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I see things that make me think they are good guys, but then I see evidence that makes me think they are bad guys. I'm confused.

They are the embodiement of "Light is Not Good".
They mostly just seek order over all else, and destroy "disorderly"

Mostly bad. They used to be unequivocally bad, but the 5th ed codex made them have distinct personalities so some are still pretty evil and some will now maybe team up with you if the situation dictates.

thanks for your help.

This is 40k, everyone's bad guys and everyone except nids is good guys.

To be honest in 40k good is a matter of perspective, every faction is evil and does horrible things.

I don't think you can define most races as evil or good.
Perhaps stuff like Chaos, but that is probably it.

 Zefig wrote:
This is 40k, everyone's bad guys and everyone except nids is good guys.

Nids are good! They are poor innocent creatures that live on instinctive behaviour.

Well, to me they've always been strictly Neutral, with a bit of Lawful Neutral thrown in for good measure, simply becease they have no coherent theme, other than being soulless (and even that is debatable).

One dynasty can kill anything and everything they meet mindlessly as Chaotic Evil, while others may educate the galaxy on the things they need to know to survive like Lawful Goods .

Since the latest white dwarf refers to them as "An Ancient Evil" I'd say, They aint very nice. Realy looking forwards to the new codex though! I wonder what they do with the rules and fluff..

We're not even sure that the ancient evil refers to them

Are there any good factions in 40K?

Matthew wrote:Are there any good factions in 40K?

Not really, no. Shades of grey.

Kangodo wrote:We're not even sure that the ancient evil refers to them

It almost certainly does though.

We got leaks from next weeks white dwarf already, And it has the new encron codex on advance order. And the only thing in this weeks white dwarf in the blurb for next week that can refer to necrons is the "An Ancient Evil Arise" so i'm pretty sure that line refers to necrons.. =P

Besides, We like our evil undead robots to be evil. ^_^

Well, since they see all sentient life that isnt a Necron as vermin to be destroyed, im going to go for evil, but not insane rapist evil like Chaos or Dark Eldar. They are, however, smart enough to know when some vermin are worse than others, such as Tyranids (they need some biological life to be around so they can figure out to get real bodies again) and have been known to team up with guys like Orks, Blood Angels, and Tau if the situation needs.

Keep in mind this is also the faction that had a planet sized skull that went around death starring planets until the most awesome chapter Astral Knights kamikazed them. And they have an entire kingdom of insane robots called flayed ones that have a pathological need to murder sentient life and wear their skins.

They're self-interested and don't give a damn about anyone else, which puts them on par with the the Imperium, Eldar and Tau. They do seem to "nicer" than Dark Eldar, Chaos, Orks or Tyranids.

In their old fluff they were omnicidal, like Tyranids, and were arguably the evilest faction.

They were around before any of the currently existing races in the galaxy. And while they might not be nice, they have honor. The annihilated an entire race out of jealousy, and gave up their souls/forced other members to give up their souls in exchange for pretty much nothing. I'd say that they're the most successful race in 40k, still being around after millions of years. But I'm a tad biased.

Pretty much nothing? I wouldn't say that:
"The Necrontyr's planet of origin was barren and radiation-blasted, making it incredibly hostile to life. Their bodies were ridden with radiation sickness and they lived a morbid life, constantly fearful of their coming deaths. Their cities were built in anticipation of their demise, little more than vast tomb complexes with a few temporary homes for the living."

Their planet was so poisonous they couldn't even walk up right, but now they finally... ooh wait :(

Why all the hate for Tyranids? Tyranids are not evil, they are animals.
They act only according to their instinct, there is nothing moral or immoral about it at all.

This also goes for the Orks.
To the Orks, fighting and slaughtering is morally good, while not doing so is horribly evil.

And it goes for the Dark Eldar to some extent as well. They need to horribly torture other people in order to survive.
Their souls are slowly being eaten away by Slaanesh. If they do not rejuvenate their souls by drawing the essence out of others, they will die.

The Necrons, Eldar and Imperium are more evil than Orks or Tyranids, because they have willingly made the concious choice to be genocidal supremacist jerks.
Orks and Tyranids just are the way they are without the ability to change.

This is 40k. We're all bad guys.

Let's get one thing straight - From the writings of Plato: "Good or ill is a matter of perspective. To the hungering, feasting is univerally good, but to the merchant, it can be ill, as he would be eating his wares and compromising his business. Only by knowing yourself and on what needs you act can jo do good for all."

And the factions almost universally (baring Orks and certain Imperials) don't have selfreflection at all, so...

Some good and evil exist outside of perspective.
Necrons tend towards xenophobic isolationism, leading to many purges of sentient life. Other then the truly insane, they at least do not revel in the torment and destruction they cause. Their brand of evil is more cold and utilitarian. They feel a need to reconquer their old empire and don't care who they have to destroy to achieve that goal.

 TheAvengingKnee wrote:
To be honest in 40k good is a matter of perspective, every faction is evil and does horrible things.

Listen to this^No one army is good in any sense, but they may be good or bad depending on your view

Absolutely evil.
They harvest planet and make no prisoners.
Allies is only an invention of GW.

 wuestenfux wrote:
Allies is only an invention of GW.

You mean like their existence and entire background?

I do think that Chaos Marines are one of the few good guys in 40k. They originated as conscientious objectors to the genocidal, unforgiving, and colonial ways of the Imperium. The Imperium are flat out evil. Even before the false god emperor fell, he was still a complete jerk. He led crusades across the galaxy, uniting everyone under his rule. What gave him the right to rule the galaxy? Manifest destiny? He was a very powerful being, but only one of many. Power does not grant one the right to rule. Plus, how many trillions had to die in order for his subjugation to become complete? Since then, the Imperium has only gotten worse.

Chaos Marines found themselves in this Empire and chose to leave. Once they had left, they weren't left in peace, they were hunted with the intent of extinction, and so, they turned to the only source of power they could. It was a matter of survival. Without the Imperial supply chain, they needed to look elsewhere, and the Chaos Gods fulfilled their needs. They allowed them to fight for their own right to exist. But, it was too late as they soon found that they owed too much of a debt to the Gods. They have since been repaying that debt, knowing they can only pay interest, but it's enough to keep the loan sharks off their backs. It's a classical tragedy.

What do the Necrons want to achieve anyway? In the old dex they wanted to harvest all sentient life for their star gods, the C'tan who feed on energy, but in the new codex they just want to re-establish their ancient territories and.... ...rule over them? How? What does life look like in a Necron tomb world that is functioning at 100% capacity? No desires for galactic expansionism are present in the current Necron fluff. And since they're all soulless automatons, I cant imagine them living everyday lives.

Nations or races don't work on evil versus good level. Necron are evil, if you yourself are not a necron. But if you happen to be one they are perfectly fine. All races in w49k are like that, save for nids who are animals.

I believe they're evil. I've always seen them as the Anti-Nids, wanting to destroy organic life rather than consume it

I make my Dynasty almost entirely benevolent because it amuses me to have morally outraged nine foot robot skeletons waking up to a galaxy of stupid petty violence.

changemod wrote:
I make my Dynasty almost entirely benevolent because it amuses me to have morally outraged nine foot robot skeletons waking up to a galaxy of stupid petty violence.

Stealing this for a signature. <.<