin has turned blue, to better blend in with the tunnels of the Drow planet's underground caverns and to resemble their masters' more purple skintones.

Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, –2 Cha

Hit Points: 6

Size and Type: Medium humanoid (orc).

Conditioned Focus: Due to her conditioning, an orc can choose one skill that becomes a class skill for her. If the chosen skill is a class skill from the class she takes at 1st level, she instead gains a +1 bonus to checks with that skill. In addition, due to her confidence with that skill, once per day, before she attempts a check with the chosen skill, the orc can grant herself a +2 bonus to that check.

Darkvision 60 feet

Fierce Survivalist: Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Survival checks.

Light Sensitivity: An orc is dazzled as long as she remains in an area of bright light.

Orc Ferocity: Once per day, an orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he takes additional damage before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Orc ODD1.png|Original D&D
Orc miners First Quest.jpg|AD&D orcs with some klingon-like head ridges.
4e Orcs, Monster Vault.jpg|4e. Orc sexual dimorphism is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair.
4e Orcs, Dragon 374.png|4e.
</gallery>

==Green Skin==
One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, [[kobold|red]], brown, and [[goblin|yellow]] are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

''In-universe'' reasons for their chartreuse complexions vary between IPs; While earlier editions claimed that the Orks of 40k are said to be animate plants, current lore dictates that Ork DNA is a combination of animal, plant, and fungal DNA, thus their colors are effectively the result of chlorophyll running through their bodies (while the animal part conveniently allows them to bleed red for grimdark purposes). Meanwhile, the green skins of the orcs of The Elder Scrolls and Warcraft universes are the result of demonic tampering; The Orsimer are a result of the above-mentioned champion-devoured-and-shat-out incident, while the Warcraft Orcs were convinced to drink the blood of the Pit Lord Mannoroth, changing their normally brown or grey skin into that distinct hue, with further ingestion of Pit Lord blood turning them red. Some orc clans turned down the offer however, and still keep their original skin tones in the present.

Though for what it's worth, D&D orcs are grey, not green, as of 5e. Seriously, open your monster manual if you don't believe us.

==Piggish Looks==
On occasion, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the generally accepted portrayal of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunch-shouldered, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where old-school [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames. For a reference cue there, see the Moblins from the Legend of Zelda series.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
{{Monstergirls}}
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls, despite what many [[/d/]] cliches may lead you to believe, aren't inclined to find orcs attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned [[Amazon]]s; [[musclegirl]]s of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about D&D orc sexual mores. January 2018 saw the release of the "High Orc"; a bigger, stronger, smarter and fiercer version of the standard orc, the "boar-girl" to their "pig-girl". Fearless, cunning and strong, they are natural leaders of their lesser kin, aided by the fact they release a pheromone that whips up a lust for battle (and sex) in any nearby orc. Of course, if you beat them, that knocks the wind out of the normal orcs' sails, and they will generally flee or surrender on the spot. High Orcs fit the same sexual mold as their weaker siblings, aside from their pheromone doubling as an aphrodisiac. In a twist that /tg/ finds hilarious, High Orcs have dark brown skin, which, combined with their status as the natural leaders of the race, immediately puts them in mind of the [[Black Orc]]s of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Most likely they were instead based on the Uruk-hai of [[The Lord of the Rings]], but why let that spoil a good laugh?

[[Daily Life with Monstergirl]] combines the above two, having male Orcs be ugly green pig dudes who lust for human (and human-like) women. Thus far we haven't seen female Orcs yet, but like the [[centaur]]s in the series they will likely be a lot more attractive than their male counterparts. As a matter of fact, a female orc named Ruka actually shows up in the tie-in online game as one of your potential haremettes; if taken as canon, then female orcs in this setting are indeed cute green-skinned pig-girls - unlike the MGE version, they have a pig's tail and trotters for feet, with elf-like ears, as the Daily Life verse tends to avoid more animalistic ears for its beast-girls in general.
Pigfaced Orc Female.jpg
<gallery>
Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Amazon Orc.jpg|In some depictions female orcs are rather [[amazon]]ian.
MGE Orc.jpg|A pig-eared orc from the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.
MGE High Orc.jpg|Bigger, tougher, smarter champions of orcdom, the boar-based High Orcs are essentially the MGE's [[Black Orc]]s.
Monster Musume Ruka the Orc.png|Ruka from Monster Musume showcases an incredibly rare meeting point between p'orc and greenskin.
1642287072.baguette2077 konosubaorc 001.jpg
Aggralan, Mag'har Shamaness.jpg|The she-orcs of [[Warcraft]] have always been pretty hot.
Pathfinder_Female_Orc_Fighter.jpg|Pathfinder proving [[half-orc]]s don't HAVE to have human mothers.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]]

Orc

2022-01-27T08:35:48Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* Monstergirl Depictions */

[[File:Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|An average Warhammer Orc.]]
{{Topquote|These have not had a fair press. They are fanatically brave in spite of being weaker and less practiced than most other humanoids, and must be kind to animals, since they train them so well. It is interesting that Tolkien’s characters describe them in terms very similar to those used by medieval chroniclers to describe Mongols, who in our day are considered a nice friendly people of slightly eccentric lifestyle.|Phil Barker, Sue Laflin Barker & Richard Bodley Scott, ''Hordes of the Things''}}

'''Orcs''' are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with tusks and green or gray skin(or some combination of the two). Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well.

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf and proceeded to invent orcs as a fantasy race out of whole cloth.

== The Master Template ==
While many traditional fantasy races (elves, dwarves, dragons and wizards) can be traced back to folklore and mythology, orcs are entirely a product of modern fantasy literature. Here we have a basic rundown of the image that comes up when people say "Orc" and how it evolved.

===Tolkien===
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|right|400px|The origin of the original Orcs.]]
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor (later known as Morgoth) shortly after the first elves awoke, before humans existed. It should be noted that Tolkien never definitively stated the true origin of Orcs , and most of what we have comes from notes and decisions he left to his son Christopher when he passed control of the setting over.
According to one account published after Tolkien's death in The Silmarillion, some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's Maiar ("fallen angels" futher down the hierarchy, Melkor being basically Satan) and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. Because Melkor was bitter about being unable to create life they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got Orcs, [[What| because obviously torture is totally going to influence the physiology of your offspring]]. The result was a species of ugly, bad-smelling, fanged, bow-legged, long-armed, claw-handed, hairy apelike humanoids which were 'sallow', 'swart' or 'black' in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to almost as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and later Sauron's armies.

Tolkien's Orcs are not stupid, described as "making no beautiful things, but many clever ones" and their speech, while crass, is articulate. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets, mail and scale armor supplemented by salvage), effective if unpleasant medicine (prosthetic limbs are literally stabbed into the stump, for example), and are pretty good engineers on top of creating assembly lines; one of the general morals of Tolkien's works is rampant industrialization is a path to evil and/or misfortune, and making Orcs more advanced than other races reflects this. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are even if their work ethic leaves something to be desired. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among Orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented (to the point where they have serial numbers). There are also different breeds of Orcs, besides the garden variety Orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding Orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, eating, drinking, looting, blowing stuff up, gaining power, bossing their subordinates around, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear, their psychic influence over them and the fact that everyone who is not under their authority despises them and wants them dead. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other Orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-Orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how Orcs live their lives on a day-to-day basis as their role in the story is as a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually nasty, brutish and short. Some of the interactions between different groups of orcs frequently results in back-stabbing and violent power struggles, so we can assume that they operate on a grimdark version of Klingon politics. All the orcs mentioned are male which is usually interpreted as "orcs don't bring their womenfolk along on campaigns" (which is basically what Tolkien said in one of his letters) but has led a few to say that orcish sexual dimorphism is basically nonexistent or that female orcs don't exist. Given Sauron's proclivities and the various castes in mordor they were likely subject to some form of selective breeding program.

In Tolkien's published works, "Orc" and "goblin" are synonyms (at least at first; later he said that goblins were a subtype of orc, and later still he said that they were totally unrelated). In later editions of The Hobbit, he says that "goblin" is a translation of "orc", which is "not an English word". "Uruk" means Orc in Black Speech, a mix of Elvish, human tongue, and Sauron's attempts to give them their own language. Most fantasy fiction typically distinguishes between Goblins and Orcs: most of Tolkien's Orcs would resemble other works' Goblins (Frodo and Sam disguised themselves as Orcs, so we can assume at least some are Hobbit height). The largest Orcs in Middle Earth - the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor - appear to be somewhat smaller than Men.

====Grey areas====
The question of whether they are [[always Chaotic Evil|intrinsically evil]] is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race. Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. Unlike Melkor, Sauron, and Balrogs who were spiritual beings that made an active choice to be evil, Orcs are universally portrayed as evil which means they could be evil from birth which was strongly against Tolkien's strong Catholic beliefs in the nature of good and evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature. Christopher similarly has not come up with a satisfactory answer and has largely avoided the subject, avoiding talking about Orcs as anything but adult militant antagonists and leaning back on his father's suggestions of corrupted man/elf hybrids descended from enslaved elves.

Fans divide into different camps of explanation. Orcs could be born adult and "male", like the Warhammer Orcs discussed below, and thus be more intelligent animal like Dragons as opposed to inherently evil people. Another suggestion is they could also be people who are indoctrinated from youth, such as their closest inspiration as the Central Powers in World War 1 (trying to kill Tolkien in the Somme) and Axis (who blew up his barn while he and the family hid in the cellar during the Blitz) which would make Orcs antagonists with horrible leaders and a corrupt ideology as opposed to naturally evil; this would make them as evil as the Easterlings. Some have reasoned, in the vein of the second suggestion, that Orcs are not all unified on Melkor/Sauron's side, which is supported by a single line from Tolkien that no race stood united for or against Sauron; this is dismissed by some with the elf/man origins as all Orcs evil and all elves good, but can be interpreted either way. In this view some have reasoned there must be neutral tribes of Orcs who did not participate in conflict and are as unmentioned as the Stoorish Hobbits (Gollum's original people, who's only importance at all and thus only mention is just that; being Gollum's people before he degenerated into a [[Ghoul|ghoulish]] being), that these Orcs could possibly even be good for all that is known. Another idea is that Melkor's corruption of the Elves he kidnapped either diminished or removed their capacity to do good, which would make creating the Orcs one of the most monstrous acts he had ever committed, and considering this guy was capital-E Evil in every way he could think of that says a whole goddamn lot. The final suggestion is Orcs have no souls, and much like the Little Mermaid (not the Disney version, but rather the original story where they are Feyfolk who are sea foam come to life in the forms of people that can love and grieve, but return to sea foam in oblivion when they die because they have no souls) are just some natural material come to life with no real importance or moral rights because they were not intentionally created by the omnipotent creator (Dwarves are exempt from this fate, being creations of the Vala Aulë who were granted life and 'adopted' by Eru Illuvatar). In this view you could do anything you want to an Orc from killing to torture because they have as much natural rights as their base components, similar to the destruction of the Golem in Hebrew myth, and would explain the ostensible absence of orc-souls in the afterlife of Tolkien's cosmology, though one could find moral problems with this as well depending on your worldview. Tolkien seems to have considered this explanation at one point but ultimately rejected it, as he believed that the Orcs would have been no more intelligent than any other animal if they were truly soulless.

In any case, Tolkien invented Orcs and what is discussed above served as the inspiration of of MANY spinoffs that to various degrees A: took the idea and ran with it while expanding on it to fill in the blanks, B: took the basic idea and gave it a few tweaks, or C: deliberately subverted what people expected from Orcs, making it possible for them to be the good guys. There have been various takes on the "are Orcs fundamentally evil?" question. As a general rule more people tend to go with some flavor of "no, strictly speaking" in that regard as it opens up more narrative possibilities as opposed to a race of set-in-stone killer meatbots utterly unable to deviate from their programing though still cast them primarily in a villainous role.

====Direct Adaptations====
For the most part the Lord of the Rings movies created by Peter Jackson have done a reasonable interpretation of the orcs from the books, though they have cranked their aggression up a bit, uglied them to a great degree, often used the green skin-tones that were popularized later, made them much taller across the board, and ''possibly'' confirmed females. No females are pointed out, but some actresses that played Orcs have insisted their characters (who are usually killed by Elf acrobatics in the same scene or just screech at the camera and shoot an arrow) are female; Jackson has never confirmed or denied this but still made a point of including these interviews on the special features sections of the home release of the movies. Then again, he also put Elves at Helms Deep...

Notably, the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, while mostly known for being "actually pretty good" for what was essentially an Assassin's Creed clone, also showed Orc culture. Essentially, they were a naturally evil race ruled by a hierarchy of tribe chiefs who use grimdark Klingon politics; meaning whoever could knock around his fellow Uruks became boss, and a boss who could honorably duel, assassinate, or otherwise neutralize his peers climbed the ladder. While they were the Chaotic Evil monsters Tolkien didn't want to portray them as, this didn't mean that they weren't interesting. Their mindset was that when they weren't focusing on eliminating other tribes, most Uruks just wanted to put in a hard day's work (of bossing around human slaves), made small talk, had drinking songs, and at the end of the day just go have a drink with his mates. With the mental influence of Celebrimbor's shade on them they are rendered neutral in terms of good/evil, but will still fight and kill each other for promotions; this is generally interpreted as mind control, although a large number of Orcs following you without Celebrimbor in the sequel suggests it may also be you reducing Sauron's influence on them and allowing them to make their own moral choices.

===Warhammer===
[[File:Black Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The modern interpretation of Orcs.]]
[[Games Workshop]] was originally a company that produced quality boards for games like Chess, but after two out of three of the original team fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons after [[Gary Gygax]] sent them a copy (believing they were a legitimate company based on their name, rather than three guys in an apartment sending out stuff through the mail) they began distributing licensed games and later producing miniatures for use in these games under the brand [[Citadel Miniatures]].

As time went on, they had a surplus of unsold miniatures and had trouble retaining the rights to sell their products, so they began to have members of their team create new games owned by Games Workshop to use the models they produced (which unfortunately made many of the early Warhammer designs that survive [[Broo|extreme]] [[Daemon|ripoffs]]). The most successful of these was [[Warhammer Fantasy]], then just Warhammer, which was a wargame version of Dungeons & Dragons that existed mostly just to sell models. Warhammer didn't get its own setting and story until 3rd edition, where [[Orcs & Goblins|its Orcs]] were described as having green skin and red eyes with tusks in their mouths as well as being savage brutes that gathered in hordes and attacked civilization, or just about anything capable of fighting, every so often. Although later on this lore became more complex with Warhammer greenskins becoming genderless mushroom-apes with the creation of [[Warhammer 40000]] which was ported back into Fantasy, the prototype Warhammer Orc still had females and Half-Orcs.

With this, the master template of Orcs was completed. Almost every fantasy setting to use Orcs after Warhammer made them green and sometimes gave them red eyes with tusks, which eventually migrated back into Dungeons & Dragons and even the Lord Of The Rings movies. However, one thing was missing. Orcs were still Always Chaotic Evil which greatly limited their use, and non-evil Orcs were a footnote that didn't even have a [[Drizzt]] to be their posterboy example.

===[[Warcraft]]===
The importance of Warcraft isn't actually in any evolution in any master template. In fact, what it mostly did is combine concepts from previous fantasy settings into a setting and use the appearance of Warhammer Orcs, which was thrust into mainstream public perception and made Orcs "cool" causing a boom of fantasy gaming both on the tabletop and in video games, as well as the movie screen.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released in 1994, and featured generic knights VS generic Orcs in the Warhammer style (indeed, rumors persist that Warcraft was a canceled Warhammer game as Games Workshop had been experimenting at the time with video games). Orcs were controlled by Demons from some obscure Satanic force, and used Ogres as their minions. The only real innovation was Orcs coming from another planet through a portal, although the theme of Satanic forces invading from portals was largely dropped and instead lived on in the Diablo franchise. The game was a surprising success, being low budget from a minor studio.

It was followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1996, which sold RIDICULOUSLY well and sparked a boom in the entire Real Time Strategy genre which quickly became a staple of PC gaming. The setting was expanded a great deal, although Orcs remained mostly the same but were joined by Goblins (who coincidentally looked similar but were a different race), Trolls, their persisting Ogre slaves, the undead (created by the Orcs from their own dead Warlocks), and enslaved dragons. The most diverse change to be found here was Goblins being a race of money-obsessed mad scientists, and Trolls being intelligent. An expansion pack was released that involved the humans invading the Orc homeworld to end the war.

Setting their eyes on the horizon, Blizzard planned an explosion of lore with a book series beginning with Of Blood And Honor which went into the friendship between a human Paladin and an aged Orc ex-Shaman who hated what his race had become which created complexity in what had previously been just a generic "kill it all and loot/eat then march again" race. The second book was Day Of The Dragon, expanding a minor plot involving Dragons into the war between good and evil which had used the Horde and Alliance as a proxy for their own machinations. Lord Of The Clans delved deeper into Orc lore, explaining that they were a race with souls naturally attuned to other sources of energy that had communed with the forces of nature itself until they were tricked into a Daemonic curse that affected them like meth, giving them fanatical boosts of power until it diminished their body and soul into a husk; the main character of the book, named Thrall by humans who used him as a pit fighter, learned nature magic and freed the defeated Orcs to lead them to a peaceful natural existence again. Finally the book The Last Guardian detailed the madness of the human supreme wizard Medivh who had summoned the Orcs into the world in the first place and gave context on the Burning Legion, transforming them from a vaguely satanic demon army into a varied force of cosmic enemies that would fit right into Doctor Who.
Here finally Warcraft added new flavor to their Orcs although unlike previous versions of non-evil Orcs the Warcraft version had identical culture only without malice. The major difference here was making them neutral race that actually got to be in the spotlight, as all previous non-evil Orcs were minor races left mostly undescribed beyond the basics that never starred in a story and always were just an option for exotic PCs; Warcraft was the first setting to make them a core race in the starring role with equal importance to humans in the first person narrative, which catapulted Orcs across fantasy fiction in importance.

In Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos, released in 2002, Blizzard took the mantle of villains entirely away from the Horde and rendered the judgement of gray morality into all factions. The Alliance were racist arrogant bastards that hated each other, were ineffective, and easy to corrupt. The Horde was full of the same assholes from Warcraft I and II that were missing "the good old days" and jumped at a chance to suckle Daemon teat for power again (although the curse was broken during the game). Undead wore the mantle of villainy, but that's because they were lead by a soulless human merged with the ghost of the Orc who set in motion the events which made the Horde evil in the first place. Also, there was forest Elves who wanted everyone to get the fuck out of their forest.

Warcraft III became THE game on the PC at the time, and Warcraft mania had made the image of Orcs something the average non-gamer person could identify. Green skin, tusks, gigantic frame with large shoulders, and sometimes red eyes (which just meant "evil Orc" in Warcraft) became THE Orc as a result of Warcraft, which very little since then has drifted away from. Very few fictional works with Orcs that came after left out these details.

Next in 2004 came World Of Warcraft, '''THE''' MMO which destroyed or outlasted every competitor, surviving for <s>12</s> '''15''' full years and which is still ongoing today. While most of the changes added in WoW remain only important to Warcraft continuity, as they haven't migrated into the mainstream yet, non-evil (or at least neutral) Orcs put upon both by their own evil kin and the hateful humanity became the default Orc. As the game's story moved on, the main racial plot for the Orcs concern itself with its heritage as bloodthirsty conquerors, with the younger lads wondering whether or not wanton genocide really was all that bad... One of them even took the Horde to... [[Nazi|An interesting place]]. So the nature of Orcs as evil/not-evil-just-really-fighty is still being discussed within the game.

So while Warcraft didn't pioneer the idea of non-evil Orcs, greenskins with tusks, or Orcs being in control of their own destiny rather than being pawns in the schemes of a greater power, it did make the Master Template a staple of fantasy fiction. Stories like the Styx and Divinity video games have continued using the new template since then, with more on the way. Even Warhammer itself dropped the most outright evil of their Orcs since then, making them Chaotic Neutral destructive forces that can be allied with rather than Chaotic Evil.

==Mold-Breakers==
{{topquote|Look at them. Ranks, files, locked in everlasting conflict at the whim of the player. They fight, they fall, and they cannot turn back because the whips drive them on, and all they know is whips, kill or be killed. Darkness in front of them, darkness behind them, darkness and whips in their heads. But what if you could take one out of this game, get him before the whips do, take him to a place without whips‚ what might he become? One creature. One singular being. Would you deny them that chance?|Lord Havelock Vetinari, '''Unseen Academicals''', on the subject of [[Terry Pratchett|Sir Terry Pratchett's]] Orcs}}

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic [[barbarian]] rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, this isn't always the case, and a number of notable exceptions have developed over the years.

'''Discworld''' (Also the universe where the above quote comes from) barely mentions orcs, only saying that they were made as cannon fodder for an evil empire before it was destroyed. There is, however, one orc Character; Nutt, who is Perhaps the most intelligent being in the whole setting, incredibly strong and fucking brilliant at football, although he avoids becoming a [[Mary Sue]] due to Terry Pratchett's Incredibly good writing.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Orcs generally tend to live in few places and have vastly different cultures, some good, some evil, some neutral. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have just as much an expectation of being born from consensual relationships as anyone else, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings.
*Shadow Marches, said to be orc homeland, is home to the the Gatekeeper druids who saved the world from aberrations severl thousand years ago and are busy keeping evil unkillable daelkyr lords of madness locked in their prisons. But it's also a home to cults of Kyrzin, one of those evil lords of madness and orc tribes loyal to Gatekeepers and those loyal to Kyrzin are constantly fighting. Both tend to kill outsiders wandering through their lands, because those outsiders are usually enemy agents and it saves time, so don't get confused by Gatekeepers being the good guys, they're by no means nice guys.
*Droaam, right next to Shadow Marches is a multi-cultural nation of monsters and orks are a sizeable population of it. Gaa’aram tribes are your typical evil barbarian orcs, only difference being they form multi-racial tribes where orcs, goblins, ogres and trolls work together. Gaa’ran on the other hand are "peaceful" farmers and about the only people in Droaam who do agriculture. "Peaceful" is in brackets is because they would only fill you with axes and hang your mutilated corpse on a stick to deter future trespassers if you trespass on their lands, being the epitome of "get off my lawn".
*Demon Wastes have two competing cultures, both made of orcs, humans and half-orcs fighting together. Ghaash'kala clans are "good" human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. That being said, things they fight are mostly evil orcs of Carrion Tribes who worship demons and make your typical Faerun orcs look like saints in comparison. Just like in Shadow Marchers, don't assume Ghaash'kala are nice because they're good - they operate under assumption that anything that comes from the wastes is corrupted and needs to die (an assumption that is right 99% of times), so don't expect eny mercy if you come to their lands from the wrong side.
*Finally, separated from all other orc lands are Jorash'Tal, the asshole racist orcs of Mror Holds who hate dwarfs with fiery passion for invading and colonizing their mountains thousands of years ago and refuse to let it go. They're nomad tribes roaming valleys between the mountains and are generally nice people that ''won't'' kill you for trespassing on their lands unlike other orc cultures generally painted as "good". Unless you're dwarf. In which case they kill you for the sins of other dwarfs that lived so long ago no one remembers them. Generally they're a case study on how racial grievances won't do you any good, no matter how justified they are. Dorfs, being both more numerous and technologically advanced are locked in indecision what to do with them as half their clans want to make peace and integrate Jorash'Tal, putting them to work since most holds are in need of more labour, while the other half pushes for the ultimate solution to orcish problem.

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, has exceptions too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to [[Eldath]] (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here]. It's also worth noting that many D&D fans take the stance that orcs, goblins, ogres, and other "always evil" monsters are only evil because ''they're brought up in an evil culture'', and that an orc raised in a human household would be just as Good as their adoptive parents (assuming the parents actually ''are'' Good-aligned, that is). There's also the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, a nation of orcs that seeks to have diplomatic ties to their neighbours, though they do occasionally raid their neighbours, especially the local human barbarian tribes.

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments - in other words, very close to how [[hobgoblin]]s have come to be defined in modern editions. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]].

'''[[Warcraft]]''', as covered above, may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil warlock and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s <s>refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys</s> revolving door of insane and genocidal Horde warchiefs who get overthrown every 2-4 years, with Orcs on both sides of the warchief's agenda. The plot twist is that this time, the warchief is not an Orc at all, but an undead elf which adds layers of complexity. For example, the Orcs go along with her orders in an attempted genocide of the Night Elves after the demons are defeated, but one of the key figures to rise against her was an Orc.

While '''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' **prepare for shitelf cope** Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) weren't even considered ''people'' in the first game, by the time the third game rolled around they had become fully integrated into normal society and weren't looked upon any differently from elves or humans. They are as intelligent as anybody else (in the fifth game one even runs the library at the local mage's college) and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah [[Vore|ate (and shat out)]] their greatest champion/god, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

'''[[Sharakim]]''' seem like this at first glance, as they are orcs who are highly organized, discipline, civilized and benevolent people, but arguably don't count: they're the descendants of humans who were cursed to ''look like'' orcs for sacrilege, not really proper orcs.

'''[[Monster Hunter International]]''' orcs, while green and tusked, are among the few monsters that aren't evil as a species. Unlike most of them they are not PUFF exempt, so they do their best to stay hidden from the government. Monster Hunter International helps hide the orcs at their headquarters in Cazador, Alabama and, in return, gets a help from a few orcs. Appearance wise MHI Orcs are pretty standard, though they wear masks to hide this from humans (though the one look at their village suggests they may do this beyond just secrecy). What makes them interesting is that they have an (Orc) god given talent that makes them very specialized in a particular area, yet utterly incompetent at something related to but outside that area. These include a master of bladed weapons that can't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun, and a helicopter pilot who can make a [[MI-24 Hind]] do things even current helicopters can't, but is unable to drive a car (Upon hearing this, one character speculates that Top Gear's Stig is an orc). They can also make magical healing potions, though they need to be made for specific people and don't keep well. Female orcs greatly outnumber males, so polygamy is the norm. MHI Orcs also worship heavy metal musicians. Most information about orcs in this world is based on the depiction of one friendly tribe, and the only other tribe mentioned was willing to slaughter this friendly tribe, so it's likely other tribes differ in some or all aspects.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
[[File:DnD Original Orc.jpg|thumb|right|400px|1st Edition D&D Orcs, now commonly referred to by some variation of "P'Orcs" by fans.]]
In the first edition of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], Orcs were among the first monsters inspired by folklore and fantasy literature added to the game in a reissue set. They became the primary antagonists out of the many enemies in the game due primarily to their statline rather than their iconic nature, since they were the best "always an enemy" humanoid to accompany a [[Big Bad Evil Guy|BBEG]]. Early DnD Orcs were pig-like monsters resulting from savage tribals that bred with all other races they warred with (so reproducing via rape) with no unified culture or language, but interestingly were also described as having a "reputation for cruelty that is deserved, but humans are just as capable of evil as orcs" which suggests they weren't anything extraordinary to the setting.

Half a decade after their introduction, they were given a more neanderthal appearance as well as being given a size-increase to that of a gorilla (which is actually shorter than the average human, btw), were made able to breed with humans resulting in the [[Half-Orc]] playable race, and given their own mythology (which in most D&D settings is the explanation for why a race behaves the way it does). The leader god is named [[Gruumsh]], who was screwed over in inheritance of the world by the gods of the fairer races causing him to be a bitter asshole and make his race into entitled "might makes right" pricks like a father passing on their shitty life to their kids. Gruumsh's family are below him in importance and include his wife [[Luthic]], goddess of the submission of Orc females as the inferior gender, who goes barefoot and never wields a weapon and just serves to run the home and [[Meme|make babby]], and their son [[Bahgtru]] who's pretty much the god of "stupid, but strong", along with Gruumsh's second in command [[Ilneval]] who is the Orc god of war that directly guides mortal Orcs, with the four together representing the Neutral and "Lawful" (as in they are willing to take orders and respect their place in society) side of the pantheon. Also added were [[Shargaas]] the god of general bad magic and spooky things, and [[Yurtrus]] the god of ruin and death, neither of whom have any loyalty to Gruumsh's side of the pantheon and represent the truly Chaotic "for the evulz" aspect of Orcs.

An article for [[Dragon Magazine]] later gave the option of making the traditionally evil races like Orcs and [[Kobolds]] player characters of any alignment. This lead to the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting having two races of Orcs that are capable of any alignment, the pacifistic Ondonti who culturally are closer to Hobbit than Orruk, and the Gray Orcs who are treated as another among the fair races. All other D&D Orcs remained stupid-evil.

Dungeons & Dragons became the standard for most fantasy that came after, but ultimately for Orcs the only purpose was to move forward to the next step in the master template.

Despite their traditional role as bad guys, since at least the days of Basic D&D, where they had their own [[Known World Gazetteer]] in "The Orcs of Thar", orcs have actually been a full-fledged PC race. True, you typically need DM permission, but the option was there.

Though... not a lot of people took it, as in accordance with their fluff, orcs could be mechanically rather... lackluster. It's a well-known fact in 4th and 5th edition alike that, really, you're better off using and reflavoring the [[half-orc]] or even the [[goliath]] races instead. Especially in 5th edition, where they are literally ''the only race in the game'', aside from [[kobold]]s, to get an ability score penalty.

===BECMI Orc:===
In BECMI era [[Mystara]], there are two different Orc race-classes; the standard Orc, as seen in [[Known World Gazetteer|The Orcs of Thar]], and the horse-riding Krugel Orc, seen in the [[Hollow World]] subsetting.

;Standard Mystaran Orc
::Orc Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc has racial ability score caps of 18 in all scores bar [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]], which are capped at 16.
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtacting the result from 9.
::Orc Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become [[Shaman]]s (6th level) and [[Wokani]] (4th level).

{| class=wikitable
!Orc's's level || XP Required || Orc's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8
|-
|1||1,000||2d8
|-
|2||2,000||3d8
|-
|3||4,000||-
|-
|4||8,000||4d8
|-
|5||16,000||5d8
|-
|6||32,000||6d8
|-
|7||64,000||-
|-
|8||130,000||7d8
|-
|9||260,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||200,000||+2 Hit Points
|}

[[file:orc MCV1.jpg|thumb]]

;Krugel Orc
::Racial Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity, maximum of 16 Intelligence and 16 Wisdom
::Prime Requisite: Strength - Strength 13+ for +5% to XP earned, Strength 16+ for +10% to XP earned
::Save as [[Fighter]] of equivalent level
::Can reach 6th level as Shaman and 4th level as Wokani
::Mandatory Skill: Riding (Horse or Bounder - a kind of far-leaping bipedal carnivorous [[dinosaur]])
::Unlike normal Mystaran orcs, Krugel orcs have lost their Infravision
::Cultural Melee Weapons: Dagger, Sword (Short/Broad/Bastard), Mace, Club, Warhammer, Spear, Javelin, Lance, Net, Whip
::Cultural Missile Weapons: Crossbow (Light/Heavy), Bow (Long/Short), Sling
::Cultural Armor: Leather, Scale, Mail, Chain Mail, Banded Mail, Shield (including horned, knife, sword and tusked), Leather Horse Barding
::Shamans can use: Mace, club, warhammer, lance, net, all cultural armor
::Wokani can use: Dagger, club, net, whip

Krugel Experience Table: Krugels can reach level 36
::1: 0 XP, 1D8 Hit Dice
::2: 1,000 XP, 2D8 Hit Dice
::3: 2,000 XP, 3D8 Hit Dice
::4: 4,000 XP
::5: 8,000 XP, 4D8 Hit Dice
::6: 16,000 XP, 5D8 Hit Dice
::7: 32,000 XP, 6D8 Hit Dice
::8: 64,000 XP
::9: 130,000 XP, 7D8 Hit Dice
::10: 260,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)
::+1 Level: +200,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)

===AD&D Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 2e.png|thumb]]
::+1 Strength,-2 Charisma
::Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
::Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
::Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
::Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
::Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
::35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
::25% chance to spot sloping passages
::Infravision 60 feet
::-1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
::Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 3e.jpg|thumb]]
There are several different orc stats, scattered across multiple sourcebooks. The "common" orc in the [[Monster Manual]] featured the following statblock:
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

In the [[Forgotten Realms]], however, there are three different varieties of orc:

The "Mountain Orc" is the most common of the three races, and is the most generic, being pretty much standard Monster Manual orcs. They inhabit the Frozen North, predominantly the Spine of the World mountains and other hilly regions (hence the name), and for the most part at generic would-be conquerors foiled by their own inability to focus on anything besides killing - except for when [[Obould Many-Arrows]] tried to forcibly drag them out of their pits and show them that the best way to get respect is to actually make a kingdom of their own. These guys use the standard orc profile.

Deep Orcs, or [[Orog]]s, are a stronger, smarter (but somewhat shorter) breed of orc native to the [[Underdark]]. See their page for more details.

Finally, Gray Orcs are a strange race of emotional, impulsive, and deeply religious orcs originally hailing from another world. Long story short, centuries ago, an archmage created a portal to their world, but wound up being killed for an unrelated incident before anyone ever found out about this portal - which meant nobody ever shut it off. Five years after his death, the orcs found the portal and swarmed through in a religious crusade, battling the empires of Mulhorand and Unther in the 6-years-long Orcgate Wars, which ended with the closing of the portal, the defeat of several of the incarnate gods of Mulhorand and Unther, and the scattering of the gray orcs into loose, fractious tribes that still haunt the Moonsea and the Endless Wastes. Though physically weaker than their mountain orc "relatives", gray orcs are much more strong-willed and independent, and retain a knack for divine magic which makes them dangerous. They also possess a far swifter stride and keener senses of smell. Gray Orc PCs have the following racial stats:
::+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium Size
::Base Speed 40 feet
::Racial Weapon Proficiency: Great-Axe and Longbow
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::Scent (Ex)
::Orc Blood: For all effects and special abilities that target a creature's race, Gray Orcs count as '''Orcs'''.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Cleric]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===[[Midnight]] Setting Orc===
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Weapon Familiarty: Vardatches are Martial Weapons for Orcs
::Night Fighter: Darkvision 60 feet, +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when fighting with no light.
::Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty on attack rolls in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
:: Resistance to Cold: Immune to nonlethal damage caused by cold weather, severe cold, exposure or extreme cold. Halve lethal damage (rounding down) inflicted by extreme cold.
::Natural Predator: Orcs add their Str modifier to Intimidate checks as well as their Cha modifier.
::Spell Resistant: +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects, -2 spell energy points for orc casters.
::+1 racial bonus on damage rolls against dwarves.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls when fighting in groups of 10 or more orcs; allies and enemies both count for triggering this feature.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina, -2 Intellect (Note: Con and Int by different names)
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===4e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 4e.jpg|thumb]]
::+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares
::Vision: Low-light
::Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
::Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===[[Pathfinder]] Orc===
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
::Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
::Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

As nameless monsters who won't survive the encounter anyways, Ferocity effectively adds their constitution score (''score'', not modifier) to their HP. This make them quite dangerous at low levels, since it ''triples'' their HP (the standard Orc has 6 HP and 12 con). This isn't enough to put them next to [[Cat|house cats]], incorporeal foes or [[Swarm]]s as slayers of low level PCs, it does make them quite hard for their supposed CR 1/3.

===Pathfinder 2nd Edition Orc===

::Hit points: 10

::Size: Small

::Speed: 25 feet

::Ability Boosts: Strength, Free

::Languages: Common and Orcish, as well as any other languages equal to your intelligence modifier.

::Darkvision: You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Compared to their previous edition, and the DnD 5e, the Orcs of second edition is a lot more fleshed out. With the APG sidesteping a lot of their more "violent" tendencies of pillaging and "conception" of half-orcs, preferring to focus on their glory-seeking, honesty and unbreakable loyalty to those they see as equals or treat them nicely. They are a society looking to surpass their shitty upbringings, wanting to move on from their long history of conflict.... by way of conflict.

===5e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 5e.jpg|thumb]]
Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters as a monster race. They get the following traits... which are, as more than one person has noticed, essentially the 5e [[Half-Orc]] stats with -2 Intelligence tacked on and with the gloriously beefy Relentless Endurance (survive a killing strike with 1 [[hit point]] left 1/day) and Savage Attack (+1 die of damage on a melee weapon critical hit) replaced with the okay Aggressive trait and the pathetically overvalued Powerful Build trait, something that [[skub|has caused its fair share of arguments]].
::+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::30 feet base movement speed
::Size is medium, but they get <strike>almost large</strike> Powerful build which gives them the carrying capacity of a large creature.
::60 feet darkvision
::Aggressive (use bonus action to dash, must finish dash closer to your enemy than where the dash started)
::Menacing (Intimidation proficiency, same as half orcs)

Amazingly, orcs got an official retcon with an official PC writeup in the 5e [[Eberron]] splatbook. "Rising from the Last War" uses the above orc as a base, but strips away the pointless -2 Intelligence penalty and trades the Menacing for ''Primal Intuition'', which gives them two free skill proficiencies chosen from a list made up of Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception and Survival. This is much more useful, and better meshes with the theme of the orcs as the primary [[druid]]ic race in Eberron, and overall makes them a powerful and viable PC race... still, from a flavor perspective, there's something to be said for switching the Half-Orc and Orc stats around.

This version of the Orc was subsequently reprinted in the [[Exandria]] splatbook "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount", so it seems to have become more or less the official replacement for Volo's initial shitfest.

And as of the October errata, that is now the case, and the change seems to be a step in the right direction for orcs and [[Kobold|kobolds]]. Even so, it goes without saying, but [[Skub|it's simply impossible to please everyone]].

====Arkadian Orc====
The [[Orc]]s of [[Arkadia]] are a race born from the blood of the Great Hydra, and native to the broken wastes of Garagos. Also known as [[Giant]]s for their mighty stature - orcs typically stand 6 to 7 feet tall, though the orcs of Gargaros can grow even larger - the race has long been the traditional enemy of the Arkadians, as the race seems possessed to the last by madness and the need for destruction. But... Arkadian orcs are not a monolithic racial force. There are many tribes of orcs scattered throughout Gargaros. The Cerberans train cerberus worgs to hunt and kill; the Cyclopax fight alongside [[Cyclops|cyclopean giants]]; and the Hydrak, the largest and most hated — even by their own kind — who worship the bound titan, seeking to free it through fire and blood. Despite the ancient animosity between orcs and men, some tribes of orcs have come to find a place in Arkadia, especially among the Krytans who value strength and physical prowess above all else. These orcs were first taken as slaves during one of the many wars with Gargaros. Thrown into the fighting pits and gladiatorial arenas they displayed such power and ferocity that the king, impressed, granted them freedom and a place in his army. Many Orcs have since taken to the worship of Krytos with abandon, finding in the mighty god a surrogate father who shares their savagery and love of combat.

Arkadian orcs resemble humans, but with leaf-like ears similar to those of the [[Arkadian Elf|elves]], powerful builds, and jutting lower canines. Their skin is the color of ochre clay; orange, reddish brown, or ashen grey, often varying from tribe to tribe. Many orcs wear black warpaint in stark bands and square keyed patterns. Valuing strength and dominance above all else, orcs, as a Hyperian general once put it, make excellent warriors and terrible soldiers. Their physical prowess and violent nature make them most at home in Kryta, whose army cares more for the might of individuals than the discipline of lines. Their fearlessness and unbridled aggression on the field make them an unstoppable force, ideal as linebreakers, often turning the tide of battle almost single-handed. Some, lacking even the control for this, become mercenaries. Others take to the fighting pits or, with some luck, the grand coliseums of Illyria, untouched by Gargaran raids, where their prodigious size and strength are coveted for their exotic nature.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision: 60 feet
::Colossal Build: Your carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift is doubled as if you were one size category larger.
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

====Farlandish Orc====
Orcs in the [[World of Farland]] come in a number of different subspecies, as part of their home setting's homage to the [[Lord of the Rings]] books that inspired it.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Orcish Weaponry: You are proficient with the Hand Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe, Scimitar and Great Sword.
::Aggressive: Once per short rest, you can use a Bonus Action to move up to your speed towards a creature that you can see.
::Subrace: Choose the Snog, Skaruk or Irzuk subrace.

'''Snog''' orcs, or "Slave Orcs", are the root-stock of the orcish race; first bred as fodder for the wars of dark masters, they are still used in that role to this day, and are literally bred like livestock for that role.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Indefatigable: You have Advantage on all Constitution checks relating to exhaustion, forced marching, going without food and water, and going without sleep.
::Armored: You have Proficiency with Light and Medium armor.

'''Skaruk''' orcs, or "Wild Ones", are orcs descended from tribes that fled their creators and have since pursued independent existences in the wilderness.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Wild Rage: After you first take damage in battle, you deal +1 damage with each attack for the next minute until you are knocked unconscious, or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then.

'''Irzuk''' orcs are a new race of orcs bred for their resistance to the cold and their ability to track victims. They are visually distinguished by their uniquely crimson hides.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Tracker: You have Proficiency in Survival and gain Advantage on Survival checks relating to tracking by scent.
::Cold Endurance: You have Advantage on Constitution checks relating to resisting natural cold and are Resistant to Cold Damage.
::Enhanced Aggression: When you use your Aggressive trait, you can move up to +10 feet over your normal movement limit.

====Scarnish Orcs====
Orcs of the [[Scarred Lands]] are semi-nomadic tribals who live in the plains and savannahs of [[Ghelspad]], noted for their talents in astrology and riding [[Dire Animal|Dire Wolves]], strong tribal identities, and a preference for a simple life with a few great luxuries. They originally fought on the titans side in the Divine War, but most of them took the asylum offer given by the gods. They all have the following stats:

::Ability Score Increase: +3 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkivision 30 feet
::Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see.
::Menacing: Proficieny in the Intimidation skill
::Orcish Combat Training: You are proficient with the battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and lance.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Language: You speak Orcish and one other language.

===[[Starfinder]] Orc===
[[File:Orc sf 1.png|200px|left]]
[[File:Orc sf 2.png|200px|right]]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Orcs in Starfinder were long ago enslaved by the Drow and forcibly underwent social engineering to make them servile to the Drow on an almost genetic level. Their once green skin has turned blue, to better blend in with the tunnels of the Drow planet's underground caverns and to resemble their masters' more purple skintones.

Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, –2 Cha

Hit Points: 6

Size and Type: Medium humanoid (orc).

Conditioned Focus: Due to her conditioning, an orc can choose one skill that becomes a class skill for her. If the chosen skill is a class skill from the class she takes at 1st level, she instead gains a +1 bonus to checks with that skill. In addition, due to her confidence with that skill, once per day, before she attempts a check with the chosen skill, the orc can grant herself a +2 bonus to that check.

Darkvision 60 feet

Fierce Survivalist: Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Survival checks.

Light Sensitivity: An orc is dazzled as long as she remains in an area of bright light.

Orc Ferocity: Once per day, an orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he takes additional damage before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Orc ODD1.png|Original D&D
Orc miners First Quest.jpg|AD&D orcs with some klingon-like head ridges.
4e Orcs, Monster Vault.jpg|4e. Orc sexual dimorphism is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair.
4e Orcs, Dragon 374.png|4e.
</gallery>

==Green Skin==
One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, [[kobold|red]], brown, and [[goblin|yellow]] are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

''In-universe'' reasons for their chartreuse complexions vary between IPs; While earlier editions claimed that the Orks of 40k are said to be animate plants, current lore dictates that Ork DNA is a combination of animal, plant, and fungal DNA, thus their colors are effectively the result of chlorophyll running through their bodies (while the animal part conveniently allows them to bleed red for grimdark purposes). Meanwhile, the green skins of the orcs of The Elder Scrolls and Warcraft universes are the result of demonic tampering; The Orsimer are a result of the above-mentioned champion-devoured-and-shat-out incident, while the Warcraft Orcs were convinced to drink the blood of the Pit Lord Mannoroth, changing their normally brown or grey skin into that distinct hue, with further ingestion of Pit Lord blood turning them red. Some orc clans turned down the offer however, and still keep their original skin tones in the present.

Though for what it's worth, D&D orcs are grey, not green, as of 5e. Seriously, open your monster manual if you don't believe us.

==Piggish Looks==
On occasion, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the generally accepted portrayal of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunch-shouldered, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where old-school [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames. For a reference cue there, see the Moblins from the Legend of Zelda series.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
{{Monstergirls}}
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls, despite what many [[/d/]] cliches may lead you to believe, aren't inclined to find orcs attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned [[Amazon]]s; [[musclegirl]]s of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about D&D orc sexual mores. January 2018 saw the release of the "High Orc"; a bigger, stronger, smarter and fiercer version of the standard orc, the "boar-girl" to their "pig-girl". Fearless, cunning and strong, they are natural leaders of their lesser kin, aided by the fact they release a pheromone that whips up a lust for battle (and sex) in any nearby orc. Of course, if you beat them, that knocks the wind out of the normal orcs' sails, and they will generally flee or surrender on the spot. High Orcs fit the same sexual mold as their weaker siblings, aside from their pheromone doubling as an aphrodisiac. In a twist that /tg/ finds hilarious, High Orcs have dark brown skin, which, combined with their status as the natural leaders of the race, immediately puts them in mind of the [[Black Orc]]s of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Most likely they were instead based on the Uruk-hai of [[The Lord of the Rings]], but why let that spoil a good laugh?

[[Daily Life with Monstergirl]] combines the above two, having male Orcs be ugly green pig dudes who lust for human (and human-like) women. Thus far we haven't seen female Orcs yet, but like the [[centaur]]s in the series they will likely be a lot more attractive than their male counterparts. As a matter of fact, a female orc named Ruka actually shows up in the tie-in online game as one of your potential haremettes; if taken as canon, then female orcs in this setting are indeed cute green-skinned pig-girls - unlike the MGE version, they have a pig's tail and trotters for feet, with elf-like ears, as the Daily Life verse tends to avoid more animalistic ears for its beast-girls in general.
Pigfaced Orc Female.jpg
<gallery>
Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Amazon Orc.jpg|In some depictions female orcs are rather [[amazon]]ian.
MGE Orc.jpg|A pig-eared orc from the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.
MGE High Orc.jpg|Bigger, tougher, smarter champions of orcdom, the boar-based High Orcs are essentially the MGE's [[Black Orc]]s.
Monster Musume Ruka the Orc.png|Ruka from Monster Musume showcases an incredibly rare meeting point between p'orc and greenskin.

Aggralan, Mag'har Shamaness.jpg|The she-orcs of [[Warcraft]] have always been pretty hot.
Pathfinder_Female_Orc_Fighter.jpg|Pathfinder proving [[half-orc]]s don't HAVE to have human mothers.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]]

Orc

2022-01-27T08:28:34Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53:

[[File:Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|An average Warhammer Orc.]]
{{Topquote|These have not had a fair press. They are fanatically brave in spite of being weaker and less practiced than most other humanoids, and must be kind to animals, since they train them so well. It is interesting that Tolkien’s characters describe them in terms very similar to those used by medieval chroniclers to describe Mongols, who in our day are considered a nice friendly people of slightly eccentric lifestyle.|Phil Barker, Sue Laflin Barker & Richard Bodley Scott, ''Hordes of the Things''}}

'''Orcs''' are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with tusks and green or gray skin(or some combination of the two). Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well.

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf and proceeded to invent orcs as a fantasy race out of whole cloth.

== The Master Template ==
While many traditional fantasy races (elves, dwarves, dragons and wizards) can be traced back to folklore and mythology, orcs are entirely a product of modern fantasy literature. Here we have a basic rundown of the image that comes up when people say "Orc" and how it evolved.

===Tolkien===
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|right|400px|The origin of the original Orcs.]]
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor (later known as Morgoth) shortly after the first elves awoke, before humans existed. It should be noted that Tolkien never definitively stated the true origin of Orcs , and most of what we have comes from notes and decisions he left to his son Christopher when he passed control of the setting over.
According to one account published after Tolkien's death in The Silmarillion, some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's Maiar ("fallen angels" futher down the hierarchy, Melkor being basically Satan) and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. Because Melkor was bitter about being unable to create life they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got Orcs, [[What| because obviously torture is totally going to influence the physiology of your offspring]]. The result was a species of ugly, bad-smelling, fanged, bow-legged, long-armed, claw-handed, hairy apelike humanoids which were 'sallow', 'swart' or 'black' in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to almost as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and later Sauron's armies.

Tolkien's Orcs are not stupid, described as "making no beautiful things, but many clever ones" and their speech, while crass, is articulate. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets, mail and scale armor supplemented by salvage), effective if unpleasant medicine (prosthetic limbs are literally stabbed into the stump, for example), and are pretty good engineers on top of creating assembly lines; one of the general morals of Tolkien's works is rampant industrialization is a path to evil and/or misfortune, and making Orcs more advanced than other races reflects this. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are even if their work ethic leaves something to be desired. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among Orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented (to the point where they have serial numbers). There are also different breeds of Orcs, besides the garden variety Orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding Orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, eating, drinking, looting, blowing stuff up, gaining power, bossing their subordinates around, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear, their psychic influence over them and the fact that everyone who is not under their authority despises them and wants them dead. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other Orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-Orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how Orcs live their lives on a day-to-day basis as their role in the story is as a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually nasty, brutish and short. Some of the interactions between different groups of orcs frequently results in back-stabbing and violent power struggles, so we can assume that they operate on a grimdark version of Klingon politics. All the orcs mentioned are male which is usually interpreted as "orcs don't bring their womenfolk along on campaigns" (which is basically what Tolkien said in one of his letters) but has led a few to say that orcish sexual dimorphism is basically nonexistent or that female orcs don't exist. Given Sauron's proclivities and the various castes in mordor they were likely subject to some form of selective breeding program.

In Tolkien's published works, "Orc" and "goblin" are synonyms (at least at first; later he said that goblins were a subtype of orc, and later still he said that they were totally unrelated). In later editions of The Hobbit, he says that "goblin" is a translation of "orc", which is "not an English word". "Uruk" means Orc in Black Speech, a mix of Elvish, human tongue, and Sauron's attempts to give them their own language. Most fantasy fiction typically distinguishes between Goblins and Orcs: most of Tolkien's Orcs would resemble other works' Goblins (Frodo and Sam disguised themselves as Orcs, so we can assume at least some are Hobbit height). The largest Orcs in Middle Earth - the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor - appear to be somewhat smaller than Men.

====Grey areas====
The question of whether they are [[always Chaotic Evil|intrinsically evil]] is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race. Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. Unlike Melkor, Sauron, and Balrogs who were spiritual beings that made an active choice to be evil, Orcs are universally portrayed as evil which means they could be evil from birth which was strongly against Tolkien's strong Catholic beliefs in the nature of good and evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature. Christopher similarly has not come up with a satisfactory answer and has largely avoided the subject, avoiding talking about Orcs as anything but adult militant antagonists and leaning back on his father's suggestions of corrupted man/elf hybrids descended from enslaved elves.

Fans divide into different camps of explanation. Orcs could be born adult and "male", like the Warhammer Orcs discussed below, and thus be more intelligent animal like Dragons as opposed to inherently evil people. Another suggestion is they could also be people who are indoctrinated from youth, such as their closest inspiration as the Central Powers in World War 1 (trying to kill Tolkien in the Somme) and Axis (who blew up his barn while he and the family hid in the cellar during the Blitz) which would make Orcs antagonists with horrible leaders and a corrupt ideology as opposed to naturally evil; this would make them as evil as the Easterlings. Some have reasoned, in the vein of the second suggestion, that Orcs are not all unified on Melkor/Sauron's side, which is supported by a single line from Tolkien that no race stood united for or against Sauron; this is dismissed by some with the elf/man origins as all Orcs evil and all elves good, but can be interpreted either way. In this view some have reasoned there must be neutral tribes of Orcs who did not participate in conflict and are as unmentioned as the Stoorish Hobbits (Gollum's original people, who's only importance at all and thus only mention is just that; being Gollum's people before he degenerated into a [[Ghoul|ghoulish]] being), that these Orcs could possibly even be good for all that is known. Another idea is that Melkor's corruption of the Elves he kidnapped either diminished or removed their capacity to do good, which would make creating the Orcs one of the most monstrous acts he had ever committed, and considering this guy was capital-E Evil in every way he could think of that says a whole goddamn lot. The final suggestion is Orcs have no souls, and much like the Little Mermaid (not the Disney version, but rather the original story where they are Feyfolk who are sea foam come to life in the forms of people that can love and grieve, but return to sea foam in oblivion when they die because they have no souls) are just some natural material come to life with no real importance or moral rights because they were not intentionally created by the omnipotent creator (Dwarves are exempt from this fate, being creations of the Vala Aulë who were granted life and 'adopted' by Eru Illuvatar). In this view you could do anything you want to an Orc from killing to torture because they have as much natural rights as their base components, similar to the destruction of the Golem in Hebrew myth, and would explain the ostensible absence of orc-souls in the afterlife of Tolkien's cosmology, though one could find moral problems with this as well depending on your worldview. Tolkien seems to have considered this explanation at one point but ultimately rejected it, as he believed that the Orcs would have been no more intelligent than any other animal if they were truly soulless.

In any case, Tolkien invented Orcs and what is discussed above served as the inspiration of of MANY spinoffs that to various degrees A: took the idea and ran with it while expanding on it to fill in the blanks, B: took the basic idea and gave it a few tweaks, or C: deliberately subverted what people expected from Orcs, making it possible for them to be the good guys. There have been various takes on the "are Orcs fundamentally evil?" question. As a general rule more people tend to go with some flavor of "no, strictly speaking" in that regard as it opens up more narrative possibilities as opposed to a race of set-in-stone killer meatbots utterly unable to deviate from their programing though still cast them primarily in a villainous role.

====Direct Adaptations====
For the most part the Lord of the Rings movies created by Peter Jackson have done a reasonable interpretation of the orcs from the books, though they have cranked their aggression up a bit, uglied them to a great degree, often used the green skin-tones that were popularized later, made them much taller across the board, and ''possibly'' confirmed females. No females are pointed out, but some actresses that played Orcs have insisted their characters (who are usually killed by Elf acrobatics in the same scene or just screech at the camera and shoot an arrow) are female; Jackson has never confirmed or denied this but still made a point of including these interviews on the special features sections of the home release of the movies. Then again, he also put Elves at Helms Deep...

Notably, the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, while mostly known for being "actually pretty good" for what was essentially an Assassin's Creed clone, also showed Orc culture. Essentially, they were a naturally evil race ruled by a hierarchy of tribe chiefs who use grimdark Klingon politics; meaning whoever could knock around his fellow Uruks became boss, and a boss who could honorably duel, assassinate, or otherwise neutralize his peers climbed the ladder. While they were the Chaotic Evil monsters Tolkien didn't want to portray them as, this didn't mean that they weren't interesting. Their mindset was that when they weren't focusing on eliminating other tribes, most Uruks just wanted to put in a hard day's work (of bossing around human slaves), made small talk, had drinking songs, and at the end of the day just go have a drink with his mates. With the mental influence of Celebrimbor's shade on them they are rendered neutral in terms of good/evil, but will still fight and kill each other for promotions; this is generally interpreted as mind control, although a large number of Orcs following you without Celebrimbor in the sequel suggests it may also be you reducing Sauron's influence on them and allowing them to make their own moral choices.

===Warhammer===
[[File:Black Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The modern interpretation of Orcs.]]
[[Games Workshop]] was originally a company that produced quality boards for games like Chess, but after two out of three of the original team fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons after [[Gary Gygax]] sent them a copy (believing they were a legitimate company based on their name, rather than three guys in an apartment sending out stuff through the mail) they began distributing licensed games and later producing miniatures for use in these games under the brand [[Citadel Miniatures]].

As time went on, they had a surplus of unsold miniatures and had trouble retaining the rights to sell their products, so they began to have members of their team create new games owned by Games Workshop to use the models they produced (which unfortunately made many of the early Warhammer designs that survive [[Broo|extreme]] [[Daemon|ripoffs]]). The most successful of these was [[Warhammer Fantasy]], then just Warhammer, which was a wargame version of Dungeons & Dragons that existed mostly just to sell models. Warhammer didn't get its own setting and story until 3rd edition, where [[Orcs & Goblins|its Orcs]] were described as having green skin and red eyes with tusks in their mouths as well as being savage brutes that gathered in hordes and attacked civilization, or just about anything capable of fighting, every so often. Although later on this lore became more complex with Warhammer greenskins becoming genderless mushroom-apes with the creation of [[Warhammer 40000]] which was ported back into Fantasy, the prototype Warhammer Orc still had females and Half-Orcs.

With this, the master template of Orcs was completed. Almost every fantasy setting to use Orcs after Warhammer made them green and sometimes gave them red eyes with tusks, which eventually migrated back into Dungeons & Dragons and even the Lord Of The Rings movies. However, one thing was missing. Orcs were still Always Chaotic Evil which greatly limited their use, and non-evil Orcs were a footnote that didn't even have a [[Drizzt]] to be their posterboy example.

===[[Warcraft]]===
The importance of Warcraft isn't actually in any evolution in any master template. In fact, what it mostly did is combine concepts from previous fantasy settings into a setting and use the appearance of Warhammer Orcs, which was thrust into mainstream public perception and made Orcs "cool" causing a boom of fantasy gaming both on the tabletop and in video games, as well as the movie screen.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released in 1994, and featured generic knights VS generic Orcs in the Warhammer style (indeed, rumors persist that Warcraft was a canceled Warhammer game as Games Workshop had been experimenting at the time with video games). Orcs were controlled by Demons from some obscure Satanic force, and used Ogres as their minions. The only real innovation was Orcs coming from another planet through a portal, although the theme of Satanic forces invading from portals was largely dropped and instead lived on in the Diablo franchise. The game was a surprising success, being low budget from a minor studio.

It was followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1996, which sold RIDICULOUSLY well and sparked a boom in the entire Real Time Strategy genre which quickly became a staple of PC gaming. The setting was expanded a great deal, although Orcs remained mostly the same but were joined by Goblins (who coincidentally looked similar but were a different race), Trolls, their persisting Ogre slaves, the undead (created by the Orcs from their own dead Warlocks), and enslaved dragons. The most diverse change to be found here was Goblins being a race of money-obsessed mad scientists, and Trolls being intelligent. An expansion pack was released that involved the humans invading the Orc homeworld to end the war.

Setting their eyes on the horizon, Blizzard planned an explosion of lore with a book series beginning with Of Blood And Honor which went into the friendship between a human Paladin and an aged Orc ex-Shaman who hated what his race had become which created complexity in what had previously been just a generic "kill it all and loot/eat then march again" race. The second book was Day Of The Dragon, expanding a minor plot involving Dragons into the war between good and evil which had used the Horde and Alliance as a proxy for their own machinations. Lord Of The Clans delved deeper into Orc lore, explaining that they were a race with souls naturally attuned to other sources of energy that had communed with the forces of nature itself until they were tricked into a Daemonic curse that affected them like meth, giving them fanatical boosts of power until it diminished their body and soul into a husk; the main character of the book, named Thrall by humans who used him as a pit fighter, learned nature magic and freed the defeated Orcs to lead them to a peaceful natural existence again. Finally the book The Last Guardian detailed the madness of the human supreme wizard Medivh who had summoned the Orcs into the world in the first place and gave context on the Burning Legion, transforming them from a vaguely satanic demon army into a varied force of cosmic enemies that would fit right into Doctor Who.
Here finally Warcraft added new flavor to their Orcs although unlike previous versions of non-evil Orcs the Warcraft version had identical culture only without malice. The major difference here was making them neutral race that actually got to be in the spotlight, as all previous non-evil Orcs were minor races left mostly undescribed beyond the basics that never starred in a story and always were just an option for exotic PCs; Warcraft was the first setting to make them a core race in the starring role with equal importance to humans in the first person narrative, which catapulted Orcs across fantasy fiction in importance.

In Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos, released in 2002, Blizzard took the mantle of villains entirely away from the Horde and rendered the judgement of gray morality into all factions. The Alliance were racist arrogant bastards that hated each other, were ineffective, and easy to corrupt. The Horde was full of the same assholes from Warcraft I and II that were missing "the good old days" and jumped at a chance to suckle Daemon teat for power again (although the curse was broken during the game). Undead wore the mantle of villainy, but that's because they were lead by a soulless human merged with the ghost of the Orc who set in motion the events which made the Horde evil in the first place. Also, there was forest Elves who wanted everyone to get the fuck out of their forest.

Warcraft III became THE game on the PC at the time, and Warcraft mania had made the image of Orcs something the average non-gamer person could identify. Green skin, tusks, gigantic frame with large shoulders, and sometimes red eyes (which just meant "evil Orc" in Warcraft) became THE Orc as a result of Warcraft, which very little since then has drifted away from. Very few fictional works with Orcs that came after left out these details.

Next in 2004 came World Of Warcraft, '''THE''' MMO which destroyed or outlasted every competitor, surviving for <s>12</s> '''15''' full years and which is still ongoing today. While most of the changes added in WoW remain only important to Warcraft continuity, as they haven't migrated into the mainstream yet, non-evil (or at least neutral) Orcs put upon both by their own evil kin and the hateful humanity became the default Orc. As the game's story moved on, the main racial plot for the Orcs concern itself with its heritage as bloodthirsty conquerors, with the younger lads wondering whether or not wanton genocide really was all that bad... One of them even took the Horde to... [[Nazi|An interesting place]]. So the nature of Orcs as evil/not-evil-just-really-fighty is still being discussed within the game.

So while Warcraft didn't pioneer the idea of non-evil Orcs, greenskins with tusks, or Orcs being in control of their own destiny rather than being pawns in the schemes of a greater power, it did make the Master Template a staple of fantasy fiction. Stories like the Styx and Divinity video games have continued using the new template since then, with more on the way. Even Warhammer itself dropped the most outright evil of their Orcs since then, making them Chaotic Neutral destructive forces that can be allied with rather than Chaotic Evil.

==Mold-Breakers==
{{topquote|Look at them. Ranks, files, locked in everlasting conflict at the whim of the player. They fight, they fall, and they cannot turn back because the whips drive them on, and all they know is whips, kill or be killed. Darkness in front of them, darkness behind them, darkness and whips in their heads. But what if you could take one out of this game, get him before the whips do, take him to a place without whips‚ what might he become? One creature. One singular being. Would you deny them that chance?|Lord Havelock Vetinari, '''Unseen Academicals''', on the subject of [[Terry Pratchett|Sir Terry Pratchett's]] Orcs}}

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic [[barbarian]] rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, this isn't always the case, and a number of notable exceptions have developed over the years.

'''Discworld''' (Also the universe where the above quote comes from) barely mentions orcs, only saying that they were made as cannon fodder for an evil empire before it was destroyed. There is, however, one orc Character; Nutt, who is Perhaps the most intelligent being in the whole setting, incredibly strong and fucking brilliant at football, although he avoids becoming a [[Mary Sue]] due to Terry Pratchett's Incredibly good writing.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Orcs generally tend to live in few places and have vastly different cultures, some good, some evil, some neutral. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have just as much an expectation of being born from consensual relationships as anyone else, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings.
*Shadow Marches, said to be orc homeland, is home to the the Gatekeeper druids who saved the world from aberrations severl thousand years ago and are busy keeping evil unkillable daelkyr lords of madness locked in their prisons. But it's also a home to cults of Kyrzin, one of those evil lords of madness and orc tribes loyal to Gatekeepers and those loyal to Kyrzin are constantly fighting. Both tend to kill outsiders wandering through their lands, because those outsiders are usually enemy agents and it saves time, so don't get confused by Gatekeepers being the good guys, they're by no means nice guys.
*Droaam, right next to Shadow Marches is a multi-cultural nation of monsters and orks are a sizeable population of it. Gaa’aram tribes are your typical evil barbarian orcs, only difference being they form multi-racial tribes where orcs, goblins, ogres and trolls work together. Gaa’ran on the other hand are "peaceful" farmers and about the only people in Droaam who do agriculture. "Peaceful" is in brackets is because they would only fill you with axes and hang your mutilated corpse on a stick to deter future trespassers if you trespass on their lands, being the epitome of "get off my lawn".
*Demon Wastes have two competing cultures, both made of orcs, humans and half-orcs fighting together. Ghaash'kala clans are "good" human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. That being said, things they fight are mostly evil orcs of Carrion Tribes who worship demons and make your typical Faerun orcs look like saints in comparison. Just like in Shadow Marchers, don't assume Ghaash'kala are nice because they're good - they operate under assumption that anything that comes from the wastes is corrupted and needs to die (an assumption that is right 99% of times), so don't expect eny mercy if you come to their lands from the wrong side.
*Finally, separated from all other orc lands are Jorash'Tal, the asshole racist orcs of Mror Holds who hate dwarfs with fiery passion for invading and colonizing their mountains thousands of years ago and refuse to let it go. They're nomad tribes roaming valleys between the mountains and are generally nice people that ''won't'' kill you for trespassing on their lands unlike other orc cultures generally painted as "good". Unless you're dwarf. In which case they kill you for the sins of other dwarfs that lived so long ago no one remembers them. Generally they're a case study on how racial grievances won't do you any good, no matter how justified they are. Dorfs, being both more numerous and technologically advanced are locked in indecision what to do with them as half their clans want to make peace and integrate Jorash'Tal, putting them to work since most holds are in need of more labour, while the other half pushes for the ultimate solution to orcish problem.

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, has exceptions too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to [[Eldath]] (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here]. It's also worth noting that many D&D fans take the stance that orcs, goblins, ogres, and other "always evil" monsters are only evil because ''they're brought up in an evil culture'', and that an orc raised in a human household would be just as Good as their adoptive parents (assuming the parents actually ''are'' Good-aligned, that is). There's also the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, a nation of orcs that seeks to have diplomatic ties to their neighbours, though they do occasionally raid their neighbours, especially the local human barbarian tribes.

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments - in other words, very close to how [[hobgoblin]]s have come to be defined in modern editions. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]].

'''[[Warcraft]]''', as covered above, may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil warlock and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s <s>refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys</s> revolving door of insane and genocidal Horde warchiefs who get overthrown every 2-4 years, with Orcs on both sides of the warchief's agenda. The plot twist is that this time, the warchief is not an Orc at all, but an undead elf which adds layers of complexity. For example, the Orcs go along with her orders in an attempted genocide of the Night Elves after the demons are defeated, but one of the key figures to rise against her was an Orc.

While '''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' **prepare for shitelf cope** Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) weren't even considered ''people'' in the first game, by the time the third game rolled around they had become fully integrated into normal society and weren't looked upon any differently from elves or humans. They are as intelligent as anybody else (in the fifth game one even runs the library at the local mage's college) and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah [[Vore|ate (and shat out)]] their greatest champion/god, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

'''[[Sharakim]]''' seem like this at first glance, as they are orcs who are highly organized, discipline, civilized and benevolent people, but arguably don't count: they're the descendants of humans who were cursed to ''look like'' orcs for sacrilege, not really proper orcs.

'''[[Monster Hunter International]]''' orcs, while green and tusked, are among the few monsters that aren't evil as a species. Unlike most of them they are not PUFF exempt, so they do their best to stay hidden from the government. Monster Hunter International helps hide the orcs at their headquarters in Cazador, Alabama and, in return, gets a help from a few orcs. Appearance wise MHI Orcs are pretty standard, though they wear masks to hide this from humans (though the one look at their village suggests they may do this beyond just secrecy). What makes them interesting is that they have an (Orc) god given talent that makes them very specialized in a particular area, yet utterly incompetent at something related to but outside that area. These include a master of bladed weapons that can't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun, and a helicopter pilot who can make a [[MI-24 Hind]] do things even current helicopters can't, but is unable to drive a car (Upon hearing this, one character speculates that Top Gear's Stig is an orc). They can also make magical healing potions, though they need to be made for specific people and don't keep well. Female orcs greatly outnumber males, so polygamy is the norm. MHI Orcs also worship heavy metal musicians. Most information about orcs in this world is based on the depiction of one friendly tribe, and the only other tribe mentioned was willing to slaughter this friendly tribe, so it's likely other tribes differ in some or all aspects.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
[[File:DnD Original Orc.jpg|thumb|right|400px|1st Edition D&D Orcs, now commonly referred to by some variation of "P'Orcs" by fans.]]
In the first edition of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], Orcs were among the first monsters inspired by folklore and fantasy literature added to the game in a reissue set. They became the primary antagonists out of the many enemies in the game due primarily to their statline rather than their iconic nature, since they were the best "always an enemy" humanoid to accompany a [[Big Bad Evil Guy|BBEG]]. Early DnD Orcs were pig-like monsters resulting from savage tribals that bred with all other races they warred with (so reproducing via rape) with no unified culture or language, but interestingly were also described as having a "reputation for cruelty that is deserved, but humans are just as capable of evil as orcs" which suggests they weren't anything extraordinary to the setting.

Half a decade after their introduction, they were given a more neanderthal appearance as well as being given a size-increase to that of a gorilla (which is actually shorter than the average human, btw), were made able to breed with humans resulting in the [[Half-Orc]] playable race, and given their own mythology (which in most D&D settings is the explanation for why a race behaves the way it does). The leader god is named [[Gruumsh]], who was screwed over in inheritance of the world by the gods of the fairer races causing him to be a bitter asshole and make his race into entitled "might makes right" pricks like a father passing on their shitty life to their kids. Gruumsh's family are below him in importance and include his wife [[Luthic]], goddess of the submission of Orc females as the inferior gender, who goes barefoot and never wields a weapon and just serves to run the home and [[Meme|make babby]], and their son [[Bahgtru]] who's pretty much the god of "stupid, but strong", along with Gruumsh's second in command [[Ilneval]] who is the Orc god of war that directly guides mortal Orcs, with the four together representing the Neutral and "Lawful" (as in they are willing to take orders and respect their place in society) side of the pantheon. Also added were [[Shargaas]] the god of general bad magic and spooky things, and [[Yurtrus]] the god of ruin and death, neither of whom have any loyalty to Gruumsh's side of the pantheon and represent the truly Chaotic "for the evulz" aspect of Orcs.

An article for [[Dragon Magazine]] later gave the option of making the traditionally evil races like Orcs and [[Kobolds]] player characters of any alignment. This lead to the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting having two races of Orcs that are capable of any alignment, the pacifistic Ondonti who culturally are closer to Hobbit than Orruk, and the Gray Orcs who are treated as another among the fair races. All other D&D Orcs remained stupid-evil.

Dungeons & Dragons became the standard for most fantasy that came after, but ultimately for Orcs the only purpose was to move forward to the next step in the master template.

Despite their traditional role as bad guys, since at least the days of Basic D&D, where they had their own [[Known World Gazetteer]] in "The Orcs of Thar", orcs have actually been a full-fledged PC race. True, you typically need DM permission, but the option was there.

Though... not a lot of people took it, as in accordance with their fluff, orcs could be mechanically rather... lackluster. It's a well-known fact in 4th and 5th edition alike that, really, you're better off using and reflavoring the [[half-orc]] or even the [[goliath]] races instead. Especially in 5th edition, where they are literally ''the only race in the game'', aside from [[kobold]]s, to get an ability score penalty.

===BECMI Orc:===
In BECMI era [[Mystara]], there are two different Orc race-classes; the standard Orc, as seen in [[Known World Gazetteer|The Orcs of Thar]], and the horse-riding Krugel Orc, seen in the [[Hollow World]] subsetting.

;Standard Mystaran Orc
::Orc Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc has racial ability score caps of 18 in all scores bar [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]], which are capped at 16.
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtacting the result from 9.
::Orc Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become [[Shaman]]s (6th level) and [[Wokani]] (4th level).

{| class=wikitable
!Orc's's level || XP Required || Orc's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8
|-
|1||1,000||2d8
|-
|2||2,000||3d8
|-
|3||4,000||-
|-
|4||8,000||4d8
|-
|5||16,000||5d8
|-
|6||32,000||6d8
|-
|7||64,000||-
|-
|8||130,000||7d8
|-
|9||260,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||200,000||+2 Hit Points
|}

[[file:orc MCV1.jpg|thumb]]

;Krugel Orc
::Racial Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity, maximum of 16 Intelligence and 16 Wisdom
::Prime Requisite: Strength - Strength 13+ for +5% to XP earned, Strength 16+ for +10% to XP earned
::Save as [[Fighter]] of equivalent level
::Can reach 6th level as Shaman and 4th level as Wokani
::Mandatory Skill: Riding (Horse or Bounder - a kind of far-leaping bipedal carnivorous [[dinosaur]])
::Unlike normal Mystaran orcs, Krugel orcs have lost their Infravision
::Cultural Melee Weapons: Dagger, Sword (Short/Broad/Bastard), Mace, Club, Warhammer, Spear, Javelin, Lance, Net, Whip
::Cultural Missile Weapons: Crossbow (Light/Heavy), Bow (Long/Short), Sling
::Cultural Armor: Leather, Scale, Mail, Chain Mail, Banded Mail, Shield (including horned, knife, sword and tusked), Leather Horse Barding
::Shamans can use: Mace, club, warhammer, lance, net, all cultural armor
::Wokani can use: Dagger, club, net, whip

Krugel Experience Table: Krugels can reach level 36
::1: 0 XP, 1D8 Hit Dice
::2: 1,000 XP, 2D8 Hit Dice
::3: 2,000 XP, 3D8 Hit Dice
::4: 4,000 XP
::5: 8,000 XP, 4D8 Hit Dice
::6: 16,000 XP, 5D8 Hit Dice
::7: 32,000 XP, 6D8 Hit Dice
::8: 64,000 XP
::9: 130,000 XP, 7D8 Hit Dice
::10: 260,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)
::+1 Level: +200,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)

===AD&D Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 2e.png|thumb]]
::+1 Strength,-2 Charisma
::Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
::Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
::Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
::Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
::Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
::35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
::25% chance to spot sloping passages
::Infravision 60 feet
::-1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
::Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 3e.jpg|thumb]]
There are several different orc stats, scattered across multiple sourcebooks. The "common" orc in the [[Monster Manual]] featured the following statblock:
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

In the [[Forgotten Realms]], however, there are three different varieties of orc:

The "Mountain Orc" is the most common of the three races, and is the most generic, being pretty much standard Monster Manual orcs. They inhabit the Frozen North, predominantly the Spine of the World mountains and other hilly regions (hence the name), and for the most part at generic would-be conquerors foiled by their own inability to focus on anything besides killing - except for when [[Obould Many-Arrows]] tried to forcibly drag them out of their pits and show them that the best way to get respect is to actually make a kingdom of their own. These guys use the standard orc profile.

Deep Orcs, or [[Orog]]s, are a stronger, smarter (but somewhat shorter) breed of orc native to the [[Underdark]]. See their page for more details.

Finally, Gray Orcs are a strange race of emotional, impulsive, and deeply religious orcs originally hailing from another world. Long story short, centuries ago, an archmage created a portal to their world, but wound up being killed for an unrelated incident before anyone ever found out about this portal - which meant nobody ever shut it off. Five years after his death, the orcs found the portal and swarmed through in a religious crusade, battling the empires of Mulhorand and Unther in the 6-years-long Orcgate Wars, which ended with the closing of the portal, the defeat of several of the incarnate gods of Mulhorand and Unther, and the scattering of the gray orcs into loose, fractious tribes that still haunt the Moonsea and the Endless Wastes. Though physically weaker than their mountain orc "relatives", gray orcs are much more strong-willed and independent, and retain a knack for divine magic which makes them dangerous. They also possess a far swifter stride and keener senses of smell. Gray Orc PCs have the following racial stats:
::+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium Size
::Base Speed 40 feet
::Racial Weapon Proficiency: Great-Axe and Longbow
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::Scent (Ex)
::Orc Blood: For all effects and special abilities that target a creature's race, Gray Orcs count as '''Orcs'''.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Cleric]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===[[Midnight]] Setting Orc===
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Weapon Familiarty: Vardatches are Martial Weapons for Orcs
::Night Fighter: Darkvision 60 feet, +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when fighting with no light.
::Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty on attack rolls in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
:: Resistance to Cold: Immune to nonlethal damage caused by cold weather, severe cold, exposure or extreme cold. Halve lethal damage (rounding down) inflicted by extreme cold.
::Natural Predator: Orcs add their Str modifier to Intimidate checks as well as their Cha modifier.
::Spell Resistant: +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects, -2 spell energy points for orc casters.
::+1 racial bonus on damage rolls against dwarves.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls when fighting in groups of 10 or more orcs; allies and enemies both count for triggering this feature.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina, -2 Intellect (Note: Con and Int by different names)
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===4e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 4e.jpg|thumb]]
::+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares
::Vision: Low-light
::Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
::Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===[[Pathfinder]] Orc===
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
::Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
::Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

As nameless monsters who won't survive the encounter anyways, Ferocity effectively adds their constitution score (''score'', not modifier) to their HP. This make them quite dangerous at low levels, since it ''triples'' their HP (the standard Orc has 6 HP and 12 con). This isn't enough to put them next to [[Cat|house cats]], incorporeal foes or [[Swarm]]s as slayers of low level PCs, it does make them quite hard for their supposed CR 1/3.

===Pathfinder 2nd Edition Orc===

::Hit points: 10

::Size: Small

::Speed: 25 feet

::Ability Boosts: Strength, Free

::Languages: Common and Orcish, as well as any other languages equal to your intelligence modifier.

::Darkvision: You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Compared to their previous edition, and the DnD 5e, the Orcs of second edition is a lot more fleshed out. With the APG sidesteping a lot of their more "violent" tendencies of pillaging and "conception" of half-orcs, preferring to focus on their glory-seeking, honesty and unbreakable loyalty to those they see as equals or treat them nicely. They are a society looking to surpass their shitty upbringings, wanting to move on from their long history of conflict.... by way of conflict.

===5e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 5e.jpg|thumb]]
Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters as a monster race. They get the following traits... which are, as more than one person has noticed, essentially the 5e [[Half-Orc]] stats with -2 Intelligence tacked on and with the gloriously beefy Relentless Endurance (survive a killing strike with 1 [[hit point]] left 1/day) and Savage Attack (+1 die of damage on a melee weapon critical hit) replaced with the okay Aggressive trait and the pathetically overvalued Powerful Build trait, something that [[skub|has caused its fair share of arguments]].
::+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::30 feet base movement speed
::Size is medium, but they get <strike>almost large</strike> Powerful build which gives them the carrying capacity of a large creature.
::60 feet darkvision
::Aggressive (use bonus action to dash, must finish dash closer to your enemy than where the dash started)
::Menacing (Intimidation proficiency, same as half orcs)

Amazingly, orcs got an official retcon with an official PC writeup in the 5e [[Eberron]] splatbook. "Rising from the Last War" uses the above orc as a base, but strips away the pointless -2 Intelligence penalty and trades the Menacing for ''Primal Intuition'', which gives them two free skill proficiencies chosen from a list made up of Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception and Survival. This is much more useful, and better meshes with the theme of the orcs as the primary [[druid]]ic race in Eberron, and overall makes them a powerful and viable PC race... still, from a flavor perspective, there's something to be said for switching the Half-Orc and Orc stats around.

This version of the Orc was subsequently reprinted in the [[Exandria]] splatbook "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount", so it seems to have become more or less the official replacement for Volo's initial shitfest.

And as of the October errata, that is now the case, and the change seems to be a step in the right direction for orcs and [[Kobold|kobolds]]. Even so, it goes without saying, but [[Skub|it's simply impossible to please everyone]].

====Arkadian Orc====
The [[Orc]]s of [[Arkadia]] are a race born from the blood of the Great Hydra, and native to the broken wastes of Garagos. Also known as [[Giant]]s for their mighty stature - orcs typically stand 6 to 7 feet tall, though the orcs of Gargaros can grow even larger - the race has long been the traditional enemy of the Arkadians, as the race seems possessed to the last by madness and the need for destruction. But... Arkadian orcs are not a monolithic racial force. There are many tribes of orcs scattered throughout Gargaros. The Cerberans train cerberus worgs to hunt and kill; the Cyclopax fight alongside [[Cyclops|cyclopean giants]]; and the Hydrak, the largest and most hated — even by their own kind — who worship the bound titan, seeking to free it through fire and blood. Despite the ancient animosity between orcs and men, some tribes of orcs have come to find a place in Arkadia, especially among the Krytans who value strength and physical prowess above all else. These orcs were first taken as slaves during one of the many wars with Gargaros. Thrown into the fighting pits and gladiatorial arenas they displayed such power and ferocity that the king, impressed, granted them freedom and a place in his army. Many Orcs have since taken to the worship of Krytos with abandon, finding in the mighty god a surrogate father who shares their savagery and love of combat.

Arkadian orcs resemble humans, but with leaf-like ears similar to those of the [[Arkadian Elf|elves]], powerful builds, and jutting lower canines. Their skin is the color of ochre clay; orange, reddish brown, or ashen grey, often varying from tribe to tribe. Many orcs wear black warpaint in stark bands and square keyed patterns. Valuing strength and dominance above all else, orcs, as a Hyperian general once put it, make excellent warriors and terrible soldiers. Their physical prowess and violent nature make them most at home in Kryta, whose army cares more for the might of individuals than the discipline of lines. Their fearlessness and unbridled aggression on the field make them an unstoppable force, ideal as linebreakers, often turning the tide of battle almost single-handed. Some, lacking even the control for this, become mercenaries. Others take to the fighting pits or, with some luck, the grand coliseums of Illyria, untouched by Gargaran raids, where their prodigious size and strength are coveted for their exotic nature.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision: 60 feet
::Colossal Build: Your carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift is doubled as if you were one size category larger.
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

====Farlandish Orc====
Orcs in the [[World of Farland]] come in a number of different subspecies, as part of their home setting's homage to the [[Lord of the Rings]] books that inspired it.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Orcish Weaponry: You are proficient with the Hand Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe, Scimitar and Great Sword.
::Aggressive: Once per short rest, you can use a Bonus Action to move up to your speed towards a creature that you can see.
::Subrace: Choose the Snog, Skaruk or Irzuk subrace.

'''Snog''' orcs, or "Slave Orcs", are the root-stock of the orcish race; first bred as fodder for the wars of dark masters, they are still used in that role to this day, and are literally bred like livestock for that role.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Indefatigable: You have Advantage on all Constitution checks relating to exhaustion, forced marching, going without food and water, and going without sleep.
::Armored: You have Proficiency with Light and Medium armor.

'''Skaruk''' orcs, or "Wild Ones", are orcs descended from tribes that fled their creators and have since pursued independent existences in the wilderness.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Wild Rage: After you first take damage in battle, you deal +1 damage with each attack for the next minute until you are knocked unconscious, or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then.

'''Irzuk''' orcs are a new race of orcs bred for their resistance to the cold and their ability to track victims. They are visually distinguished by their uniquely crimson hides.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Tracker: You have Proficiency in Survival and gain Advantage on Survival checks relating to tracking by scent.
::Cold Endurance: You have Advantage on Constitution checks relating to resisting natural cold and are Resistant to Cold Damage.
::Enhanced Aggression: When you use your Aggressive trait, you can move up to +10 feet over your normal movement limit.

====Scarnish Orcs====
Orcs of the [[Scarred Lands]] are semi-nomadic tribals who live in the plains and savannahs of [[Ghelspad]], noted for their talents in astrology and riding [[Dire Animal|Dire Wolves]], strong tribal identities, and a preference for a simple life with a few great luxuries. They originally fought on the titans side in the Divine War, but most of them took the asylum offer given by the gods. They all have the following stats:

::Ability Score Increase: +3 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkivision 30 feet
::Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see.
::Menacing: Proficieny in the Intimidation skill
::Orcish Combat Training: You are proficient with the battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and lance.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Language: You speak Orcish and one other language.

===[[Starfinder]] Orc===
[[File:Orc sf 1.png|200px|left]]
[[File:Orc sf 2.png|200px|right]]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Orcs in Starfinder were long ago enslaved by the Drow and forcibly underwent social engineering to make them servile to the Drow on an almost genetic level. Their once green skin has turned blue, to better blend in with the tunnels of the Drow planet's underground caverns and to resemble their masters' more purple skintones.

Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, –2 Cha

Hit Points: 6

Size and Type: Medium humanoid (orc).

Conditioned Focus: Due to her conditioning, an orc can choose one skill that becomes a class skill for her. If the chosen skill is a class skill from the class she takes at 1st level, she instead gains a +1 bonus to checks with that skill. In addition, due to her confidence with that skill, once per day, before she attempts a check with the chosen skill, the orc can grant herself a +2 bonus to that check.

Darkvision 60 feet

Fierce Survivalist: Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Survival checks.

Light Sensitivity: An orc is dazzled as long as she remains in an area of bright light.

Orc Ferocity: Once per day, an orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he takes additional damage before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Orc ODD1.png|Original D&D
Orc miners First Quest.jpg|AD&D orcs with some klingon-like head ridges.
4e Orcs, Monster Vault.jpg|4e. Orc sexual dimorphism is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair.
4e Orcs, Dragon 374.png|4e.
</gallery>

==Green Skin==
One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, [[kobold|red]], brown, and [[goblin|yellow]] are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

''In-universe'' reasons for their chartreuse complexions vary between IPs; While earlier editions claimed that the Orks of 40k are said to be animate plants, current lore dictates that Ork DNA is a combination of animal, plant, and fungal DNA, thus their colors are effectively the result of chlorophyll running through their bodies (while the animal part conveniently allows them to bleed red for grimdark purposes). Meanwhile, the green skins of the orcs of The Elder Scrolls and Warcraft universes are the result of demonic tampering; The Orsimer are a result of the above-mentioned champion-devoured-and-shat-out incident, while the Warcraft Orcs were convinced to drink the blood of the Pit Lord Mannoroth, changing their normally brown or grey skin into that distinct hue, with further ingestion of Pit Lord blood turning them red. Some orc clans turned down the offer however, and still keep their original skin tones in the present.

Though for what it's worth, D&D orcs are grey, not green, as of 5e. Seriously, open your monster manual if you don't believe us.

==Piggish Looks==
On occasion, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the generally accepted portrayal of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunch-shouldered, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where old-school [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames. For a reference cue there, see the Moblins from the Legend of Zelda series.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
{{Monstergirls}}
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls, despite what many [[/d/]] cliches may lead you to believe, aren't inclined to find orcs attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned [[Amazon]]s; [[musclegirl]]s of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about D&D orc sexual mores. January 2018 saw the release of the "High Orc"; a bigger, stronger, smarter and fiercer version of the standard orc, the "boar-girl" to their "pig-girl". Fearless, cunning and strong, they are natural leaders of their lesser kin, aided by the fact they release a pheromone that whips up a lust for battle (and sex) in any nearby orc. Of course, if you beat them, that knocks the wind out of the normal orcs' sails, and they will generally flee or surrender on the spot. High Orcs fit the same sexual mold as their weaker siblings, aside from their pheromone doubling as an aphrodisiac. In a twist that /tg/ finds hilarious, High Orcs have dark brown skin, which, combined with their status as the natural leaders of the race, immediately puts them in mind of the [[Black Orc]]s of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Most likely they were instead based on the Uruk-hai of [[The Lord of the Rings]], but why let that spoil a good laugh?

[[Daily Life with Monstergirl]] combines the above two, having male Orcs be ugly green pig dudes who lust for human (and human-like) women. Thus far we haven't seen female Orcs yet, but like the [[centaur]]s in the series they will likely be a lot more attractive than their male counterparts. As a matter of fact, a female orc named Ruka actually shows up in the tie-in online game as one of your potential haremettes; if taken as canon, then female orcs in this setting are indeed cute green-skinned pig-girls - unlike the MGE version, they have a pig's tail and trotters for feet, with elf-like ears, as the Daily Life verse tends to avoid more animalistic ears for its beast-girls in general.

<gallery>
Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Amazon Orc.jpg|In some depictions female orcs are rather [[amazon]]ian.
MGE Orc.jpg|A pig-eared orc from the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.
MGE High Orc.jpg|Bigger, tougher, smarter champions of orcdom, the boar-based High Orcs are essentially the MGE's [[Black Orc]]s.
Monster Musume Ruka the Orc.png|Ruka from Monster Musume showcases an incredibly rare meeting point between p'orc and greenskin.

Aggralan, Mag'har Shamaness.jpg|The she-orcs of [[Warcraft]] have always been pretty hot.
Pathfinder_Female_Orc_Fighter.jpg|Pathfinder proving [[half-orc]]s don't HAVE to have human mothers.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]]

Chaos Gods

2022-01-23T20:36:36Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* King in Rags and Tatters */

{{heresy}}
{{Topquote|The creatures of the Warp are just "aliens" too, but they are not life forms as we understand the term. They are not organic. They are extra-dimensional, and they influence our reality in ways that seem sorcerous to us. Supernatural, if you will. So let's use all those lost words for them... daemons, spirits, possessors, changelings. All we need to remember is that there are no gods out there, in the darkness, no great daemons and ministers of evil. There is no fundamental, immutable evil in the cosmos. It is too large and sterile for such melodrama. There are simply inhuman things that oppose us, things we were created to battle and destroy.
|Horus Lupercal}}

The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of ending a life will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

==Overview==
According to the wikifans over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikijerks are talking complete [[Bullshit|unadulterated bullshit]] (or are making the common and infuriating mistake of conflating "universe" with "galaxy"). In actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods [likely just analogous versions of the four ([[Malal|point five]]) we have, although it's also possible that the different emotions might be allocated differently for each galactic pantheon; Andromeda might have gods based on the seven deadly sins, for example] that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe each warp god is a reflection of the galaxy that birthed it, and the aliens that live in other galaxies there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. Maybe the Warp gods in most galaxies actually maintain contact with those in neighbouring ones, and everyone just stays the fuck out of the Milky Way for the same reason most 21st century tourists stay out of Somalia. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents. This fallacy is explained further in detail just right below.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just baseless speculation that contradicts the nature of the Warp's existence, specifically that the Warp is influenced by life, not created by life, and existed before even the first lifeforms did. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy. Or it could be things like the Void Dragon possibly eating a million galaxies before returning to ours where he then met the Emperor, the Tyranids consuming a thousand galaxies, and generally such things indiciate that outside of the Milky Way is worse than in the Milky Way.

But then again, It is officially stated that Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy are completely different franchises which just so happen to have the same Warp with the same Chaos Gods.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

===On the Question of Omnipotence===

One of the most [[Skub|talked about and hotly debated topics]], especially amongst Chaos players is the question of Omnipotence. [[Matt Ward|Other than massive fanwanking and colossal jerk-offs,]] it must be stated and stressed that the Chaos Gods for all their strength are not omnipotent, for to be omnipotent means to be all-powerful and the idea of the Great Game greatly debunks this claim. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that folks like to give examples of the power of the Chaos Gods from codexes from the Rogue Trader era and Second Edition, eras which are of ''dubious'' canonicity. You see, what they don't seem to understand is that GW, especially ''early'' GW, had a habit of making use of flowery language and hyperbole to exaggerate the grandeur of something or someone. This by itself is not a problem, as 40k runs on exaggeration. The problem is that [[Powergamer|''some folks'']] seems to lack any ability to discern nuances or critical thinking skills and proceed to extrapolate these hyperboles as true, completely ignoring the fact that the majority of these flowery examples came from either a) the viewpoint of a Chaos Cultist b) in-universe propaganda and/or c) extremely old sources where [[Ian Watson|all sorts of wacky hijinks were birthed.]] As such, the credibility is highly suspect and should be taken with a mountain of salt.

So when sources 'claim' that the Chaos Gods could destroy 'universes' or Greater Daemons were [[Exterminatus|destroying entire planets wholesale]] within the [[Warp]], the validity should be scrutinized in the same way fa/tg/uys scrutinize [[Furries]]. What the Chaos Gods or their followers claim to be true (remember that they are notorious [[Bullshit|liars]]) does not match up with their actual abilities both in Warpspace and in Realspace. If they were truly multiversal as they claim, then, first of all, the [[Hive Mind|Shadow of the Warp]] should not be an existential threat to them. After all, a true universal - let alone multiversal - entity should not even notice a few intergalactic bugs on the windshield. Moreover, the Necron Pylons should also not be considered a threat to the big four, for if they possess such levels of reality-warping power, they should not be dependent in letting their [[Failbaddon|errand boy]] do all their dirty work for them in realspace. Even in the Warp, their so-called 'omnipotence' did not stop a certain [[Kaldor Draigo|Mary Sue]] from trashing their backyard from time to time.

The reality is the Chaos Gods, as far as deities go in Science Fiction, are pretty weak sauce. For example:
*They are utterly dependent on the emotions of a single galaxy (if they really did not care about emotions as some may claim, then they shouldn't be ''that'' invested in the Imperium now would they?).
*Certain [[Tyranids|critters with enough mindless psychic connections can close entire Warp-rifts and there is nothing the Chaos Gods can do about it;.]]
*Tzeentch's self-proclaimed omniscience is put into doubt seeing as how he and his [[Kairos Fateweaver|underlings]] failed to predict the rise of [[Roboute Guilliman|Robo Guillitan]] [[Gathering Storm|and the following]] [[Indomitus Crusade|mechinations of it]].
*Their self-proclaimed reality-warping powers are self-contained in the Warp, and even then it is restricted to their own realms. Much like how a child could create and manipulate anything in a sandpit does not automatically equate to the child turning sand into gold, the same analogy applies here - seriously it is telling that the Gods of Chaos couldn't do jackshit about the Necron Pylons for ''60 million years'' since the War in Heaven.
*Their dreaded Chaos corruption such as Scrapcode could literally be stopped by an AdMech Priest cutting off the connections fast enough during the Fall of Mars, knowing how abysmal 40k's A.I. are, that shit ain't touching the likes of a [[The Culture|Culture Mind,]] [[Halo|a Contendor-class A.I.,]] and the [[Xeelee Sequence|Anti-Xeelee]]. To state otherwise would be a No Limit Fallacy and a False Equivalency since the idea of scrapcode would be overpowered against the likes of the Necrons, Tau and the AdMech, yet this shit has seldomly been used which suggests limitations on the behalf of Chaos.

In retrospect, the contradictions of what the Chaos Gods/followers ''claim'' and what they are actually shown to do is no different than the problems the [[Hive Mind]] has found itself in as [[Tyranid#'Masters of Evolution'?|can be read here.]] They are all bound by GeeDubs' status quo and the balance of power, as such their powers are restricted insofar in one galaxy to preserve the status quo. With the bombshell of '''Godblight''', the argument of omnipotence has finally been shot down after Chaos got hit with a ''massive'' [[nerf]] bat. From the [[Emprah]] suggesting that the Daemon Primarchs can be redeemed, thereby making the threat of Chaos corruption impotent to Big-E literally shoving his Power Sword up [[Nurgle|Nurgle's]] ass and his garden, '''''permanently''''' wounding him grievously, to the outright confirmation that a Chaos God without sufficient faith would degenerate into Warp-soup and become perma-K.O. as faith is what gives Warp entities sentience. Godblight has single-handily trashed any presumption of Chaos omnipotence in but a few chapters, and let's not even get into a single [[Primaris Lieutenant]] kicking one of the strongest Nurglite Greater Daemons in the ass...[[Bullshit|''somehow'']].

So are the Chaos Gods powerful? In the universe of [[Star Wars]], [[Star Trek]] and [[Bioware|Mass Effect]], sure, of course they are. Are they omnipotent multiversal destroyers? Hell the fuck no. If you're honestly thinking that these ''guys'' are in the same ballpark as [[/co/|the Abstract Entities of Marvel and DC]], [[Doctor Who|the Time Lords]] or the motherfucking Downstreamers, then you should probably go see a doctor for a prostate exam; constant wanking is bad for ya health you know.

[[Tl;dr]], 40k is prone to not applying the concept of '''Show Don't Tell''', which is ironic given the reputation of 40k in general, but it happens again and again and again. A good narrative showcases its targets' capabilities and feats, a bad narrative just tells them to the viewers. If the Chaos Gods can actually pop universes like grapes, ''then we better fucking see them popping an actual universe''. No wishy-washy flowery language, no offhand statements in the codex, no shenanigans inside the Warp which is unreliable ''at best''. '''Show Don't Tell'''. It isn't just the Chaos Gods that are guilty of this mind you, the [[Men of Iron]] and even the [[War in Heaven]] [[Necron]]s are guilty of this as well. Sun-snuffing machines the size of Saturn's rings and Breath of the Gods asshattery means jack shit if we don't actually see them in action. '''Show Don't Tell'''.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone. Really just a grouchy puppy.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!! <strike> I thought he was female? </strike> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!* *BLAM!* THAT'S DOUBLE HERESY!!'''}}
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/them to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
* Adjective - Khornate

<center><gallery>
File:WE Heretic Astartes 2.png|A Khornate Berzerker Heretic Astartes of the [[World Eaters]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice (for debatably self-aware boogers).]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are [[Neckbeard|obviously related]]). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> <s>all the time</S> most of the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life such as with pathogens and tumors.
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat, old one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth Lords]] of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
* Adjective - Nurglite
* Please note that the above lore mixes both Warhammer fantasy lore and Warhammer 40k lore which, although the character is virtually indistinguishable, are not the same thing. [[Skub|Maybe]].

<center><gallery>
File:Plague Marine 8th Ed.png|A [[Plague Marine]] of the [[Death Guard]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume he/she/they manifested normally like the other Gods), the an inherently psychic race called the [[Eldar]] created him/her/them by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, [[Doomrider|DRUGS]], empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. His/her/their friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her/them back. Tries to tempt Khorne into raping him/her/them. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But he/she/they won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), [[Violators]] (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him/her/them, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - <s>sex</s> 6. Probably 69 and 420 as well, due to what they’re associated with.
* Adjective - Slaaneshi

<center><gallery>
File:Mandraykh Blyss EC.png|A Slaaneshi-Heretic Astartes of the [[Emperor's Children]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, anarchy, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male or genderless.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change. Khorne as well, as the jock bullies him for his nerdiness.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, he/she/they're nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]], and basically no other Space Marine groups; only [[The Scourged]] are canonical non-TS-descendants who are dedicated to Tzeentch. Tzeentch also apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]] who are more like the Thousand Sons auxilia than anything else). In-universe this is most likely because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are more attractive options than being a scheming nerd. Or else Tzeentch's non-marine cultists are rarely warriors or soldiers, more often power-hungry bureaucrats, nobles, Imperial Governors, and even Inquisitors. Out of universe it's hard to make Tzeentch-focused units other than TS when their signature units are sorcerers, who only come in small quantities on the tabletop, and the Sons-specific Rubric Marines. He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
* Adjective - Tzeentchian

<center><gallery>
File:TS Sorc Divination.png|A Tzeentchian Chaos Sorcerer of the [[Thousand Sons]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below. He's sort of the borderline between major and minor chaos gods.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which means his power is parasitic: any time the four other major Milky Way Warp gods do their thing, which is to say strive to gain power at the expense of the materium and eachother, Malal grows in power as well. Because of his nature as a common enemy to the big four and thus a Warp Entity that fights the Warp, he is also sometimes a god of atheism, contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he might be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - Maleal
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from [[Moorcock]], that Chaos eventually destroys itself), although the forces of [[Chaos Undivided]] might logically be prioritized over other folk.
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]]. A story where he temporarily joins forces with someone like Emps or the [[C'tan]] might also work.
* Love Interest(s) - As per his nature as an edgelord, he has a tsundere love-hate relationship with chaos itself.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
* Adjective - Malalic

<center><gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery></center>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. He also infringes copyright on both Nurgle's and Tzeentch's portfolios, but it's mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], because the Great Horned Rat thinks his fuckups are hilarious.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear(ed) in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.
Until the Horned Rat replaced Slaanesh as the Fourth Chaos god in End Times. This change did not affect 40k.

===Warhammer Fantasy===

====Be'lakor====
{{main|Be'lakor}}
The first [[Daemon Prince]] and ostensibly the only Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], Be'lakor commands a great amount of power over the Realms. While still under the thumb of his four parents, he has been able to control a sizeable army of followers and has claimed to have even influenced [[Archaon]].

====Hashut====
{{main|Hashut}}
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

====Khakkek====
From old-school Warhammer, was the god of the Chaos Goblins. Was only mentioned once or twice, but was described as a red skinned, 8 limbed spidery-goblin who was a god of bloodletting but unlike Khorne, allowed for magic. Described as seen as halfway between Khorne and Khaine.

Great Demon : The Great Demons of Khakkek feature an almost Goblinoid physiognomy, so they can be easily mistaken, from afar or in poor light, for an Orc (albeit very large). On closer inspection, however, we discover glowing red eyes, Chaos armor, and an impressive number of sharp teeth and claws (including a nice pair of fangs). His face can mirror Khakkekk's, and he wields a fiery giant sword with immense skill. Its characteristics are the same as those of a standard Minor Demon.
Little Demon : Just as the Big Demon looks like an Orc, Orc, the Little Demon looks like some kind of Goblin. He too, from afar or in poor light, can easily be mistaken for a Goblin (albeit tall), with red eyes. His face and impressive array of dangerous teeth and talons (no fangs) are also reminiscent of Khakkekk. Its characteristics are similar to those of a Minor Demon.
Demonic Creature: These creatures, sociable in the manner of the Nurglings, appear as Brats with glowing red eyes (this is the common characteristic of the demons of Khakkekk, with sharp teeth and talons) and sport 1d4 Chaos mutations. Like other demons, each has a face that strangely recalls its master. The profile of a Demonic Creature is the same as a standard Servant Demon, or, alternatively, that of a Nurgling (if you have Realm of Chaos: the Lost and the Damned).
Demonic Mount : Khakkekk's Demonic Mount appears virtually identical, at least physically, to a Large Wolf, and it may actually be. Whether or not this is the case, it is virtually identical. You can therefore use the description of the Big Wolf from the bestiary of WFRP1 or that of present in this project.

====Kweethul====
Kweethul Gristlegut was a Skaven who managed to become an extremely minor Chaos God in the older Warhammer editions. He Was later mentioned as being a HERETIC against the Horned Rat in a later Skaven army book. The Horned Rat will suffer no challenger to its dominion over Skaven-kind! Could vlcreate his own Daemons, too.

Deamons of Kweethul

The Six Eyed Slayer: Greater Daemon. He stands about 10ft in height with a pair of three eyed goats heads. It carries a Chaos Weapon with the power of mutation. [1b]
Floating Horror: Lesser Daemon. Appearing much as a Harpy but with the clawed feet of a Bear.[1b]
Fire Runner: Daemonic Steed. A partially feathered beast with burning clawed feet. [1b]
The Thing: Deamonic Beast. [1b]

====Necoho====
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult and an antitheist tract called "The Revelations of Necoho, or the Light of Doubt".

In the popular series [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]], [[Magnus the Red]] made the point that the Emperor was, perhaps unknowingly, feeding a Chaos god of unbelief by promoting his Imperial Truth.

====Stromfels====
Whilst often speculated to be Manann's edgy dark half, Stromfels' mutant cults and rumored links to Khorne in earlier editions point towards his status as a minor Chaos god. Further proof of this is his patronage of sea mutant pirate Aranessa Saltspite, and his Chaos cult in the Gotrek and Felix story "Slayer of the Storm God", featuring his avatar, the "Harbinger of Stromfels".

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], he is also [[Cylostra Direfin]]'s patron deity, having resurrected her as a vengeful ghost to wreak havoc against the High Elves and Bretonnians who rejected her singing.

====Urlfdaemonkin====
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 6th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

====Zuvassin====
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

And the motherfucker is STILL canon in Age of Sigmar, where a short story features a Chaos Champion named "Zuvass". Hmm.. I wonder who he might be worshipping.

===Warhammer 40,000===

====Baphomael====
A minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of independent Greater Daemon, ruler of the Daemon World of Woe. Has a Christian Devil, "Let's Make a Deal" sort of vibe about him, complete with looking like classical illustrations of Demons and his name being a portmanteau of Baphomet and Samael.

====King in Rags and Tatters====
Quite possibly a Chaos God version of Hastur from the Cthulhu Mythos, may or may not be a guise of Tzeentch. Leader of the "Menagerie" a Chaos Cult that seeks to unravel reality itself. Has unique demonic minions in the form of Warp Spectres, roiling, constantly changing masses of hideous energy being Daemon (like a Chaos Spawn made of gas and energy instead of fluid flesh?).

====Lord of Misrule====
Another minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of being an independent Greater Daemon from Dark Heresy. Also seeks to undo the veil between reality and the Warp.

====Melkirth====
Mentioned in older background material for Warhammer 40,000. Melkirth was a minor chaos god described as "The god of evil, malice, and wanton cruelty and suffering." While Melkirth remains a minor god, it is said that the actions of the mortal races, particularly the Dark Eldar, are causing Melkirth to grow in power until he ultimately becomes the fifth major Chaos God. The daemons of Melkirth are described as being the colour of shadow and able to take on the appearance of any daemon, be it a daemon of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Tzeentch. These shadow daemons could be inspiration for the shadow daemons Morathi encounters in Ulgu in Age of Sigmar, as they are also having to do with Dark Aelfs.

====Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l====
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Age of Sigmar===
====Archaon====
{{main|Archaon}}
Upon completing a new set of challenges by the Chaos Gods in AoS, he was empowered to demigod level and given free reign to do whatever he desired.

====Devourer of Existence====
A primitive aspect of Chaos as an apex predator, that wishes to devour all else and despises any sign of civilization, worshipped by the Untamed Beasts.

====Eightfold Watcher====
Some sort of Spider Godbeast worshipped by the Tarantulos Brood. From Warcry Red Harvest.

====Ever-Raging Flame====
A massive fire of Chaos, said to be the Chaos personification of Aqshy itself, worshipped by the Scions of the Flame in the Realm of Fire.

====The Great Gatherer====
A (presumably) giant crow worshipped by tribesmen from Ulgu in the [[Age of Sigmar]]. Not much is known about him, since [[Warcry|the only game his followers appear in]] isn't out yet, but we do know that the [[Corvus Corax|Corvus]] Cabal (the aforementioned tribesmen) consider [[Archaon]] to be his avatar in the Mortal Realms. Theories range from it being an aspect of [[Tzeentch]] (notable avian features, Tzeentch is known to be interested in the Realm of Shadow, maybe gathering secrets?) or [[Nurgle]] (the Crow was Nurgle's totem animal among the Norscans, maybe gathering bodies?) to being a minor, but ascending, Chaos God not so far removed from the Great Horned Rat's path to the pantheon. He even has the weird connection to both Nurgle and Tzeentch the GHR does. It has been confirmed that the Warbands from Warcry will be usable in the main game, possibly as normal units, and will have the keyword SLAVES TO DARKNESS, which means he'll have some representation in a mainline game. Not too bad for the newest kid on the block.

====Morghur====
{{main|Morghur The Shadowgave}}
Originally one of the most notable Beastmen, he's worshipped as a minor Chaos God of mutation and devolution in Age of Sigmar. Wait what the fuck is this??

====Nagendra====
Originally a Godbeast, was splintered and the remains corrupted into Daemons called Coiling Ones, worshipped by the Splintered Fang.

===Blood Bowl===
====Nuffle====
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

===When Tzeentch was the best===
According to recent Tzeentch Codex/Battletome Tzeentch was at one point the sole major chaos god. A rebellion against him fractured him into many pieces, which because of warp time fuckery, technically counts as a different god. When chaos was first forming (just after War in Heaven for 40k) there were many chaos gods and entities competing (rather than the total domination that exists now). Tzeentch somehow became number one, and was a super god of sorts, although he was possibly less powerful than the current Tzeentch due to the lesser size and influence of chaos. A rebellion by all the other chaos gods fractured him, creating the Tzeentch we know today. In the same way that Slaanesh has always existed in 40k, the new Tzeentch has always existed the way he is. While the old Tzeentch is permanently destroyed (across all time), while still doing the things he did, what really matters is the influence in the material realm: Tzeentch's new self and Slaanesh started doing that when they were created relative to the materium, while the Warp is such a mess that a contradiction like old Tzeentch being completely destroyed while still having done the things he did is basically nothing. They are implied to be two seperate entites.

This is a variant of the backstory of The Blue Scribes.

{{ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Chaos Gods

2022-01-23T20:35:05Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* Lord of Misrule */

{{heresy}}
{{Topquote|The creatures of the Warp are just "aliens" too, but they are not life forms as we understand the term. They are not organic. They are extra-dimensional, and they influence our reality in ways that seem sorcerous to us. Supernatural, if you will. So let's use all those lost words for them... daemons, spirits, possessors, changelings. All we need to remember is that there are no gods out there, in the darkness, no great daemons and ministers of evil. There is no fundamental, immutable evil in the cosmos. It is too large and sterile for such melodrama. There are simply inhuman things that oppose us, things we were created to battle and destroy.
|Horus Lupercal}}

The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of ending a life will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

==Overview==
According to the wikifans over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikijerks are talking complete [[Bullshit|unadulterated bullshit]] (or are making the common and infuriating mistake of conflating "universe" with "galaxy"). In actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods [likely just analogous versions of the four ([[Malal|point five]]) we have, although it's also possible that the different emotions might be allocated differently for each galactic pantheon; Andromeda might have gods based on the seven deadly sins, for example] that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe each warp god is a reflection of the galaxy that birthed it, and the aliens that live in other galaxies there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. Maybe the Warp gods in most galaxies actually maintain contact with those in neighbouring ones, and everyone just stays the fuck out of the Milky Way for the same reason most 21st century tourists stay out of Somalia. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents. This fallacy is explained further in detail just right below.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just baseless speculation that contradicts the nature of the Warp's existence, specifically that the Warp is influenced by life, not created by life, and existed before even the first lifeforms did. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy. Or it could be things like the Void Dragon possibly eating a million galaxies before returning to ours where he then met the Emperor, the Tyranids consuming a thousand galaxies, and generally such things indiciate that outside of the Milky Way is worse than in the Milky Way.

But then again, It is officially stated that Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy are completely different franchises which just so happen to have the same Warp with the same Chaos Gods.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

===On the Question of Omnipotence===

One of the most [[Skub|talked about and hotly debated topics]], especially amongst Chaos players is the question of Omnipotence. [[Matt Ward|Other than massive fanwanking and colossal jerk-offs,]] it must be stated and stressed that the Chaos Gods for all their strength are not omnipotent, for to be omnipotent means to be all-powerful and the idea of the Great Game greatly debunks this claim. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that folks like to give examples of the power of the Chaos Gods from codexes from the Rogue Trader era and Second Edition, eras which are of ''dubious'' canonicity. You see, what they don't seem to understand is that GW, especially ''early'' GW, had a habit of making use of flowery language and hyperbole to exaggerate the grandeur of something or someone. This by itself is not a problem, as 40k runs on exaggeration. The problem is that [[Powergamer|''some folks'']] seems to lack any ability to discern nuances or critical thinking skills and proceed to extrapolate these hyperboles as true, completely ignoring the fact that the majority of these flowery examples came from either a) the viewpoint of a Chaos Cultist b) in-universe propaganda and/or c) extremely old sources where [[Ian Watson|all sorts of wacky hijinks were birthed.]] As such, the credibility is highly suspect and should be taken with a mountain of salt.

So when sources 'claim' that the Chaos Gods could destroy 'universes' or Greater Daemons were [[Exterminatus|destroying entire planets wholesale]] within the [[Warp]], the validity should be scrutinized in the same way fa/tg/uys scrutinize [[Furries]]. What the Chaos Gods or their followers claim to be true (remember that they are notorious [[Bullshit|liars]]) does not match up with their actual abilities both in Warpspace and in Realspace. If they were truly multiversal as they claim, then, first of all, the [[Hive Mind|Shadow of the Warp]] should not be an existential threat to them. After all, a true universal - let alone multiversal - entity should not even notice a few intergalactic bugs on the windshield. Moreover, the Necron Pylons should also not be considered a threat to the big four, for if they possess such levels of reality-warping power, they should not be dependent in letting their [[Failbaddon|errand boy]] do all their dirty work for them in realspace. Even in the Warp, their so-called 'omnipotence' did not stop a certain [[Kaldor Draigo|Mary Sue]] from trashing their backyard from time to time.

The reality is the Chaos Gods, as far as deities go in Science Fiction, are pretty weak sauce. For example:
*They are utterly dependent on the emotions of a single galaxy (if they really did not care about emotions as some may claim, then they shouldn't be ''that'' invested in the Imperium now would they?).
*Certain [[Tyranids|critters with enough mindless psychic connections can close entire Warp-rifts and there is nothing the Chaos Gods can do about it;.]]
*Tzeentch's self-proclaimed omniscience is put into doubt seeing as how he and his [[Kairos Fateweaver|underlings]] failed to predict the rise of [[Roboute Guilliman|Robo Guillitan]] [[Gathering Storm|and the following]] [[Indomitus Crusade|mechinations of it]].
*Their self-proclaimed reality-warping powers are self-contained in the Warp, and even then it is restricted to their own realms. Much like how a child could create and manipulate anything in a sandpit does not automatically equate to the child turning sand into gold, the same analogy applies here - seriously it is telling that the Gods of Chaos couldn't do jackshit about the Necron Pylons for ''60 million years'' since the War in Heaven.
*Their dreaded Chaos corruption such as Scrapcode could literally be stopped by an AdMech Priest cutting off the connections fast enough during the Fall of Mars, knowing how abysmal 40k's A.I. are, that shit ain't touching the likes of a [[The Culture|Culture Mind,]] [[Halo|a Contendor-class A.I.,]] and the [[Xeelee Sequence|Anti-Xeelee]]. To state otherwise would be a No Limit Fallacy and a False Equivalency since the idea of scrapcode would be overpowered against the likes of the Necrons, Tau and the AdMech, yet this shit has seldomly been used which suggests limitations on the behalf of Chaos.

In retrospect, the contradictions of what the Chaos Gods/followers ''claim'' and what they are actually shown to do is no different than the problems the [[Hive Mind]] has found itself in as [[Tyranid#'Masters of Evolution'?|can be read here.]] They are all bound by GeeDubs' status quo and the balance of power, as such their powers are restricted insofar in one galaxy to preserve the status quo. With the bombshell of '''Godblight''', the argument of omnipotence has finally been shot down after Chaos got hit with a ''massive'' [[nerf]] bat. From the [[Emprah]] suggesting that the Daemon Primarchs can be redeemed, thereby making the threat of Chaos corruption impotent to Big-E literally shoving his Power Sword up [[Nurgle|Nurgle's]] ass and his garden, '''''permanently''''' wounding him grievously, to the outright confirmation that a Chaos God without sufficient faith would degenerate into Warp-soup and become perma-K.O. as faith is what gives Warp entities sentience. Godblight has single-handily trashed any presumption of Chaos omnipotence in but a few chapters, and let's not even get into a single [[Primaris Lieutenant]] kicking one of the strongest Nurglite Greater Daemons in the ass...[[Bullshit|''somehow'']].

So are the Chaos Gods powerful? In the universe of [[Star Wars]], [[Star Trek]] and [[Bioware|Mass Effect]], sure, of course they are. Are they omnipotent multiversal destroyers? Hell the fuck no. If you're honestly thinking that these ''guys'' are in the same ballpark as [[/co/|the Abstract Entities of Marvel and DC]], [[Doctor Who|the Time Lords]] or the motherfucking Downstreamers, then you should probably go see a doctor for a prostate exam; constant wanking is bad for ya health you know.

[[Tl;dr]], 40k is prone to not applying the concept of '''Show Don't Tell''', which is ironic given the reputation of 40k in general, but it happens again and again and again. A good narrative showcases its targets' capabilities and feats, a bad narrative just tells them to the viewers. If the Chaos Gods can actually pop universes like grapes, ''then we better fucking see them popping an actual universe''. No wishy-washy flowery language, no offhand statements in the codex, no shenanigans inside the Warp which is unreliable ''at best''. '''Show Don't Tell'''. It isn't just the Chaos Gods that are guilty of this mind you, the [[Men of Iron]] and even the [[War in Heaven]] [[Necron]]s are guilty of this as well. Sun-snuffing machines the size of Saturn's rings and Breath of the Gods asshattery means jack shit if we don't actually see them in action. '''Show Don't Tell'''.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone. Really just a grouchy puppy.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!! <strike> I thought he was female? </strike> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!* *BLAM!* THAT'S DOUBLE HERESY!!'''}}
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/them to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
* Adjective - Khornate

<center><gallery>
File:WE Heretic Astartes 2.png|A Khornate Berzerker Heretic Astartes of the [[World Eaters]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice (for debatably self-aware boogers).]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are [[Neckbeard|obviously related]]). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> <s>all the time</S> most of the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life such as with pathogens and tumors.
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat, old one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth Lords]] of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
* Adjective - Nurglite
* Please note that the above lore mixes both Warhammer fantasy lore and Warhammer 40k lore which, although the character is virtually indistinguishable, are not the same thing. [[Skub|Maybe]].

<center><gallery>
File:Plague Marine 8th Ed.png|A [[Plague Marine]] of the [[Death Guard]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume he/she/they manifested normally like the other Gods), the an inherently psychic race called the [[Eldar]] created him/her/them by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, [[Doomrider|DRUGS]], empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. His/her/their friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her/them back. Tries to tempt Khorne into raping him/her/them. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But he/she/they won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), [[Violators]] (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him/her/them, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - <s>sex</s> 6. Probably 69 and 420 as well, due to what they’re associated with.
* Adjective - Slaaneshi

<center><gallery>
File:Mandraykh Blyss EC.png|A Slaaneshi-Heretic Astartes of the [[Emperor's Children]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, anarchy, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male or genderless.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change. Khorne as well, as the jock bullies him for his nerdiness.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, he/she/they're nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]], and basically no other Space Marine groups; only [[The Scourged]] are canonical non-TS-descendants who are dedicated to Tzeentch. Tzeentch also apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]] who are more like the Thousand Sons auxilia than anything else). In-universe this is most likely because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are more attractive options than being a scheming nerd. Or else Tzeentch's non-marine cultists are rarely warriors or soldiers, more often power-hungry bureaucrats, nobles, Imperial Governors, and even Inquisitors. Out of universe it's hard to make Tzeentch-focused units other than TS when their signature units are sorcerers, who only come in small quantities on the tabletop, and the Sons-specific Rubric Marines. He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
* Adjective - Tzeentchian

<center><gallery>
File:TS Sorc Divination.png|A Tzeentchian Chaos Sorcerer of the [[Thousand Sons]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below. He's sort of the borderline between major and minor chaos gods.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which means his power is parasitic: any time the four other major Milky Way Warp gods do their thing, which is to say strive to gain power at the expense of the materium and eachother, Malal grows in power as well. Because of his nature as a common enemy to the big four and thus a Warp Entity that fights the Warp, he is also sometimes a god of atheism, contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he might be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - Maleal
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from [[Moorcock]], that Chaos eventually destroys itself), although the forces of [[Chaos Undivided]] might logically be prioritized over other folk.
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]]. A story where he temporarily joins forces with someone like Emps or the [[C'tan]] might also work.
* Love Interest(s) - As per his nature as an edgelord, he has a tsundere love-hate relationship with chaos itself.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
* Adjective - Malalic

<center><gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery></center>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. He also infringes copyright on both Nurgle's and Tzeentch's portfolios, but it's mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], because the Great Horned Rat thinks his fuckups are hilarious.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear(ed) in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.
Until the Horned Rat replaced Slaanesh as the Fourth Chaos god in End Times. This change did not affect 40k.

===Warhammer Fantasy===

====Be'lakor====
{{main|Be'lakor}}
The first [[Daemon Prince]] and ostensibly the only Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], Be'lakor commands a great amount of power over the Realms. While still under the thumb of his four parents, he has been able to control a sizeable army of followers and has claimed to have even influenced [[Archaon]].

====Hashut====
{{main|Hashut}}
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

====Khakkek====
From old-school Warhammer, was the god of the Chaos Goblins. Was only mentioned once or twice, but was described as a red skinned, 8 limbed spidery-goblin who was a god of bloodletting but unlike Khorne, allowed for magic. Described as seen as halfway between Khorne and Khaine.

Great Demon : The Great Demons of Khakkek feature an almost Goblinoid physiognomy, so they can be easily mistaken, from afar or in poor light, for an Orc (albeit very large). On closer inspection, however, we discover glowing red eyes, Chaos armor, and an impressive number of sharp teeth and claws (including a nice pair of fangs). His face can mirror Khakkekk's, and he wields a fiery giant sword with immense skill. Its characteristics are the same as those of a standard Minor Demon.
Little Demon : Just as the Big Demon looks like an Orc, Orc, the Little Demon looks like some kind of Goblin. He too, from afar or in poor light, can easily be mistaken for a Goblin (albeit tall), with red eyes. His face and impressive array of dangerous teeth and talons (no fangs) are also reminiscent of Khakkekk. Its characteristics are similar to those of a Minor Demon.
Demonic Creature: These creatures, sociable in the manner of the Nurglings, appear as Brats with glowing red eyes (this is the common characteristic of the demons of Khakkekk, with sharp teeth and talons) and sport 1d4 Chaos mutations. Like other demons, each has a face that strangely recalls its master. The profile of a Demonic Creature is the same as a standard Servant Demon, or, alternatively, that of a Nurgling (if you have Realm of Chaos: the Lost and the Damned).
Demonic Mount : Khakkekk's Demonic Mount appears virtually identical, at least physically, to a Large Wolf, and it may actually be. Whether or not this is the case, it is virtually identical. You can therefore use the description of the Big Wolf from the bestiary of WFRP1 or that of present in this project.

====Kweethul====
Kweethul Gristlegut was a Skaven who managed to become an extremely minor Chaos God in the older Warhammer editions. He Was later mentioned as being a HERETIC against the Horned Rat in a later Skaven army book. The Horned Rat will suffer no challenger to its dominion over Skaven-kind! Could vlcreate his own Daemons, too.

Deamons of Kweethul

The Six Eyed Slayer: Greater Daemon. He stands about 10ft in height with a pair of three eyed goats heads. It carries a Chaos Weapon with the power of mutation. [1b]
Floating Horror: Lesser Daemon. Appearing much as a Harpy but with the clawed feet of a Bear.[1b]
Fire Runner: Daemonic Steed. A partially feathered beast with burning clawed feet. [1b]
The Thing: Deamonic Beast. [1b]

====Necoho====
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult and an antitheist tract called "The Revelations of Necoho, or the Light of Doubt".

In the popular series [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]], [[Magnus the Red]] made the point that the Emperor was, perhaps unknowingly, feeding a Chaos god of unbelief by promoting his Imperial Truth.

====Stromfels====
Whilst often speculated to be Manann's edgy dark half, Stromfels' mutant cults and rumored links to Khorne in earlier editions point towards his status as a minor Chaos god. Further proof of this is his patronage of sea mutant pirate Aranessa Saltspite, and his Chaos cult in the Gotrek and Felix story "Slayer of the Storm God", featuring his avatar, the "Harbinger of Stromfels".

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], he is also [[Cylostra Direfin]]'s patron deity, having resurrected her as a vengeful ghost to wreak havoc against the High Elves and Bretonnians who rejected her singing.

====Urlfdaemonkin====
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 6th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

====Zuvassin====
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

And the motherfucker is STILL canon in Age of Sigmar, where a short story features a Chaos Champion named "Zuvass". Hmm.. I wonder who he might be worshipping.

===Warhammer 40,000===

====Baphomael====
A minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of independent Greater Daemon, ruler of the Daemon World of Woe. Has a Christian Devil, "Let's Make a Deal" sort of vibe about him, complete with looking like classical illustrations of Demons and his name being a portmanteau of Baphomet and Samael.

====King in Rags and Tatters====
Quite possibly a Chaos God version of Hastur from the Cthulhu Mythos, may or may not be a guise of Tzeentch. Leader of the "Menagerie" a Chaos Cult that seeks to unravel reality itself.

====Lord of Misrule====
Another minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of being an independent Greater Daemon from Dark Heresy. Also seeks to undo the veil between reality and the Warp.

====Melkirth====
Mentioned in older background material for Warhammer 40,000. Melkirth was a minor chaos god described as "The god of evil, malice, and wanton cruelty and suffering." While Melkirth remains a minor god, it is said that the actions of the mortal races, particularly the Dark Eldar, are causing Melkirth to grow in power until he ultimately becomes the fifth major Chaos God. The daemons of Melkirth are described as being the colour of shadow and able to take on the appearance of any daemon, be it a daemon of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Tzeentch. These shadow daemons could be inspiration for the shadow daemons Morathi encounters in Ulgu in Age of Sigmar, as they are also having to do with Dark Aelfs.

====Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l====
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Age of Sigmar===
====Archaon====
{{main|Archaon}}
Upon completing a new set of challenges by the Chaos Gods in AoS, he was empowered to demigod level and given free reign to do whatever he desired.

====Devourer of Existence====
A primitive aspect of Chaos as an apex predator, that wishes to devour all else and despises any sign of civilization, worshipped by the Untamed Beasts.

====Eightfold Watcher====
Some sort of Spider Godbeast worshipped by the Tarantulos Brood. From Warcry Red Harvest.

====Ever-Raging Flame====
A massive fire of Chaos, said to be the Chaos personification of Aqshy itself, worshipped by the Scions of the Flame in the Realm of Fire.

====The Great Gatherer====
A (presumably) giant crow worshipped by tribesmen from Ulgu in the [[Age of Sigmar]]. Not much is known about him, since [[Warcry|the only game his followers appear in]] isn't out yet, but we do know that the [[Corvus Corax|Corvus]] Cabal (the aforementioned tribesmen) consider [[Archaon]] to be his avatar in the Mortal Realms. Theories range from it being an aspect of [[Tzeentch]] (notable avian features, Tzeentch is known to be interested in the Realm of Shadow, maybe gathering secrets?) or [[Nurgle]] (the Crow was Nurgle's totem animal among the Norscans, maybe gathering bodies?) to being a minor, but ascending, Chaos God not so far removed from the Great Horned Rat's path to the pantheon. He even has the weird connection to both Nurgle and Tzeentch the GHR does. It has been confirmed that the Warbands from Warcry will be usable in the main game, possibly as normal units, and will have the keyword SLAVES TO DARKNESS, which means he'll have some representation in a mainline game. Not too bad for the newest kid on the block.

====Morghur====
{{main|Morghur The Shadowgave}}
Originally one of the most notable Beastmen, he's worshipped as a minor Chaos God of mutation and devolution in Age of Sigmar. Wait what the fuck is this??

====Nagendra====
Originally a Godbeast, was splintered and the remains corrupted into Daemons called Coiling Ones, worshipped by the Splintered Fang.

===Blood Bowl===
====Nuffle====
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

===When Tzeentch was the best===
According to recent Tzeentch Codex/Battletome Tzeentch was at one point the sole major chaos god. A rebellion against him fractured him into many pieces, which because of warp time fuckery, technically counts as a different god. When chaos was first forming (just after War in Heaven for 40k) there were many chaos gods and entities competing (rather than the total domination that exists now). Tzeentch somehow became number one, and was a super god of sorts, although he was possibly less powerful than the current Tzeentch due to the lesser size and influence of chaos. A rebellion by all the other chaos gods fractured him, creating the Tzeentch we know today. In the same way that Slaanesh has always existed in 40k, the new Tzeentch has always existed the way he is. While the old Tzeentch is permanently destroyed (across all time), while still doing the things he did, what really matters is the influence in the material realm: Tzeentch's new self and Slaanesh started doing that when they were created relative to the materium, while the Warp is such a mess that a contradiction like old Tzeentch being completely destroyed while still having done the things he did is basically nothing. They are implied to be two seperate entites.

This is a variant of the backstory of The Blue Scribes.

{{ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Chaos Gods

2022-01-23T20:33:24Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* Lord of Misrule */

{{heresy}}
{{Topquote|The creatures of the Warp are just "aliens" too, but they are not life forms as we understand the term. They are not organic. They are extra-dimensional, and they influence our reality in ways that seem sorcerous to us. Supernatural, if you will. So let's use all those lost words for them... daemons, spirits, possessors, changelings. All we need to remember is that there are no gods out there, in the darkness, no great daemons and ministers of evil. There is no fundamental, immutable evil in the cosmos. It is too large and sterile for such melodrama. There are simply inhuman things that oppose us, things we were created to battle and destroy.
|Horus Lupercal}}

The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of ending a life will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

==Overview==
According to the wikifans over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikijerks are talking complete [[Bullshit|unadulterated bullshit]] (or are making the common and infuriating mistake of conflating "universe" with "galaxy"). In actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods [likely just analogous versions of the four ([[Malal|point five]]) we have, although it's also possible that the different emotions might be allocated differently for each galactic pantheon; Andromeda might have gods based on the seven deadly sins, for example] that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe each warp god is a reflection of the galaxy that birthed it, and the aliens that live in other galaxies there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. Maybe the Warp gods in most galaxies actually maintain contact with those in neighbouring ones, and everyone just stays the fuck out of the Milky Way for the same reason most 21st century tourists stay out of Somalia. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents. This fallacy is explained further in detail just right below.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just baseless speculation that contradicts the nature of the Warp's existence, specifically that the Warp is influenced by life, not created by life, and existed before even the first lifeforms did. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy. Or it could be things like the Void Dragon possibly eating a million galaxies before returning to ours where he then met the Emperor, the Tyranids consuming a thousand galaxies, and generally such things indiciate that outside of the Milky Way is worse than in the Milky Way.

But then again, It is officially stated that Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy are completely different franchises which just so happen to have the same Warp with the same Chaos Gods.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

===On the Question of Omnipotence===

One of the most [[Skub|talked about and hotly debated topics]], especially amongst Chaos players is the question of Omnipotence. [[Matt Ward|Other than massive fanwanking and colossal jerk-offs,]] it must be stated and stressed that the Chaos Gods for all their strength are not omnipotent, for to be omnipotent means to be all-powerful and the idea of the Great Game greatly debunks this claim. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that folks like to give examples of the power of the Chaos Gods from codexes from the Rogue Trader era and Second Edition, eras which are of ''dubious'' canonicity. You see, what they don't seem to understand is that GW, especially ''early'' GW, had a habit of making use of flowery language and hyperbole to exaggerate the grandeur of something or someone. This by itself is not a problem, as 40k runs on exaggeration. The problem is that [[Powergamer|''some folks'']] seems to lack any ability to discern nuances or critical thinking skills and proceed to extrapolate these hyperboles as true, completely ignoring the fact that the majority of these flowery examples came from either a) the viewpoint of a Chaos Cultist b) in-universe propaganda and/or c) extremely old sources where [[Ian Watson|all sorts of wacky hijinks were birthed.]] As such, the credibility is highly suspect and should be taken with a mountain of salt.

So when sources 'claim' that the Chaos Gods could destroy 'universes' or Greater Daemons were [[Exterminatus|destroying entire planets wholesale]] within the [[Warp]], the validity should be scrutinized in the same way fa/tg/uys scrutinize [[Furries]]. What the Chaos Gods or their followers claim to be true (remember that they are notorious [[Bullshit|liars]]) does not match up with their actual abilities both in Warpspace and in Realspace. If they were truly multiversal as they claim, then, first of all, the [[Hive Mind|Shadow of the Warp]] should not be an existential threat to them. After all, a true universal - let alone multiversal - entity should not even notice a few intergalactic bugs on the windshield. Moreover, the Necron Pylons should also not be considered a threat to the big four, for if they possess such levels of reality-warping power, they should not be dependent in letting their [[Failbaddon|errand boy]] do all their dirty work for them in realspace. Even in the Warp, their so-called 'omnipotence' did not stop a certain [[Kaldor Draigo|Mary Sue]] from trashing their backyard from time to time.

The reality is the Chaos Gods, as far as deities go in Science Fiction, are pretty weak sauce. For example:
*They are utterly dependent on the emotions of a single galaxy (if they really did not care about emotions as some may claim, then they shouldn't be ''that'' invested in the Imperium now would they?).
*Certain [[Tyranids|critters with enough mindless psychic connections can close entire Warp-rifts and there is nothing the Chaos Gods can do about it;.]]
*Tzeentch's self-proclaimed omniscience is put into doubt seeing as how he and his [[Kairos Fateweaver|underlings]] failed to predict the rise of [[Roboute Guilliman|Robo Guillitan]] [[Gathering Storm|and the following]] [[Indomitus Crusade|mechinations of it]].
*Their self-proclaimed reality-warping powers are self-contained in the Warp, and even then it is restricted to their own realms. Much like how a child could create and manipulate anything in a sandpit does not automatically equate to the child turning sand into gold, the same analogy applies here - seriously it is telling that the Gods of Chaos couldn't do jackshit about the Necron Pylons for ''60 million years'' since the War in Heaven.
*Their dreaded Chaos corruption such as Scrapcode could literally be stopped by an AdMech Priest cutting off the connections fast enough during the Fall of Mars, knowing how abysmal 40k's A.I. are, that shit ain't touching the likes of a [[The Culture|Culture Mind,]] [[Halo|a Contendor-class A.I.,]] and the [[Xeelee Sequence|Anti-Xeelee]]. To state otherwise would be a No Limit Fallacy and a False Equivalency since the idea of scrapcode would be overpowered against the likes of the Necrons, Tau and the AdMech, yet this shit has seldomly been used which suggests limitations on the behalf of Chaos.

In retrospect, the contradictions of what the Chaos Gods/followers ''claim'' and what they are actually shown to do is no different than the problems the [[Hive Mind]] has found itself in as [[Tyranid#'Masters of Evolution'?|can be read here.]] They are all bound by GeeDubs' status quo and the balance of power, as such their powers are restricted insofar in one galaxy to preserve the status quo. With the bombshell of '''Godblight''', the argument of omnipotence has finally been shot down after Chaos got hit with a ''massive'' [[nerf]] bat. From the [[Emprah]] suggesting that the Daemon Primarchs can be redeemed, thereby making the threat of Chaos corruption impotent to Big-E literally shoving his Power Sword up [[Nurgle|Nurgle's]] ass and his garden, '''''permanently''''' wounding him grievously, to the outright confirmation that a Chaos God without sufficient faith would degenerate into Warp-soup and become perma-K.O. as faith is what gives Warp entities sentience. Godblight has single-handily trashed any presumption of Chaos omnipotence in but a few chapters, and let's not even get into a single [[Primaris Lieutenant]] kicking one of the strongest Nurglite Greater Daemons in the ass...[[Bullshit|''somehow'']].

So are the Chaos Gods powerful? In the universe of [[Star Wars]], [[Star Trek]] and [[Bioware|Mass Effect]], sure, of course they are. Are they omnipotent multiversal destroyers? Hell the fuck no. If you're honestly thinking that these ''guys'' are in the same ballpark as [[/co/|the Abstract Entities of Marvel and DC]], [[Doctor Who|the Time Lords]] or the motherfucking Downstreamers, then you should probably go see a doctor for a prostate exam; constant wanking is bad for ya health you know.

[[Tl;dr]], 40k is prone to not applying the concept of '''Show Don't Tell''', which is ironic given the reputation of 40k in general, but it happens again and again and again. A good narrative showcases its targets' capabilities and feats, a bad narrative just tells them to the viewers. If the Chaos Gods can actually pop universes like grapes, ''then we better fucking see them popping an actual universe''. No wishy-washy flowery language, no offhand statements in the codex, no shenanigans inside the Warp which is unreliable ''at best''. '''Show Don't Tell'''. It isn't just the Chaos Gods that are guilty of this mind you, the [[Men of Iron]] and even the [[War in Heaven]] [[Necron]]s are guilty of this as well. Sun-snuffing machines the size of Saturn's rings and Breath of the Gods asshattery means jack shit if we don't actually see them in action. '''Show Don't Tell'''.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone. Really just a grouchy puppy.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!! <strike> I thought he was female? </strike> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!* *BLAM!* THAT'S DOUBLE HERESY!!'''}}
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/them to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
* Adjective - Khornate

<center><gallery>
File:WE Heretic Astartes 2.png|A Khornate Berzerker Heretic Astartes of the [[World Eaters]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice (for debatably self-aware boogers).]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are [[Neckbeard|obviously related]]). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> <s>all the time</S> most of the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life such as with pathogens and tumors.
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat, old one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth Lords]] of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
* Adjective - Nurglite
* Please note that the above lore mixes both Warhammer fantasy lore and Warhammer 40k lore which, although the character is virtually indistinguishable, are not the same thing. [[Skub|Maybe]].

<center><gallery>
File:Plague Marine 8th Ed.png|A [[Plague Marine]] of the [[Death Guard]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume he/she/they manifested normally like the other Gods), the an inherently psychic race called the [[Eldar]] created him/her/them by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, [[Doomrider|DRUGS]], empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. His/her/their friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her/them back. Tries to tempt Khorne into raping him/her/them. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But he/she/they won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), [[Violators]] (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him/her/them, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - <s>sex</s> 6. Probably 69 and 420 as well, due to what they’re associated with.
* Adjective - Slaaneshi

<center><gallery>
File:Mandraykh Blyss EC.png|A Slaaneshi-Heretic Astartes of the [[Emperor's Children]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, anarchy, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male or genderless.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change. Khorne as well, as the jock bullies him for his nerdiness.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, he/she/they're nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]], and basically no other Space Marine groups; only [[The Scourged]] are canonical non-TS-descendants who are dedicated to Tzeentch. Tzeentch also apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]] who are more like the Thousand Sons auxilia than anything else). In-universe this is most likely because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are more attractive options than being a scheming nerd. Or else Tzeentch's non-marine cultists are rarely warriors or soldiers, more often power-hungry bureaucrats, nobles, Imperial Governors, and even Inquisitors. Out of universe it's hard to make Tzeentch-focused units other than TS when their signature units are sorcerers, who only come in small quantities on the tabletop, and the Sons-specific Rubric Marines. He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
* Adjective - Tzeentchian

<center><gallery>
File:TS Sorc Divination.png|A Tzeentchian Chaos Sorcerer of the [[Thousand Sons]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below. He's sort of the borderline between major and minor chaos gods.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which means his power is parasitic: any time the four other major Milky Way Warp gods do their thing, which is to say strive to gain power at the expense of the materium and eachother, Malal grows in power as well. Because of his nature as a common enemy to the big four and thus a Warp Entity that fights the Warp, he is also sometimes a god of atheism, contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he might be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - Maleal
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from [[Moorcock]], that Chaos eventually destroys itself), although the forces of [[Chaos Undivided]] might logically be prioritized over other folk.
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]]. A story where he temporarily joins forces with someone like Emps or the [[C'tan]] might also work.
* Love Interest(s) - As per his nature as an edgelord, he has a tsundere love-hate relationship with chaos itself.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
* Adjective - Malalic

<center><gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery></center>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. He also infringes copyright on both Nurgle's and Tzeentch's portfolios, but it's mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], because the Great Horned Rat thinks his fuckups are hilarious.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear(ed) in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.
Until the Horned Rat replaced Slaanesh as the Fourth Chaos god in End Times. This change did not affect 40k.

===Warhammer Fantasy===

====Be'lakor====
{{main|Be'lakor}}
The first [[Daemon Prince]] and ostensibly the only Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], Be'lakor commands a great amount of power over the Realms. While still under the thumb of his four parents, he has been able to control a sizeable army of followers and has claimed to have even influenced [[Archaon]].

====Hashut====
{{main|Hashut}}
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

====Khakkek====
From old-school Warhammer, was the god of the Chaos Goblins. Was only mentioned once or twice, but was described as a red skinned, 8 limbed spidery-goblin who was a god of bloodletting but unlike Khorne, allowed for magic. Described as seen as halfway between Khorne and Khaine.

Great Demon : The Great Demons of Khakkek feature an almost Goblinoid physiognomy, so they can be easily mistaken, from afar or in poor light, for an Orc (albeit very large). On closer inspection, however, we discover glowing red eyes, Chaos armor, and an impressive number of sharp teeth and claws (including a nice pair of fangs). His face can mirror Khakkekk's, and he wields a fiery giant sword with immense skill. Its characteristics are the same as those of a standard Minor Demon.
Little Demon : Just as the Big Demon looks like an Orc, Orc, the Little Demon looks like some kind of Goblin. He too, from afar or in poor light, can easily be mistaken for a Goblin (albeit tall), with red eyes. His face and impressive array of dangerous teeth and talons (no fangs) are also reminiscent of Khakkekk. Its characteristics are similar to those of a Minor Demon.
Demonic Creature: These creatures, sociable in the manner of the Nurglings, appear as Brats with glowing red eyes (this is the common characteristic of the demons of Khakkekk, with sharp teeth and talons) and sport 1d4 Chaos mutations. Like other demons, each has a face that strangely recalls its master. The profile of a Demonic Creature is the same as a standard Servant Demon, or, alternatively, that of a Nurgling (if you have Realm of Chaos: the Lost and the Damned).
Demonic Mount : Khakkekk's Demonic Mount appears virtually identical, at least physically, to a Large Wolf, and it may actually be. Whether or not this is the case, it is virtually identical. You can therefore use the description of the Big Wolf from the bestiary of WFRP1 or that of present in this project.

====Kweethul====
Kweethul Gristlegut was a Skaven who managed to become an extremely minor Chaos God in the older Warhammer editions. He Was later mentioned as being a HERETIC against the Horned Rat in a later Skaven army book. The Horned Rat will suffer no challenger to its dominion over Skaven-kind! Could vlcreate his own Daemons, too.

Deamons of Kweethul

The Six Eyed Slayer: Greater Daemon. He stands about 10ft in height with a pair of three eyed goats heads. It carries a Chaos Weapon with the power of mutation. [1b]
Floating Horror: Lesser Daemon. Appearing much as a Harpy but with the clawed feet of a Bear.[1b]
Fire Runner: Daemonic Steed. A partially feathered beast with burning clawed feet. [1b]
The Thing: Deamonic Beast. [1b]

====Necoho====
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult and an antitheist tract called "The Revelations of Necoho, or the Light of Doubt".

In the popular series [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]], [[Magnus the Red]] made the point that the Emperor was, perhaps unknowingly, feeding a Chaos god of unbelief by promoting his Imperial Truth.

====Stromfels====
Whilst often speculated to be Manann's edgy dark half, Stromfels' mutant cults and rumored links to Khorne in earlier editions point towards his status as a minor Chaos god. Further proof of this is his patronage of sea mutant pirate Aranessa Saltspite, and his Chaos cult in the Gotrek and Felix story "Slayer of the Storm God", featuring his avatar, the "Harbinger of Stromfels".

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], he is also [[Cylostra Direfin]]'s patron deity, having resurrected her as a vengeful ghost to wreak havoc against the High Elves and Bretonnians who rejected her singing.

====Urlfdaemonkin====
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 6th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

====Zuvassin====
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

And the motherfucker is STILL canon in Age of Sigmar, where a short story features a Chaos Champion named "Zuvass". Hmm.. I wonder who he might be worshipping.

===Warhammer 40,000===

====Baphomael====
A minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of independent Greater Daemon, ruler of the Daemon World of Woe. Has a Christian Devil, "Let's Make a Deal" sort of vibe about him, complete with looking like classical illustrations of Demons and his name being a portmanteau of Baphomet and Samael.

====King in Rags and Tatters====
Quite possibly a Chaos God version of Hastur from the Cthulhu Mythos, may or may not be a guise of Tzeentch. Leader of the "Menagerie" a Chaos Cult that seeks to unravel reality itself.

====Lord of Misrule====
Another minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of being an independent Greater Daemon from Dark Heresy. Also seeks to undo the veil between reality and the Warp. Possibly another name for the King in Rags and Tatters?

====Melkirth====
Mentioned in older background material for Warhammer 40,000. Melkirth was a minor chaos god described as "The god of evil, malice, and wanton cruelty and suffering." While Melkirth remains a minor god, it is said that the actions of the mortal races, particularly the Dark Eldar, are causing Melkirth to grow in power until he ultimately becomes the fifth major Chaos God. The daemons of Melkirth are described as being the colour of shadow and able to take on the appearance of any daemon, be it a daemon of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Tzeentch. These shadow daemons could be inspiration for the shadow daemons Morathi encounters in Ulgu in Age of Sigmar, as they are also having to do with Dark Aelfs.

====Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l====
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Age of Sigmar===
====Archaon====
{{main|Archaon}}
Upon completing a new set of challenges by the Chaos Gods in AoS, he was empowered to demigod level and given free reign to do whatever he desired.

====Devourer of Existence====
A primitive aspect of Chaos as an apex predator, that wishes to devour all else and despises any sign of civilization, worshipped by the Untamed Beasts.

====Eightfold Watcher====
Some sort of Spider Godbeast worshipped by the Tarantulos Brood. From Warcry Red Harvest.

====Ever-Raging Flame====
A massive fire of Chaos, said to be the Chaos personification of Aqshy itself, worshipped by the Scions of the Flame in the Realm of Fire.

====The Great Gatherer====
A (presumably) giant crow worshipped by tribesmen from Ulgu in the [[Age of Sigmar]]. Not much is known about him, since [[Warcry|the only game his followers appear in]] isn't out yet, but we do know that the [[Corvus Corax|Corvus]] Cabal (the aforementioned tribesmen) consider [[Archaon]] to be his avatar in the Mortal Realms. Theories range from it being an aspect of [[Tzeentch]] (notable avian features, Tzeentch is known to be interested in the Realm of Shadow, maybe gathering secrets?) or [[Nurgle]] (the Crow was Nurgle's totem animal among the Norscans, maybe gathering bodies?) to being a minor, but ascending, Chaos God not so far removed from the Great Horned Rat's path to the pantheon. He even has the weird connection to both Nurgle and Tzeentch the GHR does. It has been confirmed that the Warbands from Warcry will be usable in the main game, possibly as normal units, and will have the keyword SLAVES TO DARKNESS, which means he'll have some representation in a mainline game. Not too bad for the newest kid on the block.

====Morghur====
{{main|Morghur The Shadowgave}}
Originally one of the most notable Beastmen, he's worshipped as a minor Chaos God of mutation and devolution in Age of Sigmar. Wait what the fuck is this??

====Nagendra====
Originally a Godbeast, was splintered and the remains corrupted into Daemons called Coiling Ones, worshipped by the Splintered Fang.

===Blood Bowl===
====Nuffle====
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

===When Tzeentch was the best===
According to recent Tzeentch Codex/Battletome Tzeentch was at one point the sole major chaos god. A rebellion against him fractured him into many pieces, which because of warp time fuckery, technically counts as a different god. When chaos was first forming (just after War in Heaven for 40k) there were many chaos gods and entities competing (rather than the total domination that exists now). Tzeentch somehow became number one, and was a super god of sorts, although he was possibly less powerful than the current Tzeentch due to the lesser size and influence of chaos. A rebellion by all the other chaos gods fractured him, creating the Tzeentch we know today. In the same way that Slaanesh has always existed in 40k, the new Tzeentch has always existed the way he is. While the old Tzeentch is permanently destroyed (across all time), while still doing the things he did, what really matters is the influence in the material realm: Tzeentch's new self and Slaanesh started doing that when they were created relative to the materium, while the Warp is such a mess that a contradiction like old Tzeentch being completely destroyed while still having done the things he did is basically nothing. They are implied to be two seperate entites.

This is a variant of the backstory of The Blue Scribes.

{{ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Chaos Gods

2022-01-23T20:33:02Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* Lord of Misrule */

{{heresy}}
{{Topquote|The creatures of the Warp are just "aliens" too, but they are not life forms as we understand the term. They are not organic. They are extra-dimensional, and they influence our reality in ways that seem sorcerous to us. Supernatural, if you will. So let's use all those lost words for them... daemons, spirits, possessors, changelings. All we need to remember is that there are no gods out there, in the darkness, no great daemons and ministers of evil. There is no fundamental, immutable evil in the cosmos. It is too large and sterile for such melodrama. There are simply inhuman things that oppose us, things we were created to battle and destroy.
|Horus Lupercal}}

The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of ending a life will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

==Overview==
According to the wikifans over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikijerks are talking complete [[Bullshit|unadulterated bullshit]] (or are making the common and infuriating mistake of conflating "universe" with "galaxy"). In actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods [likely just analogous versions of the four ([[Malal|point five]]) we have, although it's also possible that the different emotions might be allocated differently for each galactic pantheon; Andromeda might have gods based on the seven deadly sins, for example] that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe each warp god is a reflection of the galaxy that birthed it, and the aliens that live in other galaxies there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. Maybe the Warp gods in most galaxies actually maintain contact with those in neighbouring ones, and everyone just stays the fuck out of the Milky Way for the same reason most 21st century tourists stay out of Somalia. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents. This fallacy is explained further in detail just right below.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just baseless speculation that contradicts the nature of the Warp's existence, specifically that the Warp is influenced by life, not created by life, and existed before even the first lifeforms did. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy. Or it could be things like the Void Dragon possibly eating a million galaxies before returning to ours where he then met the Emperor, the Tyranids consuming a thousand galaxies, and generally such things indiciate that outside of the Milky Way is worse than in the Milky Way.

But then again, It is officially stated that Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy are completely different franchises which just so happen to have the same Warp with the same Chaos Gods.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

===On the Question of Omnipotence===

One of the most [[Skub|talked about and hotly debated topics]], especially amongst Chaos players is the question of Omnipotence. [[Matt Ward|Other than massive fanwanking and colossal jerk-offs,]] it must be stated and stressed that the Chaos Gods for all their strength are not omnipotent, for to be omnipotent means to be all-powerful and the idea of the Great Game greatly debunks this claim. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that folks like to give examples of the power of the Chaos Gods from codexes from the Rogue Trader era and Second Edition, eras which are of ''dubious'' canonicity. You see, what they don't seem to understand is that GW, especially ''early'' GW, had a habit of making use of flowery language and hyperbole to exaggerate the grandeur of something or someone. This by itself is not a problem, as 40k runs on exaggeration. The problem is that [[Powergamer|''some folks'']] seems to lack any ability to discern nuances or critical thinking skills and proceed to extrapolate these hyperboles as true, completely ignoring the fact that the majority of these flowery examples came from either a) the viewpoint of a Chaos Cultist b) in-universe propaganda and/or c) extremely old sources where [[Ian Watson|all sorts of wacky hijinks were birthed.]] As such, the credibility is highly suspect and should be taken with a mountain of salt.

So when sources 'claim' that the Chaos Gods could destroy 'universes' or Greater Daemons were [[Exterminatus|destroying entire planets wholesale]] within the [[Warp]], the validity should be scrutinized in the same way fa/tg/uys scrutinize [[Furries]]. What the Chaos Gods or their followers claim to be true (remember that they are notorious [[Bullshit|liars]]) does not match up with their actual abilities both in Warpspace and in Realspace. If they were truly multiversal as they claim, then, first of all, the [[Hive Mind|Shadow of the Warp]] should not be an existential threat to them. After all, a true universal - let alone multiversal - entity should not even notice a few intergalactic bugs on the windshield. Moreover, the Necron Pylons should also not be considered a threat to the big four, for if they possess such levels of reality-warping power, they should not be dependent in letting their [[Failbaddon|errand boy]] do all their dirty work for them in realspace. Even in the Warp, their so-called 'omnipotence' did not stop a certain [[Kaldor Draigo|Mary Sue]] from trashing their backyard from time to time.

The reality is the Chaos Gods, as far as deities go in Science Fiction, are pretty weak sauce. For example:
*They are utterly dependent on the emotions of a single galaxy (if they really did not care about emotions as some may claim, then they shouldn't be ''that'' invested in the Imperium now would they?).
*Certain [[Tyranids|critters with enough mindless psychic connections can close entire Warp-rifts and there is nothing the Chaos Gods can do about it;.]]
*Tzeentch's self-proclaimed omniscience is put into doubt seeing as how he and his [[Kairos Fateweaver|underlings]] failed to predict the rise of [[Roboute Guilliman|Robo Guillitan]] [[Gathering Storm|and the following]] [[Indomitus Crusade|mechinations of it]].
*Their self-proclaimed reality-warping powers are self-contained in the Warp, and even then it is restricted to their own realms. Much like how a child could create and manipulate anything in a sandpit does not automatically equate to the child turning sand into gold, the same analogy applies here - seriously it is telling that the Gods of Chaos couldn't do jackshit about the Necron Pylons for ''60 million years'' since the War in Heaven.
*Their dreaded Chaos corruption such as Scrapcode could literally be stopped by an AdMech Priest cutting off the connections fast enough during the Fall of Mars, knowing how abysmal 40k's A.I. are, that shit ain't touching the likes of a [[The Culture|Culture Mind,]] [[Halo|a Contendor-class A.I.,]] and the [[Xeelee Sequence|Anti-Xeelee]]. To state otherwise would be a No Limit Fallacy and a False Equivalency since the idea of scrapcode would be overpowered against the likes of the Necrons, Tau and the AdMech, yet this shit has seldomly been used which suggests limitations on the behalf of Chaos.

In retrospect, the contradictions of what the Chaos Gods/followers ''claim'' and what they are actually shown to do is no different than the problems the [[Hive Mind]] has found itself in as [[Tyranid#'Masters of Evolution'?|can be read here.]] They are all bound by GeeDubs' status quo and the balance of power, as such their powers are restricted insofar in one galaxy to preserve the status quo. With the bombshell of '''Godblight''', the argument of omnipotence has finally been shot down after Chaos got hit with a ''massive'' [[nerf]] bat. From the [[Emprah]] suggesting that the Daemon Primarchs can be redeemed, thereby making the threat of Chaos corruption impotent to Big-E literally shoving his Power Sword up [[Nurgle|Nurgle's]] ass and his garden, '''''permanently''''' wounding him grievously, to the outright confirmation that a Chaos God without sufficient faith would degenerate into Warp-soup and become perma-K.O. as faith is what gives Warp entities sentience. Godblight has single-handily trashed any presumption of Chaos omnipotence in but a few chapters, and let's not even get into a single [[Primaris Lieutenant]] kicking one of the strongest Nurglite Greater Daemons in the ass...[[Bullshit|''somehow'']].

So are the Chaos Gods powerful? In the universe of [[Star Wars]], [[Star Trek]] and [[Bioware|Mass Effect]], sure, of course they are. Are they omnipotent multiversal destroyers? Hell the fuck no. If you're honestly thinking that these ''guys'' are in the same ballpark as [[/co/|the Abstract Entities of Marvel and DC]], [[Doctor Who|the Time Lords]] or the motherfucking Downstreamers, then you should probably go see a doctor for a prostate exam; constant wanking is bad for ya health you know.

[[Tl;dr]], 40k is prone to not applying the concept of '''Show Don't Tell''', which is ironic given the reputation of 40k in general, but it happens again and again and again. A good narrative showcases its targets' capabilities and feats, a bad narrative just tells them to the viewers. If the Chaos Gods can actually pop universes like grapes, ''then we better fucking see them popping an actual universe''. No wishy-washy flowery language, no offhand statements in the codex, no shenanigans inside the Warp which is unreliable ''at best''. '''Show Don't Tell'''. It isn't just the Chaos Gods that are guilty of this mind you, the [[Men of Iron]] and even the [[War in Heaven]] [[Necron]]s are guilty of this as well. Sun-snuffing machines the size of Saturn's rings and Breath of the Gods asshattery means jack shit if we don't actually see them in action. '''Show Don't Tell'''.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone. Really just a grouchy puppy.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!! <strike> I thought he was female? </strike> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!* *BLAM!* THAT'S DOUBLE HERESY!!'''}}
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/them to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
* Adjective - Khornate

<center><gallery>
File:WE Heretic Astartes 2.png|A Khornate Berzerker Heretic Astartes of the [[World Eaters]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice (for debatably self-aware boogers).]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are [[Neckbeard|obviously related]]). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> <s>all the time</S> most of the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life such as with pathogens and tumors.
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat, old one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth Lords]] of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
* Adjective - Nurglite
* Please note that the above lore mixes both Warhammer fantasy lore and Warhammer 40k lore which, although the character is virtually indistinguishable, are not the same thing. [[Skub|Maybe]].

<center><gallery>
File:Plague Marine 8th Ed.png|A [[Plague Marine]] of the [[Death Guard]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume he/she/they manifested normally like the other Gods), the an inherently psychic race called the [[Eldar]] created him/her/them by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, [[Doomrider|DRUGS]], empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. His/her/their friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her/them back. Tries to tempt Khorne into raping him/her/them. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But he/she/they won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), [[Violators]] (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him/her/them, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - <s>sex</s> 6. Probably 69 and 420 as well, due to what they’re associated with.
* Adjective - Slaaneshi

<center><gallery>
File:Mandraykh Blyss EC.png|A Slaaneshi-Heretic Astartes of the [[Emperor's Children]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, anarchy, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male or genderless.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change. Khorne as well, as the jock bullies him for his nerdiness.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, he/she/they're nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]], and basically no other Space Marine groups; only [[The Scourged]] are canonical non-TS-descendants who are dedicated to Tzeentch. Tzeentch also apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]] who are more like the Thousand Sons auxilia than anything else). In-universe this is most likely because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are more attractive options than being a scheming nerd. Or else Tzeentch's non-marine cultists are rarely warriors or soldiers, more often power-hungry bureaucrats, nobles, Imperial Governors, and even Inquisitors. Out of universe it's hard to make Tzeentch-focused units other than TS when their signature units are sorcerers, who only come in small quantities on the tabletop, and the Sons-specific Rubric Marines. He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
* Adjective - Tzeentchian

<center><gallery>
File:TS Sorc Divination.png|A Tzeentchian Chaos Sorcerer of the [[Thousand Sons]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below. He's sort of the borderline between major and minor chaos gods.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which means his power is parasitic: any time the four other major Milky Way Warp gods do their thing, which is to say strive to gain power at the expense of the materium and eachother, Malal grows in power as well. Because of his nature as a common enemy to the big four and thus a Warp Entity that fights the Warp, he is also sometimes a god of atheism, contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he might be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - Maleal
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from [[Moorcock]], that Chaos eventually destroys itself), although the forces of [[Chaos Undivided]] might logically be prioritized over other folk.
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]]. A story where he temporarily joins forces with someone like Emps or the [[C'tan]] might also work.
* Love Interest(s) - As per his nature as an edgelord, he has a tsundere love-hate relationship with chaos itself.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
* Adjective - Malalic

<center><gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery></center>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. He also infringes copyright on both Nurgle's and Tzeentch's portfolios, but it's mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], because the Great Horned Rat thinks his fuckups are hilarious.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear(ed) in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.
Until the Horned Rat replaced Slaanesh as the Fourth Chaos god in End Times. This change did not affect 40k.

===Warhammer Fantasy===

====Be'lakor====
{{main|Be'lakor}}
The first [[Daemon Prince]] and ostensibly the only Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], Be'lakor commands a great amount of power over the Realms. While still under the thumb of his four parents, he has been able to control a sizeable army of followers and has claimed to have even influenced [[Archaon]].

====Hashut====
{{main|Hashut}}
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

====Khakkek====
From old-school Warhammer, was the god of the Chaos Goblins. Was only mentioned once or twice, but was described as a red skinned, 8 limbed spidery-goblin who was a god of bloodletting but unlike Khorne, allowed for magic. Described as seen as halfway between Khorne and Khaine.

Great Demon : The Great Demons of Khakkek feature an almost Goblinoid physiognomy, so they can be easily mistaken, from afar or in poor light, for an Orc (albeit very large). On closer inspection, however, we discover glowing red eyes, Chaos armor, and an impressive number of sharp teeth and claws (including a nice pair of fangs). His face can mirror Khakkekk's, and he wields a fiery giant sword with immense skill. Its characteristics are the same as those of a standard Minor Demon.
Little Demon : Just as the Big Demon looks like an Orc, Orc, the Little Demon looks like some kind of Goblin. He too, from afar or in poor light, can easily be mistaken for a Goblin (albeit tall), with red eyes. His face and impressive array of dangerous teeth and talons (no fangs) are also reminiscent of Khakkekk. Its characteristics are similar to those of a Minor Demon.
Demonic Creature: These creatures, sociable in the manner of the Nurglings, appear as Brats with glowing red eyes (this is the common characteristic of the demons of Khakkekk, with sharp teeth and talons) and sport 1d4 Chaos mutations. Like other demons, each has a face that strangely recalls its master. The profile of a Demonic Creature is the same as a standard Servant Demon, or, alternatively, that of a Nurgling (if you have Realm of Chaos: the Lost and the Damned).
Demonic Mount : Khakkekk's Demonic Mount appears virtually identical, at least physically, to a Large Wolf, and it may actually be. Whether or not this is the case, it is virtually identical. You can therefore use the description of the Big Wolf from the bestiary of WFRP1 or that of present in this project.

====Kweethul====
Kweethul Gristlegut was a Skaven who managed to become an extremely minor Chaos God in the older Warhammer editions. He Was later mentioned as being a HERETIC against the Horned Rat in a later Skaven army book. The Horned Rat will suffer no challenger to its dominion over Skaven-kind! Could vlcreate his own Daemons, too.

Deamons of Kweethul

The Six Eyed Slayer: Greater Daemon. He stands about 10ft in height with a pair of three eyed goats heads. It carries a Chaos Weapon with the power of mutation. [1b]
Floating Horror: Lesser Daemon. Appearing much as a Harpy but with the clawed feet of a Bear.[1b]
Fire Runner: Daemonic Steed. A partially feathered beast with burning clawed feet. [1b]
The Thing: Deamonic Beast. [1b]

====Necoho====
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult and an antitheist tract called "The Revelations of Necoho, or the Light of Doubt".

In the popular series [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]], [[Magnus the Red]] made the point that the Emperor was, perhaps unknowingly, feeding a Chaos god of unbelief by promoting his Imperial Truth.

====Stromfels====
Whilst often speculated to be Manann's edgy dark half, Stromfels' mutant cults and rumored links to Khorne in earlier editions point towards his status as a minor Chaos god. Further proof of this is his patronage of sea mutant pirate Aranessa Saltspite, and his Chaos cult in the Gotrek and Felix story "Slayer of the Storm God", featuring his avatar, the "Harbinger of Stromfels".

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], he is also [[Cylostra Direfin]]'s patron deity, having resurrected her as a vengeful ghost to wreak havoc against the High Elves and Bretonnians who rejected her singing.

====Urlfdaemonkin====
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 6th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

====Zuvassin====
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

And the motherfucker is STILL canon in Age of Sigmar, where a short story features a Chaos Champion named "Zuvass". Hmm.. I wonder who he might be worshipping.

===Warhammer 40,000===

====Baphomael====
A minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of independent Greater Daemon, ruler of the Daemon World of Woe. Has a Christian Devil, "Let's Make a Deal" sort of vibe about him, complete with looking like classical illustrations of Demons and his name being a portmanteau of Baphomet and Samael.

====King in Rags and Tatters====
Quite possibly a Chaos God version of Hastur from the Cthulhu Mythos, may or may not be a guise of Tzeentch. Leader of the "Menagerie" a Chaos Cult that seeks to unravel reality itself.

====Lord of Misrule====
Another minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of being an independent Greater Daemon from Dark Heresy. Also seeks to undo the ve8l between reality and the Warp. Possibly another name for the King in Rags and Tatters?

====Melkirth====
Mentioned in older background material for Warhammer 40,000. Melkirth was a minor chaos god described as "The god of evil, malice, and wanton cruelty and suffering." While Melkirth remains a minor god, it is said that the actions of the mortal races, particularly the Dark Eldar, are causing Melkirth to grow in power until he ultimately becomes the fifth major Chaos God. The daemons of Melkirth are described as being the colour of shadow and able to take on the appearance of any daemon, be it a daemon of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Tzeentch. These shadow daemons could be inspiration for the shadow daemons Morathi encounters in Ulgu in Age of Sigmar, as they are also having to do with Dark Aelfs.

====Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l====
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Age of Sigmar===
====Archaon====
{{main|Archaon}}
Upon completing a new set of challenges by the Chaos Gods in AoS, he was empowered to demigod level and given free reign to do whatever he desired.

====Devourer of Existence====
A primitive aspect of Chaos as an apex predator, that wishes to devour all else and despises any sign of civilization, worshipped by the Untamed Beasts.

====Eightfold Watcher====
Some sort of Spider Godbeast worshipped by the Tarantulos Brood. From Warcry Red Harvest.

====Ever-Raging Flame====
A massive fire of Chaos, said to be the Chaos personification of Aqshy itself, worshipped by the Scions of the Flame in the Realm of Fire.

====The Great Gatherer====
A (presumably) giant crow worshipped by tribesmen from Ulgu in the [[Age of Sigmar]]. Not much is known about him, since [[Warcry|the only game his followers appear in]] isn't out yet, but we do know that the [[Corvus Corax|Corvus]] Cabal (the aforementioned tribesmen) consider [[Archaon]] to be his avatar in the Mortal Realms. Theories range from it being an aspect of [[Tzeentch]] (notable avian features, Tzeentch is known to be interested in the Realm of Shadow, maybe gathering secrets?) or [[Nurgle]] (the Crow was Nurgle's totem animal among the Norscans, maybe gathering bodies?) to being a minor, but ascending, Chaos God not so far removed from the Great Horned Rat's path to the pantheon. He even has the weird connection to both Nurgle and Tzeentch the GHR does. It has been confirmed that the Warbands from Warcry will be usable in the main game, possibly as normal units, and will have the keyword SLAVES TO DARKNESS, which means he'll have some representation in a mainline game. Not too bad for the newest kid on the block.

====Morghur====
{{main|Morghur The Shadowgave}}
Originally one of the most notable Beastmen, he's worshipped as a minor Chaos God of mutation and devolution in Age of Sigmar. Wait what the fuck is this??

====Nagendra====
Originally a Godbeast, was splintered and the remains corrupted into Daemons called Coiling Ones, worshipped by the Splintered Fang.

===Blood Bowl===
====Nuffle====
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

===When Tzeentch was the best===
According to recent Tzeentch Codex/Battletome Tzeentch was at one point the sole major chaos god. A rebellion against him fractured him into many pieces, which because of warp time fuckery, technically counts as a different god. When chaos was first forming (just after War in Heaven for 40k) there were many chaos gods and entities competing (rather than the total domination that exists now). Tzeentch somehow became number one, and was a super god of sorts, although he was possibly less powerful than the current Tzeentch due to the lesser size and influence of chaos. A rebellion by all the other chaos gods fractured him, creating the Tzeentch we know today. In the same way that Slaanesh has always existed in 40k, the new Tzeentch has always existed the way he is. While the old Tzeentch is permanently destroyed (across all time), while still doing the things he did, what really matters is the influence in the material realm: Tzeentch's new self and Slaanesh started doing that when they were created relative to the materium, while the Warp is such a mess that a contradiction like old Tzeentch being completely destroyed while still having done the things he did is basically nothing. They are implied to be two seperate entites.

This is a variant of the backstory of The Blue Scribes.

{{ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Chaos Gods

2022-01-23T20:26:54Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:65D0:6F92:5733:2E53: /* Baphomael */

{{heresy}}
{{Topquote|The creatures of the Warp are just "aliens" too, but they are not life forms as we understand the term. They are not organic. They are extra-dimensional, and they influence our reality in ways that seem sorcerous to us. Supernatural, if you will. So let's use all those lost words for them... daemons, spirits, possessors, changelings. All we need to remember is that there are no gods out there, in the darkness, no great daemons and ministers of evil. There is no fundamental, immutable evil in the cosmos. It is too large and sterile for such melodrama. There are simply inhuman things that oppose us, things we were created to battle and destroy.
|Horus Lupercal}}

The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of ending a life will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

==Overview==
According to the wikifans over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikijerks are talking complete [[Bullshit|unadulterated bullshit]] (or are making the common and infuriating mistake of conflating "universe" with "galaxy"). In actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods [likely just analogous versions of the four ([[Malal|point five]]) we have, although it's also possible that the different emotions might be allocated differently for each galactic pantheon; Andromeda might have gods based on the seven deadly sins, for example] that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe each warp god is a reflection of the galaxy that birthed it, and the aliens that live in other galaxies there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. Maybe the Warp gods in most galaxies actually maintain contact with those in neighbouring ones, and everyone just stays the fuck out of the Milky Way for the same reason most 21st century tourists stay out of Somalia. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents. This fallacy is explained further in detail just right below.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just baseless speculation that contradicts the nature of the Warp's existence, specifically that the Warp is influenced by life, not created by life, and existed before even the first lifeforms did. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy. Or it could be things like the Void Dragon possibly eating a million galaxies before returning to ours where he then met the Emperor, the Tyranids consuming a thousand galaxies, and generally such things indiciate that outside of the Milky Way is worse than in the Milky Way.

But then again, It is officially stated that Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy are completely different franchises which just so happen to have the same Warp with the same Chaos Gods.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

===On the Question of Omnipotence===

One of the most [[Skub|talked about and hotly debated topics]], especially amongst Chaos players is the question of Omnipotence. [[Matt Ward|Other than massive fanwanking and colossal jerk-offs,]] it must be stated and stressed that the Chaos Gods for all their strength are not omnipotent, for to be omnipotent means to be all-powerful and the idea of the Great Game greatly debunks this claim. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that folks like to give examples of the power of the Chaos Gods from codexes from the Rogue Trader era and Second Edition, eras which are of ''dubious'' canonicity. You see, what they don't seem to understand is that GW, especially ''early'' GW, had a habit of making use of flowery language and hyperbole to exaggerate the grandeur of something or someone. This by itself is not a problem, as 40k runs on exaggeration. The problem is that [[Powergamer|''some folks'']] seems to lack any ability to discern nuances or critical thinking skills and proceed to extrapolate these hyperboles as true, completely ignoring the fact that the majority of these flowery examples came from either a) the viewpoint of a Chaos Cultist b) in-universe propaganda and/or c) extremely old sources where [[Ian Watson|all sorts of wacky hijinks were birthed.]] As such, the credibility is highly suspect and should be taken with a mountain of salt.

So when sources 'claim' that the Chaos Gods could destroy 'universes' or Greater Daemons were [[Exterminatus|destroying entire planets wholesale]] within the [[Warp]], the validity should be scrutinized in the same way fa/tg/uys scrutinize [[Furries]]. What the Chaos Gods or their followers claim to be true (remember that they are notorious [[Bullshit|liars]]) does not match up with their actual abilities both in Warpspace and in Realspace. If they were truly multiversal as they claim, then, first of all, the [[Hive Mind|Shadow of the Warp]] should not be an existential threat to them. After all, a true universal - let alone multiversal - entity should not even notice a few intergalactic bugs on the windshield. Moreover, the Necron Pylons should also not be considered a threat to the big four, for if they possess such levels of reality-warping power, they should not be dependent in letting their [[Failbaddon|errand boy]] do all their dirty work for them in realspace. Even in the Warp, their so-called 'omnipotence' did not stop a certain [[Kaldor Draigo|Mary Sue]] from trashing their backyard from time to time.

The reality is the Chaos Gods, as far as deities go in Science Fiction, are pretty weak sauce. For example:
*They are utterly dependent on the emotions of a single galaxy (if they really did not care about emotions as some may claim, then they shouldn't be ''that'' invested in the Imperium now would they?).
*Certain [[Tyranids|critters with enough mindless psychic connections can close entire Warp-rifts and there is nothing the Chaos Gods can do about it;.]]
*Tzeentch's self-proclaimed omniscience is put into doubt seeing as how he and his [[Kairos Fateweaver|underlings]] failed to predict the rise of [[Roboute Guilliman|Robo Guillitan]] [[Gathering Storm|and the following]] [[Indomitus Crusade|mechinations of it]].
*Their self-proclaimed reality-warping powers are self-contained in the Warp, and even then it is restricted to their own realms. Much like how a child could create and manipulate anything in a sandpit does not automatically equate to the child turning sand into gold, the same analogy applies here - seriously it is telling that the Gods of Chaos couldn't do jackshit about the Necron Pylons for ''60 million years'' since the War in Heaven.
*Their dreaded Chaos corruption such as Scrapcode could literally be stopped by an AdMech Priest cutting off the connections fast enough during the Fall of Mars, knowing how abysmal 40k's A.I. are, that shit ain't touching the likes of a [[The Culture|Culture Mind,]] [[Halo|a Contendor-class A.I.,]] and the [[Xeelee Sequence|Anti-Xeelee]]. To state otherwise would be a No Limit Fallacy and a False Equivalency since the idea of scrapcode would be overpowered against the likes of the Necrons, Tau and the AdMech, yet this shit has seldomly been used which suggests limitations on the behalf of Chaos.

In retrospect, the contradictions of what the Chaos Gods/followers ''claim'' and what they are actually shown to do is no different than the problems the [[Hive Mind]] has found itself in as [[Tyranid#'Masters of Evolution'?|can be read here.]] They are all bound by GeeDubs' status quo and the balance of power, as such their powers are restricted insofar in one galaxy to preserve the status quo. With the bombshell of '''Godblight''', the argument of omnipotence has finally been shot down after Chaos got hit with a ''massive'' [[nerf]] bat. From the [[Emprah]] suggesting that the Daemon Primarchs can be redeemed, thereby making the threat of Chaos corruption impotent to Big-E literally shoving his Power Sword up [[Nurgle|Nurgle's]] ass and his garden, '''''permanently''''' wounding him grievously, to the outright confirmation that a Chaos God without sufficient faith would degenerate into Warp-soup and become perma-K.O. as faith is what gives Warp entities sentience. Godblight has single-handily trashed any presumption of Chaos omnipotence in but a few chapters, and let's not even get into a single [[Primaris Lieutenant]] kicking one of the strongest Nurglite Greater Daemons in the ass...[[Bullshit|''somehow'']].

So are the Chaos Gods powerful? In the universe of [[Star Wars]], [[Star Trek]] and [[Bioware|Mass Effect]], sure, of course they are. Are they omnipotent multiversal destroyers? Hell the fuck no. If you're honestly thinking that these ''guys'' are in the same ballpark as [[/co/|the Abstract Entities of Marvel and DC]], [[Doctor Who|the Time Lords]] or the motherfucking Downstreamers, then you should probably go see a doctor for a prostate exam; constant wanking is bad for ya health you know.

[[Tl;dr]], 40k is prone to not applying the concept of '''Show Don't Tell''', which is ironic given the reputation of 40k in general, but it happens again and again and again. A good narrative showcases its targets' capabilities and feats, a bad narrative just tells them to the viewers. If the Chaos Gods can actually pop universes like grapes, ''then we better fucking see them popping an actual universe''. No wishy-washy flowery language, no offhand statements in the codex, no shenanigans inside the Warp which is unreliable ''at best''. '''Show Don't Tell'''. It isn't just the Chaos Gods that are guilty of this mind you, the [[Men of Iron]] and even the [[War in Heaven]] [[Necron]]s are guilty of this as well. Sun-snuffing machines the size of Saturn's rings and Breath of the Gods asshattery means jack shit if we don't actually see them in action. '''Show Don't Tell'''.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone. Really just a grouchy puppy.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!! <strike> I thought he was female? </strike> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!* *BLAM!* THAT'S DOUBLE HERESY!!'''}}
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/them to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
* Adjective - Khornate

<center><gallery>
File:WE Heretic Astartes 2.png|A Khornate Berzerker Heretic Astartes of the [[World Eaters]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice (for debatably self-aware boogers).]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are [[Neckbeard|obviously related]]). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> <s>all the time</S> most of the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life such as with pathogens and tumors.
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat, old one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth Lords]] of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
* Adjective - Nurglite
* Please note that the above lore mixes both Warhammer fantasy lore and Warhammer 40k lore which, although the character is virtually indistinguishable, are not the same thing. [[Skub|Maybe]].

<center><gallery>
File:Plague Marine 8th Ed.png|A [[Plague Marine]] of the [[Death Guard]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume he/she/they manifested normally like the other Gods), the an inherently psychic race called the [[Eldar]] created him/her/them by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, [[Doomrider|DRUGS]], empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. His/her/their friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her/them back. Tries to tempt Khorne into raping him/her/them. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But he/she/they won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), [[Violators]] (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him/her/them, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - <s>sex</s> 6. Probably 69 and 420 as well, due to what they’re associated with.
* Adjective - Slaaneshi

<center><gallery>
File:Mandraykh Blyss EC.png|A Slaaneshi-Heretic Astartes of the [[Emperor's Children]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, anarchy, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male or genderless.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change. Khorne as well, as the jock bullies him for his nerdiness.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, he/she/they're nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]], and basically no other Space Marine groups; only [[The Scourged]] are canonical non-TS-descendants who are dedicated to Tzeentch. Tzeentch also apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]] who are more like the Thousand Sons auxilia than anything else). In-universe this is most likely because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are more attractive options than being a scheming nerd. Or else Tzeentch's non-marine cultists are rarely warriors or soldiers, more often power-hungry bureaucrats, nobles, Imperial Governors, and even Inquisitors. Out of universe it's hard to make Tzeentch-focused units other than TS when their signature units are sorcerers, who only come in small quantities on the tabletop, and the Sons-specific Rubric Marines. He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
* Adjective - Tzeentchian

<center><gallery>
File:TS Sorc Divination.png|A Tzeentchian Chaos Sorcerer of the [[Thousand Sons]] Traitor Legion.
</gallery></center>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below. He's sort of the borderline between major and minor chaos gods.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which means his power is parasitic: any time the four other major Milky Way Warp gods do their thing, which is to say strive to gain power at the expense of the materium and eachother, Malal grows in power as well. Because of his nature as a common enemy to the big four and thus a Warp Entity that fights the Warp, he is also sometimes a god of atheism, contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he might be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - Maleal
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from [[Moorcock]], that Chaos eventually destroys itself), although the forces of [[Chaos Undivided]] might logically be prioritized over other folk.
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]]. A story where he temporarily joins forces with someone like Emps or the [[C'tan]] might also work.
* Love Interest(s) - As per his nature as an edgelord, he has a tsundere love-hate relationship with chaos itself.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
* Adjective - Malalic

<center><gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery></center>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. He also infringes copyright on both Nurgle's and Tzeentch's portfolios, but it's mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], because the Great Horned Rat thinks his fuckups are hilarious.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear(ed) in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.
Until the Horned Rat replaced Slaanesh as the Fourth Chaos god in End Times. This change did not affect 40k.

===Warhammer Fantasy===

====Be'lakor====
{{main|Be'lakor}}
The first [[Daemon Prince]] and ostensibly the only Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], Be'lakor commands a great amount of power over the Realms. While still under the thumb of his four parents, he has been able to control a sizeable army of followers and has claimed to have even influenced [[Archaon]].

====Hashut====
{{main|Hashut}}
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

====Khakkek====
From old-school Warhammer, was the god of the Chaos Goblins. Was only mentioned once or twice, but was described as a red skinned, 8 limbed spidery-goblin who was a god of bloodletting but unlike Khorne, allowed for magic. Described as seen as halfway between Khorne and Khaine.

Great Demon : The Great Demons of Khakkek feature an almost Goblinoid physiognomy, so they can be easily mistaken, from afar or in poor light, for an Orc (albeit very large). On closer inspection, however, we discover glowing red eyes, Chaos armor, and an impressive number of sharp teeth and claws (including a nice pair of fangs). His face can mirror Khakkekk's, and he wields a fiery giant sword with immense skill. Its characteristics are the same as those of a standard Minor Demon.
Little Demon : Just as the Big Demon looks like an Orc, Orc, the Little Demon looks like some kind of Goblin. He too, from afar or in poor light, can easily be mistaken for a Goblin (albeit tall), with red eyes. His face and impressive array of dangerous teeth and talons (no fangs) are also reminiscent of Khakkekk. Its characteristics are similar to those of a Minor Demon.
Demonic Creature: These creatures, sociable in the manner of the Nurglings, appear as Brats with glowing red eyes (this is the common characteristic of the demons of Khakkekk, with sharp teeth and talons) and sport 1d4 Chaos mutations. Like other demons, each has a face that strangely recalls its master. The profile of a Demonic Creature is the same as a standard Servant Demon, or, alternatively, that of a Nurgling (if you have Realm of Chaos: the Lost and the Damned).
Demonic Mount : Khakkekk's Demonic Mount appears virtually identical, at least physically, to a Large Wolf, and it may actually be. Whether or not this is the case, it is virtually identical. You can therefore use the description of the Big Wolf from the bestiary of WFRP1 or that of present in this project.

====Kweethul====
Kweethul Gristlegut was a Skaven who managed to become an extremely minor Chaos God in the older Warhammer editions. He Was later mentioned as being a HERETIC against the Horned Rat in a later Skaven army book. The Horned Rat will suffer no challenger to its dominion over Skaven-kind! Could vlcreate his own Daemons, too.

Deamons of Kweethul

The Six Eyed Slayer: Greater Daemon. He stands about 10ft in height with a pair of three eyed goats heads. It carries a Chaos Weapon with the power of mutation. [1b]
Floating Horror: Lesser Daemon. Appearing much as a Harpy but with the clawed feet of a Bear.[1b]
Fire Runner: Daemonic Steed. A partially feathered beast with burning clawed feet. [1b]
The Thing: Deamonic Beast. [1b]

====Necoho====
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult and an antitheist tract called "The Revelations of Necoho, or the Light of Doubt".

In the popular series [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]], [[Magnus the Red]] made the point that the Emperor was, perhaps unknowingly, feeding a Chaos god of unbelief by promoting his Imperial Truth.

====Stromfels====
Whilst often speculated to be Manann's edgy dark half, Stromfels' mutant cults and rumored links to Khorne in earlier editions point towards his status as a minor Chaos god. Further proof of this is his patronage of sea mutant pirate Aranessa Saltspite, and his Chaos cult in the Gotrek and Felix story "Slayer of the Storm God", featuring his avatar, the "Harbinger of Stromfels".

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], he is also [[Cylostra Direfin]]'s patron deity, having resurrected her as a vengeful ghost to wreak havoc against the High Elves and Bretonnians who rejected her singing.

====Urlfdaemonkin====
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 6th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

====Zuvassin====
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

And the motherfucker is STILL canon in Age of Sigmar, where a short story features a Chaos Champion named "Zuvass". Hmm.. I wonder who he might be worshipping.

===Warhammer 40,000===

====Baphomael====
A minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of independent Greater Daemon, ruler of the Daemon World of Woe. Has a Christian Devil, "Let's Make a Deal" sort of vibe about him, complete with looking like classical illustrations of Demons and his name being a portmanteau of Baphomet and Samael.

====King in Rags and Tatters====
Quite possibly a Chaos God version of Hastur from the Cthulhu Mythos, may or may not be a guise of Tzeentch. Leader of the "Menagerie" a Chaos Cult that seeks to unravel reality itself.

====Lord of Misrule====
Another minor Chaos God skirting on the edge of being an independent Greater Daemon from Dark Heresy.

====Melkirth====
Mentioned in older background material for Warhammer 40,000. Melkirth was a minor chaos god described as "The god of evil, malice, and wanton cruelty and suffering." While Melkirth remains a minor god, it is said that the actions of the mortal races, particularly the Dark Eldar, are causing Melkirth to grow in power until he ultimately becomes the fifth major Chaos God. The daemons of Melkirth are described as being the colour of shadow and able to take on the appearance of any daemon, be it a daemon of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Tzeentch. These shadow daemons could be inspiration for the shadow daemons Morathi encounters in Ulgu in Age of Sigmar, as they are also having to do with Dark Aelfs.

====Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l====
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Age of Sigmar===
====Archaon====
{{main|Archaon}}
Upon completing a new set of challenges by the Chaos Gods in AoS, he was empowered to demigod level and given free reign to do whatever he desired.

====Devourer of Existence====
A primitive aspect of Chaos as an apex predator, that wishes to devour all else and despises any sign of civilization, worshipped by the Untamed Beasts.

====Eightfold Watcher====
Some sort of Spider Godbeast worshipped by the Tarantulos Brood. From Warcry Red Harvest.

====Ever-Raging Flame====
A massive fire of Chaos, said to be the Chaos personification of Aqshy itself, worshipped by the Scions of the Flame in the Realm of Fire.

====The Great Gatherer====
A (presumably) giant crow worshipped by tribesmen from Ulgu in the [[Age of Sigmar]]. Not much is known about him, since [[Warcry|the only game his followers appear in]] isn't out yet, but we do know that the [[Corvus Corax|Corvus]] Cabal (the aforementioned tribesmen) consider [[Archaon]] to be his avatar in the Mortal Realms. Theories range from it being an aspect of [[Tzeentch]] (notable avian features, Tzeentch is known to be interested in the Realm of Shadow, maybe gathering secrets?) or [[Nurgle]] (the Crow was Nurgle's totem animal among the Norscans, maybe gathering bodies?) to being a minor, but ascending, Chaos God not so far removed from the Great Horned Rat's path to the pantheon. He even has the weird connection to both Nurgle and Tzeentch the GHR does. It has been confirmed that the Warbands from Warcry will be usable in the main game, possibly as normal units, and will have the keyword SLAVES TO DARKNESS, which means he'll have some representation in a mainline game. Not too bad for the newest kid on the block.

====Morghur====
{{main|Morghur The Shadowgave}}
Originally one of the most notable Beastmen, he's worshipped as a minor Chaos God of mutation and devolution in Age of Sigmar. Wait what the fuck is this??

====Nagendra====
Originally a Godbeast, was splintered and the remains corrupted into Daemons called Coiling Ones, worshipped by the Splintered Fang.

===Blood Bowl===
====Nuffle====
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

===When Tzeentch was the best===
According to recent Tzeentch Codex/Battletome Tzeentch was at one point the sole major chaos god. A rebellion against him fractured him into many pieces, which because of warp time fuckery, technically counts as a different god. When chaos was first forming (just after War in Heaven for 40k) there were many chaos gods and entities competing (rather than the total domination that exists now). Tzeentch somehow became number one, and was a super god of sorts, although he was possibly less powerful than the current Tzeentch due to the lesser size and influence of chaos. A rebellion by all the other chaos gods fractured him, creating the Tzeentch we know today. In the same way that Slaanesh has always existed in 40k, the new Tzeentch has always existed the way he is. While the old Tzeentch is permanently destroyed (across all time), while still doing the things he did, what really matters is the influence in the material realm: Tzeentch's new self and Slaanesh started doing that when they were created relative to the materium, while the Warp is such a mess that a contradiction like old Tzeentch being completely destroyed while still having done the things he did is basically nothing. They are implied to be two seperate entites.

This is a variant of the backstory of The Blue Scribes.

{{ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]