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One of the reasons that I love the background to Warhammer 40K is the fusion of dark fantasy (daemons, Lovecraftian horrors etc) with science fiction elements. This background is left intentionally vague and incomplete in places, which I also like as it not only gives the impression of a future so old and battered that its history is full of gaps, but also leaves plenty of scope for coming up with your own theories for why certain things are the way they are. It’s as pointless as arguing over whether Han Solo or Captain Kirk would win a fight, but fun nonetheless.

In that spirit I came up with some thoughts regarding the warp and specifically how it related to Tyranids. The warp is explained as something that is generated and formed by conscious thought. Presumably then it can only exist in any meaningful way where there is sentient life. Life can only exist in large numbers in galaxies, so the warp must exist in isolated pockets separated by the intergalactic spaces. (This might not be true, as the warp corresponds only loosely with realspace, but the spaces between galaxies are big enough that they’d probably be isolated).

As a sentient species (or at least, one that manifests psychic abilities) grows and matures, the emotions and desires of that race coalesce in the warp and inevitably give rise to chaos gods, or strengthen existing ones. The Eldar were all but destroyed when their unchecked hedonistic excess reached critical mass and created the warp entity Slaanesh. Mankind seem to be heading in a similar direction, albeit by strengthening existing gods (possibly because humanity is a more diverse race in terms of emotions and desire compared to the Eldar). Perhaps it is the natural life-cycle of an intelligent species to manifest psychic powers, colonise the majority of their host galaxy, and then in time be wiped out by the warp entities they spawn, leaving clear the stage for a later species to repeat the cycle. The universe is home to 400 billion or so galaxies (that we know of), which conjures the image of a void clustered with little islands of life, each with their own attendant gods formed in their own image; or at least in the image of their own unique and alien desires and predilections.

It is hinted at in the fluff that the Tyranids invading the Milky Way are fleeing something even worse lurking out in the void. The Tyranids evolved or were created in another galaxy and are predisposed to consume, multiply and move on. This singularity of purpose suggests they were engineered, rather than evolved naturally. With their ability to multiply rapidly and strip bare entire planets, it’s not difficult to imagine them expanding beyond the ability of their creators to control. Areas they strip of life would not be able to support their voracious appetites and their numbers would diminish. Areas that were given the chance to replenish would eventually be consumed once more in a never ending cycle of feeding.

This Tyranid hunger is never sated, and over the millennia its manifestation in the warp would grow and grow. With no other life or emotions in the galaxy the resulting god of hunger would be extraordinarily powerful, and its birth would be calamitous for the Tyranid hordes. Ironically, the species that had destroyed their creators with their unchecked hunger would now face a similar fate. Hunger-daemons would invade their realspace and consume trillions, and whole constellations would be pulled into the warp to be feasted on. The survivors would instinctively realise they had to flee, but there would be nowhere in their galaxy safe from the god they had unwittingly created. Their only choice would be to abandon their galaxy and strike out into the void.

Denied the use of warp travel through the quiescent gaps between galaxies, the journey would take millennia, pulled along the faint gravitational tether of their nearest neighbouring galaxy by their Narvhal bio-ships. Thousands and thousands of years later the first tendrils of the survivor hive-fleets drift into the outer reaches of a spiral galaxy of some 400 billion stars, and find it teeming with life. The vanguard Tyranid forces are awakened from their slumber, ready to initiate another galaxy-wide holocaust, before they are once again forced to move on.

There’s probably a lot wrong with this theory, and I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on it, but I like the idea of bespoke gods for each galaxy, reflecting the peculiarities of their species – especially a Hunger God, furious that it had no more life to feast on, casting its eyes across the stars to track down the last morsel that escaped its grasp.

I really like this theory! I do happen to disagree with it though because if this were true wouldnt that mean the forces of Chaos would know about this? that would mean the chaos gods faced a much larger threat than the IoM. Unless the current chaos gods don't know about it because they only exist in their own "pocket" warp.... kind of makes your head spin doesnt it?

Well, in 'Dead Sky Black Sun' part of the Graham Mcneill Ultra Marines/Iron Warriors books, when Uriel and Pasanius are taken by the Omphalos Daemonium (a powerful chosen daemon of Khorne), he transports them --unshielded-- through the warp (protected from other warp entities only by the sheer power of the Omphalos Daemonium). As their minds were about to collapse, it seemed to Uriel they were moving through the empty spaces between shards of a broken mirror. The Daemonium laughs at Uriel's futile attempt to make sense of the warp, and cautions him about the dangers of even trying to perceive its infinite vastness. I thought it was strongly implicated that each mirror shard was a separate reality or universe, and that the warp was the 'emptiness' that binds all of creation together.

If the warp, and its gods, exist in all reaches of ALL UNIVERSES, i find it highly unlikely for them NOT to exist in other galaxies in our own universe. Who's to say that only the races of our galaxy sustain them? They could also be sustained by a myriad of other races thought our known universe--in our galaxy and beyond--not to mention any possible races in the infinite number of OTHER universes.

In short, i think the Warp and the powers/gods therein are THE ultimate power in ALL universes, and have a tenuous grasp over the psyche of psionicly attuned races based in part over the amount of sway they hold over each race in question. The birth of Slaanesh for example, might just be the point at which Slaanesh wielded enough control over the Eldar, and was able to consume them in one calamitous event, allowing him/herself (shimself?) to rip through the veil of our galaxy and take far more power then (s)he had before (Slaanesh has always existed, even if the races of our galaxy hadn't felt his influence until that event).

Again these are all theories of my own, so...




***Edit: just thought I'd add that these theories of mine predate my adoption of all the chaos armies you see that I have I formed these theories during the gap between 3rd edition and end-of5th edition, during which my only ties to 40k were the novels that I read.