Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-7232811-20130620224607

Been a while since I've last done one of these posts, so here goes.

From what I've seen over the years I've been into 40k, I've increasingly noticed that there is no 'good' faction in it. Nowhere is this more evident than in the forces of Order. Do not mistake the word order for 'good', because many of these races are prone to extreme acts that we would percieve as the opposite of good. Take the Imperium for example. They are possibly the most brutal, cruel, harsh, uncaring, dictatorship that has ever been thought of. They sacrifice thousands of people a day to keep just one being alive, they enslave the populations of entire worlds & work them to death for things they often don't need (although that's usually due to bureaucratic errors), they have come up with some pretty horrific punishments for those that would disobey them, they are swamped with religious zealotry, drowning in corruption & stagnation, driven by xenophobia & intolerance, & they're the 'good' guys!

The Eldar are also not 'good' either, (by which I mean the craftworld variety) as they see themselves as being above everything else, & they have no qualms about allowing millions of others to die so that a few hundred of their own species may survive. Granted, they are on the brink of extinction, but if they were actually 'good' they probably wouldn't want to do that. & be aware that it was their ancestors who brought about the Fall of the Eldar.

The Tau are often seen as being a 'good' race, but they are not. Granted, they might be the one race that is closest to what we percieve as 'good', but they show now mercy or pity towards those who disagree with their philosophy, & the 'choice' they give to other races is no real choice at all. Simply put it is 'Embrace our philosophy or we will destroy you'. Though they do show relative kindness & tolerance towards other races in their empire, they are almost as bad as the Imperium of Man when it coems to dealing with those who do not fit with them. In the long run, they will probably end up with a similar mindset to them as well.

The Necrons are a bit of a paradox, for they technically are a force of Order, as they wish to reduce the influence of Chaos in the galaxy. This may not be very apparent at first though, as they would only wish to prevent the spread of Chaos so they can better wipe out all other sentient life in existance. They definately do not fit the conception of 'good', for not only do they percieve other races as vermin, but they also treat them like vermin too, & have some very unpleasant (if very efficient) ways of disposing with them. Having said that, the Necrons are not entirely bereft of honour & nobility, for they are still perfectly capable of to themselves (& often do) & other races; it is simply the fact that they do not see other races as worthy of recieving it that makes them appear so evil.

On the other hand, many of the races that are opposed to order are not neccesarilly that 'evil' themselves. Or at least, there are numerous instances where that race has not behaved in an 'evil' manner. Have a look at the Orks. They do not fight to live, they live to fight. It is in their very nature to fight, & an ork is simply, by their own biology, a violent & aggressive creature, & has no real choice in the matter.

The Tyranids are an even better example in this light, for in terms of the way a Tyranid creature thinks, it is just a mere animal. They are not sentient creatures, & so have no moral conscience, so their actions cannot be described as evil (though that doesn't stop them from being very unpleasant in terms of what they do). Even the Hive Mind is not evil either, for it only goes by the same basic ethos of all non-sentient life: to survive, & to do that it needs to outcompete its fellow organisms, & therefore constantly adapts into a superior organism to what it was before.

Chaos is a bit of an interesting case, for while there are many instances of people who have committed acts of purest evil, a good deal more of people who serve Chaos started out with the best of intentions, not always for themselves, but for others. Take a look at Lorgar. He willingly decided to worship the Dark Gods, but he did so with the intention of saving humanity. When the Alpha Legion turned traitor, they did so with the intention of ridding the galaxy of Chaos. & even at the present day, there are still some instances (albeit not very frequent ones) where individuals from the forces of Chaos have performed deeds that we would not percieve as evil (though never to their enemy as far as I know). Even the Chaos Gods are not innately evil, for Nurgle & Tzeentch have numerous aspects that are not only beneficial, but ones people actually seek out. However, those who follow Khorne do so simply for the sake of violence & killing in the first place, so it is questionable as to whether or not they are entirely evil, as a good deal of them are too deranged to be entirely aware of what they are doing. The one exception to the rule about the servants (& gods) of Chaos not always being evil are those who serve Slaanesh, (& Slaanesh him/her/itself) for they only ever serve him with the intention of causing misery & suffering to others so they may experience greater sensations, & Slaanesh only takes

In this sense of who & what is evil & not evil, it is fair to say that only the Dark Eldar are, as a race, truly evil. This is due to how all of their actions are based upon a conscious decision to do so, & while they could have chosen (albeit very long ago when there was still time for them to do so) to stop what they were doing, they chose not to, & that makes them evil. Granted they cannot do so now thought, as it would spell their deaths.

Thoughts? 