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I’ve been thinking about this for a minute now. I’ve looked around and saw someone say they reanimate the dead but that’s the only thing I found. Is there an official source maybe a book or something?

Well, in a sense, the Thousand sons are zombies. Sort of. Suppose that counts.

Yeah, the Rubric Marines are the main example. Animated, reincarnating suits of power armour filled with the dust of their former occupants and remnants of their souls. They are automatons under the command of Thousand Sons sorcerors and all that remains of the non-psychic members of the legion.

I think an argument could also be made that Chaos spawn have an existence akin to zombies, being mindless beasts created from failed aspirants or unfortunate victims of Chaos. Spawn are not specific to any god, but Tzeentch has a prediliction for them as the Changer of Ways.

I think its key to note that a lot of things demons can do are generic and that whilst model-wise they might have specific units; in the lore things are much more flexible.

So whilst Tzeentch might have a favouring toward reanimation there's nothing stopping the other Chaos Gods from doing likewise; each with their own style and approach. Plus don't forget all the myriad of Chaos Demons that aren't part of the Pantheon of 4 - though they are often going to be much more limited in scope of what they can do (unless they are like the Warpsmith)

True shame these non aligned demons are never really delved into, there would definitely be room for great stuff

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
True shame these non aligned demons are never really delved into, there would definitely be room for great stuff

I think Furies are the only example of an undivided daemon, with the exception of some daemon princes in the past and recently Vashtorr. Definitely under-explored potential.

Can't remember how those where named in french, got to look it up in my brother's 6th codex.

The small bit of lore that came along with it about the realms that belonged to none of the God was thrilling in that it opened tremendous possibilities.

Plus... Malal someone?

Depends how we’re defining Zombies.

Romero “grr, arrrgh, brains”? The modern day walking corpse.

Or the Haitian “Zombies”, essentially living people kept in a fugue state by hallucinogens?

I’d even argue that Thousand Sons aren’t exactly dead. Sure, they’ve been discorporated, but their souls, that driving animus, remains in a diminished capacity. They can still fight with the best of them but seem to require guidance and prodding by Sorcerors for finer things. But? Did they actually die in the first place? Because at least at first I don’t think their souls had to be reclaimed from the Warp.

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
True shame these non aligned demons are never really delved into, there would definitely be room for great stuff

They appear a decent number of times in the lore and BL books. Sometimes because you can't tell if a demon is one of the 4 or if its non-aligned with them. Wargame wise I think the reason we simply don't see them is that they aren't powerful enough to command whole armies on the scale that makes them valid as forces in the 40K setting. That and honestly I'd prefer to see GW explore more demons from the big 4. We've had things like Fiends and such for aaaages and whilst their designs have evolved over the years we've not actually seen all that many totally new demonic creatures.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Depends how we’re defining Zombies.

Romero “grr, arrrgh, brains”? The modern day walking corpse.

Or the Haitian “Zombies”, essentially living people kept in a fugue state by hallucinogens?

I’d even argue that Thousand Sons aren’t exactly dead. Sure, they’ve been discorporated, but their souls, that driving animus, remains in a diminished capacity. They can still fight with the best of them but seem to require guidance and prodding by Sorcerors for finer things. But? Did they actually die in the first place? Because at least at first I don’t think their souls had to be reclaimed from the Warp.

Either or. I should have clarified. I know the Astartes are automatons and reanimated, but let’s say a small war band dropped onto a well defended planet. Could they “make” zombies? Like the voodoo mind controlled zombies?

I've always had a trope for minor armies anyways, do this kind of obscure, niche forced appeal to me


Automatically Appended Next Post:
However, never got around to read BL

Mind control is surprisingly common in 40K.

Princeps and Knight Pilots experience a form via the Mind Impulse Unit, Throne Mechanicum and Helm Mechanicum. Part of their training includes ensuring their personality is dominant over that of their charge, allowing it only to inform, but not to influence their decisions.

Whilst not often used in the modern era, Tech Thralls are living humans with a technological skidlid which allows them to retain consciousness, but overrides all motor control. Which is bloody terrifying.

Astartes experience hypnotic and psychic indoctrination - as an ongoing thing.

Genestealer Cults.

Kin Clone-Skeins ensure genetic loyalty (no free will for you, and we’ve ensured you’ll think that’s for the good)

Tau? Sources vary, but something is going on with the Ethereals. How sinister that is I’ll leave to the reader to decide.

So….yeah. Traditional, mind controlled zombies are definitely possible.

Necrons as well through the leans of mindschackle scarabs.

 Overread wrote:
I think its key to note that a lot of things demons can do are generic and that whilst model-wise they might have specific units; in the lore things are much more flexible.

So whilst Tzeentch might have a favouring toward reanimation there's nothing stopping the other Chaos Gods from doing likewise; each with their own style and approach. Plus don't forget all the myriad of Chaos Demons that aren't part of the Pantheon of 4 - though they are often going to be much more limited in scope of what they can do (unless they are like the Warpsmith)

Depends how we’re defining Zombies.

This. It's a big galaxy, and the chaos gods' powers are way more flexible than GW's model line can support. If you find evidence of chaos on a planet and encounter a zombie, Nurgle should probably be your first guess, but I'm sure the other chaos gods could create their own twists on the concept easily enough.

Off the top of my head, tzeentch-brand "zombies" could mean:

* A powerful psyker is mind controlling a bunch of people. Possibly using some sort of ritual marks on the victims to spread his power around more easily.
* Someone summoned a specific flavor of daemon to start possessing corpses (ala that scene from Harrowmaster, though granted that seemed like it might have been more accidental than intentional.)
* Do that Tzeentch-as-tech-progress thing. A cult has started mass producing implants that make your brain overridable by the warp smith in charge.
* A supernatural mutation that warps the flesh of those it comes in contact with. Those who have their flesh warped can in turn warp the flesh of others. So zombie "plague" but replace the corpse aesthetic with other flavors of body horror.

Either or. I should have clarified. I know the Astartes are automatons and reanimated, but let’s say a small war band dropped onto a well defended planet. Could they “make” zombies? Like the voodoo mind controlled zombies?

It is reasonably within the realm of possibility, yes. It's probably not a trick that every Tzeentchy warband has in their pocket, but it seems reasonable that at least one Tzeentchy warband would know how to do that.

In the traditional zombie sense I think not, part of the reason being it's more of Nurgle's domain.

Tzeentch's methodology (such as it is) is about giving the dupe a modicum of power vastly outweighing their current standing to bind them.
Then their eventual downfall and hubris will taste delicious to the changer of ways. The awareness of what they've done and how they have been outplayed by Tzeentch I think is a vital part of the pact. So to me anyway, mind control can't play a part, they have to feel like they are in control before they realise they never had it.

Bargains with Tzeentch are much like the ol' monkeys paw, as was the case with the Rubric Marines, which are a special case.

Back in the day there was the old "Lash of Submission" fun and games. Arguably that's in this wheelhouse.

 Olthannon wrote:
In the traditional zombie sense I think not, part of the reason being it's more of Nurgle's domain.

Tzeentch's methodology (such as it is) is about giving the dupe a modicum of power vastly outweighing their current standing to bind them.
Then their eventual downfall and hubris will taste delicious to the changer of ways. The awareness of what they've done and how they have been outplayed by Tzeentch I think is a vital part of the pact. So to me anyway, mind control can't play a part, they have to feel like they are in control before they realise they never had it.

Bargains with Tzeentch are much like the ol' monkeys paw, as was the case with the Rubric Marines, which are a special case.

I don't think the puppet zombies would be followers of Tzeentch- they'd be the victims of the actual follower in the same way enemies are killed or mutated and similar to Rubrics actually. I don't think the majority of the Thousand Sons legion consented to the Rubric, it was a small, secret cabal of sorcerors who carried it out.

Puppetry psychic powers are established in the lore, I don't see why they couldn't be used to reamimated corpses by a Tzeentchian sorceror. I don't think the affliction would spread like a plague in the same manner as, well, plague zombies though.

 Flinty wrote:
Back in the day there was the old "Lash of Submission" fun and games. Arguably that's in this wheelhouse.

Wasn't that a Slaanesh power, back in t'day?

 Dysartes wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Back in the day there was the old "Lash of Submission" fun and games. Arguably that's in this wheelhouse.

Wasn't that a Slaanesh power, back in t'day?

I don't know if it was Slannesh only, but it was definitely associated with them.

I could certainly imagine Tzeentchian sorcerers using constructs. Like, think the Stained Glass Demon from medievil. Constantly changing, beautiful but also ugly and sharp edged.

iirc one of the Ravenor novels had a tzeenchian cult making use of minor demons summoned into mechanical puppets. like, small hand crafted steampunkish automatons which become assassins and trackers.

Dim recollections of Thrall Wizards in WFB is the closest thing to Zombies I can recall.

Tzeentch may not have need of Romero-style zombies because of how he weaves the fates of so many into his plans.