Chaos Daemons
Chaos Daemons are demons that feature in Warhammer 40,000.
Contents[hide] |
History
Chaos Daemons were a race of demons that were native to the realm of the Warp. They were created by the Chaos Gods who formed them from their own essence. Daemon were the most numerous of the Warp's inhabitants and were thought to be near-infinite in number. A Daemon was 'born' when a Chaos God expends a portion of its power to create a separate being, binding a collection of senses, thoughts, and purposes together. This essentially created a consciousness and personality that could move within the Warp. The Chaos God can reclaim this form at any time, and this ensured the loyalty of the Daemon. Not all Daemons acted entirely in accord with their masters, but even the greatest of them would not dare outright defiance. Though it may appear to be made of matter in the Materium, within the Warp a Daemon was no more physical than the rest of the Realm of Chaos.
The Daemonic Herald of Slaanesh known as The Masque masterminds an invasion of the Maiden World of Ursulia, where she had discovered a secret route of ingress to the Craftworld of Biel-Tan. Having beguiled the exiled Daemon Skarbrand and his followers to aid her, The Masque uses the Bloodthirster's rage-fuelled strength to shatter the runic locks of a Webway portal to the Aeldari world-ship. Once aboard, The Masque leads her sistren to corrupt Biel-Tan's Wraithbone core, fracturing the Craftworld and releasing a veritable feast of Aeldari souls for Slaanesh to consume.
Abaddon the Despoiler leads a Black Crusade of unprecedented size against the Fortress World of Cadia, intending to overrun its defences and plunge on towards Terra. With him come the Daemon legions of the Warp, reality buckling before their advance. The Imperium shudders as a tidal wave of Chaos pours into realspace, and the galaxy stands on the brink of ultimate destruction. Cadia falls, although many Imperial forces escape its destruction as infighting -- and the intervention of the newborn Aeldari faction known as the Ynnari -- hampers Chaos' pursuit.
Revelling in the knowledge of the slaughter to come, Khorne roars, its power creating further cracks in reality. Riding upon the crests of these Warp Storms come the Blood Legions, forming eight different spearheads that sweep across the galaxy. Their only aim is to maim, ravage and slaughter in the name of the Lord of Battle, and the Daemon legions go wherever the erratic storms take them. Sometimes the armies materialise for mere moments, appearing to those mortals that behold them as nightmarish visions of death. More often they manifest long enough to decimate entire worlds. Mortal followers of Khorne, from Chaos Cults to Heretic Astartes Renegades, follow the trail of blood they leave.
Issuing forth from the Scourge Stars, Nurgle's Plague Legions begin a lengthy campaign to corrupt Ultramar in a conflict known as the Plague Wars. Although they achieve many triumphs, final victory is thwarted by Roboute Guilliman's masterful counterattacks. The ensuing stalemate is only broken when Nurgle recalls much of his strength, ordering his most powerful Greater Daemons and their legions to help defend the Scourge Stars from an attack by the forces of his brother Chaos Gods.
Overview
Their nature led to them also being referred to as the Neverborn.
One of the few things all Daemons have in common was their True Name. Many names were rolling tides of unpronounceable syllables that can test the sanity of mortals. Nonetheless these names are highly prized. To have a Daemons name was to hold ultimate power over it, and so their bearers keep them secret even from each other.
As beings of pure entropic psychic energy and emotion, it is only through the loss of this animating essence that a Daemon can be truly destroyed, its mind dissolving into the whorls and currents of the Warp.
A True Death was thus the act of destroying the essence of a Daemon entirely, rather then simply banishing it back to the Warp as is the case with the destruction of most Daemons slain in the Materium. Often a true death requires a use of a special relic, ritual, or an overwhelming amount of psychic might.
Some heretics offer themselves as hosts through daemonic pacts.
The ultimate goal of many Chaos Champion was to transcend their mortality by becoming a Daemon Prince. Those who become Daemon Princes were counted among the most powerful creatures of Chaos, second only to the Chaos Gods themselves. However, this path could just as easily lead to another extreme. Throughout the path to power, the Champion undergoes constant change until either the god judges him worthy of Daemonic ascension or his form finally was overcome by the accumulated mutations thus causing their descent into becoming a mindless Chaos Spawn.
Greater Daemons were the most powerful of the Chaos Gods' servants. They acted as wardens of their patron's realm and had authority over the lesser Daemons of their respective God.
Beneath them were the Lesser Daemons that served as the foot soldiers of Chaos and served as the core of the Daemonic Legions. They were usually anthropomorphic in appearance and possessed a calculating, malevolent intellect.
Known types of Daemons included:
- Bloodthirster :
- Bloodletters :
- Flesh Hounds :
- Great Unclean One :
- Beast of Nurgle :
- Plague Drones of Nurgle :
- Plaguebearers :
- Feculent Gnarlmaw :
- Lord of Change :
- Flamers of Tzeentch :
- Pink Horrors :
- Blue Horrors :
- Keeper of Secrets :
- Infernal Enrapturess :
- Fiends of Slaanesh :
- Daemonettes :
- Daemon Prince :
- Soul Grinder :
Within the Warp, Daemons participated in the Great Game that was a constant struggle for dominance between the Chaos Gods. The Warp served not only as their home but also a battlefield which commanded the almost complete attention of the Gods; a fraction of their attention will very rarely be fixed on the mortal realm, but only for an instant, as the Great Game was far more important.
Daemonic incursions could taint real space severely, often twisting and reshaping whole planets until they were lost and turned into Daemon Worlds.
Members
- Ka'Bandha :
- Rotigus :
- Ku'Gath :
- Horticulous Slimux :
- Epidemius :
- Kairos Fateweaver :
- The Changeling :
- The Masque :
- Syll’Esske :
- Shalaxi Helbane :
- Masque of Slaanesh :
- Skulltaker : Khorne’s immortal champion and the greatest of all Bloodletters. Ever seeking worthy skulls for his master, he scans the battlefield for the enemy’s greatest champion, bellowing his challenge before moving in to end yet another storied life.
- Epidemius : Nurgle's chosen Tallyman, one of the seven Proctors of Pestilence and the cataloguer of all the Plaguelord's diseases. Epidemius' task is an unending one, and it generates a great deal of paperwork, so he rides a palanquin to share the burden - and to more easily force a path through Nurgle's hordes.
- Horticulous Slimux :a pragmatic and humourless being with a no-nonsense approach to war and gardening alike. Sat astride his lumbering molluscoid steed, Mulch, the Plague God's head gardener tills the foetid soil of the material world, casting an experienced eye over the festering flora all around him as he goads packs of thrashing plague beasts into battle.
- Sloppity Bilepipers :
- Karanak : the Hound of Vengeance was a three headed Daemonic hound said to be physical manifestation of the Blood God’s wrathful vengeance. Once he had the scent of his quarry, this tireless predator would not cease in his hunt until he had tasted their torn flesh between his fangs.
- Be'lakor :
Notes
- Chaos Daemons were created by Games Workshop where they featured in the setting of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
In other media
Video games
- In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the RTS video game.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the RTS video game.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the RTS video game.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the action video game.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the action RPG video game.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the 2022 turned-based tactical RPG video game. Initially, a Khornate warhost led by the Bloodthirster Ere'khul emerged on the world of Gaheris causing its fall to Chaos. A detachment of Grey Knights were able to banish the Daemon back into the warp. Afterwards, Nurgle Daemons back to appear throughout the sector due to a far-reaching plague called the Bloom being spread. Cultivated on a fallen Aeldari Craftworld by the Daemon-Prince of Nurgle called Kadex Ilkario, five 'Reapers' were cultivated who served as champions of Nurgle that were looking to bring about the coming of the 'Morbus' which was revealed to be the Daemon Primarch Mortarion.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the first person shooter coop video game.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the RPG video game.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, Chaos Daemons appeared in the setting of the action video game.
Appearances
- Codex: Chaos Daemons:
- Codex: Chaos Daemons, 9th Edition:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
