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Lizardmen

2023-02-14T23:32:35Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

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

{{Topquote|Every member of the Covenant shall walk the Path. None will be left behind when our Great Journey begins! That is the Prophets' age-old promise, and it shall be fulfilled!|High Prophet of Regret}}
{{Topquote|A powerful AI system tasked with ensuring your safety might imprison you at home. If you asked for happiness, it might hook you up to a life support and ceaselessly stimulate your brain's pleasure centers. If you don't provide the AI with a very big library of preferred behaviors or an ironclad means for it to deduce what behavior you prefer, you'll be stuck with whatever it comes up with. And since it's a highly complex system, you may never understand it well enough to make sure you've got it right.|James Barrat}}
{{Topquote|What are you doing in my swamp?!|Shrek}}

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

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

== Meta History ==
Lizardmen are one of the factions of WFB that had [[Retcon|major changes in their lore]], like [[Orcs & Goblins]], for example. Back when [[Games Workshop]] was selling overstocked [[Dungeons & Dragons]] minis, the British overlords decided to <s>rip off</s> "borrow" [[Slaad]] into their slowly developing setting. Due to that, pre-4th Edition Slanns were not fat lazy toads, and instead were bipedal frogmen dressed as Maya-Aztec hybrids with names lifted from the menu of cocktail bars. Slanns and Lizardmen were not the same species - former were degenerate incestuous [[Old Ones (Warhammer)|Old Ones]], and the latter were just [[Lizardfolk]].

Aside from Lizardmen and Cold Ones, old Slanns also employed other races as their warrior-slaves and administrator-slaves. Those included [[Troglodyte|Troglodytes]] (dumb giant crocs), [[Amazons]] and [[Pygmies (Warhammer Fantasy)|Pygmies]]. Most of them, however, didn't survive for long. Around the 4th Edition, major changes to the lore made Slanns just another of Old Ones' tools and made them smartest and the most magical Lizardmen. Pygmies were replaced with Skinks, Troglodytes with Kroxigors, and Amazons... still aren't retconned, like [[Zoat|Zoats]] and [[Fimir]]. It is unknown what was the catalysis of these changes , but probably GW were just trying to avoid copyright issues (and accusations of racism in Pygmies' case).
==History==
[[File:FUCK YOU CHAOS.jpg|400px|right]]
Way back when the [[Old Ones#Warhammer Fantasy|Old Ones]] entered the world, they decided they'd need some extra help in <s>messing this world up</s> guiding this world to its destiny. So, they created the first of the Lizardmen, the Slann. The Slann are obese but highly-magical frog-men that spend most of their days sitting around meditating. The Old Ones, realizing the Slann wouldn't be useful for much when it came to manual labor, then created the rest of the Lizardmen, including the Saurus, Skinks, and Kroxigor. They then left the Lizardmen to make some [[elf|elves]], [[dwarf|dwarfs]], and [[human]]s. In return, the Slann used their new servants to COMMIT MULTIPLE GENOCIDES on the native races of the World, with massive armies of Saurus hunting down and annihilating the races that the Old Ones told them to (notably, the only race that was a target of the Lizardmen's genocidal campaigns and survived are [[Orcs and Goblins|everyone's favorite fungus footballers]]).

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

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

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

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

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

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

===The 9th Age===

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

The 1E fluff describes the post-[[The End Times|apocalypse]] Slann (now known as Slann Starmasters) as having been found drifting in space by Dracothion, the celestial dragon, and were thus brought to the Mortal Realms. They are described as having an empire in High [[Azyr]] (i.e. space) and travel across the Mortal Realms without the need for Realmgates. All the Seraphon bar the Slann are now memories, materialising when the Starmaster wants to beat down on Chaos. Just *how* physical the Seraphon are is vague - despite being described as materialising at the whim of the Slann they have blood of starlight which, in one story, was said to be soaking in the ground to purify it of Chaos' taint. The Battletome also details a Skink Starpriest to approach a Slann before they materialise on the Mortal Realms with the rest of the army, suggesting that the Seraphon may exist beyond the battlefield. To make matters more confusing, the Seraphon also physically manifest as star constellations, with various hosts forming around a central shiny Slann.

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

Another Recent shortstory reveals that they actually live in Spaceships with the interiors tending to mimic the jungles of Lustria. Along with showing that they are still spawned the same way they were in Fantasy (ancient Spawning Pools, where they emerge as adults who already know how to survive) the Slann can simply summon them from the ships.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So to sum up while Lizardmen look, walk and talk like Aztec dinosaurs, they are little more than a biological variant of robots: mass-produced, pre-programmed and single-minded. They have little to no free will, no goal in life besides those implanted into them upon spawning, and much like robots they often do stupid things due to logical errors in their programming or coming across things that the programmers did not see coming.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

===Skinks===
'''Skinks''' are the smallest type of Lizardmen and the smartest save for Slanns. They are about Skaven sized and a bit leaner and while not particularly strong they are quick and nimble. They act as the farmers, administrators, priests and artisans of Lizardmen society. They are the most versatile and flexible of Lizardmen and probably the one which would be best suited to have a friendly conversation with a Human. Despite their small size, they can be a formidable military force, as they have highly-accurate poisoned blowpipes (<strike>they used to have bows and arrows which got retconned for some reason</strike>). A few of them can use magic, not at Slann levels of course, but still. They are also the caretakers for most of the dinosaurs used by the Lizardmen, and thus are [[Awesome]]. Awesome enough to get their own [[meme]] (that didn't really survive through the newer editions): "remove X, replace with Skinks."

They are also cute.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In related news, playing against Ironjawz is a great opportunity to have a Cold One with the Boyz. *rimshot*

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

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

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

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

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

===Raptadons===
Brand new feathered raptor dinos introduced in the 2023 Seraphon refresh for AoS. They are ridden by skinks and are described as lightning fast, intelligent, and deadly. They are also the first dinos to bear feathers, and are likely an attempt by GW to align with modern paleo theories. The scales vs feathers argument now coming to a game table near you! They come in two varieties, the ranged skirmisher raptadon hunters, and the melee focused raptadon chargers.

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

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

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

As of 01/10/2023 the Dread Saurian model was discontinued from Forgeworld (Alongside most of the FW AoS range), rest in peace big lizard.

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

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

==Soulbound==
While initially missing from the available options for [[Age of Sigmar Roleplay]], there was eventually the web supplement ''Stars and Scales'' that allowed players to take the role of a scary star-lizardman, and they're predictably very unique compared to most beings. Due to their nature as star-formed entities bound to their Slann Masters and a great plan that is ineffable to all but their star-frogs, the Seraphon are incapable of contributing or using Soulfire akin to the [[Stormcast Eternals]].
As with the wargame, the Seraphon are split between both the well-protected Saurus and the nimble Skinks as well as the ''Starborne'' Seraphon (Those who are composed of starlight and thus can blind those who harm them) and the ''Coalesced'' Seraphon (Those who adapted to their realms rather than the stars and became more aggressive but poor diplomats.)

As for backgrounds, Seraphon heroes can pick from the following Constellations to hail from:
*'''Dracothion's Tail (Starborne only):''' As Dracothion aided Sigmar in the forming of the mortal realms, so too do these Seraphon come to aid the champions of the gods when the stars deem it right. This constellation is one of the very few to have several Slann on hand, and they have taught their disciples some of their arcane wisdom. Heroes from this constellation can spend Mettle to teleport, potentially blinding anyone near them when they arrive in a flash of light.
*'''Fangs of Sotek (Starborne only):''' Perhaps the faction of Seraphon most familiar to the mortal realms, the Fangs of Sotek have often lent their aid to the heroes of order when it so suits them. This is not for the sake of altruism so much as it is for the sake of keeping their potential allies and foes under tight observation and manipulation. Heroes from this constellation have an easier time communicating with other species and are much swifter when the battle begins to quickly silence the opposition.
*'''Koatl's Claw (Coalesced Only):''' The result of Skaven sabotage causing their pyramid-ship to crash into the realm of Ghur and crippling their Slann. Any Seraphon spawned since this incident are now utterly unhinged, bent on waging war on any foe in pursuit for some sort of satisfaction. Heroes from this constellation deal more damage the worse they are injured, but suffer the inability to manage long-term plans.
*'''Thunder Lizard (Coalesced Only):''' The Thunder Lizard will accomplish its agendas with no compromise and no quarter - After all, they only see their plan as the ideal. Though they may join a Binding for the sake of accomplishing a common goal, it will not be one that will always benefit their mortal allies, and they will not accept any deviations from the plan. Heroes from this constellation are wardens of ancient treasures and thus start play with one such relic as well as the ability to double their training when dealing with Seraphon relics - On top of that, the ''Animal Friend'' talent is now available to all archetypes.

The supplement provides a paltry two archetypes available to only the Seraphon. Skinks get '''Skink Starpriest''', and Saurus get '''Saurus Oldblood'''.

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen|Tactics/Lizardmen]]
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Lizardmen|Lizardmen tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]
*[[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Seraphon]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3CmxjTFv_Y How you make Total Warhammer II more awesome than Total Warhammer? Add the Lizardmen!]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHalXjs0cDA&ab_channel=LouiseMcClafferty Musical accompaniment for playing Lizardmen/Seraphon. Be honest, did you think it was going to be anything else?]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Lizardmen (Warhammer Fantasy)]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.lustria-online.com/ Lustria-Online.com, the main Lizardmen and Seraphon army forum.]
{{Template:Lizardmen_Characters}}
{{Lizardmen Troops}}
{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}
{{Template:Playable Factions in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar}}

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
File:Slann and their Magical Force Fields.jpg|Look into this frog's eyes. He's half-asleep, probably drunk, and he's ''still'' going toe-to-toe against a Lord of Change in a magic fight.
File:A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.jpg|A typical Lizardmen city.
File:ThunderLizard.jpg|Please GW. I beg you. ADD THIS (Even if it's ripping off Dinotopia, with some change it'd be a good original idea)
File:ScaliePorn.png|Even Lizards need to beat one off sometimes.
File:Lizard lesbian kiss.jpg | Lizard woman are lesbians!?
File:Seraphon_AKA_Lizardmen_VS_Cowardly_Wizards.jpg|Seraphon riding Derpasaurus
File:Skink.PNG|Love makes us do strange things in our fanon. Like <strike>reinterpreting the Great Plan</strike> <strike>Commiting Heresy</strike> being circumventive and discordant.
File:TWWH2_-_XFHuPdk.jpg|Lizardmen "Watercraft." Watercraft may be a misnomer, seeing as [[Derp|they're completely made of stone]] and are instead projecting a magical repulsion field from the hulls that allows them to skim over the water or at least maintain an artificial buoyancy to prevent them from sinking into the ocean.
File:TWWH2_-_tk5cjjsi56r41.jpg|There's a difference between "can't" and "won't".
File:Warhammer_-_1576358548147.png|Gold may not corrode over the centuries, but it can still break.
File:TWWH2_-_1588681734_Adorable.png|When you're cursed with cuteness and overwhelming adoration.
File:TWWH2_-_Metallurgical_Confusion.PNG|The writers can't make up their mind in regards to armor composition.
File:Warhammer_-_A_confused_painter.PNG|For those who were wondering: GW has never specified a proper way to paint Lizardmen.
</gallery>
</center>

Vampire Counts

2023-02-14T23:29:51Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

[[Image:WHFBVampire.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Let us go out this evening for pleasure... The night is still young!]]
{{Topquote|Death is the one predator we can't escape. But vampires have found the loophole so many of us crave. I think that's the allure of vampirism.|Sherrilyn Kenyon}}
{{Topquote|A great deal of struggle and sorrow in the world comes from misguided feelings of pride of ownership and possessiveness.|Bryant H McGill}}
{{Topquote|He roused from a joyous dream of feasting, of drinking blood and sucking warm marrow from the bone. His sons and daughters swarmed like ants upon the surface of the Earth, ripe in their terror, delectable in their anguish. He swept them into his mouth and their insides ran in black streams between his lips and matted his beard. This sweet dream rapidly slipped away as he stretched and assessed his surroundings. He shambled forth from the great cavern in the mountain that had been his home for so long.|Laird Barron}}
{{Topquote|It is only when a man finds himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import.|Bram Stoker}}

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTKRDZ_8Qek I reject my humanity!].

The '''Vampire Counts''' are the [[Tomb Kings|non-Egyptian]] Undead of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Due to them being..."heavily inspired" by the boom of [[Vampire: The Masquerade]] in the early '90s, the 1994 release of the 4th edition <strike>bit off</strike> borrowed the use of Vampiric "families" leading back to a sole "ancestor". The idea was <strike>sucked up by</strike> popular among the Warhammer community and as a result Vampires split from the mummies in 5e 1999 with the first Vampire Counts Army Book.

The Vampire Counts are your classic, blood-sucking Slavic fiends and total fucking badasses who almost took over the entire fucking Old World (Warhammer Europe) multiple times before the armies of [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|mankind]] and their [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfish]] allies got their shit together. Ruthless, intelligent, strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Ogres and evil as hell (except for a few questionably neutral characters and a chill Lahmian), most of the Vampire Counts in the Warhammer universe long to plunge the entire world into a holocaust of darkness and despair, ensuring that the entire land is wholly under their thumb and the foolish mortals know their place as slaves and food. Others pursue dark knowledge for its own sake, like a Lich with a good (but not great) moisturizer; some want to control the entire planet in the shadows like a far more efficient Illuminati, or simply want to tear down the motherfuckers who have it better than themselves. Regardless of motives or behavior, all Vampires suffer from a strong sense of pride and possession; servants and allies are belongings, either as tools or luxury items/pets, and a sense of camaraderie with any other being is extremely rare. But on the plus side all Vampires are free from the cycle of death (as with the right ritual ANY Vampire can be resurrected and there's plenty of downtrodden mortals clamoring to become a powerful Vampire's favorite servant) and [[Chaos]] (which can provide them blessings if served willingly but cannot actually interact with their soul; but given the aforementioned pride and entitlement, few Vampires would revere even a Chaos God as their superior and pledge any loyalty to it).

Basically, it's an entire army of Gothic Horror Vampire lords, seeking to kill and conquer nations not just to appease their own massive egos and pride, but to ensure their all-encompassing need to feed. The classic intelligent monsters and consummate overlords of evil, WHFB's Vampire Counts are pretty much the best of what Vampires can be, and sure as fuck a welcome departure from [[Twilight|this shit]].

==History==
[[Image:Nagash.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Three thousand years later, still a pain in the ass. ([[Mark Gibbons|MG]])]]
A long-as-hell time ago, even by Warhammer Fantasy standards since most human history is in the living memory of Dwarfs and Elves but this story begins alongside THEIR prehistory, there was a powerful Priest of Khemri named [[Nagash]], who was such a thorough badass that he became not only the first Necromancer in Warhammer Fantasy's universe (well, excluding [[Drachenfels]]), but literally created the first undead. He learned his Dark Arts from a trio of Dark Elven Sorceresses, who taught him how to manipulate the energies of [[Chaos]] using dark rituals involving heresy and human sacrifice. He killed them in a magical duel, poisoning one, ripping another to shreds, and crushing the third before consuming their souls; many on [[/tg/]] would say this is ''the'' way to deal with an [[Elf]].

After this, there was no stopping the guy - he communed with Daemons and the spirits of the dead, seized the kingdom for himself from his brother, and used his Necromantic magic to greatly extend his own lifespan. During his tenure as King of Khemri, Nagash decided it would be an awesome idea to run the kingdom as a real-life version of [[Dwarf Fortress]], [[Grimdark|and all that it implies]]. He soon had the idea for the creation of a massive megaproject: a necropolis made of pure [[Warpstone]] AKA evil magic meth plutonium that came to be known as the Black Pyramid, so named for the black Warpstone that made it up. Suffice to say, his blatant evil scared the shit out of the other kingdoms around Khemri, and -undoubtedly jealous of his epic pyramid- they attempted to kill him. Hell, Nagash was so damn terrifying that the Skaven all united against him, which is probably the only time in history the paranoid little freaks have ever been completely united for any cause at all. Despite having an army of the dead and loyal followers like [[Arkhan the Black]], Nagash was finally deposed, though he fled and would eventually emerge once more as the first Lich, continuing to, as many threats in the Warhammer universe have, be a constant thorn in the side of the armies of man forever until the [[End Times|end of fucking time]]...[[Age of Sigmar|and beyond]].

After the fall of Nagash, the Black Pyramid went undisturbed for years, since nobody wanted anything to do with a giant monolith that was related to an insane necromancer who pretty much came within striking distance of ruling all the desert kingdoms. Eventually a spoiled princess from one of the neighboring kingdoms named [[Neferata]] who had been put in charge of interrogating Nagash's sidekick Arkhan channeled her inner Tomb Raider, breaking in and making off with some of Nagash's magic books, which were later called the Nine Books of Nagash (guess how many there were). Delving into the corrupt lore she found within the tome, Neferata discovered a recipe for the Elixir of Life, a blood-draught that would extend one's lifespan. Doing her own research on it and "refining" it alongside the now-infatuated Arkhan, she eventually created a new version of the Elixir -called the Elixir of Damnation using venom from the scorpion tails of Sphinxes- and then downed it. It almost killed her (permanently) until with Arkhan she managed to overcome the sickness and became an unliving nigh-demigod.

Later she shared it with many of her court (after killing her douchebag brother and taking the throne) which created the very first Vampires, most of whom would found their own Bloodlines by turning mortals which then inherited their strengths, weaknesses, and predilections (how generations after the first are turned isn't known, although it involves drinking the blood of their "parent" and something else since without that something else they either just become a feral brute with a short lifespan or get a pleasurable high; volume of Vampire blood drunk may be the difference). Unfortunately we don't know for certain how many or what the names of most of the other Vampire originals are since each time a complete list was given it mostly consisted of a different number of entirely different names. We know the captain of the guard [[Abhorash]] was turned and that he founded the [[Blood Dragon|Blood Dragons]], her high priest [[W'soran]] who would found the [[Necrarch|Necrarchs]] was turned and began to worship Nagash as a god, her younger brother [[Ushoran]] who was a diplomancing seducer was turned and would create the [[Strigoi]], her husband [[Vlad von Carstein|Vashanesh]] (although another version names him Ankhat and states he was her attendant) was turned with him founding the [[Von Carstein|Von Carsteins]], and Neferata herself created the [[Lahmian|Lahmians]]. She had a [[Cathay|Cathayan AKA not-Chinese]] Vampire who she sent on the Warhammer Silk Road to give her control of the east, and in most versions had a female attendant turned for some classic Vampire bisexual fun.

The additional Vampires in the first batch are possibly: [[Maatmeses]], [[Naamia]], [[Prince Xian Ha Feng]], [[Harakhte]], [[Zhuras]].
Maatmeses and Harakhte have their own Bloodlines, the [[Mahtmasi]] and [[Jade-Blooded]] respectively which were created for the [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] supplement [[Night's Dark Masters]], but did not make it into the book and instead were released later individually; whether or not this is canon is debatable since the founders are canon to [[Black Library]]. Another unnamed seven were created after the first, and two vials were sent with Prince Xian Ha Feng to Cathay <strike>to give players a blank check to make OC Bloodlines</strike> for unknown reasons.

Naturally, this massive population boom in immortal superpowerful bloodsuckers led to problems. The seeming eternal youthfulness of Neferata and her ilk were hard enough to ignore, but the rampant feeding of their followers quickly became too much to turn a blind eye to. When confronted Neferata herself tried to forcefully convert her cousin, [[Khalida]], and failed. Suffice to say, the other armies of the desert kingdoms of Nehekhara eventually fell upon the vampires of Lahmia like sacks of thunder, and they wound up scattering, regrouping only when they met up with the now-undead Nagash in his new undead warpstone Dwarf Fortress megaproject of Nagashizzar. The Vampires quickly became generals of Nagash's armies, and, with the overpowering forces they added to Nagash's cause, turned on the combined armies of Nehekhara in vengeance, poisoning the land itself, transforming it into a realm of eternal death and began to systematically usher in what would have led to a global zombie apocalypse if not for the intervention of [[Skaven]]-brand dickery. With Nagash out of the picture -albeit temporarily- the Vampires swiftly turned to in-fighting and scattered to the far corners of the world.

But not being one to let death keep him down for long, Nagash came back, weakened, but still 1,000 years more pissed off than last time. Losing was ''not'' fun to Nagash, and so he went skele-balls deep into Reclaim Fortress Mode to retake Nagashizzar in a single night. But all of his cool artifacts, their craftundeadship being of the highest quality, had been stolen while he has napping. Marshaling another huge undead army to repossess everything that had been pilfered, he sent out word to his Vampire peeps that he was going to fuck up the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Empire]] next. This advance was short-lived - as [[Sigmar]] showed up, and, when Nagash called for their aid, the Vampires were too arrogant to actually help out, and Sigmar smashed him down in short order. In retaliation for this double-dickery, Nagash laid out a curse on the Vampires for this offense: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar, being vulnerable to sunlight and all sorts of bizarre shit that came in the undead mind of that autistic manchild. The Undead advance fell apart quicker than [[Boatmurdered]], and the bulk of the Vampires retreated to the lands of Sylvania, where the various Vampires would continue to follow their own agendas, not unlike [[Orks|several]] [[Dark Eldar|unrelated]] [[Chaos Space Marines|groups]] in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe.

There they continued to menace the armies of man with periodic invasions of undead, death, and horror for over 2,500 years. With potentially eternal life to bide their time, all they had to do was quit fucking each other over and amass their forces to wait for a [[Nagash#The End Times|supreme leader]] to unite the [[Undead_Legion|armies of undeath]] under one banner once more. I mean, [[Warhammer:_Age_of_Sigmar|what could possibly go wrong?]]

==Here be Sparkles==
[[Image:VampFB.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Fuck yes.]]
One important thing about WHFB vampires is that being turned into one does not automatically turn you evil. It does crank all your personality traits to eleven, almost to a caricature level, so for example a [[Abhorash|noble warrior]] turns into a combat maniac with a stick so deep in his ass it could be seen when he smiles, a [[Konrad von Carstein|petty bully with insecurity issues]] becomes a sadistic psychopath murder machine who does whack shit like having his own mother executed for giving birth to him without his permission, and a [[Neferata|slick politician]] turns into Machiavelian schemer who wraps entire nations in her web of multi-layered intrigues. Similarly a [[Genevieve Sandrine du Pointe du Lac Dieudonné|good person]] given the blood kiss may as well turn into unbearably saintly do-gooder going beyond reason to fight the Thirst and help innocent people. Of course vampirism does not grant immunity to character development, and feeding on humans, having magical powers, superhuman strength, speed and immortality eventually change ''most'' to the worst, pretty much the same way normal people go mad with power. Still, if one just wants to live peacefully with human society, nothing stops him, providing they have the self discipline to resist the rampant thirst or substitute human blood with animal blood, which can do the job even if it is not as invigorating, or at least get human blood through a second hand market, such as mortuaries. Well, there are also Witch Hunters and angry mobs with torches and pitchforks, so it could take a bit of finesse to hide your vampirism. There are hundreds of vampires living peacefully in the Empire and pretty much all other human nations (except Norskans and Kurgan) - and in some places they even built their own secret societies with a thriving blood market. These vampires are not actually the part of the Vampire Count factions, and some of the bloodlines view them as traitors to vampire cause, adding one more reason for them to lay low. According to the WHFRP supplement Night's Dark Masters, becoming a vampire also makes a person more prone to violence, [[/b/|since it essentially makes you immune to being traumatized by blood, gore and death.]]

Even when it comes to the "evil" vampires, most of them have much more humanity left in them than your average Chaos Lord, and are capable of acts of true selflessness and compassion, especially if it concerns their loved ones or faithful subjects. Neferata herself originally did all that fucked up shit she did out of love for her motherland, as did Ushoran, and Vlad von Karstein even sacrificed himself to save his wife. This does not, however, change the fact that they see humans as pets at best and would not mind slaughtering thousands of them to further their own goals. Still, even Mannfred, who's most undoubtedly the most irredeemably evil vampire ever, is nowhere close to the kinds of evil Nagash did while he was still human.

== Vampire Bloodlines ==
* '''[[Von Carstein]]:''' The Von Carsteins are your old-school Vampires of the Dracula-inspired "I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD!" "ZEEE CHIIILLLDREEN OF THE NIIGHTTT VAT SVEET MUZIC DEY MAKE" variety, and their members are more or less parodies of nobility. Since their roots are very recent as opposed to the other major bloodlines which all began at the beginning of the vampire race, they're sort of the nouveau riche of the vampires. Because they aren't as picky about giving out blood kisses they tend to have more vampires and because policing lots of vampires is a mess they are the go-to bloodline for transforming vampires into mindless death machines like varghulfs and vargheists (usually as a form of punishment). [[Vlad von Carstein]], the head of the family, was the one who first tainted the human aristocracy of [[Old World|Sylvania]] with undeath leading them to become the badass European Vampires they'd eventually become. Vlad took a wife (willingly) named [[Isabella von Carstein]] and set out on the first vampire offensive to conquer the [[Empire]]. The Von Carsteins are kind of unusual in that they realized that keeping the living populace safe meant easier meals. This didn't mean they eased up on being badass, however - instead, Vlad, and [[Konrad von Carstein|two]] [[Mannfred von Carstein|of]] his "sons" violently and/or politically brought a lot of the rebellious nobles in line and actually managed to unify much of Sylvania's vampire nobility for a while during their reigns. When Vlad himself was killed by Wilhelm the Third, his wife Isabella killed herself because she didn't want to be without him, most of their vampiric get squabbled until Konrad, who is in many respects analogous to a WHFB version of [[Kharn]] [[Skub|(but completely and utterly stupid in a number of ways)]], took power and quickly caused the advance to grind to a screeching halt. Konrad eventually got killed (ridiculously), and Mannfred arose, and managed to come back after two major defeats and continue trying to claim the Empire- before changing his mind and resurrecting Nagash, becoming one of his Mortarchs. Von Carsteins use all Vampire Count models in their army, making them the default faction.

* '''[[Lahmian]]:''' The Lahmians, named for the monster that drinks the blood of Children, are an almost entirely-female (although there ARE males) vampire clan, who descended from [[Queen Neferata]], the woman who started the vampires off in the first place. They are the spy bloodline, keeping humans as happy pets and living in comfortable heated estates instead of crumbling castles. They don't tend to be directly involved in big events, primarily spending their time controlling every government in the world through spies and politics and focusing on maintaining the status quo of happy, stupid, pretty humans. Having pissed off just about every other Vampire clan due to their involvement with this nonsense, Neferata's openly-vampiric followers currently occupy the once-dwarven lands of the World's Edge Mountains (Erryone is getting [[Book of Grudges|grudged!]]). Lahmian groups tend to rely more on psychological effects like Beguile as well as spellcasting, and any non-vampires in the army are ghosts that can be dismissed or skeletons that can be buried or told to lay still until given orders and be told to sit in the crypt to be passed off as inanimate ancestors when Witch Hunters come to investigate them.

* '''[[Blood Dragon]]:''' Formed by [[Abhorash]], the [[Fist of the North Star|fuckingest]] of Vampire Warriors, the Blood Dragons are the martial vampires, and fucking awesome. Honorable to a fault, though still mostly evil-as-hell, they will never refuse a challenge and excel at absolutely curb-stomping anything put against them in combat. Consummate warriors, they live to fight, and they believe that only cowards feed upon the weak - the only ones that Blood Dragons will willingly feed on are powerful warriors and monsters (from both Destruction and the Order alignments of the game). As such, they are capable of resisting the thirst better than the other clans, and, due to their badassery, are arguably one of the two favorite factions of Vampires for /tg/ in the setting.

* '''[[Necrarch]]:''' Following distantly in the footsteps of Nagash, the Necrarchs are Necromancer vampires and loremasters. Whereas other Vampires focus on sorcery, martial pride, or a mix of the two, the Necrarchs focus entirely on Necromancy and thus have vast armies of the undead at their disposal. A common joke is that they'd be studious gits and/or faggots.... If they didn't [[/tg/ gets shit done|GET SHIT DONE]]. They give even less shit about the thirst than the Blood Dragons, often being too consumed in their researches and experiments to remember about it, and as a result they look like withered corpses most of the time, and for most of them this becomes the permanent state, so even if they do start feeding properly they would not revert to human-like looks.

* '''[[Strigoi]]:''' The Strigoi are horrid-looking mutant Vampires, closer to Ghouls than traditional Vampire-kind. They not only drink their prey's blood - they go all the fuck out and devour their prey's flesh as well. They eat anything alive or un-alive, including other vampires and each other. Hated and feared even by their own kind, they are easily the kings of [[Rip and Tear|ripping and tearing]] and have more Ghouls at their disposal than any other bloodline. Do not let the fact that they are freakish abominations convince you that they are not FUCKING BADASS. They tend to rampage wherever the fuck they want, and as a result they step on the toes of the other bloodlines a fair amount. A common tactic for the bloodline finding them inconvenient is to send them to another bloodline to be dealt with, killing a bird and annoying another with one stone.

*'''Miscellaneous:''' There are other, smaller bloodlines. All of them are recent and not strong enough to warrant much attention. Among them are a group of vampire [[pirate]]s (believed to be a descendant of the Blood Dragons), vampire [[Warriors of Chaos|Norsemen]], and [[Games Workshop|bloodsucking Brits living in Albion]]. There are also two more major bloodlines that live in Ind and [[Cathay]]. The Cathayan vampires are the closest we get to "good guys" among the undead (barring exceptions like [[Genevieve Sandrine du Pointe du Lac Dieudonné|Genevieve]]), being on generally good terms with the Dragon Emperor as long as they stay out of his way. Many of them are nobles and heroes, though they take great pains to conceal their undead nature. The Indan Vampires are worshiped as one of the many gods of that strange land, and are said to resemble wampyres.

==[[The 9th Age]]==

==On the Tabletop==
''See [[Warhammer/Tactics/Vampire Counts|Tactics/Vampire Counts]]''

Originally vampires were but just a cog in the greater Undead army. But come sixth edition Undead had been schismed into two armies, with the Vampire Counts getting the lion's share while those [[Tomb Kings|fucking mummies]] made off with what scant few ranged options Undead ever had. But we all know who got the last laugh in [[The End Times|the end]].

==See Also==
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Vampire_Counts|Vampire Counts tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]
* [[Abhorash]], the most badass Vampire in all of Warhammer.
* [[Vlad von Carstein]], also known as Chad von Carstein. Founder of the von Carstein line and the von Carstein ambition to sit on the Imperial throne. Not bald.
* [[Isabella von Carstein]], Vlad's beloved.
* [[Konrad von Carstein]], bucking the Warhammer trend of Too Dumb To Live in favor of Too Insane To Live.
* [[Mannfred von Carstein]], also known as Mannchild, Mannlet, etc. Directly responsible for the last chance of saving the world failing. Bald.
* [[Ushoran]], the unluckiest of the bunch.
* [[W'soran/Melkhior]], nerd.
* [[Neferata]], the <s>MILF</S> mommy of all Vampires.
* [[Soulblight Gravelords]], their spiritual successors in [[Age of Sigmar]].

==External Links==
[http://www.vampirecounts.net/index.php| Carpe Noctem, the main Vampire Counts army forum]
{{Vampire Count Troops}}
{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Vampire Counts]]

Chaos Gods

2023-02-14T22:38:06Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

{{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|Horus Lupercal]], about to realize that he was wrong and that he could get great power from those "gods", and then dearly regret his casual arrogance in thinking they wouldn't fuck him over.}}

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 pines 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), 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]], being a wishy washy nerd, and magic, arguably the coolest and most potentially powerful of the four due to being nerfed from his actual true power in the height of his age of coming from both respective canons of Warhammer and generally being the most victorious when fighting against humanity and other races as a scheming jerkass. 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. If the scheme isn't as convoluted as a transgender seahorse, it's not Tzeentch's. Except for when that's what he want you to think.
* 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, which is what Tzeentch wants you to believe, in truth he bullies and torments Khorne.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal/dumb as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, he/she/they're nice to little Tzeentch! [[Cegorach]] might have a Shonen Rival Bro Bond with him when they dont fight on different teams.
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were chicks. For female gods hes got an Eye for [[Arianka]] since she's a rival to his whole all play to her all work dynamic and wants her to be the [[Isha]] to his Nurgle.
* 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 after the End Times. This change did not affect 40k (or presumably any other universe Slaanesh exists in), and Slaanesh is slowly breaking the prison walls.

===Warhammer Fantasy===
====Ashedte'gash====
A Minor Chaos God who was once an orphan on the streets of the Empire, who grew up learning that strength and cleverness are what allows one to survive, and that those who are weaker and stupider should be climbed over and killed to serve their betters. As such, he is served by only a few Greater Daemons, as the Lesser Daemons that followed him were all killed off for realsies in the Warp by their betters in an Ayn Randian survival-of-the-fittest natural selection murderfest.

Ash has only a handful of Greater Daemons serving him. All of the lesser daemons were destroyed in the ever present struggles to prove oneself to Ash. The remaining daemonic servants of Ashedte'gash are heavily armored Greater Daemons, wearing plate armor, carrying giant two handed swords. Little is known of these foul servants of Ashedte'gash. They lack wings to fly, but except from this nothing is known, but of their great strenght at arms.

His True Name is apparently Gristleskull Bloodvomit.

====Atagro====
Lord of Beasts, was once mortal but was risen to Minor Chaos God status by Shagraunt, another Minor Chaos God, deeds included slaying a Sandworm in Araby. Atagro is a huge vicious creature clad in glistening black armor and crowned with a fierce, horned helm atop his blackened, skeletal head. Atagro's eyes burn with a fiery luminance, and he wears a huge shroud-like cloak. Tormented, vaguely human wretches struggle and writhe to peer out from under its folds. Atagro's armor is decorated with all the symbols of chaos, as he was once their most powerful champion. His hands are filthy and rotted; capped with grim steel talons and dark metal studs. Atagro's weapon, Kagorr, is a huge tooth edged sword with a second blade extending from the handle. The mighty god wields the blade with whirling grace and deadly precision. Kagorr is the most powerful weapon of chaos ever created and less powerful blades of similar appearance are often granted to Atagro's followers.
*'''Storm Lasher''' (also known as ''Serpent-Giants'', ''Twisting Punishers'', or ''Lashing Gargantuans''): These disgusting creatures appear as bloated gray skinned giants with long flailing tentacles for heads. The creatures have thick, two fingered hands with each finger ending in huge dark tentacles. Their short opposable thumbs are their only true fingers. The storm lashers are so named due to their affinity for lightning. Lashers whip their enemies with tentacles and make a sound like thunder when they run.
*'''Gull Grinder''' (also known as ''Raging Slug Men'', ''Screaming Beasts of Frenzy',' or ''Atagro's Habitations''): These creatures are among the more deadly of Atagro's demons. They appear as huge brown skinned strongmen with slug bodies for legs. Their enormous muscled arms end in the heads of lions and their own flat, bald heads are featureless save for beady black eyes and huge mottled beaks. The Gull Grinders attack by biting or spewing fireballs with their lion heads.
*'''Corpse Render''' (also known as ''Butchers of Atagro'', ''Beast-Lords'', or ''The Dark Titans''): The horrifying Corpse Renders are absolutely Atagro's most powerful greater demons. They look like massive 20' humanoids with black skin and the heads of rhinos. The Corpse Renders arms end in spherical masses of dark, twisted blades which spin and rotate at the will of the demons. The Renders awesome muscular legs end in flattened black hooves which they may scrape across the ground as they snort in anticipation of a coming fray.

====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]].

====Chaos Gods of Law====
{{main|Chaos Gods of Law}}
[[Alluminas]], [[Arianka]], and [[Solkan the Avenger]]. Supposedly These guys were the opposite of the big four, though you'll notice there are only three of them, there was apparently a fourth but they never popped up. They also had human worshippers. [[Kaleb Daark]] was meant to kill Arianka but he was mysteriously vanished along with her relevance. And Be'la'kor said Solkan (and implicitly the other three) was not real. Given how God's are born of belief and he had active believers it's not sure how that works out. Nevermind that Be'la'kor's version of the truth can be skewed at the best of times. These old-school dudes have their own page!

====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.

====Kka====
Kka was a Chaos Godling, that is to say Minor Chaos God, although what he embodied is unknown. What is known is that he was the patron of the equally goofy-looking and sexy Harpy-turned-Chaos-Spawn named Ngaaranh, who looked like a 3 Headed Harpy with long necks and eyestalks.

====Khakkek====
[[File:KhakkekkFollowers.jpg|200px|right]]
From old-school Warhammer, was the god of the Chaos Goblins. Was only mentioned once or twice, but was described as a horned, 8-armed goblin with each of his 8 limbs holding a sacrificial dagger, his shape similar to the 8 pointed Chaos wheel, who was a god of bloodletting but unlike Khorne, allowed for magic. Described as seen as halfway between Khorne and Khaine. The picture above shows a cult of his worshippers. If you look closely, you can see the Symbol of Chaos on the Shaman's Loincloth. Apparently he joined Chaos rather soon as a young god, as being a Goblin God, Gork and Mork must have bullied the shit out of him so much, he straight-up turned traitor to Chaos. Favored Mutations for Chaos Goblins who worship him included an eagle-like face with superb vision, iron hard skin, brightly patterned skin with black and red swirls highly resistant to fire, atrophied legs which forced hopping, pointy heads, and a horrible stench wirh a following by a cloud of flies. The biggest known example of his worshippers was the Bloodied Nose Tribe of Chaos Goblins, a splinter faction of the Broken Nose Tribe, which first fell to Chaos and Khakkek worship due to Ratscrote Boggobbler, a "Blood-Wizard" who was taught about Khakkek by a Dwarf Necromancer of all people. Ironically, the Bloodied Nose Tribe seems to never experience mutations, so whether this is a sign Khakkek was pleased or displeased with his most well-known worshippers is unknown, but seeing as to how mutations are handed out as gifts by Chaos Gods to their champions, then it would seem Ratscrote and his tribe aren't doing something right to please him.

*'''Greater Daemon:''' 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.
*'''Lesser Daemon:''' 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.
*'''Daemonic Beast:''' These creatures, sociable in the manner of the Nurglings, appear as Brats (would be Snotlings in more modern editions, since Greenskins now reproduce by spores) 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).
*'''Daemonic Steed:''' 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 create his own Daemons, too.

*'''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.
*'''Floating Horror:''' Lesser Daemon. Appearing much as a Harpy but with the clawed feet of a Bear.
*'''Fire Runner:''' Daemonic Steed. A partially feathered beast with burning clawed feet.
*'''The Thing:''' Daemonic Beast.

====Meneloth====
An androgynous god of pleasure among the Elves, may have been a sort of proto-Slaanesh before being absorbed into the greater whole of Slaanesh upon Slaanesh's birth, either that or a toned-down aspect of Slaanesh used to lure Elves into worship of Slaanesh, like a dealer giving a watered-down needle of heroin to a kid to get them addicted before giving them the hard stuff.

====[[Morrslieb]]/Lunaghast====
Even the Chaos Moon of the Old World may, in itself, be a sort of Chaos God. This is supported in how it "birthed" [[Moonclaw]], a Chaos Xeno Mutant of Morrslieb that looks like a particularly horrid Beastman, and how when Morrslieb waxes strong Moonclaw can summon a Daemon of Morrslieb, a two headed beast called Umbralok, which serves as his steed. The fact that it had its own spirit, Lunaghast, which survived its bodily destruction and came to wreak havoc upon the Mortal Realms, is further evidence of its potential Minor Chaos Godhood.

====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.

====Obscuras====
Brother of Alluminas, Chaos God of Law. Was originally one of the Gods of Law but got jealous of his brother and turned to Chaos proper.

Shadowphytes (also known as Shadow Daemons) are daemons of Obscuras, standing around the height of an average man. The most dedicated of Obscuras' cultists hope to join the ranks of the Shadowphytes upon their deaths. Shadowphytes appear as black shadowy humanoids whose features are only barely visible through the inner darkness they radiate. They cannot fly but possess the ability to melt into the shadows in one place and reappear in the shadows somewhere else within their line of sight. They fear the light and it is know to cause them actually damage when not standing in full or demi-darkness.

Shadowphytes can't cause physical wounding upon their victims, but cause damage through their touch, which robs the victim of his or her strength, and they are skilled users of the magical art of their master. It's said that anyone slain by a Shadowphyte is condemned to eternal torment in Obscuras' realm of shadow.

====Oubelgyr====
Oubelgyr is a Daemon-Prince who sits at the cusp of just-about-to-be-but-not-quite a Minor Chaos God, who is known to be a Peddler of Knowledge, like some sort of Daemonic Informant. Whereas Tzeentch is all about learning and then coveting secrets, Oubelgyr is always trying to find secret knowledge then sell it to the highest bidder, a trait useful for Chaos Sorcerers with sacrifices to spare who wish to skip the chanciness of Tzeentch's blessings. Was imprisoned at one point, but was able to scheme a way to unlock the door to his prison, only to then decide his prison was a nice lair and pretended to still be locked in. Rather than having daemons of his own, he has multiple Daemons and Mortal slaves who he has bound with contracts, who have to do as he says and guard him. Truename: Wrackbelch Ichorspittle.

====Quorn====
[[File:QuornArtwork.jpg|200px|right]]

Not to be confused with Khorne, Quorn was the Minor Chaos God of carnivorous plants, whose schtick basically was "Radical Anti-Veganism" with carnivorous plant life devouring all flesh-creatures. His name was a double-pun, meant to sound like Khorne's and the same as a vegetable-based fake-meat substitute from before Impossible Meats were a thing. (Note: Pictured above is fan artwork produced by putting Quorn's name and description into Nightcafe, an Artificial Intelligence Art Program that makes art based on text description)

====Rhasneth====
The Chaos God of Insanity. Must be pretty batshit insane if his brand of nutters stands out amongst the general mental sickness of the rest of the Pantheon of Chaos.

The daemons of Rhasneth are to varied to make a single name for them, the most horrible nightmares of the most twisted madmen made real, pushing their way from the realm of nightmares into the world of the living to do their master's wish. The daemons of Rhasneth are special in that not all can see them, only those who have already lost their sanity can see them while all others fail to even notice them. The madman can scream in terror when his nightmares comes for him, not only to haunt him in his dreams but to feast upon his soul, while the rest of the world remains ignorant of the creature and tells him there is nothing there. Even as the daemon slowly approch, a mad twisted snarl upon its face...

====Screaming God-Child====
[[File:Screaming God-Child.png|200px|right|]]
Appearing only in the [[Malus Darkblade]] novel ''Lord of Ruin'', and more completely in the Malus chapters in Warhammer Monthly, the God-Child is the ruler of a little corner of the Realm of Chaos known as ''Alterity'', a massive chunk of rock on top of which lies walls in the shape of an eight-pointed star, guarded by ancient daemons who keep the locals and guests who enter from leaving Alterity. The God-Child himself takes the appearance of a young humanoid being with a near featureless face, only having a mouth, wearing robes and an amulet in the shape of the star of Chaos.

====Shagraunt====
A Minor Chaos God of whom even less is known of than Atagro, it was Shagraunt who ascended Atagro into the ranks of the Minor Chaos Gods.

====Stromfels/Mermedus====
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".

Another variation of Manann but Chaos exists in the form of '''Mermedus''', the Norscan god of the sea, that's considered by some to be an even more edgy version of Stromfels. Notable that most Norscans don't even like him, because all who die at sea are claimed by him and denied entry to their patrons realm, except for the Skaelings who drown prisoners of war and animals for him after battles and raids. He's described as a ghoulish and bulbous figure that walks on the sea floor, covered in eyes and bloated like a drowned person. This is odd, as Stromfels' Avatar, Harbinger of Stromfels, looked like a Giant with a Tentacle where each of the Arms would be and the Head of a Shark.

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.

In Age of Sigmar, he apparently is still worshipped by pirates in one area of Ghyran, and was worshipped by a tribe of Gargants in Azyr before Sigmar cleansed the realm of Chaos.

====Tristaris====
[[Image: Tristaris.jpg|200px|right|]]
Tristaris was a Minor Chaos Goddess of Misery, with a minor interest in knowledge. Represents the misery brought about by knowledge of Chaos' ultimate victory. Sounds like Tzeentch's perfect girl, a big tiddy goth nerd GF.

*'''Blissbane:''' (also known as ''Wailing Woman of Misery'', ''Mistress of Distress'', or ''Gaunt Spirits of Lamentation'') This infernal creatures look like haggard, ghostly women with wild hair and gaunt, wrinkled bodies. They wear white shroud like clothes and are translucent to the eye. The Blissbanes emit occasional shrieks of pure misery as well as sudden bursts of maniacal laughter. They can pass through any obstacle as though they were ethereal, but are also incapable of manipulating any material objects. Often Blissbanes appear in groups of four, the number of Tristaris.
*'''Sloathe:''' (also known as ''Mounts of Misery'', ''Hunching Beasts of Suffering'', or ''Steeds of Tristaris'') The sloathes are bear sized creatures with four legs and short curved claws. The creatures have no heads and appear to be made almost entirely of layer upon layer of dark rags and shrouds. They make low grunting and grumbling sounds as they walk. The sloathes lash out with their claws in combat, and they have the ability to collapse into a pile of useless rags. The rags may be scattered by the wind or even burnt up; but unless every single one of them is destroyed the creature can return to its normal shape from any one of the pieces.
*'''Humanwood Tree:''' (also known as ''Oaks of Despair'', ''Petrified Eyes of Torment'', or ''Roots of Evil'') The humanwood trees are powerful demons that largely inhabit the groaning forests of misery in the pocket dimension that is Tristaris's realm in the chaos warp. The trees look like stubby, twisted oak trees with thick trunks and anguished human faces and bodies seemingly squirming about beneath their flexible bark. The trees speak a language that is their own and to hear it is to surely lose one's mind. All who hear the trees speaking will feel suffer from it as blood pours from their ears. The trees lash out with their branches and should the victom be caught the trees nine limbs will easily rip a held person to shreds. Strangly enough they are also immune to fire, somehting that would otherwise have been their main weakness.
*'''Sade:''' (also known as ''Screaming Devils of Sorrow'', ''Sobbing Lords of Tribulation'', or ''Jeering Lords of Languishing'') The Sades are Tristaris's greater demons. They look like gaunt red skinned men with long black beards, tiny horns from their foreheads and pointed chins. The Sades dress like nobles and their eyes are white and constantly streaming with bloody tears. Each of them carries a large, gleaming sickle. They also each carry a Lash of Lament and have long claws which they can use in close quarters. The Sades must consume twice their weight in living hearts each day that they exist in the material world if they are summoned.

====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]].

====Vymnn====
A Minor Chaos god who was only known as the master of the Daemon Prince Hakrii, who Atagro slayed (Hakrii, not Vymnn) in his quest for Daemon Princehood himself.

====Zhedun====
A Chaos God of gnawing, eternal hunger, who represents how Chaos would destroy itself if it ever won in the end, being dependent on sapient mortal thought for sustenance.

Daemons of Zhedun are known as Devouring Fiends (a.k.a. Mawed Ones, or Devourers) creatures ruled entirely by their own voracious appetite. They stands well over six feet tall, stooped, with atrophied arms but strong legs, and their heads are comprised mostly of a giant gaping jaw filled with massive teeth. Often they will stop at fallen foes, devouring their bodies in their Chaos-spawned hunger.

====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.

Makes an appearance in [[Total War: WARHAMMER|Total War: WARHAMMER III]], where [[God-Slayer|Daniel]] can get an event where you can communicate with him and get his blessing, as he considers you important in disrupting the balance of Chaos.

====Ziraad, Thain, Blazzach and Javate====
4 Minor Chaos Gods known among the people of Araby, mentioned in Atagro's backstory as the gods worshipped by 4/6 members of his BATTLE-HAREM, the last 2 being a one of Tzeentch and one of Slaanesh.

===The 9th Age===

The leader of the Dark Gods is a single presence called ‘’’“Father Chaos”’’’, and it is only by his will that they unite. He is as Chaos to them as Chaos is to a mortal. He somehow interacted with the Titans before the other Dark Gods existed, and Chaos cultists believe all souls originate from him and will eventually return to him. His actual stated goal is to "tear away the Veil separating him from Mother Cosmos" and "despoil her". Take it as a metaphor or literal as you will.
‘’’Savar The Fallen Star’’’: Pride (Khorne + Slaanesh). Seeks to conquer and defeat the most impressive enemies for his own glory, dismissing the weak as unworthy of attention. His Daemon colors are regal blues and purples with symbols of stars, crowns, and heraldry. His Herald is white and wears a crown. His mortal followers are those who feel entitled to more than their station grants, and his path is that of ignorant self-destruction. They are given the ability to elevate themselves and ignore the unworthy, making Savar a god of tyranny over the weak. He tempts the unrecognized, jealous, and ignored who (believe themselves to) possess positive attributes. Savar’s given origin was as a god-king of the mortal world who attempted to enforce his rule over the others (so Savar is possibly another blatant refutation of Age Of Sigmar), and was cast out of their pantheon only to join Chaos instead. He isn’t actually picky about whether or not his followers actually possess positive attributes, instead considering those who praise him as deserving of power and majesty. Those who truly are skilled are converted to him using shame and frustration to lure them into a path of arrogance and selfishness.

‘’’Kuulima The Lady Of Flies’’’: Communism Envy, Nurgle minus the durability. Kuulima minions default to green but in truth they have no consistent color, or even form, as they are described as taking on the form and colors of those who they deceive. Her Herald is similarly without a defined form, its presence heralded by an eclipse and blood moon suddenly happening at the same time as an earthquake when it appears. Her followers are often found among the already diseased, particularly lepers since no inquisitor would bother to police them. Even among Chaos Kuulima is considered mad, and is a metaphorical “fly on the wall” on the plans of others since plots and scheming are also part of her portfolio. Her dogma is “nothing has true value unless compared to all”, and her path is a reactionary one rather than a proactive one. Kuulima tempts the jealous and ignored. Unlike Savar who elevates the worshiper, Kuulima brings enemies down to the level of the supplicant or the masses, although the message of equality is not a rule since some among them use all others as a means for ever-increasing gain. Her symbols are heraldry, armor, and weapons but unlike Savar who creates heraldry and Vanadra who creates wargear, Kuulima’s icons are stolen and mismatched in style. Use of flies as symbols marks her followers more obviously. Its implied in her Primal lore that she wasn’t originally wa Chaos God, coming to power because she desired “one of the god’s great halls”. Kuulima’s current and most active plot is a form of leprosy that infects Elves that an Elf scholar coordinated with her to create and spread before he was caught, despite being a race normally immune to disease, due to him always jealous of the superior looks of his race, and even mortal humans, to himself. She is also the only Dark God to punish the wicked in a form of afterlife by claiming the souls of those who sowed divisiveness in life, cutting them in half but keeping both parts alive, and forcing them to populate her cities full of every imaginable architecture alongside the constantly shapeshifting insectoid Daemons.

‘’’Vanadra The Adversary’’’: Wrath, Khorne. Vanadra‘s colors are red and black, and she sends her minions to end peace wherever it is found in the mortal world in her negative side of the portfolio, but she also spreads the message of punishing traitors and righting injustices. All that matters is revenge for any sleight real or imagined, and literally all things are worthy sacrifices to that goal. Her Herald has massive wings and never strikes an opponent first, allowing them a single blow before it kills them. Vanadra’s army are vanguards of the Daemon armies of Father Chaos. She tempts the oppressed and ignored as well as those who have been wronged by others, promising either retribution or vengeance. She herself wears armor in her colors, red for fresh blood with black gauntlets as though covered in gore. She uses baboons and lions as symbols. Her origins are a “Primal spurn”, and its impled she lead the slave rebellions against the Saurians (Lizardmen).

‘’’Sugulag The Collector’’’: Greed, Nurgle minus the diseases. His Herald is black as well as large and fat and carries Sugulag’s own weighing scale which he uses to value the souls of mortals like coins. His Daemons are the color of warm precious metals, such as brass and gold. Sugulag tempts the greedy, envious, jealous, and paranoid. Anyone with ambition to gain regardless if by wit or strength. Thieves, raiders, schemers, smugglers, merchants, and so on. Like Kuulima his posessions were taken rather than created, though by all means rather than only by stealing. Sugulag himself even collects mortal objects, claiming whatever is lost for his followers since their property is really HIS property. His symbols are coins chained together, or objects gilded with gold with Daemon iconography, always pointed outwards towards others (or more specifically what they own). Sugulag’s positive is generosity towards the loyal (insert Trump joke here). His Primal origin is as a greedy man obsessed with money, who offended the mortal realm gods by moving on to collecting and trading in souls. He’s also something of a prankster, distributing cursed coins in the mortal realm which inspire intense all-consuming insane greed in those who possess them, which can easily be passed on to another person...once they have lost everything else.

‘’’Nukuja The Sleeper’’’: Sloth, Tzeentch with some Nurgle themes. Her Herald is described as pale (and depicted as a white bird covered in dust and cobwebs) with the face of a Strix (a mythological bird from Greek myth which heralds doom) and bears the symbol of the Eye of Nukuja which it all covers with its vulture wings (so its a Lord Of Change). It is described as merely standing and channeling great magic while watching events or showing mortals what they want to see as if they themselves were present. Her colors are dirty white and any kind of rust. Nukuja foretells doom and destruction, and she sees all things that unfold and can predict accurately the deaths of mortals. Her followers watch it unfold, surviving until it comes. She tempts the grim, hopeless, fearful, and curious. Her symbol is the locust as well as anything timeless, and her followers use antique gear which is fully functional despite the appearance of rust and neglect. Her positive trait is that she does not cause any misery, merely foretells it and watches it pass by. Her Daemons are considered amiable, granting whatever sights are requested because they rarely have need of any boon in return, and have the patience for even minor complaining if a summoner just wants someone to listen to their stories. They have immense power but rarely any reason to use it, being removed from the squabbles and politics of the rest of Chaos other than observing and providing information. She lacks a Primal origin, instead being “witness to the first awakening” implying either to have never been a mortal, or to have been a created mortal by the Titans and witness (or mother?) to the first natural birth. Her followers revere her because of her knowledge, with no implication she will share it but instead that her devoted are companions who observe what she does with the same patience.

Akaan, appearing as Slaanesh’s vore/inflation fetish
‘’’Akaan The Devourer’’’: Gluttony, Nurgle minus the diseases with Slaanesh themes. Akaan was somehow born disfigured and as a result he made a “Primal pledge” to consume all beautiful things. His followers preach that ugliness is a blessing, all forms of restraint to physical appetite is HERESY, and all things will eventually submit for consumption for Akaan’s satisfaction. Akaan’s Herald is a creature with a toothed mouth which has no mind, merely consuming and growing fat off its eternal feast. His followers spread hunger and sow ruin in their wake, as curses lead peasants to consume all stores of food and animals before turning on each other, the dead rapidly consumed by bacteria as if in fast-forward. Akaan’s colors are the darker shades of brown and green, the colors of rot. Tempts those of all physical appetites. They are drawn into a spiral of indulgence, twisting into new forms as they seek constant gratification. Blood, drink, and flesh; all physical hungers. They destroy all beauty in their appetites, leaving nothing behind. His followers leave their mouths exposed in armor and clothing, and are disfigured by his blessings which take the form of disease. The lamprey is his symbol.

Cibaresh The Tempter: Lust, pure Slaanesh. Cibaresh’s colors are shades of violet and blue, and her Daemons steal souls from the mortal world who’s lust and indulgence catches her attention. Her Herald is a massive golden Daemon who’s scythe hands hum and remove the cares from those it tends to, while lesser Daemons have golden cat-like eyes. While Slaanesh's Daemonettes tend to lean female while possessing an intentionally unpleasant 50/50 male/female appearance (or at least in modern art and models), Cibaresh's Daemons skew more towards one or the other while maintaining a more attractive androgyny (so basically Cibaresh is more the god of traps than Slaanesh). Cibaresh tempts sadists, masochists, the lusty, the indulgent, and any corrupters who draw others into their aberrancy, although those in need of comfort like the destitute or the oppressed are equally drawn to Cibaresh. They push the senses of their foes and the innocent to the limit until they join Cibaresh. Ordinary folk are indulged in ways their meager earnings cannot afford and their culture/lifestyle forbids, with any sort of fun and celebration being Cibaresh’s positives. Cibaresh enjoys temptation of all beings, leading them away from their convictions onto new paths. Her followers wear masks which are mostly beautiful and all unsettling, and they display lips and tongues as their iconography. Despite all the skills of Cibareshi in outmaneuvering their foes, random unthinking shrieking berserker rages can provide enough defense to survive in combat against them. Cibrash owns a place in the mortal realm, in a Shangri-La-like valley nestled in white mountains where her followers of all races indulge in their pleasure alongside Daemonic servants so long as they spend several months each year as a missionary of Cibaresh's cult. The Primal origin of Cibaresh is less clear, stated to have been born of “pure desire, the Father for the Mother” implying an asexual birth from Father Chaos. His ultimate goal is even less clear, “seeking to recreate that Primal spark, Lord of all lightning”.

===Warhammer 40,000===
====Balphomael====
[[File:Balphomael.png|200px|right]]
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 Baal, Baphomet and Samael. The art above is from a Dark Heresy book. Also of note is his cult, "The Brotherhood of Horned Darkness", which has a considerable amount of influence in the Calixis Sector and once even became the dominant economic force in the sector via a front organization. Despite multiple attempts from agents of the Ordo Malleus to destroy the cult, they have so far only been able to force them to go underground where they make preparations to return to power once more.

====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 daemonic minions in the form of Warp Spectres, roiling, constantly changing masses of hideous-energy-being Daemons (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.

Some baseless fan speculation could be made that Phraz-Etar could be the Patron God of the Apemen of The Southlands, the regional Beastmen variant who are probably the equivalent of the common Gor births that plague Old World villages for the unlucky African equivalent villages in that jungle land. This is due to the existence of the popular "Frazetta Man" trope of degenerate Apemen started by Frank Frazetta himself in illustrations for Conan the Barbarian comic stories.

====Raptor God====
The minor god worshipped by the [[Chaos Raptor]]s, responsible for turning them from standard [[Assault Squad|Assault Marines]] to the mercenaries they currently are, and maybe also the one that turns them into [[Warp Talons]].

====[[Vashtorr]] the Arkifane====
A demigod born from the desire to create and invent, given power over the Forge of Souls. He acts as the Chaos Gods' arms dealer and chief weaponsmith, making him too valuable for any of the Big Four to attack. Currently working with [[Abaddon]] to create the Arks of Omen in the hopes of expanding his influence into the Materium so he can become a true Chaos God. Many Warpsmiths and members of the Dark Mechanicus revere him, but he wants more.

====Ysarille the Daemon-King====
According to an Eisenhorn book, Ysarille was a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch from a time before the Eldar first went to space, before Slaanesh was born, and who gained enough power that he became capable of creating his own Daemons/Daemon Princes, basically making him a lesser Chaos God. He went to battle with his former master, and after a billion-year battle, Tzeentch finally killed Ysarille. His surviving Daemons took his body and fled, setting up a Tomb world for him on the planet Ghúl, and their own Daemon Empire of 600 worlds surrounding planet Ghúl, in exile from the Warp. Cherubael, Gregor Eisenhorn's minion who takes the form of a Daemonhost by possessing the corpse of Gregor's former colleague Godwyn Fischig, was one of Ysarille's servants.

===Age of Sigmar===

All Warhammer Fantasy Gods, presumably. Zuvassin and Necoho are explicitly active.

====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. Maybe a modern take on Zhedun?

====Eightfold Watcher====
Some sort of Chaos-Spider-Godbeast worshipped by the Tarantulos Brood. From Warcry Red Harvest. It's unknown if it has a rivalry with the Spider-God of the Spiderfang Grots.

====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. Maybe like Great Horned Rat, he'll get his own race of worshippers someday. Chaos Kenku, anyone?

====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 injured and its descendants are called Coiling Ones, worshipped by the Splintered Fang. At least that's what the Coiling Ones claim to be.

===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/ The Great Beast===
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.

This actually ties in with older Warhammer Fantasy lore where insane scholars theorized that the 4 Chaos Gods were merely Aspects of a larger god of Chaos Undivided, "The Great Beast".

{{ChaosGods}}

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

Gnoblar

2023-02-14T22:31:22Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

[[File:Gnoblars.png|There's nose escape!|thumb|right|500px]]
A subtype of [[Orcs & Goblins|Goblins]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy]], known for their big floppy ears, beak like noses, and being the personal bitches of the Ogres.
Note that they have their own army, [[Gnoblar Horde: The Unwashed Masses]].
==Lore==
===Fantasy===
Gnoblars are small greenskins that evolved to their current state when Ogres moved from the mountains of the Giants to the Mountains of Mourn and kept them as pets/rations.

Gnoblars have the place of being the singularly most mistreated beings in either Warhammer setting, as Ogres see them somewhere between vermin-like insects that are simply a fact of life to deal with, or very low and undepletable slaves. Sometimes as food if there's nothing better around (they’re noted as tasting very stringy and overall unpleasant to eat), although some Gnoblars wind up in the position of "favorite hunting dog" as long as the Ogre can remember them. On rarer occasions, the Ogres will adore gnoblars almost as pets or playthings, resulting in the little buggers creating their own microcosms within the Ogre tribe.

Gnoblars see Ogres as a mix of living gods and eternal masters. They differ from Goblins in that they are much smaller and dumber, and while Goblins have pronounced noses the face of a Gnoblar is mostly nose giving them a beaky appearance. The resemblance to a Jim Henson Muppet character may not be a simple coincidence, as the concept artist for Ogre Kingdoms, Paul Jeacock, had previously worked for Jim Henson's Creature Studio London as a sketch artist (White Dwarf #301). Make of that what you will.

Gnoblars are just as cruel as Goblins, torturing and killing anything smaller or weaker than themselves, fighting with intent to kill over stupid reasons, and laughing at the misfortune of other Gnoblar. This last trait is even more extreme than Goblins, as Gnoblar don't panic or feel fear when other Gnoblar suffer; a Gnoblar right next to them being eaten by a dragon is far more amusing than frightening, and a horde of Gnoblar fleeing past from an unknown assailant is cause for mockery instead of concern.

Gnoblars are hoarders, obsessively collecting anything they can pick up although those in service to Ogres find their good stuff taken away. As a result, most independant are found carrying inexhaustible amounts of "Sharp Things" to throw and cause modest damage, and can even be found carrying magical gear befitting a Dwarf Thane or a High Elf Archmage rather than a small goblinoid.
A possibly related feature of Gnoblars is their ludicrous extremes of luck. A Gnoblar could easily trip and fall and break their neck as they could best a Chaos Champion (also probably by tripping), find and eat a poison mushroom as find a magical world-saving/destroying artifact, find a tasty snake to skin alive and eat raw as find a dragon's tail that they attempt to do the same to before realizing it isn't a snake.

Gnoblars who are favored by an Ogre have one of their ears bitten off (each bite mark being uniquely shaped as no two Ogres have the same teeth pattern), and assume the rank among Gnoblars that their master has among Ogres. They are extremely hierarchical, and come in the following ranks:
* '''Lords:''' Equivalent to a Tyrant. Supreme masters of the Gnoblars. Paranoid as hell, immediately order Woodbellies to kill any Gnoblar they see as a threat.
* '''Tooth-Gnoblars:''' Servants to Butchers and Slaughtermasters, the priesthood of Ogres. Although high-ranking, they suffer among the most of any Gnoblar as they are tasked with gathering chunks of meat, and often end up so covered in blood they are indistinguishable as anything more than jiggling fat to their masters.
* '''Trappers:''' Servants to the Ogres who gather food for their race. They lay a myriad of traps all around the outskirts of the Ogre camp and leave them there until the shrill sounds of something caught in a trap alerts them. Well-respected, although often used as bait.
* '''Manbiters:''' Gnoblars who serve Maneaters, and travel the world with their master. They recount the tales of their master to other Gnoblars which sometimes reaches the ears of other Ogres. Gnoblar Manbiters aren't above serving other races as mercenaries independent of their Ogre either, and are the most common greenskin to be found working alongside non-greenskins (although its worth noting Gnoblars are fairly more bungling and annoying to any civilized race than useful).
* '''Torch Gnoblars:''' Leadbelcher servants. Used to light cannons for their masters, and have suffered from burns, soot-blackened skin, and blindness as a result. Trying to paint your models like these may be...[[Pygmy|awkward]] in some company...
* '''Woodbellies:''' Irongut Gnoblars. Serve as the enforcers for the Gnoblar Lord in the same way their masters are enforcers for the Tyrant. Are somewhat independent as far as Gnoblars go.
* '''Bullies:''' Ogre Bull servants. Their rank in Gnoblar society is purely based on their size alone, and they act like their masters do other Ogres towards any Gnoblar smaller than themselves.
* '''Fighters:''' The most basic Gnoblars who have any sort of respect from any sort of Ogre. Since they're unwilling to do grunt work as they can claim they're better than that, they mostly just wait for fights in which they will join on behalf of the Ogres.
* '''Scum:''' The dumbest, weakest, smallest Gnoblar. Also any Gnoblar of superior quality who hasn't had an Ogre dote on them. Scum do not participate in battles and just do the work of the Ogres from gathering simple food like insects, leftovers on the ground or stuck in fat folds/clothing for other meals, and other assorted basic tasks. They're fairly useless at anything complex, and as a result rarely do anything important enough for an Ogre to take notice and bite their ear because otherwise they wouldn't be Scum still.

Note that more variants exist, but only among the independant Gnoblar.

===[[40k]]===
Gnoblar don't properly exist in 40k, although it can be fairly said that [[Gretchin]], the 40k equivalent of Goblins, are much more like Gnoblar than they actually are Goblins and serve [[Orks]] in the same way that Gnoblar serve Ogres.

===[[Age of Sigmar]]===
Gnoblars somehow survived the destruction of the old setting alongside their masters, although how isn't clear how as they had no representation with [[Gork]] or [[Mork]] (or possibly rather [[Gorkamorka (Deity)|Gorkamorka]]).

They originally came from Chamon, the scrap-filled region of Skrappa-Spill to be precise, and were commonly known as Junk-Grots. They enjoyed sifting through the rubble and refuse for anything shiny or sharp (or both) to throw at each other, and trapping/torturing anything that wandered into their turf. Unfortunately, being literally the smallest sentient creature in existence, they were bullied and trod upon by their much bigger and meaner cousins (Orruks in particular liked to pull off their ears, like a kid plucking the wings off a fly). Thus they made a deal with the even larger [[Ogor Mawtribes]]; gnoblars would serve the Ogors as a worker caste in exchange for their protection from Orruks and Grots. The Ogors agreed to the terms, partly because Gnoblars didn’t taste too good to begin with.

Their role in the Mawtribes is almost roughly the same as Fantasy Battle, though they do seem to be slightly better treated than their predecessors, though this could be down to word choice or AoS in general being more noblebright. The fact that they negotiated their current arrangement with the Ogors instead of true enslavement probably also had a hand in their better situation. Along with evidence that the Ogors actually generally appreciate the Gnoblars doing the tasks that disinterest them (in their own blunt way of course). They’ve also put more emphasis on their obsession with collecting junk and building things from said junk. These Gnoblars are also smart enough to reverse engineer Duardin gunpowder for their Ogor masters to use, something even the Ogors themselves were unable (or unwilling) to do. Again demonstrating their worth in their symbiotic relationship with the Mawtribes. On occasion even an Ogor Tyrant in desperate need (or just not enough Ogors immediately available) will take swarms of Gnoblars on the field of battle. While individually very weak their vast numbers can overwhelm an unwary opponent (being shivved from a thousand different angles by sharp objects).

==The 9th Age==

==On The Tabletop==
Gnoblar Fighters are the basic form of Gnoblar. They're simple [[Tarpit]] models that fulfill the roles of flank protection, flank chargers, or basic tarpit. They cost a mere 2.5 points per model, making them the second cheapest in the game (and the only one to use a decimal for point cost). They also cause absolutely no Panic tests for being broken, making them the ideal throwaway Unit.

Even better, for 25 points a Unit can be upgraded to Trappers which cause Dangerous Terrain tests to enemies that charge them which is a splendid defense against horde formation enemies.

Their role is roughly the same in AoS, though now they can be buffed by a Tyrant making them immune to Battleshock, which when combined with their larger unit sizes makes for a pretty good wall of bodies.

While not an absolute must, Ogre players still love the little Gnoblars in most lists.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Gnoblar Fighters.png|Games Workshop model Gnoblars.
</gallery>

[[Category:Ogre Kingdoms]] [[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]] [[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Warriors of Chaos

2023-02-14T22:29:52Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

[[File:All_Fear_the_Wrath_of_the_Norscans.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Vikings FTW!]]
{{topquote|To the ordinary, we are unknowable. Fallen. Corrupted. Rightly feared. You cannot understand our orgins, our motives... the dawning realisation that we are ''not'' fallen. We. Are. '''Ascended.'''|[[Archaon|Archaon the Everchosen]]}}

{{topquote|Moving up and fighting the best keeps me hungry.|Nonito Donaire}}

{{topquote|Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, 'Come.' I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.|Revelation 6:1-2}}

[[Old School Roleplaying|Remember when the followers of the Dark Gods were badass Viking warriors in awesome looking plate armour]] and weren't [[Chaos Space Marines|emo Space Marines]] under the thrall of [[Abaddon|an armless failure]]? Remember when they were led by completely fucking crazy motherfuckers who wrestled fucking Bloodthirsters to the ground as a bloody initiation ritual and rode around on chariots pulled by skinless bears and rode horses fed on human flesh and watered down with blood and had awesome beards rivalled only by Dwarfs? Pepperidge Farm remembers. These are the '''Warriors of Chaos''' (formerly '''Hordes'''), the granddaddies of all that is [[Awesome]] in the Chaos Space Marines, the original Champions of Chaos.

Additionally, every time the words "devout", "cruel", "savage", and synonyms of those show up in the following article, take a swig. I can guarantee that you will at least be drunk (unless you are, in fact, a chaos warrior yourself, in which case you would need to drink a gallon for every derp on the [[Derp]] page (enough to get 6 fully packed Yankee stadiums completely hammered, in case you're wondering)). As you should be, considering you're reading about Vikings.

==Brief Foreword==
Nostalgia aside, you can't truly call yourself a fan of Chaos or Warhammer in general without having at least a cursory knowledge of these guys. These guys are the very essence of Warhammer: baroque plate armour, skulls, Vikings, mutations, Michael Moorcock, J.R.R Tolkien, Hieronymus Bosch, H.P Lovecraft and Heavy Metal; everything that was put in together and left to boil to produce the two most grimdark settings in the history of mankind is encapsulated in these guys. The first edition of Warhammer Fantasy had one of them displayed proudly on it, for Odin's sake (the now legendary [[Harry the Hammer]], the TRUE reason why Warhammer is called Warhammer, check out Harry's new model, it kicks ass). Like it or not, these guys were what forged Warhammer for a lot of people. To this day, no game based on it feels complete without dark armoured marauding warriors of the Nordic or [[Chaos Space Marine|sci-fi]] persuasion. So read on, and see their glory in full.

'''tl;dr''': '''MOTHERFUCKING CHAOS [[Viking|VIKINGS]], MAN!!!'''

If you watch some of the Viking shit that is part of the current minor renaissance in sword-and-longboat fantasy that's been going on in television lately, like ''The Last Kingdom'', you might think that the portrayal of Vikings is not that far off. And arguably, it isn't; they got up to some pretty [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_eagle deranged Khornate shit]. But of course, history was written by the people who they were murder-raping in the name of <s>Khorne</s>Odin. It's pretty much beyond dispute, though, that theirs was a culture very much centered upon raiding (literally what ''viking'' means, more or less) and being a badass warrior; you couldn't get to Valhalla unless you died by a weapon strike or childbirth. (Drunken accident? Old age? Getting poisoned or stabbed in the back? Too bad, it's off to Niflheim, the domain of Hel--one 'l', that's after the goddess who reigned there, and no, it wasn't hot, it was motherfucking cold.) Pretty fucking Khornate if you ask me.

They are also the only non-Imperial Guard army to have not been fucked over completely beyond all redemption by the foul [[Cruddace]].

==Fantasy Overview==
In the beginning, the Old Ones came to the Warhammer World and set about doing their crazy magical genetic engineering bullshit. Then, for whatever non-reason the Polar Gates at the top and bottom of the world that they had constructed to ward off Chaos gave out and the world was corrupted and consumed by it. Depending on who you ask, either this event is what birthed Chaos and the Chaos Gods, or they came first and helped cause it. Who knows? The Old Ones fucked off, and left races of Dwarfs and Elves and Slaan. But a fourth creation also that was not fully equipped to resist the influence of Chaos, and of course, this was Man. Mankind was unfinished, and the warpstones that flew from the Northern polar wastes caused the acceleration of physical and cultural progress and, most importantly, of the human mind. The races of men gained a vigor and fire from the power of Chaos that drove them to great heights of glory and caused them to surpass the manufactured races of the Old Ones. In many ways, the history of Chaos ''is'' the history of mankind in the Warhammer world, serving as a dark reflection of what corrupted humanity can look like, the civilized soldiers and benevolent Order Gods of the South mirrored by the barbaric warriors and the cruel, fickle Chaos Gods of the North. It was only fitting that some tribes amongst Humanity would come to worship the various Gods of Chaos, namely the best-known four of them (and a long time ago [[Chaos Gods of Law|some others that GW sadly forgot about]] and [[Malal|another they were contractually forced to forget about.]])

The most notable of these was the Norsii. who would later be feared by all of the Old World as the fierce '''Norse''', the most brutal and devout worshipers of Chaos. They were joined by their cousins as well, the brutal '''Kurgan''' of the Eastern Steppes and the squat and ferocious (yet anatomically gifted in certain areas) '''Hung'''. These are the three Great Races of Men, for it is they alone who are favored by the mighty Gods. Together, they are the Northmen, and they shall make the World tremble.

On the tabletop, the Warriors of Chaos tend to be unstoppable close combat powerhouses (as they should be, they're Vikings), with little in the way of ranged fire support. Very melee oriented, even their sorcerers can be thrown into melee and be expected to hold their own. They have very powerful magic that can be used to supplement their incredible power. They have extremely powerful Lord choices who might very well be the most powerful generic lords in the game. They have a pretty high points cost, though, so you're going to be outnumbered. On the other hand, that shouldn't bother you too much because they're badasses. The problem is that you have a predictable play style and are more or less ineffective if you can't get into melee. Movement phases are important, especially in fantasy, so think about how you move your forces. Despite it being a predictable play style, it's still easy to grasp and simple to use, which also makes the Warriors a good starting army. Also, because of the low model count since these guys have a large point cost, it doesn't cost that much by GW standards to put a good army together. So, if you like Vikings in spiky armor, get the Warriors.

==The Men of the North==
The twisted northlands of [[Norsca]] and the [[Eastern Steppes]] straddle the line between mere mortality and the realm of the immortal, for they the closest of the realms to the foul Chaos Wastes and the portal that leads to the realm of the Chaos Gods. Known as Rainsheim amongst the Norse, and a dozen other names amongst those others who dare to treat with Chaos; Northman or Southman. The power of Chaos has corrupted all the lands of the world, but as the distance from the pole decreases, the influence of Chaos increases. And so, the men of Norsca and the Kurgan realms are saturated with the power of the gods.

The men who dwell in the Northlands are, for the most part, barbarous and savage compared to those who live in the settled lands to the south. They are not physically unlike other men and, in times of peace, merchants from the Norse and Kurgan can be found trading their wares in the markets of cosmopolitan cities such as Marienburg in the west and the Hung can be found doing the same in Weijin in the east. Yet, in some other forms, they are unlike their fellows to the South. For they worship evil Gods of Blood, Decay, Scheming, and Debauchery and live brutal, primitive lives of war. Most lamentably, they all live directly under the shadow of Chaos and are slaves to its Will.

Depending on what version of the lore you go with, not all of Norsca is enthralled to Chaos. Old material mentions tribes and whole kingdoms living and coexisting with the Southlands, some even taking to worshiping other Gods like [[Ulric]]. Some of these tribes are even mentioned as fighting Chaos and trying to steer their brethren away from falling victim to it. Again, this varies quite a bit between editions and even within editions themselves.

The men of the Northlands have many different gods. Most are daemons and valorous dead or ascended Champions of Chaos deified by their tribes (a practice especially common with the Norse) or manifestations of the natural world (as is common amongst the Kurgan), but all the Northmen owe their highest worship to the Four Great Gods of Chaos, whom they readily recognize as the masters of these lesser deities. The Northmen do not think of the Chaos Gods as evil, as the superstitious men of the South are wont to. But as individuals, they are as unpredictable as mortals. Thus, the Northmen reasonably maintain that such powerful entities are beyond the moral judgment of men. It is thus every warrior's duty to honour the gods in all walks of life. Such things are self-evident. To deny the gods and not worship them would be foolish, their existence in the North is a simple fact of life; evident in the mark of Khorne proudly displayed by a Norscan marauder as he leaps from his longship to savage Imperial soldiers with his daemonic strength, or in the mark of Tzeentch borne by a Kurgan rider as he fells a Kislevite warrior with his new-found blade of bone in place of a hand. To resent this state of affairs would be like resenting the sunrise or the wind - What would it accomplish?

The Four are known by many names amongst the people of the North. Nonetheless, all the Gods are recognized by them. And it is not uncommon for the tribes to choose one god amongst them as a patron (the Norse tribes commonly take Khorne as theirs, while some tribes of the Kurgan may choose Tzeentch) - who is seen as the father and protector of their kindred. Lesser gods and daemons are also worshiped, along with great heroes peculiar to a particular tribe who are often chieftains who died such glorious deaths that they were raised to sit beside the god of their tribe in eternal glory.

Though they may seem barely civil in times of peace, the Norse, Kurgan and Hung are vicious races of bloodthirsty warriors. Used to battling amongst themselves - war is their natural state and they wage it without concern or prejudice. They rejoice in battle and strength at arms, and honour the brave of both sides while despising the cowards likewise. Yet they are willing to forget their differences when the Gods command them to fight on their behalf. For there is no greater joy than to fight and die in the armies of the immortals.

===The Daemon Norse===
{{topquote|From the harsh snowlands they come. Blond of hair they are, and blue of eye, and tattoos upon arms and face and chest. Their eyes are mad with bloodlust, for blood they thirst for, driven forth on the whims of the Gods they seek to appease. Clad in but few garments and wielding clumsy, brutal axes and maces, they rage against the civilized lands of the south, burning, pillaging, looting all before them to offer up as sacrifice to their uncaring masters beyond the gates of hell in the Northern Wastes.|The Liber Chaotica as penned by Richter Kleiss, former Priest of Sigmar}}

The Norse of Norsca are the most brutal, fierce and savage followers of the Chaos Gods in the Warhammer world. They are the tallest, most physically strong race in the Old World, raised amongst a culture that respects only strength and the ability to kill and closeness to the Primordial Gods. All of Norsca is in the thrall of Chaos, corrupting the mountainous wasteland with the essence of change that seeps not only into man and beast but the very ground itself. Mutations are so common as to be universal among the Norscans, seen as signs of blessings from the Chaos Gods. Mighty warbands prowl the mainland and the horrific mountain ranges that connects the lands of the Norse to the Chaos Wastes. The seas about Norsca are filled with massive longships mastered by the terrible Chaos Champions and their kinsmen who stride the seas searching for either artefacts, purchase by which they may wage war against the weak southlings as demanded by their Gods, or merely any other ship to vent their rage upon. When the call to war is given, the Norse are always at the forefront, tearing down all opposition and cleaving the way into the weak lands of Sigmar. The Norse are always on the warpath, launching continuous and brutal sea raids upon the heavily fortified coast of the Northern Empire and northern Kislev.

It should come as little surprise that the Norsemen are the most fiercely devout followers of Khorne, the God of War. And it is from the Norse that the majority of Khorne's followers are derived. Many Norse Champions of Chaos go on to be the most favored of Khorne's warriors; Cormac Bloodaxe, Scyla Anfingrimm, Hogan Headhacker, Haargroth the Blooded, Arbaal the Undefeated, Valmir Aesling, Hrothgar Daemonaxe, Urlfdaemonkin -- all savage Norse warriors who have risen to pre-eminence in the eyes of the Blood God. In fact, Khorne's own consort, Valkia the Bloody, has risen from the brutal clans of the Norse.

With such a track record, it was obvious that the Imperials would deny any idea that the Norse are even remotely human. Most theories tend to focus on their favour from the Dark Gods and use that as the bedrock for all kinds of claims. Due to them being incredibly strong, very tall and all warriors (at least, all those encountered commonly by the Imperials are such) and devoted to the Dark Gods, Imperials have come to the conclusions that the Norse are a race of superhumans, or that they are daemons shaped as men, or are half-giants. The truth, shaded in the fantastic as it is, is still more interesting.

Contrary to what the Imperials historians zealously claim; they are not the first ones to settle in the Reik basin. Even the Bretonnians and the Nehekharans have held a portion of the land that would later become the heart of the Empire, and the ancestors of the Norse were no different. Known as the Norsii, their ancestral homeland was indeed the frozen Wastes of Norsca. But some of their kinsmen migrated South to the lands that would become part of the Empire. The Norsii were ever the mighty and favored warriors of Chaos, as their descendants are. They were prone to waging bloody and terrible war upon the southern tribes, particularly the Udoses, Teutogens and Roppsmenn. The Norsii's reign of terror was only stopped by the hosts of the southlings gathering to drive them back to their frozen homeland. But from there they would rejoin their kinsmen who still dwelt in the North and return to continue their depredations. It was only Sigmar himself who managed to finally drive the Norsii hordes from the Empire. And only barely. It is a telling thing that the first defeat Sigmar ever suffered came at hands of the vicious Norsmen, led by the ancient Chaos Lord of Khorne: Cormac Bloodaxe.

The Norse are amongst the most fearsome and most devoted warriors of Chaos, but they are also devoted to their tribal affiliations. The tribe forms the very core of the Norse identity, as they are not a unified people by any means, and thus have no concept of nationality. A Norscan will never call himself such. He will identify himself based on tribe and parentage. A Varg will see his loyalties extend only to his immediate tribe and to a much lesser extent, others under the same confederation. After all, even amongst the various so called High Tribes, multitudes of lesser tribes and families will exist. For instance, under the Aesling High Tribe, there exists many other lesser clans owing allegiance to it; such as the Gorehunt, the Snaegr, Skrae and Untam. The various Norscan clans are divided into two main blocks for easy reference based on geography; the Northern tribes and the Southern tribes.

===The Northern Norscan Tribes===
*'''[[Aeslings]]''': The most dreaded and terrifying and powerful of the Norse High Tribes are the Aeslings. They are the most savage and brutal men of Norsca. Even among the other Northernmost Northman tribes they are held in fear. Only favour from the Gods and strength and excellence at arms are valued. [[Grimdark|Thus, they are a people who respect only strength and infants who do not measure to their standards of physical perfection are murdered outright with little fuss.]] While reprehensible, this combined with their constant warfare on others has forged a race who are undoubtedly some of the greatest warriors of all the Northmen. Amongst the Aesling tribes, it is [[Khorne]] who is worshiped above all other Gods and it is not uncommon for tribes to dedicate themselves solely to him. For even amongst the Norsemen, the Aeslings are a people who thrive on war. While one Champion of Chaos may master a crew of marauders who bring ruination on Erengrad or Nordland, another might lead his people in slaughtering the Norse Dwarfs or even their own Norse kinsmen. Even the Kurgans to the east are not safe from the Aeslings' reckless thirst for death, for it is often that an Aesling Jarl will lead his murderous kinsmen in preying upon the many roving Kurgan tribes, slaughtering them and offering up their lives to the vicious Chaos Gods. Their lust for killing has won them no friends, what few allies they have are bound to them by only fear and intimidation, for much like the god they worship, the Aes care not whence the blood flows.

*'''[[Vargs]]''': Another Northern tribe. The Vargs are the most twisted in body and soul of the Norse; they claim the Northern tundras as their lands and fought many horrific beasts to claim it, such as giants, beastmen and daemons of Chaos. They have managed to domesticate the fearsome mammoths of that area, and will often bear them to battle as beasts of war. The Vargs have a blood hatred of the Kurgans that dates backs to untold stretches of ancient history. Time has done little to dampen their hate, and they often mount massive raids into the Kurgan lands, which are joined by Aesling mercenaries, that wreak great devastation of the men of the Eastern Steppes. The Vargs are also dedicated warriors of Khorne, like the Aeslings, and are viciously devoted to his creed of death. The Vargs are said to have come from distant lands and settled in Norsca, led by their greatest and most legendary chieftain; a mighty Chaos Lord of Khorne known as Hrothgar Daemonaxe, who led them in conquering land and enslaving weaker tribes. Hrothgar later went deeper into the realms of the Gods and ascended to Daemonhood. The Vargs know Khorne by the name of ''Arkhar''. One day, a band of horny Varg maraduers decided to trouble the southerners. So, they travelled from all the way from northernmost part of Norsca to Nordland, hellbent on giving them a huuge trouble. And they did. One of these maraduers saw a random fisherman's beautiful wife and thought ''By the [[Slaanesh|Serpent]], that woman is hot. I am going to [[Rape|have fun]] with her.'' [[Grimdark|So he did]]. The result was the birth of a certain devout Templar Knight of Order of the Twin-Tailed Orb. What was his name? His name was [[Archaon|Diederick Kastnar]]. Sounds familiar? This makes the Vargs indirectly responsible for the [[Rage|destruction of Warhammer World]]. In the video game [[Total War: WARHAMMER]], they have a faction up in the Northern Norsca led by a chieftain named Surtha ''[[Meme|'''"BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION!"''']]'' Ek, who is known for slaughtering Southerners with the use of massive chariot tactics.

*'''[[Graelings]]''': The last of the Northern Norse tribes and the most westerly of the Norse, close to Elven lands and prone to raiding those places. They come into conflict with Dark Elven corsairs frequently and the terror of the villages and fortresses of Klar Karond. Though it is also said that when they are not killing them, the Graelings sell slaves culled from the southern lands and Ulthuan to the Dark Elves. They do not gravitate to one Chaos God over another, but are, like most Northman tribes, prone to celebrating Chaos in all its glory. Haargroth the Blooded rose up from this tribe.

===The Southern Norscan Tribes===
*'''[[Skaelings]]''': Sea raiders without equal, the Skaelings are perhaps [[Ork Kommando|the most cunning of the Norse]]. They are the closest of the Chaos worshipers to the southern lands, so it is not uncommon to find them raiding the South. During the Storm of Chaos, Skaeling sea-raiders were utilized to great effectiveness by the Lord of the End Times in harrying and diverting the fleets of Brettonia and Nordland. In addition to their veneration of the Chaos Gods, the Skaelings also worship another daemonic deity known as Mermedus, who some Imperial theologians consider to be a Norscan interpretation of Manann. Though there is little in common with the mighty Imperial sea-god and the abominable daemon the Skaelings make human sacrifices to. Others have considered Mermedus to be the Chaotic reflection of Stromfells, another ill-tempered deity of the sea. interestingly, their name is not a reference to the Vikings themselves, but to the people who lived around the north American colony of vinland, who they called the Skrælings. So the Skaelings may not be chaos Vikings, but rather Chaos Inuit.

*'''[[Baersonlings]]''': A people who would not be odd living in the North of Norsca, the Baersonlings are tireless reavers who are proud of their martial prowess, which is truthfully legendary even amongst the Northmen. Though they are not quite as strong and fierce as the Aeslings, they war with them frequently. Their relations with the Kurgan tribes is similarly icy, and their lands often stretch into the fringes of the Eastern Steppes, which invites war. Not that this disturbs the Baersonlings, war is just another way to glorify the Chaos Gods. They are known for their copious body hair and a strange Chaos mutation that transforms them into unstoppable bear-like monstrosities. Beorg Bearstruck, a powerful Champion of Chaos, and his marauder tribe, the Bearmen of Urslo, are descended from this strain of the Norse nation.

*'''[[Sarls]]''': The Sarls are rugged barbarian warriors. Mighty and indomitable and devoted to the Dark Powers, they have distinguished themselves in the armies of the Chaos Gods often. Wulfrik the Wanderer, one of the greatest Champions of Chaos and executioner of the Chaos Gods rose from these people. The Sarl also destroyed the last and most terrible of the treeblood, using the bark harvested from the creature to create the second ''Seafang'' of [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] after the first was lost in a raid on the Elves. Oh and this clan was destroyed after Wulfrik fucked it up by killing the chieftain son and rival clan puppet leader to once again incite the civil war between the two.

*'''[[The Hobbit|Bjorn]]lings''': Little is known of this tribe. But among them are the Crow Brothers, devout warriors of Nurgle.

*'''[[Rotbloods]]''': A tribe of Nurgle worshippers, mentioned in [[Vermintide]] and an enemy faction in the sequel. A tribe driven to such desperation that they not only primarily worship Nurgle (rare for Norscans) but even thought it would be smart to [[derp|ally with]] [[Skaven]]. The champion Bovarr Ribspreader leads their war parties in the south. Thanks to the Skaven created Skittergate, they got to give Helmsgart an early preview of the End Times during the fighting, though they got smashed in [[Vermintide 2]] and Bödvarr was cut down.

===Famous Norse Chaos Champions===
"''I pity you and all the world, for amongst all the races of men, the gods favour we Norse alone''."

*'''[[Morkar the Uniter]]''': The First Everchosen of Chaos; Morkar was the survivor of an Imperial raid upon his village in the aftermath of the defeat of Cormac Bloodaxe's horde at the gates of Middenheim. He rose up to become the greatest Champion of Chaos of his generation and united the Norse tribes in his quest to gain the mark of the gods. He reaped many great conquests and honour and fear were heaped upon his name. No foe could withstand his rage in battle and no enemy was beyond his keen mind to defeat. Eventually, he was crowned as the Eternal Conqueror of the Gods by Be'lakor and led the vengeful Norsemen and their Kurgan allies in unmaking the decadent Empire. He was only defeated narrowly in single combat with Sigmar himself (pre retcon it was Aenarion who killed him). After his death, his body was taken by his kinsmen and buried in a great cairn in the Chaos Wastes. A sliver of Morkar's spirit remained in the armour long after his death, left to brood over his defeat and to forever curse the name of the cowardly Sigmar who derailed his great conquest by his craven single combat. (Let it never be said that, whatever his badass credentials, Morkar was NOT a sore loser.) Morkar the Uniter's rest was disturbed millennia after by his successor, Archaon, who sought the legendary indestructible armour of the First Everchosen in his quest for the 6 Treasures of Chaos; even in death, Morkar was too great for the Lord of the End Times to defeat in open battle. It was only by shouting a curse in the long dead tongue of the Unberogen tribe, the people of Sigmar, that Archaon was able to immobilize the reanimated armour of the dead Champion and defeat it, casting the last part of his spirit back to the Realm of Chaos and take the legendary armour for his own. To this day, Morkar's Chaos plate protects the Lord of the End Times, granting him the same incredible invulnerability as it did its former wearer.

*'''[[Cormac Bloodaxe]]''': One of the first great leaders of the Warriors of Chaos, and the first Champion of Chaos to be possessed by a greater daemon of Khorne. Cormac Bloodaxe, son of Varag Skulltaker, witnessed the rout of his people at the hand of the tyrant Sigmar. Though the Norsii fought fiercely and slew many despite their small numbers, Sigmar's forces were too numerous and his strange war-machines burned away the proud longships that carried the Norsemen in bringing ruination and desolation to the enemies of the Dark Gods of the North. The Norsii returned to their ancestral homeland of Norsca, and a molten core of hate and violence began to burn in Cormac's heart, which would lead him to becoming the greatest Chosen of Khorne and a force of such might and power that would reunite the tribes of Norsca into an unstoppable host that would crush the Empire of Sigmar. With the aid of the Norsii sorcerer, Kar Odacen, Cormac did bind the Norse tribes to his banner, reclaimed the ancient Chaos armour of his father, and bound a great daemon of Khorne to his axe. The eastern tribes of the Kurgan and Hung also prostrated themselves to the Norseman's banner and pledged their lives to his glory. Cormac's leadership saw the first decisive defeat the Imperials ever suffered, he had managed to match wits with Sigmar and defeated him utterly. At the behest of his sorcerer, Cormac was led to invade the City of the White Wolf. In spite of his better judgement which said to instead surround the city and isolate and pick off Sigmar's reinforcements from other southern tribes. Yet, Cormac was leader of the Norsii by the will of the Gods alone, and the Gods willed him to end the Empire with one fell stroke. Cormac's superior Norse warriors, drunk on the blessings of the Dark Gods, and strengthened with armies of daemons and beastmen assaulted Middenheim and victory was near. On the counsel of his shaman, Cormac offered himself up to become the sacrifice necessary to bring forth a Bloodthirster to break the final defenses of Middenheim. The Bloodthirster crossed blades with Sigmar and cast him down, readying for the killing stroke until Ulric himself intervened and cast the daemon into the Realm of Chaos. The Norsii later fled back to Norsca with this setback.

*'''[[Hrothgar Daemonaxe]]''': A great Chaos Lord dedicated to Khorne, first chieftain of the Vargs, and said to be as powerful as a mighty Bloodthirster in battle. It was Hrothgar who led the Vargs out from the East to settle the northern tundras of Norsca, destroying and enslaving weaker tribes of Norse and Kurgan on the way. Bearing a great daemonic battleaxe forged in the visage of a howling wolf, Hrothgar's favour from Arkhar the Wolf (the Varg name for Khorne) was clear. After his many victories were completed, he went to the Chaos Wastes and ascended to Daemonhood. To this day, Hrothgar Daemonaxe is venerated by all Vargs as a lesser deity of Chaos. And is believed to stand at the right hand of Khorne where he sternly judges the exploits of his people.

*'''[[Valmir Aesling]]''': King of the Aesling tribes, one time ally to Asavar Kul, self styled 'Emperor of Chaos' and bane of the Norse Dwarfs. Valmir Aesling was a ruthless and efficient leader of Men. Brooding and silent, save for the occasional and invariably fatal burst of temper. He was feared and renowned for punishing any insolence or slight with the most horrific tortures imaginable. When Asavar Kul was slain at the gates of Kislev (and there are rumours that Valmir himself might have done the deed, for a jagged blade was found impaled in Kul's skull), Valmir was fighting a secret, but no less bloody war against the Norse Dwarf holds. Valmir despised all the races of the Old World, except his own, and thus had long desired the destruction of the Dwarfs that hid in the southern mountains around his homeland of Norsca. Valmir swore an oath to Khorne: he would not rest until he had destroyed the Dwarfs by cutting out the heart of their nation, the hold of Kraka Drak. Valmir's Norse warriors faced the Dwarfs and soon both were locked in a vicious stalemate. But Valmir had planned the battle well, he had gained the allegiance of the Khornate Daemon Prince Aghask, who smashed aside the Dwarf's resistance in key areas, he had gained the aid of battalions of Chaos Knights from Troll Country who crushed the Dwarfen rearguard. Valmir himself charged across the field on his Chaos Chariot, pulled by six skinless bears, slaughtering all opposition to face the Norse Dwarf High King in battle. Valmir threw the severed heads of his champions before him and challenged him to single combat. Incensed at this barbarous affront to his people's honour, the Dwarf King accepted the Norse Lord's challenge. Both armies held their breath as their lords faced one another in a mighty duel. Though Valmir was more than thrice the Dwarf's height, he found himself evenly matched against the ancient, doughty king. Seeing that he could not defeat the Norse King, the Dwarf Lord shouted one word; ''"cannons!"''. Thus, did the Dwarfs fire the great canons of Kraka Drak, shattering the Norse Chaos Warriors and entombing both them and thousands of Dwarfs until the collapsed ruin of what was once the mightiest of the northern Dwarf cities. Both Valmir and the Dwarf King had fallen, slain not by each other's steel, but by snow and stone. Yet, the hold was indeed no more, and underneath the ruins, the hardened Norsemen continued on, methodically slaughtering the remaining Dwarfs. Valmir, albeit posthumously, had upheld his grim oath.

*'''[[Wulfrik the Wanderer]]''': Perhaps the greatest warrior to rise up from the Sarl tribes is Wulfrik the Wanderer, whose name is spoken in fearful whispers. Once a champion of Chaos Undivided amongst the Sarls who thwarted the armies of a great Aesling tribe and slew their king, a mighty Champion of Chaos known as Torgald, Wulfrik had made a drunken boast at the battle's end that he was greater than any warrior in this world or the next. After passing out from quaffing no less than 7 barrels of mead, Wulfrik found his dreams visited by an emissary of the Dark Gods he worshiped. The emissary told Wulfrik that the gods were displeased with his boastful tongue, but had seen fit to allow him to prove his arrogant words. When he awoke, Wulfrik found he had been marked by not one, but all of the four great gods of Chaos, and his tongue was re-shaped into a flitting, forked thing that allowed him to speak in any language. Wulfrik claimed his legendary longship, the Seafang, from the hoard of a Skaeling Chaos Sorceror who he slew in combat. From then on, Wulfrik would be known as the Inescapable One, travelling the hinterlands of the world to slay the fiercest creatures at the whims of the gods. Wulfrik is perhaps one of the greatest warriors in all the world, for he has slaughtered giants, dragons and merwyrms like cattle and even daemons have cowed before him and begged his mercy. He is the Executioner of the Chaos Gods, and is one of their most devout followers. To Khorne he offers up the skulls of those he has slain, to Slaanesh he gives their still-beating hearts, to Nurgle the contents of their slit guts, and Tzeentch he honours with their final breath.

*'''[[Valkia the Bloody]]''': The Sword-Maiden of the Blood God, the Bringer of Glory, the Chooser of the Slain and the Gorequeen of the Norse. Valkia is Khorne's servant who carries the spirits of worthy warriors so that they may fight on forever in the Blood God's Halls. The sagas of her people tell that she was once a mortal woman, a Norse queen of the ancient and long-dead Schwarzvolf tribe. She gained the favour of Khorne by slaying any who dared contest her claim in honourable battle and also by defeating the Champions of the lesser Chaos Gods. Foremost amongst these was Locephax, a daemon prince of Slaanesh who sought to enslave the warrior-queen. Valkia felt the berserker rage come upon her and she took up her great spear Slaupnir and struck down the daemon and affixed its severed head to her shield. Valkia then traveled to the uttermost North of the world and, with the fanaticism of the true believer, pledged herself utterly to the Axefather. Valkia almost succeeded in coming before her beloved god's throne, but was slain like countless others in the twisted hellscape of the realm of Chaos. Khorne was displeased, for he had great plans for the woman, and his bellowing fury was so thunderous that it shook the world and roused Valkia from death. Khorne was angry with her weak mortal form and remade her into a being more pleasing to him. A true vision of destructive power: great bloody wings tore out from her once shapely back, her legs were refashioned into those of a bloodletter and massive horns rose from her skull. Her only purpose now is to reap more skulls for her mighty lord and to choose the valorous Norsemen dedicated to Khorne who fall fight on at their god's side in the Realm of Chaos 'till his rage devours all that exists. When Valkia takes to the mortal skies, all the Norse tribes dedicated to Khorne march under her shadow, for they know that she will carry them to the realms beyond to be Khorne's chosen in the afterlife, a prize beyond all measure. Where she flies, whole lands are drenched in blood. Such is the power Khorne has granted her.

*'''[[Scyla Anfingrimm]]''': The Saga of the Gorebeast is a long and terrifying one amongst the savage Norse clans, the fame of the Talon of Khorne lives long in the songs sung by the Skalds of many a Norscan meadhall and in the terrified ramblings of those few Imperials who have born witness to the unstoppable fury of Scyla and survived. Tales told of a hulking beast the colour of blood who wears a massive bronze collar and is festooned with the blasphemous ritual marks of Khorne, and who lays low all who stand against him with its unquenchable thirst for death. Yet, it was not always so. For the greatest of Khorne's [[Chaos Spawn]] was once a man, '''once a man, ONCESSSSE A MAAAANNRGABLFARBLLEHC--'''--ahem--was once one of his greatest and most fearsome champions. Scyla Anfingrimm was the bane of the Old World from his homeland of frozen Norsca to the shores of distant Ind, his name synonymous with victory, slaughter and pillage. As a man, Scyla was marked by Khorne and elevated into the highest echelons of the god's favour; earning not only the respect of his tribesmen but all the raiders of the neighboring fjords. It was Scyla who single-handedly laid low the fearsome Jabberwock that plagued the River Voltag, and it was Scyla's daemonic greatsword that destroyed the tentacled beast that ruled the Bay of Blades. Every spring, he and his marauders would take to their longships and slaughter their way through the Empire, through Bretonnia and even as far south of Khemri. Returning from their raids drunk on blood and glory, the hulls of their ships filled to bursting with ancient treasures and slaves ready to be thrown upon sacrificial pyres dedicated to Khorne. The people of the Ironpelt would often chatter about how Scyla would soon ascend to daemonhood. They were right in a sense. After orchestrating the Massacre of Black Gulch, which caused the great chasm to run red with Skaven blood, Scyla was gifted with even greater physical strength and massive ape-like arms infused with the power of Chaos. Thanking the Axefather for his blessing, Scyla launched daring raids against the war-dhows of Dhuli armada, personally reducing their great flagship to splinters. This time, he was gifted a serpentine tail ending with a snapping maw. Scyla's merciless killing of the Chaos Dwarf delegation sent to trade with his tribe resulted in a great profusion of horn-like plates covering his mighty frame. After single-handedly annihilating the bestial Gorgers of the Undermountain, Khorne was so pleased with Scyla's might that he gifted the Champion with the mind of a ravenous beast. With that, Scyla's body spiraled out of control. His transformation into a Chaos Spawn was complete '''NO!!! GRISHIISOSKS'''. That day, Scyla fell from a feared and far-famed warlord. His warband fell to the leadership of his second-in-command and next most favoured of Khorne; Erlock One-Eye. Scyla was still afforded the same respect and honour from his companions, arguably moreso, for now he was a living sacrament to Khorne's power and might. Unlike other Chaos Spawn '''Not Again! GRAAAGH!''', Scyla remains the favoured of Khorne; a testament to his greatness in his former life. Scyla exists as he did before, only to fight and slaughter for the pleasure of his fearsome god. His destiny is only to mete out death against those foolish enough to face him.

*'''[[Sigvald|Sigvald the Magnificent]]''': Chaos Lord [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Joffrey]]. Though he appears no more than a boy of sixteen, Sigvald the Magnificent has blighted the Old World for three centuries. The inbred child of a great Norse Chaos Lord and his own sister, Sigvald was spoiled with all he ever wished, it was only after his cannibalistic tendencies were revealed that the tribe forced him out. Feigning dismay, Sigvald sneaked into the longhouse and murdered his own father while he slept, fleeing then to the Chaos Wastes. The personification of beauty on the outside, but as horrifying as the lowest Spawn on the inside, Sigvald rides as Geld-Prince of the Decadent Host; an army of amorous madwomen and men who seek to attend his every debased whim. Marked by the Prince of Excess and gifted with Sliverslash, a blade forged from a sliver of the Sword of Slaanesh, it is clear to all that Sigvald the Magnificent is the greatest Champion of Slaanesh to walk the world. Recently tried to kill all the high Elves on the grounds that they must die for having better hair than him. (Seriously, this guy is pretty much Joffrey from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]]; both were born from brother-sister incest, both are handsome blonde men, both are arrogant and morally repulsive [[That Guy|shits]]. The difference is Sigvald is still alive and even more [[Grimdark]])

*'''[[Vilitch the Curseling]]''': Once upon a time, two twins were born. One of them was Thomin, a well-liked, well-built man who was a great warrior and whom everyone expected to become a great leader. The other was Vilitch, a twisted, decrepit freak whom everyone beat up and could only scrape by as some sorcerer's apprentice. Needless to say, Vilitch hated this setup and prayed to [[Tzeentch]] for him to switch the twins' destinies. Then, one Geheimnisnacht, the big bird answered and merged the twins together. Vilitch was now fused to Thomin's body and as a result became far smarter and more magically adept while Thomin became reduced to a braindead brute. The twin-abomination then decided to use this newfound power to murder all the people who made fun of him and used his magic to mentally enslave the mightiest warriors of his tribe.

*'''[[Festus the Leechlord]]''': Doctor, plaguemaster, and one of [[Nurgle]]'s favorite guys. Originally a good Nordland doctor who knew everything about how to cure diseases. He was then driven to insanity when he found himself incapable of curing a certain plague that swept the lands and in desperation, made a pact with the plague god in order to learn the knowledge needed to cure it. Sure, he got that knowledge, but he also turned so insane that he stopped caring about curing things and began a life of testing out all sorts of diseases and being a generally sick sack of shit (as most Nurglites are wont to). So he became basically the Dr Mengele of the Old World.

*'''[[Dragon Ogres|Kholek Suneater]]''': A FUCKING HUGE 4 legged dragon Ogre. He is a massive Beast armed with a HUUUGE THUNDER HAMMER who can crush dragons. He was a living battering ram who also managed to crush bloodthirsters.

===The Kurgan Tribes===

The Kurgans are nomadic horsemen who reside in the Eastern Steppes, distantly related to the Ungol and Gospodar peoples of Kislev (this shows in them calling their tribal chieftains "zar"). They are divided into many different tribes, but thousands of years ago they were briefly united into a mighty empire lead by the Great Kurgan. This empire lasted only a short time before tearing itself apart in infighting, as the Great Kurgan offered his four sons to the Chaos Gods thus leaving no heirs behind.

The Kurgans are notorious slavers, and often force their slaves to fight each other in dueling pits. However, they grant increasing freedoms and status as they win fights, eventually allowing the slave to become a full-fledged member of the tribe. In fact, it is not unknown for former slaves to rise to the rank of Zar.

Despite having the largest territory and being said to be the most numerous members of Chaos' mortal forces, they are generally sidelined in favour of Norscans (chalk it up to Old World bias).

*'''Khazags''': They're known as the guys who had first tamed the War Mammoths. Actually refused to worship Chaos until a single evil member of the tribe conquered them and enslaved the giant mammoth they worshipped as their deity. [[Games Workshop|Creatively named after Kazakh nation.]]
*'''Dolgans''': [[That Guy|That Guys]] of Kurgan. They hate every other Chaos-affiliated tribe as much as the southerners and prefer to kill everyone who isn't Dolgan on sight. Some of them, thankfully, managed to avoid the Gods' corruption and now live in [[Kislev]], though their population is declining.
*'''[[Space Wolves|Iron Wolves]]''': An interesting tribe, because it's only partially Kurgan. These furries also have a Norse ancestry, descending from the vikings whose asses were kicked by [[Sigmar]] so hard they had to run to the [[Eastern Steppes]]. They are resented by both ancestral tribes and generally think of themselves as independent people.
*'''[[Asavar Kul|Kul]]''': Yeah, those Kul. They're probably the strongest Kurgan tribe that constantly raids the shit out of the neighbours and have a well-developed slavery system. They're also interesting for their complicated religious views, as they do not swear themselves to one of [[Chaos Gods|four major Gods]], instead [[Chaos Undivided|praying to hundred gods and seeking the favor of all of them.]] [[Black Legion|So, pretty much these guys.]] [[Asavar Kul]], Zar of the Kul, was the twelfth Everchosen of Chaos who fought during the [[Great War Against Chaos]] leading the Chaos forces. After Asavar died, his successor was usurped and murdered by [[Vardek Crom]], who is the current Zar.
*'''Tahmaks''', '''Tokmars''', '''Yusak''' etc.: really minor tribes that are barely mentioned in the lore.

===The Kurgan Characters===

*'''The Great Kurgan''': [[Jaghatai Khan|Genghis Khan]] of Kurgans who is only mentioned in [[Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos]] supplements. He did the unthinkable and managed to unite all of the tribes, creating a truly gigantic empire that managed to beat Hung, [[Hobgoblin|Hobgoblins]] and [[Cathay]]. [[Awesome|Impressive.]] He was also the first Kurgan chieftain to make a deal with [[Chaos]] to get their power on his side, though eventually they fucked him over.
*'''[[Asavar Kul]]''': [[Gets shit done|gets shit done]]. Managed to cripple [[Kislev]] for centuries way before both [[Archaon]] and [[Abaddon|Failbaddon]] even managed to do something meaningful.
*'''[[Tamurkhan]]''': a [[Nurgle|Nurglite]] warrior riding a toad, who is a protagonist of the narrative-driven campaign of the same name. Claimed to be one of the four missing sons of the Great Kurgan.
*'''Surtha Lenk''': minor [[Tzeench|Tzeenchite]] warlord and the commander of [[Archaon|Archaon's]] vanguard. Took part in destruction of [[Kislev]] and [[Ostland]] during the [[End Times]].
*'''[[Vardek Crom]]''': current Kul chieftain (Zar) and the Herald of Everchosen.
*'''[[Sayl the Faithless]]''': Ruler of the Dolgan tribe, named for the fact he refused to pledge allegiance to a single Chaos God and instead made deals with and betrayed patrons as suited his lust for power.

=== The Hung ===
{{topquote|Them Kurgan is bad. But the Hung, they jus’ nasty.|Gorg, famous [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogre]] Philosopher}}

{{topquote|We make deal, yes? You give us gold and women, we no attack. You not give enough gold or women, so we attack. We attack anyway. We make deal, yes?|Average Hung diplomat, showing that even [[The Beast|some orks]] from the [[Warhammer 40,000|different setting]] are better in negotiations than them}}
The least described [[Chaos]] race, mainly for three reasons: they operate in [[Naggaroth]] and [[Eastern Lands]], and the incursions in those regions are described only in the short sentences of some backstory fluff; they're similar to their Kurgan brothers in almost everything; and finally, they're a [[Hobgoblin|pretty negative Mongolian stereotype]], although the fact they're also located in northwestern Naggaroth also could paint then as Chaos Inuits as well, and [[Games Workshop|GW]] certainly doesn't want another [[Pygmies (Warhammer Fantasy)|Pygmies]].

Overall, from what we can gather Hungs are savages and barbarians to the extreme: while previous Chaos races at least have some sort of society and culture, these people only exist to [[RIP AND TEAR|kill, slaughter, rape and fight]]. All they need is a woolen tent, a [[Choppa|choppa]] and a steed. Seriously, their love for <s>horses</s> ponies can only be rivaled by [[Bretonnia|Bretonnians]] (so... Chaos Bretonnians?). Another faction which they resemble are [[Skaven]]: Hungs are insanely backstabby and have no honor at all, to the point that "A Word of Hung" in [[Cathay]] means a "Worthless Promise". Hell, they even abuse the dogs that they use for hunting. [[That Guy|Bastards]]. Oh, and they're cannibals. And their religion mandates they never bathe or wash themselves.

With that being said, what do we have in the end? The Hung are insanely evil barbarians that have no respect for anyone or anything and are hated by every other faction (including fellow Chaos Warriors). Seriously, the Tome of Corruption for WHFRP 2e gave rules for playable Norscan and Kurgan characters, but straight up said that you shouldn't play Hung even in a Chaos-aligned party because they're too treacherous.They have no redeeming qualities and rival Skaven for being the most evil race in the entire game. So, it's probably good that GW downplayed them severely.

Despite their name, they don't seem to favour Slaanesh more than any other Chaos God. Though millions of Slaanesh-worshipping Hung were seduced by Morathi in order to fight alongside the Dark Elves in the invasion of Ulthuan.

===The Tong===
Besides Norscans, Kurgans, and Hung, there are also the Tong. The Tong are the Chaos Warrior people who lives closest to the entrance to the Realm of Chaos, and as such are the most mentally fucked up and physically mutated of the lot. Complete and utter psycho berserkers, they are featured in Total War Warhammer as being lead by a Chaos Champion named "Ragnar".

===Skaramor===
A migratory tribe of Khorne worshippers who view non-Chaos Worshippers as unworthy of having their skulls given to Khorne, and as such limit their raids to killing members of other Chaos Warrior Tribes like Norscans, Hung, and Kurgan. The Skaramor are worth noting as they were the tribe that Scylla Anfingrimm originated from in his mortal life. They were also the source of the Skullreaper and Wrathmonger units added in End Times.

===Veigs===
Another tribe of Khorne worshippers, who are cannibals and murderers, and loathed by the Kurgan, who they share a bitter enmity with.
===The 9th Age===

== Gallery ==
<center>
<gallery>
File:Northlanders.jpg|WE FIGHT THE HORDE, SINGING AND CRYING; '''VALHALLA'''! I AM COMING!!
File:Chaos marauder by artofty-d3f5hof.jpg|KHORNE!! OPEN THE GATES OF YOUR HALL!!
File:Chaos Longships.jpg|Their main method of transportation.
File:Khorne-Art.jpg|Kjarl Deathaxe and the Blood Drinkers.
File:Wulfrik_Gif.jpg.gif|Wulfrik the Wanderer on a morning stroll.
</gallery>
</center>

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer/Tactics/Warriors of Chaos]] - A guide on how to lead these awesome barbarians to glory and bloodshed and the notice of the [[Chaos|Gods]].
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Chaos|Chaos tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]
*[[Viking|Vikings]] - What they are based off. Just in case you forgot.
*[[Chaos Space Marines]] - Their 40K counterparts.
*[[Chaos]] - What did they worship again?

{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

{{Chaos-Champions}}

Chaos Dwarfs

2023-02-14T22:25:22Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

[[Image:Dorf hats.jpg|thumb|right|NO [[Hat|HAT]] SHALL BE GREATER THAN MINE!]]
{{topquote|One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep.|Boromir}}
{{topquote|I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.|James Baldwin}}
{{topquote|You can leave your hat on.|Joe Cocker}}

The ''Uzkul-Dhrath-Zharr'', as they refer to themselves, or Dawi-Zharr (Dwarfs of Fire) in Khazalid, are the [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy Battle)|Dwarfs]]' dark kin, who have been corrupted by the influence of [[Chaos]]. They were a [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer]] faction up until 5th edition but were always treated as some kind of stepchild and did not have a proper standalone army book. Their background, rules and army list were released in a series of articles in [[White Dwarf]], eventually collected into a quasi-army book, ''White Dwarf Presents: Chaos Dwarfs''. Despite how awesome these guys are, they were ditched by GW because they weren't selling as much as vanilla Chaos, Orcs & Goblins or Elves were to newbie players. For ages they existed only as a dim fond memory to the veterans of the hobby; GW did one new model set (the Hellcannon and its attending Chaos Dwarf crew) but little else. Lo and behold, Forge World has flown to the rescue! You can buy some brilliant new Chaos Dwarf models, and there are now official rules to use: [[Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos|Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos]].

Except, not anymore. Because Forge World discontinued them. ALL of them. Including Shar'tor the Executioner, who was tailored into Age of Sigmar as one of Forge World's first original forays into that setting. Because fuck you.

==History==

At the height of their empire, before the coming of Chaos, the Dwarfs spread far and wide across the Old World. Ever-diligent workers and miners, they followed the [[Worlds Edge Mountains]] north and dug their holds deep into the rock of the earth. Along the way, they reached a place they called Zorn-Uzkul, the Great Skull Land, after all the ancient bones (and especially skulls) scattered throughout. While it was very rich in minerals, most decided that this place was best left alone. But a few were so stubborn - even compared to their fellow Dwarfs - that they decided to live there to prove that they could.

===An ancient schism===

These northernmost holds kept close contact with their kin in the World's Edge Mountains as the Dwarf Empire grew, and the Dwarfs enjoyed an age of prosperity not seen before or since. With the coming of Chaos, the dominion of the Dwarfs over the Old World was about to dwindle. As devastating earthquakes brought about by the careless machinations of the [[Lizardmen|Slann]] magepriests shattered the world, the Dwarfs closed themselves up in their mountain holds to weather out the storm, as has always been their way. There were those amongst the Dwarfs, lead by their fiercest warrior god Grimnir, who argued that Chaos needed to be fought, not endured. And when Chaos was eventually driven back by the actions of the Dwarfs and their [[High_Elves_(Warhammer_Fantasy)|High Elf]] allies, the Dwarfs looked at their wounded domain and thought their northern cousins lost. Surely nothing could have survived the raw Chaos energies unleashed upon the northern wastes. Tragically, they were wrong. The Dwarfs of Zorn-Uzkul suffered greatly, and in their anguish they cried out to their western kin for support and their ancestor gods for salvation, but they did not perish.

Though the Dwarfs that chose to live in the blasted wastes were hardy, even they were not immune to the corrupting influence of Chaos, and they slowly changed over time. For many long years they only barely survived as they abandoned or were abandoned by their own ancestor gods, but eventually they found favor with [[Hashut]], the bull-like Father of Darkness, learning the secrets of daemon-smithing in exchange for blood sacrifices. Soon their bodies showed signs of the growing corruption within their souls: their flesh turned grey, their eyes red and many sported horns from their temples while their teeth turned into vicious tusks. Dwarfs have a natural suspicion for unchecked magic and tame the raw energy by binding it to their mighty runes. The Dawi-Zharr were released from these traditionalist shackles and embraced the secrets about working terrible magic taught to them by their new patron god. Their Daemonsmiths soon learned to combine this arcane knowledge with their own mastery of binding magic and began working marvels of engineering into blasphemous amalgams of machine and daemon.

The Dawi-Zharr may have survived the coming of Chaos, but their numbers were greatly diminished. From the Zorn-Uzkul they marched eastwards across the Zharrduk, the Plain of Zharr, to the [[Mountains of Mourn]] and the Sea of Dread in the south. These are the [[Dark Lands]], the lands of fire, smoke and ash, and the Dawi-Zharr claim them as their domain. They were never a numerous people though, and the Blasted Wastes are home to many [[Orcs & Goblins|Greenskin]] and [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogre]] tribes. At the heart of the Dawi-Zharr empire they built their great city, ''Mingol-Zharr-Naggrund'', the obsidian City of Fire and Desolation, in the Plain of Zharr. The Blasted Wastes are dotted with fortress-citadels, garrisons and watchtowers, from where the Dawi-Zharr venture forth to subjugate all living beings to work for them as an endless stream of slaves.

[[File:400px-ChaosDwarf.jpg|300px|thumb|left|100% Chaos, 100% Dwarf, 100% Hat, 300% trouble.]]

===A twisted parody of Hearth & Oath===

While few would describe Dwarfs as a particularly friendly people, their unshakeable code of honour, respect for their ancestors, undeniable craftmanship and ingenuity are admirable values and make them loyal to a fault. The present-day Dawi-Zharr are only a twisted mockery of these noble ideals: they are tyrannical and merciless, cold at heart and driven by a need to subjugate all the lesser races before them while retaining their mastery of craftsmanship and industry backed by their natural stubbornness. Where the human followers of Chaos are always driven by thoughtless slaughter and are inevitably doomed to fail in their rampant destruction, their forces spent, exhausted by infighting and stretched thin against too many foes at once, the Dawi-Zharr employ their ruthless determination and natural propensity for flawlessness for a slow but grinding dominion across the Dark Lands and beyond. Every Dwarf with a mind set on a goal is relentless in its pursuit, but a Dawi-Zharr will stop at nothing and will relinquish no cruelty to see it fulfilled.

Like regular Dwarfs, their armies are composed of small, elite units backed by powerful war machines, but Chaos Dwarfs employ Hashut's sorcery where their cousins instinctively distrust magic. Chaos Dwarf machines often have [[daemon]]s bound inside, and their ammunition may be charged with dark alchemy. To round out the army, Chaos Dwarfs employ legions of slaves, especially [[Orcs#Warhammer|Orc]]s and [[Goblin#Warhammer|Goblin]]s, both as meat-shields in battle and as an expendable workforce in the mines and forges. [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|And yet, a group of six Norscans and a sorcerer led by a Chaos Champion can easily slaughter their way through one of their cities]] (only because the writer of that story gave the Norscans EXBAWKSHUEG [[Plot Armor]]).

Unlike regular Dwarfs, they make use of terrible magical powers, gifts from their bull-god Hashut. However, because Dwarfs were never meant to use magic, its power slowly but inevitably turns their sorcerers to stone. At first, they regard these changes with pride, glorying in them as badges of honor celebrating their victory over the very forces of nature; as time goes by, though, they start to worry more and more about it. In-game, the rules mirror this; miscasting with a Chaos Dwarf requires a toughness check. At first, failure means ''gaining'' a permanent point of toughness for a wound lost, but as time goes by the side effects stop being cool.

The Chaos Dwarfs, while evil and all, are not really expansionist and have more than enough slaves as it is. They make their way economically by selling weapons and armour to the Norse and Warriors of Chaos in exchange for more slaves to top up their supply. From time to time, a Chaos Dwarf host will be assembled to leave the Dark Lands in search for a valuable treasure, specific sacrifices for their ever-hungry deity, or simply more slaves if the regular hunting grounds are exhausted. Alas, the Daemonsmiths like to test their newest creations against the defenses of the lesser races to optimise their catastrophic potential. They also got a Mesopotamian thing going for them.

===At World's End===

The cataclysmic events of the [[The_End_Times#Chaos_Dwarves|End Times]] obviously didn't exclude the Dawi-Zharr. Eventually [[Grimgor Ironhide]] led a mighty [[Waaagh|Waaagh!]] against the Chaos Dwarfs, toppling their cities and crushing their empire to dust, finishing what started when the Black Orcs revolted against their masters (according to the novels, Grimgor himself was a former Black Orc slave of the Chaos Dwarves making him Black-Orc-Spartacus).

===[[The 9th Age]]===

===[[Age of Sigmar]]===

[[Image:Choas_Dorf_is_back.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Well how about that, thanks to [[Warcry]], some of the little bastards (right) are back in the Mortal Realms]]
Like most of the factions, Chaos Dwarfs are reborn in the Mortal Realms (although Forgeworld has recently squated the official models) under the trademark friendly name “Chaos Duardin”. The largest known contingent of these chorfs live in the realm of [[Aqshy]] in the Ashcloud Mountains, are back at worshipping a somehow-still-around-Hashut and use Realmstone in their armour. They also seem to be the chief clients for the Hobgrots that tend to also hang around the [[Kruleboyz]], the Hobgrots being the new copyright-friendly name for the [[Hobgoblins]]. That's about all we know.

Apart from these descendants of the Legion of Azgorh, apparently there are more duardin worshipping Chaos in the Mortal Realms, e.g. as a part of the Iron Golems and Spire Tyrants warbands. As revealed in ''Wrath of the Everchosen'', quite a number of these chaos duardin work for [[Archaon]] within the industrial district of the [[Varanspire]]. There is also a massive daemonic oil platform in the seas of [[Shyish]] called [[Zharr Vyxa]] causing grief for [[Nagash]] and the local tribe of [[Sons of Behemat|Kraken-eater Mega-Gargants]] who besieged the fortress in the past, only to be pushed back by the dawi-zharr and their black armored Chaos Gargants. In Ulgu, a [[Fyreslayers]] lodge is in constant conflict with the Black Fortress of the Legion of Azghor, to [[Malekith|Malerion's]] joy, as he gets to watch two dwarven factions beat each other sensless.

A [[Warcry]] warband called the Horns of Hashut were unveiled for the game's second edition. These guys are actually human worshippers of [[Hashut]], however, its been confirmed that they live alongside Chaos Duardin and act as their vanguard forces, burning down lands and leaving behind ashen wastelands for their masters to build their daemon forges in.

==The Domain of the Dawi-Zharr==

Between the World's Edge Mountains in the west, the Mountains of Mourn in the east and the Sea of Dread in the south lie the Dark Lands, a barren wasteland of ash and dust, devoid of plants or sunlight, the air thick with volcanic smoke, and the Dawi-Zharr claim dominion over it. Most Chaos Dwarfs dwell within this godforsaken realm, but some clans have established exclaves in further regions, like [[Norsca]] and the [[Chaos Wastes]]. In other words, rather than living in [[Empire|not-Germany]], [[Lustria|not-South America]] or [[Nehekhara|not-Egypt]], the Chaos Dwarves have made [[Mordor|not-Mordor]] their home. What they eat is a mystery as unlike Mordor there is no Nurn equivalent.

===The Dark Lands===

[[File:Darklands.png|300px|thumb|right|Home, sweet barren Home]]
The Dark Lands are a vast area of nothingness and not even a force as mighty as the Dawi-Zharr could ever hope to truly dominate it.

====Zorn-Uzkul, the Great Skull Land====

In the north, the High Pass from [[Kislev]] leads through the Worlds Edge Mountains into the Zorn-Uzkul, the Great Skull Land, where the ancestors of the Dawi-Zharr first settled. Here, the Road of Skulls to the Chaos Wastes leads through a great plateau littered with bones, many of them skulls of mighty beasts long perished, giving the forbidding area its name. The Dwarfs discovered rich deposits of ore in the ground, but most of them ultimately abandoned the obviously tainted region and returned west. Those who stayed and founded Uzkulak in the north or went on eastwards to the Mountains of Mourn were eventually corrupted by the increasing influence of Chaos and became the ancestors of the Dawi-Zharr. Today, Zorn-Uzkul is the northernmost part of the Chaos Dwarf empire, and to follow the Road of Skulls in the shadows of haunted Uzkulak is a very dangerous endeavor.
{{anchor|Plain of Zharr}}
====Zharrduk, the Plain of Zharr====

When the waters of the River Ruin roar down the Falls of Doom from Zorn-Uzkul, they first enter the Plain of Zharr, a vast meteoric crater in the north-east of the Dark Lands and the heartland of the Dawi-Zharr empire. The earth is rich in minerals and precious resources, and the Chaos Dwarfs have turned the whole of Zharrduk into one gigantic industrial complex. The ground is riddled with pools of boiling oil and molten metal, rivers of steaming lava crisscross its broken crust, the sun is hidden behind a thick layer of smoke and ash; no living thing is to be found as far as the eye can see. At its center the Dawi-Zharr have erected Zharr-Naggrund, their great capital, and the plain of Zharr is littered with smaller outposts, workshops, foundries and forges. Unabating is the sound of mighty steam-driven forgehammers and the anguished cries of the tortured slaves throughout Zharrduk as the Dawi-Zharr mold their atrocious empire day and night.

====The Blasted Wastes====

The Blasted Wastes in the west of the Dark Lands, between the World's Edge Mountains and the Gates of Zharr, are a vast desert and sustain very little life. They are mostly home to nomadic Goblin tribes and other ravaging hordes, but they also house a great number of Black Orc tribes, most notably Grimgor Ironhide and his elite clan, Da Immortulz. Needless to say that the Chaos Dwarfs view the area mostly as hunting grounds for their slave pits.

====The Howling Wastes====

East of the road from Zharr-Naggrund to the Tower of Gorgoth lie the Howling Wastes. Where the Blasted Wastes are a sparse desert, the Howling Wastes are covered by an eternal mist, carrying thin voices and a wailing clamour of an forgotten age. The ground is mostly marshes and swamplands, and traversing it is almost guaranteed to get the unwary swallowed by the land, if not accompanied by an experienced guide.

====The Desolation of Azgorh====

Before the age of Chaos Dwarfs, the mighty volcano of Azgorh erupted with such a mighty crescendo that it split the mountain and rent the ground around it asunder. The ash cloud could be seen in distant Khemri and the elves in their Old World colonies registered the resulting earthquakes. The great upheaval reformed the landscape into an almost impenetrable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks and vents of toxic fumes, but it also unearthed a most precious mineral wealth, which a near infinite number of slaves now dig out of the rock in the mines around the Tower of Gorgoth.

[[File:Warhammer Chaos Dwarf Symbol.png|center|200px]]

===Dawi-Zharr Strongholds===

Many are the fortress-citadels, garrisons and strongholds of the Dawi-Zharr empire. Most of them are found on the Plain of Zharr, some are more remote, but the greatest and most important one is Zharr-Naggrund, the gruesome capital of the Uzkul-Dhrath-Zharr.

====Zharr-Naggrund, the City of Fire and Desolation====

At the heart of the Plain of Zharr lies Mingol-Zharr-Naggrund, the great capital of the Dawi-Zharr empire. It is a gigantic ziggurat of black obisidian, bristled with armed towers and the chimneys of thousands of furnaces and forges. Incessant are the clouds of black smoke and ash vomited from the workings deep in the bowels of Zharr-Naggrund, where untold numbers of slaves toil unremittingly for their cruel masters. The lowest ranks of the Chaos Dwarf society live at the bottom of the ziggurat, whereas the higher echelons are found closer to the top, where, at its pinnacle, lies the great Temple of Hashut. Huge gates are found at the four sides of each step of the great ziggurat, their battlements studded with great engines of destruction and guarded by a fearsome battalion of elite warriors. The northern gate allows in the River Ruin, re-routed through the city by the Dawi-Zharr to cool their forges and to siphon away the toxic industrial waste and the corpses of dead slaves through the southern gate. So heavy is the pollution from the city, that nothing can live in the River Ruin beyond it. Broad streets plated with gold and brass lead from the eastern and western gates throughout the Plain of Zharr to the Dark Lands and the Mountains of Mourn. Inside the citadel the Dawi-Zharr live and work in the perpetual twilight of their furnaces.

====Uzkulak, the Place of the Skull====

Uzkulak, the Place of the Skull, is the seat of the ancient Dwarf settlement in the Zorn-Uzkul, before the coming of Chaos. It is the northern most Dawi-Zharr stronghold and the most important slave port. Uzkulak sits at the southern branch of the Sea of Chaos, where the slave ships of the Dawi-Zharr sail forth to far away places to still Zharr-Naggrund's insatiable hunger for slaves. The Chaos Dwarfs have greatly expanded the vast underground tunnel connecting the Sea of Chaos with the River Ruin by the Falls of Doom and installed a sophisticated lock to allow ships to traverse it in both directions. Uzkulak is a strange and haunted place, even by Dawi-Zharr standards, and its shunned lower levels are forbidden grounds, except as punishment for oath-breakers and blasphemers.

====The Tower of Gorgoth====

The massive Tower of Gorgoth sits at the junction between the Blasted Wastes, the Howling Wastes and the Desolation of Azgorh. The tower itself stands on the plateau of a volcanic mountain range, harboring the greatest network of mines in the domain of the Dawi-Zharr. As the seams reach deep in the rock, over the centuries more and more slaves were needed to excavate the precious ore from the unyielding mountains. Over time, more and more slave trading clans have made base around the Tower of Gorgoth, which also serves to replenish the hordes of slave fighters in the Chaos Dwarf armies. Since the Tower of Gorgoth is quite remote from the Plain of Zharr and the might of Zharr-Naggrund, it is regularly attacked by Skaven, Greenskins or Ogres, who think it an easier target. However, the Tower of Gorgoth is manned by a sizeable garrison of Dawi-Zharr and the citadel has never fallen to the enemy. On the contrary, most assaults in the end only serve to swell the number of slaves in the endless mines beneath the Tower of Gorgoth.
It was also the place where the Chaos Dwarfs experimented on the Red Dragon Hadgar who became a Magma Dragon (and it's very heavily implied to be the first of their kind...as if Black Orcs weren't enough) thanks to the insane daemonic rituals and aforementioned experiments (which yielded in that thanks to them they could create their K'Daai). It backfired spectacularly once Hadgar freed himself. With his newfound superior firepower Hadgar wrecked the Tower of Gorgoth and wiped out all the slave camps that were there. It took the hat folk a very long time to rebuild the place and get new slaves.

====The Gates of Zharr====

Halfway between Zharr-Naggrund and the Tower of Gorgoth lie the Gates of Zharr, a massive archway of black stone and iron. Thousands of slaves in endless streams are forced through it every day, the shouts bellowed by their overseers harsher and the lashes of their whips even stronger in the shadows of the towers flanking the mighty testament of the Dawi-Zharrs' claim to the Dark Lands. Passing the Gates in neither direction would mean an end to the suffering for the poor souls, they are either herded towards the Tower of Gorgoth to spend the remainder of their lives, usually a short and painful one, in the mines beneath the volcano, or their destination is Zharr-Naggrund, where they will meet a much quicker end but under even greater agony. A warhost from Zharr-Naggrund to raid the lands beyong the Mad Dog Pass or Death Pass will also march below the Gates of Zharr, the rhythm of their beating drums and blaring horns mirrored by thousands of warriors beating their weapons on their armor, their standards held high, so the world shall know no respite from the wrath of the Uzkul-Dhrath-Zharr.

====The Black Fortress====

The eastern entry into the Dark Lands, south of the Mountains of Mourn, is guarded by the Black Fortress. In a land already blessed with a surplus of bleak desolation, the Black Fortress still stands out as place of hopelessness and grim determination. Unlike the Tower of Gorgoth, the Black Fortress does not oversee huge mining activities or large groups of the ever valued slaves, its purpose is purely militaristic and the deployment to the Legion of Azgorh is often viewed as a punishment and exile. In fact, the Black Fortress is home to the Infernal Guard, a warrior-cult for dishonoured Dawi-Zharr who have to redeem themselves in the eyes of their harsh society or find solace in death. Their names and past deeds are shorn away, as are their faces sealed shut behind hot-iron and bronze helmets.

==Notable Characters==

===Lord Astragoth, High Priest of Hashut===
[[File:Chaos-Dwarf.png|300px|thumb|right| Some people are dog-people, some people are cat-people. Chaos Dwarfs are bull-people ([[Mark Gibbons|MG]])]]

Astragoth is the oldest living Sorcerer-Prophet and once the greatest of their kind, but now his power begins to fade and his body bears the unmistakable marks of the long use of the terrible powers granted to him by Hashut. His legs, torso and arms have already petrified, and a decade ago he constructed [[Mecha|a mechanical device which allows him to still move and continue to perform his perverted rituals]]. It was Astragoth who assembled the conclave of Sorcerer-Prophets to hear of Hashut's vision, foretelling them their eventual [[The_End_Times#Chaos_Dwarves|downfall]] if they would not amass more power by the might of their armies and the potency of their dark rituals. Although there is no nominal leader of the Chaos Dwarfs and their fate is steered by the cabal of Sorcerer-Prophets, like their western kin the Dawi-Zharr respect age and experience above all else, which makes Astragoth the most influential voice in the Temple of Hashut.

===Drazhoath the Ashen, Lord of the Black Fortress===

As a young Hellsmith, Drazhoath fell from grace with the cabal of Sorcerer-Prophets in Zharr-Naggrund and was sent into exile to the Black Fortress by Astragoth himself. Driven by his innate cunning and ruthless ambition, he quickly rose through the ranks and is now a wizard of considerable strength and mighty warrior in his own right. Drazhoath rules with an iron grip over the Legion of Azgorh, but the Black Fortress is a remote place and being its commander ultimately an impasse, so his gaze is always directed back at Zharr-Naggrund, where he dreams to return to triumphantly and claim his rightful position as one of the most powerful Sorcerer-Prophets. The power of his old rival Astragoth is waning and Drazhoath feels his time has come, so he is determined to make a name for himself through brutal campaigns and acquiring large hordes of new slaves to be used to buy him favour with influential members of the ruling caste at the Temple of Hashut.

===Ghorth the Cruel and Zhatan the Black===

Ghorth the Cruel is the most potent of all Dawi-Zharr Sorcerer-Prophets and it is said that the cries of his tortured victims are only drowned out by the evil laughter of Zhatan the Black, his trusted commander. Zhatan serves as Commander of the Tower of Zharr at the behest of Ghorth and has led many slaving raids against the humans and greenskins in the west, and every Goblin tribe between Zharrduk and Mount Grimfang has been subjugated.

===Gorduz Backstabber===
{{Topquote|Yunno what they say, Tarka. Lucky at dice, unlucky at gettin' back to your own tent without 'aving a nasty accident.|Gorduz Backstabber, moments before a surprising turn of lucks}}
A legendary Hobgoblin chieftain, Gorduz has already lived longer than most Hobgoblin Khans. This is party because he is naturally distrustful of his fellows, as any righteous Hobgoblin should be, but also unusually lucky, as the many hardened scars criss-crossing his bony shoulder humps can testify. So far he has not shown enough ambition for leading any of his slaves to a revolt to arouse distrust in his Chaos Dwarf superiors, which just further shows his cunning: better to be a living slavemaster than a dead revolutionary.

==Forces of the Dawi-Zharr==

{{Topquote|Stick 'em wiv arrers', Stick 'em wiv knives, 'an swords, and spears. Stick 'em quick and stick 'em where it 'urts. But most of all, stick 'em when they's looking the other way.|Gorduz Backstabber, epitomizing what it means to be a Hobgoblin}}

===The might of Zharr-Naggrund===
[[File:Chaos_Dwarf.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Dawi-Zharr 101: Tall hat, braided beard, spiky armour, wicked weapon, evil mind.]]
Unlike the human and bestial followers of Chaos, the Dawi-Zharr rarely send full armies to the lands of the Old World and beyond. Consequently, most common folk think them a myth, for only few can imagine that any of the proud and unyielding Dwarfs should have succumbed to the calling of the dark gods. Those who know better have come to fear the armies of Zharr-Naggrund as they are a merciless foe on the battlefield. Survivors of battles against the Dawi-Zharr tell tales of clouds of ash and sheets of fire engulfing the screaming remains of fallen soldiers, of cloven-hoofed monsters rampaging through their helpless victims and the very ground opening under them through foul magic. Traumatized and driven insane by what they have witnessed, they claim that it is better to die in battle than fall alive into the hands of the Chaos Dwarfs and their cruel torturers.

Although the Dawi-Zharr have fallen far from the common ideals of their western kin, they are not so far apart in warfare. The Dawi-Zharr favour the same build of large infantry blocks, their warriors clad in heavy plate and wielding axes and hammers. Chaos Dwarf troops wear tall hats, denoting their social status, and usually braid their black beards. Their armament and weaponry is of superior quality and they share their western kin's martial prowess. For ranged warfare the Chaos Dwarfs favour black powder weapons and field warriors equipped with fireglaives and the infamous hailshot blunderbuss, a weapon that strikes fear in the hearts of the their opponents like none other. While all Chaos Dwarfs show physical manifestations of the corrupting influence of Hashut, some are blessed beyond developing horns and tusks and are utterly transformed into the hellish Bull Centaurs, a fate which is seen as a sign of high favour bestowed by Hashut. Bull Centaurs are charged with guarding the Temple of Hashut and act as brutal shock troops on the battlefield.

Chaos Dwarfs are a rare breed, even more so than the Dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor. To bolster their forces, the Dawi-Zharr employ large numbers of slave troops. The Dark Lands are an unforgiving place and spawn resilient fighters, all of which the Chaos Dwarfs are all too eager to subjugate into service. Most numerous among their slaves are [[Hobgoblin]]s, a notoriously fiendish kind of [[Orcs & Goblins|greenskin]], even considering that very low bar. Hobgoblins are distrusted and hated by all other greenskins and are totally reliant on the Chaos Dwarfs' protection, which makes them perfect fighters and overseers for the other slave troops. The Dawi-Zharr are also known to press other, larger greenskins into their service, or even the occasional [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogre]] tribe. At some point their demand for able fighters for their armies and their frustration with the unreliability of the regular greenskin livestock led them to create the [[Black Orc]]s, an experiment that ultimately proved to be such a great success, it almost toppled the Dawi-Zharr empire. Only the treachery of the Hobgoblins saved the sons of Hashut from extinction, a deed which cemented the Hobgoblin's position at the highest slave tier for the Chaos Dwarfs and eternal outlaw among the greenskins.

The Dark Lands are roamed by greater dangers than greenskins and ogres, and many monsters and unnatural creatures are likewise caught and enslaved for the Dawi-Zharr armies. Among the most notable monsters bound to service by the Chaos Dwarfs are the Great Taurus and the Lammasu. Some believe the Great Taurus to be an incarnation of Hashut's divinity, while others claim they are actually Chaos Dwarfs particularly blessed with his gifts, similar to the Bull Centaurs. Whatever their nature, they are highly revered and sought after as mounts by the most powerful of Sorcerer-Prophets. Whilst the Great Taurus is a fuming beast of pure rage and destruction, the Lammasu is a more enigmatic being with a keen mind, and some of the less reckless Sorcerer-Prophets prefer them as a mount over the rampaging might of a Great Taurus.

The Dawi-Zharr society is ruthlessly dominated by the cabal of Sorcerer-Prophets, who steer the fate of the Chaos Dwarf empire as the vessels of Hashut's divine will. Most of the Sorcerer-Prophets are found in Zharr-Naggrund, but some rule over one of the small fortress-citadels and garrisons throughout the Dark Lands; however in most cases this is rather seen as banishment from the capital. Although the Sorcerer-Prophets and by extension the Daemonsmiths, their disciples and aspiring mages-engineers, rule supreme and often accompany Chaos Dwarf warhosts to battle, Overlords and Castellans are dedicated commanders and heralds for the armies and serve purely for the conduct of wars; also the eldest Bull Centaurs, Taur'ruks, hold authority in Chaos Dwarf armies. Out of necessity the Dawi-Zharr even allow exceptionally gifted slaves, like Hobgoblin Khans, to hold commanding positions in their armies, although only with authority over other slaves and only up until the point where such a commanding slave has amassed anything remotely resembling something like a reputation. At this point, he will usually be ... relieved of his duty and replaced with a fresh aspirant, whose fate will likely go in a very similar direction.

While the troops in Dawi-Zharr armies are admirable foes and can hold their own against any force on the battlefields of the old world and beyond, their truly terrifying power lies within their war machines, hellish abominations of daemonic sorcery melded with infernal engineering. The Chaos Dwarf arsenal is replete with a wide array of mortal artillery, from earth-shaking cannonades over fire-spewing flamethrowers to dreadful steam-powered tanks. Oftentimes these war machines are imbued with daemonic entities, as the Chaos Dwarfs still retain some form of the typical dwarven mistrust of unfettered magical energies and therefore learned how to bind them in their abominable creations. Where the Daemonsmiths work to further the coalescing of daemon and machine, some Sorcerer-Prophets sought to directly enslave even the malevolent beings from beyond the veil of reality; they summoned and bound them with powerful magic, creating the K'Daai, half daemon and half raging fire. Unleashed upon the world, these mindless forces of destruction will stop at nothing from destroying anything in their path until their eldritch fiery being is consumed by their own burning wrath.

===The Legion of Azgorh===

The most up-to-date ruleset for Chaos Dwarfs, sadly, is the [[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Legion of Azgorh|Legion of Azgorh]] found in Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos, but it's fairly extensive and has some nifty units, so it can stand up on its own. The book itself suggests they work best incorporated into a [[Warriors of Chaos]] army, as part of the [[Chaos Great Hosts]] ruleset provided in the book, or as allies.

The Legion of Azgorh is garrisoning the Black Fortress and represents a distinct sub-faction of Chaos Dwarfs. The mainstay and principal core troop of the army is the Infernal Guard; regular Chaos Dwarfs are only found in crewing the war machines. Infernal Guard are the Chaos Dwarf equivalent of Slayers: Chaos Dwarfs who have suffered dishonor and seek to atone for it. To do this, they forsake their names and identities, strap mask-helmets of bronze and iron heated red-hot over their faces, and fight for the glory of Hashut. Unlike Slayers, the Infernal Guard is not a death sentence - in theory, anyway. They aren't frenzied fighters like Slayers, and an Infernal Guard who wins great renown has his mask formally removed and is discharged, his old shame forgotten. They go into battle sporting Blackshard Armour, a unique Chaos Dwarf-devised armour that is proof against flame. Infernal Guard should be considered midway between core and elite troops and have both higher strength and better armour than regular Chaos. Their default armament are hand weapons and shield for a solid infantry role, but they also have access to all the options you would expect for Chaos Dwarfs, including the ingenious fireglaives and hailshot blunderbusses. Infernal Ironsworn are the elite version of Infernal Guard with an improved profile and ensorcelled hand weapons.

[[File:Dwarf_abomination.jpg|200px|thumb|right|With all the typical Chaos generosity, you'd not be surprised if you saw this while walking down to the grocery store one day.]]

Other famous elements of Chaos Dwarf armies can also be found in the Legion of Azgorh, namely the formidable Bull Centaurs, giving the army a degree of mobility unachievable for regular Dwarf armies. The dreaded Chaos Dwarf artillery is also represented in the Legion of Azgorh: The Magma Cannon, Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher (replacing the classic Death Rocket) and the unique Iron Daemon War Engine, as well as the Dreadquake Mortar (replacing the classic Earthshaker cannon) and Hellcannon, familiar from the Warriors of Chaos army list.

As it is only a sub-faction, the army list does not include Chaos Dwarf Overlords but only has Sorcerer-Prophets (Lords who use the Lores of Hashut, Fire, Death or Metal) as the highest commanders. They and Daemonsmiths (Heroes who use the Lores of Fire, Death or Metal) are both wizards and engineers, granting bonuses to your war machines and having a lot of special tricks and gear. Several twisted beasts are further added to the Chaos Dwarf armies: daemonic bull-things of living magma called the K'daai, burning winged daemon-bulls known as Taurus, magic-eating monsters called Lammasu, and armor-plated Giants modified for use as living seige weapons.

Befitting for a Dawi-Zharr army, all Chaos Dwarf units are fairly expensive, as they are considered rather rare. The Legion of Azgorh therefore has access to Hobgoblin slaves in the form of fleet-footed wolfriders, great mobs, and even conniving Khans as Hero-grade characters. They are very cheap in order to act as the cannon-fodder they are treated as by the Chaos Dwarfs, and naturally their destruction does not cause panic in Chaos Dwarf units.

==[[Total War: WARHAMMER]]==
[[Image:Dawi_Zharr_Artillery_Crew.jpg|thumb|right|Chaos Dwarfs in their (small) appearance as infernal artillery crews]]
So far the Chaos Dwarfs have not been added to the base game as a faction, though a group of Chaos Dwarfs serve as the artillery crew for the Hellcannon unit. No hats, but lots of sausage beards and some horns. They're also mentioned during the second quest battle for Grimgor Ironhide's Blood-Forged Armour -- some Northman traded with them for goods, his armour included, and he wants to take it from them.

With the release of a trailer for the third game, the main factions will be the Daemons of Chaos (divided up into separate races for each of the four Dark Gods and one for Chaos Undivided), Kislev and Cathay. The poor Dawi-Zharr have been overlooked yet again. The first DLC race is the [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogre]]s, which means the Dark Dwarfs are still waiting, but bodes very well for their later inclusion. A Dawi-Zharr DLC down the road seems certain due to the presence of an army book and the third game's map centering on the eastern part of the Warhammer world.

A recent quote was found in a loading screen in the game, all but confirming the Chaos Dwarfs as one of if not the first major piece of DLC in the game...not to mention datamined voicelines of the Advisor confirm that Chaos Dwarfs are going to be in the game.

[[File:Chaos Dwarf Hint.png|thumb|right|''Happy short man noises'']]

==See also==
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Legion of Azgorh|Tactics/Legion of Azgorh]] 
* [[Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos]]
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Chaos_Dwarfs|Chaos Dwarf tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.chaos-dwarfs.com Chaos Dwarfs Online], a repository for all things Chaos Dwarf.

==References==
* [https://www.abebooks.com/9781872372808/Chaos-Dwarfs-Rick-Priestley-Robin-1872372805/plp White Dwarf Presents: Chaos Dwarfs], by Rick Priestly & Robin Dews; Games Workshop, 1994; ISBN 978-1-87237-280-8
* [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20942304-tamurkhan Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos], by Alan Bligh; Games Workshop, 2011; ISBN 978-1-90796-465-7

{{Chaos Dwarfs-Forces}}
{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Chaos]][[Category:Dwarfs]]

Beastmen

2023-02-14T22:23:39Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

{{Sick|Rape, and lots of it, as well as eating people.}}

{{Topquote|The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.|George Orwell, ''Animal Farm''}}

{{Topquote|Elia Martell...I killed her screaming whelp. Then I '''raped''' her. Then I smashed '''her fucking head in, like THIS'''.|Gregor Clegane, A Storm of Swords}}

{{Topquote|The only thing in my head Is five grams of cocaine, fly away alone To the edge of oblivion I have thoughts in my head When will all this end Whenever I'm not alone Because a white eel will fly in|2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSnDQjEquGA&t=1s Beastmen's official theme song]}}

[[File:Beastman.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A face that even mothers can't force themselves to love.]]
Where the [[Warriors of Chaos|Warriors]] are Chaos tanks and [[Daemons]] are Chaos cheese, the '''Beastmen''' are the true Chaos horde. The Beastmen call themselves the children of Chaos, descended from outcast mutants hurled into the cursed woods of the Drakwald. They are considered a mere nuisance by the Empire and the Bretonnians, but the Wood Elves know how dangerous they truly are. The favorite activities of most Beastmen include toppling waystones, erecting herdstones, [[Grimdark|kidnapping/raping/eating humans]], and, of course, plain old smashing shit! They hate absolutely anything built or anything that is pure and make it a priority to destroy and defile that which the civilized races cherish.

In short, they're a bunch of drunken anarchist fucktards that hang out in the woods, surfacing only to pillage and defile - which is actually kinda awesome if you're into that sort of thing!

==Print History==
The Beastmen weren't always "the Beastmen" as we know them today. For the longest time, they were actually part of a unified Chaos army, but due to the fact that people seemed to like to roll with either all beast, mortal or daemon army lists, [[Games Workshop]] in their infinite wisdom decided to gradually split off the armies. Despite getting split off into an army of their own, they still always play second fiddle to every other villainous faction in the setting. [[Skaven]] used to be under them.

===Runequest===
[[File:GW Special Broo.jpg|thumb|right|px|300|Behold, the first <strike>Broo</strike> Beastmen models.]]
In the early to mid 1980's, Games Workshop still produced miniatures for other games, including some they didn't even sell (similar to [[Reaper Miniatures]] today), and among them was the line of [[Broo]] for the [[Runequest]] game of the [[Glorantha]] setting.

Broo were the proto-Beastmen. Most of the visual style of modern Beastmen, particularly Ungors, is present in the Broo minis. Broo are specifically very similar to Beastmen, [[/d/|although most notably is their lecherous nature and their hyper-fertility to the point they can literally impregnate anything they jizz into, including other males (usually not of their own race), trees, rocks, even just dirt.]]

Games Workshop lost the rights to most of the third party IPs in the early 80's, since the contracts had run out and the IP owners had discovered there was alternatives (early GW had managed to sell itself on the idea it was the primary distributor of tabletop in <strike>The Old World</strike> Europe despite it originally being three young men in an apartment and later on about twenty of them in a small office). This left them with a fair amount of unsold inventory that they couldn't actually sell anymore, so they repurposed it all (with dubious legality) as other things and gave Brian Ansell the thumbs up to make his own game that they'd all have rules in...hence, Warhammer was born. Since Broo were generic enough, Games Workshop repurposed the existing miniatures as a set of models for the game, with very little actually changed aside from all the grey morality removed.

===Hordes of Chaos===
Way back when, they were just part of the single Chaos army where they fulfilled the role of chaff; they were squishier and quicker than other Mortal units and they were good at setting up charges, which Daemons couldn't really do. There were also a couple of special and rare units that were "beastly," but nothing much.

===Beasts of Chaos===
In 6th edition the Chaos army was split, making Beastmen their own army... sort of. They were pretty bad in this edition, essentially being the bitch of Chaos. Indeed, they had almost ''no'' redeeming qualities of their own, but to get into why we'll need to split apart the book and look at it in detail.

For starters, there's nothing the Beasts can do that Mortals or Daemons can't do better. At first this might seem odd since their Special and Rare choices could both be very powerful, however the Chaos books were rather unique in that Beasts, Daemons and Mortals could all be used alongside each other, and so each could take everyone else's Special and Rare choices. The main difference was in what counted as your Core, and a Chaos Core was divided into a Mortal, Beast and Daemon Core. [[Age of Sigmar|Whichever of the three types happened to be your General was the type that counted as your Core, while the other two counted as Special choices.]]

Suffice to say, outside of a few options/builds the Beast Generals were lacking compared to Mortal Generals and Greater Daemons, and so were their Core. Sure if you found a way to get Morghur in the middle of the enemy he could stop at least half an army on his own while Khazrak was hands down one of, (if not the best) monster killers in the game. He was able to get up to S10 and each successful wounding attack, before saves, generated a new attack (yes, even the new attacks did this) and the Beast's ambush rule was pretty cool, but those are the exceptions.

The Beast Core consisted of units that mixed low Toughness and low Leadership; they had lightly armoured Ungors with spears and tough, brawny brawlers in the form of Gors, alongside skirmishers that could scout. The only alternatives (if you wanted a full unit) was to supplement with Warhounds, who can't take a hit and didn't count towards your mandatory Core slots, or take a bunch of tough, strong Bestigors, who were overpriced and much slower than everybody else. If you wanted a Beasts General and mostly wanted to make use of your Special and Rare choices, then you'd probably get a few Tuskgor Chariots to fill your mandatory Core slots. They were significantly cheaper than their Mortal counterparts, did not do that much less damage and were also the only option that could consistently make their points back.

This is because when they were split from the Hordes of Chaos, the Core was nothing more than an unruly band of meat shields. In fact, because they could move faster, it was preferable to field a few beast packs to soak up arrow fire and act as distractions while fast-moving daemons got the flanks and warriors hammered the front ranks.

[[Derp|This does not make a competent, full army.]] Now if you were paying attention you might be wondering how they'd perform if had a Mortal or Daemon General and so could avoid a shitty Core, and that's where things get good. A Chaos army often had to skip out on important upgrades to certain units (specifically Warriors) because they wouldn't have enough to get a good General, a good frontline, and a good few heavy hitters that you'd normally need to collapse the enemy's formation. They were pricy, and so Beasts gave you the option of having a cheap Core and suddenly you had far more points to spend on units of Warriors and Knights.

Now to get into the cool Special and Rare choices, the Beasts gave Chaos the [[Troll#Fantasy_trolls|Chaos Trolls]] and [[Ogre_Kingdoms|Ogres]], [[Dragon Ogres|Dragon Ogres and Shaggoths]], etc. Combined with the Warriors (and saving points using Chariots or Ungor screens for Core) it made for a fairly strong United force, one that could hit like a truck and take solid hits in return.

Almost makes you wonder why they were ever split in the first place, since the only time the Chaos armies of 6th Ed were scary was when they had a united front (just like in the lore).

===Beastmen===
[[File:Beastmen-Warhammer-Fantasy.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Warrior goats with [[Ogre]]-style gutplates]]
Sometimes referred to as "the WEAK chaos army," or the "Powerful [[Chaos]] [[Skaven]]" it more or less resembles a normal horde style army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle with cheap, [[Imperial Guard|expendable]] troops, average leaderships and little immunity to psychology. The things they otherwise don't have are anything resembling armor or any kind relevant shooting, but they try to make up for it with Primal Fury which gives them hatred on a passed leadership test each round of combat on many of their units. The Herdstone magic item allows Beastmen wizards to score extra power dice for their spells, allowing Beastmen to pull off a little extra spell support to augment the cheap core units. They also excel in cheap chaff and redirectors in the form of Ungor Raiders, Razorgors, and Harpies, and fielding fairly costed chariots in core.

Unfortunately they also got fucked in pretty much every other area. Marks were taken away for no good reason, prices went up on models that already cost too much, models were introduced that made your own army worse, the Beastmen were given a piss-poor magic lore (compared to every other lore) in exchange for the other lores that could be occasionally useful, they swapped out mostly decent magic items for mostly shitty ones, or ones that made no sense (like a magic banner that could only be given to a unit who had heavy armour, and it took away their heavy armour without refunding the cost), the list goes on. All in all it made them one of if not the worst army in the game. It was still possible to win, but it would always be an uphill battle as their biggest advantages, like their heaviest hitters and ability to be combined with the other Chaos armies as one big force, were completely removed (with the one exception being Minotaurs who are overcosted compared to other models anyway).

===Real world Inspiration===
The standard way of creating a fantasy race or culture is to take one real world culture and base everything off of that. The Empire is early Renaissance Germany, Bretonnia is Medieval French fused with English Arthurian myth giving them a strong British feel as well. Dwarfs and Elves have their own sort of base line culture based on Tolkien and with a large part of Warhammer fantasy in it nowadays as well.

The Beastmen, however, are based on the popular conception of the barbarians who tore Rome down. First they have no interests other than smashing civilization apart for the sake of smashing it apart. They have in their background that they pay homage to large 'herd stones' which are similar to the Celtic shrines (think Stonehenge, although it is not actually a Celtic shrine). Lastly, they are Beastmen and satyrs are associated with paganism. Ever wonder why the Devil has cloven legs? Early Christians used the old Greek god Pan (the original [[satyr]]), as the devil because he was, among other things, a god of sex [[Fail|(and shepherds)]] and Christians are against recreational sex outside marriage due to the Bible's stipulation that God intends it for married couples, meaning Pan was a good framework for the devil and all that has really changed since then was turning him red and giving him a trident. Plus, Pan is also a god of the wild; very fitting reference for Beastmen.

Tactically the Beastmen also fit the Barbarian origin: many light troops that rely on ambush and surprise (more than one Roman legion was lost by this kind of ambush), chariots which the Britons used against the Romans and lastly they are like the Barbarians in that they are focused on skirmishing and raiding. Once upon a time all Beastmen were skirmishers, which while effective against isolated villages is less effective against armies, which is why it was changed.

So the Beastmen have some pretty interesting roots once you 'pop the hood' on their design.

==Occupy Drakwald==
The thing that pisses the Beastmen off is that something like 1% of life in Middenheim controls 99% of the land! There are so many freaky beasts living in the chaos woods, combined with big Empire pushing around the people of the woods and ruining the environment for their own economic interests. And so the Beastmen have taken to their eternal campout against the Empire and it's regional castellan pretty boy, Elector Count Boris Todbringer.

Another thing that really pisses them off is that it's stated in the Orcs and Goblins codex that [[Forest Goblins]] on their spiders tend to murder herds wandering in the woods. Technically this is because the Forest Goblins are the original occupants of Drakwald that have been trying to keep the Empire, Beastmen (born of Empire), and other greenskins out since the dawn of...well, the Old Ones creating all the races, but fuck those fucking fucks! They have fancier hats and more land, so they gotta go too!

And that's not where the similarities end. The Beastmen are a bunch of lazy, shiftless, filthy degenerates that eat babies - no literally! The Beastmen want nothing better than to just drink looted booze, eat/fuck other races and tear down everything that everyone has ever built - ever! (cough cough Chakats.)

==Origins==
{{Topquote|One might suspect that the lower forms of the servants of darkness would be less blessed by the powers they serve than their more noble counterparts, but this is not the case. The Marks of the Dark Gods are as evident amongst these foul creatures as in any horde of debased Men. Perhaps even more so, for these Beastmen, as they are known, seem to be embraced by their gods just as parents might their children. Spawned by the very darkness that enwraps them, they are closer to the heart of Chaos than any other creatures and are to be greatly feared because of it.|From the Liber Chaotica, penned by Richter Kless, Priest of Sigmar, declared insane.''}}

The Beastmen's origins seem to be something of a composite piece (and changes from edition to edition). On one account, they are descended from the myriad creatures that inhabited the Northern Wastes and migrated downward, accepting more stable forms from their reduced exposure from the polar fluxes of chaos and interbreeding with more magic resistant creatures. Another myth pins the Beastmen's origins as the mutated descendants of humans cast into the wild for being born a hideous half-man, half-beast creature (Now why the humans decide to throw all their mutant babies into the surrounding forest known to be populated with sadistic and vengeful goatmen born as mutants to humans and cast-off themselves is a bit of a mystery). The 6th ed Beasts of Chaos book says that when the polar gates collapsed, the Beastmen were made from animals mutating to be more human-like and humans mutating to be more bestial while the 7th ed Beastmen book says that when Chaos was first released to the world the "primitives" at the time went mad, fucked some animals, generations later their descendants are the Beastmen. Wood Elves seem to have less of a problem with mutants, either because they resist chaos more/better or they kill such offspring immediately and never talk about it again, but that's just like, you know, a cultural difference.

Age of Sigmar is more vague about the Beastmen's origins, stating that they were present in the Mortal Realms before Sigmar arrived (which is a enigma in itself, since all other forms of Chaos only arrived in the Age of Chaos). Three in-universe theories are presented; the standard "animals and men mutated by Chaos energy", one claiming that they're all descended from a primogenitor beast called the Gor-Father, and another saying that [[/pol/|they're the product of miscegenation between races]]. Since several Beastmen tribes appear to worship the Gor-Father, while there are other accounts of humans being mutated into Beastmen, its possible that all these theories have elements of truth to them.

Regardless, today's Beastman is more likely either the product of gangrape, spawned by a brief and unholy union from victorious Beastman raiders that managed to bring home some captive females from other races, usually humans, and it never ends well for the woman (tying into the inspiration for Beastmen, the [[Broo]], though this was downplayed; you know something's nasty when Games "In the GRIM DARKness of the far future..." Workshop says it's too much - before you bring up the Fimir, it was never part of them, only inferred by a typo and omission of lore), or they were spawned when a Beastman really loves a Beastwoman. We're not too sure how Beastmen "love" one another, but the fluff seems to imply that the Beastmen have to get really fucking hammered before hand with giant orgiastic feasts at their encampments around Beastmen Herdstones. However, as of Total War: Warhammer: Call of the Beastman, it is possible to recruit a female Beastman, or Doe, to your warband.

==Types==
Beastmen come in many varieties, usually denoted by a suffix and a prefix, making a chaotic race that hates organization and civilization into an easily organized and tidy group. In Oldhammer, mutants were included as Beastmen in advertising. After the Tony Ackland legal troubles when most mutants and the more creative types of Spawn were squatted, Beastmen remained pure beast men.

===Devoted===
Beastmen particularly devoted to specific Chaos Gods, usually because of mutations at their birth, being enslaved by devotees of a particular god, or blessing, are given the name of their god in their designation. Its worth noting that the armor of the godly Beastmen are more ornate, implying they are far less antagonistic to the idea of making things intentionally. Note that devoted is our word for organizing them. They were also out of the picture until VERY recently because Phil Kelly removed them from the 7th edition Beastmen book and retconned the fluff to destroy any and all traces of Beastmen that were devoted/enslaved/blessed by a single god, to the point where they couldn't even be given marks on both the tabletop and lore.

* [[Tzaangor]] are Beastmen of Tzeentch. Have white, yellow, and most commonly blue features usually as well as mutations giving them spindly limbs, extra arms, and an emphasis on bird and moon appearances. Tzeentch-aligned Doombulls are called "Tzaanbulls".

* [[Slaangor]] are Slaanesh's Beastmen. The least described and depicted of all the Beastmen groups. Their mutations obviously trend more towards the lewd, with extra pectorals and nipples, and are known for being mostly albino with pastel skin. Their eyes are like those of Daemonettes, being large and either green or black. Their species are animals that are lithe or symbolically sensual, but with a large amount of them being non-Minotaur bovines (a Bovigor can be a Slaangor, not all Slaangor are Bovigor). Slaanesh-aligned Doombulls are called "Slaanbulls".

* [[Khorngor]] are Khorne's. Their fur is shiny and almost metallic, their eyes are white with red pupils, they always have canine heads and the most favored have their horns naturally grow in the shape of Khorne's skull symbol. They wear far more armor than most other Beastmen species. Khorne-aligned Doombulls are called "Bloodbulls".

* [[Pestigor]] are Nurgle's, breaking the prefix naming scheme of the others. Aside from being heavily diseased, something they don't really have exclusive among Beastmen, they have only one horn, their hide is particularly tough, and they wear far more armor than any other variety. Disappointingly, they were not named Nurggors. Nurgle-aligned Doombulls are called "Plaguebulls".

===Herd Society===
[[File:Beast_tribe.jpg|300px|thumb|right|]]
Beastmen society is organized around herds and ruled by a system of might makes right. In other words, what the biggest, strongest Beastman says, goes. One would be forgiven in thinking that this automatically means that minotaurs would end up running the show since they are by far the biggest and strongest, but they're not the brightest thing on two hooves. Minotaurs specialize in wholesale slaughter, but aren't too keen on things like where to find food, who should keep watch or how to fix their shitty chariots. Lo, the Beastlord has his task cut out for him.

In any case, the main Beastmen types are, in pecking order:

* '''[[Beastlord]]s''': The Beastmen in charge, the Alpha Male, they run the show for the other Beastmen with a combination of [[Mork|dastardly cunning]] and [[Gork|brute strength]]. They often delegate more benign tasks to their immediate inferiors, the Wargors.
* '''[[Wargor]]s''': The "trusted" (as far as Beastman loyalty goes) lieutenants of Beastlord, Wargors are pretty kickass leaders and fighters themselves. Often seen carrying battle standards or leading Bestigor herds, or both.
* '''[[Bestigor]]s''': Quite literally the best Gors. Strong, tough, heavily armed and armoured, the Wargors and Beastlords often arise from their ranks. They used to be the Chaos Undivided of the Beastmen, complete with the Mark (with the option of becoming [[Khorngor]]s, [[Tzaangor]]s, [[Slaangor]]s or [[Pestigor]]s) but then [[Phil Kelly|some asshole]] took away their marks and unique types.
* '''[[Bray Shaman|Bray-Shamans]] and Great Bray-Shamans''': Tribal elders and spiritual leaders of the Beastmen, they interpret the will of Chaos and determine the best course of action for the herd. They are also the herd's wizards, channeling the lores of Death, Shadows, Beasts and their unique Lore of the Wild, a corrupt offshoot of the Lore of Beasts. One of the very few rules Beastmen have is that you are never allowed to harm a Bray-Shaman for any reason, ''ever''; the ability to wield magic is seen as a sign of favour from the Ruinous Powers, and since it's really hard for the Beastmen to get ''any'' kind of favour from them, those who clearly have it cannot be cast aside lightly.
* '''[[Gor]]s''': The rank and file of the beast herd. Your average Gor is bigger, tougher and far nastier than your average human, and also far more stupid which explains why they haven't overrun everything. He's also an unguloid with furry legs and a face that's a blend of bestial and human features. ALL Gors also feature prominent horns and/or antlers on their heads.
* '''[[Ungor]]s''': The untouchables even in beast herds and sword-fodder for just about everyone who ''isn't'' a Beastman. They are pretty close in size to humans, yet still feature particularly bestial features such as furry unguloid legs with hooves, a semi-bestial face and two small horn buds. Sometimes band together in scouting parties of Ungor Raiders when not used as slave labour to fix all the shitty Beastmen gear. In short, the Beastmen's equivalent to Skavenslaves and Chaos Marauders.
* '''[[Bray]]s''': Beastmen with no horns, the lowest of the low in Beastman society (so low that they got no models). In a society where life is nasty, brutish, and short, their lives are by far the nastiest, most brutal and most especially shortest.

Beastmen are wild and crude creatures embodying all the negative aspects of animals combined with human-level intelligence. They are truly repugnant to behold, let alone to smell, for they are a twisted reflection of the base and barbaric aspects of nature. Beastmen are Chaotic Evil to their core (as one would expect from the OG children of Chaos), with literally the ''only'' thing resembling redeeming qualities that they have being their reverence of Bray-Shamans and (depending on how one looks at it), their loyalty to the Chaos Gods. The carnage and despair they spread across the land is a malevolent and deliberate attempt to wreck anything beautiful or stable for the lulz. Bitterness and spite simmers in the heart of every Beastman; it takes little more than a few well-chosen words to spur a Gor into a frenzy of unrestrained rage. The sounds of distant battle will cause a Beastman to prick up his tufted ears in an instant; a fight or duel upon a woodland path will invariably bring dozens of Beastmen from all about in a very short space of time. Even when gathered in their torrid encampments the Beastmen spend their time fighting, fucking or feasting. The only time they don't is when a particularly strong Beastman knocks a sense of purpose into them (sometimes literally) or a Bray-Shaman calls on the Chaos Gods.

Beastmen have forms perfectly suited to their horrid nature. They have long, ridged horns with which to gore their foes, and the legs of cattle and goats with which to trample the bodies of their victims. Their matted hair is encrusted with blood and dung, a haven for fat ticks and colonies of fleas that keep the Cloven One in a constant state of agitation, for hygiene is one of those stable and beautiful concepts that Beastmen feel compelled to ruin. They're not even house trained and mark their territory whenever they feel like it even if it's on an enemy's corpse. Their drool-filled mouths are filled with sharp, wolf-like fangs for tearing the flesh of their prey, and their muscular, sweat-slicked bodies are ideally suited to the murderous desires that gleam in their blood-red eyes.

Above all, though, it is the trappings of progress and civilization that fan the embers of hatred burning within each Beastman's breast. A mere glimpse of bright colours, especially the colour red, will often be enough to get a Beastman's pulse racing with bloodlust. The sight of a proud flag or coat of arms, a pristine uniform or a magnificent statue elicits a powerful reaction in the Beastmen, for the things of order are anathema to the Children of Chaos. All caution is put aside in a desperate attempt to tear down and befoul the offending article, to stomp it into the mud, smear it with dung or rip it to pieces and chew on the remains. Woe betide those who take pride in such symbols of authority and order, for their end will invariably be messy, painful and humiliating. Though Beastmen find it far easier to destroy than to create they can be terribly inventive in the punishments they inflict upon their captives, and they have a sick and ribald sense of humor that leads to truly stomach-churning atrocities enacted upon those they can catch.

No Beastman is truly content unless visiting some manner of violence upon a hapless victim. The only tools they use are the tools of war, and even then they aren't too fussy. In the last edition of Fantasy they armed themselves with crude blades and axes that they call 'man-cleavers,' mostly cobbled together from the spoils of war, because Phil Kelly thought it would be a great idea to change the Beastmen so that they're unable to make their own equipment. He also altered them so that the warherds lack the resplendent weapons and baroque armour of the human servants of the Chaos Gods, saying that since the Beastmen already belong to the Ruinous Powers the gods have no need to bargain such trinkets in exchange for their souls, completely ignoring the fact that the gods are supposed to be petty, meaning even if their souls already belonged to Chaos, they'd still get marks to show which god they belonged to. This might have been a part of his plan to make the army the worst army in all of Fantasy, as the marks and armour also help the armies of Chaos win the fights they get into, so it should be no surprise that after Phil changed their lore, they don't do shit aside from being a punching bag for all the other races. He decided to leave in how they're great at raiding (though the actual rules for raiding were an entirely different story), pillaging and corpse-robbing even when they are not marching to war. Because of this they are never short of battered weapons and ragged suits of armor, albeit ones encrusted with clotted gore and riddled with rust. Such lack of quality is only a minor setback to the Beastmen, who compensate with sheer brute strength and determination.

The robust constitution of the Cloven Ones allows them to live upon the most meagre or unpleasant of diets. They prefer great chunks of meat above all but, unlike their larger Minotaur brethren, they do not care if it is fresh or if it is infested and maggot-ridden. Beastmen are cannibals who gorge themselves upon the corpses of their own kind without hesitation, entrails, hair, horns, hooves and all, and believe that to do so is to inherit the strength of the victim. This diet of dead meat is supplemented with grubs, hairy-legged spiders, poisonous centipedes, plump blowflies, and other vermin, as well as the occasional lost child or lone woodsman. It could be said that Beastmen are hunter-gatherers, though they mainly gather the body parts strewn around the place after a particularly vicious hunt. Human flesh is a delicacy to Beastmen, and rivals have been known to fight to the death over a single human arm or leg.

Of all the creatures of Chaos, Beastmen have an especially close relationship with Morrslieb, the Chaos Moon. Whenever Morrslieb is fullest in the sky the Beastmen will hold night-long, sprawling orgies where they indulge every base lust and bloodthirsty deed they can think of. Much blood is shed, much captured wine and beer is drunk, and many new beast-spawn are conceived, ensuring the cycle of twisted and unholy life is perpetuated. Though it is rumored that the witches and heretics of the Old World join the Beastmen in these frightening and confusing bacchanals, none have ever been able to say for certain, for to stumble upon a camp of blood-drunk Beastmen celebrating under the unclean light of Morrslieb is to plunge into hell itself.

====Beastwomen====
{{Monstergirls}}
{{Topquote|She doubted that she or it would have survived if she had not encountered the beastwomen in the forest; if they had not taken her in and guarded her and fed her. She remembered them as being oddly shy and gentle compared to the gors and ungors. | from the perspective of Justine, Chaos Champion. From ''Trollslayer''.}}
[[File:Canon Beastwoman.png|thumb|left|400px|Thanks to [[Blood Bowl]], specifically [[Spike! Magazine]], we now have a "canon" piece of artwork of a female Beastman (which is ironically ''less'' beastly than a lot of the fan-art).]]
[[File:FemmeGor Waifu Sketch.jpg|thumb|right|300px|One drawfag's interpretation of what happens when a Chaos Champion kills a Beastlord.]]
[[File:FemmeGor.png|thumb|right|300px|Fan-art of a hypothetical female Beastlord.]]
Naturally, some Chaos fans on /tg/ have speculated quite intensely about the possibility of Beastwomen/"gor-doe" waifus, particularly given old lore of human Chaos worshippers partaking in the bacchanalian feasting and rutting of Beastmen tribes. While it has been confirmed that Beastmen are not all male, very little canon information has ever been revealed about the female half of the Beasts of Chaos. As you can read in the above quote, William King, the author of the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novels, describes them as "calmer" than their male counterparts. Yet despite being apparently more restrained and rational than their menfolk, much like their human counterparts in the Northern tribes, gor-does are can still be capable warriors, as it is mentioned in the aforementioned novels the duo encountered beastwomen warriors during their battles.

[[Total War: Warhammer]] stuck its own oar in, claiming that gor-does are relatively rare among the Beastmen and as such the males will fight for the right to mate with one whenever it's breeding season. Meaning only the strongest members of a herd will get to mate with a pure female beastmen, while the less lucky males look to [[Rape|other means]] for producing more of their kind. Whether this is actually canon or not is unclear, so it's left to fans to decide for themselves how they prefer it... which of course leads to [[skub|the usual arguments]].

Other older lore has implied both that [[harpy|harpies]] act as females for beastmen, and that, much like the [[Fimir]], beastmen have been known to abduct human (or elf) women as corrupted breeding slaves they call "Beastmothers". For fairly obvious reasons, this piece of lore has since disappeared from official pubblications, only leaving the occasional unsettling implication.

Given the beastmen's origins as rip-offs of the [[Broo]], some fans also assume that many Beastmen reproduce by impregnating female livestock.

{{clear}}

====Beastman Champion Retinues====
Back in the days of [[Realms of Chaos]], Beastman Chaos Champions were able to take the [[Path to Glory]] once introduced in "The Lost and the Damned", and even had their own unique follower retinue table they rolled on, to emphasize the split between the beastmen tribes and the armies of Chaos-damned humans:
::01-020: 2d6 Beastmen (If the Beastman Champion has the Mark of Chaos, these are also Marked by the same Patron; [[Khorngor]]s, [[Pestigor]]s, [[Slaangor]]s or [[Tzaangor]]s - otherwise, they're just normal beastmen)
::21-40: 2d6 Beastmen
::41-60: Beastman Hero
::61-70: Beastman Shaman
::71-80: D6 [[Centaur]]s
::81-85: D3 [[Dragon Ogre]]s
::86-98: D6 [[Minotaur]]s
::99-100: Other (Roll on the Human Chaos Champion retinue table)

===The Bulls===
[[File:BeastmenMinotaurs.jpg|200px|thumb|right|]]
Nobody really knows why, but the Beastmen seem to be accompanied by a race of ferocious Minotaurs, not that they're complaining. When the Minotaurs aren't rampaging through the hardest parts of an enemy army, eating knights, drinking blood and shitting victory, they're often seen guarding caches of magic treasures deep in the Drakwald. They aren't a very bright group but their uncanny resilience, rape-tastic strength and general piss-your-pants scariness gets shit done for the Beastmen. There are also mutant varieties of the bulls that have long ago traded their sanity for fuck-off hugeness and other random shit.

* '''Doombulls and Gorebulls''': The closest thing the Minotaurs have to leaders, with the Doombulls being the larger, stronger and generally more daunting of the two, and Gorebulls functioning like Wargors or Skaven Chieftans.
* '''Minotaurs''': Giant, bull-headed monsters that fuck near can't be stopped once they get to smashing shit.
* '''Cygors''': 50 ft. tall, one-eyed Minotaur mutant that can only see magic things. Likes to collect gigantic pieces of magic rock (more commonly known as temple columns) and eating the souls of mages... unless those tricksy wee things are causing him trouble, whereupon he'll just throw one of his gigantic rocks at it!
* '''Ghorgon''': Minotaurs that get a flair for cannibalism turn into giant-sized, four-armed killing machines with two of their four arms ending in scythe hands. They also have a penchant swallowing things whole and magically reknitting any wounds they may have had.
{{clear}}

===Other Critters===
[[File:Beastmen-centrigor.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|A centigor, [[centaur]] in grimdark.]]
Being that the Beastmen are all a bunch of horrible monsters, they have a pretty high tolerance for other horrible monsters. Along with the minotaurs, the Beastmen's ranks are supplemented by other creatures used for various tasks from beasts of burden to cavalry to shock troops to cannon fodder.

* '''Warhounds''': Just like the ones starved and tamed by the warriors of chaos, but instead starved and tamed by Beastmen. Used for a fast and cheap screen.
* '''Tuskgors''': What essentially look like warthogs, they're most often used to pull the herd's shitty chariots.
* '''Razorgors''': Bigger, nastier, mutant tuskgors. They are either loosed in packs or used to pull chariots. Why the Beastmen use pigs as pack animals and eat horses instead of the other way around is a bit bizarre, but might have to do with how flighty horses can get around large, carnivorous animals and that pigs occasionally indulge in carnivorism and predation.
* '''Centigors''': The torso of a Gor fused onto the body of a horse with three hooves per foot, by the looks of it. Totally ungainly and butt-hurt over it, they take to stealing beer, wine and spirits brewed and distilled by other races and getting shit-faced daily to forget that fact. They act as cavalry to the Beastmen, and are the setting's Centaurs.
* '''Harpies''': Identical to Dark Elf harpies, may or may not be the Beastwomen with which the Beastmen procreate. Used primarily as flying shock troops.
* '''[[Chaos Spawn]]''': Can be either heavily mutated Beastmen or just normal spawn, that which must not be named are goaded into battle... somehow. But this is chaos, so really anything can become a chFGHFGTYHAAAD{{BLAM}}
* '''Jabberslythe''': Arguably the ugliest thing in all of WHFB. Said that not even the clearest pools will reflect its image, or maybe they just don't stay clear for very long. Either way, this is yet another giant powerhouse of a monster using its ugliness as a shock weapon to get the Beastmen's enemies to kill themselves.
* '''[[Giant]]''': The warhammer giant is at the beast's disposal to jump up and down, yell at people and stuff them into its pants.
{{clear}}
*A type of amphibious beastmen known as "Lakemen" infest areas of Bretonnia. They appear as humanoid frog-fish with crab claws for hands, and all have at least one type of mutation furthering them from this basic form. Don't really get along with "normal" beastmen that well, either.
* There is a tribe of beastmen in Ind that have tiger heads. Local humans worship them as holy spirits and as such said locals prostrate themselves, even as they get killed by the 'holy spirits'. They're called the Bengal, because if you didn't guess it the first time, Ind is Warhammer India.
*The tribal societies of men, greenskin, and lizardmen in the Southlands have to deal with raids from the Apemen, a race of Beastmen that resemble humanoid gorillas.
*The Ymir are a solitary race of Norscan Beastmen who are similar to Ogre Yetis.
* Down in the Warhammer Antarctica, also known as "Southern Chaos Wastes", a pretty obscure Beastmen subrace called '''Beastfiends''' lives. They're actually non-human at all, instead being an unholy mix of Beast and [[Daemons of Chaos|Daemon]]. They're totally irrelevant and only appear in one [[Archaon]] novel.
* In Naggaroth, a strange breed of scaled Beastman can sometimes be seen in the caves and crevasses. About the height of an Elf and covered head to foot in craggy scales, these creatures are primitive, and war amongst themselves with their stone axes and clubs. On occasion, when times are hard or when the call of Chaos from the north grows strong, they descend from the peaks to raid Dark Elf settlements and join with the armies of Chaos, and their numbers are such that it takes great military might to repel them.
*'''Polar Warbears''' In "The Northlands", possibly the edge of Kislev and Norsca, lies Ice Mountain. Within, The Frozen Horror dwelled, served by an army of horned Yetis and a type of Polar Bear Beastman known as a Polar Warbear. They tended to wear light armor and wielded one handed weapons, mainly because they were humanoid Polar Bears and as such, didn't NEED heavy armor or heavy weapons, since Polar Bears can rip people apart with their bare paws.

==Notable Beastmen==
*'''[[Khazrak The One-Eye]]:''' One of the most legendary Beastmen in recent history, known for his use of actual tactics and military strategy. Has one eye (surprisingly) and a heated rivalry with [[Boris Todbringer]].
*'''[[Taurox The Brass Bull]]''': Violent bull-freak made of Brass after eating one of Khorne's daemons. He is a bad ass that likes to cut shit up and kill everything he sees. All in all total bad ass.
*'''[[Morghur the Shadowgave]], aka Morghur the Master of Skulls''':The closest thing to a central leader the Beastmen have. This guy not only corrupts and mutates anything in his path, every time he's killed, he simply resurrects and starts all over again. He's considered the greatest enemy of the Wood Elves and the chosen prophet and champion of the Chaos Gods to his people, despite not having only the vaguest semblence of a rational mind. It's entirely possible he's not really a Beastman and closer to a Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided, or simply a mass of roiling Chaos energy in the vague shape of a Beastman In Age of Sigmar gets his own faction called the Gavespawn that pretty much worships him as a minor Chaos God.
*'''[[Malagor]] The Dark Omen''': The Bray Shaman of all Bray Shaman, this Beastmen is not only a powerful sorcerer and a cunning manipulator he also has a pair of black raven wings that enable him to fly. He greatly resembles an old representation of old Nick called Baphomet.
*'''[[Gorthor]] the Beastlord''': The greatest Beastlord to ever live, he united all the Beastmen of the Middle Mountains, pioneered the use of chariots, brought down two provinces of the Empire and in addition to his fighting skills was a tactical and strategic thinker.
*'''[[Ghorros Warhoof]]''': The “Sire of a Thousand Young” is an ancient Centigor that is constantly fighting, drinking, or fucking. He proudly boasts to have fathered the entire Centigor race and have connections to every other beastman in the Old World. Like an alcoholic father who left home for a pack of cigarettes, he roams the land in a constant state of bragging, bashing, boozing, and banging, which makes him a somewhat beloved figure in many beast herds.
*'''[[Ungrol Four-Horn]]''': Also known as Blackheart, Hornsthief, and the Spurned One, Ungrol is a two headed Ungor that was fed up with the constant abuse he suffered from the bigger and meaner gors. So he slit the throats of his tribe’s Wargor and Shaman and severed their horns to tie onto his own. He fled from his understandably pissed off tribe and took refuge in a dark series of caves that would become known as the Labyrinth of the Spurned. The legend of Four-Horn spread amongst the herds, and soon Ungrol was the leader of a vast army of Ungors and other outcasts of beastman society.
*'''[[Molokh Slugtongue]]''': The closest thing you can have to a [[Pestigor]] special character in a book where pestigors officially don't exist. Disease-riddled skull-faced [[Bray-Shaman]] wielding pestilence and famine against his enemies, clearly suffused with the blessings of Papa [[Nurgle]].
*'''[[Moonclaw]]''': Technically a Chaos Xenos/Daemon Prince of Morrslieb, Moonclaw looks enough and acts enough like a Beastman to qualify as one, and his ability to spread insanity from himself in waves is seen as holy by the Beastmen.

==In 40k==
''See [[Beastmen (40k)]]''

==Warhammer: Age of Sigmar==
In Age of Sigmar, they're back, as the [[Beasts Of Chaos]]. Functionally identical, but with a larger scale and some tweaked lore, such as their reverence to Chaos as a primordial force rather than the Gods themselves (which better fits the idea of them as representing the darker side of nature and the wilderness).

==The 9th Age==

==Non-Warhammer Beastmen==
Although the Warhammer Fantasy version of Beastmen is probably the most iconic use of the term on /tg/, it has surfaced in some other /tg/ settings as well, owing to the rather generic name. Even with Age of Sigmar's copyright-friendly rename-a-palooza, their name (Brayherds/Warherds) turns out rather generic in comparison to other names (e.g. Aelves, Orruks, Ogors)

In [[Glorantha]], the [[Broo]] are a race of Chaos-aligned/spawned monstrous humanoids who appear as haphazard amalgamations of human and animal traits, all further wracked by diseases and/or mutations. This race actually created the Warhammer Beastmen (long story short; [[Games Workshop]] had a deal to produce miniatures for [[RuneQuest]] Broo models, it fell through, and they decided to recoup their losses by reworking the models into a new Chaos species for their own game).

In [[Dungeons & Dragons]], the obscure [[Greyhawk]] setting has (or had, at least, during the days of [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]) a race called the Beastmen. These were basically really hairy humanoids with vaguely feline faces who lived in forests and were Stone Age hunters with a Neutral Good alignment. The race has been pretty much forgotten about.

Beastmen is also used in many settings as a collective term (analogous to demihumans and humanoids) to the various, well, [[furry]] races: things like [[lupin]]s, [[minotaur]]s, [[gnolls]], [[catfolk]], [[ratfolk]], etc. Sometimes any "animal-based" race, like [[lizardfolk]], [[dragonborn]], [[aranea]]s, [[chitine]]s, [[aarakocra]]s, etc, will also be lumped in. To avoid confusion, /tg/ tends to prefer the blanket term [[Beastfolk]].

In [[Kings of War]] you get [[Kings_of_War/Tactics/The_Herd|the Herd]], which is Warhammer Beastmen with a few extra steps, such as adding werewolves and giant eagles, but losing the chariots and some of the GW-exclusive monsters. From a fluff perspective they are completely different though, being a neutral army created by a benevolent god called Kyron and related to the orcs (who were created by Kyron's malevolent half), and are thus their chaotic good counterpart. As such they are maybe closer to the idea behind the beastmen army as a force of nature rather than a servant of the dark gods. Also dem werewolves (lycans) are one of the top three units in KoW.

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Beastmen|8th edition Tactics]]
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Chaos|Chaos tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]
{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Beastmen]]
[[Category:Furry]]

Daemon

2023-02-14T22:21:50Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

[[File:Daemon Medieval.jpg|thumb|right|400px|No, you are not mistaken, its ass is a face. "Kiss my ass" now has a new meaning.]]
The word Dæmon, or "''δαίμων ‎''", originated from Greek mythology, and was the term for spirits of nature and, well, anything but the Olympian gods. It wasn't a negative term at all, but rather a term that described creatures other than humans and animals, but as they often had ethics that was just as alien, they could seem malevolent at times. In Roman mythology, the term evolved to describe two guardian spirits who all people had attached to them, one benevolent and one malevolent. When Christianity became the state religion of Rome, they were recast as purely evil beings that served Satan; somewhere along the line, they became known as [[demon]]s.

In /tg/ culture, daemon occasionally pops up as an alternative to "demon" or "devil" as the terminology for the fiendish races. The most iconic example of Daemons on /tg/ are those from the Warhammer settings.

==Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder==
[[Dungeons & Dragons]] has long used the term Daemon to refer to their Neutral Evil fiendish race, in contrast to the Lawful Evil Devils and the Chaotic Evil Demons. With the notorious anti-Satanic panic, daemons were renamed as [[Yugoloth]]s in the [[Planescape]] setting, much as devils and demons became [[Baatezu]] and [[Tanar'ri]], respectively. See the [[Yugoloth]] page for more details.

In [[Pathfinder]], [[Daemon_(Pathfinder)|daemons]] are again the Neutral Evil fiendish race, because yugoloths aren't in the OGL. Born from the souls of Neutral Evil mortals, each breed of daemon embodies a specific kind of death, in comparison to the sin-born demons. For example, hydrodaemons represent death by drowning, whilst thanatodaemons represent death by old age. Answering to the four archdaemons, styled after the Horsemen of the Apocalypse - that is, Famine, War, Pestilence and Death - they hearken back to older descriptions of Neutral Evil in that they ''hate'' life itself.

In the Pathfinder setting's closest equivalent to the [[Blood War]], daemons seek to annihilate all life, trying to sweep the multiverse clean of all life other than daemonkind. Once they have achieved that goal, they will then turn on each other, fighting to the death until only one daemon remains in existence. That daemon will take a moment to savor the emptiness of existence... and then commit suicide. They hate life that much. This naturally does not sit well with demons and devils who like existing, so they'll actually team up with eachother and even ''celestials'' to stop them.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]]

==Infernum==
In the D20 game [[Infernum]] by Mongoose Publishing, Daemon is the highest of the "common" titles, the furthest rank a hellspawn can achieve without becoming a noble of some description. It is awarded only to hellspawn who prove themselves true masters in a particular field of expertise - combat, diplomacy, spying, etcetera - and usually requires formal duels between would-be contestants under the eye of a local Captain. Ascending to the rank of Daemon awards a hellspawn with 2000 bonus experience points and grants them their first Noble Mutation.

==Warhammer==
{{heresy}}

{{Topquote|Only a fool trusts a Daemon. They are made of the very stuff of change, the raw madness of the Warp made manifest. However, like men, Daemons are creatures of greed, pride, and arrogance, and these are things I trust completely.|[[Abaddon]] the Despoiler, either being pretty awesome or talking complete bullshit depending on your point of view}}

[[File:M3060166a 2xl.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Just remember that the next time you rage at your mates for [[That Guy|being a douche]] or something, you're indirectly creating one of these.]]

'''Daemons''' (pronounced like demon, but always spelled with that a) are powerful beings, neither real nor unreal, which do not obey the laws of physics; indeed, their very existence is a warping of reality. They reside within the [[Warp|Realm of Chaos]], and usually are organized into groups obeying the rule of [[Chaos Gods]]. Though daemons are commonly associated with Chaos, independent and Order-aligned daemons exist as well.

According to wikifags over at the official 40k Wiki, daemons can be created from one of the four Ruinous Powers through a process that's kind of similar to something like a yeast or sponge budding; a Chaos God splits off a tiny fraction of their own will, essence, and power, and in doing so creates a new daemon that is essentially an extension of whatever Chaos God made it. It's worth noting that the Gods can also use the souls of deceased individuals who died under specific circumstances to forge new daemons, and given the [[Grimdark|general shitfuckery that goes on in the galaxy that results in hundreds of thousands dying on a daily basis]], this particular process of daemon spawning is typically more popular. Anyway, these newborn critters then invade the real world, buttfuck ([[slaanesh|literally, 25% of the time]]) anyone they can get their horny claws on (even other [[Dark Eldar|rapists]]), and the resulting torrent of chaotic emotions that come from being violently buttfucked by a walking pile of Warp energy feed the Chaos Gods, causing their power to grow and allowing even more daemons to be born (that's right; no matter how many morning-after pills you take, a baby is guaranteed to pop out of someone, somewhere, sooner or later as a result of your fatal defilement). Hopefully now you're starting to realise how utterly ROFLSCREWED the many unfortunate races of the Milky Way are; [[Wat|simply ''seeing'' these assholes and getting scared by them essentially gives their gods the power to make ''even more'' of these assholes]]. <s>So man the fuck up, otherwise you're indirectly responsible for giving birth to these dudes</s> nope, sorry, not even growing a manly-ass pair is gonna save you from the guilt of making more daemons, since the bravery and fearlessness you feel will feed [[Khorne]] in particular and allow him to spawn a bunch of new [[Bloodletter|horny penis-heads with sharp swords]]. For fuck's sake.

As I said; ROFLSCREWED. It's thought that the only way to rid the galaxy of this Heresy-given-physical-form would probably be to kill off every single sentient living thing in the galaxy that has a presence in the Warp ([[Halo]] array, anyone?), thus 'starving' the Chaos Gods of their juicy succulent thirst-quenching emotions. For obvious reasons this hasn't been tested, and seeing as how at least one of them revolves around a cycle of death and rebirth, to the point where some of his followers are trying to do exactly this, it's debatable on whether or not it'd work in the first place (and that's before we bring up how time in the warp's all fucked up too, which could make them immortal anyway).

Perhaps the only form of protection from this endless loop of chaos spawns is belief in the Emperor's vision of galaxy spanning order and prosperity. Not only can E-Money himself banish even the biggest of big dick daemons back to the warp with the wave of a hand, there's been at least one instance of a certain Euphrati Keeler grasping her imperial aquila and chanting "the Emperor protects" over and over, resulting in the banishment of a lesser daemon.

But wait, it doesn't stop there. Daemons are functionally immortal in that even if their physical forms are destroyed in real space, their essence will return back into the Warp/RoC where they will be ready to wreak havoc once they have another opportunity to go back, unless there are special circumstances preventing them from doing so such as being trapped in an object (such as a Tesseract Labyrinth or enchanted item), or special incantations that imprison it. It ''is'' however also possible to give a daemon a "true death" in that it is permanently erased from existence, but this normally requires some incredibly rare artifact, absurdly complicated rituals, or a psyker/wizard of immense power (after all, by truly killing a daemon, you are in essence killing a tiny fraction of one of the Chaos Gods, so of course it'd be hard as fuck). Retcon time！If you slay them with the Emperor's Sword or have the Sisters of Silence present after slaying the daemon's essence will disperse instead of returning to the Warp, permanently destroyed. Even works for Daemon Primarchs! But will not work on daemons required to be present for the final "The End".

Lesser daemons like [[Bloodletter]]s can normally be banished back by a proper bashing with a mace or a few dozen shots from a lasgun, or with a simple chant of a certain scripture that daemons fear. Greater Daemons, like a [[Bloodthirster]] or [[Great Unclean One]], will normally either require ''extremely'' powerful dakka the size of [[Baneblade|Baneblades]] or in Fantasy, mass-stabbing from spears, cannon balls, the intervention of the [[Daemonhunters]] and similar specialists. They are also [[FAIL|vulnerable]] to anyone an author wants to make [[Mary Sue|look cool]], resulting in approximately nine thousand two hundred and seventy-three Bloodthirsters being cruelly slain per novel written. Banishing Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes from real space for a long time often requires rituals which involve uttering the daemon's true name, which is a secret to begin with, almost always unpronounceable for a human, long enough to take minutes to utter, and can have nasty spells (like ones that fill your lungs with molten brimstone) included into them - and all this must happen while said angry daemon does his best to slaughter the ritual's participants.

It should be noted that even though the word "Daemon" is their widely accepted name by the mortal races, it is not necessarily the name they call themselves. One daemon in 40k even remarks that it is merely a name given to them by mortals (generally humans) due to its satanic origin (even if it technically has a more neutral, Greek origin, but scratch that, current fluff writers aren't the authors of the RoC and just because it's a daemon doesn't mean it knows jack shit about history). In conversations with mortals they actually like or at least tolerate, daemons often call themselves "Neverborn", and many Chaos worshippers prefer to use this term.

Little is known of those called the Coiling Ones, claiming to be descendants of the Godbeast Nagendra and using its patron the Ghyranic Splintered Fang tribe. Also interestingly there's the Sapphire King, a Daemon of Slaanesh created by emotions of Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim at their penultimate duel's final moments.

===[[The 9th Age]]===

===[[Warhammer Fantasy]]===
In Fantasy they are made of [[Warhammer Magic|magic]], the source of (most of) which is the Realm of Chaos, and feed upon/inspire certain emotions in mortal beings. Daemon serves as more of a general term for creatures of the Realm of Chaos, or the Aethyr for the powers of Order, though it's still a word primarily associated with Chaos (they're their bread and butter after all). Thanks to the magical nature of the world, Daemons have little trouble manifesting within the world if they can find entrance to it. Indeed, any place that the Winds of Magic linger for too long can create Daemons of various kinds which will usually haul themselves towards the nearest place living (usually sapient) beings are found and act for either good, evil, or something in between, and after being "slain" find themselves within the Realm of Chaos for the first time. They can possess hosts, although the weak mortal frames limit their power and usually this is only done to commit acts of mischief or deliver messages to other mortals.

Nature is said to abhor daemons, at least those of Chaos, and while they can appear easily enough in areas of heavy magic, their grip on the physical world is tenuous; sufficient injury, magic, or simply waiting too long can cause them to dissipate, and they can normally retreat in this manner if things go south for them in battle. Chaos daemons have a particularly tough time manifesting around holy places, such as the Shrine of Asuryan. When a daemon force attempted to overtake it, even small injuries caused them to burst into ashes, and none save N'kari would go near the Flame itself. Even he was sent away howling in fear and pain when his arm brushed the holy altar, which caused his body to flamelessly burn a deep, blistering black.

There are very few means of permanently killing daemons, restricted to the highest magic powers and divine weapons, or just whenever the plot needs it to happen. [[Skulltaker]] was once beaten and slain by Sigmar as a mortal, and though he wasn't killed forever, he still bears the scars Sigmar left him, which may indicate daemons become gradually weaker as they "respawn" over time.

===[[Age of Sigmar]]===
Age of Sigmar Daemons are pretty similar to those in Warhammer Fantasy, albeit with one major difference: they're portrayed as being a lot more permanent. Daemons need magic to exist, and since the Mortal Realms are literally made out of the Winds of Magic, a daemonic army once summoned can pretty much roam around the land indefinitely.

===[[Warhammer 40,000]]===
In [[Warhammer 40,000]] they are manifestations of the psychic emotions of psychically powerful species and individuals, like [[humanity]] and [[Eldar]]. They reside in the chaotic and hellish psychic dimension known as the Warp.
Daemons can only enter realspace under certain conditions, like being summoned in a ceremony or crossing through a warp rift. Even then, because they are made of warp energy and solidified emotion, they don't last long outside of the Warp, so in order to stick around, they have to either drag the Warp into realspace (resulting in a [[Daemon World]] in extreme circumstances) or be bound in a host. [[Psykers]] are the preferred choice of host, especially the powerful and uncontrolled ones, and they also happen to be a favourite method of opening [[Warp]] rifts -- their powers make them shine in the Warp, which attracts daemons like moths to a flame; all the daemons have to do is wait for the psyker's control to falter, and move in to take possession.
Sometimes, [[Heresy|stupid people]] try to become a daemon, often a cult committing mass suicide, in order for their souls to fuse, much like what the Emperor did, but instead of reincarnating (since they can't), their souls will then join and become a daemon, because of their chaotic natures. Since souls are not sentient, someone's soul is not him, [[FAIL|and it doesn't count as immortality]]. Daemon-Prince-hood however does, but you will suffer an eternity of Derp from Games Workshop.

===Types===
Ever since the ancient Realms of Chaos sourcebooks, daemons have been divided into three groups: Greater Daemons, Lesser Daemons, and Daemonic Creatures.

==== Greater Daemons ====
Greater Daemons are the most powerful of the Chaos God's immortal servants, and it's Very Bad News when they arrive in the real world. They are also the most difficult to banish, as they invariably have tremendously long names, not to mention enough power to give any would-be banishers a hard time. Fortunately for those living in realspace, Greater Daemons are also the most difficult to summon: they require great sacrifices and elaborate ceremonies to even enter the real world, and will not last long without continued exposure to [[Warp]] energy. Unfortunately, where Greater Daemons go, hordes of lesser daemons inevitably follow. Greater Daemons are capable of independent thought and are highly intelligent, though this intelligence is heavily influenced by the emotions that form them. However, old fluff (the Hordes of Chaos 6th edition army book from [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|WFB]]) claimed they do not actually have a true personality or even a consciousness - they were simply hollow husks who did [[just as planned|their master's bidding]] and are merely extensions of their god's presence. Any Daemon with a sort of will of their own was instead a [[Daemon Prince]]. This is no longer canon, as former Daemon Princes are now Greater Daemons. Some Greater Daemons are in fact mortals who were particularly revered by their chosen god (barring [[Dechala]], who was just Slaanesh being a troll). Greater Daemons are also stated to have their own goals independent of their Chaos God, usually by just not advancing any greater goal but at times can even be a hindrance to the greater plans of Chaos; this is always met with forgiveness, as any punishment from a Chaos God is ridiculously rare for any Daemonic being (to date the only intentional punishments have been two Daemonettes who disobeyed Slaanesh, and [[Skarbrand|one Greater Daemon who quite literally declared war on Khorne himself]]). Some players from either game have used this to justify more..."interesting" Daemon armies, such as the [[Carnival of Chaos]] or towns which have been taken over by Daemons.

Khorne's Greater Daemons are [[Bloodthirster]]s, giant axe-wielding warriors with massive leathery wings. They are [[Angry Marines|always angry, all the time]]. There are eight hosts of Bloodthirster, each of the eight possess their own lethal skills, armaments and title. Those of the eighth host, for example, are known as Bloodthirsters of Unfettered Fury. These monstrous beings are skilled if unsubtle generals and, armed with their infamous
combination of axe and whip, are most often seen commanding Khorne’s daemonic legions in their attacks on realspace. By comparison, those of the sixth rank, known as Bloodthirsters of Insensate Rage, are berserk destroyers who wield immense axes as tall as a fortress gate. Nothing can stand before such terrors on the battlefield, and the Daemons of Khorne are drawn instinctively on in the wake of their furnace-hot fury. The infamous Bloodthirsters of the third host, meanwhile, are known as the Wrath of Khorne. These beings are fire-breathing braggarts, hunters after glory who delight in humbling the mightiest heroes of the foe and butchering them in the name of their bloody lord.

Slaanesh's Greater Daemons are [[Keeper of Secrets|Keepers of Secrets]], each carefully formed to tempt their foes and each looking to experience as many sensations as possible. Their appearance depends on <s>Slaanesh's mood</s> GW's policy at the time of creating them.

Nurgle's Greater Daemons are [[Great Unclean One]]s, whose joviality is infectious...literally. They are so plague-ridden that they excrete daemons from every available opening. Mmm, is that [[Grimdark]] enough for you?

Tzeentch's Greater Daemons are [[Lord of Change|Lords of Change]], bird-like sorcerer daemons capable of predicting the future. They like to make [[Just as planned|plans]].

Malal's Greater Daemons are "Guardian of Contradictions", looking like giant daemon goats with a woman's head for a tail (wtf). So far they are the closest interpretation we can get on what they actually look like. The name is only fanwankery based on concept art by [[Tony Ackland]] for Malal's Daemons which were <s>never</s> made into [[Pantheon Of Chaos|models]] independently.

Great Horned Rat's Greater Daemons are [[Verminlord]]s, miniature versions of himself which represent his values (all of which are simply acting like a massive asshole) as well as the values of the Skaven clans (e.g. killing, defiling, killing, proliferating and killing).

Like the Heralds, which are Exalted Lesser Daemons, there are also Exalted Greater Daemons (Exalted Bloodthirster, Exalted Lord of Change, Exalted Great Unclean One, Exalted Keeper of Secrets, and Exalted Verminlord), each of which is usually represented by the [[Forge World]] models of each daemon. They are usable in [[Storm of Magic]] as Bound Monsters - creatures summoned through the Warp and bound to their summoners through Bound Scrolls. That doesn't stop them from NOMMING their masters given the chance, though. Of course, these made the transition from Warhammer Fantasy to [[Age of Sigmar]], where these behemoths are more expensive though sometimes at the cost of utility (and often using the old Index statlines when later Armybooks adjusted the stats of the basic Greater Daemons) by expending a great amount of god-specific points exclusive to the God-aligned armies.

In 40K, only the Exalted Bloodthirsters are mentioned. Eight of them belonged to the First Host and answer only to Khorne. Each of them commands eight Bloodthirsters of the second host, each of the second host commands eight of the third host, and so on. (8^8 ie. 16,777,216 Bloodthirsters from the lowest order alone, yeah we're fucked.) That said however, the named daemons (An'ggrath, Zaraknyel, Scabiethrax, and Aetos'Rau'Keres) have persisted throughout the editions and effectively take their place as the nameless Exalted Greater Daemons did on the other side.

Madail and [[Vashtorr]] are possibly Greater Daemons of Chaos Undivided.

==== Lesser Daemons ====
The lesser daemons are the most common sort, and serve as the foot soldiers for the legions of [[Chaos]]. Each one is roughly on par with a couple of [[Empire]] soldiers in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] (generally stronger in close combat, but mostly lacking ranged attacks), or a [[Space Marine]]/[[Imperial Guard]] stormtrooper in [[Warhammer 40,000]]; they form the Core of a [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] Daemons of Chaos army, and the Troops of a [[Warhammer 40,000]] Chaos Daemons army.

It's worth noting that the canon for many of the Daemons was changed by [[Phil Kelly|this fucker]]. The entire nature of the Daemons in general was mutated in his WH40K Daemon codex, and arguably not for the better. Whilst Bloodletters and Screamers are largely unchanged, Daemonettes were changed in both fluff and function (originally they were engineered by Slaanesh from [[Eldar]] souls to be both seductive AND deadly in combat, although they remain so in Fantasy) and Nurgle Daemons were changed dramatically (as was Nurgle's Rot, which changed from a survivable-if-formidable daemon-pox to a daemon-spawned [[AIDS]] with no cure that eventually makes you a Plaguebearer <s>no matter what</s> unless you commit suicide or die before you start worshipping Nurgle, which makes about as much sense as [[Wat|this]], but whatever).

[[Khorne]]'s lesser daemons are [[Bloodletter]]s. They are disciplined as they march to battle, but they tear into enemies like nobody's business on the charge. They take skulls for the skull throne. Like Daemonettes, they underwent a significant model change for one edition, then went back to their old appearance but revamped to higher quality.

[[Slaanesh]]'s lesser daemons are the [[Daemonette]]s (though they are not all female all the time, despite what the name might suggest). They can take whatever form is required to beguile their foes as they close in for the kill, though [[/d/|some browsers]] of [[/tg/]] like them just the way they usually are. Their models have varied over the years from somewhat attractive bald sharp-toothed humanoids to six-titted graylings (you'll learn very quickly that Slaanesh has a rather noticeable tit fetish, as well as every other fetish out there, most likely).

[[Nurgle]]'s lesser daemons are [[Plaguebearer|Plaguebearers]]. They are generally stoic creatures who are born from the souls of people who died of [[Nurgle|Nurgle's Rot]]. Their models have pretty much never changed, always being swollen-gutted decaying horned cyclops things. Yum.

Nurgle also has [[Nurgling]]s, pudgy foot-tall chibis made in Nurgle's own image and which form form the puss bubbles of Great Unclean Ones or particularly devout Nurgle worshippers.

[[Tzeentch]]'s lesser daemons are [[Horror]]s. They start out pink-colored, hyperactive and batshit insane, and when they are destroyed, they split into two Blue Horrors which are morose and cynical little bastards. Their models started out as oversized heads with long spindly arms and legs, but they underwent a design change into big-mouthed tangles of tentacles and arms and have stayed like that pretty much ever since, aside from an increasingly avian theming. Recently a third stage has been added, such that a slain Blue splits into two pyromaniac Brimstone (Yellow) Horrors.

Tzeentch also has [[Flamers of Tzeentch|Flamers]], which are a bunch of mouths that all spew magical fire from countless directions. Above these are the Exalted Flamers, which are much larger and more important Flamers.

[[Hashut]]'s lesser daemons are [[K'daai]]s. Unlike other lesser daemons, the K'daai are entirely artificial; being made and constructed by the [[Chaos Dwarves]] and then blessed by Hashut to act as overglorified Chaos [[Eversor Assasin]]s, yes, it is as terrifying as it sounds. They kind of resemble very angry fire elemental and are completely metal (Literally) to boot.

[[Malal]]'s lesser daemons are Hook Horrors, which are once again just concept art made by Ackland for Games Workshop. They have two hook claws (hence the name) but overall they look like a <s>cheap</s> cool Halloween costume that resembles an anorexic crow whose head has been reduced to a bird-like skull.

The Chaos Gods of Order (who only existed in Warhammer Fantasy) lacked proper Daemons as far as the actual game was concerned. One among them, [[Solkan the Avenger]], blessed mortal [[Witch Hunters]] to wage war against his Chaotic Chaos kin in the physical world instead. They had them in WFRP though. One of the few fleshed out Law daemons is the Viydagg, a creature said to hunt death daemons of Khorne and permanently slay them.

Chaos Gods of Order were gradually phased out in favor of other pantheons of Order, like those of the Elves and the Empire. These were mentioned as having daemons and spirits of their own, but these were never named explicitly; the books suggest modifying existing daemons as templates, so it could be inferred that they're somewhat similar to what Chaos has, just less... chaotic. It could also be argued that "daemons" for Order come by way of their mortal champions, such as [[Aenarion]] or [[Magnus the Pious]], who proved mightier than even the greatest mortal servants of Chaos (and their daemonic legions in the former's case).

[[Fury|Furies]] can be thought of as lesser daemons of [[Chaos Undivided]], although "Chaos Undecided" might be a more accurate description -- they served the Gods of Chaos but did not devote themselves strongly to any one before dying.

As mentioned above, there also exist Heralds, souped-up versions of these daemons that are generally tasked with leading the ground forces of chaos while the Greater Daemons go off waging what carnage they can. These Heralds also bear Daemonic Loci that can empower their fellow Lesser Daemons, whether on foot or riding a steed.

==== Daemonic Creatures ====
Daemonic servants and creatures can be more powerful than lesser daemons, but are generally less intelligent. Some, classified as daemonic ''steeds'', may be ridden or otherwise directed by a suitably impressive lesser daemon, or even a lucky mortal servant, while others, classified as daemonic ''beasts'', are simply turned loose on the enemy and left to their own devices.

Khorne's daemonic steeds are [[Juggernaut|Juggernauts]], metal-skinned dog/rhino/lizard-creatures with molten blood, and his beasts are the [[Flesh Hound|Flesh Hounds]] (calling them "Khorne Dogs" earns your skull a place under Khorne's ass) which are sent to hunt Khorne's enemies (including his own servants, if they displease him). Bloodletters who managed to tame and ride Juggernauts are called "[[Bloodcrushers_of_Khorne|Bloodcrushers]]." Flesh Hounds are also used as mounts, although mostly by mortals like [[Arbaal]].

Slaanesh's daemonic steeds are "[[Steeds of Slaanesh]]" (which has ''got'' to be a sex pun), and his/her beasts are called [[Fiends of Slaanesh]]. Daemonettes who ride Mounts of Slaanesh are called "Seekers." Both Fiends and Mounts feature body parts from lots of creatures, and have long tongues (all the better to 'taste' their prey, if you know what we mean...) and rows of human breasts (there's that tit fetish again).

Nurgle's daemonic steeds are "Palanquins of Nurgle" (it's a sedan chair towed by [[Nurgling]]s) and his beasts are the uncreatively named [[Beast of Nurgle|Beasts of Nurgle]], which are like overgrown diseased slugs with the mentality of an overexcited puppy. If they get bitter from having their "playmates" banishing them, they become something else called Rot Flies, which are, who would have guessed, giant rotting flies with spear-sized stings. [[Storm of Magic|Two]] [[Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos|splatbooks]] claim Nurgle has another (technically third, if one counts the aforementioned Rot Flies and Beast of Nurgle as being the same) daemonic creature in the form of the [[Plague Toads]], huge diseased frog-things that can swallow humans whole and which all other Nurgle daemons look down on. The second even claims that there's a counterpart to Plague Drones in the form of "Pox Riders", which are Plaguebearers clinging to Plague Toads as they hop into battle.

Tzeentch's daemonic steeds are [[Screamers of Tzeentch|Screamers]], giant manta rays that are called "Discs of Tzeentch" as when someone is riding them, Screamers somehow transform into discs. Needless to say, it's not pleasant for the Screamer. His beasts are called [[Flamers of Tzeentch|Flamers]] (not to be confused with the [[flamer]] weapon), since they look like they are made of fire.

Hashut's daemonic steeds/calvary are the [[Bull Centaur]]s, which are the unholy fusion dance of Dworf and Bull. These guys are the elite shock troops in Hashut's realm and are pretty baller in that regard. His beasts are the [[Great Taurus]] which are flying, fire-breathing bulls and the [[Lammasu]] which are a more elite variant that shoots out fireballs rather than outright charging at its enemies.

Malal's daemon steeds are "Limbo-Ticks of the Anti-God" and his beasts are "Malal's Paradoxes of Pandemonium", both of which resembles every single arachnophobe's worst nightmare. The latter is usually colored black, grey and white like all things Malal-ish and have a fuckhuge maw meant for potential OMNOMNOMNOM with two sickle like claws to boot, while the former has the body of a giant louse with monkey like limbs and a giant human-like skull with a equally giant horn on it. Like the others, this is just /tg/'s name for Ackland's artwork.

====Daemons of Order====
The [[Chaos Gods of Law]] existed in earlier editions of Warhammer Fantasy were mentioned as having Daemons of their own, such as the ''Viydagg'' (which looked something like a hippiefied Grail Damsel). While the Gods of Law slowly stopped being mentioned in the setting, the Gods of Order, Sigmar and the bunch, were said to have their own Daemons still, though none were ever specifically named; even magical creatures like Ulric's wolves weren't outright named "daemons."

With [[Age of Sigmar]] the entire [[Lizardmen]] army was refluffed as "Seraphon" which have light magic running through their veins which is as corrupting to Chaos as Chaos is to mortals; Saurus blood can cleanse any of Nurgle's plagues, rots, and diseases, and the Slann are stated to be ahead of their enemies (which includes Tzeentch) in planning thanks to their scrying caste.
[[Sigmar]] also created the [[Sigmarines|<strike>Sigmarines</strike> Stormcast Eternals]] which are mortals forged in magical metal who have the same properties as Daemons.

===Chart===
Not every god fills every slot, but a couple mortal equivalents are listed in parenthesis. Also note [[Fury|Furies]] are so pathetic they don't even get to be on the chart. Daemonic Heralds aren't in here either, though that's because they're just meaner versions of their associated Lesser Daemons and, up until 8E 40K and 1E AOS, they were merely called as Heralds of X without any fancy subnames. It doesn't help that those editions also gave Heralds different names depending on what they're riding.
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! [[Chaos Gods]]
! [[Greater Daemon]]s
! [[Daemon#Lesser Daemons|Lesser Daemons]]
! Daemonic Servants
! Daemonic Beasts
! Daemonic Steeds
! Mounted
! Chariots
|-
| [[Khorne]] || [[Bloodthirster]] || [[Bloodletter]] || None || [[Flesh Hound]] || [[Juggernaut]] || [[Bloodcrushers of Khorne|Bloodcrusher]] || [[Blood Throne]]/[[Skull Cannon]]
|-
| [[Nurgle]] || [[Great Unclean One]] || [[Plaguebearer]] || [[Nurgling]] || [[Beast of Nurgle]]/[[Plague Toads]] || [[Battle Fly]]/[[Rot Fly]] || [[Plague Drones]]/[[Pox Riders]] || [[Palanquin of Nurgle]]
|-
| [[Slaanesh]] || [[Keeper of Secrets]] || [[Daemonette]] || None || [[Fiends of Slaanesh|Fiend]] || [[Steeds of Slaanesh]] || [[Seekers of Slaanesh]] || [[Seeker Chariots of Slaanesh|Seeker Chariot]]/[[Hellflayer Chariots of Slaanesh|Hellflayer]]
|-
| [[Tzeentch]] || [[Lord of Change]] || [[Horror]]/[[Flamers of Tzeentch|Flamer]] || None || [[Screamers of Tzeentch|Screamer]]/[[Mutalith Vortex Beast]] || [[Disc of Tzeentch]] || None || [[Burning Chariots of Tzeentch|Burning Chariot]]
|-
| [[Malal]] || [[Forces of Malal#Guardian of Contradictions|Guardian of Contradictions]]/[[Forces of Malal#Maidens of Malal|Maiden of Malal]] || [[Forces of Malal#Hook Horror|Hook Horror]] || None || [[Forces of Malal#Pandemonic Paradox of Malal|Paradoxes]] || [[Forces of Malal#Limbo-Ticks of the Anti-God|Limbo-Ticks]]/[[Forces of Malal#Nightmares|Nightmares]] || [[Forces of Malal#Parasite Riders|Parasite Riders]] || None
|-
| [[Hashut]] || None || [[K'daai]] || None || [[Great Taurus]]/[[Lammasu]] || None || [[Bull Centaur]] || None
|-
| [[Great Horned Rat]] || [[Verminlord]] || None || None || None || None || None || None
|}
</center>

=== [[Daemon Prince|Daemon Princes]] ===

For those mortals unfortunate enough to not be daemons to begin with, there is another route to immortality: serve a [[Chaos Gods|Chaos God]] and impress them so much that they grant the gift of daemonhood, resulting in an ascension into a [[Daemon Prince]]. In terms of power, they are typically only second to greater daemons, but a few especially strong mortal followers of chaos (traitor primarchs being the most famous) become more powerful than most greater daemons upon ascending. This is the ultimate goal of [[PC]]s in the [[Black Crusade]] roleplaying game, and indeed most worshipers of [[Chaos]] with even an ounce of ambition. Unfortunately, the Gods' attentions are fickle; would-be Daemon Princes who fall short of expectations may find themselves transformed into [[Chaos Spawn]] for their failures... Did I just...well...fuck... '''GLARBLRAWRGLARBL-'''{{BLAM}}

Also, among followers of chaos, there are those who know that in the warp, the souls of dead men and women are actually devoured by the [[Chaos Gods]]; many of them actively try to escape this fate ([[Rape]]) by becoming Demon Princes.

===Exalted Daemon===

A sadly short-lived concept, '''Exalted Daemons''' were introduced in the [[Hordes of Chaos]] army book for [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]], and can be seen as the "[[Chaos]]-Loyal" analogue to the [[Daemonhost]], or alternatively a Fantasy based, character tier version of the [[Possessed]]. Exalted Daemons are [[Chaos Champion]]s who haven't earned the moxie to be turned into Daemon Princes, but have earned special attention, which results in a Daemon possessing and merging with their body. Attendant fluff implies that, unlike conventional possession victims, Exalted Daemons are fusions of mortal and daemonic soul, with the original inhabitant still being conscious and having some influence, rather than dead or pushed aside.

Mechanically, Exalted Daemons were essentially lower-grade Daemon Princes, using up two Hero choices instead of that editions 1 Lord choice + 1 Hero choice. They had one less point in Weapon Skill, Wounds, Initiative and Leadership than the big Daemon Princes, but the same ability to Fly, cause Terror, bear a Mark Of Chaos, and a Unit Strength of 3. They could be Sorcerers, maxing out at level 2, and wield up to 50 points of Daemonic Gifts.

In 8th edition, 40k introduced [[Greater Possessed]], which are larger, individual versions of normal Possessed Marines, and are thus somewhat similar to the original Exalted Daemon concept.

=== Daemon Engines ===

Some daemons can be combined with machinery to create mighty [[Daemon Engine]]s; this gives them some actual structural integrity and lasting power, as they are now firmly anchored in reality. The really big ones are made by the Forge of Souls, while others are made by [[Warpsmiths]].
Some Daemon Engines are aligned with one of the Chaos Gods, while others (like [[Defiler]]s and Soul Grinders) serve [[Chaos Undivided]].
Even WFB has these in the forms of the Skull Cannon, Blood Throne, and Burning Chariot (and arguably the Hellflayer Seeker Chariot, even if it is not possessed), which are like [[awesome|possessed war machines mounted on top of possessed chariots]] as well as the Soul Grinder (which exists in 40k as well, though it only has a stone thrower arm rather than cannons everywhere).
Now that [[Chaos Dwarves]] are back as a regular WFB army, albeit made entirely by [[Forgeworld]], they seems to be rather fond of Daemon Engines and pack a whole lot of them, including a [[Awesome|daemon-possessed, steam-powered train which carries other war machines all around the battlefield while firing its giant cannon/crashing into the enemy lines mauling people with giant-sized pickaxes]].

=== Half-Daemons ===
A handful of characters called or calling themselves half-Daemon have existed in both settings throughout the years (as well as [[Blood Bowl]] of course where the non-footbal rules are made up on the spot and never adhered to). Generally speaking these are from old or iffy lore sources, but one recent [[Archaon|character]] does exist. For the [[End Times]] <strike>clusterfuck</strike> <strike>abortion</strike> <strike>monkey's paw result</strike> event a large kit of the Maggot Riders who ride giant maggots called Pox Maggots and serve Nurgle were released. One of the three riders was named [[Orghotts Daemonspew]] the "Bastard King of Icehorn Peak". His mother was a mortal witch (in the more classic sense of the word) and his father was a Great Unclean One (have fun imagining it). Icehorn exists on the rim between reality and the Warp, where Daemons are as much the people of the land as humans. Orghotts has an extremely long lifespan thanks to his half-Daemon nature, and longs to actually physically reach Nurgle's Garden which appears to him sometimes in his kingdom. He leads Daemon and Chaos human armies across the world, seeking not to become a Daemon Prince but be blessed by Nurgle into becoming a full-fledged Daemon alongside his father. The diseases produced within his own body have killed more than the armies he's lead, and beings connected to Nurgle know by smell that he's one of the "royal family" so to speak.

===True Names===
Daemons tend to hide their true names by giving themselves false ones. This is due to the fact that they can be banished if their true name should ever be uttered. The downside about true names is that all true names are quite a mouthful. Daemons' true names are very hard to pronounce or outright comprehend if you aren't an extensively trained daemonologist who can understand the various fel languages of the warp. There was even one instance that uttering their true names can actually make your mouth literally burn. That also isn't counting the other difficulty of trying to find the actual name of the daemon you're trying to banish in your codex of daemon names (and the consequences of invoking the wrong name can range anywhere from your banishment ritual failing, to summoning THAT daemon instead. So you now have two threats to contend with. Also you have a blasphemous book containing the countless names of malevolent daemonic entities and strong-of-will enough that you aren't going mad from the various whispers telling you to summon each one of them, right?).

Some ridiculously powerful daemons, especially those of [[Tzeentch]], have incredibly long names. One, recorded in the books of the [[Grey Knights]], had a ten-minute long true name and quite a few Knights died attempting to perform the banishment rituals... though once they got to reciting it, there apparently wasn't much it could do to stop them. Then there was [[Justicar Alaric]] and his attempt to banish the Tzeentchian [[Daemon Prince]] Ghargatuloth where he had to recite the warp spawn's true name, a incomprehensible tongue twister, FOR TWO HOURS STRAIGHT.

Daemon Primarchs are also not immune to this rule, as [[Kaldor Draigo]] managed to severely weaken [[Mortarion]] by uttering his true name (as in the original name the Emperor gave him, before he was given the name "Mortarion" on Barbarus). Fulgrim was similarly subjugated by Zardu Layak using it, although doing so wiped his memories of his life before the Siege of Terra.

The effects of their names being uttered tend to have mixed results and seems to depend on the strength of the daemon in question, although all of the results are debilitating. These can range anywhere from the daemon's strength being sapped, to them being immobilized or even explode, as well as being outright banished back into the warp. In any case, it's an event all of them would fight tooth and nail to avoid, as it's a guarantee that they'll be defeated if its utterance is ever successful.

==="Daemons" of the Emperor===
It has been speculated by some both within the Imperium and by those outside of it that the nature of beings such as Living Saints, the Legion of the Damned and the [[Sanguinor]] (and maybe [[Traitor Legion Loyalists|the Anchorite]] of Word Bearers) might lie closer to the servants of the Chaos Gods than most would feel comfortable with. They are likely made of the same warp-stuff as traditional Daemons and both appear and disappear in the same manner, though seemingly of either their own power or that of the Emperor's, usually to assist struggling Imperial forces. Further evidence for this is presented during the fall of [[Cadia]], for when the Cadian Pylons briefly were brought fully online, the Legion forces present dissipated with the rest of the Daemons and [[Saint Celestine]] had much of her power suppressed. (Does that make the Chaos resistant [[Wulfen]]s roaming the Warp his daemonic beasts?)

It serves as another piece of fairly solid proof that the Emperor is on the verge of godhood, if he isn't one already. To add more credence to this theory, the Emperor is now the equivalent of Imperial heaven. Every faithful Imperial servant, from a venerated Chapter Master to a lowly Administratum scribe, will have their soul absorbed by the Emperor upon their deaths, and the Emperor has been shown to be able to resurrect these souls as needed (as shown as when he was able to resurrect a [[Ferrus Manus|giant man with gleaming silver arms and a giant hammer]] along with [[Legion of the Damned|an army of Space Marines wreathed in fire]], when Magnus accidentally destroyed his webway project and a tide of daemons started flooding inside the Imperial palace, and this was before unwittingly ascending into godhood.). Hence, the Emperor can be considered a [[Chaos Gods of Law]], and he's using his now god-like powers to aid his children and further his agendas, in the same vein the Dark Gods use their powers to the same, albeit more sadistic ends. In ''Talon of Horus'' book, there exists where [[Astronomican]] light collides with a potent [[Warp Storm]] to create the Firetide, where exists holy warp-fire angels that purges all living things and "Radiant Worlds" that are immune to the Firetide and containing avatar of the Emperor's will known as Imperious, taking the form of a humble pilgrim wearing a Scream mask of gold and light.

Of course, to even consider any of the above is tantamount to HERESY of the worst sort, so it's best to just go along with it.

===See Also===
*[[Chaos]]
*[[Chaos Gods]]
*[[Warhammer/Tactics/Daemons of Chaos|Tactics on how to play the Fantasy variant]]
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Chaos|Chaos tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Chaos Daemons (9E)|Tactics on how to play the 40k variant.]]
*[[Daemons Mod]]: The [[Dawn of War]] [[Dawn of War Mods|Mod]] that brings this army to DoW players.
*[[Daemonhost]]

{{Chaos-Daemons}}
{{Chaos Space Marines}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}
{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}
{{Daemons-Characters}}

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Skaven

2023-02-14T22:19:12Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Skaven|Logo=Capture131114532.png|Alliance=Chaos|Motto=DIE DIE SOLDIER MANTHINGS DIE!!!!}}

{{Topquote|It would be ugly to watch people poking sticks at a caged rat. It is uglier still to watch rats poking sticks at a caged person.|Jean Harris}}

{{Topquote|The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything.|E.B. White}}

{{Topquote|I WILL JOIN YOU, ELF! IF THERE IS ANYTHING I HATE WORSE THAN ELVES, IT'S FUCKING RAT FURRIES GOING FULL NORTH KOREA WITH NUCLEAR ROCKS!|Urist, Warhammer: Ravandils Quest}}

The '''Skaven''' (both singular and plural) are technologically advanced [[ratfolk]] in the [[Warhammer Fantasy]] and [[Age of Sigmar]] settings. Ugly, evil creatures that spread [[AIDS|plague]] wherever they go and topple kingdoms for fun and [[profit]], you will be hard pressed to find a more unlikeable race out there. Much like the [[Orks]], they're so excessively over-the-top that it's pretty funny.

Skaven are said to be '''''the''''' most evil race in the entire setting, and that's no idle claim. For all [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|the Empire]], [[Bretonnia]]ns, [[Dwarf (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]], [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|High Elves]], [[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Wood Elves]] and [[Lizardmen]]'s many flaws (and make no mistake, they ''are'' numerous) each of them has at least some claims to genuine heroism that keep them out of being villains. Undead are either mindless automata executing their programming or - for the majority of intelligent undead - capable of genuine love and altruism. [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark elves]] are cruel and have a culture based on torture and slavery, but they are more driven by historical grievances and an inhospitable homeland, and can display family loyalty along with traits that some would call decent or even questionably heroic.

Orcs and Goblins are violent brutes, but they'll develop what could be considered friendships and attachments to their fellows, and even the most brutal Black Orc will cry if his pet squig dies (Not in front of the other boyz though, because they'll all see him as nothing but a runty git). Or at the very least he will bash someone’s head into the ground; point is, he'll grieve. Ogres are well-known to be gluttonous and casually cruel almost to a man, but they usually still love their families and their Gnoblar pets, and any Maneater worth his salt is good for his word upon payment. Despite their propensities towards [[Khorne|killing]], [[Tzeentch|scheming]], [[Nurgle|festering]] and [[Slaanesh|raping]], the mortal followers of Chaos are capable of honor, friendship and a warped form of love. Even the [[Beastman|Beastmen]], who are also inherently evil like the Skaven, respect their chieftains and shamans, deal honorably with their few allies and give worthy foes a fair fight. Even daemons usually respect the chain of command without [[Drow|constantly trying to murder their leaders and take their place]].

Skaven have none of the above qualities, or any other that could be considered even vaguely noble or redeeming: they openly hate everyone and everything, are more cowardly and paranoid than any goblin, more cruel and xenophobic than Dark Elves, and more fractious than Chaos. Love, friendship and honor are completely alien to the Skaven's psyche. This is even reflected in their language, they merely refer to anyone who is not a Skaven as a thing (i.e. Man-things, Elf-things, you get the idea) waiting to be exploited. Due to their chronic backstabbing disorder, nobody trusts them, likes them, or wants to be 'allies' with them (except Dark Elves, who have a treaty with them that both sides betray at times). The only times they have done something that benefited non-Skaven or the world, such as helping beat the first incarnation of Nagash, are for purely selfish reasons - Nagash denied them warpstone and was a threat to them too. One of the only three reasons the Skaven have lasted this long and not killed themselves in an ''en masse'' fratricidal free-for-all is because their hatred of all other things outweighs their hatred of other Skaven by '''''just enough''''' for them to slightly function (that and their crazy-high birthrates or the direct intervention of their god, who's little better than them). However the 'just enough' cannot be stressed enough. Even with the all-out doom of their race present, as with Nagash or Chaos, they're still intent on fucking each other over. <strike>If</strike> when possible, Skaven <strike>would</strike> will kill each other in the womb.

And that's why we ''love'' to hate them so much.

It should be noted that there is one non-evil one in [[Warhammer Adventures]], the Warhammer children's book series (yeah, that exists). Named Kreech, he's still the villain of that series, but by the standards of Skaven he's damn near a fucking Grail Knight. Kreech actually lives in human culture, preferring it to his own people's, and has a 12-year-old human slave as his sidekick. Even in children's media they're utter bastards.

==So who are they?==
In a lot of science fiction going back to [[Starship Troopers]] and likely far earlier, there are races of [[Tyranid|Hive Creatures]]. Vast beings that may have separate bodies, but have one will. One Consciousness. Each "individual" soldier or worker is akin to someone's finger, or a cell on someone's fingertip, and is ultimately an expendable resource in service to the greater whole. All march in lockstep to expand the influence of the gestalt consciousness as far as possible, either assimilating or crushing anything they come across. The Skaven are the antithesis of this, though this fact in no way makes them nice.

The Skaven are a race of walking humanoid rats with dubious (but not to be underestimated) intelligence and a hideous feral cunning out to conquer the world in the name of their God, the [[Horned Rat]], and also for their own personal gains. If there was one quality which defined their species, it would be raw unconstrained '''''Selfishness'''''. By instinct, culture and the will of their asshole god, each Skaven is self-obsessed, paranoid, greedy, power-hungry, murderous and doesn't give a rat's ass (hehe) for the well-being of anyone that isn't themselves. They find the concepts of love, honor, loyalty and friendship to be so alien they can't comprehend them. In the prisoner's dilemma, they always defect. By nature, each of them is fundamentally evil, and this is not racism speaking here. To give context for this, a [[Skarsnik|greenskin]] in the End Times event was traumatized by the loss of his beloved [[Skarsnik#The_End_Times|Squig]], while no Skaven individual has ever, at any point, been shown to have an attachment to any living thing other than themselves. The closest they can get is the exceedingly rare example where a Skaven can understand that certain other individuals are tools worth cultivating and protecting from outside threats, and are assets too valuable to allow their casual destruction or squandering (see Gnawdwell and [[Queek Head-Taker]]). The only thing a Skaven hates more than other Skaven is creatures who are non-Skaven, and this gives the ratmen the vaguest ability to work together when they have a common enemy; otherwise they would fall on each other like, well, a pack of rats.

Skaven have an odd relationship with fear. On the one hand, cowardice is the order of the day. They definitely don't want to be sliced, stabbed, shot, skewered, squished, scorched or Slaaneshed. They'll face the perils of battle for the prospects of rewards, killing rival Skaven or non-Skaven (which they collectively call "Things") and because their bosses WILL have them killed horribly if they don't at least ''try'' to fight, but most Skaven have a reticence to enter battle unless the odds are decidedly stacked in their favor, and they're more prone to breaking and running if things go pear shaped. On the other hand, Skaven have a weird fondness for quick routes to power. If you give a Skaven a potion which has a 99.9% chance of killing them horribly and a 0.1% chance of giving them the ability to breathe fire like a dragon, many will take it.

Remember the saying about a bunch of monkeys with typewriters eventually producing Shakespeare? Well, at a species level they are sort of like that: keep throwing rats at the problem to try every cockamamie dunderheaded idea that said collection of drugged up hyperactive megalomaniacs desperate to get ahead can dream up until eventually they stumble on one that works, which others will shamelessly copy while insisting that they had the idea for it first. Skaven are never content with just a cushy job, cozy 2-bathroom burrow in Skavenblights' suburbs and 2.5 pups to raise or eat if they don't get at least Bs in Skavenschool. Each one, be he a member on the Council of Thirteen or the lowliest of slaves who's used up and sent to the slaughterhouse, operates under the belief that they are the one true leader of the Skaven whose visionary insights would lead their species to domination of the universe in the name of the Horned Rat, if he can just gain the keys to power and overcome the short-sighted idiots which stand in his way. Introspection and self-reflection are not common Skaven traits, though some older Skaven like the aforementioned Gnawdwell and his former protege Sleek Sharpwit show that such qualities are possible, even if it’s ''exceedingly'' rare.

In terms of physiology, Skaven are shorter than humans, less bulky than them, slightly weaker (surprisingly not as much, considering the difference in size and mass), and generally "less" in every regard but one. Where they do pick up is speed: Skaven live their life in perpetual super speed with all its advantages and drawbacks - they move faster, think faster, breed faster and age faster, generally reaching adulthood at five months and growing old, gray and frail by the age of thirteen (though very few survive for that long). All that speed builds an almost insatiable appetite, and as they have no body fat reserves, they're '''always''' hungry, except maybe after the battle when they can eat the dead (of both sides). Skaven look unnervingly twitchy and energetic to other races (even Elves, who also have a kind of inherent superspeed), while Skaven see others as slow lumbering idiots. Like rats, the Skaven have a good sense of smell; it is stated by Teclis in [[Total War: WARHAMMER]] 2's high elves vortex campaign that they could smell fear and "treachery" from others. According to Teclis, the Horned Rat's rat swarm smelled through the fake Galifreius' disguises and went for her while ignoring Talarian. This being said though, Stormvermin (who are consistently well-fed and trained) tend to grow to the height and weight of a healthy man which may imply Skaven actually may be generally capable of growing to the dimensions of normal men, but few of them get fed enough to achieve this.

They live in a massive underground empire known as, well, the Under Empire (with the Horned Rat being the God Emperor, ironically far more successfully than the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|OTHER Emperor]]) which spans through the Warhammer world like the [[Underdark]]. The only regions it fails to reach are Ulthuan because it's a giant floating island and Athel Loren because the Skaven diggers get murdered by tree roots or the soil itself refuses to be touched. Its capital is called [[Skavenblight]], and is also one of the only visible signs of Skaven from the surface (because it is such an indescribable shithole), up until it was teleported to another dimension post [[End Times]] (it's still a shithole though). No one trusts them quite rightly, and few other races resist killing them on sight, which is reciprocated in kind. They are more numerous than any other race in the world, and only one enemy keeps them truly in check: themselves.

On a very amusing note, the Skaven are one of the rare examples of a race of furries actually liked by most of /tg/, because they aren't furries. Furries are the result of people ''role-playing'' as animals, but still undeniably human, with human characteristics and [[/d/|personality]]; they're self-insert fantasy-fulfillment [[Mary Sues]]. The Skaven on the other hand are big fucking vermin that are a reflection of our selfishness, duplicity, and filth; depending on your pov, they're either more rat than human, or a caricature of the modern human '''rat race'''; as ratmen that literally live in their own filth, they're the opposite of furries. Unless your deepest, most depraved fantasies involve [[Goblin Slayer|being ravaged by a horde of vermin]] that is.

=== History ===
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{{Topquote|Rodents of unusual size? I don't believe they exist.|Free Company Sergeant Roberts, last words before being killed by a rodent of unusual size}}

==== Warhammer Fantasy ====
No-one knows where they came from but it is suspected [[Tzeentch]] had a hand in their creation using Warpstone, a hideous amount of mutation, and generations of breeding with normal rats. (That is to say, breeding rats with other rats, not Tzeentch breeding with the rats. That's more [[Slaanesh]]'s thing.) The 7th edition Lizardmen army book states that they came about during the Great Catastrophe. There's a poem in the Skaven codex, dating all the way back to their first codex in 4th edition, called "The Doom Of Kavzar". Written in-universe by an author in Tilea, (the Warhammer world's equivalent of Italy) it offers what is generally accepted as the most concrete explanation of their origins. To summarize;

Humans and Dwarfs lived together in a city called Kavzar, and decided to build a Noblebright Tower of Babel rip-off to thank the gods for their prosperity. But even Dorf engineering couldn't complete it, so they got some mysterious grey-clad stranger whom the Skaven refer to as "The Shaper" (and who was supposedly a treacherous Chaos Old One, and may be the Great Horned Rat before reaching apotheosis into a Chaos God. Alternatively has been theorised to be Constant Drachenfels), to complete it in exchange of him being allowed to add a giant bell as a dedication to his own gods.
Upon completion, the temple sealed itself shut, the stranger disappeared, and terrible things happened after the bell rang thirteen times. The weather turned bad with constant Warpstone-laced rain, people got sick, babies were born dead or mutated, crops failed and rats multiplied while growing bigger and smarter. (Older fluff said the stranger cursed the city because the people refused to give him money as well for finishing the temple, newer fluff just makes him out to be evil and mysterious.)
Every day, the bell rang thirteen times. Rain became hail, then hail became meteor showers. The rats kept growing to the point that swarms of rats started preying on humans. Realizing things were becoming [[Dwarf Fortress]], the humans asked the Dwarfs for help.
The first time the Dwarfs turned them down after calling them wimps for complaining about rain. The second time they were rebuffed due to the rats eating all the Dwarfs' food. The third time the surviving humans got desperate and smashed open the Dwarf gates to demand their help... only to find bearded Dorf skeletons and well-fed, but still hungry, hordes of rats and the poem ends with them swarming and eating the last surviving humans.

tl:dr a [[wizard]] met [[human]]s and [[dwarf]]s, someone was swindled so magic happens that turns rats into tyranids.

And the rest is history...

Notable this story appears to be known in universe. [[Vermintide 2|Victor Saltzpyre]] mentioned a reference to it at one point in Vermintide.

Incidentally, this isn't the only theory presented to their origins, but it's the one most gamers take as canon. Some other in-universe origin theories include:
* An Imperial naturalist named Wilfried Schtutt argued that the skaven descend from rats warped into a semblance of the human form by some malign external power, such as [[Chaos]].
* A Tilean classicist, Marcelli Verdallo, argues that the skaven are living proof of the ancient philosopher-sage Proti's theorem that all things in the universe are created by the mystical interactions of cosmic archetypes from beyond time and space (how meta), being the fruit of some union between the archetypes of Rat and Man.
* Johannes Krueger's Bestiarium mentions an ancient Estalian legend wherein shipwrecked survivors turned to cannibalism and were cursed by Manann, the Sea God, assuming rat-like forms.
* That the Skaven were created by Skavor, the Dwarf ancestor god that's the son of Gazul and cousin to Grimnir. Lacking skill in shaping stone and metal, Skavor turned to fleshcrafting instead and got exiled. He then turned himself into a hideous rat-beast and swore vengeance on his blood kin.

Also there are a few [https://i.imgur.com/FWzQkHn.jpg other origin] stories.

It is said that after their creation, Skaven spread across the world, [[Ikit Claw|learning many cultures, stealing technologies and magic techniques that could help them in their conquest for Skavendom or personal power]]. Namely the Clan Pestilens who traveled southward and westward and ended up in Lustria, Clan Eshin who traveled eastward and ended up in Cathay, Clan Moulder who traveled northward and established a stronghold in some backwater hellish landscape known as the Hellpit near Kislev and Norsca.

Further evidence that the Doom of Kavzar is the canon origins of the Skaven is that the poem's author was assassinated by [[Clan Eshin|means unknown in-universe]] and copies of the poem keep disappearing. Plus their capital city, Skavenblight, is all but stated to be Kavzar (the tower with the bell being the headquarters of the Grey Seers). This makes them a surprisingly old race, as they were actually well-established before the rise of the [[Tomb Kings]] as the undead rulers of Khemri - in fact, they had a grubby little paw in that whole sordid affair.

It was the Skaven that supplied Nagash with many slaves and warriors such as savage orcs for him to kill and raise. It was the Skaven that helped Nagash to poison the River Vitae, unleashing a magical plague to devastate every living thing in Nehekhara. It was also the Skaven who betrayed Nagash by assisting the human Alcadizaar in his defeat, which resulted in the rise of the Tomb Kings since Nagash was no longer around to control the dead Nehekharans. So, aside from the Dark Elves who taught Nagash the [[Warhammer Magic|Lore of Darkness magic]] that would eventually evolve into the necromancy all [[Vampire Counts|vampires]] love, and the [[Tomb King|Nehekharans]] hate, the Skaven were the ones that supported Nagash, making him powerful and undefeated. (This is because every time Nagash died, he re-spawned back to his black pyramid. Although it takes a fuck load of time for him to actually get up, it allows him to grasp the mortal world while preserving his existence. Also the pyramid itself is near-indestructible so he has no need to trust anyone to guard it.) In the end, they still betrayed him for their own selfish desires. Classic Skaven.

The Skaven have been popping out numerous times across history, trying to weaken the forces of order to favor themselves in the long run. For example, they appeared during one of the Norseman invasions, when Sigmar was still around. In fear that Sigmar's Empire might threaten their very existence, they tried to use the invasion as an opportunity to destroy mankind, but failed nonetheless thanks to the Dwarfs that were blocking their tunnels.

After that, the Skaven didn't lay a hand on the Empire until after their own civil war. It was at this time that Clan Pestilens developed a new disease called the Black Plague (nice real life reference [[Games Workshop|GW]]), spreading it among the Empire's population. The plague not only killed and reduced its population to less than half the size of the generation before, it also killed the current Emperor (Boris Goldgather, AKA the worst Emperor, who was actually killed by an Eshin assassin's shuriken, but who cares) and every other corrupt noble in his hideout, and good riddance some say (amusingly, his death is actually celebrated as a public holiday). The Skaven then launched their attack after the plague weakened the Empire, but were stopped by a pretty cool guy named Mandred von Zelt of Middenland, who gathered the rest of the elector counts and launched an anti-Skaven crusade. Ironically, the black plague played a major role in many of Mandred's victories, since the disease affected the Skaven as well, weakening the Skaven army and killing enough of them to force their retreat.

In the last battle, the Skaven launched their last counterattack, only to fail after their leader, Vrrmik, the warlord of Clan Mors and a member of the Council of Thirteen, was slain by Mandred. The rest of the vermin were then driven back to their Under-Empire by the Empire’s forces while suffering under their own plague from the war. What's worse for the Skaven was that the slaves they bought ended up revolting, and destroyed several already plague weakened clans while Mandred (who was declared the Emperor and sporting Vrrmik's own helmet at the time) rebuilt the Empire. The process was faster than the Skaven could expect, with the humans even installing the sewer watch to prevent further Skaven movement on the Empire. After such a humiliating defeat, the Council received many compensation notices from other disease ridden clans. But the Council decided to just assassinate them all, including our beloved Emperor rat slayer, and called it even. The assassination made mankind forget about the Skaven, even dismissing them as myth.

The Skaven are also pretty famous on [[Cathay|the eastern side that]] [[Nippon| Games Workshop refuses to talk about]]. Clan Eshin's ancestors once journeyed far to the east, losing contact with its society for 100 years. When they came back however, they had learned the art of NINJUTSU from some jerk-off at [[Nippon]] where they have skilled rats throwing shuriken, and frigging ninja flipping better than [[Gabriel Angelos|the Chapter Master Gabriel Angelos]]. In [[Cathay]], some filthy beastman and a Sun Wukong wannabe became the Emperor of not-China and took an Eshin Skaven warlord as his right hand man. Thus began an unhealthy relationship of trading warpstones and rat shit, which means either the Cathay Emperor is nuttier than a warp fruit cake (which should be obvious since the new Emperor was mentioned to be a fucking magical monkey beastman, or probably something worse if he is also like Wukong born from the meteor except the meteor is made of warpstones), or Eshin Skaven are ''slightly'' more trustworthy than the rest of Skaven. (If you believe [[Total_War:_WARHAMMER#Skaven|Total War]], they are; they're the only clan that doesn't have to deal with warlord loyalty.) It might be true depending on how [[weeaboo]] the Eshin has become; if you look up on real world ninja, they do tend to be surprisingly loyal compared to what you might think. However, one could say that the eastern legion doesn't really have any experiences with Skaven betrayals, plus the Skaven did assist the Chaos Dwarves in the End Times to siege Cathay, meaning everything the Skaven did in Cathay was but a diplomatic ploy to fool the Cathayans.

As if the Skaven aren't widespread enough, they have the operation worldwide. There is Clan Pestilens in Lustria, who like to infect themselves with diseases that Nurgle doesn't approve of, and throw feces at lizard-things for the lulz. Some of the rats made it into Naggaroth (probably as slaves or a few via the under-Empire) while trying not to provoke the wrath of [[Malekith|the strongest mama's boy in Warhammer history]]. The only place they could never set their foot on would be Ulthuan, which is a giant continent that floats on top of the water and obviously can't be connected to Skavenblight via tunnels. It's regardless just too scary for the rat-things to deal with: flame spewing dragon-things, elf-things that shoot rains of arrows from far away, and mages that have the power to summon a [[exterminatus|giant bombardment of nukes from the sky]].

The Skaven themselves have no records of their origins, and do not particularly care about their past. As far as they are concerned, the only relevant historical eras are "now, when we don't rule the world" and "soon, when we will be ruling it". Of course, any given Skaven will be plenty interested in the history of his own life, but the history of the rest of their race is dismissed as unimportant. On day to day affairs, history is whatever the Council of 13 says it is, though it wouldn't be surprising if Grey Seers keep records.

====The 9th Age====

==== Age of Sigmar ====
The Skaven survived the end of the old world by teleporting [[Skavenblight]] to another dimension. When the Horned Rat became the Great Horned Rat he immediately drew Skavenblight into the Warp and created more of his Daemons. What followed was a golden age for the Skaven, where there was Warpstone everywhere to be found, they had the direct blessing of the Great Horned Rat, and unlimited space and potential around them. They then promptly did the impossible and somehow dug so deep that part of the Warp collapsed into Skavenblight which collapsed into the material realm which is now made up of eight "nearly infinite" planes made of the former Winds of Magic.

Skaven now have access to all of reality at once, and can create realm-spanning 'Gnawholes' everywhere from beneath Sigmar's throne to beneath Khorne's throne. As can be expected the tunnels are not stable and thus only the Skaven are willing to use them, as even immortal and deathless Daemons can somehow vanish into the space between spaces never to be seen again when Skaven are involved. This doesn’t mean that the Gnawholes are completely safe for the rat kin though. Just the process of constructing one of these inter-dimensional tunnels costs tens of thousands of <strike>lives</strike> slaves, and when the Gnawhole is complete, there’s a good chance that the big brains in charge of the project were off on their calculations. So instead of tunneling directly into [[Cities of Sigmar|Hammerhal]], you instead end up in the middle of nowhere or an active volcano.

Skaven have also had an exponential population boom, which is impressive considering they damn near outnumbered insects in the old setting. With the other races generally numbering in the millions if not billions and the Skaven numbering potentially in the trillions. Each of the four former great clans from the Old World is alive and kicking <strike>eachother</strike>, each containing billions of Skaven and even entire clans. A fifth great clan is Verminus, an especially numerous and martial clan (the techy/monstery/sneaky/stinky niches were taken so someone's gotta make Stormvermin their thing).

However, Skryre, Pestilens, Moulder, Eshin and Verminus were not always the only Great Clans. In the age of Myth, there were said to be as many as 13 great clans (probably more like 9 or 10 but the Grey Seers rounded up). What happened to the rest? A couple of examples:

* Clans Tichritt attempts an invasion of Thandria, a Sigmarite nation. It may as well be Russia in winter with the pantheon of Order united - Tichritt is annihilated.
* Clan Ikk does well during the tumult of the Age of Chaos, gaining a momentous ''four'' seats on the Council of Thirteen which sparks a civil war with the equally ascendant Clan Verminus. Verminus enlists the help of Clan Pestilens to spread an epidemic of frothjaw. The rabid rats get so erratic the other great clans temporarily unite to destroy them.
* Clans Shrykt digs a huge gnawhole and, one by one, its clans disappear through the portal. They were never heard from again. Maybe they left to join 9th age.

The increased scope of AoS lore has meant Skaven society is EVEN MORE chaotic and self-destructive than it was. And this lore makes a little more sense than their old world history: you can't expect such volatile societies to [[Warhammer 40000|maintain a millennia-long deadlock between the same four great powers.]] Still, the current status quo of vying great clans is not that different from the old world's coz... those are the models GW sells. The unknown great clans continue the trend of GW giving AoS lore lots of missing primarchs (deliberately left gaps for homebrew and headcanon). In the Age of Chaos, the Skaven nearly obliderated themselves (again) with a massive civil war before the Great Horned Rat himself had to intervene. In addtion the clans Pestilens profited greatly from their alliance with Nurgle during this time and looked to be rising as the new dominant clan. However, Order managing to push back against this smelliance has meant that the Clans Skryre is better poised to vie with Pestilens for pre-eminence on the council of thirteen. They'll probably work it out peacefully (by Skaven standards, meaning only several million rats will die).

Skaven continue to be fuck-ups at a scale never before witnessed. When Nagash attempted a great ritual of necromantic binding, it was sabotaged by the Skaven nibbling a power cord. Eshin agents had managed to open gnawholes in Nagash's great pyramid. Huge success for Skavendom? Well, maybe had another group not accidentally opened a gnawhole at the bottom of the Shyish sea. Blight City was decimated by a zombie-infested flood, like The Day after Tomorrow meets World War Z. Hilariously, the drained Shyish seabed revealed the soul-stealing [[Idoneth Deepkin]] to Nagash, Slaanesh and everyone else who was wondering about those mysteriously empty towns that smelled faintly of halibut. The moral of the story is clear: you might be able to foil Skaven schemes but it's their fuck-ups you wanna watch out for.

The Era of the Beast and [[Kragnos]]’ emergence was ripe with opportunity for the rat men, who all felt invigorated by the surging energies emanating from the Realm of Beasts. The Clans Pestilens were able to unleash another of their Thirteen Great Plagues, sending grotesquely huge ticks rampaging throughout Blight City and (presumably) into the Mortal Realms. Not wanting to be outdone by their overzealous rivals, the Clans Skryre collaborated with the Clans Moulder once again. This time they experimented with the colossal children of the [[Godbeast]] Fangathrak to create giant parasitic worm monsters to harvest a tar-black liquid found in the continent of Andtor. When mixed with liquid warpstone, this substance seems to create “super-Skaven”, though what will become of these new creations is unclear…

=== Society ===
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If you do not know much about rat social behavior, you might be surprised to learn it is fairly well developed and includes among other things evidence of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa16P4nFgD8 rodent altruism]. As you might expect, GeeDubs ignored it entirely to make the Skaven more grimdark and work on people's stereotypes of what rats are like rather than how rats interact. Skaven society is literally cutthroat when it comes to promotions (but luckily not [[PROMOTIONS]]). In a world where you have chaos warriors who can honor the chaos gods by killing/raping/infecting/getting minions caught up and expended in complex plots, beastmen which are in a similar lot as chaos on top of animalistic aggression who still practice a survival-of-the-fittest pack-mindset based loyalty, orcs that are hardwired to love to scrap, goblins who are no strangers to backstabbing and dark elves who've literally made assassination and treachery an art, the Skaven have managed to collect the gold medal in (f)ratricide. After receiving said award they promptly began killing each other to see which Skaven individual got to keep it; the conflict continues to this day, with no resolution in sight. The '''only''' reason why their society has not murdered itself into extinction is because of a very high reproductive rate. Despite their teamkilling tendencies they obey the Grey Seers, the prophets of their god the [[Horned Rat]]. Although this obedience is done purely out of fear, it is done without question. Except for the other Grey Seers.

==== Hierarchy ====
The Skaven race is ruled over by the [[Council of Thirteen]], Skaven of such evil they have been chosen by their vile god and manage to survive the constant threat of assassination, most likely because everyone is too afraid of these uber-ratmen to go near them. Although they squeak big about their plans for world domination, they are too busy trying to outdo and kill each other. Despite the name there are only twelve Councillors; the 13th seat is symbolic and reserved for their god and woe betide anyone that tries to sit on it! To become a member of the council all any Skaven need do is touch the sacred Black Pillar and challenge a current member for his seat in a duel. In practice it has been over 200 years since someone actually manage to pull it off, which is a minor point in favor of the current crop of leaders on it - though a large part of it is that touching the Black Pillar has a tendency to make rats explode.

Beneath the Council of Thirteen are the Grey Seers and the Warlords. Horned, grey-furred skaven pups are raised to be the priests and magic users of Skavendom that act on behalf of the council. Ironically enough the Skaven are more prone to throw around claims of [[HERESY]]! than the Sigmarite Empire. Not showing proper reverence to the Horned Rat brings down his wrath on the offender and everyone around him, so they take a dim view of anyone who misses their services. Secular Rodentism is not something which is going to catch on in Skavenblight. There is a hard cap on 169 (13x13, 13 being a sacred number to the Skaven) Grey Seers at any one time, though there are a bunch of apprentices waiting in the wings for one to die. Skaven being Skaven, one of the most popular pastimes of said novices is making slots available through assassination. Warlords are those lucky rats that have managed through guile, luck, accomplishment on the battlefield and the elimination of rivals to get in charge of a Clan. There is a Seer Lord on the Council of 13 and sometimes you get a Grey Seer warlord with his own clan, but that's usually the exception.

Beneath them, you have an upper crust of prominent individuals within the clans: Warlock Engineers, Master Molders, Plague Priests, Assassins, Chieftans, high ranking officers and so forth. Either through command of some arcane skill or having armed rats behind them they have wealth, better accommodations, hosts of underlings and regular access to breeders. This is also roughly where the Albino Guard rank, since they're basically the Skaven version of [[Custodes]].

Underneath them are those with a modicum of cultivated value: the merchants, the technicians, the packmasters, the rank and file of the Stormvermin, the apprentices to the great ones, the Gutter Runners, the overseers, skilled workers and so forth. All of which have to some degree or another got their position by struggling tooth and claw and are with it some measure of power and authority. Most of them rose from the Clanrats. Those poor bastards live in poverty packed up like sardines and have to work hard for their daily Skavenbread™ and fight tooth and claw to keep what little they've amassed. They make their petty schemes, jump on what opportunities they can and form and break alliances of convince at the drop of a hat. All of which to carve out a niche, establish a power base and clawing their way up the org chart. Far more likely they end up murdered, expended in battle, blown apart in some accident, killed by a superior making a point or deemed surplus to requirement and left to starve.

But even these wretched rats have it better than the Skavenslaves. They are the remnants of defeated clans, the pups deemed surplus to requirements if not quite bad enough to be culled, those that earned the ire of their overseers and those whose power struggles failed them and avoided being killed. Their status is somewhere between "Native in the Belgian Congo" and "Pig in a Factory Farm". Clanrats may be exploited, but Skavenslaves are actively worked to death, thrown at the enemy to absorb arrows and are fed a meagre diet of scraps, garbage and each other. That's when they are not being taken to the butcher's block so their betters can enjoy a meat dinner and have some leather. The best they can hope for is that a good deal of their superiors fuck up and die or that their clan conquers another leading to enough shuffling in the org chart that they can get promoted to clanrat status. But while clans do wax strong and skavendom produces a lot of said fuckups it also burns through skavenslaves like nobody's business.

Two key facts of this hierarchy are ''Shit Flows Downhill'' and ''The Rodent Staircase''. To a high ranking Skaven everyone else is a rival, either an immediate threat or a potential one waiting for the means, so you gotta keep a lid on them. Subordinates are to be given the minimum they need to accomplish their tasks, some rewards if they exceed expectations, and nothing else. If they step out of line they can be beaten. If they cause too much trouble they can be replaced with some up and coming Rat eager to not be a skavenslave. If things are going badly for you, assert your dominance with a show of force. Even if things are going well, you should put the fear of the Horned Rat into your underlings just to remind them who's boss to be on the safe side. This comes before the fact that Skaven are vindictive little shits that have no qualms about taking out their frustrations on others. A sternly worded Letter to a Warlord from the Council of Thirteen will lead him snapping at his second in command and will eventually manifest itself in clanrats biting the tails off Skavenslaves because they'd been the subject of the ire of their overseers and need to re-assert dominance.

Likewise if you want to get up (and as mentioned ALL Skaven want to go up all the way), you need to not only excel or have some useful talent but also deal with the million other rats out there with the same ambitions. If you want to survive in the slave pits, shiv your neighbor and eat him to get enough calories so you'll have the strength to see another day. If the clawleader's favorite mug has gone missing, say the guy who's always admired it stole it to bring down the bosses wrath upon him so you have one less rival, the boss's wrath is directed elsewhere and if you happen to be right he just might throw you a bone for being (due to the lack of a better word) loyal. Apprentices could and should steal the ideas of their fellows to become Warlock Engineers. Attempting to police the Skaven to stop such backstabbing is usually an exercise in futility, especially since whatever Police Rats you can scrounge up will inevitably engage in said activities on their own. Not that it matters much in most cases, there is always a fresh stream of replacements and those eager for dead rat's shoes. At most murder provides an excuse for removing individuals that they don't like in a move that is slightly less likely to spark the paranoia of your rivals. A good Skaven leader knows how to use this competition to keep his minions in line and to get the most out of them. A bad Skaven leader is going to end up on the barbecue sooner rather than later. This is the case from birth, even for those whose role was determined at birth like grey seers and stormvermin have to fend off both ruthless instructors and backstabbing fellow applicants. Nobody is unscathed.

==== Misc ====
Although unintentional on the side of writers, there are circumstances where real life rats can become Skaven-like. In a series of social experiments involving overpopulation designed to see what effects human overpopulation in cities like New York or Tokyo could be paralleled, rat populations with far too many beings in far too small an area begin to go, as individuals, insane while the group becomes far more violent despite having more than enough food and water to sustain the entire population. When a high-density population that shows these behaviors is given more area to roam in by having another set of open cages attached or being shifted to smaller population cages, the behavior remains the same meaning the rats have been permanently mentally damaged; only with successive generations do they regain sanity. So in a way, Skaven have inadvertently made themselves fucking insane by choosing to live in horrible conditions and to overpopulate. <s>Theoretically</s> [[Warhammer Adventures|Kreech from Warhammer Adventures]] shows that saner and more level-headed (if not necessarily less evil) generations of Skaven could emerge if the species got access to more room and better conditions, and was completely removed from its old environment and the previous rats who inhabited it.

In fact, if the root of the Skaven's evil nature could be traced to both their terrible environment and the terrible culture that both feeds and feeds off of that environment rather than anything genetic, theoretically, there ''could'' actually be ''good'' Skaven if they were somehow separated from Skavenblight immediately after birth and raised outside of it by someone willing to give them a chance. However, seeing as how the primary…“engines” of Skaven reproduction are heavily guarded in the very heart of Skavenblight, and literally every other race in Warhammer is hard-wired to kill the mangy rat-bastards on sight (and with FUCKING good reason), such a thing will almost certainly remain purely theoretical. Especially since all that trouble would ultimately amount to little more than proving a petty point, with little to no real pay-off beyond making the Horned Rat personally pissed off at you (then again there are [[Tzeentch|some]] that might find ''that'' outcome a goal in and of itself).

Funnily enough, in real life the common pet rat (Fancy Rat) is actually highly social, friendly, adaptable, clean, curious and even altruistic of all things. One could imagine the Skaven in some noblebright/nobledark Warhammer setting basically out-compete all the other races and then dragging them kicking and screaming (at least not the [[Chaos Warrior|crazy ones]]) into some wider federation or empire while turning the world into an atompunk (warp-punk?) setting. Wait, this sounds [[Tau|awfully familiar]]...

=== Armies ===

==== The Rank and File ====
* '''Skavenslaves''': Large numbers of starved skavenslaves are thrown at the enemy's front lines with crummy scrounged up/improvised weapons to waste arrows, bog down enemy movements and hopefully take down a few man-things by sheer numbers. Some lucky ones get to annoy the enemy at range with slings, which is sort of a luxury as nobody else in the army can take them.

* '''Clanrats''': The basic Rank and File of a Clan with some armor and better if still basic weapons (swords, shields and spears). Better fed, more durable and less likely to run than Skavenslaves, they're good enough that you expect them to do a bit more than just absorb arrows and tire out the enemy's sword arm. Even so they're still cannon fodder that relies on numbers against all but the crummiest of foes. Fortunately for the warlords they are never in short supply. Various campaign supplements would expand on the basic Clanrat with unique variations for each Great Clan, like the Rotten Rodents of Clan Pestilens, who trade their shield for an extra hand weapon.

* '''Stormvermin''': Basic elite units for when you want something that has more staying power than Clanrats. Black furred pups are singled out to be soldiers. They get given extra food, ruthless spartan way training, better weapons and armor than the common riff-rats and take some pride in their units (which means that they are less likely to randomly stab their fellow stormvermin in the back than most skaven and any failure to meet the standards is liable to get a stormvermin executed on the spot for not measuring up). They normally got a bully mentality; cruel, mean, petty and vindictive along with an internalized need to constantly put on a strong face, pride in ability and station and chest puffing arrogance that mostly covers for the fact that they are still cowards at heart. The Clans [[Clan Mors|Mors]] and [[Clan Rictus|Rictus]] are known for their particularly nasty regiments of Stormvermin and regularly sell themselves to the other aspiring Warlords for a sizable sum.
** '''Albino Guard''': The personal guard of the Council of Thirteen, made entirely out of white-furred pups and put through even more brutal training than the regular Stormvermin. They're also psychotically loyal to those they protect, like the CoT and the Grey Seers, quite unlike the vast majority of Skaven. Most of them are Warlord-sized, with gear and skills to match.

*'''Chieftain''': The Skaven equivalent to a Greenskin Big Boss or Empire Captain. They serve under the Warlord as his enforcer and field commander. Usually it’s from this rank that new Warlords are “promoted”.

*'''Warlord''': Also called Clawlords in AoS, Warlords are not the best fighters of a Skaven Clan, but the most cunning. They lead the ravenous swarms of ratmen into combat from the safety of the rear lines. They get first pick of any loot they come across and play a constant game of 3D chess with their subordinates to make sure they keep their position...and their lives.

==== Specialists ====
*'''Poisoned-Wind Globadiers''': An elite corps of Clan Skryre clanrats trained in the usage of special glass spheres filled with toxic vapors. They lob said orbs at hordes of enemy troopers where they shatter, dispersing their poisonous payload into the air. To protect themselves, the Globadiers wear special breathing equipment on the (common) chance one of their globes is faulty. TWW2 introduces a more potent type of poison called the '''Death Globe''', whose toxins are harmful even with the slightest of skin contact. In AoS, they are renamed to '''Skryre Acolytes''' and function as interns for the various Engineers.

* '''Weapons Teams''': Clan Skryre’s bread and butter. A vast collection of various weapons all designed to be carried by a pair of skaven and have a staggeringly high rate of (explosive) failure. The '''Warp-Fire Thrower''' is a crude fire hose connected to a gas tank that spews a corrosive fluid that ignites upon exposure to air. It was created to melt through heavily armored dwarfen shield walls during their first wars against the beard-things. '''Ratling Guns''' are the skaven’s take on real world gatling guns; six barrels of rapid fire warpstone bullets all powered by a hand crank. Said cranking mechanism is prone to overheating and explosion should the gunners get too eager on the spinner. For more precise weaponry, the '''Warplock Jezzail''' provides. It’s an oversized rifle held in place by a rickety shield and built to deliver lethal warpstone bullets into the heads of an enemy leader from miles away. A '''Doom-Flayer''' is what happens when you take the Green Goblin’s pumpkin bombs and turn it into an armored chariot. These bladed balls were originally meant for tunnel clearance and mowing down pesky dwarf battle lines. Similarly, the '''Warp-Grinder''' was also initially made for utility purposes, serving as a quick means of excavating new underways, though it was soon repurposed for drilling into armored units and bastions. Finally the '''Poisoned Wind Mortar''', the grown up version of the Globadier, these mini artillery pieces launch lethal spheres of toxic fumes across the battlefield to choke the lives out of enemies, though it is the only weapons team to not make the jump to Age of Sigmar, for some goddamn reason. And naturally there’s also the '''Death Globe Mortar''' in TWW2 as well.

*'''Night Runners''': The initiates of Clan Eshin. Having yet to fully grasp the importance of discipline, stealth, and basic fucking patience, they run headlong into enemies throwing sharpened metal stars and knives at them. They do have their uses though, serving as excellent skirmishers thanks to their ranged attacks and natural agility.

*'''Gutter Runners''': Those lucky few Night Runners who survive their first battle and learn how to stand still are soon claw-picked to become Gutter Runners. These elite teams are the main agents of Clan Eshin you’ll find. Often hired for sabotage, espionage, eating fromage, and of course assassination. TWW2 adds an even more elite variant of the Gutter Runners called the '''Death Runners''', who are noted for having zero armor and simply dodging most attacks.

*'''Assassin''': Pretty straight forward. Picked from the most elite of Gutter/Death Runners, these expert killers are so feared among the Under-Empire that rumors spread about them having special abilities, from squeezing into a coin sized hole to having a poisonous shadow. Outlandish that may sound, Clan Eshin isn’t one to confirm or disperse these rumors.

*'''Eshin Sorcerer''': One of the ninja clan’s better kept secrets. In addition to being rigorously trained in the arts of murder and sabotage like the other initiates, these Skaven are capable of wielding their own unique magic called the Lore of Stealth (likely a mixture of Shadow magic and the standard Skaven Lore of Ruin). As expected, the Nightlord doesn’t want too many people to know about their existence (Grey Seers in particular), so much so that they vanished from the lore and tabletop for a while...until TWW2 brought them back into the limelight.

*'''Packmaster''': Part slave-driver, part animal tamer, Packmasters are adepts of Clan Moulder who specialize in the “care” of their menagerie of beasts. Often recruited from the meanest bullies, they are cruel and relentless with their whips and spiked prodders which double as a means of defense as well as a way to encourage their monsters to fight harder. Some also are known to carry large snapping claws on pole arms called thing-catchers, which they eagerly use to grab new test subjects whilst on the battlefield.

*'''Giant Rats''': The most common/simple of Clan Moulder’s monsters. They’re just big ass rats, usually the size of a small domestic dog. They are herded into massive swarms by their Packmaster(s) to drown the foe in furry bodies.

*'''Pox Rats''': A step up from the Giant Rat, these boar sized rodents are commonly used as mounts for various Skaven leaders, though as their sickly name suggests, the Plague Priests of Clan Pestilens are particularly fond of them.

*'''Rat Ogres''': The premier product of Clan Moulder. Through a fusion of skaven, [[Ogre Kingdoms|ogre]], and countless other beasties, a hulking monstrosity was born. Ill-tempered, violent brutes who serve as shock troopers/bodyguards for skaven armies. Like actual ogres, they are very strong but also quite dumb. Despite this, they can be equipped with several rudimentary upgrades and weapons for more specialized needs. During the End Times, Clan Skryre improved upon the base Rat Ogre and created the even more dangerous '''Stormfiend'''. By adding a secondary brain via an tiny ass skaven slave to the beast’s back, they can now operate more advanced weaponry, such as warp fire projectors, shock gauntlets, rattling guns, and many more, while still keeping the same base level instincts and loyalty they are known for.

*'''Brood Horrors''': What happens when you cram a bunch of starved Pox Rats into an enclosed area and leave them alone for a while? Well eventually only one of them remains having swallowed whole all of its packmates and bloated to monstrous sizes. It has now become a Brood Horror, a hideously mutant creature that’s either used as a stand alone monster or as a mount for the most daring of Warlords.

*'''Hell-Pit Abomination''': And you thought the Brood Horror was grotesque. Named after the capital warren of Clan Moulder, the Hell-Pit Abomination is a Frankenstein fusion of left over body parts, machinery, and gallons of liquid warpstone given unholy life. No two Abominations are quite alike, though they all have the general shape of a massive multi-headed centaur-rat.

*'''Plague Monks''': The zealous followers of Clan Pestilens. Less armored than a Clanrat, these ragged devotees rush into battle with filth encrusted robes and rusted blades while chittering prayers and wishes to the Horned Rat. Each one is infected with enough viruses and sickness that just being in the vicinity of them is detrimental to your health. They gladly throw themselves onto foes to smother them in corruptive ilk and often carry tomes full of various litanies and vows to their pestilential deity.

*'''Plague Censer Bearers''': The more rabid Plague Monks who don’t become Plague Priests will often be given the “privilege” of carrying large censer flails that are blessed with filth and constantly emit toxic fumes. They then rush headlong into combat swinging their weapons to create a noxious cloud of gas, invigorating their brethren and smothering their enemies. Much like the similar in concept Night Goblin Fanatics, Plague Censer Bearers have a short life expectancy as the fumes are so toxic that it can even kill the rats of Clan Pestilens, albeit very slowly.

*'''Plague Priest''': Looking more like champions of [[Nurgle]] rather than skaven, these pox-filled vermin are the heads of the Pestilent Brotherhood. They lead vast congregations of sickly followers on a holy mission to corrupt the world in the name of the Great Horned Rat. The most distinguished Priests often ride into battle upon massive '''Plague Furnaces''', a rickety siege engine centered around a giant swinging censer, constantly filling the air with toxic warpstone fumes. These fumes invigorate the warriors of Clan Pestilens and choke the life out of all others.

===Clans===
Skaven organize themselves into Clans, through which they organize their backstabbing. The individual backstabs for position within a Clan, the Clan backstabs for position in Skaven society.

There are many Clans, far more than any being other than the Horned Rat (presumably) knows. Clans rise, fall, split, infight, reform, and even ally constantly. Each Clan seeks to have one of their members in a position in the Council of Thirteen, which runs the business of their entire race.

The [[Council of Thirteen]] is conveniently organized like a clock, with 13 at the 12 position which is representative of the Horned Rat. Members are called Lords of Decay. Each position is more powerful within the Council based on their proximity to the Horned Rat, so the Lords of Decay at the 1 and 12 position are the two most powerful, 2 and 11 behind them, while the Lords of Decay at the 6 and 7 positions are the weakest. Each Lord of Decay can outright veto the position of the one opposite them. Each Lord of Decay has their position marked by a symbol, either that of themselves or that of their Clan. The Lords of Decay have thus far remained in power for most of the existence of the Council thanks to the life-prolonging Warpstone they use (so Skeksis), although they rise and fall in power.

Skaven Clans fall into three categories: Great Clans, Warlord Clans, and Thrall Clans. The four Great Clans are extremely powerful, and epitomize the different aspects of Skaven society (Each Greater Clan later became a type of Clans in [[Age of Sigmar]] due to an exponential population boost). Warlord Clans are essentially the middle class of Skaven, usually doing their own thing and not tied to any specific Great Clan. The Thrall Clans are weaker warrens that swear allegiance to a Great Clan to survive or grow in power. Of course thanks to Skaven backstabbing, a Thrall Clan is an expendable frontline infantry source while the Great Clans are just sources of really neat toys like Rat Ogres and Ratling Guns, and of course every Clan is waiting to betray each other while making allegiances to other Clans and to betray their REAL allies that they're of course waiting to be backstabbed by while totally being unaware of the fact that a fourth set of Clans have set up the backstabbing conga for their own benefit, and so on as far as you want to get into it (note: this describes a single day of plotting or so).

When fielding an army, one or two Clan paint jobs and multiple Thrall-Clan paint jobs are quite fluffy.

The four Great Clans are:
* [[Clan Eshin]], the ninja assassin Clan. {MURDER [[Lizardmen|ALL]] [[Dwarfs|OF]] [[Undead|THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]}
* [[Clan Moulder]], the Clan which breeds monsters and sews them together Frankenstein style to make even better (by Skaven standards, slightly less volatile) monsters.
* [[Clan Pestilens]], the founder of the Pestilent Brotherhood and the largest and most powerful Pestilent Brotherhood member.
* [[Clan Skryre]], the Clan which produces Warp-powered Tesla cannons, machine guns, vehicles, and other assorted machines.
*Clan Verms, the Clan that Clan Moulder replaced and Clan Pestilens betrayed to get on the Council of 13, specialized in utilizing the various invertebrates of the deep underground places of the world as weapons and tools for Skavendom. Giant Scorpions and swarms of venomous insects were their main military contribution, with worm-oil for lighting being their main non-military contribution. Their lair in Skavenblight was a huge wasp-nest-looking structure called "The Hive". When Clan Moulder proved better able to create horrific warbeasts, and Clan Skryre created Warpstone Lights, they essentially became worthless, especially after their various vermin helped spread the Black Plague among the Under-Empire, and were betrayed by the other Skaven, looked down upon so much even the lowest of Slave Clans spits upon them.

In addition, there are the [[Grey Seers]], silver furred Skaven with horns that represent the servants of the Council and the Horned Rat. They are above all Skaven other than the Lords of Decay and as a result tend to be somewhat free from the backstabbing conga, other than that of other Grey Seers. Any grey Skaven who do not have horns are part of the Council Guard, the elite warriors that protect the Council and the Grey Seers. However those Skaven that protect the Council of Thirteen directly are The Albino Guard, purely white furred giga-stormvermin.

{{Skaven-Clans}}

===Deity===
The Skaven worship their creator the [[Horned Rat]], a god as sickening and vile as they are. God of disease and vermin, thankfully he gets the crap kicked out of him by Sigmar and Sotek on a regular basis and frankly anyone that feels like having a go. He got fed up with such bullshit at the [[End Times]], telling the Skaven to stop backstabbing eachother and get shit done, which they proceed to do by destroying many cities. He also made a deal with the [[Chaos Gods]] as he cannot defeat them.

As of [[Age of Sigmar]], [[Slaanesh]] [[bullshit|was kidnapped]] by three Elf gods that were formerly mortals ([[Tyrion]], [[Teclis]], [[Morelion]]) at the manipulations of [[Tzeentch]] and the newly-appointed HNIC of all Chaos [[Archaon]]. This resulted in [[Nurgle]] and [[Khorne]] immediately voting with them to boot him out of the pantheon and the [[Great Game]] and promoting Horned Rat to proper Chaos God in his place. Horned Rat immediately renamed himself Great Horned Rat, but found out that the big kids table was full of backstabbing assholes with absolutely no respect for each other, and somehow even less for him. When the Chaos Gods gave Archaon their blessings, Archaon rejected the Horned Rat's blessings and spat directly in his face for daring to presume GHR can bless the self-righteous ass that is Archaon (Though this could just be Archaon not having absolutely abysmal standards).

=== Magic ===
Skaven wield a form of Dark Magic fueled by [[warpstone]] and derived from their own inherently corrupt abilities. However, only select kinds of skaven are capable of actually tapping that energy; traditionally, only the Grey Seers, rare mutants who function as the skaven's shamans and the Warlock Engineers of [[Clan Skryre]], who use [[magitek]] devices to draw upon and manipulate Dark Magic, possess this power, but that lore has fluctated over editions.

In 4th edition, Warlocks could be 1st to 3rd level casters, with Grey Seers being 4th level casters, and both used the same "Lore of Skaven" magic system.

In 6th edition, only Grey Seers were casters, still using the Lore of Skaven; Warlock Engineers instead had to spend points on magitek weapons that also allowed them to cast a single spell, ''Warp Lightning''. However, the optional rules for Great Clan armies in the back of the book also featured clan-based casters; these "lesser mages" were treated as level 1 casters who only knew a single pre-selected spell. Clan Eshin had Sorcerers (Skitterleap), Clan Pestilens had Festoring Chantors (Pestilent Breath), and Clan Moulder had Harbingers of Mutation (Vermintide). Clan Skyre's Warlock Masters could still only cast Warp Lightning, but could try and cast an 11+ variant that was much more powerful.

In 7th edition, things changed; now, Skaven had two different schools of magic - Ruin and Plague, with Warlock Engineers being Hero level casters of Ruin and Plague Priests getting an upgrade to be Hero level casters of Plague, with Grey Seers being Lord level casters who could mix and match spells from both lores, and had access to the unique "Dreaded 13th Spell", which could transform enemy troops into skaven clanrats.

"Children of the Horned Rat", the skaven sourcebook for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 2nd edition, tweaked the Skaven magical lores around. Naming the two primary schools of Skaven magic as Plague and Warp, it also upgraded Eshin Sorcerers to full-fledged casters, with their own unique school of magic; the Dark Lore of Stealth, a corrupt form of Shadow Magic that lets them do more animesque ninja stuff. As CotHR was written around the time of 6th edition, it doesn't quite mesh up with either 6e or 7e fluff; instead of being masters of all the skaven styles, it's implied (it's a little hard to ascertain) that Grey Seers only use Warp Magic, whilst Plague Priests and Eshin Sorcerers only use Plague Magic and Stealth Magic respectively. Warlock Engineers, meanwhile, can't use magic at all, but instead can make unique magitek gizmos.

Also, CotHR says that rogue Grey Seers can learn Chaos Magic or Necromancy, although this paints them as skaven heretics.

=== Army ===
Skaven are your <strike>standard</strike> easily abused horde army. Lots of cheap vermin, whose numbers allow them to easily ignore their one theoretical weakness: shitty leadership, backed up by more expensive and/or specialized units, that are in theory unreliable but will still wreck your shit moar consistently than most anything else by sheer volume. Also, DOOMWHEELS.

<strike>Under current rules</strike> they <strike>are</strike> have always been considered overpowered, except for a brief period where DoC reigned thanks to your [[Matt Ward|Spiritual]] [[Spiritual Liege|Liege]]. They have now reclaimed their mantle, since 8th edition heavily favors mass infantry blocks, and the Skaven can easily throw out a block of 100 models for less than what some other armies will spend on a lord, no, I'm not exaggerating, which under the current rules is virtually unbeatable.

=== Special Characters ===
====Wargame====
The cast of Skaven special characters has shifted and flowed across editions, but this is the original list from 4e:
* [[Verminlord]]
* Grey Seer [[Thanquol]]
* [[Lord Skrolk]], Plaguelord of Clan Pestilens
* [[Ikit Claw]], Chief Warlock of Clan Skryre
* [[Throt the Unclean]], Master Mutator of Clan Moulder
* [[Deathmaster Snikch]], Chief Assassin of Clan Eshin
* [[Queek Head-Taker]], Warlord of Clan Mors

6th edition saw the creation of a handful of new characters, whose stats appeared either in [[White Dwarf]] or on Games Workshop's website - back before they turned it into a mere shopping center. In addition to converting many 4e characters who'd been left out of their 6e army book, such as Snikch and Ikit Claw, 6e saw the creation of:
* [[Ghoritch]], Castellan of Hell Pit
* Warlock Master [[Klawmunkast]] and his [[Steam Tank|Rat Tank]].
* Plague Lord [[Morbus Sanguis]]

7th edition added two new characters to the list:
* Beastmaster [[Skweel Gnawtooth]]
* Chieftain [[Tretch Craventail]]

====Fluff-only, Other Games, Other Continuities====
[[Image:Reverse Furry And His Pet.png|thumb|200px|right|Somehow worse than legit Skaven!]]
* Kreech: FUCK, I thought we agreed never to mention him again. Exists in Age of Sigmar to be the PG version (no depicted cannibalism, drug addiction and mass murder) of Thanquol to the pacifist protagonist adolescents of [[Warhammer Adventures]], is a complete weeb for humans, and has a slaveboy from the Realm Of Beasts named Scratch.
* Sneek Scratchett: a scribe from the [[Total War: WARHAMMER]] continuity who serves as your chosen faction's mission control during the Vortex campaign. MST'd the sequel's reveal trailer and wears a small pair of glasses, though whether he actually needs it or likes-prefers the look is known only to him.
* Vulskreek: a Grey Seer also from TWW and Sneek's supervisor, and regularly bosses Sneek around as all Skaven higher-ups do. After the Black Pillar forsees great things for the Horned Rat, Vulskreek's put in charge of mobilizing the ratmen to do their god's bidding, but the Grey Seer's also working on orders known only to the Council...

=== Fun Facts ===
* They consider the number thirteen to be lucky/holy. This a reference to how thirteen is seen as unlucky in Western society. However, several real-life nations/cultures consider thirteen a lucky number.
* Grey Seers regularly ride giant bells on scaffolds into battle
* [[DOOMWHEELS]]
* in ye olden days they could be led by friggin master splinter! im not kidding this was a thing
* Their leaders lead from the back, to get a better view of the battle of course and not due to the meatshield tactic.
* They can improve anything, with the addition of magical radiation rocks!
**This may or may not involve improving themselves by snorting said rock.
* GIANT LIGHTNING CANNONS
* Backstabbing little bastards, they'll fuck you up five different ways without you even knowing about it, if you're lucky.
* Skaven do not abide by any codes of honor or battle etiquette, and as such, they WILL bring a gun to a swordfight (and even then they'll try to steal your sword beforehand (and poison you (and improve themselves with warpstone before (aaaaand the gun might be a DOOMWHEEL)))).
* Skaven have a combination of ego and incompetence that would make [[Transformers|Starscream]] look down his nose at them. (Bad comedy right there)
* Skaven do NOT think about the potential consequences of ''anything'' that they do. Taken to its logical conclusion in [[The End Times]] when '''they blow up the motherfucking Chaos Moon''' and nearly destroy the planet with moon-fragments.
* At one point they had the cheapest troops in any game setting. How cheap? It was measured in ''fractions of a point!''
* They can carry giant rocket launcher weaponry that will most likely explode in their own damn faces.
* RATLING GUNS! its as cool as they sound! and yes, it does what it says on the tin
* for the last time, master splinter did NOT teach all of clan Eshin how to all be ninja rats...only a few
* As of Total Warhammer II, Skavens can into space. (No, seriously, go play the campaign!)
* BTW, they also have sniper rifles. Warpstone rifles of instant brain pop, yes-yes

== Thematic Stuff ==
In Warhammer, seriousness and farce walk hand in hand. Some factions are in general more jokey like the Greenskins and others are more somber like the Druchii, but all of them are capable of both. This is especially true of the Skaven. On the one hand, they're a malignant horde of self centered sociopaths in which every twisted manifestation of this fact is explored, driven on by a malevolent deity, spreading underground like a cancer that surges forth to lay waste to the realms of men, leaving nothing behind but ruins and gnawed bones, and they are ultimately responsible for bringing about the End Times. On the other hand they're a species of Cartoonish Ratguys with Mad Science super-weapons, Ninjas and convoluted plots that often blow up in their filthy faces with odd verbal ticks which can, despite it all, sometimes be, well, cute. Ugly cute, but cute none-the-less.

The Skaven have no direct counterpart in Warhammer 40,000. In of itself this is not unprecedented. After all, neither do the Lizardmen or Vampire Counts and on the same note you don't have any Tau or Tyranids having raves in Athel Loren keeping the wood elves up. Also noting the two settings while starting remarkably similar diverged heavily in the intervening decades, so one-for-one comparisons aren't completely applicable anymore. Even so, they do seem to be a natural fit. After all, they are one of the most technological factions and it's not a huge leap to imagine their space fleets and similar. They're also GW original content, so why are they not a thing? One possible answer is that while they could fit into 40k, they would be kind of redundant. Simply put the role of Theocratic Empire with cutthroat internal politics ruled through fear, driven by hatred of The Other on which a small privileged elite rules over a vast ocean of individuals living cheek to jowl in huge labyrinthine warrens either as disposable factory workers or soldiers expended like ammunition [[Imperium of Man|is already filled in 40k]]. In fact the parallel may be more direct then accidental given that there are explicitly 13 high lords of Terra, same as the 13 Lords of Decay. In addition a big issue would be how they would integrate with the somewhat darker tone of 40k as a whole. As an alien race of ratman would harder to justify next to true xeno horrors such as the Tyranids or Necrons. The Eldar and the Orks being easier conversions for a sci-fi race. Which is also a big reason why Squats took so long to come back, as they needed a less campy integration into the 40k lore.

In contrast the Empire of Man is not The Shire or some other idealized fantasy utopia, but on the same note in of itself it's not actually that bad by the standards of the era it was based on. Most of it's big problems are external (chaos, greenskins, druchii, whatever) and most of the crappiness you'd find in it is the sort of stuff you'd find in basically every early modern state along with the virtues there-of. In some ways it's better than the other Good Guy factions.

As to how this pertains to the Skaven, a way they are often framed is as a dark mirror of mankind. One in which our virtues are absent and our common failings are magnified. In particular they reflect modern mankind's excesses. Beings which are intelligent, but driven soully by greed, lust for power and hatred for The Other. They see everything and everyone else as an expendable resource driven towards endless growth and expansion consuming everything in their path, leaving wastes in their wake. They don't think in terms of The Future, they can drop a bomb on that bridge when they come to it. All that matters is you, here and now. In that regard, the Skaven are a better Green Aesop story than the ne'er-do-wells of the [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|Captain Planet, Furry Edition]].

== DIE-DIE MAN-THINGS! ==
The above sentence clearly illustrates the quirks of skaven language (which is titled Queekish): they often say certain monosyllabic words twice (words like "die-die" and "fool-fool" are popular). Skaven are also known to link similar-related words together.
[https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/199375/on-skaven-jitter-speak-in-game-2 Some people believe these things should only be done to the most important part of a sentence. However, in some official works, such as Total Warhammer II, these quirks are applied seemingly at random in skaven speech.]

Also, they often end the name of a species with the suffix -things, so men are man-things, dwarfs are dwarf-things, et cetera.

This helps indicate that non-Skaven are not people in their eyes. Although considering their backstabby natures it isn't as if they're trying to avert sense of shame or horror from killing others, which is why humans dehumanize during war... so why? Likely the Skaven equivalent of racial slurs.

==Female Skaven==
[[Image:Female skaven.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Canon image of a female Skaven.]]
[[Image:Skaven female cheerleaders.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The closest thing to a female Skaven model to come out of Games Workshop.]]
The skaven as a whole fit the idea of "ratmen" - with particular emphasis on the ''men'' part. All named skaven characters are male, and new fans invariably wonder; what about females? Where do skaven come from?

There was never any great emphasis placed on them. Indeed, they were left so ambiguous that the first ever description of skaven females actually came about as a result of one fan's fanfiction, during those hoary days when [[Gnome#Gnomes_in_Warhammer|Gnome]]s and [[Half-Orc]]s were still canon. In "[https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Warhammer/Fantasy/Roleplay/1st%20edition/Skaven%20-%20Book%20of%20the%20Rat.pdf The Book of the Rat]", a fan-made netbook of skaven lore for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st edition, female skaven were stated to exist but were hugely oppressed; they were kept as sexual slaves in segregated chambers of the warren, to which only the clan's elites were allowed access. Kept in miserable conditions, their life consisted of nothing but rough sex, pregnancy and looking after their mewling ratlings. Female skaven were described as rarer than male skaven, partially due to biology, primarily because their mothers and the bitter, infertile/elderly midwives tended to be particularly callous towards the female offspring and so female skaven have a much, ''much'' higher mortality rate than the males.

When we got official lore, however, it turned out to be far worse... when the first ever Warhammer Armies: Skaven sourcebook was released, way back in Warhammer 4th edition, fans were presented with what is the earliest known mention of skaven females: a single line describing them as being "indolent" and "semi-intelligent" in the general Skaven entry in the bestiary section (page 50). Modern lore, established in the Skaven's 6e army book and preserved since then, built upon this singular line and is considerably more [[grimdark]] than the fanon presented in "The Book of the Rat": female skaven are horrific monsters, implied to be basically female [[Giant Rat]]s of enormous stature, who build upon their description in 4e by being described as feral, effectively non-sapient creatures. They are basically giant wombs, locked away separately from the males and existing only to feed and produce offspring, so monstrously pregnant and indolent that their limbs have atrophied, rendering them incapable of doing anything but wallow in the breeding pits.

Further female skaven lore, such as it is, was fleshed out by Black Library fiction and most prominently by ''Children of the Horned Rat'', a skaven sourcebook for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 2nd edition. In CotHR, it's theorized that only one in ten skaven are female, reaching sexual maturity at the age of 2 and spending the rest of their 2 decades of life doing nothing but breed, averaging 12-24 pups a litter and 4-5 litters per year.

What's ''truly'' grimdark however, as explicitly stated in that same book is, that skaven females are actually NOT NATURALLY LIKE THIS; rather, their condition is the result of the skaven's malevolence and their need to [[fleshcrafting|"improve" upon nature]]; from a young age, skaven females are constantly dosed with Warpstone-based narcotics and hallucinogens, intended to keep them docile and segregated, so they will not protest their life of endless baby-making. There is a single line hinting that this may not be as effective as the male skaven think: "So cloistered away from the rest of their race are they that they do not learn their race’s chittering speech, nor are they proficient in even the simplest social skills…or so the Skaven believe." But still the vast majority of "Rat Mothers" spend their lives incessantly pregnant and in an interminable drug-fueled haze, often blind and/or crippled, and dependent on the ministrations of the "Ratwives" - castrated skaven who serve as nurses to the female Skaven themselves and midwives to their endless litters.

TL;DR: skaven females are practically furry [[Daemonculaba]].

Access to the females is carefully guarded. The most powerful of skaven are allowed to own one or more females for their private use - females are readily traded between clans as extremely valuable bargaining chips - and access to the communal females in the breeding pits is restricted to high-ranked or otherwise successful skaven; in one of the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novels, a Skaven is rewarded by his superior by being given permission to mate with one, whilst "Thanquol's Doom" features a skaven who partially lost his nose in an "incident" whilst mating with a breeder - apparently, she got too excited and tried to eat him.

The female Skaven's status as "bloated, indolent baby-makers" was referenced in the End Times. In "End Times: Thanquol", a Dwarf Slayer separated from the other during the battle of Karak Eight Peaks found his way into a Skaven breeding pit filled with hundreds of females in such a state, their litters and a handful of Ratwives. He killed the Ratwifes, the breeders and their litters, there being so many Skaven the Slayer's arms got sore from all the killing. Then the Slayer stumbled upon another breeding pit just as big, but by then Skaven soldiers had discovered what he did in the previous breeding pit so they swarmed him and slaughtered him. The End Times is the most recent lore on this, so it looks like the baby-factory fate is canon for most, if not all, female Skaven.

It bears mentioning that the status of the "breeders" does have some real-world basis to it. The rodent contains the only known eusocial mammals; the mole-rats, who live in colonies consisting of a single reproducing female with one (or up to three, for naked mole rats) reproducing males reigning over a large brood of sterile offspring that work as a collective to survive. In these cases, however, there are equal numbers of males and females, and it's the presence of a breeding queen and her pheromones that causes sterility into the younger mole-rats; if removed from her presence, they become fertile in turn.

It also bears mentioning that, in [[Blood Bowl]], the Skaven team comes with cheerleaders who are non-"Breeder" females, which you can tell because they have [[/d/|four big breasts each]]. But then, Blood Bowl also has [[Orcs & Goblins|fem-Orcs]], so its connection to canon of any edition after 3e is kind of dubious.

==Beastmen connection==
So, since this is a race made of humanoid rats empowered by [[Warpstone]] (which is officially described as being Chaos energy manifest), you may be wondering whether or not they're [[Beastmen]]. Well, the answer is that it kind of flips back and forth. Way back in the early editions, yes, Skaven were explicitly a break-away faction of relatively stabilised Beastmen, even pitching in with the Hordes of Chaos or spawning Chaos Champions of their own -- the "Design a [[Daemon Prince]]/Chaos God" rules in 3e's Slaves to Darkness - The Lost and The Damned even features a skaven turned Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided.

Since then, the connection has been downplayed extremely; the Empire generally describes Skaven (when they acknowledged they exist) as just "Beastmen who happen to look like rats", but there's no official connection between the two other than the fact Grey Seers have horns that signal them as important (a classically Beastman trait) and the fact both are animals mutated by Chaos-stuff. "Children of the Horned Rat", the Skaven [[splatbook]] for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], does note the existence of Grey Seers who have turned to Chaos Magic (as well as [[Necromancer|Necromancy]]), who are regarded as heretics amongst the rest of their kind.

Some fluff blurbs imply that Skaven are to dwarfs as Beastmen are to humans and they do share a lot of traits (craftsmanship ability, pride, vindictiveness and skewed gender ratios for example), though twisted and/or exaggerated on the Skaven's side. In WFRP 1e, it was stated that a spell that removes Chaos taint could turn a Beastman into a human if that Beastman survived having all that taint burned away. While the description didn't say what would happen if it was used on a Skaven, following the logic of this paragraph would say that using it on a Skaven and said Skaven managing to survive would turn it into a Dwarf.

In Age of Sigmar with the two factions technically now united under chaos there still doesn't seem to be much kinship with the two groups. Niether interacting beyond temporary alliances or in battle. And generally the other races seem to treat the Skaven and the Beastman as two different groups. There has also never been any real evidence of humans or otherwise mutating into skaven unlike Beastman. So any connection (if there is any) is scant at best and still best viewing both factions as different groups but with some surface level similarities.

==Warhammer 40k==
While no direct space Skaven exist, there are ratlike mutants described in the fluff, rat-worshiping cultists in [[Necromunda]], a [[mutant]] race called [[Ratlings]] which despite being more [[halfling]] than rat could be argued as a successor.

<strike>The many aspects of the Imperium society is an analogue to the Skaven's society. Its people are uneducated and amoral xenophobes who are mass-bred and treated as currency and is also the most numerous in the setting. Further more, many of its people lived in a poor yet mass crowded city environment called the [[hive city]] where they practice [[cannibalism#Specific /tg/ examples|cannibalism (corpse starch)]] due to the shortage of food. Imperium's major institutions also mirrored to the Skaven's four major clans in many ways:-[[Clan Moulder| creating super soldiers (space marines) using fleshcraft and brutal training in the most immoral way possible]].-[[Clan Eshin|super assassins (Officio Assassinorum) that can silent anyone, be it foes, misbehaving bureaucrats, commander, or traitors]]-[[Clan Skryre|technology specialist (Adeptus Mechanicus) who has no idea on how their technology works with most of their inventions being: made out of two old inventions combine, dug from ancient blueprints (STC), or from stealing xeno technologies.]]-[[Clan Pestilens|fanatically loyal religious zealots (Ecclesiarchy) who had almost doomed the Imperium with a massive civil war (Age of Apostasy).]]On top of it all, [[Horned Rat|their figure head, The Emperor of Mankind was a man with near god like power]], [[Verminlord|who had demi-god like sons/commander in the form of Primarch working for him]]. Interestingly, [[Roboute Guilliman]] is the only active Primarch in the Imperium and he is the THIRTEEN'S son of the Emperor. Coincidence? I think not!</strike>[[Blam|'''*BLAM*''' HERESY!]], and lastly there are the Tyranids who are 40k's version of ungodly numbers faction crossed with the [[Ogre Kingdoms]] motivation to eat everything in sight (though for different reasons). The [[Hrud]] used to be the Space Skaven, as in giant dieselpunk rat people, but that was pretty much retconned. They look different now (on the rare occasion they are mentioned in the fluff), so the only actual space Skaven are the Veer-Myn from [[Warpath]] by [[Mantic Games]]. Their models aren't the greatest things ever, but offer great potential for conversions into stuff for Clan Skryre and Warlock Engineer stuff for Fantasy. It looks like the recent Skitarii model releases may have taken inspiration from the Skaven aesthetic (though not gameplay) with their many steampunk-styled weapons, most notably the Transuranic Arquebus and Radium Jezzail. Alternatively, the Genestealer Cults are a particularly close match gameplay-wise, with lots of ambushing troops and monsters backed up by armor and artillery.

Also, the Skaven once accidentally called the Eldar on their Farsqueaker. The Skaven were scared shitless when they heard a voice like an Elf's coming from the other end. Presumably the Skaven don't have enough numbers or high enough technology at the time of Age of Sigmar to attempt to travel through a Gnawhole to the 40K galaxy and utilize their usual antics without fear of being wiped out... yet.

More recently in Darktide, the symbol of the Great horned rat can occasionally be seen painted on the walls of the nurgle cultist overrun Tertium hive.

==Models==
Skaven are one of the primary things in the Warhammer IPs that are actually unique to Games Workshop. As a result, its hard to obtain miniatures for them from third party companies, which is of particular irritation to Skaven players who want Skaven Slaves to actually look like downtrodden Skaven or those who refuse to give any more money to [[Games Workshop]].

However, [[Reaper Miniatures]] thankfully has begun to produce a "Wererat" range which includes decent alternatives to Rat Ogres, Assassins, a Verminlord, and even a female Skaven with six breasts for those wanting to have the most unique Warlord in the FLGS. This is in addition to the ordinary rat models, useful for spicing up scenery or large kits (or obtaining cheap Rat Swarms). These models are produced in the "Bonesium" material in the Bones line, which while being prone to bending badly is LUDICROUSLY cheap and completely safe from being dropped from any height onto any surface. Notably, some have taken to replacing the parts notorious for bending (weapons, especially spears) and replacing them with kitbashed weapons or even greenstuff. As far as the metal range goes, Reaper also produces Barrow Rats which can be useful as Pox Rats, Giant Rats, or Rat Hounds.

A further alternative source is [[Mierce Miniatures]], in particular their Vras faction of models. They have two warrior characters, more hamster-like than rat-like in proportions but with a paintjob serve as spectacular bloated disease-spreading characters (or just fat rat bastards). More importantly, Mierce has five large creatures that serve as [[Hellpit Abominations]] or as [[Verminlords]]. "Flint-Fang, Kill-Thing of the Infernal Pits" is preferred by some as an Abomination for its less Akira and more Frankenstein appearance (some praise or are horrified by its...anatomical correctness). "Back-Cracker, Goz-Horror" is an Abomination looking more like some kind of mad science genetic horror, while "Three-Faces, the Verminous Horror" takes the basic Games Workshop Abomination and replaces "steam-powered" with "tumor". "Scar-Claw, Rat Fiend" and "Scar-Scath, Vermin-Fiend" are alternative Verminlords, and thanks to the monopose nature of the End Times Verminlord kits make decent alternatives or just sources of kitbashing materials when fielding more than one.

[[Otherworld Miniatures]] produces both small rats and naked ratmen, although the latter sadly only come in two poses.

[[Mirilton]] Ratscum resemble Slaves or Clanrats, have ratmen gunners, and ratmen cavalry riding weasels, although the sculpts are in different proportions to the Skaven in many cases and resemble older Games Workshop models (this can be a bonus to some people however).

[[Curious Constructs]] produces weapon sets including a Gatling Gun, Mortar Launcher, and Flamethrower which could be kitbashed with any ratmen models to produce the various weapons teams of the Skaven.

[[Black Tree Design]] produces ratmen monks, assassins, warriors, a rat ogre creature, and rats in gas masks with poison bombs.

[[Impact Miniatures]] produce not-[[Bloodbowl]] ratmen models that require little to no alteration to become Skaven soldiers. Or that Skaven Blood Bowl team fielded as Stormvermin for a silly army.

[[Mantic Games]] produce not-Skaven known as [[Ratkin]] for their game [[Kings of War]]. Again, Veer-Myn from Warpath can be useful for Clan Skryre and Warlock Engineer conversions.

[https://pungaminiatures.com/ Punga Miniatures] produce sculpts “inspired” by most Skaven units.

Of course, Screaming Bells and Plague Furnaces can be made with balsa wood and the kinds of things one can find at any head shop or similar purveyor of hippie paraphernalia.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Skaven.jpg|The original Skaven Clans.
Image:SkavenNutshell.png|Pretty much any Skaven, pretty much all of the time.
Image:Skaven_Society.png|Skaven society in a nutshell; Andrew Ryan would be proud.
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Skaven|Warhammer Tactics/Skaven]]
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Skaven|Skaven tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]
* [[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven|Age of Sigmar Tactics/Skaven]]
* [[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven/Masterclan|Age of Sigmar Tactics/Masterclan]]
* [[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven/Clans_Verminus|Age of Sigmar Tactics/Verminus]]
* [[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven/Clan_Moulder| Age of Sigmar Tactics/Moulder]]
* [[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven/Clan_Eshin|Age of Sigmar Tactics/Eshin]]
* [[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven/Clans_Skryre|Age of Sigmar Tactics/Skryre]]
* [[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven/Clans_Pestilens|Age of Sigmar Tactics/Pestilens]]
* [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/57408867/ Sir Harumphington sets the record straight about these so-called "rat-men"]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BhV3CxvcF0/ Play this when a wave of rat men completely swamp your opponents army.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od06TLDO1CU/ “Underground” by Tom Waits, for any spelunking skaven.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaFIzPdxuF8 Every Skaven's idea of risk assessment in a nutshell]

==In Other Media==
While not ripped off as much as some of the other concepts Warhammer <strike>created</strike> expanded upon from existing sources, like Mesoamerican lizard people or Orcs/Goblins with green skin, Skaven have helped popularize rat people as a more standard fantasy race in a few places. Its theorized by some that the inclusion of [[Nezumi]] in the Asiatic settings of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] were inspired by the popularity of [[Clan Eshin]] (who themselves are theorized to have been inspired by Splinter from the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]). Still, Skaven as a whole remain one of the most iconic things that are wholly unique to Warhammer. The League Of Legends character Twitch is clearly inspired by Skaven and has a line referencing them, although he lacks the insane flamboyancy compared to the setting he's in that Skaven have. They even had enough mainstream awareness to be referenced by British journalist Stewart Lee in the Guardian (comparing Brexit negotiations to Plague Monks, naturally).

The most direct and unexpected place for them to appear is being referenced to exist in both the Japanese and English versions of the anime [[Goblin Slayer]], listed off as a type of monster to specialize in studying. Just the idea of a Skaven Slayer could also be nod to [[Gotrek & Felix]]. HOW the Skaven ended up in the Four-Cornered World remains a mystery, but seeing as to how they have Gnawholes, Skittergates, and love screwing around with Warpstone which could explode and open portals, along with the capacity for building Rocket Ships, well, pick your poison.

==Non-Canon Female Skaven==
{{Promotions}}
{{Heresy}}

So it's universally agreed upon both in and out of universe that the only appropriate response to meeting a skaven is to kill them on sight, right? Well in an astounding display of hypocrisy, some [[furries]] went "yeah but I kinda also want to cuddle one?" and further demonstrated just how mentally broken certain subtypes of that culture are. So, there is an undercurrent in the darker hidden recesses of /tg/ where furfags like to talk about non-Rat Mother female skaven. Many have tried arguing that, given the reverence for the Grey Seers, combined with the Chaotic tinge of the skaven, then surely there are rare female Grey Seers who are thus spared the fate of their sisters. Others have pointed that since Breeders are heavily dosed up with chemicals, then if that fate was spared for some reason, then surely female skaven would turn out to be at least as competent as their brothers. Still others note that skaven can't resist tinkering, so it's not impossible a Grey Seer or Master Moulder might make use of a "thinking Breeder".

And, in fact, this last argument one even has a dash of canon to it: in C.L. Werner's "Grey Seer" novel, [[Thanquol]] encounters a [[Grey Seer]] (Thratquee of Under-Altdorf) who owns two personal breeders he has [[fleshcrafting|"improved"]], granting them an unusual clarity of thought, freedom of motion and muscle hidden under their chub; built like a cross between a breeder and a [[Rat Ogre]], they're essentially the skaven equivalent of [[amazon]] bodyguards, and Thanquol is simultaneously horrified and a little impressed at the realization that these "harmless females" will actually kill any skaven who dare to threaten their mate. This makes them the ultimate bodyguards in the eternal backstab-fest that is skaven society.

All of these arguments are reaching, understandably (I mean, why not just work with the idea of some developing an immunity or something?). But that hasn't stopped fans from dabbling in fem-skaven [[Your dudes|homebrew characters]] or [[Rule 34|more cheesecake-level artwork]]. One infamous skaven-loving furry even created his own homebrew clan of renegade female skaven, Clan Sniek, an offshoot clan of Clan Eshin who scavenge on the outskirts of skaven society and raid weaker warlord clans to steal away their females to bolster their own numbers. Clan Sniek is also known to "dabble" with human men, for pleasure and/or procreative purposes; there's even a named Gutter Runner female in a relationship with an Imperial human. His artwork tends to pop up whenever a [[ratfolk]] thread does or the topic of non-Breeder female skaven arises.

Thus, the argument about whether or not Rat Mothers are interesting will probably rage forever. You'd think that with the talks of non-breeder females and Clan Sniek that there would be more Sniek, fem-rats, or even Skaven related stories in general at the Smut archive, but hey what are you gonna do? You can't fap it to femskaven stories if there are no femskaven stories.

<center>
<gallery>
Image:Femskaven 1.jpg|Fanart of femSkaven.
Image:Femskaven 2.jpg|More fanart depicting femSkaven experiments.
Image:Reaper Wererat Matriarch.png|The Reaper "Wererat Matriarch" for those wanting to field a non-giant female Skaven model.
Image:Wererat Female.jpg|What an unmodified female Skaven would probably look like.
Image:FemSkaven Chieftain Uberous.jpg|Breeder or no, female skaven would admittedly probably spend more time pregnant than not.
Image:Female Gutter Runner.jpg|Sneaking around in the human's storehouses clearly has its advantages.
Image:Female Poison Wind Globadier.jpg|
Image:Female Stormvermin.jpg|Being high in the clan's totem pole has its perks.
Image:Futa Master Molder.jpg|Some Master Moulders go [[dickgirl|a lot further]] than others when it comes to [[fleshcrafting]].
Image:Female Stormvermin Fangleader.jpg
File:Longhaired skaven assassin.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

;Clan Sniek
<center>
<gallery>
Image:Gutter Runner of Clan Sniek.jpg|A Gutter Runner of Clan Sniek; the clan relies on stealth for survival.
Image:Assassin of Clan Sniek.jpg|An Assassin of Clan Sniek; they tend to focus more on other skaven than on humans.
Image:Packmaster of Clan Sniek.jpg|Clan Sniek's packmasters specialize in capturing human men - sometimes as slaves, sometimes as breeding partners.
Image:Master Assassin of Clan Sniek.jpg|Almost Prophet, a mutant female skaven born with pale fur but no horns, Master Assassin and founder of Clan Sniek.
Image:Grey Seer of Clan Sniek.jpg|Clan Sniek's Grey Seer yearns to dethrone Almost Prophet and rule the clan herself.
Image:Master Molder of Clan Sniek.jpg|Tichiz, Clan Sniek's Master Moulder, is perhaps the most feared skaven in the clan.
Image:Sorceress of Clan Sniek.jpg|Vaquit Silverspit, a female skaven sorcerer, wields great power in Clan Sniek for both her mastery of the Dark Lore of Stealth and her expertise with her rifle.
Image:Verminqueen.jpg|The mysterious Verminqueen is the dark patron of Clan Sniek.
Image:Verminqueel from tails of the garden.jpg|The mysterious Verminqueen, now in 3D printable form
Image:Audience with the Verminqueen.jpg|Sometimes, the Verminqueen deigns to tryst with mortals.
</gallery>
</center>

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

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category: Age of Sigmar]]
[[Category:Skaven]]
[[Category:Furry]]

Chaos Gods

2023-02-14T22:17:34Z

2603:6010:1C00:3C6:B0E4:E1B5:2B06:8E56:

{{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|Horus Lupercal]], about to realize that he was wrong and that he could get great power from those "gods", and then dearly regret his casual arrogance in thinking they wouldn't fuck him over.}}

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 pines 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), 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]], being a wishy washy nerd, and magic, arguably the coolest and most potentially powerful of the four due to being nerfed from his actual true power in the height of his age of coming from both respective canons of Warhammer and generally being the most victorious when fighting against humanity and other races as a scheming jerkass. 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. If the scheme isn't as convoluted as a transgender seahorse, it's not Tzeentch's. Except for when that's what he want you to think.
* 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, which is what Tzeentch wants you to believe, in truth he bullies and torments Khorne.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal/dumb as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, he/she/they're nice to little Tzeentch! [[Cegorach]] might have a Shonen Rival Bro Bond with him when they dont fight on different teams.
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were chicks. For female gods hes got an Eye for [[Arianka]] since she's a rival to his whole all play to her all work dynamic and wants her to be the [[Isha]] to his Nurgle.
* 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 after the End Times. This change did not affect 40k (or presumably any other universe Slaanesh exists in), and Slaanesh is slowly breaking the prison walls.

===Warhammer Fantasy===
====Ashedte'gash====
A Minor Chaos God who was once an orphan on the streets of the Empire, who grew up learning that strength and cleverness are what allows one to survive, and that those who are weaker and stupider should be climbed over and killed to serve their betters. As such, he is served by only a few Greater Daemons, as the Lesser Daemons that followed him were all killed off for realsies in the Warp by their betters in an Ayn Randian survival-of-the-fittest natural selection murderfest.

Ash has only a handful of Greater Daemons serving him. All of the lesser daemons were destroyed in the ever present struggles to prove oneself to Ash. The remaining daemonic servants of Ashedte'gash are heavily armored Greater Daemons, wearing plate armor, carrying giant two handed swords. Little is known of these foul servants of Ashedte'gash. They lack wings to fly, but except from this nothing is known, but of their great strenght at arms.

His True Name is apparently Gristleskull Bloodvomit.

====Atagro====
Lord of Beasts, was once mortal but was risen to Minor Chaos God status by Shagraunt, another Minor Chaos God, deeds included slaying a Sandworm in Araby. Atagro is a huge vicious creature clad in glistening black armor and crowned with a fierce, horned helm atop his blackened, skeletal head. Atagro's eyes burn with a fiery luminance, and he wears a huge shroud-like cloak. Tormented, vaguely human wretches struggle and writhe to peer out from under its folds. Atagro's armor is decorated with all the symbols of chaos, as he was once their most powerful champion. His hands are filthy and rotted; capped with grim steel talons and dark metal studs. Atagro's weapon, Kagorr, is a huge tooth edged sword with a second blade extending from the handle. The mighty god wields the blade with whirling grace and deadly precision. Kagorr is the most powerful weapon of chaos ever created and less powerful blades of similar appearance are often granted to Atagro's followers.
*'''Storm Lasher''' (also known as ''Serpent-Giants'', ''Twisting Punishers'', or ''Lashing Gargantuans''): These disgusting creatures appear as bloated gray skinned giants with long flailing tentacles for heads. The creatures have thick, two fingered hands with each finger ending in huge dark tentacles. Their short opposable thumbs are their only true fingers. The storm lashers are so named due to their affinity for lightning. Lashers whip their enemies with tentacles and make a sound like thunder when they run.
*'''Gull Grinder''' (also known as ''Raging Slug Men'', ''Screaming Beasts of Frenzy',' or ''Atagro's Habitations''): These creatures are among the more deadly of Atagro's demons. They appear as huge brown skinned strongmen with slug bodies for legs. Their enormous muscled arms end in the heads of lions and their own flat, bald heads are featureless save for beady black eyes and huge mottled beaks. The Gull Grinders attack by biting or spewing fireballs with their lion heads.
*'''Corpse Render''' (also known as ''Butchers of Atagro'', ''Beast-Lords'', or ''The Dark Titans''): The horrifying Corpse Renders are absolutely Atagro's most powerful greater demons. They look like massive 20' humanoids with black skin and the heads of rhinos. The Corpse Renders arms end in spherical masses of dark, twisted blades which spin and rotate at the will of the demons. The Renders awesome muscular legs end in flattened black hooves which they may scrape across the ground as they snort in anticipation of a coming fray.

====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]].

====Chaos Gods of Law====
{{main|Chaos Gods of Law}}
[[Alluminas]], [[Arianka]], and [[Solkan the Avenger]]. Supposedly These guys were the opposite of the big four, though you'll notice there are only three of them, there was apparently a fourth but they never popped up. They also had human worshippers. [[Kaleb Daark]] was meant to kill Arianka but he was mysteriously vanished along with her relevance. And Be'la'kor said Solkan (and implicitly the other three) was not real. Given how God's are born of belief and he had active believers it's not sure how that works out. Nevermind that Be'la'kor's version of the truth can be skewed at the best of times. These old-school dudes have their own page!

====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.

====Kka====
Kka was a Chaos Godling, that is to say Minor Chaos God, although what he embodied is unknown. What is known is that he was the patron of the equally goofy-looking and sexy Harpy-turned-Chaos-Spawn named Ngaaranh, who looked like a 3 Headed Harpy with long necks and eyestalks.

====Khakkek====
[[File:KhakkekkFollowers.jpg|200px|right]]
From old-school Warhammer, was the god of the Chaos Goblins. Was only mentioned once or twice, but was described as a horned, 8-armed goblin with each of his 8 limbs holding a sacrificial dagger, his shape similar to the 8 pointed Chaos wheel, who was a god of bloodletting but unlike Khorne, allowed for magic. Described as seen as halfway between Khorne and Khaine. The picture above shows a cult of his worshippers. If you look closely, you can see the Symbol of Chaos on the Shaman's Loincloth. Apparently he joined Chaos rather soon as a young god, as being a Goblin God, Gork and Mork must have bullied the shit out of him so much, he straight-up turned traitor to Chaos. Favored Mutations for Chaos Goblins who worship him included an eagle-like face with superb vision, iron hard skin, brightly patterned skin with black and red swirls highly resistant to fire, atrophied legs which forced hopping, pointy heads, and a horrible stench wirh a following by a cloud of flies. The biggest known example of his worshippers was the Bloodied Nose Tribe of Chaos Goblins, a splinter faction of the Broken Nose Tribe, which first fell to Chaos and Khakkek worship due to Ratscrote Boggobbler, a "Blood-Wizard" who was taught about Khakkek by a Dwarf Necromancer of all people. Ironically, the Bloodied Nose Tribe seems to never experience mutations, so whether this is a sign Khakkek was pleased or displeased with his most well-known worshippers is unknown, but seeing as to how mutations are handed out as gifts by Chaos Gods to their champions, then it would seem Ratscrote and his tribe aren't doing something right to please him.

*'''Greater Daemon:''' 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.
*'''Lesser Daemon:''' 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.
*'''Daemonic Beast:''' These creatures, sociable in the manner of the Nurglings, appear as Brats (would be Snotlings in more modern editions, since Greenskins now reproduce by spores) 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).
*'''Daemonic Steed:''' 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 create his own Daemons, too.

*'''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.
*'''Floating Horror:''' Lesser Daemon. Appearing much as a Harpy but with the clawed feet of a Bear.
*'''Fire Runner:''' Daemonic Steed. A partially feathered beast with burning clawed feet.
*'''The Thing:''' Daemonic Beast.

====Meneloth====
An androgynous god of pleasure among the Elves, may have been a sort of proto-Slaanesh before being absorbed into the greater whole of Slaanesh upon Slaanesh's birth, either that or a toned-down aspect of Slaanesh used to lure Elves into worship of Slaanesh, like a dealer giving a watered-down needle of heroin to a kid to get them addicted before giving them the hard stuff.

====[[Morrslieb]]/Lunaghast====
Even the Chaos Moon of the Old World may, in itself, be a sort of Chaos God. This is supported in how it "birthed" [[Moonclaw]], a Chaos Xeno Mutant of Morrslieb that looks like a particularly horrid Beastman, and how when Morrslieb waxes strong Moonclaw can summon a Daemon of Morrslieb, a two headed beast called Umbralok, which serves as his steed. The fact that it had its own spirit, Lunaghast, which survived its bodily destruction and came to wreak havoc upon the Mortal Realms, is further evidence of its potential Minor Chaos Godhood.

====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.

====Obscuras====
Brother of Alluminas, Chaos God of Law. Was originally one of the Gods of Law but got jealous of his brother and turned to Chaos proper.

Shadowphytes (also known as Shadow Daemons) are daemons of Obscuras, standing around the height of an average man. The most dedicated of Obscuras' cultists hope to join the ranks of the Shadowphytes upon their deaths. Shadowphytes appear as black shadowy humanoids whose features are only barely visible through the inner darkness they radiate. They cannot fly but possess the ability to melt into the shadows in one place and reappear in the shadows somewhere else within their line of sight. They fear the light and it is know to cause them actually damage when not standing in full or demi-darkness.

Shadowphytes can't cause physical wounding upon their victims, but cause damage through their touch, which robs the victim of his or her strength, and they are skilled users of the magical art of their master. It's said that anyone slain by a Shadowphyte is condemned to eternal torment in Obscuras' realm of shadow.

====Oubelgyr====
Oubelgyr is a Daemon-Prince who sits at the cusp of just-about-to-be-but-not-quite a Minor Chaos God, who is known to be a Peddler of Knowledge, like some sort of Daemonic Informant. Whereas Tzeentch is all about learning and then coveting secrets, Oubelgyr is always trying to find secret knowledge then sell it to the highest bidder, a trait useful for Chaos Sorcerers with sacrifices to spare who wish to skip the chanciness of Tzeentch's blessings. Was imprisoned at one point, but was able to scheme a way to unlock the door to his prison, only to then decide his prison was a nice lair and pretended to still be locked in. Rather than having daemons of his own, he has multiple Daemons and Mortal slaves who he has bound with contracts, who have to do as he says and guard him. Truename: Wrackbelch Ichorspittle.

====Quorn====
[[File:QuornArtwork.jpg|200px|right]]

Not to be confused with Khorne, Quorn was the Minor Chaos God of carnivorous plants, whose schtick basically was "Radical Anti-Veganism" with carnivorous plant life devouring all flesh-creatures. His name was a double-pun, meant to sound like Khorne's and the same as a vegetable-based fake-meat substitute from before Impossible Meats were a thing. (Note: Pictured above is fan artwork produced by putting Quorn's name and description into Nightcafe, an Artificial Intelligence Art Program that makes art based on text description)

====Rhasneth====
The Chaos God of Insanity. Must be pretty batshit insane if his brand of nutters stands out amongst the general mental sickness of the rest of the Pantheon of Chaos.

The daemons of Rhasneth are to varied to make a single name for them, the most horrible nightmares of the most twisted madmen made real, pushing their way from the realm of nightmares into the world of the living to do their master's wish. The daemons of Rhasneth are special in that not all can see them, only those who have already lost their sanity can see them while all others fail to even notice them. The madman can scream in terror when his nightmares comes for him, not only to haunt him in his dreams but to feast upon his soul, while the rest of the world remains ignorant of the creature and tells him there is nothing there. Even as the daemon slowly approch, a mad twisted snarl upon its face...

====Screaming God-Child====
[[File:Screaming God-Child.png|200px|right|]]
Appearing only in the [[Malus Darkblade]] novel ''Lord of Ruin'', and more completely in the Malus chapters in Warhammer Monthly, the God-Child is the ruler of a little corner of the Realm of Chaos known as ''Alterity'', a massive chunk of rock on top of which lies walls in the shape of an eight-pointed star, guarded by ancient daemons who keep the locals and guests who enter from leaving Alterity. The God-Child himself takes the appearance of a young humanoid being with a near featureless face, only having a mouth, wearing robes and an amulet in the shape of the star of Chaos.

====Shagraunt====
A Minor Chaos God of whom even less is known of than Atagro, it was Shagraunt who ascended Atagro into the ranks of the Minor Chaos Gods.

====Stromfels/Mermedus====
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".

Another variation of Manann but Chaos exists in the form of '''Mermedus''', the Norscan god of the sea, that's considered by some to be an even more edgy version of Stromfels. Notable that most Norscans don't even like him, because all who die at sea are claimed by him and denied entry to their patrons realm, except for the Skaelings who drown prisoners of war and animals for him after battles and raids. He's described as a ghoulish and bulbous figure that walks on the sea floor, covered in eyes and bloated like a drowned person. This is odd, as Stromfels' Avatar, Harbinger of Stromfels, looked like a Giant with a Tentacle where each of the Arms would be and the Head of a Shark.

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.

In Age of Sigmar, he apparently is still worshipped by pirates in one area of Ghyran, and was worshipped by a tribe of Gargants in Azyr before Sigmar cleansed the realm of Chaos.

====Tristaris====
[[Image: Tristaris.jpg|200px|right|]]
Tristaris was a Minor Chaos Goddess of Misery, with a minor interest in knowledge. Represents the misery brought about by knowledge of Chaos' ultimate victory. Sounds like Tzeentch's perfect girl, a big tiddy goth nerd GF.

*'''Blissbane:''' (also known as ''Wailing Woman of Misery'', ''Mistress of Distress'', or ''Gaunt Spirits of Lamentation'') This infernal creatures look like haggard, ghostly women with wild hair and gaunt, wrinkled bodies. They wear white shroud like clothes and are translucent to the eye. The Blissbanes emit occasional shrieks of pure misery as well as sudden bursts of maniacal laughter. They can pass through any obstacle as though they were ethereal, but are also incapable of manipulating any material objects. Often Blissbanes appear in groups of four, the number of Tristaris.
*'''Sloathe:''' (also known as ''Mounts of Misery'', ''Hunching Beasts of Suffering'', or ''Steeds of Tristaris'') The sloathes are bear sized creatures with four legs and short curved claws. The creatures have no heads and appear to be made almost entirely of layer upon layer of dark rags and shrouds. They make low grunting and grumbling sounds as they walk. The sloathes lash out with their claws in combat, and they have the ability to collapse into a pile of useless rags. The rags may be scattered by the wind or even burnt up; but unless every single one of them is destroyed the creature can return to its normal shape from any one of the pieces.
*'''Humanwood Tree:''' (also known as ''Oaks of Despair'', ''Petrified Eyes of Torment'', or ''Roots of Evil'') The humanwood trees are powerful demons that largely inhabit the groaning forests of misery in the pocket dimension that is Tristaris's realm in the chaos warp. The trees look like stubby, twisted oak trees with thick trunks and anguished human faces and bodies seemingly squirming about beneath their flexible bark. The trees speak a language that is their own and to hear it is to surely lose one's mind. All who hear the trees speaking will feel suffer from it as blood pours from their ears. The trees lash out with their branches and should the victom be caught the trees nine limbs will easily rip a held person to shreds. Strangly enough they are also immune to fire, somehting that would otherwise have been their main weakness.
*'''Sade:''' (also known as ''Screaming Devils of Sorrow'', ''Sobbing Lords of Tribulation'', or ''Jeering Lords of Languishing'') The Sades are Tristaris's greater demons. They look like gaunt red skinned men with long black beards, tiny horns from their foreheads and pointed chins. The Sades dress like nobles and their eyes are white and constantly streaming with bloody tears. Each of them carries a large, gleaming sickle. They also each carry a Lash of Lament and have long claws which they can use in close quarters. The Sades must consume twice their weight in living hearts each day that they exist in the material world if they are summoned.

====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]].

====Vymnn====
A Minor Chaos god who was only known as the master of the Daemon Prince Hakrii, who Atagro slayed (Hakrii, not Vymnn) in his quest for Daemon Princehood himself.

====Zhedun====
A Chaos God of gnawing, eternal hunger, who represents how Chaos would destroy itself if it ever won in the end, being dependent on sapient mortal thought for sustenance.

Daemons of Zhedun are known as Devouring Fiends (a.k.a. Mawed Ones, or Devourers) creatures ruled entirely by their own voracious appetite. They stands well over six feet tall, stooped, with atrophied arms but strong legs, and their heads are comprised mostly of a giant gaping jaw filled with massive teeth. Often they will stop at fallen foes, devouring their bodies in their Chaos-spawned hunger.

====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.

Makes an appearance in [[Total War: WARHAMMER|Total War: WARHAMMER III]], where [[God-Slayer|Daniel]] can get an event where you can communicate with him and get his blessing, as he considers you important in disrupting the balance of Chaos.

====Ziraad, Thain, Blazzach and Javate====
4 Minor Chaos Gods known among the people of Araby, mentioned in Atagro's backstory as the gods worshipped by 4/6 members of his BATTLE-HAREM, the last 2 being a one of Tzeentch and one of Slaanesh.

===The 9th Age===

===Warhammer 40,000===
====Balphomael====
[[File:Balphomael.png|200px|right]]
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 Baal, Baphomet and Samael. The art above is from a Dark Heresy book. Also of note is his cult, "The Brotherhood of Horned Darkness", which has a considerable amount of influence in the Calixis Sector and once even became the dominant economic force in the sector via a front organization. Despite multiple attempts from agents of the Ordo Malleus to destroy the cult, they have so far only been able to force them to go underground where they make preparations to return to power once more.

====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 daemonic minions in the form of Warp Spectres, roiling, constantly changing masses of hideous-energy-being Daemons (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.

Some baseless fan speculation could be made that Phraz-Etar could be the Patron God of the Apemen of The Southlands, the regional Beastmen variant who are probably the equivalent of the common Gor births that plague Old World villages for the unlucky African equivalent villages in that jungle land. This is due to the existence of the popular "Frazetta Man" trope of degenerate Apemen started by Frank Frazetta himself in illustrations for Conan the Barbarian comic stories.

====Raptor God====
The minor god worshipped by the [[Chaos Raptor]]s, responsible for turning them from standard [[Assault Squad|Assault Marines]] to the mercenaries they currently are, and maybe also the one that turns them into [[Warp Talons]].

====[[Vashtorr]] the Arkifane====
A demigod born from the desire to create and invent, given power over the Forge of Souls. He acts as the Chaos Gods' arms dealer and chief weaponsmith, making him too valuable for any of the Big Four to attack. Currently working with [[Abaddon]] to create the Arks of Omen in the hopes of expanding his influence into the Materium so he can become a true Chaos God. Many Warpsmiths and members of the Dark Mechanicus revere him, but he wants more.

====Ysarille the Daemon-King====
According to an Eisenhorn book, Ysarille was a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch from a time before the Eldar first went to space, before Slaanesh was born, and who gained enough power that he became capable of creating his own Daemons/Daemon Princes, basically making him a lesser Chaos God. He went to battle with his former master, and after a billion-year battle, Tzeentch finally killed Ysarille. His surviving Daemons took his body and fled, setting up a Tomb world for him on the planet Ghúl, and their own Daemon Empire of 600 worlds surrounding planet Ghúl, in exile from the Warp. Cherubael, Gregor Eisenhorn's minion who takes the form of a Daemonhost by possessing the corpse of Gregor's former colleague Godwyn Fischig, was one of Ysarille's servants.

===Age of Sigmar===

All Warhammer Fantasy Gods, presumably. Zuvassin and Necoho are explicitly active.

====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. Maybe a modern take on Zhedun?

====Eightfold Watcher====
Some sort of Chaos-Spider-Godbeast worshipped by the Tarantulos Brood. From Warcry Red Harvest. It's unknown if it has a rivalry with the Spider-God of the Spiderfang Grots.

====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. Maybe like Great Horned Rat, he'll get his own race of worshippers someday. Chaos Kenku, anyone?

====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 injured and its descendants are called Coiling Ones, worshipped by the Splintered Fang. At least that's what the Coiling Ones claim to be.

===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/ The Great Beast===
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.

This actually ties in with older Warhammer Fantasy lore where insane scholars theorized that the 4 Chaos Gods were merely Aspects of a larger god of Chaos Undivided, "The Great Beast".

{{ChaosGods}}

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