Daemon
"Only a fool trusts a Daemon. They are made of the very stuff of change, the raw madness of the Warp made manifest. However, like men, Daemons are creatures of greed, pride, and arrogance, and these are things I trust completely."
-Abaddon the Despoiler, either being pretty awesome or talking complete bullshit depending on your point of view.
Daemons are powerful beings, neither real nor unreal, which do not obey the laws of physics; indeed, their very existence is a warping of reality. They reside within the Realm of Chaos, and usually are organized into groups obeying the rule of Chaos Gods.
Daemons are functionally immortal in that even if their physical forms are destroyed in real space; their essence will return back into the Warp/RoC where they will be ready to wreak havoc once they have another opportunity to go back, unless there are special circumstances preventing them from doing so such as being trapped in an object (such as a Tesseract Labyrinth or enchanted item), or special incantations that imprison it. It is however also possible to give a daemon "true death" in that it is permanently erased from existence, but this normally requires a incredibly rare artifacts, absurdly complicated rituals, or a psyker/wizard of immense power.
Lesser daemons like Bloodletters can normally be banished back by a proper bashing with a mace or a few dozen shots from a lasgun, or with a simple chant of a certain scripture that daemons fear. Greater Daemons, like a Bloodthirster or Great Unclean One, will normally either require extremely powerful dakka the size of Baneblades or in Fantasy mass-stabbing from spears, cannon balls, or the intervention of the Daemonhunters and similar specialists.
It should be noted that even though the word "Daemon" is their widely accepted name by the mortal races, it is not necessarily the name they call themselves. One Daemon in 40k even remarks that it is merely a name given to them by mortals (generally humans) due to its Satanic origin (even if it technically has a more neutral, Greek origin, but scratch that, current fluff writers aren't the authors of the RoC and just because it's a Daemon doesn't mean it knows jack shit about history).
Warhammer Fantasy
In Fantasy they are made of magic, the source of (most) of which is the Realm of Chaos, and feed upon/inspire certain emotions in mortal beings. Thanks to the magical nature of the world, Daemons have little trouble manifesting within the world if they can find entrance to it. Indeed, any place that the Winds of Magic linger for too long can create Daemons of various kinds which will usually haul themselves towards the nearest place living (usually sapient) beings are found and wreak havoc, and after being "slain" find themselves within the Realm of Chaos for the first time. They can possess hosts, although the weak mortal frames limit their power and usually this is only done to commit acts of mischief.
Warhammer 40,000
In Warhammer 40,000 they are manifestations of the psychic emotions of psychically powerful species and individuals, like humanity and Eldar. They reside in the chaotic and hellish psychic dimension known as the Warp. Daemons can only enter realspace under certain conditions, like being summoned in a ceremony or crossing through a warp rift. Even then, because they are made of warp energy and solidified emotion, they don't last long outside of the Warp, so in order to stick around, they have to either drag the Warp into realspace (resulting in a Daemon World in extreme circumstances) or be bound in a host. Psykers are the preferred choice of host, especially the powerful and uncontrolled ones, and they also happen to be a favorite method of opening Warp rifts -- their powers make them shine in the Warp, which attracts daemons like moths to a flame; all the daemons have to do is wait for the psyker's control to falter, and move in to take possession.
Types
Ever since the ancient Realms of Chaos sourcebooks, daemons have been divided into three groups: Greater Daemons, Lesser Daemons, and Daemonic Creatures.
Greater Daemons
Greater Daemons are the most powerful of the Chaos God's immortal servants, and it's Very Bad News when they arrive in the real world. They are also the most difficult to banish, as they inevitably have tremendously long names, not to mention enough power to give any would-be banishers a hard time. Fortunately for those living in realspace, Greater Daemons are also the most difficult to summon: they require great sacrifices and elaborate ceremonies to even enter the real world, and will not last long without continued exposure to Warp energy. Unfortunately, where Greater Daemons go, hordes of lesser daemons inevitably follow. Greater Daemons are capable of independent thought and are highly intelligent, though this intelligence is heavily influenced by the emotions that form them. However, old fluff (the Realm of Chaos 5th edition army book from WFB) claimed they do not actually have a true personality or even a consciousness-they were simply hollow husks who did their master's bidding and are merely extensions of their god's presence. Any Daemon with a sort of will of their own was instead a Daemon Prince. This is no longer canon, as former Daemon Princes are now Greater Daemons. Some Greater Daemons are in fact mortals who were particularly revered by their chosen god (barring Dechala, who was just Slaanesh being a troll).
Khorne's Greater Daemons are Bloodthirsters, giant axe-wielding warriors with massive leather wings. They are always angry, all the time.
Slaanesh's Greater Daemons are Keepers of Secrets, each carefully formed to tempt their foes and each looking to experience as many sensations as possible. Their appearance depends on Slaanesh's mood at the time of creating them.
Nurgle's Greater Daemons are Great Unclean Ones, whose joviality is infectious...literally. They are so plague-ridden that they excrete daemons from every available opening.
Tzeentch's Greater Daemons are Lords of Change, bird-like sorcerer daemons capable of predicting the future. They like to make plans.
Malal's Greater Daemons are "Guardian of Contradictions", looks like a giant daemon goat with a women's head for a tail. So far they are the closest interpretation we can get on what they actually look like. Once again however, this is fanwankery.
Lesser Daemons
The lesser daemons are the most common sort, and serve as the foot soldiers for the legions of Chaos. Each one is roughly on par with a couple of Empire soldiers in Warhammer Fantasy Battle (generally stronger in close combat, but mostly lacking ranged attacks), or a Space Marine/Imperial Guard stormtrooper in Warhammer 40,000; they form the Core of a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Daemons of Chaos army, and the Troops of a Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Daemons army.
It's worth noting that the canon for many of the Daemons was changed by this fucker. The entire nature of the Daemons in general was mutated in his WH40K Daemon codex, and arguably not for the better. Whilst Bloodletters and Screamers are largely unchanged, Daemonettes were changed in both fluff and function (originally they were engineered by Slaanesh from Eldar souls to be both seductive AND deadly in combat, although they remain so in Fantasy) and Nurgle Daemons were changed dramatically (as was Nurgle's Rot, which changed from a survivable-if-formidable daemon-pox to a daemon-spawned AIDS with no cure that makes eventually makes you a Plaguebearer no matter what unless you commit suicide or die before you start worshipping Nurgle, which makes about as much sense as this, but whatever).
Khorne's lesser daemons are Bloodletters. They are disciplined as they march to battle, but they tear into enemies like nobody's business on the charge. They take skulls for the skull throne. Like Daemonettes, they underwent a significant model change for one edition, then went back to their old appearance but revamped to higher quality.
Slaanesh's lesser daemons are the Daemonettes (though they are not all female all the time, despite what the name might suggest). They can take whatever form is required to beguile their foes as they close in for the kill, though some browsers of /tg/ like them just the way they usually are. Their models have varied over the years from somewhat attractive bald sharp-toothed humanoids to six-titted graylings.
Nurgle's lesser daemons are Plaguebearers. They are generally stoic creatures who are born from the souls of people who died of Nurgles Rot. Their models have pretty much never changed, always being swollen-gutted decaying horned cyclops things.
Tzeentch's lesser daemons are Horrors. They start out pink-colored, hyperactive and batshit insane, and when they are destroyed, they split into two blue horrors which are morose and cynical little bastards. Their models started out as oversized heads with long spindly arms and legs, but they underwent a design change into big-mouthed tangles of tentacles and arms and have stayed like that pretty much ever since.
Malal's lesser daemons are Hook Horrors which are essentially a fanmade design due to the overall lack of information for his daemons. Have two hook claws (hence the name) but overall looks like a cheap Halloween costume that resembles a anorexic crow whose head has been reduced to a bird-like skull. This is just fan canon however, as we know nothing of Malal's intended Daemons.
The Chaos Gods of Order (who only existed in Warhammer Fantasy) lacked proper Daemons. One among them blessed mortal Witch Hunters to wage war against his Chaotic Chaos kin in the physical world instead.
Furies can be thought of as lesser daemons of Chaos Undivided, although "Chaos Undecided" might be a more accurate description -- they served the Gods of Chaos, but did not devote themselves strongly to any one before dying.
Daemonic Creatures
Daemonic servants and creatures can be more powerful than lesser daemons, but are generally less intelligent. Some, classified as daemonic steeds, may be ridden or otherwise directed by a suitably impressive lesser daemon, or even a lucky mortal servant, while others, classified as daemonic beasts, are simply turned loose on the enemy and left to their own devices.
Khorne's daemonic steeds are Juggernauts, metal-skinned dog/rhino/lizard-creatures with molten blood, and his beasts are the Flesh Hounds (calling them "Khorne Dogs" earns your skull a place under Khorne's ass) which are sent to hunt Khorne's enemies (including his own servants, if they displease him). Bloodletters who managed to tame and ride Juggernauts are called "Bloodcrushers." Flesh Hounds are also used as mounts, although mostly by mortals like Arbaal.
Slaanesh's daemonic steeds are "Steeds of Slaanesh" (which has got to be a sex pun), and his/her beasts are called Fiends of Slaanesh. Daemonettes who ride Mounts of Slaanesh are called "Seekers." Both Fiends and Mounts feature body parts from lots of creatures, and have long tongues (all the better to 'taste' their prey, if you know what we mean...) and rows of human breasts.
Nurgle's daemonic steeds are "Palanquins of Nurgle" (it's a sedan chair towed by Nurglings) and his beasts are the uncreatively named Beasts of Nurgle. You MUST play with them otherwise they get bitter and become something else...
Malal likely had Daemonic beasts, although any description of them beyond what can be seen in their concept artwork is pure fanwankery.
If there are daemonic servants of other gods, we haven't encountered them. While Warriors of Chaos and Heralds (and Ku'gath)are usually found riding palanquins, Plaguebrearers prefer to fly around on top of Rot Flies, which are, who would have guessed, giant rotting flies with spear-sized stings, and the grown-up forms of the Beasts. Two splatbooks claim Nurgle has another (technically third, if one counts the aforementioned Rot Flies) daemonic creature in the form of the Plague Toads, huge diseased frog-things that can swallow humans whole and which all other Nurgle daemons look down on. The second even claims that there's a counterpart to Plague Drones in the form of "Pox Riders", which are Plaguebearers clinging to Plague Toads as they hop into battle.
Tzeentch's daemonic steeds are Screamers, called "Discs of Tzeentch" when someone is riding them Screamers are somehow transformed into the disc, which is ridden as a steed and pulled by unnamed Daemons resembling giant flying manta rays. It's not pleasant for the Screamer. His beasts are called Flamers (not to be confused with the flamer weapon), since they look like they are made of fire.
Malal's daemon steeds are "Malal's Paradoxes of Pandemonium" and his beasts are "Limbo-Ticks of the Anti-God", both of which resembles every single arachnophobe's worst nightmare. The former is usually colored black, grey and white like all things Malal-ish and have a fuckhuge maw meant for potential OMNOMNOMNOM with two sickle like claws to boot, while the latter has the body of a giant lice with monkey like limbs and a giant human-like skull with a equally giant horn on it. Although fanmade, we wouldn't be surprise if GW created a Malal daemon steed and beast that looks uncanny to this one.
Chart
| Chaos Gods | Greater Daemons | Lesser Daemons | Daemonic Servants | Daemonic Beasts | Daemonic Steeds | Mounted | Chariots (WFB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khorne | Bloodthirster | Bloodletter | None | Flesh Hound | Juggernaut | Bloodcrusher | Blood Throne/Skull Cannon |
| Nurgle | Great Unclean One | Plaguebearer | Nurgling | Beast of Nurgle/Plague Toads | Palanquin of Nurgle/Rot Fly | Plague Drone/Pox Rider | None |
| Slaanesh | Keeper of Secrets | Daemonette | None | Fiend | Mount of Slaanesh | Seeker of Slaanesh | Seeker Chariot/Hellflayer |
| Tzeentch | Lord of Change | Horror/Flamer | None | Screamer | Disc of Tzeentch | None | Burning Chariot |
Daemon Princes
For those mortals unfortunate enough to not be daemons to begin with, there is another route to immortality: serve a Chaos God and impress him or her so much that they grant the gift of daemonhood, resulting in an ascension into a Daemon Prince. This is the ultimate goal of PCs in the Black Crusade roleplaying game, and indeed most worshipers of Chaos with even an ounce of ambition. Unfortunately, the Gods' attentions are fickle; would-be Daemon Princes who fall short of expectations may find themselves transformed into Chaos Spawn for their failures... Fuck. GLARBLRAWRGLARBL
Daemon Engines
Some daemons can be combined with machinery to create mighty Daemon Engines; this gives them some actual structural integrity and lasting power, as they are now firmly anchored in reality. The really big ones are made by the Forge of Souls, while others are made by Warpsmiths. Some Daemon Engines are aligned with one of the Chaos Gods, while others (like Defilers and Soul Grinders) serve Chaos Undivided. Even WFB has these in the forms of the Skull Cannon, Blood Throne, and Burning Chariot (and arguably the Hellflayer Seeker Chariot, even if it is not possessed), which are like possessed war machines mounted on top of possessed chariots as well as the Soul Grinder (which exists in 40k as well, though it only has a stone thrower arm rather than cannons everywhere). Now that Chaos Dwarves are back as a regular WFB army, albeit made entirely by Forgeworld, they seems to be rather fond of Daemon Engines and pack a whole lot of them, including a daemon-possessed, steam-powered train which carries other war machines all around the battlefield wile firing its giant cannon/crashing into the enemy lines mauling people with giant-sized pickaxes.
True Names
Daemons tend to hide their true names by giving themselves false ones. This is due to the fact that they can be banished if their true should ever be uttered. The downside about true names is that all true names are quite a mouthful. Daemons' true names are very hard to pronounce if you aren't well a trained psyker like a Librarian or a full-fledged Inquisitor, and can actually make your throat sore. There was even one instance that uttering their true names can actually make your mouth literally burn. Some ridiculously powerful daemons, especially those of Tzeentch, have incredibly long names. One, recorded in the books of the Grey Knights, had a ten-minute long true name and quite a few Knights died attempting to perform the banishment rituals... though once they got to reciting it, there apparently wasn't much it could do to stop them.
See Also
- Chaos
- Chaos Gods
- Warhammer/Tactics/Daemons of Chaos
- Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Chaos Daemons
- Daemons Mod: The Dawn of War Mod that brings this army to DoW players.