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What's the difference between Slaanesh and Tzeentch? It seems like they're both selfish gods of wanting stuff. The only difference between them I can think of is that Slaanesh wants physical stuff (sex, drugs) and Tzeentch wants immaterial stuff (authority, wealth). So, for you Dakkanauts who know more about the lore than I do, what's the difference between them? What makes Slaanesh unique from Tzeentch?

Slaanesh is the Dark Prince of Pleasure, so yes, she likes sex drugs and other aesthetic things. His followers also crave adoration beyond everything else, making her, and all of his followers incredibly vain, but also just as alluring. Born out of the decadence of the Eldar, desire and passion of the senses are paramount to this alignment. It's much like the witch from Snow White, suck the souls out of beautiful young women to retain her own youth and power. They can be alluring cultists seeking a quick high, or opulent megalomaniacs rich beyond measure in both power and prestige.

Tzeentch however is the Fateweaver, and seems rather nonplussed about being adored or worshiped altogether. He knows how to get people to worship him without actively doing so because it's all just another convoluted part of his great unfathomable plan and those who follow him crave power and knowledge (usually not material wealth). Cultists who flock to his banner want clandestine Empires of both the mind and matter. They desire access to secrets of the universe to control even more of both the physical and immaterial. The followers of Tzeentch are usually mystics or weak sorcerers who strive for a deeper reservoir of energy to tap into, and like Ahriman, become extremely powerful magi on nomadic quests to the ends of the universe and beyond in search for even more mental and spiritual power. In the most spectacular examples, a powerful figure may lead from the shelter of his own empire, none truly knowing who it was as he continues to plan his future gains of an even greater realm.

So the difference?

Slaanesh is the perfection of the form and senses, the debauchery of the damned soul and decadence in all things.

Tzeentch is the perfection of a exploitative and expanded tyrant mind. A scholar of the universe, a follower always wants to know and discover more, while at the same time, wishing to possess and hoard this valuable knowledge that can often bring ruin to mortal minds. After all, "Knowledge is power, guard it well."

Personally:

Tzeentch in my opinion is by far the most dangerous God of the pantheon because (judging by his more forward followers), they seek to either unlock the secrets of the universe, or more frighteningly, to dominate all others by using it to their almost unbeatable advantage - after all, how do you defy fates written by your enemy?

Slaanesh to me is the most comparable to the modern Lucifer out of all of the Gods of Chaos. She strikes a deal with you, what your heart desires for the measly price of your soul. Of course the greater wants and desires come with some trials to see if you're worthy of such desires, but if you truly want it, then completing such deeds for Slaanesh is a trivial matter for you. As such, I believe that out of all the Gods of Chaos, Slaanesh is instinctively the most alluring and by far the easiest for man to fall to.

Tzeentch is, simply, a schemer. He sees the possible paths and choices of the future and does all in his power to make the future he desires a reality. With such knowledge in hand, Tzeentch is a god that a more... educated/aware person would fall to as they can hopefully appease/amuse/bargain with Tzeentch by completing tasks for Tzeentch in order to help sway the galaxy towards the future Tzeentch craves for in order to obtain greater knowledge/mental power/daemonhood, whatever. So you could say that Tzeentch is the god who has all the cards, he just has to play them right to get what he wants.

So, In my opinion, Slaanesh could easily be the strongest god in raw might derived from the countless billions that regularly fall or feed her every day possibly really only being contested by Khorne by the sheer amount of bloodshed the galaxy is experiencing. However, Tzeentch is powerful via knowledge, he knows how things can unfold and that allows him to be, at times, several steps ahead of everyone else. His real competition comes from Nurgle as Nurgle knows that no matter what, there is only one true end for the galaxy, death via entropy. But between now and then, Tzeentch is going to mess around with everyone. While Papa Nurgle laughs knowing it really doesn't matter. (So in that sense, the only "winners" are Nurgle and Malice as they both (sorta) strive for/know what is the end of all, Tzeentch can really only attempt to choose how the ending is reached)

Maybe it's that Tzeentch wants lasting change, but Slaanesh just wants a fleeting moment of pleasure.

Slaneesh represents excess, thus you're going to alway be able to draw parallels between him and the other Gods because all of the Chaos Gods represent. human emotions to the excess.

Khorne is the God of excessive violence- that's why simply killing your neighbor or a guy you don't like won't make you a deamon prince, whereas starting a massive civil war that kills billions will.

Tzeentch is the God of excessive planning and questing for knowledge. That's why simply reading a book or covering your friend's hand in jello and tickling his nose so he slaps himself in the face isn't going to earn you Tzeentch's eternal pleasure, but using your masterful knowledge of politics to create a convoluted scheme that ends with all your rivals hauled off by the Inquisition for heresy and you the lone ruler of a sector will.

Nurgle is the God of excessive decay and disease. That's why simply catching a cold and giving it to someone else won't make you Nurgle's herald, but creating a virus that contaminates an entire planet and converts them into zombies will.

Slaanesh is the God of excess in general. Anything dialed up to an 11 falls under Slaanesh's gaze. Thus, that's something that all the other Gods have in common with him.

Blaxican sums it up pretty well as all of the Chaos Gods bleed into each others pantheons at one point or another

Khorne kills someone, that brings him pleasure (Slaanesh) there is a state of change as the body goes from living to dead (Tzeentch) and the dead body breeds new life in the form of fungi (Nurgle)

Tzeentch schemes for the death of a rival and succeeds in killing them (Khorne) by using a virulent pain inducing toxin (Slaanesh as every sensation is sacred) and bringing them back to ``life`` as a zombie (Nurgle)

in the Chaos Daemons Codex we learn was the most powerful god at one point and this can be explained in his change aspect ...as everything in the Universe must change at one point and indeed what is Chaos but change incarnate

and I believe in one of the earlier Chaos Marine codices we learn that each Chaos God waxes and wanes at certain points so there are no real lasting gains in supremacy
but I digress I seem to be going on a tangent

Slaanesh and Tzeentch are my personal favourites as they can be maddeningly complex characters, if you can find it there`s one short story of a Tzeentchian subject who is punished-rewarded depending on how you look at it, I`ll take a look later and see if I can find the name of the story ...about a marine of the Purple Stars

Tzeentch wants your mind.

Slaanesh wants your soul.

 Anfauglir wrote:
Tzeentch wants your mind.

Slaanesh wants your soul.

Tzeench wants to feth you in the brain

Slaanesh wants to feth you in the *******(use your imagination)*******

^Pretty much boils down to that.^

Tzeentch = megalomania
Slaanesh = narcissism

Tzeentch is the God of a thousand faces. He is everywhere and within everything.

Another way of looking it at it is this. Whereas Slannesh is the Prince of Pleasure, he also has a craving for Eldar souls as well. He basically just wants what he can get, and seeing he's a Chaos god, he can quite a bit.

Tzeentch, as others have said, is a schemer, and the Lord of Change. He is also the biggest liar the galaxy has ever known. When the Gods start fighting between each other, it's usually Tzeentch who has "stirred up the hornets nest'. He also has an uncanny power of knowing what it is coming in the future, and whether it can ammuse him, belittle one of his brothers, or even destroy his servants, or anything else he pleases. He is the Fate Weaver and Lord of Change so I'm pretty sure when it comes to futures, he has a great amount of input.

Another thing you can look at is the "gifts" each god "blesses" their followers with. Slannesh will bestow things such as replaing pain nerves with pleasure nerves, so instead of having agony of losing something, like you're entire arm, you would get an astounding amount of plesure instead. Tzeentch, on the other hand, is the Mutator. Look what happened to the Thousand Sons. They were all mutating and when Ahriman accidentally entombed his fellow Space Marines souls in their armour, it was because they were trying to stop the spread of mutation.

But I digress

I was looking more for differences personality wise, not physical stuff. But I think I've figured the Gods out.

Tzeentch wants lasting change for the better.
Slaanesh doesn't care about change; all she wants is a quick fix.
Nurgle fears and hates change, believing that one should embrace stagnation as hoped to ambition.
Khorne doesn't care about change; all he wants is an outlet for his rage.

Except that Tzeentch doesn't care whether it's change for the better.
All he wants is for the schemes and plots fights and ambitions to go on forever.

Tzeentch wants everything to twist and turn, and for fate to ravel and unravel with time and his own machinations. Slaanesh wants to feth