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Made in us
Pious Warrior Priest






Tapping the Glass at the Herpetarium



I'm pretty sure this whole thread is Heretical.

These Chaos Daemons are not good individuals.

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[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern






Oh the Daemons aren’t. Kinda.

There’s an old WD article from around 3rd Ed era which as well as providing some experimental rules included some now obscure background on Daemons.

It is now of course of questionable canon, so pinches of salt.

But, it set out that being fragments of the god’s consciousness? Daemons aren’t exactly sentient, and have no free will. Instead their motivations are set. They enjoy what they do, because they’ve no other option. Most concerningly though? They cannot conceive that mortals don’t enjoy the same things. So they’ve no concept that what they do largely sucks from the mortal’s point of view.

Of course, as you go up the Daemonic echelons they become more intelligent. But they still lack a world view beyond that given to them by their parent god.

So, by that standard? Are they actually evil? It’s not a choice. It’s much closer to an instinct. I mean, we don’t consider obligate carnivores evil for killing and eating prey animals. But then again, they don’t tend to waste time Doing Awful Things before the kill. So it’s not a straight comparison. But if the Daemon simply does, and lacks any concept that what it’s doing might be unpleasant? Is it evil?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/10/25 22:15:54


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I'd say it depends on the God on the level of understanding.

You can hardly say a Bloodletter doesn't understand why getting brutally slaughtered isn't an enjoyable experience and there is a very strong case to be made that Slaaneshi Daemons are very much aware of the whole pain/pleasure thing not being universal mainly because causing pain gives them pleasure.

Nurgle Daemons seem to be the exception just because they're naturally good natured and jolly. Heck, Beasts of Nurgle are almost dog-like in their innocence and get really upset when their friends turn into goop after a big hug.
   
 
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