Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Every time I read fluff on Chaos its followers seem dead-set on maiming, killing, and burning everything they see. Although I don't think that the chaos god's want this at all. (not even Khorne). While I'm sure they love the warring and the anarchy during dark crusades I don't think that they wold like it to much if their followers destroyed humanity. No humans leaves only the Eldar to feed on for the gods respective type of chaos. So if their followers are doing one thing what do the gods want?

Very smart for a youngster, the Chaos Gods are fickle and care only for their own needs. Everyone else is just a pawn in the eternal war.

Khorne wants blood and skulls, apparently.
Tzeentch wants knowledge.
Slaanesh wants cocaine and fresh, lubricated produce.
Nurgle... just wants to be loved.

There's a fair bit of inconsistency in the background about what it is that the Chaos Gods want, which is probably appropriate for the Gods of Chaos. Check out the background on Daemon Princes in Codex: Chaos Space Marines and compare to the background on Spawn in Codex: Chaos Space Marines.

Something else to consider is that the Chaos Gods have destroyed plenty of races: Humanity is just the next in line.

DEUS VULT wrote:Khorne wants blood and skulls, apparently.
Tzeentch wants knowledge.
Slaanesh wants cocaine and fresh, lubricated produce.
Nurgle... just wants to be loved.

Tzeentch want's knowledge? I always thought he wanted change. Which, all of the other gods do for him.

Footsloggin wrote:

DEUS VULT wrote:Khorne wants blood and skulls, apparently.
Tzeentch wants knowledge.
Slaanesh wants cocaine and fresh, lubricated produce.
Nurgle... just wants to be loved.

Tzeentch want's knowledge? I always thought he wanted change. Which, all of the other gods do for him.

Heh, I was being vague. But yeah, change is good.

They all want to perpetuate their own traits basically. Infinite cycle.

I have always wondered if the Daemons that fight in the Milky Way have ever been to other Galaxies? Waging war with unknown creatures and races in the name of Chaos.

Are there any examples of fluff for this?

They want to save on their car insurance, by switching to Geico.

I wouldn't worry about what the Chaos Gods want. They are personification of the emotions and desires of sentient beings. The dark gods are closer to forces of nature then actual thinking rational beings. They "want" to propagate the desires and emotions that they are made of. For example, Nurgle pursues corruption for the sake of spreading more corruption, not for any actual end goal.

As far as destroying humanity and having no worshipers left, I don't think that's really a concern of the Chaos gods. Its sort of like the parable about the frog and the scorpion, if you asked the Chaos Gods why they destroyed humanity when it would mean their own death, you'd get a response like "It's my nature".

If they do not care if the human race is destroyed or not then why the failed crusades? It seems like they just play around with the dark crusades. A chaos worshiper is directly affected by their respective god. Can the gods of chaos not simply imbue their followers with the most powerful weapons and Armour? Or is the warp also limited by everything real space is?

What the Chaos Gods want, imo, is to survive, just like every living being. They could just let humanity die and they lose a good portion of their power, seeing as humans are secretive, vengeful, power-hungry and far too easily tempted. Their real end goal right now, as I see it, is to destroy the Emperor so that he can no longer diminish their effect on Psykers and warp-traveling ships. Of course when the Chaos Gods tell their followers 'Destroy the Emperor,' their warped brains and psychotic mentality construes this as 'Destroy humanity.' I wouldn't be surprised if destroying the Emperor would turn the rest of the Human race to Chaos, allowing them to gain even more power from humans, and also launch greater crusades to destroy alien races.

TL;DR: Read it.

I think they want chaos, in the purist sense.

StarShade wrote:I think they want chaos, in the purist sense.

Exactly, some people die and some people survive, which means that there will always be people to enslave somewhere.

I think that chaos gods "wanting" anything is an over -simplification, their minds are probably very different to ours.
Maybe they're just trying to pass the time.

They don't want anything they are simply chaos incarnate.

Exactly, they want Chaos. It is what they thrive on. However my reasoning for posting this thread is that the worshipers of Chaos do not seem to be able to comprehend the god's true intentions for the very reason Dark Apostle 666 said above. Without intelligent beings that can comprehend a higher power, that have the ability to do wrong and hurt others for the fun of it and not just to survive the Chaos gods will lose their fuel.

They want worshippers, this fuels them in a sense. Each has their own aspect that they appeal to so that humans of a certain mind set or in certain circumstances will turn to them. Humans are a vast resource in the 40K universe and the ranks of chaos followers are ever growing. The wars that the gods and their followers wage on humanity force an atmosphere of fear, oppression, paranoia and misery that makes the down trodden masses fertile soil for heresy to take root...and so chaos expands.

The Black Crusades aren't really the Gods' thing, thats Abbadon and his crew's doing. Every so often he can convenience the rest of the Eye that it would be better for everyone who contributes if they all attacked the Imperium at once, rather than the random opportunistic raids.

You forget that the Gods have as much pull in the direction on their minions as they have over themselves. The Gods want to spread their influence, and its up to their human/material minions to do that.

Dark Apostle 666 wrote:I think that chaos gods "wanting" anything is an over -simplification, their minds are probably very different to ours.
Maybe they're just trying to pass the time.

So the Chaos Gods are the 40K equivalent to "Q" in Star Trek? Perhaps if they make an other 40K film they can cast John de Lancie as one of the Chaos Gods....

They do have some specific objectives, in one of the HH novels (don't ask me which), either a posessed marine or a demon says that "old night shall return". I don't know if they still want this or if humanity's good the way they are.

It seems like Chaos already has what it wants and will just perputauate the cycle. Honestly what causes more change, death, corruption and lust than constant, eternal WAR? I think they are just trying to keep the equation balanced. When their minions are doing too well over all in the galaxy they withdraw some of their power(black crusade) and when they arent doing enough they flex their power(horus heresy).

A stagnant war-filled Imperium on the precipice of destruction sounds like a good time.

They want 1 thing... MOAR CHOAS!

But seriously Everyone gots it pegged

@ zonder, that is a very good way of putting it, I like that a lot. Thank you.

StarShade wrote:I think they want chaos, in the purist sense.

This. They're called the "Chaos" Gods. I really doubt that they have well-defined, long-term goals.

They want to toy with your mind until the point of insanity and then use you as a pawn in thier eforts for intergalactic domination.

Guildsman wrote:

StarShade wrote:I think they want chaos, in the purist sense.

This. They're called the "Chaos" Gods. I really doubt that they have well-defined, long-term goals.

Yes, I know that they are gods of chaos. This thread however is pointing out the different goals of the chaos gods and their billions of minions.