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Necron

2026-04-21T07:36:48Z

90.80.221.226: Undo revision 1010529 by 89.177.34.92 (talk)

{{Awesome}}
[[File:Necron logo.webp|center|200px]]
[[File:Necrons.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Space zombie terminator egyptians. That was Space Zombie Terminator Egyptians. Some are also pirates. Their archenemy are Space Elf Ninja Wizards. Some are also clowns, pirates and/or BDSM junkies. [[Awesome|Yeah]].]]

{{Topquote|Necrons?! Hide the tanks!|Any Strategist Who Knows About What Necrons Do To Armor.}}

{{Topquote|They lived to face a new nightmare. The war against the machines.|Sarah Connor}}

{{Topquote|Are they dead?" "A debatable question.|Ciaphas Cain and a Captain of the Reclaimers Chapter}}

{{Topquote|I'll be back.|The T-800, incidentally describing both individual Necrons and the race as a whole}}
'''Necrons''' (Robo-Zombie Ægyptons in SPEHSS)(Totally Not Knock-offs Of The Terminator. In SPEHSS) are one of the main factions in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. Basically, they're a bunch of soulless, skeletal, alien killing machines (think “gingers with disintegrators”) led by a robot aristocracy of angry murder machines and bound together by space-technology-magic (like atom-flaying weapons that strip their targets down into their constituent atoms).

Although they have been around since the [[Rogue Trader (sourcebook)|Rogue Trader]] era, they have seen great change in almost every edition. [[Space Crusade]] (sort of) introduced them as "[[Chaos]] Androids" (oh, the [[Cadia|''irony'']]...), and their first appearance under the Necron name was towards the end of second edition, where they were (as "Necron Raiders") a mysterious faction with essentially zero fluff and only a few models, all of which looked incredibly silly. However, with third edition they got their own [[Codex]] and a bunch of models fleshing them out as an army and introducing their rulers, and the [[C'tan]] (who were subsequently shoehorned into every major event in the 40k universe). [[Games Workshop]] then promptly forgot they existed and did not update them again until the closing days of fifth edition. [[Skub|This was a controversial move]] as the Codex was written by [[Matt Ward]], who significantly changed the fluff, making them Newcrons. In short, they became [[Tomb Kings]] IN SPESS and the C'tan were demoted to being their bitches. And that's about it. Do note that although they are space Tomb Kings, they are not necessarily [[Rubric Marines| space Egyptians]].

Gameplay-wise, some used to consider the Necrons to have been unduly OP during their introduction. A respectable amount of evidence can be gathered to grant credence to this viewpoint based on the ease with which they can blow up vehicles using the basic Warrior's Gauss Flayer. The rapid change in fluff between the 5th edition codex and its predecessor is [[skub|controversial]], to put it lightly. While both versions of the Necrons' background have their fans, many would agree that the retconning was drastic and heavy-handed (Pariahs were awesome, until they were scrapped by [[Matt Ward|our spiritual liege]] completely, probably because he realised how awesome they were and couldn't stand the idea of some of the lime-light being stolen from his precious [[Ultramarine|Ultrasmurfs]]). On one hand, the Necrons' theme used to be that they were emotionless, implacable alien killers led by Lovecraftian star gods that fed on people's souls. Their background was very sparse and included all sorts of mysterious things about the Necrons and the C'tan that had implications for the whole setting of Warhammer 40,000. The new codex however gets rid of all that mystery and removes the dangerous feel the Necrons used to have in exchange for [[your dudes|giving the individual Necron leaders and armies individual personality, which in turn allowed players to make their armies different]] rather than maintaining a one-dimensional "kill every living" MO. Whether you're a fan of this or not is up to you; there are pros and cons to both. This was different from the previous situation where [[Grey Knights|basically everyone had an army of similar silver (or blue, for that matter) OP doom warriors wielding guns that could rip through tanks as well as infantry and had over the top fluff that made them out to be the baddest sons of bitches in the galaxy.]]

The 7E Fluff in the codex is actually a lot more complex than those of prior codices, with complete sections dedicated to paint schemes and analyses on the markings on them (Where the last edition only barely even begins with that) while also beginning to fluff out some of the more prominent dynasties. However, not much of it actually changed from the last codex, so the C'tan are still a thing (but now they're treated with even less respect than a warrior, rather than leading the dudes), and the Newcrons as a simplified whole are still eccentric, megalomaniacal undead robots.

With the Necrons now being somewhat popular, they have received a respectable amount of Forgeworld loving, thanks to the fact that they were featured in Imperial Armor 12 along with the Minotaurs Chapter Space Marines (meaning we finally got units like [[Tomb Stalker]]s and the amazing [[Megalith|Megalith Heavy Construct]], the latter of which is probably the closest thing to a Necron [[Titan]] that we will ever see in game). In local [[skub]] news, we have also gained some understanding of what the ancient Necrontyr looked like thanks to Yvraine and one of those half-baked novels BL forgets to proof-read! And the answer is... [[wat|half-elves]]. No, really.

[[Meme|Good news, everyone!]] With the announcement of 9th Edition, Necrons will take their turn as the featured "bad guy" army. It appears that most, if not all, of the oldest Necron model kits are finally getting long-overdue replacements. Meanwhile several entirely new unit types have been seen in teaser pics, and one of the "new" characters is the [[Silent King]] himself. Whatever all this bodes for the Imperium in the actual background lore, it certainly won't be good for humanity. We also got the [[Seraptek Heavy Construct]], which is the Necron equivalent to a Knight Castellan.

9th edition is adding and expanding upon the lore in some interesting ways, such as the Necrons creating "still" areas, that are stilling the currents of the warp, which essentially means that daemons within these areas are trapped, unable to move; this sounds awesome until it becomes apparent that Imperial ships are also unable to move either, and instead slowly sink deeper and deeper into the depth of the sea of souls. Areas of the galaxy that have become stilled find themselves permanently separated from the rest of the galaxy, and humans within these areas slowly become slower and more zombie like as the warp around them becomes a dead zone. The Silent King is even experimenting with the possibility that humans could be used for reverse biotransference, something aided by the fact that humans and ancient Necrontyr were fairly similar.

During the original biotransference it was the Necrontyr children and infants (and all those who were considered weak or disposable) that would become the common Necron Warriors, so have fun imagining that the sounds escaping their mouths, when you kill them, are possibly the screams of a child, who has been killed, revived and killed, over and over again.

Apparently, 'Necron' is also the title of a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necron_(comics) bizarre and retarded fetish comic] of some sort.

==The Old Fluff - Angry Space [[Wikipedia:Terminator (character concept)|Terminators]]==
[[File:Tumblr nj3ldcWQe51tvfheeo1 1280.jpg|500px|left]]
The Necrons were introduced, as mentioned before, in Space Crusade as a type of enemy to fight in the form of "Chaos Androids". Really, the only thing to describe about them here is that they're pretty derpy. Oh, and 2E had a model used for [[Assholetep]].

A long time ago (even before the [[Eldar]]) the Necrontyr [[Grimdark|lived on a planet blasted by radiation from their sun. Their short lives were filled from beginning to end with cancer]], [[AIDS]], and [[Grimdark|pain]]. The only reason the Necrontyr formed an empire beyond their planet at all was because they put their people in stasis pods and made extremely long journeys across interstellar distances. But the damage their sun did to their genes was permanent, so they still had short, cancer-prone lives.

While all this sun-rape was going on a race of psychically-attuned space precursors called the [[Old_Ones_(Warhammer)|Old Ones]] had already built a vast civilization throughout the galaxy. They created many races or augmented many existing ones (leaving [[human|humanity]] alone) and generally showed off. Oh yeah, and they are speculated to have been immortal [[lizardmen|lizards]] (Or the Eldar gods. It's quite confusing in all honesty).

[[Grimdark|The Necrontyr met the Old Ones and quickly grew to resent their neighbors, loathing how long their lifespans were by comparison. Resentment grew into bitter jealousy and finally all-consuming hatred after the Old Ones refused to help. The Old Ones were indeed much stronger and repelled Necrontyr assault after assault until the race was clinging to the edge of the galaxy and their lives]].

The Necrontyr finally encountered a space-borne anomaly- [[TTS|some celestial fart gas]] that did nothing but eat stars. Eventually, for some reason, the Necrontyr crafted shells of living metal for them. They were then known as the C'tan , literally “star god” in the Necrontyr tongue. The Star Gods were beings with almost absolute power over the corporeal world, while the Warp, which the Old Ones used extensively, was anathema to them, and they sought nothing less than the total separation of the real world from the Maelstrom.

The Necrontyr bargained with the C'tan known as the Deceiver (but only the other C'tan called it that) for eternal life. [[Just As Planned|The Necrontyr knew him as Mephet'ran ("The Messenger")]] because no one in their right mind would actually trust a guy named the Deceiver. The Deceiver promised the living Necrontyr race immortality and fun times if they would sacrifice their bodies to the gods to be replaced with metallic goodness, made from a very durable and self-repairing material called [[Necrodermis]]. Some of the Necrontyr agreed to the Deceiver's terms, but most of them doubted it was a good idea. Using its talent for trickery, [[Grimdark|the Deceiver lured the doubters into the clutches of its followers and forced them to become Necrons before roboticizing its followers]]. The race had their souls ripped out of their collective urethrae, replacing the Necrontyr with the skeletal bodies of the Necrons.

War breaks out between the Necrons and the Old Ones, this war being named [[War in Heaven|the War in Heaven]] since all of the awesome shit that went down was akin to the gods themselves fighting. The Old Ones get their asses soundly beat over and over again and created new races (lol, [[Ork|Krork]]) to defend themselves with. Oh, and by using the Warp as a weapon they turned it into the [[warp|fun place we all know and love]] (which essentially means that the Old Ones are responsible for all the Chaos-infested shit that goes down these days). At this point, the old Necron fluff and new stuff begins to diverge a bit. Old fluff says the [[Eldar]] were created by the old Ones directly but new fluff simply says that the Eldar and Old Ones were allies in the war against the Necrons. It doesn't specifically say the Eldar were created by the Old Ones although the new background is worded in such a way as to make both interpretations plausible. However, being allies doesn’t mean the Eldar weren’t created or modified by them. In Eldar culture, there's another great conflict also known as the [[War in Heaven]]. This is primarily where the theory that the Old Ones and the Eldar Pantheon are potentially the same thing comes from (if true, that means some Old Ones are still alive, namely [[Isha]], [[Cegorach]], and [[Khaine]], though Khaine is split into a bajillion pieces so truly ''alive'' is debatable for him). But the most likely explanation for this is that GeeDubs' writers never talk to each other about the intricacies of this stuff and ended up giving two different conflicts the same damn name. However, the Eldar ''were'' present in both wars, so... eh?

Anyway, after the Old Ones' strategy of cranking out race after race to be used as cannon fodder backfires when an Enslaver Plague rolls around, the C'tan go on a feast of galactic proportions. During this time they even start killing and eating each other until there are only four left (The Void Dragon, The Outsider, The Nightbringer and The Deceiver). It's as this point that they realize that their excessive OMNOMNOM habits are causing their own food (essentially EVERYTHING) to die out. So, they and their Necron slaves decide to go to sleep for 60 million years 'till the scrumptious morsels known as EVERYTHING regrow.

In present time, the Necrons spend most of their time killing anything with a pulse and generally hating anything living, including bacteria. Their main objective was to use their advanced technology to close or seal off the Eye of Terror, drive back the 'Nids to turn the galaxy into paradise for the C'tan.

In essence, OldCron fluff basically makes them "Evil Order", as opposed to "Evil Chaos" (redundant in this universe), or "Metal Tyranids" because of the emotionless mass of silver that represents their armies (with guys like [[Dawn of War|Thomas Macabee]] being more of an exception than a rule).

==The New Fluff - Space Egyptians/Tomb Kings In Space==
[[File:Necron reboot.jpg|300px|right|thumb|"Dude, what did we ''do'' last aeon?"]]

===Summary===
This new incarnation, love it or hate it, gives the Necrons a whole wide array of personality and every single Necron dynasty now has different goals and motives, not to mention paint schemes, markings, etc. Basically, the original fluff was changed in order to make them more like an actual empire with unique sub-factions and [[Trazyn the Infinite|interesting characters]] as opposed to another [[Tyranid|faceless blob of monsters]] out to [[Chaos|DESTROY ALL LIFE IN THE GALAXY IN THE NAME OF DARK GODS]] - which, due to poor writing, works just like any other empire made out of meat, instead of [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Unimatrix_Zero reflecting the narrative opportunities available to a race of robots]. For a far, far better game-based exploration of how to introduce individualized personalities in a race of A.I.s, play the Mass Effect series of games and explore the Geth/Quarian storylines in full (Geth aren't in Mass Effect: Andromeda, so focus on the Shepard/Reaper Wars Mass Effect trilogy). The crazy fun part of this is if you still want to play a silent legion of implacable, unfathomable terror-bots in the thrall of an insane god, you totally can. The new fluff allows for players to [[your dudes|fluff their army as they see fit]] as anything from a [[Nemesor Zandrekh|noble, honorable warrior kingdom]] open to trade and diplomacy with other species to unthinking hordes of omnicidal machines in the thrall of a malevolent computer system. You can even have a legion of the old-school C'tan-worshipping harvestcrons that have either been enslaved or have willingly taken to worshipping an awakened C'tan Shard. Shit, for all the new fluff cares your army can be a horde of Necrons afflicted with the Flayer Curse who long to have their [[brundlepenis|dicks]] back and run around [[/d/|stealing the dongs of the lesser races]] so they can [[rule 34|hump each other]] whilst their Lord sheds manly tears as he beholds the terrible plight of his people. This is of no help, however, if you enjoyed the absolute supremacy of the C'Tan as literal immortal gods of the materium, and the stories that unfold thereby, who were at least capable of going toe-to-toe with The Ruinous Powers themselves, [[Khaine|rather than being just another punchbag that GW puts on display in order to show how badass somebody else is, whose figurines they hope you'll purchase.]]

[[Forge World]] created the [[Maynarkh Dynasty]] to give an example of a perfectly fluff-valid dynasty that was culturally similar to Oldcrons (well, the "kill everything!" and "dark horror from the deep past" aspects of them, at least). Additionally, the murderbot legacy lives on in the omnicidal Destroyer Cult and 9th edition saw the introduction of a host of new Destroyer units.

And as for totally destroying the background of the C'Tan, the codex does allude to the fact that there are lots of unaccounted for C'Tan shards (or maybe even yet unshattered C'tan?) still allegedly scattered around the galaxy. The Necron are always trying to hunt them down and imprison them (in pocket dimension prisons), but this does still leave the door totally wide open for a shard of 'The Dragon' to be on Mars and for shards of 'The Deceiver' to have done all the crazy things that have been written about him in novels. Essentially, the full C'Tan were massively, massively powerful and the 'shard' versions of them are now a lot more manageable. And of course, as everyone knows, the Outsider is still on his extra-galactic camping trip, totally whole and crying over [[meme|WHAAAAAT HEEE'S DOOONNE!!!]].

===Beginning===
Same as the original lore, the necrontyr were an alien race that [[Grimdark|lived extremely short, painful lives since their sun caused them to be riddled with cancer and other defects, and the tomb complexes they built were much larger than their towns, constantly reminding of their inevitable deaths.]] Whilst it can be assumed they were essentially humanoid, only pieces are known about their biology, such as having two eyes that could shed tears the same way human eyes do and having sexual reproduction. The latter was markedly different though, given the Necrons' disgust at humans having a dual purpose reproductive / urinary system. Indeed, talking about scatalogocal matters was a serious taboo for Necrontyr, to the point that they willingly forgot most of their language's words for excrement upon becoming Necrons.

They focused their short lives on science in a desperate attempt to find a way to increase their lifespans, [[Fail|but they never managed to]]. For context, Trazyn stated that the average Imperial citizen only lived a little longer than the average Necrontyr at the height of the Empire. Furthermore, Oltyx stated that when the cancer emerged, even the best Necrontyr health care could only delay the cancer's onset for forty years at best.

They encountered the [[Old Ones]], who offered to help them but wouldn't or couldn't make the Necrontyr immortal. Thus grew their [[RAGE|collective hate]] towards the near-immortal Old Ones. Additionally, it was said by a human psyker who saw the past of the Necrontyr that they were wracked by unimaginable pain due to their cancers, which more than likely factored heavily into their later decision to become Necrons.

The Necrontyr's empire was massive at one point, but the different Lords in the galaxy-wide dominion started to turn against each other in civil war. To prevent this from happening, the overall ruler of the Necrontyr, the Silent King, started the war against the Old Ones specifically to give them a common enemy to fight against and [[Drow|prevent his people from destroying themselves in their own general]][[Derp| stupidity]], with the Old Ones' refusal to share immortality as an excuse for war rather than inspiring the envy that started the war.

Of course, the Old Ones ended up kicking their butts and in desperation the Silent King allied with the C'tan (who had been attracted to the pure hate and rage the Necrontyr held for the Old Ones, a common enemy of the C'tan) and agreed to the Deceiver's pact to give them shiny new immortal bodies without realizing what he was doing. The devious Star God had in fact tricked the Necrontyr into giving up their mortal bodies and souls so that he and his god friends could gorge themselves on their tasty ass-meats. After consuming THE ENTIRE Necrontyr race the C'tan were pretty much the equivalent of Superman crossed with a level 9001 Super Sayian Goku and so were basically able to hand the Old Ones their collective asses.

However, after the Necrons helped the C'tan kill off the last Old Ones and while the C'tan were recuperating, the Silent King then ordered the Necrons to turn on the C'tan in vengeance. Caught by surprise, the C'tan were defeated and shattered into thousands of shards which the Necrons imprisoned for [[rape|later use]]. At this point the galaxy was basically a smoldering ruin, the Necrons were severely depleted from their endless wars (it is said that literally trillions of the Necrons were destroyed), and the Eldar were reaching the height of their power. The Silent King ordered the Necrons to sleep for millions of years in order to hide from the Eldar and re-awaken at a time when the galaxy had both recovered and forgotten about them. The Silent King's final order to his people was that following the Great Sleep they must reclaim their old empire and return it to its former glory (A role he left his Triarch Praetorians to cover later). Following this, he freed the Necrons from his control and left the galaxy in shame for failing his people.

===Present Warhammer 40k===
[[File:Necrons-eldar.png|300px|right|thumb|This is literally what the Necrons have become.]]
Now that the Necrons have reawakened in the 41st millennium their goal is no longer to 'harvest' souls for the C'tan (the C'tan shards are now their slaves) as it was in the old book, but rather to reestablish the great Necron empire that spanned the galaxy before the war with the Old Ones began. What this exactly means is left to the interpretation of each Overlord. The overall unity of the Necron people is gone for the most part leaving each individual Dynasties to once again rule for themselves. While Necron warriors are pretty much just automatons and Immortals are not much better, the majority of the upper echelon of Necron society retain some degree of personality.

So there is lots of crazy nuance to Necron culture that was never present before. There are now lots of memorable quotes from Necron Lords. There are Necron Lords who honor valor in battle, Necron Lords who are obsessed with finding the perfect flesh bodies to transfer their sentience back into, and a Necron Lord who acts and commands its people like true robots due to damage to their Tomb World among others. The Silent King, who left the galaxy after defeating the C'tan (basically exiling himself for the unforgivable crime of allowing the C'tan to remove the souls of his people), encountered the Tyranids in the void between galaxies and has returned to spur the Necrons into action against the Bugs. The Silent King realized that if the Tyranids wipe the galaxy clean of biological matter then the Necrons will never find a form to transfer their minds back into. There are even a few Necron Lords who even work or trade with other races. However, as with all the factions of 40k, this is rare. (Yes, Necrons led by [[Anrakyr]] and Blood Angels did end up fighting against a Tyranid Hive Fleet together. Twice. And then [[Trazyn]] decides to give the Imperium a hand at Cadia and see if he could get Abaddon as part of his collection). Really, every dynasty can be different, so just have fun coming up with your own.

Oh, and there is definitely plenty of reason to have Necron vs. Necron action now (as the old feuds between competing Necron Lords flare back up again). To make matters more complicated though, if [[Battlefleet Gothic: Armada]] is to be believed, it was [[The Deceiver]] who handed over the [[Blackstone Fortress]]es to [[Abbadon]], thereby allowing him to destroy the Necron Pylons and overrun Cadia. Was it an act to spite the Necrons by aiding Chaos, or does he have a doublecross in the works?

There's also more variations of characters. For example, the [[Silent King]] feels bad about [[derp|being deceived by the Deciever]] and now seeks to reverse biotransference. [[Imotekh the Stormlord]], Phaeron of the Sautekh Dynasty, seeks to reunite the Infinite Empire with him at its head. And finally, [[Trazyn]] just wants to make [[Solemnace|his museum]] more interesting by collecting everything. As for the C’tan- they now exist as shards, used as soldiers, fuel, and, as seen in Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 by Phaeron Amarkun of the Nepheru, bombs. Craftworld-killing bombs.

==Regarding Fluff Change - Sore Butts Everywhere.==
[[File:Releasethectan.jpg|200px|thumb|left|[[Pokemon|Deceiver, I choose you!]]]]
It is widely conceded that the worst loss was the removal of Pariahs which were universally agreed to be one of the coolest and scariest aspects of the Necrons, something that really made them stand out (even if they weren't that great on the tabletop (they were badass on the table top, but over-priced and no We'll Be Back roll)). The Pariahs' origins were a great way to show an outsider's perspective of the Necrons (they're humans or other meatbags with the Pariah Gene who get forcibly turned into Necrons) and something that Thomas Macabee in Dark Crusade just made so incredibly badass. It would also fit perfectly into the new fluff showcasing success in combining the Necrons and the living to create a new life form. But there is good news: Hammer & Anvil more or less confirmed that Pariahs are still canon in a way. They are just experiments done by bored Crypteks, and the 7E 'dex in particular has a story where [[Illuminor Szeras]] decides to kidnap a [[Culexus]] Assassin and use it to research the Pariah Gene. And really this loss was by no means required for this change in fluff. In fact, Pariahs make even more sense with this version of the fluff than they did in the old.

<strike>In any case, the Warhammer 40k galaxy already has a pantheon of four asshole gods, plus 'two other asshole gods, {{BLAM|KRUMP!}} '''ZOG YERSELF, GROT!''' so who gives a shit if the C'tan wannabes got turned into legendary pokemon?</strike> {{BLAM|SNICK!}} '''The dead claim you all, fleshlings!'''

There was also the matter of their alliance with the [[Blood Angels]] that made everyone break into sperglord rage. See, Matt Ward was trying to ready the Necrons for their soon-to-come fluff revision where they went from a mindless army to a proper empire with actual politics. If Ward had written the Angel/Cron alliance '''''properly''''', i.e. making it clear the alliance was one made of desperation than any really attempts to be friendly, and the Silent King really just wanted to play [[Dante]] as a fool and leave him for dead after the battle (as was made clear in later Black Library publications, see list below), it would have passed quietly and we wouldn't have /tg/ being drama queens as usual.

There's also the "Shield of Baal" campaign where [[Anrakyr the Traveller]] decides to assist the Blood Angels, their successors, and some other Imperials with their Tyranid infestation by using a strange piece of Necron Archaeotech that got powered by a C'tan shard to the point of overloading so hard that the resulting radiation nearly killed everyone present.

So really, now the Necrons have become their playstyle: An army of metallic trolls.

== Game Play ==
[[File:Lord.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A mountain of metal, green glow and rape.]]

Necrons have strong weaponry, high toughness, but generally very little mobility. They're also expensive as hell in points.

=== Pre 5th edition Codex ===
Pre-5th edition, the Necrons competitively were monobuilt to all hell. Depending on what they were up against they would be THE virtually unstoppable shooty army, or easily countered. Essentially this came down to whether or not you had enough hard counters to heavy infantry. If you didn't, you'd get the infamous "March of Doom", which was basically a non-stop forward march of Necron Warriors, Immortals, and Destroyers to flatten the table. The Necrons' innate WBB (We'll Be Back) rolls ensured that the March was fuckhard to stop, especially in tandem with Resurrection Orbs, Pylons, Monoliths, and some of the cheesier Necron formations, since the tin-men had a very good chance of getting back up after being downed.

If you did have a counter to Heavy Infantry, you'd quickly crush the Necron infantry while ignoring the extremely resilient units like Monoliths and cause the Necron survivors to Phase Out, which means the Necron Player will auto-lose should their forces go down to 25% of the starting numbers.

Necron were also severely nerfed in the start of ''5th Edition'', due to vehicles being a bit more sturdy. In the previous edition, they could potentially destroy any enemy (including heavy vehicles) with just their default troops choice - Gauss weaponry inflicts glancing hits against vehicles on a roll of 6. Necron Warriors dispatching [[Land Raider]]s or [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russ Tanks]] with these glancing hits was ''not'' unheard of, causing many veterans of 40K tabletop to rightly declare the Necrons to be [[Cheese]].

=== 5th and 6th Edition ===
[[File:Black crusade by yogh art-d5bqzc8.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Egyptians vs Egyptians: One are slaves to an [[Tzeentch|evil god]], other are [[C'tan|enslaving evil gods]].]]
In 5th Edition, due to the new Armour Penetration rules, Necron Warriors could still harass, stun-lock, and annoy all vehicles, but were much less able to gun down a heavy like a Predator Tank or [[Vindicator]] with simple massed Warrior fire, to the delight of non-Necron players everywhere. Massed fire from Necron Warriors ''can'' still kill a heavy vehicle, but it will take a veritable barrage of shots to do so now, making it a bit less likely that players can spam the shit out of warrior squads and come away triumphant. A smart NewCron player learns to not over-rely on Warriors now, using backup from a mix of Scarabs, Doomsday Arks, Barge Lords, Wraiths, and Harbingers of Destruction in order to pack quality anti-vehicle options.

However in 6th (due to 6th Edition's change with rapid fire rule and vehicle hull points), Necrons are back to fucking tanks in the junk. Yes, a block of 20 Necron Warriors will wreck a Land Raider in one turn, hands down, every day of the week, though they need to be within 12" for that to happen so they can rapid fire it (otherwise it only loses 2 Hull Points), and if you are that fucking stupid (12" is melta range for everyone else) you are going to lose your Raider regardless of who you are playing against.

[[Image:1227797058418.jpg|thumb|right|''5th Edition'' wrecked their shit.]]
The Necrons in 6th are still a very powerful and dangerous force. Due to VERY limited flyer defense and being able to take fliers as dedicated transports, their fliers ended up being insanely overpowered (though once everyone got reasonable AA defense that wasn't an issue) and thanks to the overall buff to shooting, the Necrons are very high tier in codex power.

Now the Necron army is all about synergy, with Overlords, Lords and Crypteks strategically placed in shooty units, and melee options like Lychguard and the infuriatingly tough-to-kill Wraiths. They also have somewhat useful Monstrous Creatures of sorts in the form of Canoptek Spyders and C'tan Shards.

Necron warriors are fairly reliable troops with near-Marine stats and a 4+ save, though they essentially have a delayed 5+ Feel No Pain Save with their "'''Reanimation Protocols'''" rule (4+ with a Resurrection Orb in the unit). Immortals are pretty much Space Marine equivalents.

The infamous [[Monolith]] is easily the most recognizable unit that the Necrons possess. It has 14 armour on each side (and thus no vulnerable spots), a main weapon that cannot be disabled with a "weapon destroyed" result and the ability to teleport your troops out of harm's way (or into it if you're badass). The Monolith is no longer the nigh invulnerable mountain of rape it used to be, as it can no longer ignore the Melta special rule, and the Monolith's combat performance is outstripped by several of their new vehicles. This means the once proud 'Lith has been relegated to Apocalypse battles. Good job, [[Matt Ward]].

Necron infantry are generally slow moving, hard hitting, much like the Space Marines, if the Space Marine infantry units had Feel No Pain as part of their base rules and they forgot to take drop pods or transport vehicles. The Necrons back this with annoying deep-strikers and fast-moving units that are designed to support the main advance. There is nothing - I repeat - NOTHING, scarier than a Necron player with almost-cheating luck. But they all look like skellingtons and some of them wear the meat of their victims, they're MEANT to be scary.

===7th Edition===
The first thing people noticed about 7E is the Necrons got back their amazing glancing powers with Gauss. This causes squees among the playerbase. Seriously, if gauss weapons were this effective in [[X-COM]]: Terror From the Deep, players would be tugging themselves off about them.

The other big change to their army is the changes made to the Reanimation Protocols (RP). Now instead of being a means of bringing everything back from the dead, it's reduced to a FNP-alike that comes after all armor saves, except it can be used against ID (Though at -1 penalty). Resurrection Orbs now give you a turn's worth of rerolls for RP. Taking a postmark identity from a once cool army a revealing the Inquisitions plan all along to destroy the necrons by giving them a personality, destroying the Star Gods and when nobody is looking taking away the we'll be back. There are some other changes (MSS now useless, Wraiths now Beasts,<s> Crypteks losing everything fun</s>, Destroyers are Jetpack Infantry), but these are the ones that changed the most.

But the single most trolltastic weapon the Necron player has on hand is the one that doesn't even involve buying a central unit: The Decurion FOC. Simply put, this is an entire formation made of Formations, with a central one giving room for warriors, Immortals, Tomb Blades, Monolith, and a central Overlord, while giving options like the good ol' Royal Court, a formation for Canoptek-flavored cheese, a formation for Triarchs, and all be counted as Battle-Forged. The biggest change this brought was that, due to each individual component being technically a formation in it's own right, this lets you field some hilariously broken shit and still counts as battleforged; want to take nothing but wraiths and spyders backed by doomscythes? now you can and watch your opponent tears flow like the nile.

===8th Edition===
[[File:Necrons_Skullfucking_Tau.jpg|600px|right|thumb|First the [[Death Guard]] and [[Rape|now this.]] The 42nd Millennium has ''really'' not been kind to the [[Tau]]. Watch as [[Szarekh]] teach the young'uns a thing or two about applying [[Anal circumference]].]]
The gauss flayers are 24" rapid fire at ap-1, and the blaster is ap-2. Living metal is also an automatic wound recovery. Monoliths have 20 wounds, and can once again suck people into its gaping maw. Reanimation Protocols are now taken at the beginning of the user turn, and on a 5+ a model that has died is returned... no matter how long ago it got offed, no matter how many previous times you've rolled for it, as long as the unit isn't wiped out you can roll for it. Mortal Wounds can kiss Necron's collective shiny metal asses. So far, Cronz are gonna be just as durable and scary as they once were.

Reanimation Protocols: Roll a D6 for each slain model from this unit (unless the whole unit has been completely destroyed) at the beginning of your turn. On a 5+ return the model to the unit. This can happen in EVERY subsequent phase. So if a warrior dies turn 1, you roll turn 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on until it's back or the unit is destroyed.

Living Metal: At the beginning of your turn, this model recovers 1 Wound lost earlier in battle. Characters and Vehicles benefit from this rule.

Powers of the C'Tan: Before the battle begins, generate the Powers of the C'tan for each C'tan Shard using the following table. You can either roll a D3 to generate their powers randomly (re-rolling duplicates) or you can select the powers you want the C'tan shard to have. -(Why they have both options is beyond me.)

-1: Antimatter Meteor: Roll a D6; on a 2+ the closest enemy unit within 24" of the C'tan Shard suffers D3 mortal wounds

-2: Time's Arrow: Pick a visible enemy unit within 24" of the C'tan Shard and roll a D6. If the result is higher than that unit's Wounds
characteristic, one model from that unit is slain.

-3: Seismic Assault: Roll a D6 for each model in the closest enemy unit within 24" of the C'tan Shard. For each roll of 6, that unit suffers
a mortal wound.

HQ's
Common Abilities:
ResOrb: If this Model has a ResOrb, once per battle, immediately after you have made your RP rolls, you can make RP rolls for models from a friendly <Dynasty> Infantry unit within 3" of this model.
Phase Shifter: 4+ Invuln
[[Tomb Kings|My Will Be Done]] (either GW is throwing Tomb Kings fans a bone or making a jab at us/them): At the beginning of each of your turns, choose a friendly <Dynasty> Infantry unit within 6" of this model. You can add 1 to the Advance, charge and hit rolls of that unit until the beginning of your next turn. A unit can only be affected by this ability once in each turn.

Imotekh the Stormlord:

Overlord: 7 Points
M 5"/ WS 2+/ BS 2+/ S5/ T5/ W5/ A3/ Ld10/ Sv3+
Equipped with Staff of Light, Living Metal, Phase Shifter
Can take any Melee
May take ResOrb
My Will Be Done

8th edition necrons are also almost impossible to shift from morale with army wide Ld10. The changes to vehicles have nerfed Gauss weapons into oblivion though, as although absolutely everything is now capable of wounding vehicles, the amount of wounds needed plus the low chance of wounding at all results in you needing hundreds of shots to destroy them.

===9th Edition===

8th Edition Necrons were pretty bland, all in all. 9th sought to fix that and delivered in some very good ways.

Every army in 9th has some sort of Combat Doctrine-esque gimmick. The Necrons have Command Protocols. These are orders issued out by your highest-ranking noble and repeated by every character in your army. Reflecting the Necrons' discipline and rigidity, these protocols come in the form of six different cards with two different effects; you pick five of them at the start of the game and arrange them in a very specific order. Each card is then revealed every battle round, and depending on the situation, you pick the effect that suits you best. If you play as one of the main dynasties, they each favor one of these protocols and can choose both options! After which, a unit has to start within 6" of a character to receive these protocols and benefit from them. There is a Fortification that also transmits these protocols, but it sucks ass. Don't bother with it.

Crypteks are no longer just "Crypteks". They now represent four different disciplines that they are known for. They are known as Psychomancers, Plasmancers, Chronomancers, and Technomancers. Those tiles hanging off their necks? They're totally Maesters from Game of Thrones. In space. The Infinite and the Divine even confirms they're made out of a material relevant to each Cryptek's area of expertise, and even aid in enhancing their techno sorceries! Totally not magic, you guys.

The common, rank and file warriors have a shorter ranged Gauss gun, called the Gauss reaper, which shoots at assault 2, 12", ap-2 and dmg 1. They also now have the ability to REROLL 1s ON REANIMATION PROTOCOLS. This. Is. Huge. And potentially friendship breaking... like you have any.

Speaking of Reanimation protocol: It now works... differently. You do not roll per model, PER WOUND. But that is not all. During the shooting and fighting phases, you roll on reanimation protocols every time an enemy unit finishes attacking one of your units with Reanimation Protocols and has killed at least one model in the unit, unless the entire unit got destroyed. (Not abilities, morale tests or psychic fuckery) This is also all or nothing- if a model has multiple wounds, you need to succeed (on a 5+. 4+ if affected by a Reanimator) on all of the wounds a model has to bring it back.

Single wound models like Warriors and Immortals reanimate the same as always, one die per guy since they are only one wound each. Remember the reanimation reroll on Warriors!

For multiwound units: For example, you have a unit of 10 Lychguard. They have 2 wounds each- that's 20 wounds in the unit. During your opponent's shooting phase, your Lychguard encountered the business end of a [[Stormlord|vulcan-mega bolter]]. Thankfully, it only killed 5 of them, and the rest of the weapons took down an additional two.

Seven Lychguard died, and the Stormlord's shooting is complete. This means 14 wounds. So, you roll 14d6. Set aside results of 5+; for each one, you can regain one wound. A Lychguard will not revive until you heal all of its wounds; any left over are lost. Let us say you rolled really well and got 6 fives and 5 sixes. That's 11 wounds back. This is enough to equal the wounds of 5 Lychguard, so you bring 5 Lychguard back from the dead. The single wound left over is not enough to bring back another Lychguard. Eight Lychguard remain.

Reanimation Orbs now allow a once-a-game reanimation roll for a given unit based off the base number of models they started the game with. This gives you one last chance to bring as many back as you can.

Did I mention Technomancers just straight up bring back a model with their Rites of Reanimation ability? Because they can. They can bring back one Infantry model, and if it's a Warrior unit, 1d3 Warriors, during the Command Phase. Stick one behind a unit of Heavy Destroyers and give an opponent fits.

There are now melee destroyers! To differentiate them, the classic hovering destroyers are called Lokhusts, while the melee variant are called Skorpekhs. They walk on three crab legs and are basically 40k versions of the Ossiarch Bonereapers' Necropolis Stalkers. Even their weapon options are similar. Skorpekhs even get their own Lord! These boys can melt through a Marine's armor like a hot knife through butter. If you ever felt Lychguard were too slow and lacked natural rerolls, this unit is the unit for you.

The Monolith got a fancy new resculpt. It is now a Lord of War and is extremely expensive both IRL and ingame. It has a new anti-armor loadout that replaces its gauss arrays with Death Rays. DEATH RAYS. They even got bumped up to a 2+ armor save. They still die surprisingly quickly due to not having any save vs Mortals, no FNP, and no built-in invuln save. Pair these with a Chronomancer.

== How to Play (and Fight) the Necrons ==
The current state of 9th Edition has S-tier armies sitting at a much, much higher power level than anything ranked below them. If the likes of Tau, Custodes, Tyranids and Harlequins are 10/10, A rank armies like Drukhari, Genestealers and Admech are 7/10. Necrons are currently considered A tier. Solid, but not really broken in any real form or fashion. Which is to say, compared to S tier armies, you're going to feel really outmatched.

In a vacuum, Necron troops are still pretty damn durable, and the current form of reanimation protocols favors single wound infantry- especially Warriors with their reroll. However, don't think you can just march up and shoot all game. Plenty of things out there that can wipe out your unit in one go. This is why you always bring cryptek support if you can afford it. Technomancers bring back 1d3 Warriors every command phase (1 model otherwise. Great for small multiwound units like Lokhusts/Heavy Lokhusts/Skorpekhs. Chronomancers provide a 5++ invuln save to just about anything, even Monoliths. Crypteks can all take special artifacts called Cryptek Arkhana on top of standard artifacts. If using Technomancers or Chronomancers as pure support, get the Hypermaterial Ablator; it bestows light cover on a Core unit if the shooter's beyond 12", perfect for a unit marching and shooting. The final piece in the puzzle is the Canoptek Reanimator, one of the new War of the Worlds-esque spider walkers. Keep it hidden and safe, because its Command Phase ability allows it to provide a +1 buff to Reanimation Protocol rolls to a unit within 6". Combined with the above buffs, a fully kitted out Warrior unit will induce unheard-of levels of salt from your opponent.

Necrons reward a solid, well thought out gameplan with Command Protocols. If you're a [[Just_As_Planned|Just as Planned]], you will love playing Necrons. You don't have to set the order you'll use these until just before the first round, after you've had a chance to see what you're up against and what kind of scenario you're playing. If you can line up your buffs juuust right, you'll be very hard to deal with. [[Silent_King|Szarekh]] provides a bit of wiggle room here; with him in your army, you use one less Command Protocol but you can use one twice, and once a game, you can swap out one of your command protocols with one of the two you have not used this game. Great way to use this is to leave out a command protocol you know you'll want to make use of in a pinch but not necessarily -need-. When the turn that you really need it comes, just swap it in without worry. Unless it's a Dynastic Agent or C'tan Shard, try to never let your units stray further than 6" from any character. They must be within 6" of a character to benefit from Command Protocols when they activate!

Everyone in 9th edition love stacking buffs. Necrons are admittedly more rigid about it. Command Protocols cannot be swapped out without the Silent King; several factions can do it with strategems, psychic powers, etc. When it works, though, it ''works''. Warriors and Flayed Ones suddenly having 7" movement. Skorpekhs getting a 10" move in the same situation. If you have a feeling that you're going to get shot at a lot one specific turn, give everyone who won't move cover and use a the Ablator to give one particular unit cover out in the open. Spend a bunch of CP, an Overlord Buff, and a command protocol to make Warriors able to hit on 2+, auto wound on 6's to hit, cause extra hits on 6's to hit, get extra AP on a 6 to wound, and if you can afford a Lord, reroll on 1's.

C'Tans are digustingly good, and some competitive lists love throwing three at them at opponents. Just keep in mind that some armies, like Thousand Sons and Grey Knights, can easily wipe them out in one turn if they consistently inflict three wounds on them on the Psychic, Shooting, and Fight phases. The damage only gets ignored per PHASE. They are peak [[distraction carnifex]].

Aircraft suck this edition, try not to take them; they can't hold objectives, buffs/debuffs max out at +1/-1, and terrain rules more or less ignore aircraft. You can't hide them, they WILL be shot down extremely quickly. Best you can do is reserve them, fly them in to do take down one thing, and hope they survive a turn. Night Scythes are at least decent for a quick, unexpected attack vector to redeploy units from. The Monolith is also good for this.

Speaking of, don't let the Monolith's 2+ armor save fool you. '''It does not have an Invuln save!''' It has 24 wounds, but absolutely no way to guarantee a save without a Chronomancer babysitting it! It's also a Lord of War, making it much harder to field one! What buffs this thing got are greatly offset by what's going against it. Four death rays and a particle whip are nothing to sneeze at.

Your best anti armor options are basically the following: The Silent King, Heavy Lokhusts, Canoptek Doomstalkers, and the Monolith. The Silent King's Menhirs deal a horrifying 6 damage each and pack extremely high STR and AP. Heavy Lokhusts fire only one shot, but they get a reroll, pack good hitting power, high AP, and most importantly, D3+3 damage. They also get the extremely important Lokhust-only Strategem that lets them reroll wound rolls. Canoptek Doomstalkers are 30 points cheaper than Doomsday Arks. They lack quantum shielding and are less accurate. However, the Doomstalkers can squeeze into areas the Ark is too long a boi to, and the Technomancer with the Canoptek Control Node buffs them to a 3+ to hit if they stay close enough. Also, a free overwatch vs a charging unit of that unit charges an unengaged ally within 6". Doomsday Cannons may be relatively pillowfisted (D6 if standing still compared to d3+3), but you get D6 shots per Doomstalker. If RNJesus is on your side, Doomstalkers can potentially pump out more damage.

As it stands, army has way too many interesting Elite picks. Tons of stuff you want to take, and you can't take them all.

Scarabs are nowhere near as deadly as they used to be aside from the auto-wound on a 6+ to hit. When paired with a Dynasty that grants obsec to everything, they however, become an extremely effective objective grabber. They are also useful for denying potential Deep Strike landing sites.

------

How to best deal with Necrons? Bring enough massed fire to wipe out Warrior blobs in one go. Expect them to be fully buffed, because if you leave even one up, that's 19d6 that will resurrect a Warrior on a 4+. Then on the following turn, the Technomancer and Res Orb will bring back the rest. It's extremely demoralizing.

If you see the Reanimator hanging out in the back, blow it the fuck up before anything else; it dies to a stiff breeze and once it does, those Warriors will no longer reanimate on 4+.

Bring snipers. Tons of snipers. Take out their nobles in particular. Characters are also important, but without Nobles, Command Protocols will become unusable. '''Even better now that Bodyguards got nerfed to merely having Look Out, Sir!''' Undead armies live and die by their leaders buffing the shit out of their troops. Necrons are no exception.

Bring psychics. Lots of psychics. Necrons can't deny them if they don't have Szarekh or a Spyder with a gloom prism. Even then, it's just max one denial per aforementioned model. Mortal Wounds caused by psychic powers and abilities also ignore Reanimation Protocols. If an army is really good at delivering damage outside of shooting and melee, you're in for a rough time.

Bring tons of AP- Invulnerable Saves are actually pretty rare in this army due to the Chronomancer being able to hand it out like candy. Take advantage of that; those big, scary Destroyer units absolutely crumble to anything higher than -2 AP.

==In Battlefleet Gothic==
[[File:Tomb Forever.jpg|370px|right|thumb|The egyptians built the pyramids to get closer to the gods. The Necrons already got to their gods, used them to their own advantage and killed them. They build their pyramids because why not?]]
They are still totally fucking overpowered in [[Battlefleet Gothic]] though; their cruisers can crush many other race's battleships without much trouble. Although with the discontinuation of BFG by GW, the number of Necron fleets available for sale is now finite and thus the number of assholes who play them. Unless you find a [https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace/?tag=battlefleet%2Bgothic company] that can use 3D printers to make any model you want for [http://games-workshop.com/ too much]. [[Just As Planned]]

==In Roleplay==
Necrons are the ultimate Bad News, any Master can (and would) drop on his party if they get overconfident, forcing even high level Deathwatch and Chaos Marines to shit their power pants, as 'Crons combine near-marine power level with numbers and determination.

==Reasons to be a Necron==
* You look like a fabulously gaudy gilded Space Egyptian Robot.
* You are already dead and nigh-indestructible, so only entertainment matters.
* You have lots of dakka. Still doesn't match Imperial Artillery and [[Tau|Happy Campers]] though.
* You have lots of cheese and quirky rules with which to infuriate your opponent. Praise the [[Spiritual Liege]]!
* [[Cronssant]]s, bitches! Between this and all the teleporting units, you can be more mobile than the fucking Dark Eldar.
* You are <strike>arguably</strike> the most technologically advanced race in the history of 40K, and you did it all without use of the warp for cheats. Give yourself a pat on the back.
* You have one of the [[Trazyn| best canonical trolls]] of the whole 40k franchise.
* Egyptian mummy robots playing space chess: Minimum [[Grimdark]], maximum fun!
* Your color scheme is Black and Green, and we know [[Ork| how awesome those color schemes are]].
* The new canon gives you virtually limitless chances to create your own [[Phaeron]] and give it [[Your dudes|whatever kind of quirks you may like]].
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIj7gIDFDe4 Remember how awesome General Grievous was the first time he appeared?] That's how Necron Overlords fight in fluff, up to the point they could bring low heavyweights like [[Cato Sicarius]], or 2 CSM Lords in Terminator Armour and their retinue at ''the same time'' if "Fall of Damnos" or the [[Word Bearers]] novels are any indication.
* Remember when Bender from ''Futurama'' was a Pharaoh? Yep, that's pretty much how Overlords are now.
* You have literal star gods as pets. STAR GODS. Praise the [[Spiritual Liege]]!

==Reasons to NOT be a Necron==
* You have no soul. <s>("that is why i have no fear")</s> {{BLAM|quoting bad movies is HERESY}}
* You're not Grimdark Machine Death March of Doom anymore.
** Well, maybe you are, depending on what Phaeron you serve. The Silent King's wimpy "let's all turn back into squishy mortals" whining only affects about half the Necrons.
* You will be highly hated due to the amount of cheese in your units. Though this does [[Grey Knights|have]] [[Eldar|an]] [[Tau|allure]] of its own.
* [[Matt Ward|The Unholy Beast]] has handled your race with his touch. Although to your credit, the fluff isn't [[Grey Knights|Ward Knights]]-tier terrible. At least we got Pokémon out of the deal. Right, guys? ... Guys?
* You cannot differentiate the men from the women, so you will accept the risks.
** Unless you want to bang your leaders. [[Kor Phaeron|Phaeron]] is the title for male Necrons, Phaerakh is the title for female Necrons.
*Thanks to [[Matt Ward|The Great Beast]] you can't be friends with Thomas Macabee anymore.
* If you're an Oldcrons fan, you're never quite going to get the army you want because the C'tan have been glorified Pokémon for two whole editions and there's no signs of going back to the old fluff ([[Your Dudes|Though that's not to say there aren't any, and Skynet-style Necrons still canonically exist as well, so there's hope.]])
* You have no penis <strike>/vagina</strike>- Lets be honest, if you're on this page you almost certainly don't have a vagina. At least until [[Slaanesh]] finds you.
* You may, at any moment and with no reason or warning whatsoever, be struck by a panic attack as your not-there organic brain suddenly realizes that you have no skin to feel, no stomach, no tongue, no oxygen and make you desperately panic.

==Novels and stories featuring the Necrons==
Here is a list with a small synopsis of publications by [[Black Library]] and GeeDubs which feature them, '''before you start adding, remember, Necrons must not only be mentioned, but actually appear in the story,''' feel free to add new items and follow the alphabetic order:
*'''Ambition Knows No Bounds:''' Rogue Trader trying to plunder a Necron Tomb World.
*'''But Dust in the Wind:''' Imperial Fists vs Necrons, enuff said!
*'''Cain's Last Stand:''' Chronologically the last novel of Commissar [[Ciaphas Cain]], the Necrons appear later in the novel and proceed to ''march of doom'' a chaos fleet.
*'''Caves of Ice:''' Cain and the Valhallan 597th are sent to an ice planet to defend a refinery from an ork horde, but an ugly surprise awaits below the installations.
*'''Cold Steel:''' renegade imperial guard attempts to escape penal moon while there is a three-side war between the 'crons, space marines and khornates, featuring a [[Tesseract Vault]].
*'''Damnos:''' Ultramarines vs Necrons, features some Necrons POV, as well as the Ultramarines commanded by Cato Sicarius, if you don't like the Ultramarines, this may be the novel for you!
*'''Dark Creed:''' Word Bearers vs Astartes Praeses, the Necrons come in the later part of the novel, a great portrayal of how they are actually totally scary and overpowered.
*'''Dead Men Walking:''' Death-korps of Krieg vs Necrons, the novel has an extremely grim tone as it puts a lot of focus on the civilians caught in the campaign, and shows a lot of Krieg jerkassery, don't get too attached to any of the main characters and no Krieg-chan for you!
*'''Echoes of the Tomb''': One of the earliest novels of Ciaphas Cain, and the origin of his fear of the Necrons.
*'''Fabius Bile- Clone Lord:''' Sequel to the first novel focusing on everyone's favorite clone fetishist [[Fabius Bile]], this one has him continuing his search for a way to cure himself. Specifically involving him going to a forgotten planet in the eastern fringe called [[Trazyn the Infinite|Solemence]]...
*'''Flayed:''' [[Death Spectres]] evacuate civilians from a world that gets attacked by Flayed Ones every few years. Not what you expect going in.
*'''Hammer & Anvil:''' Sisters of Battle get slaughtered by the necrons and... wait! Are they fighting back? And they are actually competent? quite a nice read and gives the Sisters a lot of street cred back.
*'''Hellforged:''' 5th novel in the Soul Drinkers series by Ben Counter, a very good take on OldCrons that makes them genuinely terrifying, also includes awesome Mechanicus and Space Marines action.
*'''Imperial Armour Volume Twelve - The Fall of Orpheus:''' a Forgeworld book about the totally badass and horrifying [[Maynarkh Dynasty]] vs the Minotaurs and the Death-Korps of Krieg, overall an extremely cool, if expensive, book.
*'''Indomitus:''' Tie-in novel for the 9th Edition box set. 10 years into the Indomitus Crusade the Ultramarines of Crusade Fleet Quintus stumble across a Necron plot to expand the Pariah Nexus. Has Ultramarine and Necron PoV chapters.
*'''Infinite Circuit:''' A small story about a Cult Mechanicus procession getting their hands on a C'tan shard and the Deathwatch paying a visit to see what's going on.
*'''The Infinite and the Divine:''' Full-length Necron POV novel starring Trazyn and Orikan as they feud down millennia over possession of a mysterious Necrontyr artifact. Goes in a lot of directions, all of them fun, often very funny (come on, it's Trazyn so hilarity is a must). This one was very well received by the community, and for good reason, it's not just a well written novel, it brings everything non-grimderp we love and want from 40k while still being true to the bleakness of our favourite setting. If you could only get one title from this list- it's gonna be this one, [[Awesome|the novel sums up most if not all things /tg/ cheer about the new-crons]].
*'''The Twice-dead King: Ruin:''' Focuses on a "young" and arrogant exiled Necron prince named Oltyx, whose dynasty is in the path of an apocalyptic tide. This one is more grim than infinite and the divine with the Flayer virus being a big focus and how terrifying it is even to Necrons (also some glimpses at Necrontyr culture pre bio transference) and heavy psychological themes.
*'''The Twice-dead King: Reign:''' Immediate sequel and conclusion to the previous book. Having inherited the dynasty at the moment of its destruction, Oltyx flees with what survivors he can gather, with the enemy in hot pursuit. Features weird Necron superscience, more Flayed Ones than you can shake a stick at, and a twist ending that’s as heavily foreshadowed as it is bewildering.
*'''Nightbringer:''' Ultramarines vs Dark Eldar and Human traitors rushing to get to the crypt of the [[Nightbringer]], or perhaps it's just a shard. And let's be honest, it being a shard makes anyone in that room surviving a possibility.
*'''Rise of the Ynnari - Wild Rider:''' Primarily focusing on the Ynnari and the clans of [[Saim-Hann]], a scouting party comprised of the two factions accidentally awakens a dormant Necron Tomb World upon the maiden world of Agrimathea while searching for ancient Aeldari artifacts. Notably, the tomb complex is ruled by Phaerakh Hazepkhut; also known as the Watcher in the Dark. Having at least a passing interest in eldar lore is advised, as the Necrons do take a backseat to them in this novel.
*'''Severed''' Fantastic novella. Takes Vargard Obyron's point of view as he and Zahndrekh get up to some funs. One of the few books that balances how badass the Necrons can be with the bitter tragedy of the faction, and does it with dark humor. Well-written, consequential, and ends with one of the most awesome sequences in any 40k book. Will probably single handily start an entire genre of slash fics featuring Zahndrekh and Obyron.
*'''Shield of Baal: Devourer:''' Necrons POV! Featuring Anrakyr the Traveler trying to seize a tomb-world and some Necron dynasty nobles trying to flee a Flayed-Ones overran crypt-complex, also, Blood Angels and Tyranids.
*'''Shield of Baal: Exterminatus:''' campaign book featuring Anrakyr and the Mephrit Dynasty, teaming up with the Imperium to contain Hivefleet Leviathan, minimun oldcrons, maximun newcrons acting like Tomb Kings in space.
*'''Spear of Macragge:''' Ultramarines tanks vs Necrons, as well as some Ultramarines internal politicking.
*'''The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia:''' Trazyn decides to play the hero and help the imperials fend off Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade assault on Cadia.
*'''The Lords of Borsis:''' The preview for the World-Engine novel, featuring a Necron coup d'etat.
*'''The Word of the Silent King:''' The Silent King himself dealing with the Blood Angels, it seems the old Necron monarch has been acquaintances with Sanguinius himself.
*'''The World Engine:''' also known as <s>one of</s> the coolest Space Marines novel ever, it narrates the fight between the Astral Knights and the Necron dynasty from Borsis, if you liked the entry in the Codex, go for it!
*'''The Infinite Tableau:''' A trio of Deathwatch lead a team of Inquisitorial troopers to an ice-bound moon in search of missing Adeptus Mechanicus explorators. Following their trail into ancient caverns, the Deathwatch find a bunch of necrons waiting to kill them all!
*'''War in the Museum:''' Short story, Trazyn shows the problems of having living creatures as part of lifesized dioramas
*'''Warhammer Adventures: Attack of the Necron:''' Small children without guns versus the Necrons. We all know how this is going to [[rape|end.]]

==See Also==
* [[Tomb Kings]] and [[Vampire Counts]] for their [[Warhammer Fantasy]] equivalents (fun fact: both armies used to be one single Undead army full of mysterious motives and EVULZ, and as such the current state of Necrons is more of a step back to roots than being outright "new". Also oldcrons, minus Vampire dickery, are pretty much just Vampire Counts like Newcrons are basically just Tomb kings).
* [[Necron Army Creation Tables]]
* [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Necrons (9E)|Tactics on how to play them.]]
* [[Assholetep]] - A Necron Overlord of insufferable dickheadedness
* Lolcron, a popular Necron [[drawfag]].
* [[False Immortality]]
* [[Heavy-chan]]
* [[Lolicron]]
* [[Lovecron]]
* [[Papalith]]
* [[Shanako]]
* [[Imotekh the Stormlord]] - The de facto most powerful Necron ever.
* [[Silent King]] - THE most powerful Necron ever.
* [[Nemesor Zandrekh]], known for being both a total bro and completely senile.
* [[Thri-Kreen Erotica|Trazyn the--]] Goddamn it! That link was a fake! Curse you [[Trazyn the Infinite|Trollzyn]]!!!!
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q2e8lnqwwk Their theme from Dawn of War].
* [[Æonic Orb]]
* [[My Immortal|The most cursed piece of writing to ever blight the Necron race]]. The Deceiver probably wrote it in his free time as a revenge plot.

==Gallery==
{{Promotions}}
<center><gallery>
Image:1228731983317.jpg|Suddenly, [[dreadknight|Monoliths just got even more]] awesome.
Image:1204274003601.jpg|[[Angry Marines]] can really fuck your shit up.
Image:1208121844297.jpg|Necron players are well-known for their carefully planned tactics of "[[Wallhammer|move-shoot-move-shoot]]".
Image:1208122137113.jpg|Thanks to Matt Ward this is now canon. Give thanks to our spiritual liege for Thaszar the Invincible!
Image:274.jpg|IN THE GRIM DARKNESS OF THE 41ST MILLENNIUM, THE ARGUMENT STILL RAGES
Image:1208122702531.jpg|Here we see the humble [[Drawfag|Lolcron]], irritably drawing away.
Image:1229675685738.jpg|
Image:Lolicron05.jpg|Lolcron and lolicron - know the difference!
Image:Necron_by_Android_Arts.jpg|No.
Image:591.jpg|
Image:Thrillercrons.jpg|''The funk of 40,000 years.''
Image:Nodrawtoday.jpg|[[Drawfag|Lolcron]] is a lazy bum these days.
Image:lolcrontroll.jpg|Necron update 2011 in a nutshell.
File:Pariah Lee.jpg|The Necron's ace in the hole.
Image:Lolcron1.jpg|Damn space commies.
Image:Lolcron2.jpg|''Goddamnit.''
File:1304191380926.jpg|Ah, the early weakling 5th-ed + OP 7th-ed buddies.
Image:Taucronxeno .jpg|This is what we call a xeno double-down.
Image:Monolith song.jpg|Monoliths are known to inspire great songs.
Image:StupidSexyFlayed.jpg|Flayed Ones are adept at finding ways to maintain a nice figure.
Image:SadCron.jpg|A little reminder of what she's lost.
File:Stormlord.jpg|Phaeron Imotekh in all his egotistic glory.
File:Cult2.jpg
Image:Necron_motivator.JPG
File:Shenanigans.jpg
File:Necron skeleton.PNG| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2rwxs1gH9w Spooky Scary Necrons, send shivers down your spine]
File:Rising.jpg| Hmmmm....What is taking Ol'Zandrekh so them long for our Necron flaying party?
File:245433.jpg|C'tan-chan will suck your soul out through your urethra and she won't even touch your dick.
File:Female necron by lutherniel-dbhnh4t.jpg|A more realistic looking female Necron. Considering that only nobility could have their bodies shaped into how they were in life, she's definitively at least a Necron Lord/Lady... assuming sexual dimorphism on a robot body is considered worth the effort.
File:Mega Spooky.png|Mega Spooky.
File:Necron-characters.jpg|Go, Go, Necron Rangers...
File:Necron_with_booty_by_S_Socrates.jpg|With booty
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy.PNG| Necrons in the galaxy
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy segmentum solar.PNG| Necrons in the [[Segmentum#Segmentum_Solar|Segmentum Solar]]
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy segmentum obscurus.PNG| Necrons in the [[Segmentum#Segmentum_Obscurus|Segmentum Obscurus]]
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy segmentum tempestus.PNG| Necrons in the [[Segmentum#Segmentum_Tempestus|Segmentum Tempestus]]
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy ultima segmentum.PNG| Necrons in the [[Segmentum#Ultima_Segmentum|Northern Ultima Segmentum]]
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy ultima segmentum 2.PNG| Necrons in the [[Segmentum#Ultima_Segmentum|Southern Ultima Segmentum]]
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy segmentum pacificus.PNG| Necrons in the [[Segmentum#Segmentum_Pacificus|Segmentum Pacificus]]
File:Necron dynasty map galaxy sautekh.PNG| Territory of the [[Imotekh the Stormlord|Sautekh Dynasty]]
</gallery></center>

==Navigation==
{{Necrons-Forces}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}
{{Template:Important Species in 40k}}

[[Category:Xenos]]

China

2026-03-16T09:54:40Z

90.80.221.226: Undo revision 1008927 by 185.181.61.201 (talk) but true

{{NeedsImages}}

[[File: China map.gif |280px|right|thumb| Noodle land in all its majestic glory]]

{{topquote|[[Derp|China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese.]]|Charles de Gaulle}}

'''China''' is probably the oldest semi-continual polity in the world that anyone actually gives a shit about. Over the course of twelve major dynasties, a shitload of smaller ones, a bunch of big civil war punch-ups, one Communist dictatorship, and its current, ongoing, post-Communist oligarchy, this huge blob of East Asian grasslands/steppes/jungle/desert/mountains/everything and its b[[Hive World|az]]illion inhabitants has had a tremendous, outsized effect on the world economy and the culture of surrounding nations.

Naturally, this has made it fertile fodder for tabletop gaming. From the [[Forgotten Realms]] to [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game|Golarion]], few are the fantasy gaming settings ''without'' a "medieval China"-equivalent somewhere in the world. However, quite often, these Sure-Fine brand not! Chinas are about as well-researched and accurate as, well, [[Medieval Stasis|their European counterparts]], taking the broad cultural outline of a big empire ruled by a centralized bureaucracy and an all-powerful Emperor ([[God-Emperor of Mankind|who may or may not be a god / demigod]]) and a few specific trappings of architecture and dress to make what amounts to a China-based theme park for the adventurers to roam around in, seeing the sites, taking pictures, and fighting their way through that bestiary full of East-Asian monsters you never get to use. There's nothing ''wrong'' with this, really, but there's nothing particularly interesting about it either beyond the novelty of playing a bunch of slack-jawed tourists in your adventuring campaign.

However, the ''other'' major influence China has had on tabletop gaming is through the medium of ''wuxia'', material from a Chinese perspective that spills into the Western market. (Its cousin, ''xianxia'', is popular among sweaty Internet nerds who like ''isekai'' [[anime]], but has not penetrated nearly as deeply into the Western consciousness.)

== [[Wuxia]] ==
{{topquote|'Wu' means martial arts, which signifies action, 'Xia' conveys chivalry. Wuxia. Say it gently... 'whooshah'... and it's like a breath of serenity embracing you. Say it with force, 'WuSHA!', and you can feel its power.|Samuel L. Jackson, "The Art of Action: Martial Arts in the Movies"}}

Thank you, Reverend Jackson.

Wuxia is what China has instead of Tolkien. Just as the Western fantasy setting has got your dwarves and your elves and your dark lords leading armies to conquer the world, China has Jianghu, literally "the Land of Rivers and Lakes", implying a sense of freedom from both normal familial obligations and the tyrannic representatives of the [[Emperor]]. In the settings, corrupt civil authority forces noble wandering heroes to live like outlaws as they fight to restore order, learn secret techniques from old masters, are forced to battle their former best friends, etc. Just like Western fantasy, there's a lot of high-brow, literary stuff, but there's also a lot of entertaining trash pumped out to fill a public appetite for it. For instance, those cheap Shaw Bros. kung fu movies are wuxia, but so are films like ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' and ''Hero''.

And, naturally, this genre has its own tabletop games.

The biggest success is probably ''[[Exalted]]'', [[White Wolf]]'s epic fantasy role-playing game. While there are, obviously, a shitload of other influences, from a corrupt cosmic bureaucracy and physical Realm in need of heroes to fix things to the super-martial arts and flowery naming conventions, Creation would simply not be recognizable without the trappings of wuxia. This is true even in a subtler sense: wuxia often focuses on tragedy and deeply-flawed heroes whose best intentions turn on them. Thanks to the Great Curse, all the exalts are, unless they do their utmost to defy their fates, doomed to destroy all they love.

Other games, like ''[[Legends of the Wulin]]'' and ''[[Feng Shui]]'' draw on the genre more overtly. Even if the latter is more about aping the whole spectrum of Hong Kong cinema than wuxia specifically, even the later "heroic bloodshed" films are basically wuxia pictures set in the modern day with guns instead of swords, cities instead of forests, and cops and triads instead of heroes and bandits. The "69 A.D." Juncture ''is'' pure wuxia though, with an Imperial Court strangled by the machinations of the evil eunuch-sorcerers known as the Eaters of the Lotus and a countryside lousy with their supernatural and mortal henchmen terrorizing the nation. And the text notes that the heroic Dragons are frequently destroyed and remade, heroes born beneath stars of tragedy who often go out fighting the good fight.

Wizards actually tried their own hand at a ''wuxia'' setting, the awesomely-named ''[[Dragon Fist]]''. Running on an early, jury-rigged d20 engine with a lot of leftover AD&D parts, it was barely-functional, but fun as hell, and set in the land of Tlanguo, though it got no support at all after the initial release. (Boooo!)

[[Legend of the Five Rings]] is usually seen as a more "Japanese" setting than a Chinese one, and it's true that there's plenty of ''jidei geki'' DNA in Rokugani society, from its strict, stratified class system and militarism to its overtly-Japanese names and weapons, to subtle things like "void" replacing "metal" as one of the Five Elements. But, there's still plenty of Chinese flavor there. Various periods in Rokugani history were far more friendly to the wuxia mien, with bands of heroic ronin fighting the power against a corrupt shogunate in the hands of the Shadowlands. In particular, the Phoenix Clan endorses a philosophy that has far more similarities to daoism than anything recognizably Japanese, and Rokugan itself, as a land-bound empire that relies on a coastal breadbasket to feed a less-productive inland and a Great Wall along a border with a dangerous and barbaric foreign power to keep the heartland safe, is much more like China than any period in Japanese history.

==History==

{{topquote|The Empire, long divided, must unite. Long united, it must divide. Thus it has ever been.|Opening lines of Romance of the Three Kingdoms}}
{{topquote|China is whole again...then it broke again.|Bill Wurtz, summarizing Chinese history}}
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_China A brief timeline]

===Ancient China===
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_dynasty Pre-History Stuff]'': A confederation of early-agricultural peoples who will later be known as the "Han" settle in the valley of the Yellow River. Confusingly, a dynasty of the same name is also coming up (it's because they named themselves after that particular dynasty). The Han built one of the first civilizations on Earth, with block writing, metalworking, and advanced farming techniques.
* Xia: There is fuckall known about the Xia dynasty for certain, as this period had no permanent writing and exists largely as a folk story told by later generations. The Xia period is held with a sort of Arthurian reverence, with tales of bravery and dragons. Due to how China views history, these are considered historical fact, despite their fantastic elements and lack of corroborating evidence. What few records exists revolve around towns made of dirt and logs, but there is certainly a campaign or two to be had from a time of Gods, Heroes and Dragons. Also, millet and noodles; if the Erlitou theory should hold up.
*''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty Shang]'': Led by the Yin family, the Shang had bronze, which, to use technical military parlance, made them the meanest bitches on the block for a long time. They worshipped a celestial god Huangdi. The Yin lords and ladies were ''obsessed'' with divination, going through huge heaps of bones and turtle shells for fortune-telling purposes whenever anyone did anything. So, yay: literacy, at last! Their nobles also had a habit of honoring ancestors by burying hundreds of slaves in their tombs. All par for the course for Early Bronze Age society - as witness the [[Maya]], [[Gilgamesh]], and the "Iphigenia" legend from Greece. Eventually, the Shang became [[Imperium of Man|engaged in too many wars]], before being overthrown by...

===The Zhou===
The Zhou were a family from out west in the boonies that moved onto Shang land and became vassals to the Shang until they... weren't.

Unlike the Shang, whose culture has to be gathered from myth and scattered nonliterary documents, Linear B style; the Zhou culture actually produced a literature, although that got transmitted through layers of copying and redaction. Still, Chinese culture is [https://razib.substack.com/p/3000-years-of-chinese-history remarkably continuous from the Zhou].

To justify their rebellion, and then their rule, the Zhou introduced the concept of a "Mandate of Heaven" (''tian ming'' in modern Mandarin orthography) issued not by the mercurial gods but by the cosmic forces of rightness, to which even gods must bow. It was brilliant, in its own way: theoretically, each dynasty ruled by the Mandate. When they didn't do so well or justly, Heaven would withdraw the Mandate and give it to someone else who'd overthrown them. And the Zhou stopped their subjects from sacrificing each other, which was a major step forward.

More-cynically, this Mandate meant that a ''successful'' rebellion was "proof" that Heaven had turned its back on the old order, and an ''unsuccessful'' one was "proof" that it wasn't time yet; this system of ''ex post facto'' justification has proven to be much more durable than the western concept of the ''divine right of kings'' and persists to this day (if not in name). It also didn't hurt that the Zhou showed mercy upon the Yin family who'd run the Shang, allowing them to keep a fief in the Song duchy. Confucius himself was of the Yin / Song ex-Shang.

Anyway, the Zhou had a good run, but the state's vassals started pulling apart during [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_and_Autumn_period Spring and Autumn period], and eventually the whole thing fractured into a mess of warring states fighting for supremacy. This was known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period Warring States period]. At the same time, constant conflict and the need to innovate culminated in to the "Hundred Schools". The origin of both Confucianism (under the sovereign-again Song/Yin) and Daoism in some of their earliest forms was observed.

===Early Imperial China===
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty Qin]'': Probably the shortest dynasty that people actually remember and care about, but it had the great emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Yes, this motherfucker had the nads literally to name himself "God". Uniting the nation by military force, the so-called "First Emperor" invented probably the first modern nation-state, standardizing culture, weights, measures, roads, and countless other things to ensure that the Chinese stopped thinking of themselves as being from Lu, Jin, or Wei and started thinking of themselves as Chinese. He's got a bad reputation as a crazed mass-murderer too, but that was mostly because he made enemies with the Confucians and the Confucians wrote the history books for two millenia and some change to come. He also "abolished history" by burning all the books not containing useful technical information (and occasionally their authors as well), keeping only a copy of each one in his private library for the leader's personal use, which was promptly lost after his death - which happened sooner than it should have, because he thought that [[fail|chugging mercury would make him immortal]]. What he built barely survived him, but there's a reason the modern nation still bears his name. (...It's pronounced "chin." Goddamn pinyin.)
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty Han]'': This one's so important it's still what the Chinese call themselves as an ethnic group. Roughly contemporaneous with the Roman Empire, with each being aware of the other without ever quite meeting (partly because the Parthian Empire was really anal about playing middle-man on the Silk Road). They seemed to think of themselves as opposite versions of themselves on opposite ends of the world. The Han was founded by a former Qin Sheriff who lost some of his prisoners during a convoy; realizing that the punishment would be death, he decided that he already had nothing to lose and instigated a successful rebellion against the Qin (this is why there is such a thing as too severe a punishment when it ceases to be a deterrent). Introduced the concept of a centralized bureaucracy offering positions to applicants who were judged by local officials based on the Confucian classics, the latter of which would survive until the Sui initiated reforms and the ''former'' of which didn't go away until the Emperor did. A hugely-prosperous, technologically-skilled, highly-advanced society, with a new coinage standard that, unfortunately, as part of a running theme, began to fall into weakness and decadence. First, the eunuchs, always resentful of their snipping, tried seizing power for themselves, only for military officers to storm the capital and slaughter them all, leading first to a tenuous military dictatorship, and then to, well...
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms Three Kingdoms], and the Romancing Thereof'': The late Han dynasty and generation shortly thereafter was a great and heroic age. It was a time of larger-than-life personalities, brave generals, brilliant strategists, and masterful politicians. It is worthy of study both for historical/entertainment value and for inspiration in any good tabletop campaign that wants to have a military-political element. And it is the subject of one of the Four Classical Novels, the historical epic usually translated into "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in English, this being the reason of its fame. Unfortunately, it is also ''bastard complicated'', so let's just say that one of the Three Kingdoms finally usurped the Han after using them as a puppet state for a while, and then conquered the others a generation later, all the while, after successive underage emperors, being a puppet to the founders of the next dynasty. Most gamers in the west know this period due to the Dynasty Warriors series and the [https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Total_War#Total_War:_Three_Kingdoms Total War: Three Kingdoms] game.

===[[Age of Strife]]===
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_dynasty_%28265%E2%80%93420%29 Jin]'': Backstabbing, political maneuverings, coups d'état, internal conflict, corruption, political turmoil followed by clashes and war; successful and unsuccesful throne usurpings, military revolts, paranoia among royal family, more revolts and end to Jin rule.
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_and_Southern_dynasties Northern and Southern]'': An age of civil war and political chaos complemented by a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism. It should be noted that the Northern Dynasties were essentially [[Warriors of Chaos|barbarians]] and most of the Han fled south. Key technological advances occurred during this period, but more important was the spread of agricultural tech to the south, cementing their status as major taxgivers. The invention of the stirrup during the earlier Jin dynasty (265–420) helped to ignite the development of heavy cavalry. Advances in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and cartography are observed by historians.

===Medieval Imperial China===
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_dynasty Sui]'': The good: they reunited a divided China, and 1) successfully undertook such vast internal-improvement projects as the Grand Canal connecting the city of Beijing in the north to the city of Hangzhou in the south, a thousand miles away; 2) initiated the test reforms, which will slowly change China into the model state in Voltaire's eyes in the course of five hundred years. The bad: they were extravagant assholes and control freaks whose projects were built on a foundation of peasant bones mortared with blood. Fell apart after the second emperor's repeated attempts to conquer Korea against dogged resistance and interference from the top broke the back of the army.
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty Tang]'': The Emperor Li Yuan, who seized the capital from the Sui, is his dynasty in microcosm. When he took power, the people thought he would be the greatest emperor in their nation's history; energetic, brilliant, skilled at all manner of government, military, and artistic tasks. He stabilized the shaking nation. Then he turned into a paranoid, murderous asshole as he got older until he finally got deposed. Sounds about right. This is the age in which the Chinese invented gunpowder, and, at its height, it was also the richest, most-advanced, most-cosmopolitan society on Earth, rolfstomping basically every thing that crossed the great houses of the dynasty. Problem is such conquest was completed by governor-generals that can tax their lands, which allowed them to rebel quite easily. The Tang dynasty also had the only officially recognized empress regnant (i.e. a woman who rules as a monarch in her own right, not as the wife of the emperor) in the history of Imperial China, Wu Zetian. Once things started falling apart, a radical sect of Confucianism began attempting to purge China of "outside influences" and restore China to the good old days through teaching and circulating their works, and also encouraging persecution and robbery of said outside influences, including Christianity and Buddhism. Buddhism survived, Christianity (Nestorians) did not.

===Second Age of Strife===
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Dynasties_and_Ten_Kingdoms_period Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms]'': The period of political disunity between the Tang and the Song, known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. During this period, five states quickly succeeded one another in the Chinese Central Plain, while more than a dozen concurrent states were established elsewhere, mainly in south China. During this half-century, China was in all respects a multi-state system.
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Song_dynasty Song]'': Invading barbarians devastated a Tang dynasty that was already eating itself alive from within. After a brief but invigorating series of civil wars and abortive wanna-be dynasts, an opportunistic general seized control of a splinter state that begun uniting China, and would go on to overlap with the Yuan for a while until the Mongols finally finished 'em off. The Song dynasty was, no bones about it, a cultural and economic powerhouse. They invented such modern marvels as paper money, steam and water-powered industry, and mass production. They also created beautiful and marvelous art, like pots depicting ponds on which fish appeared when water was poured in, or rice that smelled like flowers while it was cooking. However, they were ''also'' weak politically and militarily, and their ongoing "sour grapes" stance toward most of their neighbors, combined with Neo-Confucian abhorrence at the thought of allowing ''merchants'' to do the fighting, prevented them from properly leveraging the economic advantages of their hyper-advanced economy to dominate them with "soft power," and their underdeveloped understanding of economics meant many of these advances were eventually abandoned by a society not ready for their consequences. Ultimately gave in to...
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynasty Yuan]'': Goddamn Mongolians. Technically "started" by Genghis Khan himself, it only really became a Chinese-style dynasty when his grandson, Kublai Khan, set up his capital in Khanbaliq (later Dadu, modern Beijing). Like the Greeks and the Romans, the "conquering" Mongolians slowly resembled their Chinese subjects. Culturally, this was the beginning of the modern Chinese novel and drama, though always with the wary eye of Imperial censors lurking over the writers' shoulders. (This was nothing new, incidentally, though the volume sure was.) This was also the dynasty that brought China to the West's attention, partly due to the Mongol invasions threatening Eastern Europe, and partly due to Marco Polo's accounts of the reign of Kublai Khan. The Mongols generally imported nobles rather than using locals, so a variety of Middle Easterners were brought in to manage and police the Chinese nation, while Chinese bureaucrats were sent to the Middle East to manage and police it. This is the origin of the Hui people, Muslim descendants of intermarrying foreign officials and soldiers who maintain their faith today and served as some of the most disciplined and feared of all Chinese soldiers in future wars. Eventually, the Yuan proved how "Chinese" they'd become by going out in the traditional Chinese way: collapsing into a mass of squabbling warlords and decadence because of fiscal disaster. Notably, the fleeing Khan took the ancient Imperial Seal dating all the way back to ol' Qin Shi Huangdi himself with him when he went back to Mongolia, and no one's ever found where he stashed it, according to legends anyway.

===Late Imperial China===
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty Ming]'': Founded by an illiterate peasant-turned-warlord, Zhu Yuanzhang, who stands aside such figures as Oliver Cromwell of England, Jeanne d'Arc of France, Toussaint L'Ouverture of Haiti, and the Prophet Muhammad of Arabia as one of the great completely self-taught military minds of human history, the Ming dominated the remains of the decaying Yuan empire with a mixture of [[Orks|brutal cunning]] and [[Creed|tactical genius]]. He went the way of Li Yuan by the end, but the dynasty he founded was the stablest and most-powerful China ruled by the Chinese in generations. It combined the economic power of the Song with the military might of the Yuan and the cultural sophistication of both into one of the grandest empires in human history. Politically, of course, they were rather repressive and authoritarian, hence ''[[Flash_Gordon|Flash! AHOWWW]]''. But it was ''also'' a very literate society for its time, with openly-female writers and readers getting lots of cred. This dynasty also saw the absolutely ''epic'' world-journey of the eunuch-admiral Zheng He, that was the closest the real-world ever got to a sea-based ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign. Unfortunately, due to the influence of the Neo-Confucians, their own self-sufficiency and comparative sophistication compared to the rest of the world, and good ol' fashioned racist jingoism, Ming China was very isolationist and arrogant; yet somehow managed to trade a lot because most of the silver Spain dug up in the Americas ended up there, meaning the rich were even more rich. This era of long-term peace led to a decay of military strength, especially as they insisted on inventing their own kinds of [[firearm]] rather than importing cheaper European models, and pervasive corruption and eunuch-influence at the top rotted everything it touched. Humiliatingly, after three centuries, the dynasty came to an end not when the next one stepped up to the plate, but when a ''fucking peasant revolt'' got there first (China's treasury was completely empty after years of excessive spending and corruption, and since the peasant rebellion meant that taxes could no longer be collected, the government was unable to pay or support any armed force to stop the revolt), and the Emperor committed suicide, leaving a gap for the Manchus to back right into.
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_dynasty Qing]'': [[File:Eight-Nation-Alliance.jpg |300px|right|thumb|And in 15 years they'll all be at war.]]As mentioned above, the semi-nomadic Manchu invaded China from beyond the Great Wall and took over as the Qing dynasty. When you learn about the Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion, and Spheres of Influence in middle school, this is the dynasty it all happened in. Under the Manchu emperors, China expanded to the largest size in history, occupying Mongolia, Tibet, and much of Central Asia that had not been controlled by China since the Tang dynasty. As the last dynasty, the Qing basically reached a point of such decadence and corruption that military budgets were spent on building palaces, and attempts to modernize and "Westernize" China as Meiji Japan did were met with unremitting hostility by entrenched political factions within the Imperial palace. Into this, a series of flooding disasters destroyed harvests and left the common Chinese and the military angry at pretty much everyone. Violent rebellions began appearing, aiming to '''Make China Great Again''' by getting rid of all the foreigners. One of the revolts was the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Rebellion] caused by a man who thought he was the brother of Jesus and that the Manchu were demons, resulting in somewhere between twenty to thirty million deaths. This provoked a brief invasion by, well, everyone. Literally. Virtually '''ALL''' the European powers plus America and Japan sent troops to save their citizens (and more importantly, their colonial holdings). Some weren't so quick about leaving. With China basically becoming a big cake being sliced up by stronger colonial powers, a young Chinese-American Anglican named Sun Yixian/Sun Yat-Sen decided it was time to get rid of the imperial dynasties and establish a modern, Westernized, democratic republic. In 1912, the 7-year old Emperor abdicated (though he retained part of the Forbidden City and was paid an annual stipend), and the line of dynasties came to an end.

===THIRD Age of Strife===
*'''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_(1912%E2%80%9349) Republic of China (1912-1915)]'': Sun Yat-Sen only became president with the help of Yuan Shikai, a Qing general who forced the Republicans to name him president if he made the Qing Emperor step down, with the support of most of the modernized Qing armies stationed in northern China and around the capital of Beijing. As promised, Yuan Shikai was made the new President of the Republic. A year later, having won national elections and taken control of parliament, Yuan further increased his power, such as making him able to name a successor ''by law''. Sun Yat-Sen's chosen successor was assassinated by "persons unknown", and the same fate would befall those suspected by investigators of having some role in the assassination. All things pointed to Yuan Shikai being responsible, but no charges could be filed as all potential suspects and witnesses were dead. With an abortive revolt crushed in Southern China, and the mechanisms of government in his hands, nothing much could be done when Yuan declared himself the Hongxian Emperor.
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlord_Era Warlord Era]'': Yuan Shikai's short-lived dynasty was defeated by a coalition of anti-monarchist armies from the south, and Yuan died shortly thereafter. However, rather than re-establishing the Republic, Yuan's defeat and death simply saw many of his followers take their own portions of the army and establish warlord states throughout northern China. One of these factions became known as the Beiyang Government and claimed itself the legitimate government of the Republic of China. Sun Yat-Sen's Nationalists retreated to the south and became warlords themselves, calling for war against the autocratic Beiyang. Dozens of lesser warlords proliferated throughout China's provinces, and the Beiyang government joined the Allies in World War I in the hopes of recovering territories taken by Germany and Austria-Hungary during the Qing Dynasty, mainly Shandong.
*''Nanking Government of the Republic of China'': Starting in 1927, over the course of one year, the Nationalist army broke the back of three major warlords of the north, nominally unifying China under one government. The remaining warlords resisted Nanjing/Nanking's concentration of power, causing even more bloodshed. Making things more complicated, the Japanese controlled Shandong, having taken it from the Germans after WW1, and nobody in China liked that.

===Modern China===
''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China People's Republic (aka Communist China)]'': This is the era of history that, for better or worse, most Westerners are familiar with. To make a long, winding, and rather complicated story short, nearly everything in China nowadays can be traced to the efforts of one man; Mao Zedong, the leader of the then-outlawed Communist Party of China. Beginning in 1927, he warred against the nationalist government under Jiang Jieshi/Chiang Kai-Shek. Although they put their war on hold to kick the Japanese out of their country during the Second World War, by 1949, the nationalist government was pushed back to Taiwan (where they still rule today and claim to be the true government of China), and mainland China was unified under the communist red flag. For the next 50 or so years, the Chinese would play an interesting role in the Cold War between the USA and USSR; first as allies to the Russians until the Sino-Soviet split in '69, then as sort of-friends to the US after Nixon negotiated an agreement with them. As for Mao, historians are notably [[Skub|divided on his record as a politician]]. While it is agreed the man was a brilliant general, literally writing the book ''On Guerrilla Warfare'', the mixed reaction comes from his rather disastrous socio-economic policies. (and by that, we mean left around 72 million Chinese dead, from a mixture of starvation, political purges, and a ten-year period of anarchy that made the Reign of Terror look like a birthday party because it was legal for people to tell armies to hand over their weapons). His detractors will claim utopian stupidity, malicious tyranny, or a mix of both, while his supporters usually will make the claim that he just made honest mistakes. Nevertheless, his successors felt that the country was going to implode if they pursued any of Mao's hard left policies any further, so now we're in a weird state of limbo where a country that's still being ruled by the authoritarian Communist Party is more capitalist than it had ever been in any previous part of its history.

But don't suggest China will become a democracy anytime soon. The last time they tried that in AD 1989, things [[Baneblade|went badly]] for everyone involved, especially at Tiananmen Square (which also provided an iconic meme of the little guy standing up the big guy with [[wikipedia:Tank Man|Tank Man]]). Since then, the Chinese [[1984|Ministry of Truth]] is trying to make sure that no one knows that anything happened back then. Additionally, the current president, Xi Jinping, is easily the strongest of China's leaders since Mao and has taken the country to a notably more authoritarian direction, to the point that presidential term limits were removed and he was allowed to write his political thoughts into the constitution, which are now being studied just like Mao's Little Red Book was back in the day. Even worse, he's even taken a leaf from [[Nazi|certain]] [[Imperial Truth|other]] dictators with the treatment of China's Uyghur Muslims under his regime (complete with forcing them, at gunpoint, onto trains bound for prison camps). When COVID-19 was first discovered in the city of Wuhan, several scientists studying the virus realized it had the potential to become a pandemic and warned the government, [[Noblebright|some even suggesting they also warn other countries of the potential risk]]. The government responded by imprisoning several of them (some of who have never been seen since) and covering up COVID-19... until it became a global pandemic and intrepid truth-seekers revealed the point of origin and the cover-up.

On a lighter note, in recent history, Xi has gone full old man yells at cloud and decided that kids these days spend too much time playing video games, defining ''too much'' as three hours '''a week'''. AKA, Operation Touch Grass by some.

A more recent development is China's declining population, just like [[Japan]]. While the latter is caused by their ass backwards business culture, nepotism and inability to run their economy. China's self inflicted wound is due to their One-Child Policy they canceled in 2015 (which was originally put in place to help curb overpopulation back in the 1970s). This wouldn't have been a problem if their culture didn't have preference towards boys, while the government showed blatant favoritism towards rural provinces to circumvent it. One problem China shares with Japan here is strong xenophobia and an aversion towards all but the strictest immigration policies reducing the number of foreign people able and wanting to move there and boost the population that way. This means there are thousands of men who can't get married, many of them uneducated with lower income. Meanwhile urban women increasingly prefer husbands with the same education and values as their own or create a vicious cycle of rising demands by choosing career success over starting a family. China is now in a situation where their economic bubble is heading towards a downturn as well due to building more houses than their citizens could afford, turning unused apartments into giant money sinks. Anyone who isn't a moron will tell you that traditionalist values and Communist (or any left wing) ideology don't mix like the CCP wishes it would.

[[image:Game_Store_in_Taiwan.jpeg|thumb|150px|right|♫Some times you wanna go, where everybody knows your game...♫]]
*As a quick side note, that island Chiang Kai-Shek took over, Taiwan, or the Republic of China as it's officially called by the local government, is actually doing fine. It's a liberal democracy which is very much capable of [[Team Yankee|defending its position]]. If you like Chinese food, crowded cities, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and winding rural mountain roads it's a perfectly nice place to visit; they even play ''Warhammer'' (apparently mostly ''40k''). Taiwan is also notable for being the place where majority of the entire world's semiconductors are produced, which gives them major global influence as all countries both big and small are dependent on them. The majority of Taiwanese view Chiang Kai-Shek sort of like the Americans who wrote the majority of this article think about George Washington, or even the Puritans at Massachusetts Bay, as a [[Creed|hardcore leader]] who did some dubious, hypocritical things but was historically significant nonetheless and ultimately was the father of their country even if he killed a lot of people to get there and believed shit they find repulsive.

However, opinion on Taiwan in China is [[Skub|heavily controversial and, if non-critical, can get you blacklisted from certain places (mere mention of Taiwan can be enough to do so)]], so be careful who you talk to about it. It's become a running gag that American celebrities are often forced by their corporate masters to publicly apologize, sometimes in badly-pronounced Chinese, whenever they mention Taiwan existing, or outright support the Chinese government's more infamous actions (shit like the conquest and puppeteering of Hong Kong, the massacre at Tiananmen Square that they still deny happened and if it did they deserved it or the Uyghur Genocide) to avoid losing access to the mass-est mass market in the world.

==People's Republic of China==

After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, China plunged into several decades of consecutive civil wars until a man named Mao Zedong unified China. After unifying China, Mao Zedong introduced a system that was distinct from any previous dynasties. This system, which is still in use in China today, combines elements of ancient Chinese centralized bureaucratic systems with the Leninist model of the Soviet Union.

In simple terms, the government in China is composed entirely of bureaucrats. Although there is a "figurehead parliament" known as the National People's Congress (NPC), which is theoretically the highest authority in China and has the power to elect the President (current President Xi Jinping is ostensibly elected by the NPC), the bureaucrats are the actual decision-makers and implementers of policies. They even oversee their own actions through internal mechanisms of supervision.

During Mao Zedong's reign, he and the Communist Party of China created this series of institutions for the entire country. In Mao's ideal vision, this system was supposed to operate effectively, be subject to supervision by the people, be free from corruption, and have bureaucrats who were honest and dedicated solely to the betterment of society. The Communist Party of China sought to merge with the Chinese government and even the Chinese people themselves (as of 2023, the Communist Party of China has around 10% of the total population as its members, which means approximately one out of every ten Chinese individuals is a party member). Most of the high-ranking officials in China, as well as the majority of known bureaucrats, are party members. Mao Zedong's ideology has been infused into the minds of every Chinese person.

In Mao Zedong's ideal vision, China was meant to be a country where the bureaucracy was supervised by workers and farmers. He was eager to introduce his ideals to everyone, writing books and compiling his own quotations, hoping that everyone would learn from them. However, in reality, the system had significant flaws. Workers and farmers were unable to effectively supervise the bureaucracy, and moreover, the majority of them lacked proper education. On the other hand, the bureaucrats were often highly educated intellectuals. During Mao's reign, he held the position of a philosopher king and could somewhat steer the country toward his ideals. But after his death in 1976, power struggles erupted within the centers of power in China. Mao's chosen successor, Hua Guofeng, was overthrown by Deng Xiaoping, who became the de facto leader representing the bureaucratic group. (It is worth noting that most Chinese people are unaware that Hua Guofeng was actually the second leader of China, and many mistakenly believe that Deng Xiaoping served as the second leader. In reality, Deng Xiaoping never held the position of President of China.)

Before his death, Mao Zedong expressed in his last wishes that his ashes should be scattered into the Yangtze River. However, the Communist Party of China established a special committee to discuss the handling of Mao Zedong's remains. They quickly reached a consensus to place Mao Zedong's body in a crystal coffin for exhibition, similar to Lenin in the Soviet Union. This decision continues to generate significant controversy. Some argue that it does not show proper respect for Mao Zedong himself, while others believe that Mao Zedong's contributions to China warrant such an action. Regardless, Mao Zedong's preserved body remains on display in the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall in Beijing, China. Anyone can enter and pay respects to this great leader.

After Deng Xiaoping came to power, he overturned a series of socialist-oriented policies in China, including the collective ownership of land and the 90% state-controlled economy. He initiated reforms that shifted China towards a capitalist direction, known as "reform and opening up," which China continues to follow to this day. During Deng's tenure, China experienced rapid economic growth, and the living standards of the Chinese people significantly improved. The issue of famine was also alleviated with the introduction of high-yield rice varieties developed by a brilliant agricultural scientist named Yuan Longping. However, Deng Xiaoping's era is widely recognized as the most corrupt period in China's history. As the chosen representative of the bureaucratic group, Deng Xiaoping inevitably protected the interests of the bureaucracy. Many high-ranking officials during Deng's era amassed vast fortunes through corruption and bribery. It was during this time that many revolutionary elites who fought to overthrow China's feudal aristocracy and warlord system became the new "red nobility" or "red capitalists."

During the early stages of Deng Xiaoping's era, China pursued a pro-American approach. However, in 1989, the United States launched a color revolution targeting China, which led to the infamous events on June 4th, known as the Tiananmen Square Incident. On that day, over a hundred people died, and there are still divergent accounts of what exactly happened due to a lack of reliable documentary evidence. Each faction within China's political circles has its own interpretation, much like the varying perspectives surrounding the events of January 6th, 2021, in the United States. Consequently, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated to a less favorable level. In the 1990s, the United States provoked China multiple times, particularly regarding the Taiwan issue. China even prepared for the possibility of war in response to these provocations, resulting in a frosty period in bilateral relations.

In 1992, Deng Xiaoping relinquished nearly all of his power and chose Jiang Zemin to succeed him as the leader of China. It is said that Jiang Zemin was selected because during the 1989 turmoil, he handled the Shanghai protesters in a non-violent manner. He mobilized Shanghai's workers to persuade the predominantly student-led protesters to go home. This approach garnered recognition from Deng Xiaoping.

After Jiang Zemin came to power, he gradually reformed the military, which to some extent alleviated the problem of bureaucratic corruption in China. At the same time, he consolidated China's capitalist path under the banner of "socialist market economy" and incorporated Deng Xiaoping's theory into the Party Constitution (which is equivalent to the Bible of the Communist Party of China, as the organizational structure of the party is akin to that of a church). From then on, China, which had previously pursued an idealistic path during Mao Zedong's era but achieved unsatisfactory results, underwent a complete transformation into a realist China.

Indeed, due to the prolonged internal conflicts that spanned almost half a century (from 1911 to 1949), and with the broader perspective of ongoing tensions between the Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), China's economy remained underdeveloped. During this time, China relied on industries such as garment manufacturing and low-end product assembly to slowly accumulate primitive capital, while awaiting future breakthroughs. China was still struggling through a challenging and difficult period.

After Jiang Zemin's era, Hu Jintao came to power as the leader of China. How was Hu Jintao selected? In the 1990s, there were several incidents of unrest in Tibet, including one in the capital city of Lhasa. During this particular incident, as a government official, Hu Jintao donned a helmet and held a rifle while standing on a military vehicle to help suppress the rioters. This event earned Hu Jintao the nickname "Lhasa Tiger," and it was in part due to this display of leadership that he was chosen by Jiang Zemin.

In 2002, Hu Jintao came to power. His rule, compared to the era of Jiang Zemin and later Xi Jinping, appeared relatively calm and uneventful. Many people viewed him as continuing along the path laid out by Jiang Zemin. During this period, China's economy entered a golden age, and it became relatively easy for many Chinese people to find decent jobs. Various restrictions were relaxed, allowing for greater freedom of expression on the internet, including criticism of the government, the Communist Party, and even direct attacks on Hu Jintao himself. As a result, many people have fond memories of this era because it was a time of apparent tranquility and prosperity, even though it may seem that nothing significant happened.

Now, please rise as we introduce the esteemed leader who is revered by the people of China, the Chairman of the People's Republic of China, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the President of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Comrade Xi Jinping!

In 2013, President Xi Jinping assumed power and has been leading China ever since, without stepping down.

Politically, President Xi Jinping has consolidated his position by vigorously combating corruption and purging his political opponents. His unprecedented crackdown on corruption has solidified his power. Furthermore, his efforts to combat corruption have instilled hope among the Chinese people, who have witnessed decades of corruption since the era of Deng Xiaoping. As a result, President Xi has garnered significant support from the people. It can be said that he is the most influential leader in China since Deng Xiaoping, and perhaps even since Mao Zedong.

Economically, when President Xi Jinping took office, China was at the end of the "Golden Decade," and its economic development had entered a phase of deceleration. The double-digit GDP growth rates experienced during the "Golden Decade" had slowed down to single-digit growth. However, President Xi has made significant efforts to promote technological development and encourage the growth of advanced industries such as semiconductor chips, civil aviation, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. Overall, China's economy can still be considered relatively strong.

In the realm of the internet, President Xi Jinping has strengthened internet regulation. While it is still possible to express anti-government and anti-Communist Party sentiments on the Chinese internet, compared to the Hu Jintao era when internet regulation was relatively lax, there are now stricter controls in place. Moreover, criticizing President Xi Jinping himself has become an absolute taboo. President Xi promotes the concept of internet sovereignty, which asserts that each country should have control over its own internet space. As a result, many people believe that the quality of internet information in China is gradually declining.

In terms of culture, President Xi Jinping promotes reverence for the revolutionary heroes of China's past, particularly those from the revolutionary war era of the last century. He also advocates the spirit of striving, emphasizing that every individual should work diligently in their respective positions to achieve a better life. Additionally, he requires all Communist Party members to use a mobile app called "Study Xi, Strong Country（学习强国）" to learn about the Party's new ideologies, and all Party branches are expected to regularly study the directives of the top leadership. However, despite these efforts, a culture of decadence has still prevailed since 2019.

In society, Xi Jinping has strengthened the presence of the Communist Party of China (CPC) across various social spheres, emphasizing that the Party should not solely consist of government bureaucrats. People from every industry have been encouraged to join the CPC, expanding its membership to an astonishing number, surpassing the population of possibly 80% of the countries on Earth.At the same time, he promotes China's outstanding traditional culture and integrates the predominantly Confucian thought into the mainstream ideology of modern China.

In terms of military affairs, Xi Jinping downsized the PLA from 2.3 million to 2 million troops in order to allocate higher per capita military expenditure and implemented various reforms within the armed forces. He emphasizes the absolute leadership of the Chinese Communist Party over the military (although this is a consistent stance on his part). During his tenure until 2023, China has constructed two aircraft carriers and has at least three more aircraft carriers under construction in shipyards.

===Political Affiliation===
The internal power struggles within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are not made public, and many people have their own interpretations of these internal dynamics. Therefore, we will only discuss the factions within the general public.
There are many political factions within China, among which the main ones are the loyalist faction and the opposition faction.

* '''Loyalist faction'''
:The loyalist faction refers to all those who are loyal to the government of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party. Regardless of their reasons, they acknowledge and support the rule of the government and the Chinese Communist Party, and they have no intention to overthrow their rule (at least not currently). The reasons for their loyalty may vary, such as their admiration for the Chinese system, the benefits they have gained from it, or simply their dislike for other countries.

* '''Opposition faction'''
:The opposition faction, in contrast to the loyalist faction, seeks to overthrow the government of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, or at least one of them. Similarly, there can be various reasons behind their opposition, such as their dislike for the Chinese system, not benefiting from it, general discontent with the country, or even allegations of receiving money from organizations like the CIA or individuals associated with Taiwan.

Apart from the two factions mentioned above, there are indeed other factions within the general public.

* '''Han Nationalists（皇汉）'''
:Han Nationalists often emphasize the dominant status of the Han ethnic group in China. They typically call for the abolition of preferential policies for ethnic minorities (in China, ethnic minorities receive certain benefits, such as additional points added to their total scores in the national college entrance examination, known as the "gaokao"). Some may also demand the elimination of ethnic autonomous region policies. However, it's important to note that the most extreme and radical individuals among them advocating ethnic cleansing and promoting extreme racial ideologies represent a small faction.

* '''Maoist（毛左）'''
:"Maoist" refers to those who support Chairman Mao Zedong and have nostalgia for the era of his rule. They have varying degrees of support for the government, hoping for reforms that align more closely with the Maoist era. Some believe that China deviated from the path laid by Chairman Mao after his death and advocate for the overthrow of the Chinese government to establish a new People's Republic of China. It is worth noting that as China's economy has worsened, this viewpoint has gained increasing recognition among a growing number of people.

* '''Openist'''
:"Openist." It refers to a faction that advocates for relaxed control measures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, opposing strict quarantine policies. Some individuals within this faction may believe that COVID-19 is just a minor cold and does not require strict control measures.

* '''Isolationist'''
:"Isolationist." It refers to a faction or group of people who advocate for strict containment measures in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. They support policies that involve rigorous isolation, quarantine, and other measures aimed at controlling and eventually eliminating the spread of COVID-19.

==Military Stuff before the 20th century==
As a general rule China has not been big on the idea on the idea of warriors as a class unto themselves. There were charioteers back during the Warring States Period and Manchu bannermen a long, long time after that, but otherwise there was nothing equivalent to the sort of warrior society that you saw in feudal Europe or pre-modern Japan. To give you an idea of the standing of warriors in Ancient China, let it be said that the world was made up of Four Categories of People (analogous to the Three Orders of feudal Europe): Scholars, Farmers, Artisans, and Merchants; which basically served to protect the scholars from the emergence of a middle class by inverting the relationship between mercantile wealth and social standing. The Scholars, known as ''shi'', replaced the warrior-charioteers around the time Rome invented the pyrrhic victory, and resembled the Roman prefects in terms of their duties and authority. In later eras, soldiers and warriors were considered beneath these four categories and ranked alongside [[Bard|entertainers]], [[Sharess|prostitutes]], [[Maid RPG|domestic servants]], and [[Commorragh Slaves|slaves]]. Basically, they were fightier eunuchs.

Owing to the low status of the profession, if you wanted to raise an army in China you didn't have a hereditary caste of men trained in the arts of war from childhood, like knights or samurai. Trust us, many rulers tried and failed to establish such a caste. Instead, you'd get a whole bunch of peasants together, equip them, and send them out to do your fighting for you under the command of a noble trained and educated to be a general. Armies would thus vary in quality, from solidly professional soldiers to badly-trained and ill-equipped conscripts, depending on region and era.

In general Chinese armies were more missile oriented than their medieval or classical European contemporaries with a mix of close quarters soldiers and missile troops. Beginning with the Warring States period, crossbows were a big deal because it meant that your conscripted peasants could easily be trained to saturate the enemy with projectiles.

A few words on weaponry...

Ancient China recognized four major melee weapons: staff, spear (although their concept of spear includes a wide variety of polearms - Iconically Chinese polearms include the Ji, Guandao, and podao)), single edged swords (dao), and double edged swords (jian); and of the two swords the jian was held in much higher regard than the dao. Infantry, cavalry, and pirates use the dao because it's [[choppa|an unsophisticated choppy thing for hacking your enemies to bits]] (and more importantly, as a tool for chopping bamboo). Anybody who's anybody fights with the jian because it's stabby, and stabby is the gentlemanly way to fight. If you have a curved sword in a Chinese setting you are a walk-on nobody or a filthy barbarian (either japanese or mongol) and you exist to get slapped around. China is also known for more exotic weapons such as hook swords, butterfly swords, rope darts, wind-and-fire wheels, and other bizarre weaponry that is much more closely associated with specific martial arts than on the battlefield. As with many unarmed martial arts styles, actually fighting utility can be quite varied.

In addition to melee weapons, China invested heavily in projectile weaponry, in particular inventing the repeating crossbow (chu-ko-nu) for maximum dakka on the battlefield. China is also the birthplace of gunpowder, resulting in such weapons as fire arrows, fire lances, hand cannons, rockets, grenades, etc.

==Culture==
There's a lot of it, and it's surprisingly relevant.

In Western antiquity, there were supposedly four "classical elements," namely air, fire, water, and earth (The Greeks also included aether, but because was an ethereal material that existed beyond earth it was usually left out). You know this. Don't pretend you don't, it's in ''fucking everything''. But, in classical China, there were ''five'': fire, water, earth, ''wood'', and ''metal''. And, just as all of Europe copied the Greeks, all of Asia copied China, with varying degrees of fidelity. Japan, for instance, had void instead of metal and air instead of wood. This more-or-less introduced the idea of "opposing" elements and elemental weaknesses, [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/FiveElementsCycleBalanceImbalance_02_plain.svg via a complex web of interactions]. Think how boring and tactically-flat so many games would be if certain kinds of damage didn't work better on certain enemies!

Many games play with this alternate elemental system. Aside from ''Legend of the Five Rings'', ''Pathfinder'' and the ''[[Dresden Files RPG]]'' both offer variant rules using it instead of the classics. It certainly makes for an interesting change.

==Religion==

Meanwhile, let's talk about religion. While Christianity has its own traditions of warrior-monks, usually represented as [[cleric|clerics]] or [[paladin|paladins]], the Chinese tradition is arguably the most distinctive. Two of the three major Chinese religions/philosophies, taoism and buddhism, emphasize meditation and discipline, which is strenuous to both the body and mind. Thus, they invented systems of exercises to strengthen both, called "kung fu," or, literally, "hard work."

Then, when they needed to act as local militias defending against marauding bandits, it turned out having intense mental focus and physical stamina made them damn good fighters, and the rest is history. And that, ladies and gentlemen is where the modern ''D&D'' [[monk]] came from.

In particular, taoist practices emphasize the existence of a kind of underlying substance of which everything is made, called ''qi''. ''Qi'' is a kind of... energy field, created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds [[Star Wars|you get where this joke is going, right]]? Anyway, in ''Exalted'', qi and essence are almost literally the same thing, and the monk and its various similar classes in ''D&D'' have "ki pools" that offer fancy new abilities.

Anyway, the Chinese ''also'' envisioned Heaven as containing a system, a Celestial Bureaucracy mirroring the one on Earth, that kept the world running according to various agreements and contracts between the gods, and even with mortal rulers via the "mandate of heaven" (a very complex concept that essentially boils down to "success and failure are self justifying"). Most tabletop settings have similar rules, regulations, and restrictions on the gods to explain why they subcontract out to adventurers, and though most of the gods and personalities of, say, the average ''D&D'' campaign setting have more to do with Western paganism than anything recognizably Chinese, the ''system'' of how they operate is more Chinese than Western simply because they ''can't'' just do as they please.

In more general terms, Chinese religion is a pretty mixed bag that leaves most outsiders confused. Yes, there are the three "main" religions of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, but they're all considered inclusive of one another, so it's possible to be a practitioner of all three. At a very high level, Taoism is concerned with the nature of existence (and is by far the most vague of the three), while Buddhism is more concerned with the reasoning individual and the trajectory of the soul, and Confucianism focuses on the proper ordering of society (and of the three is the most prescriptive). Traditionally, Chinese society has seen the three as complementary rather than mutually-exclusive, like many Pagan societies, though this has not stopped fundamentalist versions of one (in particular) of the three from trying to wipe out the other two whenever it becomes ascendant (''*cough* the CCP are Confuscians *cough*'').

Furthermore, you've got the myriad traditions of the ancient folk religion, largely assimilated into Taoism and Confucianism to varying degrees, centered around heaven and ancestor worship. Even after the communist purges, ancient folklore and superstition still has a strong influence among the common people, a fixation on luck being one such example, as you can see from the various lucky charms and statues in your local mom and pop American Chinese restaurant. Another such superstition lead to the creation of "[[Jiangshi|hopping vampires]]"... which are exactly what they sound like. Okay, they're more like zombies with extreme rigor mortis, but you get the idea. Anyways, if you want something that deviates from Western mythological values and religious struggles, the Chinese have an interesting set of ideas.

There are several other religious established in China of both native and foreign origins. Since the Seventh Century there have been enclaves of Christians in regions in China (and was bolstered during the age of sail) and Islam had become well established in the western regions of the Empire by the Ming Dynasty. Hinduism is established in China, but has been on the decline. There was even a Jewish enclave in the city of Kaifeng.

==Fun Facts and Moronic Misconceptions about China==

* There is technically no singular Chinese language, instead you have a few dominant spoken tongues (politically classified as dialects) like Cantonese and Mandarin followed by a gorillion smaller dialects. They do share a common written script (though that too is split between Simplified and Traditional) so even if a Cantonese and Shanghaiese speaker can’t speak to each other, they can at least communicate with writing to a modest extent. The closest analogy would be an Italian and a Portuguese person (shared Latin root and alphabet but not necessarily mutually intelligible tongues).

* China is one of the oldest polities in the world in terms of broad cultural continuity, meaning that while other nations would radically change or get supplanted, China was more or less enduringly Chinese.

* As with dialects/language, the country is actually composed of a number of ethnicities, the dominant being the Han, followed by the Mongols, Manchu and Zhuang.

* Yes - cats, dogs, bats and other critters are on the menu, though this has less to do with extreme Chinese omnivorism and more with the fact that famines were so bad that it was either that weird animal-thing or starvation. Having rice 7 days a week is prosperity, when times get bad you eat tree bark and grass.

* The Song dynasty (960. - 1279.) was remarkably tech-savy and had intensive industry in steel production and coal mining, being close to the 18th century Europe and possibly to industrialization. They were in the cusp of moving from feudalism to a more cosmopolitan and mercantile society. For better or worse, this was cut short by, you guessed it - the Mongols.

==See also==
[[Cathay]]

[[Category: History]]

User talk:Pachinko Man

2025-10-03T06:01:12Z

90.80.221.226: /* Let it go */ Reply

== Sharing PDF's ==
* Where is the "sharethread"? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 12:23, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
* If adding direct links to PDF's is wrong - then, adding links to folders with PDF's is correct? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 12:23, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
** In other words: if i can't do [https://2d4chan.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=D20_Modern&diff=1003447&oldid=1003439 this], then can i add something like "[https://beta.the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Dungeons%20&%20Dragons/ this]"? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 18:55, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

== Let it go ==

Why are you still trying? This wiki is dead. His owner, most likely, died. It is filled to the brim with bots. In a few months, the hosting service will shut it down because the bills have not been paid. What's the point of continuing to edit it? Just let it go. [[Special:Contributions/90.80.221.226|90.80.221.226]] 12:53, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

:You got proof of that son? [[User:Pachinko Man|Pachinko Man]] ([[User talk:Pachinko Man|talk]]) 00:04, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::[[User:2d4fag|Here is the proof.]] Read the last line. And for the bots... Just look at the [[Special:RecentChanges|Recent Changes page...]] [[Special:Contributions/90.80.221.226|90.80.221.226]] 06:01, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

User talk:Pachinko Man

2025-09-16T12:53:45Z

90.80.221.226: /* Let it go */ new section

User talk:2d4fag

2025-09-02T13:41:05Z

90.80.221.226: /* Active? */ Reply

== Spice and Wolf ==

Why was the page cut, especially since it was there when 2d4 came back (and was part of it's gimmick ad)? Plus it leaves red links all across the 2d4 [[Special:Contributions/46.205.196.189|46.205.196.189]] 18:46, 16 February 2025 (UTC)
:It is not relevant to /tg/. Keep it in relegated to [[Approved Anime]]. I did not create the thread that advertised the return of this site.--[[User:2d4fag|2d4fag]] ([[User talk:2d4fag|talk]]) 03:52, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
:Ironically, back in 1d4, I was the only one that wanted to delete the page. All the soon-to-be 1d6 editors wanted to keep it, porn included.--[[User:2d4fag|2d4fag]] ([[User talk:2d4fag|talk]]) 03:55, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
::One of the most /tg/ and 4chan things ever isn't relevant, says some asshat. Can't wait to see the domain goes down, like it already did twice so far

== RE: Remove those joke templates they put at the top of the page ==

Outta curiosity, what was wrong with the joke templates to start? Were they considered cluttering or what? [[Special:Contributions/50.65.212.96|50.65.212.96]] 00:45, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

:Yes they were cluttering. They line up in a big stack at the top of the page and don't really serve a useful or entertaining purpose. [[User:2d4fag|2d4fag]] ([[User talk:2d4fag|talk]]) 14:15, 17 February 2025 (UTC)
::They do though. Originally they were related to the massive infobox stacks that many mediawiki-based sites accumulate. The homos who took over the wiki went too far with it, as tropers always do, but wholesale nuking is not advisable. The oldest templates (awesome, heresy, cleanup, skub) should stay. [[User:Pachinko Man|Pachinko Man]] ([[User talk:Pachinko Man|talk]]) 15:21, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

== Compromised Historical Preservation ==

i extraneously disapprove of both the campaign & /tg/heim's erasure, what kind of archive does that?, in any case if you are sticking to your guns, a simple search will reveal that there are still 30 pages related to /tg/heim if you search for it & a lot more linking to campaigns, in fact one escaped your nuking [[TG/heim:_The_Forsaken_of_Mermedus_(Norse_Warband)]], you should have blocked editing of them after adding a warning that they are left as historical records instead of deleting them, you disgust me.

as an aside, i know it was barebone(singular), but is what was done to the [[Fatemasters]] page really acceptable? [[User:PrincessLoverEleventeen|PrincessLoverEleventeen]] ([[User talk:PrincessLoverEleventeen|talk]]) 15:59, 20 February 2025 (UTC)
:This is no longer an archive.--[[User:2d4fag|2d4fag]] ([[User talk:2d4fag|talk]]) 03:00, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
::Then I guess you can go fuck yourself with your shitty offshot, then

== Please do not an hero ==

Why the hell would you do that? People are finally starting to use the fucking site after learning what massive faggotrons the suptg guys are. [[User:Pachinko Man|Pachinko Man]] ([[User talk:Pachinko Man|talk]]) 15:12, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

== Active? ==
* [https://2d4chan.org/wiki/Special:ListUsers?username=&group=sysop&wpsubmit=&wpFormIdentifier=mw-listusers-form&limit=50 He's the only admin], and [https://2d4chan.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/2d4fag he was last seen doing actions on 3th May]. So he's active or not? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 13:59, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
** So, he was last inactive for roughly 3 months. Is that normal? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 19:15, 29 July 2025 (UTC)
**:He has abandoned the ship. You did not know? [[Special:Contributions/88.188.8.167|88.188.8.167]] 16:18, 1 September 2025 (UTC)
**:You know about him? Like - why he did it, or whether or not it's possible for him to come back (guaranteed to come away?)? --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 16:27, 1 September 2025 (UTC)
**::Read the last sentence of his user page. [[Special:Contributions/90.80.221.226|90.80.221.226]] 13:41, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

User talk:Sdhjk

2025-09-02T11:27:02Z

90.80.221.226: /* Copy/Past articles from 1d6chan */ Reply

== Okay, here's the deal... ==

One of the most annoying and obnoxious stereotypes in nerd culture is the "um ackshually" guy. Surely you know the type: that one asshole who will insert himself into any-fucking-thing you try to talk about in his presence, say "um, ackshually..." and proceed to spout something inane, wrong, tangential at best, and/or so long-winded you'll forget what you were talking about if you don't have the balls to shut him up. He has memorized volumes of Shit Nobody Cares About on a variety of topics, usually centering on anime, comics, or /tg/ material, always either the least-common-denominator of those mediums or something nobody's heard of that he latched onto like a duckling latches onto the first thing it sees, and will often try to derive jargon from it as if other people could ever know what the fuck he's talking about. He cannot fucking stop himself from sharing this with everyone, because he has nothing else to offer the world and takes solace in being an "expert" in such random crap. It gets even better if you reveal you do, in fact, know enough about the topic in question to call him on his shit, as he will invariably throw a tantrum when what he sees as his sole redeeming value is threatened. Everyone hates that guy, including himself. He is one of the lowest forms of neckbeard, below even the theater kid and often comorbid with the furry.

On the Internet the "um ackshually" guy, without anyone to interrupt, has to spout his irritating nonsense someplace else: wikis. It is the "um ackshually" guy who gives us the bureaucratic fucks on Wikipedia who try to "correct" Ph.D's in their chosen fields on shit they spent six years studying. It is the "um ackshually" guy who is responsible for TVTropes, in all its septic glory, where everyone's seeming goal is to staple as many blue words onto as many things as physically possible. And, on our very own 1d4chan, it was the "um ackshually" guy who decided every turd that came out of a TSR employee's asshole needed to be preserved in wiki form for all eternity, everything with a statblock in his favorite game needed a full profile, and every other paragraph needs a sentence fragment or three that undermines the idea and readability of the entire thing, like surgically implanting a second appendix. The latter group are the gang of idiots who founded the 1d4chan discord, and consequently 1d6chan.

Please stop being the "um ackshually" guy. 1d4chan is (was) culturally descended from ED, almost deliberately created as an antidote to the autistic cancer represented by the "um ackshually" guy. Articles should be short, punchy, useful, relevant to /tg/ culture (especially /tg/ culture as of the 2008-2012 period when 90% of the articles that don't blow chunks were written) and ''short''. This doesn't mean everything has to be a stub or copying from 1d6chan is totally verboten, but article length should as a rule be proportionate to the amount /tg/ as a culture has to say about something that can't be looked up in a splatbook or other primary source. What you've generally been doing is the opposite of that, and it's ''pissing me off.'' [[User:Pachinko Man|Pachinko Man]] ([[User talk:Pachinko Man|talk]]) 02:37, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

== Copy/Past articles from 1d6chan ==

This is what you are doing now, eh? You are such a pathetic little creature. [[Special:Contributions/88.188.8.167|88.188.8.167]] 16:10, 1 September 2025 (UTC)
:Well, but you didn't do anything ''at all'' yet. Critiquing, but not doing anything. --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 16:23, 1 September 2025 (UTC)
:You know, this wiki is very outdated. It has so many things to fix, that a bot is required. But i don't have a bot. --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 16:32, 1 September 2025 (UTC)
:Besides, at least i copy/paste good things. The rest of activity are some spam bots filling the wiki with nonsense. --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 16:34, 1 September 2025 (UTC)
::And 1d6chan is no better. Their admin, Gilten, constantly vandalizes everything. --[[User:Sdhjk|Sdhjk]] ([[User talk:Sdhjk|talk]]) 09:03, 2 September 2025 (UTC)
:::How so? By reverting your edits and banning you for the nth time? [[Special:Contributions/90.80.221.226|90.80.221.226]] 11:27, 2 September 2025 (UTC)