Chaos (Warhammer)
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In Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a parallel universe, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the "Realm of Chaos" in Warhammer Fantasy. The term can refer to these warp entities and their influence, the servants and worshippers of these entities, or even the parallel universe in which these entities are supposed to reside. The most powerful of these warp entities are those known as the Chaos Gods, sometimes referred to as the "Dark Gods" or the "Ruinous Powers". They are very similar to and may have been influenced by the concept of Chaos from Michael Moorcock's Elric saga[1], and the godlike extra dimensional Great Old Ones of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft's novels.
Both game worlds depict fictional fantasy and science fiction settings out of spiritual balance, where aspects (supposedly fed by emotions) of human nature in the real world are able to coagulate and gain consciousness in a mystical (or psychic) context in this parallel universe, the Warp. In the two game settings, Chaos represents the classic theme of Man vs. Himself, with the fantasy twist of giving these psychological struggles a physical form and influence. In both settings, Chaos is seen as a seductive force, capable of corrupting anyone; even the most strong-willed and goodly-inclined follower will gradually be corrupted and become another follower of Chaos. This corruption is not just spiritual, but also physical - followers of these Chaos Gods frequently find themselves being mutated by their masters.
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[edit] The Chaos Gods
The concept of Chaos Gods has been a more or less integral part of both Warhammer universes ever since they were first conceived. The Chaos Gods in Warhammer are essentially deities worshipped by various groups and that is what makes these groups followers of Chaos. In this idea there is evidently a strong influence from the British fantasy writer Michael Moorcock. Many different Chaos Gods were named in the various early miniature catalogues released by Citadel in the early eighties. But it was never clearly explained how the fictional pantheon looked like. The idea of "Four Great Powers of Chaos" i.e. Chaos Gods, were first introduced in the two Realm of Chaos sourcebooks released 1988 and 1990 respectively. To date these are the most detailed and defining pieces of work published by Games Workshop regarding Chaos. These Chaos Gods were described as being enormously powerful, and were constantly seeking to extend their power into the real world, the realm of mortals. They would do this by attracting followers amongst mortals by promising power, wealth, immortality, or whatever else the potential servant desires. Those mortals who wish to do such business with the dark gods must in return give their own souls to Chaos. Meaning that when or if they die their souls are taken to the area of the Warp controlled by the dark god they worshipped. These places are very similar to the modern western idea of Hell. Here the soul suffers for all eternity at the hands of the dark gods to feed Chaos upon the soul's energy. Servants of Chaos that have failed their god in a particularly irritating way from their masters point of view may look forward to extra hard suffering. This idea of selling one's soul seems to be inspired by the medieval myths of mortals selling their soul to the devil for power or pleasure.
The gods are portrayed as capricious, selfish and vain, demanding absolute loyalty from their servants and rewarding deeds when they wish, in whatever ways they deem appropriate. Still, the Chaos Gods are nought but reflections of the strongest human (And those of other races, too) emotions. So, as the currently strongest emotions are negative, the Chaos Gods are also negative. But it is hinted at in the background that Chaos can be good, if the strongest emotions in the warp are positive. But this is only hinted at. And as the state of the Warhammer world is dark and gloomy even without the Chaos Gods, this is unlikely to happen. But as the current Chaos Gods creates more and more despair and dark emotions, it grows stronger. So the more negative emotions there are in the Warhammer world, the stronger Chaos will become. So one could say that the only way to fight Chaos is to be positive. But as Chaos has been destructive throughout the ages, this theory is uncertain.
Current background material for both settings still state that there are many Chaos Gods, but the idea that there are four which are significantly more powerful than the rest is still there. The four great gods are often used as antagonists in their respective settings, frequently sparking great wars against other factions with the aim of gaining total domination over the entire setting. The names and aspects of these four great gods are:
- Khorne - God of Hate, Rage, Blood, War and Killing
- Tzeentch - God of Change, Lies, Hope, Ambition, Manipulation, Scheming and Sorcery
- Nurgle - God of Decay, Despair, Destruction, and Disease
- Slaanesh - God of Decadence, Excess, Pain, Pleasure and Self Indulgence
While these gods distrust each other and in-fighting is common, each is also diametrically opposed by one of the other gods. Khorne is an outward acting deity, seeking the death of others; he is opposed by Slaanesh, who acts inwardly, seeking a life of unrelenting pleasure. Nurgle represents forces of decay, destruction, stagnation and random disease while Tzeentch represents constant building, evolving and planned change.
Especially dedicated worshipers of the gods can be gifted with traits associated with their god; warriors blessed in such a manner are said to bear the "mark" of their god. The effect of this mark varies by game system, army and god, but is generally beneficial to the warrior in question. For example, in Warhammer 40,000, Chaos Marine worshipers of Nurgle become infected with a multitude of terrible diseases, which causes their bodies to rot and become resistant to pain and injury; their counterparts in Warhammer Fantasy are similar, but the rotting effect instead makes them appear frightening to their foes. Another example would be Khorne, whose followers in both settings are nearly uncontrollable, insane warriors who crave nothing more than to tear apart their foes in hand to hand combat. These marks can then lead to further boons from the patron god, known as "gifts" - these gifts can eventually turn the warrior bearing them into a powerful Daemon Prince.
[edit] Other Chaos Gods
Besides the currently four major gods, there have existed other gods, both major and lesser, in past editions. The other Chaos gods who have been mentioned in the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 settings include:
- An'sl, Mo'rcck, and Phraz-Etar - minor gods mentioned in older background material for Warhammer 40,000 (Johnson, 1999). Other than their names being puns on the last names of Bryan Ansell, Michael Moorcock, and Frank Frazetta and that they are minor gods, nothing is known of them.
- Hashut - in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, Hashut is the god of the Chaos Dwarfs. He represents aspects of Industry, Fire, Volcanoes, Darkness, Hammers and Lightning, and shares some aspects of ancient Babylonian gods.
- The Horned Rat - in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, the Horned Rat is the god of the Skaven. He represents aspects of Disease, Magic, the power of Chaos itself, Rats, and other characteristics of the Skaven race.
- Malal - a renegade Chaos God, representing the paradox of Chaos fighting against itself. He is no longer mentioned in current background material.
- Necoho - in Warhammer Fantasy, a renegade minor god known as the "Doubter", representing aspects of Agnosticism and Atheism.
- Zuvassin - in Warhammer Fantasy, a renegade minor god known as the "Great Undoer", representing a desire to foil the efforts of others.
- Sarr'Kell- in Warhammer 40,000, he is the entity contacted by erebus when Horus kills the Astrpoath Ing Mae Sing during the Horus Heresy, he calls himself lord of the shadows.
There are a multitude of other unnamed gods and cults. In the Warhammer 40,000 setting, for example, the Chaos Space Marines called Raptors and Obliterators each have their own cults, the natures of which are virtually unknown. Also in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, the fallen Dark Angel known as Cypher is protected by an unknown entity of great power, although it is unclear if this entity is a Chaos God. Background material for Warhammer Fantasy mentions many other minor gods with very little background beyond their names and aspects, such as Khakkekk (goblin god of blood), Atagro (god of beasts), Meneloth (elven god of pleasure), Obscuras (god of shadows and hidden things) and Mermedus (god of the sea). It has been hinted that these lesser deities are deceptive alias' of the four major Chaos Gods. For example, Khakkekk draws parallels with Khorne, both in name and aspect.
[edit] Chaos Undivided
In addition to the individual gods, some followers of the Dark Gods worship Chaos in other ways. Some followers worship the gods as a pantheon rather than following one particular god. Other followers worship Chaos as a single great entity, with the various Chaos Gods simply manifestations of that entity's aspects. Still others may simply follow one god briefly and then switch allegiance to another, owing more to convenience than actual faith. Regardless of the nature of their worship, all of these are grouped together as Chaos Undivided; followers of Chaos Undivided may bear a mark, similar to the followers of the four great gods.
Generals who bear the mark of Chaos Undivided, in both settings, have more freedom from the effects of the difficult relations between the Chaos Gods. As an example, while warriors who worship Slaanesh would not serve a general who worships Khorne, an Undivided general could potentially convince warriors of these gods to fight for him, without fear of reprisal from either.
Also, other more specialised forms of the Mark of Chaos Undivided exist which are usually carried by extraordinary leaders. For example, Abaddon the Despoiler of the Warhammer 40,000 setting bears the mark of "Chaos Ascendant", which was specially gifted to him by the four greater gods due to his status as the major leader of the forces of Chaos. It is essentially the Mark of all four Chaos Gods, amalgamated into one incredibly powerful blessing. Archaon from the Warhammer Fantasy setting is similarly marked as the "Everchosen" or the "Lord of the End Times". He has collected magical artifacts, each having been once wielded by a favoured champion of one of the Chaos Gods. He has also earned the 'Crown of Damnation', a badge of office showing his full favour with all four Chaos Gods.
[edit] The Star Child
In the origins given of the Emperor in Realm of Chaos, the Star Child is the nascent power of the Emperor's soul in the Warp as it is ebbed away from his dying body. The Star Child has its own champions (the Sensei), and could bestow powers on these individuals, and was said to battle the Chaos Gods within the warp.
[edit] The Forces of Chaos
The following are the typical servants of the Chaos Gods and the setting from which they come.
- Beasts of Chaos - in Warhammer Fantasy covers the bestial servants of chaos including minotaurs, the goat-like "Beastmen", and other intelligent animal-like creatures
- Chaos Dwarfs - in Warhammer Fantasy, corrupted Dwarfs who serve the god Hashut
- Chaos Space Marines - in Warhammer 40,000, Space Marines who have been corrupted by Chaos
- Daemons - in both settings, these are minor entities related to the Chaos Gods, frequently serving the gods
- Hordes of Chaos - in Warhammer Fantasy, the mortal worshippers of Chaos
- Skaven - in Warhammer Fantasy, a race of large intelligent rat-creatures serving their own Chaos God, the Horned Rat.
- The Lost and the Damned - in Warhammer 40,000, various loose groupings of corrupted Imperial Guard, wildly mutated, beast-like humans, and various other traitors, sometimes led by Chaos Space Marines
- Chaos Daemons- a new force being released in both Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 on the 10 May 2008- new figures include remodelled Bloodletters and Juggernauts, new figures for Nurgle, Khorne and Tzeentch and a heavy support choice for Warhammer 40k called the Soulgrinder
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Warhammer 1st Edition
- Brunton, Mike; and Ansell, Bryan (1988). Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-51-4.
- Ansell, Bryan; and Priestly, Rick (1990). Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-52-2.
- Cavatore, Alessio; and Reynolds, Anthony (2002). Warhammer Armies: Skaven, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-185-0.
- Chambers, Andy; Priestley, Rick, and Haines, Pete (2004). Warhammer 40,000, 4th edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-468-X.
- Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete; Hoare, Andy; Kelly, Phil, and McNeill, Graham (2002). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, 2nd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-322-5.
- Johnson, Jervis (1999). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-49-2.
- Thorpe, Gav (2003). Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-387-X.
- Thorpe, Gav; Priestley, Rick; Reynolds, Anthony and Cavatore, Alessio (2002). Warhammer Armies: Hordes of Chaos, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-222-9.
- Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete; Hoare, Andy; Kelly, Phil and McNeill, Graham (2003). Warhammer 40,000: Codex Eye of Terror, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-398-5.
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