Nurgle

Nurgle is a deity that features in Warhammer.

Biography

Fantasy

Nurgle was a powerful deity who stood as the youngest member of the Ruinous Powers of the four Chaos Gods.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, he was depicted as a huge, bloated humanoid, covered with boils and sores, his body completely rotten from disease. He is typically accompanied by an enveloping cloud of buzzing flies. He was frequently referred to as Grandfather Nurgle or Papa Nurgle, as well as the Lord of Decay, Master of Plague and Pestilence and Lord of All.

Like his brother gods, Nurgle grew from a single survivalist emotion: in his case, the emotion was despair. Nurgle is the Chaos god of disease, decay, despair and destruction. Despite the nature of his influence, he takes a keen interest in his victims, caring for them in a jovial manner similar to a loving grandfather.

Like all of the four major Chaos gods, Nurgle is opposed by one of his fellows. In Nurgle's case, his antithesis is Tzeentch, the god of change and sorcery. Where Nurgle is the deified embodiment of mortal despair, Tzeentch is the deified embodiment of mortal ambition. This antagonistic relationship affects the armies dedicated to each god. The correct adjective to indicate individuals and events related to this God is "Nurglesque".

Powers and abilities

As the lord of disease and decay, Nurgle's followers are vastly interested in spreading disease. His followers become infected with horrific diseases and plagues. In the Warhammer 40,000 setting, Nurgle is served primarily by the Chaos Space Marines of the Death Guard legion, although other legions also occasionally serve him. Like their Fantasy counterparts, these "Plague Marines" take on the diseases of their patron, seeking to further spread them throughout the galaxy. This causes their bodies to rot, making them more difficult to incapacitate as they become immune to pain and injury, and in the case of more dedicated champions, the diseases, particularly the disease called "Nurgle's Rot" can actually spread during battles, quickly incapacitating opponents. Nurgle's sacred number in Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 is seven, so his warriors are frequently formed in units consisting of a multiple of seven.

Various daemons wee available to followers of Nurgle which included:

• Nurglings : are tiny, mischievous daemons, resembling a miniaturized version of Nurgle himself. They normally appear in monstrous swarms which accompany armies dedicated to Nurgle. Occasionally very dedicated champions of Nurgle will become infested with Nurglings, which will live in gaping wounds and orifices on the champion's body; when the champion comes under attack, these will help defend their host.
• Beasts of Nurgle : The Beast of Nurgle is a truly horrendous aberration. It has the soft, sticky and mottled body of a pallid slug and a face of writhing green tentacles, they secrete a caustic slime of which they leave large trails in their wake and are often described as playful in almost a puppy-like manner, often poisoning and contaminating their would-be "friends" with their eager manifestations of affection.
• Plaguebearers : are rotting, wasted creatures of vaguely humanoid size and appearance, with a single burning eye. Flies continually buzz around them, therefore making them more difficult to fight. The many diseases carried by these daemons can be used to terrible effect during battle. Plaguebearers are said to be humans who were transfigured into daemons by the disease Nurgle's Rot, which they are cursed to carry throughout eternity. They are also referred to as 'Tallymen', for they constantly strive to number the poxes and represent the need of humanity to impose order on a chaotic and uncaring universe.
• Great Unclean Ones : are massive, bloated disease carriers, whose decaying flesh bulges with corpulent cancers. They usually carry a titanic rusted blade into battle. They generally act as the leaders and father figures for the other daemons, epitomizing Nurgle's joyful, paternal nature, but fly into terrifying rages if their 'children' are threatened. Due to their bloated bodies Great Unclean Ones are extremely hard to kill. It is from their bloated bodies that the Nurglings are born.
• Daemon Princes : the Daemon Princes Nurgle controls have the same strength as their bretheren, but instead of the dark warp energies being emitted from them, they are horribly mutated, with bloated stomachs, boils and pores, and a massive blade, to cut down the enemy.

Notes

• Nurgle was created by Games Workshop and featured in the setting of Warhammer along with its spin-off universes.

Appearances

• Warhammer Fantasy:
• Warhammer 40,000:
• Warhammer: Age of Sigmar:

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