In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and
Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos
refers to the parasitic entities which live
in a different plane of reality, known as
the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm
of Chaos in Warhammer Age of Sigmar. 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, also sometimes
referred to as the Dark Gods, Ruinous Powers,
or the Powers of Chaos. Similarities exist
between the Warhammer idea of Chaos and the
concept of Chaos from Michael Moorcock's Elric
saga, which also influenced D&D's alignment
system. Further similarities can be seen with
the godlike extradimensional Great Old Ones
of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft's stories.
== Realm of Chaos ==
The first version of Realm of Chaos is a two-volume
publication by Games Workshop concerning the
forces of Chaos. The hardback books contain
background material and rules for Warhammer
Fantasy Roleplay (1st edition), Warhammer
40,000: Rogue Trader and Warhammer Fantasy
Battle (3rd edition).
It consists of the 1988 book Slaves to Darkness
and the 1990 follow-up The Lost and the Damned.
Each of the two volumes describe the background
and associated rules for a pair of antagonistic
Chaos gods but each also had material that
was germane to Chaos in general in the game
settings. Both were written by Rick Priestley,
Bryan Ansell, Mike Brunton and Simon Forrest
although many more people contributed material,
both writings and illustrations. The cover
art of Slaves to Darkness was painted by John
Sibbick and The Lost and the Damned by Les
Edwards. The process in sketching and designing
the cover for The Lost and the Damned was
investigated within the volume. This was not
the case for Slaves to Darkness.
The second version of Realm of Chaos was a
boxed set released in 1995 covering all of
the rules for the Chaos armies (Beastmen,
Warriors, and Daemons) in Warhammer Fantasy.
The box also contains the magic spell cards
and items for the army.
=== Slaves to Darkness ===
Slaves to Darkness features extensive descriptions
of the gods Khorne and Slaanesh, complete
with a pantheon of their Daemons and rules
for including these in tabletop battles as
demonic armies.
It also features rules on the creation of
Chaos Champions and their warbands, Daemon
weapons, demonic possession and the Horus
Heresy of WH40K. To give flavour for the background
and attributes of followers of Chaos it contained
material such as a list of over 120 "Chaos
Attributes" - mutations that the followers
of Chaos were often afflicted by. This included
some mutations that were advantageous, such
as those that made the mutant extra strong
or taller, and those that confer a disadvantage,
such as ones that made the mutant small, weak
or stupid. Other mutations were purely cosmetic,
such as giving the mutant brightly coloured
skin or eyes on stalks, whilst some mutations
were clearly comical, such as one that gave
the mutant a silly walk (possibly inspired
by the Monty Python sketch The Ministry of
Silly Walks) and even a mutation that bestowed
the "gift" of uncontrollable flatulence.
It introduced the Imperium's Daemonhunters
of the Ordo Malleus and their associated Space
Marine chapter - the Grey Knights.
The volume is also notable for having provided
the first complete and coherent narrative
of the Horus Heresy, an event which, albeit
mentioned as the background justification
of the internecine battles featured in the
1/300 scale boxed wargames Adeptus Titanicus
and Space Marine, lacked a proper explanation
in the WH40K milieu at large.
The Horus Heresy firmly locked the concept
of chaos and demon influence in the SF universe
of WH40K for good, establishing, as a consequence,
that the "Realm of Chaos" was actually the
Warpspace that intergalactic farers had to
traverse in order to defeat the relativistic
distances involved in space voyage.
The link between the Warhammer and Warhammer
40,000 worlds is explicitly stated in the
first pages of the book.
=== The Lost and the Damned ===
The Lost and the Damned covers the background
material and Daemons for the other two major
Chaos gods Tzeentch and Nurgle. In addition,
it contains rules that allow players and game
masters to create their own gods and appropriate
Daemons. The additional section introduced
important elements for Warhammer 40,000, giving
background on the early life of The Emperor
as well as rules for the Sensei, immortal
children the Emperor fathered during his thousands
of years of life before he ascended the Golden
Throne, who are champions of the cause of
"good". The Sensei have since been written
out of the Warhammer 40,000 background, although
an explanation for their extermination was
given as an Easter egg of sorts in the third
edition of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Both volumes also have army lists for Chaos
armies and painting guides for miniature figures.
They also introduce the idea of daemonic battles,
which consist of armies formed primarily from
daemons and other immortal followers of Chaos
and fought within the realms of Chaos itself.
Each was heavily illustrated and interspersed
with many short stories related to Chaos.
The Lost and the Damned featured the tale
of the Horus Heresy's climax and an illustration
of the Emperor's climactic battle with Horus.
[1]
The two books contained a significant amount
of violence and sex (although the latter was
implied rather than explicit), particularly
Slaves to Darkness, which featured Khorne,
the god of violence and killing, and Slaanesh,
god of pleasure and sensation. Though in the
UK Slaves to Darkness carried the note "suggested
for mature readers" on its cover, The Lost
and the Damned did not. Labelling it as "mature
content" was a guide for vendors as sales
to minors was not legally restricted.
Slaves to Darkness features grotesque illustrations
by artists such as Ian Miller, Adrian Smith,
John Blanche, Tony Ackland and Tony Hough.
As the subject matter of the book focused
on the gods of violence and pleasure, the
illustrations were likewise violent or perverse.
The Lost and the Damned featured much more
toned down artwork, although some was reused
from Slaves to Darkness.
Games Workshop stopped publishing the books
within a few years. It has been suggested
that this was because, in the mid-1990s, Games
Workshop began to try to appeal to younger
gamers (hence diluting the mature content),
rather than only to adults, and the explicit
violence of the Realm of Chaos books was seemingly
inappropriate for the younger market. Another
suggestion is a more prosaic explanation:
the Warhammer Fantasy game was revised and
re-released in its fourth edition in 1992,
an edition which rendered the rules in all
the third edition supplements, including Realm
of Chaos, obsolete. Warhammer 40,000 was revised
along similar lines in 1993. The books are
consequently quite rare, with The Lost and
the Damned being much the rarer of the two.
The reason for this is that a copy of Slaves
to Darkness was required to use much of the
material in The Lost and the Damned, whereas
the former book could be used on its own,
and was also released two years earlier than
its companion volume. Hence Slaves to Darkness
was reprinted twice after its initial release
whereas The Lost and the Damned received only
a single print run. For more extended and
deeper reference lore material on the nature
of the Hordes of Chaos, the Realm of Chaos
books have been replaced by the newer volume
The Liber Chaotica, published by Black Library
Publishing.
== Conceptual origins ==
Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer Age Of Sigmar,
and Warhammer 40,000 depict universes that
are out of spiritual and emotional balance.
The concept of Chaos Gods has been more or
less integral to both ever since they were
first conceived. The Chaos Gods in Warhammer
are essentially deities worshipped and feared
by various groups and that is what makes these
groups followers of Chaos. In this idea there
is evidently a strong influence from the English
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 what the fictional pantheon looked
like. The idea of "Four Great Powers of Chaos",
i.e. Chaos Gods, was first introduced in the
two Realm of Chaos sourcebooks released 1988
and 1990 respectively. To date these remain
the original and amongst the most detailed
pieces of work published by Games Workshop
regarding Chaos. The Black Library "artbooks"
of the Liber Chaotica series (released from
2001 to 2006) and Black Industries' Warhammer
Fantasy Roleplay supplement, the Tome of Corruption:
Secrets from the Realm of Chaos (published
2006) contain as much detail as the original
Realms of Chaos sourcebooks (and, in the case
of the Liber Chaotica, taken directly from
the original books), but with the various
additions and changes to the Chaos imagery
that GW has introduced over the years – although
these latter two books focus mainly upon Chaos
as perceived through the Warhammer Fantasy
imagery. A major factor in both universes
about Chaos is that all four of the gods represent
things that are good in moderation, but are
taken to extremes. For example, Nurgle is
the god of life, but the unrestrained, unwholesome
life, such as a tumor.
== Chaos Gods ==
The main four Chaos Gods appear in both Warhammer
40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy. The two settings
are not actually related to each other despite
their names, but in concept the Chaos Gods
are similar in both.
Khorne: the Chaos God of bloodlust, war, death,
blood, honour in battle, and skulls. Khorne
favours close combat, abhorring wizards (in
Warhammer Fantasy) or psykers (in Warhammer
40,000), considering them to be gaining unfair
advantages. His Dark Tongue name, "Kharneth,",
means the Lord of Blood. Khorne is also the
god of courage and honor, but these trappings
are often eventually discarded in favor of
the primary goal of killing. While he blesses
his followers by granting them strength and
martial prowess, Khorne does not truly care
who spills blood, so long as the blood continues
to be spilled. His material form is a mighty
being wearing brass armor and sitting on a
throne of skulls. His holy number is 8 and
his main enemy god is Slaanesh. Those who
worship Khorne are mighty warriors seeking
to earn his favor by slaying mighty beasts
and murdering mass populations. His main daemons
are the Bloodletters (his soldiers), Flesh
Hounds (his beasts), and Juggernauts (his
daemonic, metallic steeds). They are led by
massive Greater Daemons called Bloodthirsters.
His realm is described to be a giant killing
field with warriors constantly fighting and
dying at his feet. His followers often use
"blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull
throne" as their battle cry.
Tzeentch: the Chaos God of change, fate, mutation,
hope, and knowledge. Tzeentch's followers
are powerful sorcerers who prefer to channel
the energies of the Warp (Warhammer 40,000),
or Winds of Magic (Warhammer Fantasy) at a
distance rather than get close to enemies.
Tzeentch is always scheming, his every action
feeding into his great plots that only he
can comprehend. Tzeentch controls and manipulates
the fates of all and weaves them intricately
into his devious web of manipulation and hunger
for power. He has no material form, as it
constantly shifts and changes. His holy number
is 9 and his main enemy god is Nurgle. Those
who worship Tzeentch are sorcerers and magicians
hungry for knowledge and the pursuit of a
greater understanding of the universe. His
main daemons are the Horrors (his soldiers),
Flamers and Screamers (his beasts), and Discs
(his flying, metal discs). They are led by
avian Greater Daemons called Lords of Change.
His realm is described as a maze that constantly
shifts and distorts, leading people entering
into unimaginable levels of madness.
Nurgle: the Chaos God of plague, despair,
disease and death. Nurgle is a warm and welcoming
god who gifts his followers with poxes and
boils, rashes and sores. His Dark Tongue name,
"Nurghleth", means the Lord of Decay. His
power comes from the inevitability of death
and decay, and Nurgle is often referred to
as 'Grandfather Nurgle', as entropy is the
most ancient of forces, and he is the only
one who cares for his followers. Nurgle thrives
in death and decay, growing more powerful
as great plagues spread, and his servants
seek only to spread disease. Nurgle prides
himself on the achievements of his followers,
"gifting" them with hideous diseases while
sheltering them from pain, and his followers
rejoice in their blessings, shrugging off
lethality and disfigurement in a state of
rapturous undeath. People in sickness might
pray to Nurgle for relief, but rather than
heal the sick, Nurgle helps them endure their
illness by removing their pain and misery,
all the while exacerbating their physical
degeneration. His physical form is a large
blob of putrid sickness and disease. His holy
number is 7 and his main enemy god is Tzeentch.
Those who worship Nurgle are those suffering
and wanting freedom from sickness and pain,
unaware that they are rapidly becoming more
sick yet feeling less pain. Nurgle welcomes
all who desire to worship him. His main daemons
are the Plaguebearers (his soldiers), his
Nurglings (smaller, minuscule versions of
himself), his Beasts, and his Rot Flies (his
flying, disgusting beasts). They are led by
Greater Daemons known as Great Unclean Ones,
which are physically manifestations of himself
in the material world. His realm is described
to be a massive rotting garden filled with
death and decay. It is said that he has captured
the Eldar (Elven) goddess Isha, who whispers
the cures of Nurgle's plagues to those in
the material realm.
Slaanesh: the Chaos God of lust, pleasure,
desire, and excess. In both settings, he is
the youngest of the four gods; he is typically
considered androgynous, and while he is usually
referred to as being male, in the Warhammer
40,000 universe, the Eldar races consider
him to be female. His Dark Tongue name, "Slaaneth",
means the Prince of Pleasure. His followers
seek only to indulge in whatever fleeting
whims and desires they feel, and they tend
to become graceful, beautiful warriors who
harbor selfish, cruel souls. In the Warhammer
40,000 background, he was birthed from the
excesses and hedonism of the Eldar society.
His birth created a psychic shockwave that
spread across the galaxy, killing most of
the Eldar population and their gods; the survivors
split into the various Eldar factions. It
also created the largest warp storm in the
Milky Way, the Eye of Terror, which later
became the main residence of the scattered
Chaos Space Marines. The fall of the Eldar
empire paved the way for the rise of the Imperium
of Man. In Warhammer Fantasy, his followers
are partly responsible for the corruption
of an important Elven leader named Malekith,
and the subsequent schism that led to the
formation of the Dark and High Elf races.
His physical form is an androgynous being
of the most physical beauty. His holy number
is 6 and his main enemy god is Khorne. Those
who worship Slaanesh are those who either
wish to achieve the most popularity amongst
their fellow men or the most ecstatic pleasure,
pleasure beyond imaginable. His main daemons
are the Daemonettes (his soldiers), the Fiends
(his beasts), and his Steeds (his serpentine
mounts). They are led by Greater Daemons called
the Keepers of Secrets, lithe creatures with
unholy beauty. His realm is described to be
a massive castle in the middle of seven circles,
each representing one of the classical seven
deadly sins. People cannot make it through
without succumbing to some type of flaw.In
addition to these Chaos Gods, Warhammer: Age
of Sigmar (the sequel game to Warhammer Fantasy)
features a number of new members who have
ascended to the Chaos Pantheon:
Malice: the Chaos God of anarchy, also known
as Malal in early Warhammer canon, is one
of the most disputed and lesser known of the
Chaos Gods. He represents the anarchical nature
of chaos, and so seeks to displace his fellow
gods completely. While he does not appear
in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar or Warhammer Fantasy,
there is a Chaos Space Marine warband in Warhammer
40,000 called the Sons of Malice, which are
his followers. His holy number is 11.
The Great Horned Rat: the Chaos God of blight
and pestilence, is a recent addition to the
Chaos Pantheon, only found in the universe
of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. After the destruction
of the Old World and the capture of Slaanesh,
the god of the chaos race known as the Skaven,
the Horned Rat, was renamed the Great Horned
Rat and made a Chaos God. He longs for the
destruction of civilization and desires for
the respect and becoming the equal of his
brother gods, who look down upon him. His
physical form is a gigantic anthropomorphic
rat. His holy number is 13. The only ones
who worship him are the race called the Skaven,
half rat and half man monstrosities who formerly
living under the earth of the Old World, now
spread throughout the Mortal Realms. His main
daemons are the Skaven themselves (his soldiers)
and their monstrous beasts and machines that
they have created. They are led by "enlightened"
priests called Grey Seers and large Greater
Daemons called Verminlords, gigantic rats
armed with armor and large weaponry.
Hashut: the Chaos God of darkness. Known as
the Father of Darkness, Hashut is the god
of the Chaos Dwarfs, now stylized as the Legion
of Azgorh. He is described to have a brazen
bull head and rules a great city called Zharr-Naggrund,
the City of Fire and Desolation. His main
followers are the chaos dwarfs and he has
some daemons, notably bovine like monstrosities
such as the Lammasu and the Great Taurus.
== Chaos Space Marines ==
In the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000,
the Chaos Space Marines or Chaos Marines,
are Space Marines who serve the Chaos Gods.
They are also referred to as the Traitor Legions,
primarily in background material written from
the perspective of the Imperium.
The background shown in both Codex: Space
Marines (Haines and McNeill, 2004) and Codex:
Chaos Space Marines (Chambers et al., 2002)
states that the Chaos Marine Legions were
nine of the twenty Legions of Space Marines
who fought in the Great Crusade for the Imperium
of Man. At this time the Warmaster Horus,
first among the Primarchs, and the Luna Wolves
Legion (later the "Sons of Horus") were corrupted
by Chaos and instigated the galaxy-wide civil
war known as the Horus Heresy.
Further background to the Chaos Space Marines
is explored in detail in the 'Horus Heresy'
series of novels. After the death of Horus
and the end of the Heresy, the remnants of
the nine Legions along with the other Imperial
forces that had joined Horus escaped to a
warp-infested area of the galaxy connected
directly to the Immaterium that is known as
the Eye of Terror. Due to the nature of Chaos,
and the temporal instability of the Warp,
the very same Chaos Marines who revolted against
the Emperor continue to fight against the
Imperium.
The Legions have kept their old names, with
the exception of the Sons of Horus who were
renamed the Black Legion by their new leader,
Abaddon the Despoiler. Besides Horus, two
other Chaos Primarchs were believed to have
been killed during or shortly after the Heresy
(Konrad Curze of the Night Lords and Alpharius
of the Alpha Legion.) The seven surviving
Primarchs have since become Daemon Princes.
These daemonic Primarchs rarely take part
in the affairs of their Legions or any part
of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. For example,
Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons
is the most powerful of all the Daemon Prince
sorcerers. Yet he rarely enters the battlefield,
even though prior to the Horus Heresy he always
took part in his Legion's battles and was
a determined warrior. Angron however, Primarch
of the World Eaters, led an invasion force
in what was to become the First War of Armageddon.
Some of the Legions have pledged a particular
loyalty to one of the four Great Chaos powers
but the eight Blood Lords are loyal to Angron
alone. The same is the case with the Death
Guard, where the Primarch Mortarion's war
council is known as the Lords of Decay. Abaddon
the Despoiler has taken charge of the Sons
of Horus, now known as the Black Legion. Abaddon
is the only Chaos Marine since Horus to be
able to command the loyalty of all nine Traitor
Legions (albeit, temporarily after intense
bargaining), and has led thirteen Black Crusades
against the Imperium of Man.
=== Black Crusades ===
A Black Crusade is composed of all the mustered
forces of Chaos, from traitor space marine
legions to heretical imperial citizens. It
is believed to be the one true path to gain
the favor of the Chaos Gods. A Black Crusade
can be dedicated to a particular Chaos God
in order to invoke their blessing and appease
the Warmaster's or the heretics' patron. However,
one should be careful in dedicating a Black
Crusade to a particular Chaos God or multiple
Chaos Gods as the Gods are protective of their
champions' achievements and jealous of each
other. Since M32 (the 32nd Millennium), there
have been a total of 13 Black Crusades.
13th Black Crusade: Arguably, the thirteenth
Black Crusade is the most (if not only totally)
successful Black Crusade yet, with others
believing that it signals the end times for
the Warhammer universe. It began during the
year 999 of M41, when multiple sightings of
space hulks were reported. Abaddon the Despoiler
(the Warmaster of the 13th Black Crusade)
raises a vast armada from the depths of the
immaterium, and initiates the largest clash
between Imperial and Chaos forces since the
Horus Heresy. In the end, this calamity resulted
in massive casualties on both sides, with
the forces of Chaos prying the powerful fortress
world of Cadia out of the hands of the Imperium,
a feat that had never succeeded before. Cadia
is known as having the only known stable warp-route
out of the Eye of Terror, and in addition
to its substantial imperial military presence
also contains the Cadian pylons- massive structures
that are responsible (unbeknownst to the Imperium
until the 13th Black Crusade) for restricting
the Eye of Terror's growth. These artifacts
are revealed to have been built by the Necrons,
and were thus strategically critical for Abaddon's
forces if the crusade was to make any meaningful
headway. During the final battle on Cadia,
Abaddon commands that a blackstone fortress
(an ancient Xenos space station that predates
the Imperium, possibly even created by the
Old Ones) is flung to the surface of the world,
destroying Cadia (and thus the Cadian pylons)
and creating the Great Rift, known as the
Cicatrix Maledictum by the Imperium, a massive
galactic-scale dimensional tear in reality
to the warp-which destroyed countless inhabited
star systems. Social upheval in the wake of
the Great Rift also means that virtually every
world of the Imperium, even Terra, is engulfed
by conflict.
=== Forces of the Chaos Space Marines ===
Each of the Chaos Space Marine Legions specializes
in a different type of warfare; each of the
major Chaos Gods have a legion dedicated to
them. The rules for the Chaos Space Marines
are currently in their 8th edition, one of
the few codices that have not been updated
towards 7th edition (though both the Black
Legion supplements and the Crimson Slaughter
supplements have been updated).
The Chaos Space Marine Traitor Legions are
as follows:
Emperor's Children, once the III Legion of
the twenty original Space Marine legions.
Their primarch, Fulgrim, was dedicated towards
the pursuit of perfection and was said to
have given a speech so eloquent that his legion
was given the honor of bearing the Emperor's
Aquila as their symbol. During one of the
Emperor's Children's missions against a xenos
race called the Laer, Fulgrim was possessed
by a daemon trapped within his sword. He later
freed himself and joined Horus as leader of
one of the original traitor legions. Driven
by hubris and pride, the Emperor's Children
later became devotees of the Chaos God Slaanesh,
making extensive use of Noise Marines, armed
with exotic Sonic Weaponry.
Iron Warriors, once the IV Legion of the twenty
original Space Marine legions. Their primarch,
Perturabo, grew increasingly jealous of his
brother primarchs, particular Rogal Dorn,
primarch of the Imperial Fists. Specialists
of siege warfare, they often came into conflict
with the Imperial Fists, who also specialized
in siege warfare. After a series of unrecognized,
grueling attrition battles in which the Iron
Warriors became more and more disillusioned,
they turned to chaos and willingly joined
Horus against their brother marines. After
a series of civil wars, they have split apart
into numerous warbands, with Perturabo himself
achieving daemonhood and retiring to Medrengard,
his personal planet filled with large metal
fortresses belching smoke and fire. They possess
a large number of daemon engines and Obliterators,
hulking monstrosities of flesh and metal who
can create any weapon they desire from their
bodies.
Night Lords, once the VIII Legion of the twenty
original Space Marine legions. Their primarch,
Konrad Curze (more commonly known as Night
Haunter), grew up in the dark world of Nostramo,
and took power of the planet's populace by
executing and flaying all the criminals that
stood in his way. The Night Lords became the
most terrifying of the Space Marine legions;
whole rebellious worlds surrendered at the
knowledge of their arrival. Their primarch
was also cursed with multiple visions, including
one foreshadowing his own death, thus leading
him further into insanity. After discovering
that his homeworld had returned to anarchy
after his campaign of terror to pacify them
along with the fact that the Nostroman psychopaths
who replaced the legion's losses were polluting
the Night Lords, he ordered the destruction
of his homeworld before fleeing to join Horus.
After the Horus Heresy, he allowed himself
to be killed by an Imperial assassin, wanting
to prove that even the Emperor was willing
to resort to such dishonorable actions. Unknown
to the rest of his legion, Curze secretly
despised his own legion, as they were made
up of murderers and killers. The Night Lords
currently are a united group of marines specializing
in terror attacks, and so possess a large
number of Raptors, chaotic versions of jet
pack equipped assault marines.
World Eaters, once the XII Legion of the twenty
original Space Marine legions. Their primarch,
Angron, grew up in the gladiator pits of Nuceria,
and plotted a mass rebellion against the planet's
rulers. The Emperor rescued him at the last
moment, however, leading to his army's destruction
and a deep rooted resentment of the Emperor
for denying him an honorable battle alongside
his gladiator brethren. Refusing to accept
his legion, he killed the first seven captains
before the eighth, Kharn, managed to earn
his respect. Christened the World Eaters,
Angron's legion was known for their relentless
savagery in battle. Having been under Imperial
pressure and already bloodthirsty thanks to
the mental implants known as the Butcher's
Nails, they willingly joined Horus and partook
in his rebellion against the emperor. The
legion's unity was shattered when their Champion
Kharn attacked his comrades in a rage for
accepting a ceasefire with another Chaos Legion
during a civil war, leading to infighting
that caused them to split into smaller warbands.
Angron later achieved daemonhood, and currently
resides in the Warp. The World Eaters now
are devoted to the Chaos God Khorne, boasting
more Khornate Bezerkers than any other legion.
Death Guard, once the XIV Legion of the twenty
original Space Marine legions. Their primarch,
Mortarion, was raised by a warlord on a planet
filled with noxious fumes, before rebelling
against his adoptive father and finding solace
with the enslaved populace of the planet.
Having been saved by the Emperor from the
warlord and denying him his chance to kill
him, Mortarion gained a legion who specialized
in biological warfare. Having been disillusioned
by the Emperor's goals and believing him nothing
more than a drunken tyrant, he was brought
into Horus's rebellion and joined Horus as
one of the four original legions who betrayed
the Emperor. Known for their incredible fortitude,
the Death Guard fought across the most noxious
and hazardous war zones unscathed. Having
been tricked by Typhus, the First Captain,
into the Warp and besieged by plagues from
all sides, Mortarion swore devotion to the
Chaos God Nurgle and the Death Guard became
fully swollen with disease and death. Having
achieved daemonhood later on in history, Mortarion
retreated to the Plague Planet which he now
spends his time creating new plagues for his
master. The Death Guard is composed largely
of Plague Marines, specialists in biological
warfare and disease.
Thousand Sons, once the XV Legion of the twenty
original Space Marine legions. Their primarch,
Magnus the Red, was distrusted by all the
other Space Marine legions, in particular
the Space Wolves, because of their frequent
use of magic and the powers of the Warp. Upon
learning of Horus' corruption, Magnus sought
to warn the Emperor with forbidden warp powers;
only to unknowingly breach the Emperor's secret
Webway portal Project. To make things worse,
the Emperor refused to believe Horus turned
traitor and sent the Space Wolves to apprehend
the Thousand Sons for trial. Unfortunately,
the Space Wolves were tricked by Horus into
purging the Thousand Sons on their homeworld
of Prospero. With his cities burning and his
soldiers being slaughtered, Magnus had no
choice but to swear fealty to the Chaos God
Tzeentch, escaping into the Warp. Because
of their frequent use of the Warp's magical
energies, the Thousand Sons were cursed with
frequent mutations, thus they historically
numbered usually no more than a thousand Space
Marines before Magnus' arrival. After a period
of stability due to Magnus' use of warp powers,
the mutations returned tenfold after turning
to Chaos. In order to stop these mutations,
their chief librarian Azhek Ahriman secretly
cast a powerful spell which stopped the mutations
while enhancing the powers of all psychic
marines. However, the spell inadvertently
turned the non-psychic marines into dust and
bound their souls inside their Power Armors;
reducing them to semi-distant automatons known
as Rubric Marines. Of all Chaos Space Marine
legions the Thousand Sons possesses by far
the most Chaos Sorcerers.
Black Legion, once the XVI Legion of the twenty
original Space Marine legions. Formerly the
Luna Wolves, their primarch, Horus Lupercal,
was the first primarch discovered by the Emperor
and was raised alongside his birth father,
becoming the Emperor's most trusted primarch.
After all the other primarchs were discovered,
Horus was named the Warmaster and was granted
command of all the Space Marine legions. He
renamed his own legion the Sons of Horus,
but a twinge of doubt existed in him as the
Emperor kept secrets from Horus regarding
the reason why the Emperor left the Great
Crusade. After an accident which resulted
in the Word Bearers manipulating Horus to
fall under Chaos's sway, Horus openly declared
a rebellion against the Emperor, instigating
the Horus Heresy. After a series of attacks,
most notably the purging of loyalists from
the traitor legions on Isstvaan III and the
decimation of the loyalist legions on Isstvaan
V, Horus finally faced off against his father
on the Emperor's warship, and was killed by
the Emperor. In shame, the Sons of Horus painted
their armor Black, renamed themselves the
Black Legion, and fled back into the warp.
Now Ezekyle Abaddon, the First Captain of
the Sons of Horus, has sought to reunite all
the forces of chaos under him in a bid to
destroy the Imperium, christening himself
the Despoiler. He has launched thirteen Black
Crusades against the Imperium, the most recent
being the setting of the current 40K universe.
The Black Legion is also the largest and most
infamous of the Chaos warbands, and quite
possibly the most powerful.
Word Bearers, once the XVII Legion of the
twenty original Space Marine legions. Their
primarch, Lorgar Aurelian, venerated the Emperor
as a god, but was censured and made example
of because the Emperor rejected religious
superstition through the "Imperial Truth".
Having grown disillusioned, Lorgar ventured
into the Warp to seek new gods to believe
in, discovering new masters in the Chaos Gods-who
claimed they were vital to humanity's survival,
and became the first legion to fall to Chaos.
They orchestrated Horus's corruption and the
entire Horus Heresy. Lorgar himself later
achieved daemonhood, and the Word Bearers
fractured after the end of the Heresy. Currently
they make extensive use of daemons and possessed
Space Marines, and also have a lot of Dark
Apostles, priests who guide the members of
the Word Bearers further in to the veneration
of the Chaos Gods.
Alpha Legion, once the XX Legion of the twenty
original Space Marine legions. The last primarch
to be discovered, Alpharius had a secret unknown
to everyone: he actually had a twin named
Omegon. The Alpha Legion was primarily used
for secret missions, as they were known for
their use of deception and subterfuge. It
is said that after being revealed the future
by an alien race, Alpharius joined Horus in
his betrayal of the Emperor as a secret bid
to finally eradicate Chaos from the universe.
After the Heresy one of the two primarchs
was said to have been killed by Guilliman,
the primarch of the Ultramarines, while another
may have been secretly killed by Rogal Dorn
on Pluto. However, knowing the Alpha Legion's
frequent lies and dissent, no one knows if
one of them really survived or whether both
survived. The Legion frequently uses Chaos
Cultists for infiltration and sabotage, spreading
throughout the universe in a web of lies and
deceit.Alongside the Traitor Legions, there
have been many Space Marine Successor Chapters
who have also fallen under the sway of Chaos.
Some of the most notable ones are as follows:
Red Corsairs, once the Astral Claws, their
chapter master Lufgt Huron, powerhungry and
seeking to create a legion sized force of
Astartes, led several other chapters in a
rebellion against the Imperial after the Heresy
into what would later been known as the infamous
Badab War. After being injured and nearly
killed, Huron fled to the Warp alongside his
chapter and were rechristened the Red Corsairs,
with their leader becoming Huron Blackheart,
the Tyrant of Badab. The Red Corsairs have
amassed a massive pirate fleet, becoming a
force to be reckoned with, rivaling that of
the ancient traitor legions.
Crimson Slaughter, once the Crimson Sabres,
their chapter master Sevastus Kranon led their
chapter on a crusade in the Warp, severing
all connections with other Space Marine chapters
though remaining loyal to the Imperium. After
a massacre on Umidia however, the chapter
was cursed by the Chaos God Khorne and forced
to suffer painful hallucinations of all the
people they killed. Driven mad by these unending
visions, the Crimson Sabres found a moment
of peace in their minds when conducting genocides.
Forsaking the Imperium and renaming themselves
the Crimson Slaughter, this warband is featured
in Warhammer 40,000's starter set, Dark Vengeance,
led by the Chaos Lord Kranon the Relentless.
The Forsaken. In an event that will be known
as the Abyssal Crusade, thirty Space Marine
chapters were sent into the Warp on a mission
under the influence of an Imperial Saint named
Basillius (later revealed to be a Chaos worshiper
and executed), and only one managed to return
loyally the Imperium. The rest of these chapters
became Chaos warbands or were completely killed.
Some notable warbands are the Death Shadows,
the Iconoclasts, and the Vectors of Pox.The
legions are often featured in short stories
and novels published by Games Workshop's publishing
arm, The Black Library.
Since the Horus Heresy, many Space Marine
Chapters have been corrupted in one way or
another by Chaos. No specific rules exist
for renegade chapters, allowing players to
adapt other rules to represent their forces.
According to the records of the Ordo Malleus
(the Inquisition branch body responsible for
protecting the Imperium from Chaos and daemons),
approximately 50 chapters have turned renegade
after the Horus Heresy; however, the accuracy
of this number is doubtful. Examples of given
Space Marine chapters include the Sons of
Malice, the Damned Company of Lord Caustos,
the Violators, the Steel Cobras, the Thunder
Barons, the Sons of Vengeance, the Silver
Guards, etc. Beside those chapters the forces
of chaos are also strengthened by individual
corrupted companies or detachments from loyalalist
Space Marine chapters; forming smaller warbands
or joining other renegade chapters.
=== Differences between Chaos Space Marines
and Space Marines ===
The Chaos Space Marines have the same origins
as the Space Marines. Due to their allegiance
to Chaos, Chaos Marines can be mutated or
willingly possessed (except for the Thousand
Sons Rubric Marines), thus making themselves
into monsters, faster or otherwise superior
to the Space Marines and other inhabitants
of the Warhammer 40k universe. Chaos Marines
have extended lifespans due to the time-warping
effects of the Eye of Terror, and the fact
that space marines as a whole are unable to
die of old age, and their millennia of experience
gives them levels of mastery with more advanced
skills and tactics that Loyalist Space Marines
do not have. However, they are inhibited by
their own anarchic nature, limited numbers,
and constant infighting. If they were to organize
and form an army equivalent to the tactical
army of the Imperium, they would be a greater
threat than they are now. Abaddon of the Black
Legion seeks to unite all of the Chaos forces
and lead them to a last Black Crusade against
the Imperium.
However, due to the hostility of chaos space
marines toward each other, other legions and
warbands, it took Abaddon 13 Black Crusades
to finally cause significant damage towards
the Imperium by launching a full-scale attack
and occupation of Cadia.
Chaos Marines are equipped with the power
armour and weapons they had when they initially
betrayed the Imperium, which are broadly the
same as those used by Space Marines (although
some differences now exist). The current setting
of the Warhammer 40,000 game is about 10,000
years after the Horus Heresy, and, while the
Imperium has made some technological advancements,
Chaos Marines have far more limited access
to the handful of new inventions that have
appeared on the galactic scene. For example,
Iron Warriors are known for capturing and
using Imperial tanks. This is not a strong
differentiating factor though, as the Imperium
merely replicates or rediscovers technology
designed during the "Golden Age of Technology"
(also known as the "Dark Age of Technology")
and has very little understanding of it; thus
there have been very few developments during
the last 10,000 years.
=== Other tie-ins ===
The death metal band Debauchery released several
tracks/albums with references to the World
Eaters. Most notable is the track "KILL MAIM
BURN!".
The British death metal band Bolt Thrower
released a song titled "World Eater" on their
album Realm of Chaos. The entire album is,
in fact, themed around the Warhammer 40,000
concept of Chaos, as evidenced by the Games
Workshop-produced artwork of the original
printing, and song titles such as "Plague
Bearer", "Dark Millennium", and "Through The
Eye Of Terror".
American Doom Metal band Cirith Ungol released
the songs "Chaos Rising" and "Join the Legion"
on their 1991 album Paradise Lost.
== Warhammer 40,000 ==
Parallel to realspace, where mortal creatures
live, is the Warp, a realm of pure psychic
energy. This realm is influenced by the thoughts,
emotions, and urges of all sentient beings.
The psychic energies sometimes coalesce into
sentient entities. The most powerful of these
entities are the four Chaos Gods. They are
served by a host of daemons and constantly
seek to expand their influence over humanity.
In essence, the mortals of the galaxy are
molested by monsters spawned by their own
collective id. Though they are often at odds
with each other, the Chaos Gods' common goal
is to crush the worship of the God-Emperor
and convert all of humanity to their cult.
Chaos is the root of much of the universe's
problems.
Chaos is a malevolent force that twists the
bodies and minds of mortals exposed to it.
Followers of Chaos are often lunatics who
sport hideous mutations. Many humans worship
the Chaos Gods in the hopes of alleviating
their misery, advancing their ambitions, or
gaining access to magical power, perhaps not
understanding the terrible price they will
ultimately pay. By far the people most vulnerable
to Chaos influence are those with psychic
ability. Unless they are carefully trained
to resist daemonic possession, psykers can
become living conduits by which daemons can
enter the mortal world and wreak havoc.
There are no "good" gods in Warhammer 40,000,
or at the least the good ones are greatly
weakened, if not completely destroyed. The
God-Emperor barely survives in a persistent
vegetative state after a terrible battle with
his son Horus who was corrupted by Chaos,
and he is powerless to remedy the brutality,
corruption, and ignorance that plagues his
empire. After the Eldar gave birth to Slaanesh,
their pantheon are all either dead or can
do little to help their beleaguered people:
most were killed by Slaanesh shortly after
its birth, Cegorach (the Laughing God, an
archetypical trickster) and Khaine (god of
war and bloodshed) both fled, Isha (The Eldar
Goddess of Fertility, Life, Healing and Growth)
is captured by Slaanesh, and later "rescued"
by Nurgle. Since she is captured by Nurgle
and fed the diseases he concocts, the best
she can do is whisper the cures for his diseases
into the material universe. The Necrons were
cursed to undeath by their gods, and eventually
rebelled against them. The Ork deities are
as anarchic, violent and cruel as they are,
while the Tau and Tyranids have none at all.
Positive human feelings like love, altruism,
valor, and invention are perverted by the
Chaos Gods. For instance, Nurgle might represent
acceptance and mercy, as he genuinely adores
his worshippers and considers his plagues
to be blessings. Tzeentch represents innovation
and change, and a human who delves in science,
invention, or social change risks becoming
corrupted and mutated by his influence. Khorne
thrives on violence of any sort, including
that used by the Imperium to fight his own
cultists.
Chaos is the root cause of most of the galaxy's
problems. While Slaanesh gestated in the Warp,
widespread warp storms cut off interstellar
travel, leading to the collapse of the glorious
human civilizations of old. When Slaanesh
was finally born, the psychic shockwave slaughtered
most of the Eldar race, leaving a tiny fraction
of nomadic survivors. The Emperor of Mankind
tried to reunite humanity, to bring it into
a new golden age, but the Chaos Gods seduced
and corrupted roughly half his Space Marine
followers in an event known as the Horus Heresy
and he was felled in battle, and his empire
plunged into a dark age that has endured for
10,000 years.
== Warhammer Age of Sigmar ==
Chaos stems from the Realm of Chaos, a mysterious
dimension of raw magical energy and the home
of the four Chaos Gods. Long ago, massive
amounts of raw Chaos energy spilled forth
into the world, its mutating power giving
rise to many monsters such as trolls and the
Skaven. Most forms of magic practiced by wizards
use some form of refined Chaos energy, which
are classified as the Winds of Magic. For
instance, when Chaos energy filters through
the natural world, it transforms into the
Green Wind of Magic, which Jade Wizards and
Druids can use for healing spells. Jade Wizards
are at their most powerful wherever life is
most abundant, and at their weakest where
life is sparse (deserts, winter, etc.). Dark
Magic makes use of unrefined Chaos energy
and is thus the most dangerous.
== See also ==
Law and Chaos
Chaos Wastes
== Notes
