Hi Gals and Guys,
Today I'm going to talk at all of you in regards to that big ole elephant in the room for games workshop that is Slaanesh; and where the Prince/Princess of Pleasure in my mind should be evolving into.
If you have been in the hobby for any amount of time, you'll be aware that of all the Gods of Chaos, Slaanesh has been, in the eyes of the Internet, the true redheaded step child of the Chaos Pantheon (Yes Tzeentch I see you in the corner ready to throw a doombolt at me, but hold off, we'll get to you in a future post) (Good 👍?) (Ok).
So getting back to the matter in hand, (please no snickering... G'ah Children...) Slaanesh sits in a position that many feel isn't conductive to the relatively "family-friendly" universe of both Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar, and before it finished Warhammer Fantasy. This mentality seems to have been cemented in the disappearance of Slaanesh from the Age of Sigmar storyline post the End Times of Warhammer Fantasy.
For those that may or may not be fully aware, Slaanesh is the Dark Prince/Princess of Pleasure. An Androgynous being obsessed with self gratification in all its forms to the detriment of all. The easiest of which to create and show when we consider our hobby are the sexual aspects which can be accentuated on our models. However, why focus on this solely alone? This facet only makes Slaanesh one dimensional, and I feel this wasn't the initial intention of the character.
So bear with me here for a couple of minutes; Slaanesh is a Dark mirror to all our wants. A twisting of that which could be good, and wholesome, to that which is a dark parody. But why a dark parody at all? I'll tell you, it's the fear of not getting what we think we want. Fear of being alone, fear of feeling nothing but a deep hunger that can never be truly satisfied. The fear that when we are all alone in the dark, we have nothing to comfort us, and it will drive us mad. At the end of the day we are all crying children, screaming at an uncaring universe. Slaanesh is deep down just a scared child, wanting attention so it isn't left alone with the darkness all around it.
Which is where Cthulhu comes in...
If you have ever read anything of HP Lovecrafts novels (and I suggest you do), you enter into a world where everything is twisted, the world and it's horrors don't care about your pitiful existence, and terror follows on from the madness that follows from the darkness and horror of being alone with the things that go bump in the night. See any similarities? I do...
Would it be so hard to imagine, Slaanesh moving towards a deeper horror trope, over where he/she currently is positioned? In Age of Sigmar, Slaanesh feel asleep and now has been kidnapped nowhere to be found, the followers searching in vain to awaken their God... Maybe another little nod to the great squid himself? Maybe Games Workshop have had the same idea as me? Maybe I am just going mad myself?
Let me know what you think in the comments below. If you have any theories I'd love to hear them too.
Until next time
Jonathan
I've not been much of a fan of the Slaaneshi daemon aesthetic for a while now - it's as if GM don't have a clear vision for how to portray them.
ReplyDeleteIf it was up to me, I'd make the Daemonettes and Daemons look like angels or other 'perfect' beings, and whatever passes for equivalent in Eldar culture. Why? Because Slaanesh is all about beauty and perfection and excess (but not sexualisation, as you rightly say), and fallen angels are all about temptation (many of the 7 deadly sins are sins of excess, such as vanity, pride, gluttony..)
Maybe have daemonic elements poking out of their clothes (tails, hooves whatever). Either way, I think Slaanesh is the closest Chaos God to our idea of Lucifer.
I think the idea of bringing 'her' closer to Cthulhu would be fab (being a fan of Lovecraft) but I'm not entirely sold on the connection between the two - if anything, fear leading to despair, resignation and decay (nurgle) would be closer to my mind.
Or better still, it could be argued that all the 4 gods are *all* borne from fear in some manner (You've covered Slaanesh, Nurgle as commented above) with Tzeentch being borne from the fear of defeat in intrigue, and failed ambition, and Khorne's violence and hatred borne from fear of the Other.
Maybe.
I'd be very interested in your ideas on Tzeentch in your suggested upcoming article :) - Again, another god with a vague portrayal. I'd like to see less bird stuff, and the Horrors always remind me of John Lennon's doodles and the film Yellow Submarine somehow. Maybe they're the Daemons you meed when tripping on LSD... Again, I feel a new vision for him would be good.
Hi Mallory thanks for the reply, I can definitely see where you are coming from, and I like the ideas of perfection with subtle dark twists. I think all of the Gods haven't quite gotten all the "rounding" they really need. Tzeentch on LSD sounds pretty mental too haha.
DeleteI'll be having a think about the great deceiver soon and hopefully get something cogent up. Thanks for replying!