The Chaos Gods of Warhammer 40k

There are four Gods of Chaos in the Warhammer 40k universe, they are the ruinous powers which seek to destroy the Imperium of man and consume the galaxy for their own glory. The Gods are Khorne, the blood god who deals out unending violence, Tzeentch, the twisted sorcerer and lord of change, Slaanesh, the lord of excess and decadence, and Nurgle, the Plaguefather lord of decay, destruction and despair. Each has their own desires and plans for ways to conquer and they constantly strive for greatness against each other.

Residing in the Warp, the alternate dimension of pure psychic energy, no one knows for certain what the gods look like and they do not take physical form. They feed on the destruction of men and the breaking of their will to make the gods stronger everyday. These powerful beings seek nothing other than to corrupt the minds of the galaxy’s inhabitants and become the one true ruler. And they do not all agree on the best way to do things, constantly warring among themselves and bitter rivalries have formed amongst them.

Each of the four Chaos Gods have their own plans for how they are going to take over and defeat their enemies. We will take a look at each one in their bloody, pus-filled, twisted glory, and see what draws people into them and how they corrupt their minds.

Khorne - The Blood God

Khorne is the most brutal of all the Chaos Gods. Often referred to as the Blood God and the Lord of Skulls, he is the god of war, hatred, rage and blood, amongst other things. Each act of killing feeds and empowers Khorne and the more bloody and destructive, the better. Despite this, Khorne is the god of martial pride and superiority, which means that earning victory against your most dangerous foe and snatching victory against the odds is what feeds Khorne greatly.

Khornes devotees are often honourable champions in combat and seek only to kill rather than to inflict pain. Khorne cares not for where or how the blood is spilt, instead only desiring to make sure that the universe is turned into a myriad of destruction and dead bodies, with rivers of blood flowing across all lands. For followers of Khorne to allow a day to pass without bloodshed is a dishonour and will only anger the Blood God on his throne of skulls.

Khorne’s biggest rival god is Slaanesh. Where followers of Khorne look to test themselves against the strongest warriors their opponents can throw at them, Slaaneshi warriors instead fight for pleasure and prestige. Khorne also harbours a fair amount of dislike for Tzeentch and their followers, who do not fight admirably in battle, instead hiding behind their sorcery and trickery.

During the events of the Horus Heresy, some Space Marine legions turned to the corruption of Chaos, legions favouring different gods depending on their desires. The most notable legion to be corrupted into the grasp of Khorne were the World Eaters, led by their Primarch, Angron. Angron is now a daemon prince of Chaos and mighty champion among Khorne’s ranks.

The greater daemons of Khorne are Bloodthirsters. These giant winged beasts are the ultimate personification of rage and slaughter and are the general’s which lead Khorne’s forces into battle. Only the finest mortal champions can stand against a Bloodthirster and very few survive to tell the tale.

Tzeentch - The Changer of Ways

Tzeentch is known as the Lord of Change and the Architect of Fate and is the Chaos god of knowledge, ambition, deceit and magic. Tzeentch draws power from those looking to advance and change and supposedly has influence over evolution and mutation amongst mortals. The Lord of Change aims to become the ruling god among all of Chaos and weaves a complex web of plans and plots to undermine and collapse his rival gods.

Tzeentch uses mortals as his puppets and thrives on the ability to control and manipulate through false promise and magic. It is often those looking for change in their own words that are drawn to Tzeentch, with leaders who want to destroy opponents, scholars seeking forbidden knowledge and even just society members looking to make things better for themselves.

As Khorne and Slaanesh war against each other, Tzeentch’s progress is conflicting with the decay and destruction of Nurgle, the Plaguefather. The 15th Legion of Space Marines from the First Founding, The Thousand Sons, pledged their allegiance to Tzeentch during the Horus Heresy and are now his loyal servants. They are led by their Primarch, Magnus The Red, who is now a daemon prince of Tzeentch. All of the Thousand Sons are sorcerers and use their power to further Tzeentch’s master plan.

The Lords of Change are the Greater Daemons employed by Tzeentch to lead his forces. They are huge, bird-like creatures, with shining scales and multi coloured wings. They carry a staff and channel psychic powers endlessly across the battlefield. They will mortal men on to acts of treachery and deceit and dissolve their beliefs and realities.

Nurgle - The Plague Lord

Nurgle, The Lord of Decay, is the Chaos god of disease, decay, destruction and despair. It is the despair of mortal men that feeds his powers and pushes Nurgle to even more vile acts. Nurgle recognises man’s biggest fear, death, and exploits it to only further their suffering. Nurgle is also the god of rebirth, perseverance and survival but don’t be fooled into thinking he is a nice guy! It is only so that Nurgle can continue his endless cycle of death, suffering and destruction.  

Nurgle’s view of life is quite simple, that pain and suffering brings out the deepest strengths of his followers. That all life feeds upon others and that everything feeds something else in death and continues the cycle of life. All diseases and infections are created and spread by Grandfather Nurgle as a gift, a chance for people to test themselves in the face of suffering. Nurgle is the manifestation of mortal men’s fears of their own mortality and their chance of disease taking their lives. Nurgle often clashes with Tzeentch as their goals pull in opposite direction as Nurgle fights for destruction and suffering, Tzeentch fights for change and enlightenment.

It is rumoured that within the Warp, where Nurgle resides, he has held one of the Aeldari goddesses, Isha, captive after rescuing her from Slaanesh. Isha has divine powers of healing and regeneration and so, in Nurgle’s eyes, is the perfect test subject for all of his new creations. The effects of his diseases and viruses are only temporary on Isha, although it is said that she secretly whispers the cures to the mortals of the universe.

Nurgle’s Greater Daemons are grotesque creations which spread rot and ruin across the battlefield and bear the most sacred plagues and poxes. They are huge monsters, covered in sores and open wounds, their insides exposed. To mortal men they are the foulest and most disgusting of all the Greater Daemons of Chaos. During the Horus Heresy, the Death Guard, the 14th Space Marine Legion, and their Primarch Mortarion turned to the whispers of Chaos and pledged their service to Nurgle. He showered them with mutational gifts and turned them into Plague Marines, eternally rotting within their power armour, infected with every disease known but are immune to pain.

Slaanesh - The Dark Prince

Slaanesh is known to the Imperium of Man as the ‘Lord of Excess’ and to the Aeldari as ‘She Who Thirsts’. Slaanesh was formed by the fall of the Aeldari race. Legend has it that the ancient Eldar devoted themselves to hedonism and decadence. Gradually, the cults, whose only concern was the pursuit of pleasure, took this to another level. Eventually, the fall of the Aeldari culminated in Slaanesh’s ‘birth scream’. Slaanesh consumed billions of Aeldari in a single night of destruction and the dimensional rift storm was enormous and created the ‘Eye of Terror’, the region where countless chaos space marine legions and daemons live.

Slaanesh’s followers are different to those of its rival, Khorne. They use the battlefield as a canvas on which to paint their masterpiece of pride and lust in a swirling dance of blades. Ever striving for perfection, Slaanesh’s followers can be consumed by desire and self-indulgence, promised ever more from the shadows.

After the fall of the Aeldari, Slaanesh destroyed and devoured many of the Aeldari gods apart from three of them. During a duel with Khaine, the Aeldari god of war, Khorne interfered and Slaanesh was unable to consume Khaine’s essence. This is where their bitter rivalry began. Slaanesh is more patient than Khorne, preferring to bide its time and offer pleasures until mortals succumb to their desires.

As the World Eaters turned to Khorne, the Emperor's Children space marines turned to the call of Slaanesh to feed their desires. Led by their Primarch Fulgrim, who, in the time before the Horus Heresy, devoted his life to the pursuit of perfection in all things. It was only fitting that he should be turned by the enticing hand of Slaanesh. Today, Fulgrim resides in the Eye of Terror as a four-armed, serpentine daemon prince of Slaanesh.

Slaaneshi Greater Daemons are called the Keeper of Secrets and their appearance can vary wildly with each one born of its master's desires at the time. A Keeper of Secrets is the very embodiment of the alluring power of pleasure and their presence on the battlefield can turn the tide as warriors are brought to their knees in pain and ecstasy.

Minor Chaos Gods

There are other Chaos Gods as well as the main four and those include Malice, who is often referred to as the fifth Chaos God. He was cast out by the others as ruinous to their cause and is now known as the Outcast God and the Renegade God. Malice is the personification and embodiment of Chaos’ indiscriminate appetite for destruction, even of its own people and ways. Malice represents anarchy, vengeance and destruction of all things and is unique in that he is viewed as a threat by both the Chaos Gods and the Imperium.

Perhaps not quite at the status of God or Demi-God yet, but still worshipped and revered as deities are Ans’l, Mo’rcck and Phraz-Etar. Chaos Space Marines worship them by adding spikes to their power armour in a show of strength.

The Most Powerful Followers of Chaos

The most powerful and devoted mortal followers of each of the Chaos Gods are known as a Champion of Chaos and each is spiritually bound to its respective god. Many Champions of Chaos seek the enormous power being offered and dedicate their life to furthering the slaughter and destruction that Chaos brings. The Chaos Gods judge only on the skill of the Champions, not their morals. Chaos Champions are rewarded for their acts in battle with the mark of their patron god, sometimes mutations and even psychic gifts, each unique to the gods.

The most worthy of Chaos Champions are granted ascension to become and daemon prince of their god. Daemon princes are extremely powerful creatures and are unrecognisable, stronger versions of the mortal that they once were. To become a daemon prince is the ultimate goal for champions of chaos and only the most worthy are chosen. It grants them immortality and god-like power. From the thousands that fall to death, only a handful will rise above all others and prove themselves worthy of the mantle of daemon prince.

The Great Game

The Great Game is the name given to the unending struggle for power between the Chaos gods. They war and play amongst themselves in the Warp but no god can ever win the conflict, for if the other were to be destroyed, the Warp would be returned to its pre war state and chaos would cease to exist. The Great Game will never end and the gods know this. Despite this, they spend most of their time trying to get one up on the others and rarely concern themselves with what is happening in the mortal realms.  

It is rare that the gods would work in unison and join forces but it has been known on occasion, such as during the Great Crusade when they were all at risk of extermination. The Horus Heresy proved to be one such time as they could work together to steal away and corrupt the forces of the Imperium. But their interest in mortal affairs passes quickly and they will always resume the Great Game.