Chaos Gods
The Chaos Gods are the gods which rule over the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy Battles and the Warp in Warhammer 40,000. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps dicking with their mortal followers, and dicking EACH other (shhhh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value. Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living.
Khorne
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honour, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honour are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onwards in the face of all odds.
- Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET ITTTTT
- Main Enemy - Slaanesh (Khorne considers him/her/it/hermaphrodite to be too frilly), although he's also not a big fan of Tzeentch (2tricky4me).
- Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous marriage with Mork and Gork.
- Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above).
- Dedicated Chaos Space Marine Legion - The World Eaters, other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the Blood Pact.
- Warriors of Chaos "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!); Valkia the Bloody, Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
- Sacred Number - 8
Nurgle
Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude. Formed from despair and fear of death, acceptance and stoicism are also included. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, happiness, struggle, love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact, in 40k, he loves the Eldar goddess Isha so much that he chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases... yeah, love sucks sometimes).
- Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat one.
- Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of HOPE and CHANGE, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
- Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
- Love Interest - His joy, wife Isha
- Dedicated Chaos Space Marine Legion - The Death Guard. Has tons of other followers like the The Purge (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), Apostles of Contagion (Zombie Plague afficianados), the Lords of Decay (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on Vraks
- Warriors of Chaos "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Valnir the Reaper, old school champion of nurgle; Festus the Leechlord (this guy used to a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Bjornlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the Glotkin.
- Sacred Number - 7
Slaanesh
Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of emotions formed from emotions, not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume s/he manifested normally like the other Gods), the Eldar created him/her/it/hermaphrodite by having so many damn orgies they tore a hole in space. Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Others facets include kindness, tranquility, jealousy, sensuality, DRUGS, expression, individuality, DUBSTEP, joy, peaceability, HEAVY METAL, and admiration.
- Gender - Whatever you want it to be baby! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite/ transsexual.
- Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
- Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. Her friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he did steal Isha during Slaanesh's proverbial....and literal, raping of the former Eldar empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, at one point, their daemons temporarily joined forces together). Generally the most open to working with the others.
- Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her back. Messes around with Khorne. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But she won't give up!
- Dedicated Chaos Space Marine Legion - Emperor's Children. Also has others to call on like The Flawless Host (their drugs make Emperor's Children ones look like a weak store coffee), Violaters (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a Tzimisce well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
- Warriors of Chaos "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), Dechala the Denied one, former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Syrkaar of Sortsvinear.
The Varg tribes serve him.NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him, purely judging from their nomenclature. - Sacred Number - 6
Tzeentch
Tzeentch is the god of Just as planned and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, happiness, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, and change.
- Gender - Always changing.
- Main Enemy - Nurgle, who won't get off his damn ass to do anything, refuses to change...
- Bro god(dess)- Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, she's nice to little Tzeentch!
- Love Interest - Kind of wishes the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were girls. T-then surely he could impress them, yes!
- Dedicated Chaos Space Marine Legion - Thousand Sons. Unlike the other gods, Tzeentch apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular. Most likely the reason for this is because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of power and unending glorious conquest, freedom from all pain and suffering, or all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some are much more attractive options than becoming some nerd's pawn.
- Warriors of Chaos "Hero":
Vilitch the CurselingEgrimm van Horstmann. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent, but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. - Sacred Number - 9
Malal
Though not as relevent as the other big four, yet is still more notified then the other minor Gods mentioned below.
Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy. He is the god of fractiousness and dissent, which, given the company he keeps, makes him a tad redundant. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty Awesome. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), Games Workshop idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he might be back in 40k, with a Chaos Space Marine warband called the Sons of Malice who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and who's premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. (also alpha legion)*BLAM*HERESY! Alpha legion never existed understand!
The Other Ones
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.
Be'lakor
In Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Be'lakor was one of the earliest Chaos warlords, leading vast hordes of Daemons to ravage the world long before the Elves rose up against them. He impressed the Chaos Gods so much they turned him into a Daemon Prince, the first time they ever did that to a mortal follower of Chaos Gods. He is still among the most powerful of all Daemon Princes and is able to grant his followers unique magic powers. But then he grew proud and considerd himself better than the Chaos Gods themselves, so Tzeentch cursed him for his arrogance. Tzeentch made him be the one to crown Everchosens of Chaos while never getting to become the Everchosen himself, which pisses him off to no end.. With the latest Everchosen Archaon; Be'lakor was once again forced to crown the Everchosen of Chaos with the final artifact. Be'lakor took a big part of the Storm of Chaos campaign, but that has since been retconned. Although he still shows up from time to time, he no longer appears to be quite as powerful as he once was, although he is still a Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided, which is a massive accomplishment in and of itself.
In Warhammer 40,000, Be'lakor was the first Daemon Prince, as well as the first (and last) Daemon Prince created through the action of all four Chaos Gods (apparently Lorgar and Perturabo were special exceptions or something [though knowing Pert, I wouldn't be surprised if he was 75% Khornate or something]), and quickly proved to be difficult to control even at the best of times. Apparently his creation gave him the Daemonic equivalent of daddy issues and now he spends most of his time trying to kill all other Champions of Chaos, including other Daemon Princes. The Chaos Gods tolerate him mostly because his wild-card status makes him an excellent pawn in their power struggles- something Be'lakor himself is completely unaware of (as he thinks he still has free will and just wants to cement his position as Chaos' sole champion). Recently, he's shown up to "help" with Abaddon's Black Crusades by giving him seemingly helpful advice that often leads to unexpectedly heavy losses, all in an attempt to undermine his credibility (well, more so than he does on his own). In a stunning display of insight, Abaddon saw through his ruse, but allowed him to remain within the Black Legion in order to keep tabs on him and better prepare for his inevitable betrayal. The Imperium isn't even aware that he exists, as Be'lakor has been very careful about concealing his presence from history (with the unwitting help of a Magos who learned just enough about him to know that he exists, but not enough to realize that he's a Daemon Prince). Playing in a band really doesn't help his concealment much though[1].
He's also been shown to be in contact with Ahriman- apparently being the oldest and strongest of the Daemon Princes wasn't good enough for him, and now he actively seeks to become a Chaos God himself. No word on whether Ahriman has accepted his offer of being made his greatest champion in exchange for his service, however.
Hashut
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the Chaos Dwarfs. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.
The Horned Rat
This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the Skaven, and god of...well, rats. Also disease, mutations, etc., but mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left then with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.
Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, Ans'l
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of Chaos as a fundamental force in the world was blatently stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it, artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the First Edition rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early Warhammer 40,000 universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on Chaos things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition Codex: Chaos Space Marines, which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "cannonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.
Necoho
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappears and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.
Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the Gotrek & Felix novel Road of Skulls, which is more than can be said for Zuvassin.
Urlf
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 7th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion.
Zuvassin
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of not as planned. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.
Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.
Fan-made gods
The Box God
This minor deity of Chaos is so unimportant that nobody knows its actual name. Its only known worshiper is Firaeveus Carron, who would sacrifice the Metal Boxes of his enemies to this god after a battle.
| The Chaos Gods of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy | |
|---|---|
| Four Main Chaos Gods: | Khorne - Nurgle - Slaanesh - Tzeentch |
| Other Gods of Chaos: | Archaon - Hashut - Horned Rat - Nuffle Malal - Morghur - Necoho - Zuvassin |
| Chaos Gods of Law: | Alluminas - Arianka - Solkan the Avenger |