Slaanesh

Overview

Slaanesh is the Chaos God of pleasure, excess, obsession and perfection, known as the Dark Prince or Prince of Pleasure. The youngest of the four great Chaos Gods, Slaanesh was born from the decadence of the ancient Aeldari empire. The god's birth tore open the Eye of Terror and destroyed most of that civilisation. Slaanesh still hungers above all for Aeldari souls, and that hunger shapes the lives of every Aeldari faction.

Slaanesh is the youngest of the four, the god of excess, pleasure, pain, pride and perfection. It was born at the Fall of the Eldar, when millennia of Aeldari indulgence gave birth to a god. Its birth-scream tore open the Eye of Terror. The Aeldari call it Sai'lanthresh, She Who Thirsts, and fear it above all else, because it devours their souls when they die. Slaanesh is usually depicted as both female and male, with two pairs of horns. Its sacred number is six, and its greatest enemy is Khorne.

Origins

At the height of their power the Aeldari abandoned themselves to ever more extreme pleasures and cruelties. Their excess built up in the Warp until it gave birth to Slaanesh. The birth-scream killed most of the Aeldari race and created the Eye of Terror, the largest permanent Warp storm in the galaxy. Ever since, Slaanesh has consumed the souls of Aeldari who die without protection.

Key events

1. Was born in the Fall of the Aeldari, which shattered their empire. Slaanesh destroyed most of the Aeldari gods; Cegorach and Isha are said to have escaped, and Khaine was shattered in battle with Slaanesh.
2. Claimed Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children during the Horus Heresy, through the daemon in the Laer blade. Fulgrim was later raised as a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh.
3. Seeks Aeldari souls in an endless pursuit. The Drukhari feed on the suffering of others to stave off Slaanesh's thirst, and Craftworld Aeldari store their souls in spirit stones.
4. Became the target of the Ynnari's great hope. Yvraine, Eldrad Ulthran and the Visarch believe that if enough Aeldari souls gather in Ynnead, the god of the dead, Ynnead may one day rise and destroy Slaanesh for good.
5. Has been sought out by Lucius the Eternal, Fabius Bile and many others who desire the Dark Prince's favour or power.

Battles & campaigns

• The Fall of the Eldar: Its birth destroyed an empire.
• The Horus Heresy: Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children fell to it.
• The Era Indomitus: Ynnead's rise threatens its hold on Aeldari souls.

Personality

Slaanesh embodies the drive for ever more intense experience. Nothing satisfies for long, so every pleasure must be followed by a greater one, and devotion becomes obsession. The god is seductive, capricious and endlessly hungry. Slaanesh is described as beautiful beyond measure and is shown in many forms, sometimes male, sometimes female, often both or neither.

Its servants include Fulgrim, the Keepers of Secrets N'Kari, Zarakynel and Shalaxi Helbane, the Masque, Lucius the Eternal and the Emperor's Children. It goes by many names: the Feastbringer to the cannibals of Ghoma VI, the Cruel Mirror to the traitors of Toloso, and Sla Nahesh in Fenrisian myth. Its daemons march in the Legions of Excess, among them the Flayer, Hunter, Glamiatrix, Terror, Eternal Punishment and Courante.

Weapons & Vehicles

Blade of the LaerRelic Weapon

The cursed silver-and-amethyst alien sword taken from the Temple of the Laer that corrupted Primarch Fulgrim to Slaanesh, later bestowe…

Sonic Blaster & BlastmasterRanged Weapon

The psycho-acoustic sonic weapons of the Emperor's Children Noise Marines, firing screaming waves of warp-charged sound that Liquefy or…

Agoniser & HuskbladeMelee Weapon

The nerve-shredding neural whips and moisture-vaporising Huskblades of Drukhari Archons and Succubi, turning close combat into an arena…

Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.

Connections

Characters (6)

• 
  Fulgrim patron · Emperor's Children

  Fulgrim was seduced through the daemon in the Laer blade and later ascended as a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh.

• 
  Khorne rival · Chaos Daemons

  Khorne hates Slaanesh above the other gods, contrasting his martial fury with the Dark Prince's indulgence.

• 
  Lucius the Eternal patron · Emperor's Children

  Lucius is Slaanesh's favoured champion. Anyone who kills him and takes pleasure in it is drawn into his armour.

• 
  Asdrubael Vect enemy · Drukhari

  Commorragh's Drukhari feed on the suffering of others to keep Slaanesh's thirst for their souls at bay.

• 
  Eldrad Ulthran enemy · Craftworld Aeldari

  Eldrad has spent millennia trying to protect the Aeldari from the god who devours their souls. He now pursues Ynnead's awakening.

• 
  Yvraine enemy · Ynnari

  The Ynnari hope Ynnead will one day rise and destroy Slaanesh, the god who brought about the Fall of the Aeldari.

Factions

• Chaos Daemons primary faction
• Emperor's Children patron The Emperor's Children gave themselves to Slaanesh during the Heresy.
• Drukhari hunter Slaanesh's hunger for Aeldari souls is why the Drukhari must feed on others' pain.

Also in this faction

Be'lakorGrandfather NurgleKairos FateweaverKu'gath PlaguefatherSkarbrandTzeentch

Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.

Legacy

Every Aeldari alive today lives in the shadow of that scream.

Appearances & sources

• Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness (1988)
• Codex: Chaos Daemons (4th Edition p82; 9th Edition p24)
• The First Heretic, ch. 17 (Aaron Dembski-Bowden)