Poll: Who is your favourite Chaos god? ***UPDATED***

This is a follow up poll to the original Chaos god poll posted a while back.

As suggested by @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl , the poll now includes the newly (AoS) ascended Chaos god the Horned Rat as well as a couple of minor Chaos gods in Hashut and Malal. Also, this time around, instead of voting for your two favourite gods, you only have a single vote for your absolute favourite. Chaos is fickle!

As always, vote and discuss! (maybe make a ranked list!)


My vote might surprise some... it is not Hashut.

 

P.S. There is no escape from Chaos. It marks us all.

 

I see no Necoho or Zuvassin (who might be technically fragments/aspects of Malal but the nature of Chaos Gods gets a bit murky in places. The Horned Rat for a long time was hinted to be an aspect (or greater daemon/entity) of Nurgle, Kweethul is another rat-like entity of ruin who might be the Horned Rat but might not be, and then there's the whole thing of the Grey Clad Stranger who caused the creation of the Skaven and possibly the Horned Rat.)

Also no Stromfels...how very dare you!

In Moulder Pitfighters my Skaven Daemonologist (and former Vermin Lady...it's a long story) had summoned lesser daemons of Necoho (magical blanking entities called Nothings) and Stromfels (Twist Shark that when combined with a robotic diving suit...literally made a Big Daddy from Bioshock with water manipulation and control. His name was Mr Bubbles.)

Anyway votes would go: Stromfels > Necoho > Grey Clad Stranger > Malal > Great Horned Rat.

 

I'm pretty sure I still know what your vote's going to be, though I must admit I am surprised it's not Hashut given your love of the Dawi-Zharr.


I think everyone will probably know what my vote is going to be given that I collect the army devoted to this one particular god... the Horned Rat, yes-yes!

But I will rank the whole lot in order of preference:

1. The Horned Rat - I love my sneaking, devious, cowardly, backstabbing, greedy Skaven, and the Horned Rat is the most sneaking, devious, cowardly, backstabbing and greedy Skaven of the lot. I know the development of becoming a god in his own right is only an AoS thing, but even as a lesser deity in Fantasy he would still get-earn my vote.
2. Hashut - The Chaos Dwarfs are a cool and too-often ignored part of the Warhammer Fantasy world, and their bull-headed god of fire and darkness is no exception. I also like the Lawful Evil aspect of him and his servants... how though they practice malicious slavery and cruelty to all races that are not their own, they still run an effective orderly society, without a doubt the most orderly of any Chaos faction, which is a compliment to Dwarfs as a whole... no matter whether they are benign or evil, they are innately creatures that respect order and stability. I saw some of the plastic Mantic Chaos Dwarfs in a Friendly Gaming Store on holiday a couple of days ago and was sorely tempted...
3. Khorne - A good few of my Beastmen and most of my Chaos Space Marines are dedicated to Khorne, so it'd be odd of me not to put him high up in the list. Though his lore is rather bland compared to Tzeentch's for example, he is undeniably a classic among the Chaos Gods. When you think of Chaos, it'd be hard-pressed not to think of Khorne, with his brutal might-makes-right culture and archetypal Devil-horned Bloodletters. He's an especially fitting deity for my Beasty Boys to be blessed by, for his spiritual rage fuels the hatred they possess toward any kind of establishment to more destructive levels. What can I say? He fits much of the lore around my own Chaos forces, and thus he is the God most of my Chaotic models serve.
4. Malal - I only discovered Malal when trawling through the intriguing 40K alternative universe called the Dornian Heresy, and I like him a lot. He has a deliciously ironic background, being the Chaos God of Anarchy and Destruction that targets the forces of the other Chaos Gods as much as those of non-Chaotic races, as a symbol of how Chaos is innately anarchic and destructive to the point where it can undermine itself, and that any Chaotic army requires some base form of order to remain a coherent army in the first place. I also like how he's visibly Draconic in his original artwork, which has potential for conversions and army list writing (and links up with the Salamanders Legion that worships him in the Dornian Heresy universe nicely). He really is a Chaos God that wants to Let The Galaxy Burn (including the dominions and plans of his brother Chaos Gods). I wonder if I should dedicate some of my Beastmen to him too...
5. Tzeentch - I like Tzeentch's lore and memes a lot, and I now have some of the cool Tzaangor models in my Beastman Warherd. The Lord of Change and Kairos are awesome too. However, I've never liked the Horrors much, partly because they diverge so significantly from the avian themes of the Lord of Change and the Tzaangors, and partly because they're just too weird for my liking. I do prefer Tzeentch's lore to Khorne's, but there aren't any Khorne models that I really dislike, whereas Tzeentch's Horrors are models I am really not keen on.
6. Slaanesh - I like the beauty of the female form and have a deep physical desire as much as the next man, but I seek physical intimacy as a pure expression of commitment to one other person and as a means of strengthening and deepening a bond with said person. Slaanesh celebrates it as the very opposite, purely as a means of getting off with as many people and in as many ways as quickly, pleasurably and shamelessly as possible. Any and every possible vile fetish rooted deep within the human psyche, especially those that involve pain as much as pleasure, is promoted by he/she/it to be enjoyed freely by the perverts and sickos that worship him/her/it. Add to that the majority of his models being an unholy collection of transvestites (apart from the Slaangors and the antelope-like Fiends and one variant of the old metal Keeper of Secrets model, which are better), and... yeah, Slaanesh is not for me. But at least said models don't make me sick to my stomach, which is more than can be said for his/her/its brother god below.
7. Nurgle - Really not fond of his models or his sheer disgustingness, not a fan of him in any way, sorry Nurgle-lovers. He may have a caring side but it's too hidden to me amid all the exposed guts and rotting flesh.

 

Hahaha... there are many minor Chaos entities, depending on how deep we wish to go down the rabbit hole. I listed the ones that @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl had suggested earlier.

In my personal opinion, when it comes to Chaos Gods, only the big four really count. That's just me though.

 

Care to officially venture a guess for the record?

The Chaos Dwarfs are my favourite army, but that is primarily because I love the entirety of their Forge World model range. However, even they are not my favourite in terms of all aspects of the hobby. For instance, while you seldom hear me talk about Lizardmen these days, Lord Kroak remains by far my favourite character. Chaos Dwarf named characters wouldn't even crack my top ten (in terms of fluff). Hashut can't capture the top spot because he's extremely underdeveloped in the lore and there are other more interesting gods out there. I do like the look and feel he provides the Chaos Dwarfs in terms of setting and aesthetics, but there simply isn't that much known about him. He doesn't play that much of a role in the setting; his influence is extremely limited.

 

The Dark Prince, Slaanesh... you certainly post enough of his approval memes to be considered a supporter of his

Fair enough... GW not bothering to support the Chaos Dwarfs with lore for several Editions of Fantasy certainly didn't help them.


The scores look pretty interesting right now...


Tzeentch is out in the lead with 4 votes, something unsurprising, but in joint 2nd place are Slaanesh and Malal with 2 votes each. It does please me to see the little-known Malal getting some love.

Then my solitary vote for the Horned Rat, and lastly the three other Major Chaos Gods and Hashut on zilch. I wonder how the results will shift as the thread attracts more voters?

 

As per usual...

That's definitely a big part of it. Also, Hashut is a minor Chaos god at best.

The scores are extremely strange. I would not have guessed that Khorne and Nurgle would be sitting at zero votes at this stage.

I'd guess that Tzeentch will further pull away from everyone, while Khorne and Nurgle might slip into second and third place. That said, we've attracted surprisingly few voters thus far.

 

Well Malal was my 4th choice...but my top three weren't options...so...

Malal i've enjoyed for his gnarly design and daemon weapon. I also have had the most fun rpg-wise with Malal entities. Firstly when I ran an Only War Imperial Guard rpg the Death Korps of Krieg Grenadier who had a cursed trench shovel/axe ended up swearing allegiance to Khorne...if he had bothered to properly look into his trench axe that gave a hefty bonus to wrecking non-Malal aligned Chaos he'd have realised it was a daemon of Malal bound to the shovel. He spent the next few moments compelled to smash himself in the face with said shovel before falling through the warp rift the corrupted psyker they were hunting had opened. Said shovel has since traveled through my rpg multiverse in multiple references.

I later ran the Black Crusade one shot Broken Chains (with many alterations), the party encountered a Hrud (the classic Skaven version) battling a human priest wielding an ominous eviscerator/chainsword, the priest being the vessel for a potent daemon of Malal that called itself Skraw (old injoke and fitting as the transformed form of the priest became a bony raven-like creature, not too dissimilar to the pterodactyl theme Malal has.) The group ended up convincing the priest (and daemon) to join them and were able to take down the Inquisitorial interrogator antagonist.

 

I always forget that you are a Skaven guy as you are usually discussing Dwarfs and Beastmen (and to a lesser extent High Elves and Lizardmen)

A missed opportunity!

Spoiler: And the Forge World one...

 

Share an ordered list like @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl did, and feel free to include all the gods that weren't listed in the poll!

 

Oh yes... I have the following armies:

• Dwarfs
• Greenskins
• High Elves
• Lizardmen
• Skaven
• Beastmen

Three Good and three Evil. Yet the temptation is always there to begin another one of each...

To a point... my family and I all enjoyed shopping at the town in question though so we'll likely be heading back there next year, and the chap who ran the shop is a keen Kings of War player (as well as Fantasy and Old World) and regularly restocks his range so there will be more chances in the future.

I'm tempted by both Mantic's Dawi-Zharr and their Tomb Kings (which the store had run out of at the time, someone else had had the same idea as me and bought them to begin a TOW Tomb King army) to begin forces of those as well... but my existing six armies are all at varying stages of completion so I'd better focus on completing them first.

Hmm, the Forge World one is OK, but I always personally preferred the bestial-looking models - the antelope-headed Keeper of Secrets variant and the old deer-like Fiends:




Even before I began my Beastman Warherd, there was just something about these that drew me in more than the Daemonette look.

 

Malal was my choice, because I am a contrarian at heart Also I tend to gravitate towards lesser known and appreciated characters and entities. Guess I feel sorry for them getting overshadowed. Or in Malal's case getting banished to Retconia, and only re-emerging in 40k under a rebrand (or in my own work).

Tzeentch and the Horned Rat are fighting for the very close second place, to the point that I don't know which would actually be in second and which in third.

What can I say, Tzeentch entertains me with his schemes upon schemes that are often sabotaging his other schemes, the Tzeentch truly is chaos that cares not who suffers a good scheme, not even himself. Plus, he gets the cool giant blue birds. Love Lords of Change, if I ever go for a daemon army, it'd be Tzeentch just for the Lords of Change.

And the Horned Rat... First deity of the Warhammer setting I ever knew of, thanks to my first exposure to Warhammer being this obscure and hard as balls little strategy game called "Shadow of the Horned Rat". And to this day, I still can't say "warpstone" without copying the awed tone of the skaven gutterrunner in the opening. That game was also my introduction to Thanquol.

 

That urge to get another army. An excess army. Most of us have been there (my pile of shame is bigger than most), we are all seduced by the temptations of this hobby.

There is no escape from Slaanesh, she marks us all.

My default position is to suggest going with the Dawi-Zharr, but objectively, the TK would add more variety to your collection of armies. You already have a Dwarf army but no undead army. That said, I can see the merit in holding off entirely and working on what you've already got!

As usual, we've got opposite tastes. I'm not a fan of the more beastial look.

 

And what about the rest of the list? What is the order after Malal, Tzeentch and the Horned rat? Who is fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh?

 

Khorne comes fourth. Simple and clean, Khorne wants blood. Khorne wants skulls. Khorne wants them to be earned from worthy foes, not cowardly methods. Got to respect a dude who knows what he wants and how he wants it.

Fifth and sixth is a draw between Hashut and Slaanesh... Meh, I don't hate them, (in Hashut's case, I barely even know of him beyond that he is the Dawi-Zhaar patron. And Slaanesh? I don't see much appeal. Certainly not when one of the draws in-universe is great, hedonistic sex... which by the way... what part of Slaanesh's daemons' appearance is making anybody think "cor, I want to bang that"? They look fugly as sin! I Iook at N'kari and any libido I might have drains away. Eww... just eww...

But speaking of Eww... Nurgle comes last. I don't care for fat, pus filled, warty turd buckets. And that's before I even get to the Great Unclean Ones... TAKE A BATH, YA MANKY SLOB! AND LAY OFF THE McDONALDS!

 

I'm going with Tzeentch primarily because I like the Lord of Change model.
If not for that I might have chosen Khorne, also mostly due to models.

 

With so many great lists submitted, I might as well throw mine into the mix...

#1 Slaanesh

• so much more multidimensional than the S&M god he/she (from here on out I'll refer to her as she) is made out to be. Slaanesh represents the temptations of all excesses, as evidenced by the six circles of seduction that one must pass to reach the palace of Slaanesh. The six temptations are avidity (greed of gold and precious stones), gluttony (foods, feasts, wine and drink), carnality (you know... typical Slaanesh stuff ), paramountcy (power to rule and lead, to have others cheer and devoutly follow you, militarily or politically, etc.), vainglory (the seductive whispers of past glories and achievements) and indolency (heavenly relaxation, the lure of rest).
• where Khorne is a brutal, powerful but ultimately a single mindedly blunt instrument, the followers of Slaanesh are graceful, agile and precise. I simply have more respect for such a finesse based style of combat.
• Slaanesh played some part in bringing about the division of the Elves. Dark Elves society despite lethal dissuasion from Malekith, are still plagued by the Slaaneshi cults of pleasure. In the Storm of Chaos campaign, it was even possible to field a Slaanesh + Dark Elves list (the Cult of Slaanesh).
• one of Slaanesh's primary colours is purple, which happens to be my favourite colour!
• while Tzeentch is written as the master of magic and schemes, on the tabletop (more specifically in terms of lores of magic), it is always the Lore of Slaanesh that is devious, nuanced, deep and strategic. The lore of Slaanesh promotes a forward thinking approach, setting things up early so that they will punish the opposition down the line. Conversely, the lore of Tzeentch leans towards a simplistic mechanic; more of a point and click type of ranged firepower magic lore. This holds true in 8th edition, 7th edition and most especially in 6th edition (where the lore of Slaanesh still stands as one of my favourite magic lores of all time).
• funny shit like Sigvald having his retainers attend him mid-battle with mirrors so he can see and murmur compliments to himself
• Slaanesh is ripe for memes... and I do love memes.
• then there is this: "the fact that all the Chaos Gods embody Slaanesh's drive for excess: Khorne with his rage, Tzeentch with his schemes and Nurgle with his love of pestilence. Lurking deep within the psyche of each of Slaanesh's brother gods is the suspicion that the influence of the Dark Prince is steadily gaining in strength and that Slaanesh will perhaps one day eclipse them all" [DoC 8th ed. army book, page 12].
• Slaanesh can present as male, female or hermaphrodite form, which sets her apart from the rest of her compatriots
• the allure of Slaanesh is relatable. Want to buy those brand new shiny miniatures despite already having a huge pile of grey shame?... Slaanesh. Want that extra scoop of ice cream?... Slaanesh. Want to score the game winning goal and have the crowd go wild cheering your name?... Slaanesh. There is no escape from Slaanesh, she marks us all!

#2 Tzeentch

• my former longstanding top choice up until recently.
• the ultimate manipulator and schemer... and I do enjoy schemes!
• the bit about tossing Kairos into the well of eternity is really cool
• the best looking symbol of the Chaos gods by a long shot

#3 Hashut

• the deity of my beloved Chaos Dwarfs
• the bull and fire theme of the Father of Darkness adds to the flavour of the army
• Dwarfs that can wield magic (albeit with consequences) is a pretty sweet gift
• I do like the Lawful Evil idea that @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl raised
• unfortunately not much is known of Hashut and he doesn't play all that much of an important role in the lore
• personally I don't really consider him a classic Chaos god

#4 Khorne

• never been a huge fan of Khorne, and he only ranks 4th because I dislike the other choices even more
• too simplistic and straight forward, lacking any nuance
• in my mind, while he is the mightiest of the Chaos gods, he is also the most dim-witted and eventually brains beats brawn
• The blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne does open up nicely as meme-fodder

#5 Nurgle

• easily my least favourite of the "real" Chaos gods
• not a fan of the exposed guts, boils and pus
• the pestilence angle is less intriguing than the main aspects of the other gods
• Nurgle actually being a friendly grandfather figure to his followers is pretty cool, but not nearly enough so as to elevate him above his brothers

#6 Horned Rat

• he ranks so low because I don't consider him to a Chaos god (having been trust into the role in the End Times and more officially in Aos, neither of which I'm a fan of)
• aside from that he does epitomize the Skaven very well, and they are extremely fun lore-wise

#7 Malal

• Spoiler

  
  [*]beyond having heard the name, Malal is utterly inconsequential in my eyes. He essentially plays no real role in mainstream Warhammer lore. I might not be the biggest fan of a god like Nurgle, but he is at least iconically Warhammer/Chaos. The other gods matter, Malal does not (at least in my opinion)

 

Always been a Tzeentch guy myself, fell in love with the general vibe the God of Change had going on when I first delved into AoS.

Also, Tzaangors being actual bird people in AoS was really the cherry on top for me.

 

Alas, the tale of Malal is forever banished to Retconia, because GeeDubs screwed the pooch and now he is held in copywrite limbo and has been since the... I think it was early 90's but my history on the subject is spotty at best.

An easy way to think of Malal is proto-Be'lakor. Essentially, everything about Be'lakor is Malal-lite. Be'lakor is but a daemon prince (albeit the First), and is ultimately beholden to the gods. Malal, he is an actual god, but his strength comes from the main four gods being at odds. Which is unfortunate for him, because it means the moment he actually gets close to his goal of destroying the Four, they unify against him, and their unity is his anathema. Kind of a wretched existence, destined to forever fall short of your goal because your goal's approach brings about your very weakness.

I like him because when he was done properly, he represented true Chaos. Just anarchy.