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The concept of Chaos as it appears in both games borrows heavily from the struggle between Law and Chaos in Michael Moorcock 's fiction, as well as the "things outside space" imagery found in H.P. Lovecraft 's work. Both game worlds depict settings out of spiritual balance, where the darker aspects of human nature coagulate and gain purpose in a mystical (or psychic) context. In the two game worlds Chaos represents the classic theme of Man Vs. Himself , with the fantasy twist of inner psychoses having physical form and influence. More recent publications for both games tend to gloss over this element, instead portraying Chaos as simply evil, cackling, "bad guys" adorned with spikes and skulls. The Chaos armies in ''Warhammer Fantasy'' and ''Warhammer 40000'' share many similarities. Although the Eldar , Orks and Imperium definitely correspond to the Elves , Orcs and the Empire in the fantasy game, they do not always share the same Religion or the same units (as the Chaos forces do with their daemons, Chaos Hounds, and Chaos Spawn). However, this similarity is no longer as close as it was in previous editions, where Fantasy Chaos armies and warbands could even include the occasional Chaos Space Marine. THE HORUS HERESY See main article: Horus Heresy In the fictional history of the Science Fiction universe that the wargame ''Warhammer 40,000'' is set in, the Horus Heresy took place after mankind's reconquest of the galaxy, following the birth of Slaanesh. The Space Marines, the Imperium's elite and the mainstay of the conquering forces, became divided as close to half turned to Chaos and, led by the Warmaster Horus , turned on the Emperor's forces. This scenario mirrors the classic interpretation of the Biblical tale of Satan 's fall, with Horus corresponding to Satan, and the other, Primarchs corresponding to the Fallen Angel s. It also seems a futuristic version of the tale of King Arthur , with the Emperor (Arthur) and Horus (Mordred) ending up killing one another, and the Emperor living on like Arthur being taken to the Isle of Avalon. THE FORCES OF CHAOS
THE GODS OF CHAOS Khorne is the Blood God, Lord of Skulls. Every kill in war, every execution of a criminal, every senseless murder, is made in his name, whether those who commit them desire it (or even know) or not. Khorne is usually depicted as sitting on a throne of skulls of the fallen. The phrases "Blood for the Blood God" and "Skulls for the Skull Throne" are commonly used as battle cries by the followers of Khorne. Khorne represents the fear of life, wanting to destroy all in his, or his followers', sight. Khorne also shares a grudge with his brother Tzeentch, calling him a "coward" for fighting his battles with psychic powers and long ranged weapons while Khorne prefers to fight his battles at close range; hand to hand, face to face. However he has a greater feud with Slaanesh, whose rather feminine style is the source of much hate from Khorne's followers, and only on rare occasion do they even consider working together. '']] Nurgle , or Father Nurgle, is the Chaos God of despair, symbolized by disease and decay. Nurgle's power waxes and wanes inconsistently as his "gifts" to the world(s) spread, are cured, or simply kill off everything in sight. Many of Nurgle's victims will turn to him to escape the torment of his diseases. Nurgle represents humanity's complacency, willing to be content with imperfection, filth, and decay. Because of this, he is the enemy of Tzeentch, who strives for continuous change. However unlike the rivalry between Khorne and Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch show a small degree of civility, knowing that they must work together albeit grudgingly. Nurgle is often characterized as a loving father who carefully bestows his gifts upon the most downtrodden and despairing. Slaanesh is the Dark Prince of Chaos. All those who live in the pursuit of pleasure risk falling under this god's deceptive charms. Unlike the other gods that are generally depicted as male ("Father" Nurgle, or Khorne which is definitely masculine), Slaanesh can be depicted as, male, female, androgynous, or hermaphroditic. Slaanesh is humankind's fear of introspection manifest, its followers distracting themselves with ever more immersive and addictive sensations. Tzeentch is the Changer of Ways and Architect of Fate. The minions and followers of Tzeentch manipulate magic and psionic power in their rawest form, and often know the thoughts and fates of their foes even before they do. Tzeentch represents civilization's constant curiosity and discontent gone too far, changing and creating until reason and law are dissolved in an ever-shifting mass of change. Malal is the renegade God of Chaos, enemy to the other four. He represents Chaos' indiscriminate tendency toward destruction, even of itself. He is the god of rebellion and anarchy. He is, however, absent from the most recent editions of ''Warhammer'' games for copyright reasons. Some fans speculate that Malal continues to live on indirectly both in Warhammer fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. Others: there have been referances to other chaos gods, in earlier Games Workshop publications, at least three others have been confirmed at one time or another (eg the minor god the chaos raptors worship), which leads to the belief that they are without number, every warp entity is a god, some are powerful, such as Tzeench and Nurgle, whereas as others are relativly insignificant, it could be said that every deamon is a god, although some rather ally themselves with greater entaties rather than be ignored by them. CHAOS UNDIVIDED Chaos Undivided is the concept that the four major powers of chaos (Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch) are a pantheon of gods that, when worshipped as such, allows the follower of Chaos Undivided the numerous advantages these gods offer to mortals; with none of the disadvantages of single allegiance (Khorne followers gradually descend into mindless barbarism or Slaanesh followers gradually nulling of all emotion, for example). Chaos Undivided also includes the numerous lesser deities of chaos from particularly powerful daemon princes to lesser powers that may represent lesser emotions than the four main powers. In game terms, Chaos Undivided armies are often the most balanced "something for everyone" type of army. In terms of modeling Chaos Undivided allows dedicated chaos players to pursue their own style away from the 'official' background-sanctioned varied chaos styles - or even to make up their own chaos god for their army to follow. In earlier editions of both Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 Chaos undivided was generally very rare, represented by individuals of great power 'chosen' to unite the fractious armies of Chaos, such as Horus in Warhammer 40,000. More recent products have brought in both the pantheon concept described above and the idea that Chaos might be worshipped as a unified whole (an assumption that Chaos Gods are actually branches of the same, formless entity). It should be noted the mark of "Chaos Undivided" appears to draw heavily from the "Conan" series, using the same 8-pointed star worn by Conan the barbarian in the movie of the same name, and including new undivided characters such as the barbarous Crom the Conqueror (the name of Conan's god and one of Conan's titles). REFERENCES
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