Harlequin

Break a leg? Why limit myself?

The Harlequins are the Eldar followers of Cegorach, the Laughing God. They are the performers and entertainers of the Eldar, the self-appointed protectors of the Eldar's pre-Fall history, which they perform in extremely elaborate plays. They are also some of the most dangerous shock-troopers among the Eldar, taking the concept of "break a leg" as far as you would expect in Warhammer 40,000. As part of their role as self-appointed keepers of history, they also guard the Black Library from those who would gain entry, allowing only those who have conquered the Chaos within them to enter.

In times of war, the Harlequins fight the foes they see as posing a threat to the very existence of the Eldar, first and foremost Chaos, the Necrons, and the Tyranids. The Imperials and Tau can be worked with and the Orks are easily manipulated; unlike most Eldar, the Harlequins are free of racial prejudice, so as long as you battle the threats to all things and aren't attacking them/getting in their way, they're perfectly happy to work with you even if you are a Mon'Keigh or Greenskin. Which makes them one of the most levelminded factions in the setting and helps make them a very likeable faction.

The glue that keeps the Eldar together

They owe no allegiance to any Craftworld, Corsair Fleet, Exodite World, or Dark Eldar Kabal, but rather recruit members from all factions, and will fight in their armies on all sides. Their only loyalty is to Cegorach, whom they believe has charged them with the "Great Work" of reunifying the Craftworld Eldar, Corsairs, Dark Eldar, and Exodite Eldar into a single race to fight off Slaanesh, the Necrons, and whoever else has a bone to pick with the chosen people of the Old Ones. It is notable that they do not use the methods to keep their souls safe that other Eldar do—their faith in Cegorach, complete after going through the Trial to become a Harlequin, is enough to keep them safe. Despite this, they are allowed free passage through the Craftworlds and Commorragh, because the Craftworld and Exodite Eldar respect the Harlequins for preserving their history, and the Dark Eldar and Corsairs are too afraid to try and stop them find Death Jesters' humor hilarious; they also couldn't keep the Harlequins out if they tried due to the Harlequins' superior knowledge of, and ability to use, the Webway.

This also makes the Harlequins the closest thing to a central authority the Eldar species has. While the other factions may not necessarily answer to the clowns, when they speak, everyone from Commorragh pimps and Craftworld wizards to Exodite farmers and Corsair pirates stops what they're doing and listens. Even Asdrubael Vect has to make sure and pin it on someone else whenever he gets up to skullduggery that might make the Harlequins mad.

Eldar Ambassadors?

They actually are this hot in the series, but most people are too busy screaming in pain to comment on it.

Harlequins are notable as xenos to the Imperium since the Harlequins do not restrict their visits to the Eldar. In the Harlequins' view, they must perform their work for anyone and everyone who may benefit and learn the lessons from The Fall, and along the way inspire a little more hope for the galaxy. Thus, Harlequin troupes are a frequent sight on Imperial worlds, and exceptionally among xenos, the Imperium allows the Harlequin traveling bands full access to their worlds, as even the High Lords of Terra feel that one can only benefit from their beautiful plays.^{Citation Needed} (The High Lords of Terra also know it'd be impossible to take direct action against Eldar Harlequins as a whole, and maybe bad for their health too.) The Star Leopards Space Marines chapter slapped around a few for desecrating a Land Raider, once, but that was a personal matter. Elaborate in form, but simple in message, the plays allow humans to understand the Great Enemy and what can be done. Unfortunately for pretty much everyone, most Imperials can't tell the difference between different kinds of Eldar, assume that Eldar are dirty liars by default, and tend to answer xenos visitors with volleys of lasfire.

Judging from their allies matrix, it's fortunate at least that humans listen to them (so far as humans listen to any Eldar, anyway), since on the Tau worlds they visit they are inevitably met with an endless earful and about the fucking Greater Good. They don't play on Necron Tomb Worlds given that the Necrons are the oldest foes of the Eldar and the two have brought each other nothing but grief over the last few billion years, and Harlequins work to fight against them just as hard as they do against Chaos. Don't even fucking ask if they play on Ork worlds (you know, they probably do, but have to reduce the dialogue to indecipherable grunting, swearing and cockney slang). It's presumed that they did try to play for the Tyranids only once, but found out the space bug-lizards have no appreciation for art; hence the decision to put the Tyranids right next to Chaos and the Necrons on the mandate to kill-on-sight-and-annoy-the-hell-out-of.

During The War of The Beast, Eldrad Ulthran sent a troupe of Harlequins to convey a message to the God-Emperor of Mankind, letting Him know that Chaos had to be treated as the primary threat and that the Imperial Fists successor chapters were on their way. Granted, shouting "Friendship! Friendship!" while eviscerating Guardsmen and Custodians is kind of counter-productive, but in fairness, the Imperials wouldn't have listened anyway.

The Final Act, A.K.A. The Last Troll

In recent years, the Harlequins' war against Chaos has been characterised by a newfound urgency. Full masques have become an ever more common sight among the stars. Appearing from the Webway, they can be found performing within the realms of their kin or battling the galaxy's disparate races in vicious campaigns of apparently random violence. As the 41st Millennium comes to a close, more and more Eldar vanish into the Webway, forsaking their former lives to take up the Harlequin's mask. The Harlequins' numbers are growing, and many among the Eldar wonder why. The truth is inspirational and terrifying in equal measure. At the very heart of the Black Library there lies a silver-lit vault. Therein stands a plinth made of finely graven obstinite, upon which rests a crystalline book said to contain the words of Cegorach himself. Since the Fall, the tome’s covers have remained closed, sealed shut with flickering chains of light. Yet now, long-awaited portents have come to pass. A fallen sorcerer seeks the lore of the library. A king stirs in his court of death and silence, preparing to rise once more. Within madness' eye, the champion of the Ruinous Powers prepares to seize a realm long denied. As the signs have come to pass, so the bands of light about the tome have flickered and died.

Now, at last, the tome has fallen open. Within its pages the Shadowseers have found a script, a secret final act that changes utterly the tale of the Fall. Penned in inks of light and shadow, these words present a slender hope, detailing an intricate, galaxy-spanning performance with the potential to change the fate of the Eldar race. Always, the strands of fate have pointed toward the victory of Chaos during the last, mythic battle known to the Eldar as the Rhana Dandra. Yet within the pages of the crystal tome is recorded Cegorach's ultimate and final jest, a way to trick Slaanesh into expending all her power not to destroy the Eldar, but to save them. How such an impossibility could come to pass is unclear, for on this matter the final act is infuriatingly vague. Yet the Harlequins take their god's words on faith alone, for their devotion to Cegorach is total and his methods beyond question or reproach. Thus they have begun the steps of this final dance, and will see it completed, or else face absolute destruction in the attempt.

This is now also likely the Eldar species’ final and only hope for survival, period, since Eldrad upgraded from dick to dumb dick and went and boned everything for them, failing in an attempt to awaken Ynnead early and ended up killing him, all the progress that had gone into him, and the infinity circuits of every craftworld, instead. Whoops. Course, this is probably precisely why the crystalline book opened in the first place, with Cegorach basically going “Oh dear, who could’ve seen that coming? Oh wait, I did, that’s why I have a plan B ready to go for you dumb shmucks. Let’s open it up shall we? And we’re keeping the Dick out of this one. That fuckup with Ynnead…that wasn’t funny.”

7th Edition

The Harlequins are currently in the process of being brought into their own army, with new models for all members of the troupe, plus new models and rules for the Solitaire and a new Eldar jetbike, the Skyweaver. There are also two new vehicles, the Starweaver (a transport) and the Voidweaver. In addition, Shadowseers are getting their own new psychic discipline, Phantasmancy. Currently they are battle brothers with the Eldar (both dark and normal, they don't discriminate), allies of convenience with the Imperium and Tau, desperate allies with Orks and come the apocalypse with Chaos daemons/Marines, Necrons and Tyranids.

See also: Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Eldar Harlequins(7E)