Warhammer 40K Chaos Gods -

[Cecilo]

First - Terribly sorry if this belongs in Off-topic or somewhere else, it is game related.. though a table top game.

On to the Topic - For those of you who know what Warhammer 40k (Or Warhammer Fantasy), I was wondering if you might be able to help me come to a conclusion on something. The Four Gods (Five with Malice, Six if you count Emps, plenty of others but those aren't what are important right now) we commonly know them as Khorne (God of War/Blood/Murder), Nurgle (God of Decay/Plague/Disease), Slaanesh (God of Excess), and Tzeentch (God of Change and Magic), now the question I had before coming here is Tzeentch being the god of Change, would in theory benefit from each god doing their thing, after all Killing someone changes something, someone dying of a plague or things decay causes a change, and I am sure Excess causes a change somehow.. though I cannot think of one right now.

However each god is supposed to be more or less as powerful as each other except during certain things, like Nurgle will become more powerful when plagues are rampant and he becomes less powerful when cures are found, but Tzeentch doesn't become powerful when the cures are found despite the amount of change going on.'

So, my question to you good folks is it possible that the Chaos Gods aren't actually personifications of war, change, magic, disease, excess, those examples are just what the gods use most commonly to get what they wish out of their followers, what if at their core they are just personifications of emotions. For my example Slaanesh was created by the Eldar going on a couple hundred year long orgy and excess binge, Slaanesh could be a god of Desire, and what better way to provoke desire than sex, drugs, etc.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

If my understanding of 40k universe is correct, Chaos gods are manifestation of the... wills of the sentient creatures.

As such, they ARE personification of emotions, as you stated. Possibly because they are born from it, as well as being sustained by it.

Edit: Not so sure why Tzeench won't get more powerful from the cure of the plague, it is willing change from some... sentient being, initiated by the said being wanting change of bleak, plague-y present.

 

[Iwata]

Well, the Warp is frequently described as a dimension composed entirely of a physical manifestation of emotions from our own universe, so it's not that big of a stretch.

I mean, the way Warp Shields work, a projectile that hits the shield gets sucked into the Warp. Now imagine you're a random Bloodthirster going about your day, having a coffee at your cubicle, when SUDDENLY A TANK-SIZED SHELL MATERIALISES OUT OF NOWHERE AND BLOWS ALL YOUR CO-WORKERS TO BITS!

I'd be upset as well.

 

[Yuugasa]

It has been stated here and there in various books that Chaos is simply a reflection of the survivalist emotions of sentient beings, with Khorne being anger, Slaanesh desire, Tzeentch hope and Nurgle despair. Many of their characteristics simply being extensions of those emotions i.e. Tzeentch is the God of Change and Magic, change being required by ambition(an aspect of hope) and Magic relating to wish fulfillment.

If that is what is happening though it makes me wonder why there isn't a God of Fear, seeing as fear is kinda a central survival emotion.

 

[Inazuma1]

the question I had before coming here is Tzeentch being the god of Change, would in theory benefit from each god doing their thing, after all Killing someone changes something, someone dying of a plague or things decay causes a change, and I am sure Excess causes a change somehow.. though I cannot think of one right now.

Your understanding of the Chaos Gods reads as being extremely basic and formed by /tg/ fanon and memes. Fluff of editions past gave the Chaos Gods layers of depth that made them more interesting instead of the cartoon characters they're normally represented as.

Khorne is the God of Blood and Conquest, but also of Honor, Martial Prowess, Valor, and self-determination. Fluff lore used to say that even if you were a Chaos Champion, wantonly spilling the blood of non-combatants would get you nothing in terms of favor or power because spilling innocent blood was both dishonorable and a cop out. To continue gaining favor you had to seek stronger opponents to fight or larger armies to conquer and decimate. And in one on one duels you were expected to fight your hardest and honorably because Khorne despises those who rely on tricks, magic, or cheating to win as they're signs of weakness and the domain of his hated rival Tzeentch.

Tzeentch is the god of Change, but also of secrets, magic/psykers, subterfuge, & lies. Subterfuge, lies, and secrets denote the darker aspects of control because he who controls the facts decides the narrative. Excess means loss of control and surrendering oneself to the sensations. Thus while Excess can bring change, it is uncontrolled change and does not fall squarely into the realm of Tzeentch. Plague means entropy, rot, and decay as was exhibited by peasants during the Dark Ages: They didn't bathe, left the bodies of the dead to rot in the streets, and were too afraid to do anything about it. 'Radical' ideas like regular bathing and hygiene were mocked as foolish because people were ignorant as to why the plague was spreading. Plague thus also designates resignation, which is something Tzeentch hates. If a Tzeentchian was slowly dying of disease, he would do whatever it took to change his fate and beat the odds.

Speaking of plague, Nurgle represents not only disease, but stagnation and decay: Stagnation of culture, stagnation of thought, and the decay of the universe. A Nurglite dying of disease would do nothing about it and accept his fate, reasoning that even if he could prolong his life, he would still die eventually and nothing will ever change that. He sees the Tzeentchian as spinning his wheels in place and expending so much energy for such a trivial victory. Therefore, one should accept that everything dies eventually and that advancement or change is pointless in the grand scheme of things. That is what Nurgle thrives on.

In terms of the 40K narrative the Chaos Gods are also fiercely competitive and constantly vying for power which prevents them from working together effectively if at all. If the Gods could work together then the Imperium would've been crushed a long time ago and 40K would've ceased publication.