Daemon Prince

"The power of Humanity is nothing compared to the gifts of the Warp; any who deny this are blind to the torment and death that awaits them as a price of their blindness."

- From the Proclamation of Khazant delivered by Dark Apostle Bellephrades

A Daemon Prince is a human Champion of Chaos who has been elevated to daemonhood as a reward for his or her actions on the behalf of one of the major Chaos Gods or by the will of Chaos Undivided. Daemon Princes have chosen to trade their humanity for the god-like power and immortality provided by becoming a creature of the Warp and a living extension of the force of Chaos. This is the ultimate goal of the most powerful followers of Chaos, as it gives them immortality and power beyond the reckoning of mortals. Daemon Princes combine the brute strength of daemons with the skill and tactical knowledge of Space Marines. However, if the Champion fails in the eyes of their God, their lives and ambitions end as they are cast aside and instead descend into the mutant state of a Chaos Spawn. Since Daemon Princes have surrendered their mortality and have essentially allowed themselves to be transformed into semi-autonomous extensions of the Chaos God they serve or of Chaos Undivided, they are now entities of the Warp and can never truly be killed in the material universe, only banished into the Immaterium for a specific amount of time, usually 1000 standard years. Essentially, Daemon Princes will exist for as long as Chaos is a force in the universe.

Origins
In order to attract the attention of their patrons amongst the Ruinous Powers, Champions of Chaos are required to achieve dark and terrible ends. They willingly sacrifice both foes and friends in service to their ambition for power and willingly risk their lives at the hands of both the enemies of Chaos and their own fickle masters, who do not suffer failure gladly. Those very few Chaos Champions that avoid either death or the transformation into a Chaos Spawn that awaits all the mortal servants of Chaos who fail their dark patrons, are transformed into immortal entities of the Warp that have left all the trappings of mortality and simple human feelings far behind. While Daemon Princes come in as wide a variety of shapes and sizes as there are facets of Chaos, most are massive beings composed of hulking muscle and thick sinew, displaying traditionally daemonic characteristics like horns and bat-like wings. All Daemon Princes wield potent sorcerous powers that originate in the Warp's psychic energies, and that are in their nature representative of the sphere of influence of the Daemon Prince's patron Chaos God. What little that a Daemon Prince retains of their humanity is usually only the caustic ambition and ruthless cunning which helped them earn their Chaotic reward in the first place. In the 41st Millennium, most of the Daemon Princes known to the Imperium hail from the ranks of the Chaos Space Marines, as these often ancient warriors possess the capability and desire needed to successfully serve the interests of Chaos well and long enough to earn daemonhood. However, the oldest of the Daemon Princes may actually have ascended to their immortal stature during the savage age long before Mankind left Terra to explore and settle the stars. When a Daemon Prince conquers a world in the physical universe using the mortal Forces of Chaos that serve him, his patron Chaos God or the Chaos Gods as a whole if he serves Chaos Undivided bestow the world upon him as his own personal realm and the planet is absorbed into the Immaterium. It becomes what the Imperial Administratum has seen fit to name a Daemon World, a sub-reality of the Warp in which the ruling Daemon Prince has complete control over reality, having essentially become a minor Chaos God within the boundaries of his own realm. Like all daemons, Daemon Princes much prefer the environment of the Warp to the physical universe, and only rarely do they deign to actually leave the Warp and reenter the material universe. Daemon Princes are prized by the Ruinous Powers of Chaos because unlike true daemons or even the Chaos Gods themselves, as former mortals, Daemon Princes still have a deep knowledge of the material universe and how mortals think and act. Despite this, many Daemon Princes continue to crave more power and further ascent within the ranks of the Forces of Chaos and so they often choose to join the retinue of a Greater Daemon of their patron Dark Power. To their surprise and anger, Daemon Princes often discover that other daemons, particularly the Greater Daemons who outrank even Daemon Princes, regard Daemon Princes as inferior beings because of their mortal origins, seeing them as tainted by their heritage as natives of the physical universe. As always, for Chaos even Daemon Princes are no more than tools, albeit extremely powerful ones, to be used and discarded as the situation demands it.

Primarchs as Daemon Princes
The greatest and most powerful of the current Daemon Princes were once the Traitor Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions that turned against the Emperor of Mankind during the Horus Heresy. These powerful entities, often called Daemon Primarchs, can easily be distinguished from other Daemon Princes by their distinctive appearances and are still revered by the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines they corrupted millennia ago, even though it has become uncommon for them to personally lead these Legions in battle from their Daemon Worlds. Instead they prefer to combat their daemonic rivals within the Eye of Terror, leaving the direction of their Legions, now often broken up into individual Chaos Space Marine warbands, to their subordinate Champions of Chaos.

Notable Daemon Princes

 * Fulgrim - Daemon Primarch of the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion.
 * Perturabo] - Daemon Primarch of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion.
 * Night Haunter - Daemon Primarch of the Night Lords Traitor Legion (Deceased).
 * Angron] - Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters Traitor Legion.
 * Mortarion - Daemon Primarch of the Death Guard Traitor Legion.
 * Magnus the Red- Daemon Primarch of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion.
 * Lorgar - Daemon Primarch of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion.
 * Alpharius Omegon - Daemon Primarch of the Alpha Legion Traitor Legion.
 * Abraxes - A Daemon Prince of Tzeentch who was also slain by the Soul Drinkers, a Renegade Chapter of Space Marines.
 * Uraka Az'baramael - Known as The Warfiend, this ancient Daemon Prince was once a mortal warrior who ascended to Daemonhood preceding the Age of the Imperium who serves Khorne.
 * Bubonicus - An ancient Daemon Prince preceding the Age of the Imperium who serves Nurgle.
 * Doombreed - An ancient Daemon Prince preceding the Age of the Imperium who serves Khorne.
 * Ghargatuloth - Known as the "Prince of a Thousand Faces," Ghargatuloth is a Daemon prince who serves Tzeentch.
 * Mamon - Known as the Arch-Corruptor of Vraks, Mamon was once a corrupted Imperial Deacon, who was the principle agent provocateur behind of the uprisings against the Imperium on Vraks Primaris which eventually initiated the lamentable conflict known as the Siege of Vraks. He found favour within the Apostate Cardinal Xaphan's staff. It was Deacon Mamon who first sowed the seeds of corruption and turned the inexperienced Cardinal's religious ambitions against the Imperium. The Plague God granted the corrupted Deacon the "gift" of Daemonhood for all he had accomplished on Vraks, granting him the exalted rank of Daemon Prince. Mamon was soon possessed by the potent spirit of a Great Unclean One and transformed into a corpulent, festering Daemon Prince of Nurgle.
 * M'kar - Formerly known as Maloq Kartho, a Dark Apostle of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion. Kartho ascended to Daemonhood after being slain by Remus Ventanus of the Ultramarines Legion during the Battle of Calth, the Word Bearers' surprise campaign during the Horus Heresy.
 * Nemeroth - A Chaos Sorcerer-Lord of the Chosen of Nemeroth Chaos Warband. Nemeroth ascended to Daemonhood on the world of Graia before fighting Captain Titus of the Ultramarines in the 41st Millennium.
 * N'Kari - An ancient Daemon Prince preceding the Age of the Imperium who serves Slaanesh.
 * Tallomin - An ancent Daemon Prince often referred to in ancient texts as the "Prince of Daemon Princes."
 * Ve'Meth - Daemon Prince of Nurgle, slain by the Soul Drinkers, a Renegade Chapter of Space Marines.
 * The Warsmith - This unnamed Warsmith of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion ascended to Daemonhood after successfully conquering the planet of Hydra Cordatus and capturing precious stocks of Imperial Fists Gene-Seed. He then dedicated his prize to Chaos Undivided.

Gallery
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