Board Thread:Warhammer 40k Novels/@comment-31.209.203.6-20130121002941/@comment-3258762-20131104085631

Callummacdonald79 wrote: i see what you're saying legion, and agree to a point, but he still has the butchers nails which will always provide a spurt of enjoyment from kills. however dim a sensation it may be it would still register as pleasure. and as neithan says, he will feel satisfaction in providing khorne with an abundance of skulls/deaths.

i love breathing, maybe not conciously but now and then a deep breath is taken which does provide some satisfaction in the process of breathing. it may very well be that to kharn killing is like breathing and he performs kills in an autonomous manner, but every now and then he'll take a metaphorical deep breath where he'll enjoy the smell of the figurative roses. i believe lucius' skill would force such a deep breath into kharn whereupon....*poof*....hello lucius. I can see where you are both coming from (Although not the deep breath, I have never felt anything even close to that sensation) but you two seem to be thinking of Khârn as a human being with human emotions, which he isn't. First of all, he's an Astartes, who are already beyond most mortal emotions. Further, he has the butchers nails, removing almost all the emotions he had before, and finally, he is the chosen of the Blood God.

And, whilst the Butchers Nails are described well enough in this wikis article, from the audio drama Butcher's Nails and the novel Betrayer, it is made clear that the nails do not make you feel emotions, it makes you stop feeling emotions. Angron wants their rush because it allows him to shut out everything. No pain, no war, no emotion, no anger. Just pure serenity.

This same applies to the World Eaters and their nails, or at least it did, if it still does we do not know. Khârn, when he fights, becomes a philosopher. No anger, no exertion, but a perfect focus that allows his incredible intellect to shine.

Furthermore, Lucius HAS been killed once without turning into his killer, at the start of the Horus Heresy by the Raven Guard Valkona Sharuken (Spelling not accurate, I had it as an audio book) who told himself "I take no pleasure from this, it is simply a necessity" and ended with Lucius having to be revived by Fabius Bile.

For Khârn, killing is a necessity. It is not pleasure for him, but when he doesn't get to kill he will probably feel empty inside, and feel worthless.