Choas

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In the icy wastes north of Kislev dwell nomadic tribes of barbarians known throughout the Empire as the Northmen. Sometimes a powerful leader will arise among these savage humans, uniting the tribes into a great warhost that marches south toward Kislev and the Empire. At such times as this, the Northmen seek only bloodshed and conquest, for they are willing servants of the inscrutable Chaos gods.

The gods of Chaos are much more active in the lives of their worshippers than are the gods of other cultures. They reward their followers immediately when they are pleased, but are no less swift when demonstrating their displeasure with a devotee. A Chaos god can often show his favor by way of "marking" an individual with his symbol. This symbol bestows powers commensurate with the sphere of influence that the god controls. Further gifts and mutations are often bestowed if the god continues to be pleased with the works of his subject.

The most powerful and favored warriors among these human worshippers of Chaos are called Champions, and are exceptionally powerful in battle. Among them, strength is authority, and so these Champions are also the leaders among their people. Such creatures are so potent and so mutated they can scarcely be called human any longer. They tend to wield massive weapons that a normal man would struggle to lift, and are clad in Chaos Armor that is bound to their skin. These Champions of Chaos are among the most powerful and terrifying adversaries in all the world.

The Northmen that accompany their Champions into battle are called Marauders and often fight beside inhuman creatures such as the fearsome Beastmen. Sometimes they will even share the battlefield with creatures borne of pure Chaos energy: Daemons.

The Age of Reckoning is ushered in as a Warhost of the god Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, marches on the Empire. Leading this terrifying army of evil is a powerful Champion named Tchar'zanek.

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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.

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.

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, Stagnation, Destruction, and Disease
Slaanesh - God of Decadence, Excess, Pain, Pleasure and Self Indulgence

[edit] Khorne
Khorne acts outwardly by seeking the deaths of others, preferring close combat over ranged weaponry, and the only thing he respects is strength. As such, he is completely opposed to the hedonistic Slaanesh, an inwardly acting god who seeks pleasure in every act and experience.

Khorne is described as an extremely well-muscled, hundreds of feet tall beast-headed monster sitting on a brass throne atop a mountain of skulls in the middle of a sea of blood. The skulls are described as belonging to both his victims and his worshippers alike, as Khorne cares not whose blood flows, as long as it flows.

In Warhammer 40,000, the Chaos Space Marines who worship Khorne are known as "Berserkers". They typically come from the World Eaters Legion but are not exclusive to that legion.

In Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Khornate champions are usually seen in red and brass and typically carry large axes, although other weapons such as swords and spears appear occasionally. The Khorne rune is typically displayed prominently on their armour.


[edit] Tzeentch
Tzeentch is described as the Chaos god of hope, personified by change and magic. Somewhat opposed to the stagnant Nurgle (god of despair), Tzeentch excels in subtle machinations and is patron to schemers and conspirators of all sorts.

More so than any other Chaos god, Tzeentch is associated with spectacular and varied mutations, and his daemons are typically depicted in outlandish, ever-shifting shapes.

In Warhammer 40,000, the Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marine chapter is dedicated to the worship of Tzeentch. One among their number, Ahriman the sorcerer, sought to curtail the effect of his patron's gifts of mutation and preserve the legionnaires' humanity, but his spell for accomplishing this backfired and left the legion as a host of soulless automatons led by powerful sorcerers.

In Warhammer Fantasy Battle, champions of Tzeentch are known especially for their powerful wizardly abilities.


[edit] Nurgle
Nurgle is the Chaos god of despair, personified by stagnation, entropy and disease. He is the adversary of Tzeentch, whose dogma runs contrary to his. Nurgle is depicted as a large hulking figure covered in oozing sores and vivid marks of decay. His numerous daemons all embody the same diseased aesthetic, from the powerful Great Unclean Ones to the gibbering hordes of tiny daemons known as Nurglings. Nurgle's rune bears a strong resemblance to the international biological hazard symbol.

In Warhammer 40,000, Nurgle is revered especially by the Death Guard legion of Chaos Space Marines. Originally devoted servants of the Emperor, they fell to the worship of Chaos following a cataclysmic plague that threatened their very survival. In desperation, they turned to Nurgle for succor, and became his most devoted servants, the Plague Marines. A favoured weapon of Nurgle is the 'Plaguesword', that causes anythhing it touches to rot and decay. Also mentioned in the novel False Gods is a weapon called the Anathame which was created to destroy a Primarch by poisonous means, and it was used to wound the Warmaster Horus, causing him to switch allegiances. This means Nurgle was the Chaos god to spark the Horus Heresy through his minions.


[edit] Slaanesh
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (July 2008)

Slaanesh is the Chaos god of hedonism and excess, a hermaphroditic deity known by names such as The Dark Prince and She Who Thirsts. Slaanesh is the youngest of the Chaos Gods, given life at the Fall of the Eldar. His birth ripped the hole between dimensions known as the Eye of Terror. Slaanesh's primary followers come out of the Emperor's Children legion. While Slaanesh enjoys everything from sex to life itself its followers are plagued by the constant need to expand their horizons. Though they are in constant need of ectasy, the followers of slaanesh are among the most twisted and disturbed of beings that inhabit the world of Warhammer 40k. Slaanesh weaponry includes sonic blasters that are tuned to blow apart flesh, and Blastmaster, amplified to destroy heavily armoured units.


[edit] References
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. 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.
Sarr'Kell- in Warhammer 40,000, he is the entity contacted by Erebus when Horus kills the Astropath Ing Mae Sing during the Horus Heresy. He calls himself lord of the shadows.
Zuvassin - in Warhammer Fantasy, a renegade minor god known as the "Great Undoer", representing a desire to foil the efforts of others.
Melkirth - mentioned in older background material for Warhammer 40,000. Melkirth was a minor chaos god described as "The god of evil, malice, and wanton cruelty and suffering." While Melkirth remains a minor god, it is said that the actions of the mortal races, particularly the Dark Eldar, are causing Melkirth to grow in power until he ultimately becomes the fifth major Chaos God. The daemons of Melkirth are described as being the colour of shadow and able to take on the appearance of any daemon, be it a daemon of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Tzeentch.
Note: It is debated that Sarr'Kell is in fact an Undivided Greater Daemon as opposed to a God of Chaos in its own right[citation needed].

Aside from those listed here, there exists a multitude of other unnamed gods and cults[citation needed].


[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