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Khorne

2020-12-24T07:59:39Z

2607:FB90:3446:7078:FA0D:7EB9:2408:E0AC: /* Introduction */

[[File:Khorne mark.png|center]]
{{heresy}}
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[[File:khorne_by_baklaher-d7335e6.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Special K in all his glory, Sitting comfortably on his Skull Throne, being pissed off at everyone and everything.]]<div style="font-size:1.10em;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;font-family:serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><span style='color:red;font-size:100%'> BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! <br>- The creed of Khorne being Overused to Death'''</span></div>

{{Topquote|Anger, which, far sweeter than trickling drops of honey, rises in the bosom of a man like smoke.|Homer}}

{{Topquote|The important thing in life is not victory but combat: it is not to have vanquished but to have fought well.|Pierre de Coubertin}}

==Introduction==
[[RAGE|'''Khorne''']], also known as Kharnath, Arkhar, Khorgar, [[Viking|Kjorn]], Khar, the Great Brass Bull, the Bloody Handed, the Axefather, the Bloodwolf, The Great Khorneholio, Special K, the [[Ulric|Wolf-Father]], Frowny Face McMurderaxe, Sergeant Slaughter, the Lord of Fighters, the Messiah of Mayhem, Call of Duty: Demon DLC, [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|The Paraplegic Sociopath]], [[If_the_Emperor_had_a_Text-to-Speech_Device|MegaSatan]], Definitely not fucking Khaine, [[Dwarf Fortress|Armok]], Stone Cold Steve Austin, Khornelias Fudge, Kellogg's Khorneflakes, Big Red, Chile Con Carnage, Daddy’s little princess (WHAT? FUCK YOU!) and 8860 other names is the [[Chaos God]] of war, murder, savagery, hatred (though he is starting to question that one at times thinking it belongs more to [[Slaanesh|his arch enemy]] than it does him), murder, destruction, rage, wrath, murder, battle, barbarism and [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs|manliness]]...oh and did we mention murder. He is also the mofo that the Klingons worship. As well as this he symbolises courage, athleticism, determination, daring, discipline, sportsmanship, honor, impulsiveness, struggling onward in the face of any odds, and survival of the fittest. But mostly he's simply about being angry.

He is commonly held to be the strongest [[Chaos]] God by default (though this is technically incorrect) and is associated with wolves and powerful hunting dogs, as well as lions and bulls. For another reason that is likely inspired by occultism, Khorne's sacred numbers Four and eight - and thus, his followers tend to organize themselves into groups of fours, eights and their multiples. Fun fact, this also means that the names of Khornate daemons are usually comprised of eight letters...Though exceptions exist. (The Chinese, Vietnamese, and Koreans value the number 8 due to its similarity with the Chinese character for prosperity does that make them Khornate worshippers?)
[[File:SkullThrone.jpg|400px|right|thumb|The Big K in all his glory contemplating on whose rectum he is going to shove his chainaxe into with extreme prejudice.(Spoiler: its everyone)]]
Khorne, by virtue of being the most prominent Chaos God, is also the second most powerful general "deity" in both iterations of Warhammer (Nurgle has him beat but only because of the fact that everything eventually comes to him) In both versions of Warhammer, his followers are characterized by an overbearing need to spill blood and engage in honest battle, as well as a violent code of martial honour and a "survival of the fittest" approach to morality. They tend to be dutiful, as well, but said duties involve whacking their axes into their enemy and painting their blood all over villages gargling their blood as mouthwash (if only because Khorne's only real command is to spill worthy blood in his name).

This is where Khorne and Slaanesh generally clash directly and openly as enemy gods, aside from the fact that everyone in the warp hates Slaanesh. While Khorne instills discipline, honor and a sense of selfless duty in his followers to obey a single purpose (usually spill blood in his name), Slaanesh is the polar opposite. Slaanesh instead tells his/her followers to do <strike>whoever</strike> whatever they want in their own selfish pursuit of pleasure, caring not for the consequences of their actions (e.g; using your authority to hoard food from your starving citizens, so you can indulge in bottomless gluttony every day).

This is also why Khorne is at odds with Tzeentch: Tzeentch sees things like honor and discipline as unnecessary hamstrings towards one's advancement and opts that everything is on the table when one wishes to further their position (why duel your Lord for his position when you could arrange for an "accident" to befall him, instead? Sure its a low-blow, but if your lord was too stupid to see that car bomb coming, was he really deserving of loyalty?). The same can be said of his disdain for sorcery. Tzeentch thinks that mortals using the power of the gods themselves is fair game in their pursuit of progress (so long as you can control it), while Khorne thinks that using anything else but your own strength alone means you are weak and his "survival of the fittest" ideal has no place for you.
That being said they have some points they agree on. for example using the power of the gods to augment your abilities (i.e. Cloaking your weapons in Warp-fire or Warp-Lightning), can be interpreted as simply using your power to control the power of the gods for your benefit. They also think it looks awesome, And Khorne is perfectly fine with using underhanded message to deal with someone who is not worth your time (i.e. A “governor” of Jopall), which Tzeentch finds interesting.

Khorne also has the distinction of being the only Chaos God (or any god for that matter) whose word you can take at face value. The other gods don't realize that disdain for scheming and backstabbing isn't the same as being stupid. Nor do they realize that over-complicating things is actually the worst thing a planner can do. The more unnecessary variables to a plan, the easier it is for something to break. ([[Just as Planned|that said Tzeentchian plans have divination included into them, eliminating most tactical miscalculations]], [[Not as Planned|unless Tzeentch wanted it to happen.]]). So - you actually want results? Be practical. Involve only as many steps as you need. Beat someone until they're reduced to a bloody smear on the ground - no step 2 required.

Basically, Khorne isn't a stupid brute, he's actually pretty smart. The god of battles knows a thing or two about tactics and warfare. That said, Khorne's doctrine is inflexible. One, straightforward approach to anything. Simply put: Break everything in half. Which means that it all rides on an "all-or-nothing" deal. If his battering ram approach doesn't work there's little to be done to salvage the situation beyond everyone dying a glorious death. Usually this isn't the case for most battles, the Khornates' overwhelming need to quench their bloodlust gets in the way of reorganization. Of course, if things go according to plan, there are only few things that can stop the demonically-possessed no brakes hate train.

If Khorne had a voice actor it would have been BRIAN BLESSED but BRIAN chose Gotrek instead, the rejection sending Khorne's rage to new heights (unsubstantiated rumors say Khorne's considered sending Skulltaker and Karnak after BRIAN BLESSED, but Khorne realized all he'll get from that is two dead daemons with burst eardrums).

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8ZqFlw6hYg Here is his theme song.]
===Appearance===
Khorne is described as resembling a giant, iron-hewed warrior clad in red armour, with a massive sword and a winged helm that conceals a snarling face like that of a wolf. This humanoid form could be seen as something darkly meaningful, were it not for the fact that more or less everyone in both settings is conveniently human-shaped.
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|400px|The first depiction of Khorne in Warhammer art.]]
Of course, most artists at GW forget that he's supposed to look a giant Chaos Warrior and instead make him look like an overgrown Bloodthirster on a chair.

===Khorne and His Worship===
Khorne is the easiest god ever to worship. Where [[Tzeentch|other]], [[Slaanesh|more]] [[Nurgle|pussified]] gods may demand you to memorize overly long prayers and hymns, or to build huge houses of worship and other such unmanly bullshit, Khorne is venerated with one thing and one thing only: the time-honoured tradition of [[rip and tear|hack'n'slash]].

Khorne is worshipped on the battlefield. His hymns are the sound of steel on steel, his sacraments are the blows of hammer and axe, his only prayer the bellowing of the warcry "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!" and his libation is the blood spilled in his name.

In essence, you worship Khorne by being a good warrior. And as a warrior, you'll find your interests and his tend to generally align; he wants death but isn't picky on who, and you want to live to fight another day. Thus, the mere act of preserving your life will earn the pleasure of the god of battle. In a setting where there is no peace, only war, Khorne is always going to be massively powerful. Further, most of the armies embody one of his aspects - [[Space Marine|Powerful]] and [[Necron|fearless]] warriors are the [[Chaos|chosen]] of Khorne, but he favors those who use [[Ork|brute force assaults]] carried out with [[Tyranid|singular purpose and no remorse]] just as well. [[Just As Planned|Khorne wins in fights his forces weren't even involved in]].

However, Khorne is one of those honourable war-gods. So don't think that beating your enemies by anything other than sheer strength, skill and aggression will make him happy. And for the love of Sigmar/Emprah, don't try to cheat by picking fights with the weak or helpless or by giving him baby skulls. Khorne expects a form of savage, viking-esque dignity from his followers and for them to be generally [[Fist of the North Star|manly]], this means you have to fight worthy opponents and those generally able to at least hold up a sword. ''Only after'' the worthwhile enemies are out of the way; then you can gorge yourself on the blood of women and children all you want (or make them fight amongst themselves and recruit the survivors, or enslave them, or whatever). Most of the writers forget this, thinking that Khorne really gives no fucks about what you kill, and it makes Khorne [[Rage|snarl in anger]]. Though he continues to send his flesh-hounds to hunt down those who flee and abandon their brothers on the battlefield, be they Chaos or non-Chaos.

Aside from that and (obviously) never backing down from a fight, Khorne has no commandments whatsoever. But deviating from the aforementioned in the slightest is begging for the flesh-hounds to tear your ass apart.

Such as it is, it would be incorrect to think Khorne doesn't have priests dedicated to him. Though, being a warrior god, these priests tend to be warriors themselves and are often marked by their god. In essence, the only difference between them and a Chaos marauder/Space Marine is several pounds of armour. In Warhammer Fantasy, these priests are called 'Bloodfathers', and in lieu of magic that is gifted to their priests by other gods, Khorne just gives [[AWESOME|HOLYSHITAWESOME]] fighting skills and visions of bloodshed. In [[Age of Sigmar]], they're called Slaughterpriests and they basically lead by example, killing while screaming out Khorne's name. If the killing is good enough, Khorne will empower the priest and/or his allies; but if the killing is unworthy, the priest himself will feel Khorne's wrath.

Khorne is also venerated by working brass into your armour and weapons and donning fashionable high collars. Occasionally, a warrior so pleases Khorne that he gifts him with specially made ones that in addition to looking fabulous can also grant total fucking immunity to magic. After all, who needs spellcasting when you can make a motherfucker's spine disappear - with your bare hands no less?

Anyway, Khorne is worshiped by warriors, generals and basically anyone who likes battle. His chosen Space Marines legion is of course the World Eaters, in Warhammer Fantasy, the Norscans tend to venerate him with the greatest piety, especially the Aesling tribe, who are Khorne's most devoted servants in Fantasy.

===Khorne's take on magic===
As posted some time ago by an Anon who managed to perfectly sum up what Khorne's opinion on magic is: FUCK WIZARDS!!!!

While that's a pretty accurate summation, there's also some nuance to it that is not at all helped by GW's habit of changing things every new edition or keeping shit consistent between writers. With that in mind, let's get into the details of what the "FUCK WIZARDS" thing means.

The hate of psykers/wizards/etc is pretty much the exact same and works by the same logic for both Khornates and the Adepta Sororitas/Black Templars/etc: it's a [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan-esque]] swords and sorcery thing. Khornates hate wizards for [[3e|trivializing encounters with a single spell and overshadowing fighters]] and turning what should be a clash of might or a military endeavor into a weird wizard show where people turn into frogs and beguile their opponents into killing one another. They hate Slaaneshi for the same reason, due to how they often take what should be a wholesome murderfest and make it into something creepy and weird, what with them "discomporting themselves with the dead" and all that. In Realms of Chaos, its entirely possible for a librarian or wizard to go to Khorne; they just refrain from using their psi/magic powers for anything else but resisting spells in combat from that point onward.

Khorne and his followers are okay with laser beams. They are okay with sniper rifles. They are okay with flaming swords. They are okay with running people over with tanks. They are okay with blitzkriegs. They are okay with chemical gas. They are okay with holocausts. They are okay with exterminatus. They are okay with good tactics. They are okay with berserker charges. They are okay with honorable duels at dawn.

They are ''not'' okay with turning people to frogs, mind control, raining glitterdust from the skies to blind everyone, raising armies of zombies to do the killing for you, and so forth. They are not okay with someone pointing a finger and their opponent dropping dead. And they are most definitely not okay with someone who got their power solely by bargaining with daemons instead of earning it themselves. (While it's quite possible to get power via daemonic bargains and not earn Khorne's ire, that requires you to have already become a powerful fighter or be willing to risk death and inflict grievous bodily harm on others, i.e. ''earning'' it.)

They are okay with daemonic summoning rituals because Khorne's daemons are all about the hack-and-slash ultraviolence. They are okay with using psychic abilities or daemonic aid to navigate the warp because that means they don't end up crashing into suns or getting whisked to some distant corner of the universe where there's nothing worthwhile to kill. They are okay with sending and receiving astropathic messages because they recognize the value of relatively fast interstellar communication. They are okay with chaining wizards up and forcing them to eternally forge magic items on pain of death because that lets the fighters kill things more easily.

One may consider it hypocritical that Khornates are okay with blatantly unfair TECHNOLOGICAL murder, but not okay with blatantly unfair MIND/MAGICAL murder. The point, or at least one interpretation, is that wizards/psykers fucking cheat. They do. They steal the power of the Warp for their own ends. As long as they stay in line, and do nothing but permit the warrior to enact his craft as he so wills, fine, let them live (albeit in terror and likely enslaved by chains of brass) until the day they are no longer useful, at which point their skulls can join Khorne's throne.

But stealing the Gods' own fire and using it to do what mortals should do through their own skill and strength is unacceptable. Remember that technology is completely valid to Khorne. Stealth is completely valid to Khorne. Skill is completely valid to Khorne. Cleverness is completely valid to Khorne. The nuclear bomb and other innovations that come after it could be seen to be unfair. But it is a mortal invention. Mortals should give honor to Khorne by murdering each other through the sweat of their brow. Granted the lines got pretty blurry when AoS introduced the Slaughterpriest.

The scientist who devises new ways to kill is a saint. His work can be put to any other use -- [[Slaanesh|enriching human life]], [[Nurgle|ending hunger, fighting diseases]], [[Tzeentch|answering great questions]]. But the scientist who devises new bombs and weapons is, in his own way, a champion of Khorne. He takes his limitless human potential and nobly limits himself to new ways to kill. Whether you kill with a sword or a bomb, you are killing using good old fashioned mortal strength and genius. You aren't stealing warp energy from the gods in the form of a fireball and cravenly calling it your own.

The forger of enchanted weapons, though deserving of slavery and abuse as all wizards are until the day they die, is an ideal symbol. It is fitting that spell energy is subjugated to and entombed within cold steel, just as wizards deserve to be subjugated to warriors until they lie cold and headless in the ground or else burnt to ash. The magic weapon is a symbol of might's superiority to magic.

The jury is still out on how okay Khorne is with magically imbued people who didn't get their power from him, but [[Tzeentch|given]] [[Nurgle|the]] [[Slaanesh|other]] [[God-Emperor_of_Mankind|possible]] [[Sigmar|benefactors]], he's probably not the biggest fan.

Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! When the Galaxy burns, we will define righteousness!

tl;dr Magic is unmanly, grab a sword (or a 16-inch battleship cannon, if that's your thing) and go kill like a real man already.

===Khorne and other Chaos gods===
As a rule, Khorne despises [[Slaanesh]] because they're an effeminate milk-sop who can't grow a beard or swing an axe like they've got a pair (even though Slaanesh probably has the biggest pair, but less on that), and also because he personifies acting outwardly (ie: seeking the deaths of others), while Slaanesh acts inwardly (ie: seeking their own pleasure). Khorne also finds Slaanesh's obsession with luxury and torture wasteful and dishonorable. Slaanesh is about living it up while Khorne is about tearing it the fuck down. Not to mention its apparent belief that those who wrong you are meant to suffer for it, which Khorne surprisingly doesn't agree with. One of the few Slaaneshi things Khorne ''doesn't'' have a problem with is the desire for perfection in battle; spending year after year training to master an aspect of combat, constantly pushing your limits and never being satisfied until you get it ''just right'' is a perfectly acceptable way to live, so long as you remember to shed blood and take skulls.

Khorne also hates [[Tzeentch]] - though they are not fundamental rivals - because his reliance on magic is seen as a sign of weakness and his desire not to face his foes in person is decried by Khorne as cowardly. Khorne sees his penchant for deceit and trickery as dishonorable. Also, Khorne prefers muscles over books (plus Tzeentch is a huge NEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD). Tactics and stratagems are all well and good because that's how armies win and seemingly-doomed warriors eke out a victory against seemingly-impossible odds.

Khorne thinks he hates [[Nurgle]] also, because while the ability to endure immense pain is good - great, even! - and calmly acknowledging defeat is just as acceptable as trying to kill your opponent with the last dregs of strength your dying body has left, the fat fuck doesn't even try to get shit done. Thus, his embodiment as sloth runs contrary to the active, vital aspect of Khorne, but he's all for death if its by homicide or genocide.

There's also [[Solkan]], the not-Chaos Chaos God of Law and a rival of Khorne, being the only Chaos god that can match him in sheer RAAAAEG. Khorne likes to sit back and have a chuckle at Solkan's outbursts, if only because the last time he actually tried to move in on Solkan's turf he lost that fight. Not even the Blood God can top the sexually frustrated wrath of a guy looking for his [[Arianka|sisterwife]].

Of all the Chaos gods, Khorne actually hates [[Malal]] the least. For one thing, he respects the lost god for sticking to his guns: he hates the other gods, wants them dead and is actively working towards that goal. Since Nurgle just sits there being a scabby procrastinator, Tzeentch just has to have his fingers in everyone's business and Slaanesh is fucking Slaanesh (really, they are), this is something Khorne can sympathize with. Also, Malal is one of the only chaos gods to put up a halfway decent fight when Khorne manages to find him, which would mean that they would be best buds if Malal wasn't a self-destructive, omnicidal lunatic.

In short, he has problems with almost everyone and pissed at almost everyone, including you even if you worship him (usually it's a matter of how pissed he is at you). And they hate him too, except for Nurgle, who's too nice to hate anyone. If you earn his respect however, he will give you it (he has high standards though, meeting them is quite hard.)

===Khorne and non-Chaotic Gods===
Well, [[Ulric]] is his little brother and they tend to get along rather well. Ulric's still ridiculing Khorne over the fact that one of his greatest champions, Haargroth, got his head smashed in by Ulric's Ar-Ulric, Khorne usually replies by pointing out that ''Storm of Chaos'' isn't canon anymore. Not that that stops Ulric. Khorne and Ulric often get into arguments over which one of them is moar Viking; with Khorne usually winning by pointing out that his top worshipers actually are Vikings and that he has a Valkyrie. They also settle this with arm wrestling and drinking contests. There's a lot of belligerence, but you can sense the brotherly love underneath. Indeed, it's kind of a [[Fist of the North Star|Raoh/Ken relationship]].

Despite both being war-gods, Khorne has a poor relationship with [[Myrmidia]]. Khorne, despite being a master of tactics and sieges and the finer points of warfare, vastly prefers a manly head-on charge, and Myrmidia's sissy "planning" approach to warfare therefore offends Khorne. Most meetings between the Blood God and the Maiden of Strategy end with the Blood God fuming impotently because his strict code of martial honour does not permit him to hit girls (or pull their hair) and retreating to his tree house.

Khorne is the only Chaos God who tolerates Sigmar because he thinks he's pretty bad-ass AND respects the idea of a mortal man becoming a god. That and Sigmar's comic book series, Sigmar the Emprahrian, has great splashpages of fights and no SWORDSWORDSWORDS. However, this tolerance is only one-sided, and while Khorne respects him, it doesn't mean he won't try to put an axe in his head for being an sworn enemy of Chaos.

When asked about the [[Emperor]], Khorne usually responds with a streaming torrent of bloody curses and oaths which causes a bloody froth to start leaking from his helmet. In short, he is remarkably indifferent to the old man. Ironically, they share many of the same beliefs: They both disliked psykers, they both have a kick ass thrones, and they both have units dedicated to close combat. Hell, even the Emprah's head is a skull. What's not to like...oh maybe the fact that he's a COMPLETE FUCKING HYPOCRITE!

Khorne is utterly sick and tired of anyone who dares associate him with [[Khaine|40Khaine]]. Before eviscerating anyone who makes that connection, he will often give a short PowerPoint presentation, explaining how Khaine is an honourless god of murder and sadism while he himself is a god of honourable and forthright battle and courage, and how sadism is contrary to his code (Khorne indeed used to be about honorable combat, but now he's just about mindless violence and hating everyone for either piss-poor reasons or for no reason at all. Goddammit, GW). Khorne then reiterates that Khaine's elfishness and love for scantily clad women is sickening and makes him more like Slaanesh and trashes the elf god in a brutal punching bag sorta way like the prince of pleasure... Of course, this is just a front on Khorne's part. Khaine's love of war combined with his elfness and that his most ardent worshippers are scantily-clad women proves Khaine to be the secret love-child of Khorne and Slaanesh (tsundere confir- *sounds of violent, painful evisceration* '''{{Blam|WHO DARES? IN MY OWN PAGE, OF ALL THINGS? FUCK YOUUUUUUUU}}''' <span style='color:purple;font-size:100%'>'''''[[Slaanesh|Search your feelings you know it to be true]].</span> Actually, if you consider Ka'Bandha is tsundere for the Blood Angels and Angron was for Horus to the point during the Siege of Terra he made him feel ashamed for implying he didn't trust him AND the natural state of tsunderes is raging, insulting and violent, well...

That being said, Khaine does have a dual nature in Fantasy thanks to being worshiped by [[Dark Elves]] and paid respect to by [[High Elves]], where one side is indeed honorable and just wants to keep fighting and being badass which means Khorne can tolerate him approximately half the time. The fact that both are patrons of [[Blood Bowl]] teams is usually the common ground, with Khaine and Khorne crashing/trashing some other God's house to watch on game nights while downing can after can of Bloodweisers and shoveling Dwarf Rinds in their faces. Khaine periodically tries to invade the realm of Khorne whenever the Khornate team beats the Dark Elf team, with such meetings ending with Kaine being khorne punching bag and letting his servants brutally take their anger on the incapacitated god and his elven servants. When Khaine's team beats Khorne's, Khorne takes out his aggression by beating the fuck out of Slaanesh (no homo) while Dark Elves go on safari hunting [[Warriors of Chaos|Khorne's worshipers]].

Khorne has absolutely no patience for the [[Horned Rat]], who is a favorite of Nurgle and Tzeentch respectively. It's a weak vermin whose very existence pisses him off. As a result, Khorne is much more fond of [[Sotek]] who encourages killing the fuck out of [[Skaven]] whenever they appear, and is also a fan of blood sacrifice (the fact that Sotek wants hearts and cares nothing for skulls is reassuring since they don't intrude on each other's fetish); this fondness is entirely one-sided.

Like the other Chaos Gods, Khorne has no fucking clue what the Great Maw is. However, it doesn't seem to complain when [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogres]] worship Khorne, so he's got nothing against him...her...it...schclim...whatever, the big god-thing that wants to eat.

The pantheon of the [[Tomb Kings]] mostly stick to themselves, so Khorne only knows they exist..

Khorne is impressed with the [[Bretonnia|Bretonnian]] race by the fact they're the epitome of honor and glorious valor. On the other hand, their entire race has been tricked by a single fucking Elf Goddess into doing their every command which fills Khorne with incomprehensible fury. As it stands, the first being that's going to get the axe when Khorne manages to get an avatar to manifest in the material plane is Lileath.

[[Mork]] and [[Gork]]/Gork and Mork are Khorne's old drinking buddies. They piss him off more than any other beings in existence, but after a good 3-way beatdown and a few billion cases of squig beer he realizes they're alright company.

Khorne has a feeling that he'd get along with the gods of the [[Dwarfs]], but even their introductions (being long ass winded descriptions of their primary worshipers and their lineages) irritate him so much he can't even get into a conversation with them. One of them is STILL giving his own introduction, and has been for about 20,000 years or so now (and he hasn't even reached the changes that have happened since he started). Unable to make him aware of what's going on around him, Khorne simply moved him into the guest room and bricked it off with a wall of skulls.

As for the [[Tyranid|Bugs?]], Khorne hates them '''''Especially''''' due to them not having real blood, just vile alien ichor.

==His portrayal in Warhammer Fantasy==
He's a half-way mythologically accurate version of [[Viking|Odin]], whose very name means Fury (and one translation means 'frenzy'). You could also make the case that Khorne is Thor minus any protective instincts towards humanity, as both are whirling vortices of blood and spit who are associated with the colour red and its connotation of anger.

No, that's it. Get the fuck out; he's an axe-crazy, psychopathic, evil-as-balls daemonic version of Odin - so basically the Norse god of wisdom, with wisdom actually treated the way Vikings would have recognized. Currently there's a bit of a debate about how much of Odin he represents (see discussion page) so this bit will list the similarities and some of the differences.

Well, for one thing, Chaos worshipers in Warhammer Fantasy actually are Vikings. Read about them [[Warriors of Chaos|here]]. Secondly, Khorne is closely associated with wolves in that setting (one of Odin's names literally translates to 'Battle Wolf'), and even has a wolf-like pet in Karanak, thus, fulfilling a role similar to Freki and Geri, or more closely, Garmr (having three heads, Karnak also parallels Cerberus from Greek Mythology). Also, it's revealed in Knight of the Realm that Khorne owns two hunting wolves/giant fleshhounds called Garmr and Gormr, with whom he partakes in a wild hunt across the heavens.

Another point of similarity is that both Odin and Khorne are war gods explicitly connected with berserker rage. They have their own warrior-cults associated with them who fight with said rage and Odin's Olfhednar are practically the same as Khorne's Chosen in both form and function.

Additionally, thanks to Valkia, Khorne also has a Valkyrie to further the similarity between him and Odin. This was inevitable, of course, given that the Warriors of Chaos are indeed an evil version of the Vikings as has already been stated. It should also be noted that Valkia's similarity to the Valkyries is not a superficial one. She is actually referred to as 'the Sword-Maiden of the Blood God' in the WoC codex, and is Khorne's Chooser of the Slain who carries those worthy champions and warriors of his to fight on in the Blood God's halls after death.

Finally, we got a glimpse of his neck of the Realm of Chaos in the Valkia novel written by Sarah Cock-well. It was basically Chaos Valhalla, and here's some of his quotes:

"A cleaved head no longer plots." "A head stuck on a pike no longer conspires." "Put to the sword they who disagree."

Now for the differences, aside from the obvious physical ones Odin also scries, it's woman's magic taught to him by Frigg and Freya. He's got the rage, yeah, but he's also all about fate and averting ragnarok, (directly opposed to Khorne's goals) even if he knows he can't stop it since fate works that way; in that regard Khorne is more like Surtr from Norse Mythology (the fiery giant who wages war and brings flames that would consume the Earth - the instigator of Ragnarok). We see this in the Havamal, Grimnismal, the Voluspa, and the Lokasenna. Hell, in Lokasenna, we learn he cross dresses, ie was tied into shamanic practices (Indo-Europeans have a thing for seers in drag). He can also get to Tzeentch levels with his planning and Odin's perfectly fine with Runic magic, whereas Khorne hates that shit.

==Champions Of Khorne==
===In 40K===

* [[Kharn the Betrayer]]: Embodiment of Crazy Awesome and Patron Saint of fun guys everywhere. Kharn is Khorne's greatest mortal champion in 40K and has a wholly deserved reputation as a team-killing nutso. Once upon a time, Kharn was a straight-laced, meticulous Assault Captain of the World Eaters 8th company. [[Horus Heresy|After a certain chain of events]] he dedicated himself wholly to Khorne, thus becoming one of the most fucking lethal warriors in the galaxy as well as probably the most religiously devoted of Khorne's servants. Also notable for shattering two entire Space Marine legions by himself with a flamethrower in a single night. Despite this, since his first appearance (where he was no different from other Berzerkers) he became more and more coolheaded when not in combat (and even then there are moments when he is coolheaded in combat). He's become a swell guy because of this.

* [[Angron]]: '''HE! GETS! SHIT! DONE!!!''''. Khorne's foremost Daemon Prince alongside Doombreed. PERIOD.

* [[Doombreed]]: Khorne's greatest Daemon Prince ever and possibly either Genghis Khan or Turgeis the Devil IRL (probably Genghis Khan, Turgeis the Devil's infamy mostly came from cowardly tactics - he attacked churches because non-combatants like clergymen and monks didn't put up the best fights and to steal all the holy relics and decoration made from precious metals). Notable for launching an actually successful Dark Crusade that wiped out two Space Marine chapters. Which is more than a [[Abaddon|certain armless failure has pulled off]].

* [[Svane Vulfbad]]: EVEN IN 40K KHORNE'S CHOSEN ARE VIKINGS. Svane Vulfbad was a motherfucking badass [[Awesome|Chaos Terminator Space Wolf Chaos Lord]] who grew tired of the Imperium's sickening effeminate inability to GET SHIT DONE and the Space Wolves' sickening fur-fetishes and instead decided to dedicated himself to a god worthy of his kickassery. He thus became a badass Chaos Lord dedicated to Khorne (because a berserker god of war who likes axes meshes well with Vikings) and was killed, anticlimactically, by a thunderbolt while fighting Harald Deathwolf.

* [[Crull]]: A Chaos Lord from Winter Assault notable only for making idiotic statements, and utilizing Sorcerers in his warband when there's some possessing to be done. Also has a weird way of saying "drown".

* [[Azariah Kyras]]: A Librarian who somehow became a Champion of Khorne and who ascended to daemonhood. Presumably, his [[Awesome|speaking skills were great enough that the Blood God was able to give him slight leeway in regards to the 'no Psyker rule']], likely because he was a philosopher of carrion and slaughter, showing Khorne's way as freedom, freedom in meaningless, in mindlessness, which he accuses the functionings of the universe of. Khorne loves that stuff, existentialism for skulls, especially when it's an arch-traitor responsible for the deaths of billions, then declaring openly his allegience of Chaos to his fellow Mehreens as he is about to ascend as one of the most powerful daemon princes ever. A psyker who uses psykic powers to bring about good old kinetic Exterminatus, their reputation to raise covert cults of slaughter, discover their lust for combat and seek to encompass it, and ultimatedly be the poster child of Khornist Existentialism is too good of a chance for Khorne to pass up, who either wins against the galaxy or gets to devour Kyras' soul in a good long bloodbashing and probably still make a good Greater Daemon of Khorne out of him, probably the one and only Chaos tactical genius who could actually lead a Black Crusade properly. That's another reason Khorne likes him. Kyras' no funny business style of simply tearing a sector apart however possible tends to draw other Chaos God devotees under the wing of a Khornate champion. Here is the speech of doom that he gives the player's army (before the last level of the game ) or per canon, the Blood Ravens following Captain Diomedes before the climax:

"Faithful... enlightened... ambitious... brethren.

In but a single decade, a few mere swipes of the pendulum, we have gathered a sacrifice to Khorne that will be made legend.Though it was a simpler, weaker voice that illuminated me during my centuries upon the Judgement of Carrion... it was Khorne's messenger that showed me the true path of freedom from our pathetic corpse-Emperor.

And what is this path? This meaning, this purpose to which we gather the skulls of our foes? It is nothing. There is no meaning, no purpose. We murder. We kill. It is mindless savagery, this UNIVERSE IS MINDLESS!

In mere hours, billions will die. Innocent! Guilty! Strong and weak! Honest and deceitful! ALL of them! They will scream, they will burn, and for no purpose but that mighty Khorne may revel in their bloodshed! And united in this void of purpose, fear, or duty... we shall at long last be free!

BLOOD! FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!! SKULLS! FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!! LET... THE GALAXY... BUUUURRRRNNN!!!"

Also notable as the single longest-to-fucking-kill-boss in the history of the Dawn of War series other than [[Ulkair]]. (Not that we haven't found ways to cheese him in under five minutes, namely Tyranids spamming warriors with venom upgrades alongside Hive Lord with his anti-daemon gun) Still, pure undiluted awesome.

===In Fantasy===
'''VIKINGS!!!''' '''VIIIIIIIIIIIIKIIIIIIIIIIIIINNGSSSSSSSS!!!'''

* [[Valkia the Bloody]]: A pissed off badass Valkyrie who chooses who will fight on in the Halls of the Blood God after they die in glorious battle. She managed to kill a motherfucking DAEMON PRINCE as a lowly, un-Marked, un-augmented human in SINGLE COMBAT to earn Khorne's favour, CUT ITS FUCKING HEAD OFF, AND THEN CARRIED IT BACK TO THE NORTH TO PLACE AT THE FOOT OF THE SKULL THRONE. And then she died on the way. But Khorne was so impressed by this badassery/pissed off by her death, he resurrected her as a fucking Daemon Princess. Now she flies around the battlefields of the world slaughtering anything that looks at her funny and bearing Norsemen to the Khorne's place for a glorious afterlife of fighting and drinking. She is also far more attractive than anything of Slaanesh's menagerie, much to the Prince of Pleasure's eternal rage and the Bloodfather's great amusement, primarily due to having hair.

* Garmr Hrodvitnir: Aka Billy Squigins, A Chaos Lord of Khorne who managed to almost kill Gotrek Fucking Gurnisson in a fight. 'Nuff said.

* Hrothgar Daemonaxe: A Chaos Lord who only had his rules and miniatures released at a Games Day. He had the statline of a Bloodthirster. His miniature also depicts him throttling an elf, which makes him a good person.

* Arbaal the Undefeated: Nicknamed 'Arbaal the Easily Defeatable' due to his rules from Champions of Chaos having been shockingly awful. Arbaal's been effectively retcon'd out of existence under the excuse that he's journeyed into the Realm of Chaos to challenge Khorne himself to a fight. <s>Good luck with that.</s> It went about as well as you expected.

* [[Scyla Anfingrimm]]: The greatest [[Chaos Spawn|You-Know-What]] ever to walk the earth. Scyla was a Chaos Lord of Khorne who got one too many mutations before his time and devolved into a YKW. But he's the most badass YKW ever, and is a leadership 10 general. Which is impressive considering the only thing he can say is "'''KILL FOR KHORNE! KILL FOR KHORNE! KILL FOR KHORNE!'''".

* Chaos Lord Varmisgal: A Chaos Lord who's blood has turned to liquid bronze. He is responsible for the stalking brass bull of Nuln and the great raid into the Misty Mountains... it is also alleged he ate his own penis.

* Valmir Aesling: A Norscan king and Champion of Khorne who destroyed the Norse Dwarf Hold of Kraka Drak. Managed to get a fucking Daemon Prince to work for him, slaughtered a metric fuck-ton of Norse Dwarfs (roughly 8 times the manliness of a regular Dwarf and thus worth 24 Space Wolves). [[Awesome|Also rode a motherfucking chariot pulled by skinless bears]].

* Egil Styrbjorn: A Norscan High Yarl of the Skaeligs and probably the greatest epitome of manliness a Chaos Warrior devoted to Khorne can achieve. He slew a lot and took names, kicked Bretonnian arses, sexed many women(all which said was impotent and didnt really find pleasure in, poor guy) yet never got a proper heir (only daughters). It was so bad for him that he adopted a boy that became later his personal shamanistic seer and advisor...that is until he banged a Kurgan Sorceress that was prophesied by said shaman to bear Egil's son, yet the damned cheese eating surrender monkeys took her and his unborn son away, which he answered them with apocalyptic RAAAAAGE and titanic slaughter (then again, said Sorceress wanted to sacrifice the unborn child for immortality, and she was actually possessing a Bretonnian noblewoman when doing deed with Egil so Egil's son was in that Bretonnian's womb and the Bretonnian Knights were rescuing her). And thus there was an epic campaign to retrieve the boy. Wields two badass flaming axes called Garmr and Gormr. Really dislikes the Lady of the Lake and other Southerner gods. So manly he is that he let a Grail Knight stab him only to throw back his sword to him. Also known for embodying Khorne's tactical take on war, which he mercilessly used against the Bretonnian Knights that stubbornly charged his warriors head on (until said knights realized that they were duped and slaughtered in seconds).

* [[Skarr Bloodwrath]]: Deranged respawning berserker with axes that double as flails. Joined [[Archaon]]'s posse during [[The End Times]] as one of the many Khornate forces that helped hasten the end of the world.

==Fun Khorne Facts==
* Interestingly the word "Khorne" in Ancient Cypriot Greek literally means to "Shit Blood". Kh' - "To force outward", ORN - "Back passage", Ee - "Blood".
*Doombreed, Khorne's second daemon prince servant, might actually be Genghis Khan himself.
*Khorne's looking for ways to incorporate dinosaurs into his armies, due to the sheer amount of [[RIP AND TEAR]] they can unleash on their enemies. He's unbelievably pissed that he hasn't managed to get any yet- '''{{Blam|YOU GAVE IT AWAY?!?!? FFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUUUU}}'''
*Khorne <strike>secretly</strike> ''{{Blam|BLATANTLY}}''' hates everyone who kills the defenseless in his name. He'd plot ways to kill them, but he's too mad to do that. (So what else is new?)
*Khorne was just able to stand watching Jurassic World once it got going due to the Indominus Rex and how it made everything else look like bitches. He raged when it died. He's looking for its skull 'cause he wishes he could have it as one of his servants- *sounds of swords and blood* '''{{Blam|FAGGOT!}}''' (Why couldn't Khorne just seek the skull of the Mosasaurus that killed it? Or Rexie, T-rex is classic, I hear you say.) To that, I answer that coz without the Mosasaurus then Rex would'a DIED.
*Khorne is unsure whether or not he hates [[Cultist-chan]], due to a) the fact that she can't do anything except scream about 'kap-tooring eet for kay-oss' and get purged and b) the fact that she's so good at spreading [[RAEG]] amongst various unlucky meatsacks and fa/tg/uys. And that indecisiveness makes him foam at the mouth in an unending rage.
*Khorne practically invented flipping the table when you lose at card games, or it goes too slowly. He does this whenever the major Warp entities play cards in the Formless Wastes.
*Followers of Khorne actually have the ability to pull off [[LIIVI]]/[[Eldrad]] level dick-style moves in battle. They just choose not to do this.
*Khorne wanted [[Settra the Imperishable]] as one of his servants once. However, Settra won't ever serve Khorne, even going so far as to give ALL OF CHAOS the '''motherfucking middle finger''' before going off to hunt down [[Nagash]]. That said, Settra may well be one of the few mortal beings besides his own servants Khorne has any respect for. He still hates Settra though.
*Slaanesh once created some Kayos Spess Mehreens with his/her colour scheme, but with armour nicked off fallen Khornate warriors. And when Khorne saw this, '''his wrath was legendary'''.
*Slaanesh and Khorne also have regular 'plans' on Friday night- *sounds of something even bigger than a [[Bloodthirster]] coming through and much ripping and tearing* '''{{Blam|NO! YOU'RE LYING!}}'''
* [[Emperor|That Twat With The Chair]] and Khorne haven't '''SMACKED DOWN''' yet, but Khorne is secretly looking forward to it when it happens- he wants to test Spess Jaysis's might against his own. Tickets are now on sale!
*If an internet hyperlink comes up red, it's not because the page doesn't exist, it's because Khorne looked at what was once on the other end, and '''he didn't like what he saw''', so much so that the hyperlink is stained with the blood of what once was.
* Khorne's favorite form of grouping is in ogdoads, for reasons that should be obvious once you know what that word means.
* Khorne's favorite [[video game|vidja]] was [[Doom]]. he abandoned it in a strange combination of terror and appreciation once he learned it was Biographical/Autobiographical.
* If Khorne is acting calm towards you, don't relax. He doesn't like anything, he just hates some things less than others. There is such a thing as cold-hatred.
* Khorne was '''ALMOST''' pleased when [[Iskandar Khayon]] smashed his ship, the ''Tlaloc'', into the Slaaneshi world of Harmony, killing a whole shitload of Slaaneshi fucks and breaking the planet in half. Then he remembered Khayon was a damn Thousand Son Sorcerer. Fuck.
*Khorne will not stab you in the back. He will simply stab you in the face until your face stops resembling a face.
*Very few beings have ever earned Khorne's respect. but the most notable is the '''MOTHERFUCKING DOOMGUY!!!''' (another is Valen the ancestor of [[Kharn]]).
*DOOM 2016 <s>tells of a "Wretch" who made the Doom Slayer an adamantine Amour from the deepest parts of the forges of Hell. And since Khorne CAN craft absolute destructive Weapons and impenetrable Armour...</s> (he did not make the armor for him but he approves of him using it.)
*Khorne is mixed on snipers. Partly because they sneak and hide like pussies and don't get into a proper fight, and partly because headshots ruin perfectly good skulls. However, sniping is the most skillfull form of shooting. It’s also Slaaneshi.
*Khorne's favorite author is Sun Tzu. Three guesses why if you know what he's written.
*Khorne is the patron god of Chimpanzees (no seriously, look them up; those bastards are the fucking marauding barbarians of the jungle, especially since their cousins the Bonobos seem like milquetoast Slaanesh followers).
*Thanks to his relationship with Valkia the Bloody, Khorne may or may not be married to the devoted blood and gore addicted maiden of war.
*Despite his association with canines, Khorne also has a pet rabbit, which he [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmu5sRIizdw loaned out to appear in a certain comedy film].
*Khorne is also the god of tsunderes, no, seriously, as stated in a previous section, which is even further added by many tsunderes being red themed, this makes Khorne RAAAAEEEG! even more as his followers are supposed to be manly armored guys and not teen girls in school uniform, but hey, that's the internet for you!

==Gallery==
{{promotions}}
<gallery>
Klaher-baklaher-khorn.jpg
Image:Khornate.JPG|Khorne's followers off the battlefield. REVERSE ARMWRESTLE!!!
Image:khornewaffel.JPG|Waffles for the Blood God!
Image:Khornetrainer.JPG|Khorne's trainers prefer violent Pokémon.
Image:Khorne_tattoo.jpg|Mark of Khorne.
Image:Free like a riding demon by Ragathol.jpg|Khornette.
Image:Backwardsthrone.jpg|Just as Planned. Always. As. Planned.
File:Khornette.jpg|Khorne wants to know why the drawfags never give them noses.
File:Tea Time.jpg|In the grim darkness of the far future, there is still time for tea...
File:Khorne-Art.jpg|Warriors of Chaos: making everything in 40K look like bitches since 2002.
Image:You're_madder_than_Khorne.png|There '''is''' such a thing as being too mad for Khorne!
Image:Khorneholiover2.png |The [[Cornholio the Cultist|Great Khorneholio]]. He needs blood and skulls for his bunghole.
Image:Khorne-and-Slaanesh.jpg|Nine months later Khaine was born...
Image:Anon_pleases_Khorne.png|Who knew Berzerkers came in ''Shrimp'' size?
Image:Khorne Flakes.jpg|The tastiest of all! Add blood for more flavor.
Image:Khorne_flakes.jpg|Literal <s>corn</s> Khorne Flake Cake! Some absolute madlad/madlass actually did it!
Image:Khorny Meme.jpg|Whoever made this has too much time on their hands. And access to imgflip.
</gallery>

==See also==

*[[Brass]]
*[[Berserker]] - Chaos Space Marines with Axes and a bad attitude.
*[[Angron]] - Daemon prince of Khorne and the Primarch of World Eaters.
*[[World Eaters]]
*[[Khârn|Khârn the Betrayer]] - A pretty fun guy to be around.
*[[Valkia the Bloody]] - Scarousal in it's purest form.
*[[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Khorne_Daemonkin(7E)|Tactics/Khorne Daemonkin]] - That's right, meatsacks! The servants of Khorne have their own codex!
*[[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Blades of Khorne|Tactics/Blades of Khorne]] - Khorne's servants in AoS.
*[[Rage]]
*[[Sorcerers of Khorne]] - Double heresy!
*[[Doombreed]] - One angry son of a bitch.
*[[Doom|the one guy Khorne respects]]
* This pretty much sums up his forces: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-gSJW3sHXE&feature=channel_video_title
*[[Katanas_are_Underpowered_in_d20#Khorne_is_underpowered_in_40k|Khorne is underpowered in 40k]]
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vljHBXA3UKE - death metal song devoted to Khorne.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml3sjEiViXc - better death metal song.
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8mEOiI4pjs - thrash metal song summing up Khorne pretty well.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edNUp4GkukI - can't forget the blackened thrash.
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUB9QGKCNmI - a bunch of anime Khorne worshippers. Better than it sounds.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8mEOiI4pjs - another metal song devoted to Khorne. GW actually commissioned this one. Yes, they really were that awesome back in the day.

{{Template:ChaosGods}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Age of Sigmar]][[Category:Blades of Khorne]]

Daemon

2020-12-24T07:07:12Z

2607:FB90:3446:7078:FA0D:7EB9:2408:E0AC: /* Warhammer */

[[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]], meaning that you somehow have to fight the things while feeling completely indifferent during the entire experience (and the only race to do this is the Tyranids). 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.

===[[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 tangible; 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 Realm of Chaos 5th 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 was never made into models.

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.

==== 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. Recently a third stage has been added, such that a slain blue splits into two apathetic Yellow Horrors.

[[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.

==== 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]]. You MUST play with them, otherwise they get bitter and 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.

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 (then again, neither do Heralds).
<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]]
|-
| [[God-Emperor of Mankind]] || [[Living Saint]] || [[Legion of the Damned]]/"Golden Faced Spirits" || None || Golden Eagles || None || None || None
|-
| [[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
|-
| [[Great Horned Rat]] || [[Verminlord]] || None (Skaven) || None (Skaven) || None (Giant rats) || None || None || None ([[DOOMWHEELS]])
|}
</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 him or her 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'''

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 5. 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).

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.

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 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.

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

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Daemon

2020-12-24T07:04:59Z

2607:FB90:3446:7078:FA0D:7EB9:2408:E0AC: /* Warhammer */

[[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]], meaning that you somehow have to fight the things while feely completely indifferent during the entire experience (and the only race to do this is the Tyranids). 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.

===[[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 tangible; 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 Realm of Chaos 5th 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 was never made into models.

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.

==== 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. Recently a third stage has been added, such that a slain blue splits into two apathetic Yellow Horrors.

[[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.

==== 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]]. You MUST play with them, otherwise they get bitter and 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.

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 (then again, neither do Heralds).
<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]]
|-
| [[God-Emperor of Mankind]] || [[Living Saint]] || [[Legion of the Damned]]/"Golden Faced Spirits" || None || Golden Eagles || None || None || None
|-
| [[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
|-
| [[Great Horned Rat]] || [[Verminlord]] || None (Skaven) || None (Skaven) || None (Giant rats) || None || None || None ([[DOOMWHEELS]])
|}
</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 him or her 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'''

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 5. 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).

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.

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 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.

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[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]