Warhammer 40K is host to the most evil elves possible and I adore them

Part of the fun of Warhammer 40,000 is that no one is really the “good guy” in the setting. Take for instance the Imperium of Man. This is a faction that is largely the viewpoint in the 40K books, and also the games. The Imperium consists of an assortment of horrifying sub-factions including nuns that murder their enemies, child soldiers indoctrinated into combat marines and tech priests who lobotomize criminals to make brain computers.

But there’s one group of guys in the setting who are so comically evil, so ridiculously rude, that I can’t help but love them above all else. These aliens just aren’t happy unless they can fit a few war crimes in between breakfast and lunch. I’m talking, of course, about the Drukhari, also known as the Dark Eldar, or the most evil space elves who have ever existed.

Images: Games Workshop

Who are the Drukharis? They’re a specific culture of Aeldari, a species that once had a dominant galaxy-spanning empire. These psychically gifted elves achieved a post-scarcity society and enjoyed easy access to technology so sophisticated that it’s basically magic. It sounds like an amazing setup but it’s the grimdark future, where war is all there is. Everything had to go horribly wrong. The Aeldari culture fell to excess and hedonism.

In 40K, there’s a second, psychic realm that exists parallel to reality. The Warp, or the Immaterium, is a reflection of the universe’s psychic energy. In the Warp are dark forces who feed on extreme emotion. And the Aeldari, unknowingly, fed these forces. While many Aeldari opted to remain in the Warp, while other factions chose to move on to a more pleasant space neighbourhood, others decided to go. Slaanesh was the result of the Aeldari’s collapse into a series of orgies, violence, and a hideous chaos. Slaanesh’s birth tore open a massive Warp rift called the Eye of Terror, killed the vast majority of the Aeldari, and shattered their pantheon of gods.

Images: Games Workshop

Worse yet, Slaanesh hungers for the souls of all Aeldari to this day, seizing them upon death without appropriate precautions — and no countermeasure is perfect. After dying, Aeldari souls are subject to eternal torment as they’re consumed by Slaanesh in the Warp. It’s not good! The Aeldari call Slaanesh “She Who Thirsts,” and the subfactions have each found their own way to deal with this existential guillotine blade.

Drukharis are known for their boldness in deciding to look at the fall of their empire, and say: Fuck it — let’s keep the party going. Slaanesh continues to feed on them and kills slowly. They hate him and still fear him. Dark Eldar chose to refill that by drinking the Gatorade spiritual of suffering.

I don’t mean to be controversial, but I feel pretty comfortable saying that’s objectively evil stuff. That’s why I love the Drukhari so much: They make absolutely no efforts to pretend otherwise. They are pirates and raiders, venturing out of the city-state of Commorragh that’s safely tucked between the Warp and realspace. If the Drukhari show up, it’s usually for long enough to grab a bunch of people and steal all of their stuff.

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If you You can also read more about the benefits of using look at the surface of the Drukhari, it’s easy to get the impression that their fiction and lore are justGore is a big part of the story. In recent Games Workshop productions, the Warhammer Plus Warhammer Plus Series called “The Warhammer Plus” has given this faction more prominence. Iron WithinWhen the Drukhari invade an Imperial world and they are greeted by the Rogue TraderCommorragh is a key content hub in RPG. But the Drukhari’s total collapse into evil and refusal to improve or try to be better makes them a fascinatingly Machiavellian, and I’m eager to see them have a larger presence in Warhammer 40K.

Drukharis are always fighting, because their society is violent and meritocratic. They staple skeletons onto everything, show off all the cool stuff they’ve stolen, and mercilessly scheme against one another. Vect was sent a gift by someone who attacked the Drukhari giant dog Asdrubael Vect. In the box, there was an Black Hole, which consumed everyone in the noble house’s vicinity. That’s a level of villainy I absolutely love; it’s like a reality show, except everyone is a Skeletor. Commorragh has a lot of interesting ideas, such as mad scientists, flesh-sculptors or gladiator rings and trading ports for the brave (or unfortunate) to deal with Dark Eldar.

Right now, a lot of attention has been focused on the Emperor and his big sons — and it’s no wonder, since fans love Space Marines so much. But sometimes I don’t want to read about bolter battles or tank combat. The drama queens who open extra-dimensional cracks in their political opponents’ thrones are what I like to read. That’s an itch that the Drukhari are uniquely equipped to scratch.