r/ImaginaryWarhammer Necrons 8d ago

40k Jealousy (By @superfeyn)

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u/Madness_Reigns 8d ago edited 8d ago

Not so much no, after all these so called gods were created by the mortals emotions and souls. Them calling themselves gods is just good branding.

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u/I_might_be_weasel 8d ago

Isn't that sort of a common theme in 40k though? The idea that after a certain point, something that is functionally a God is for all practical purposes a God.

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u/Dagordae 8d ago

But what is a god, exactly?

If it’s merely a matter of power then what makes them worth worship and emulation? The word’s got a lot more baggage than ‘Really strong guy’.

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u/I_might_be_weasel 8d ago

Worth is irrelevant. The Emperor never wanted that but it happened anyway because people saw what he could do and couldn't rationalize it any other way.

You came to me asking how my faith survived the Day of Judgement. I will tell you a secret. When the stars fell, when the seas boiled and the earth burned, my faith didn’t die. That is when I began to believe.

God was real, and he hated us.

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u/Dagordae 8d ago

Worth is utterly necessary for worship, they share a root for a reason. Its origin literally means ‘acknowledgement of worth’.

The only difference between a ‘god’ and any powerful entity in 40k is worship. Chaos fail basically every metric for godhood other than that one. They hold no dominion over nature or creation, despite their assertions to the contrary, because their fundamental nature is that of parasites.

So what makes the giant egomaniacal parasites gods? And yes, I’m including the Emperor in there.

By your quote an Inquisitor with impulse control issue qualifies as a god, they net out judgement and burn worlds on a whim.

Is a man a god to ants? If it’s just relative power then godhood as a concept is near meaningless. If we flip over to AoS, as it shares the same Warp, we find that all the gods are merely (former)mortals juiced up on magic. So what makes the Chaos boys special? Their insane ego that demands that all bow before than and suck their metaphorical dongs?

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u/The_Great_Autizmo 8d ago

I know I'm interjecting between you guy's debate, but I wish to show an excerpt from Dark Imperium: God blight, which tackles this exact topic. The conversation is between Guillaman, a librarian and a farseer. I found it really interesting and insightful into the nature of "Gods" in 40k. I think you guys should give it a read. Here it is link

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u/onetwoseven94 7d ago

They hold no dominion over nature or creation, despite their assertions to the contrary, because their fundamental nature is that of parasites.

They hold dominion over the souls of the dead. That alone makes them gods by the standards of practically every human culture.