"Behind him wait the Legions of his Master, arrayed in armour fluted and droved with gold, brighter than the sun and darker than midnight. Each holds a shrieking sword, each shrieks in disharmony with his blade, each joins the chorus of Chaos, a promise of worse than death for those that hear it. Beneath their feet the earth writhes at their touch, as if seeking to escape their presence."
- —Codex Daemonica[3a]
A Bloodletter of Khorne in combat against the foes of the Blood God.
A Bloodletter, also called "Khorne's Chosen," the "Teeth of Death," a "Naked Slayer," a "Taker of Skulls," or a "Horned One" is a Lesser Daemon of Khorne, the Chaos God of war and murder, who serves as a foot soldier in the Blood God's Daemonic legions.[1a]
These Lesser Daemons are deadly warriors whose number is comprised in part by Daemons who some believe to have been foremost amongst the Blood God's followers in mortal life and whose will is as implacable and blood-hungry as that of Khorne himself.[7a]
Bloodletters generally stand taller than a man, though they are so stooped and hunched that their faces often lie at a similar height. Their bodies are slim with a muscled, wiry strength. Their horns and claws are blackened and flecked with crimson and their feet are turned and cloven like those of a goat. They wear naught but scraps of plate armour, most often of brass or bronze, stamped and pressed in Daemonic forges and welded while they are there upon their bodies.[2a][4a]
A Bloodletter's skin beneath their armour runs from the deepest red to near-orange in colour and is as hard as brass forged upon the anvil of ceaseless war. It also drips constantly with blood, for Bloodletters frequently paint their bodies with gore taken from the enemies they have slain.[2a][4a]
A Bloodletter's head is stretched tall with two ridged horns the colour of bone sprouting from their temples. Their snarling, bestial faces, twisted by rage, are overlarge with the skin pulled taut, so that their face appears as a skull. Their visages are framed by horns sprouting from the sides of their skulls and shaggy manes that run down their backs, their hair like black wire that was moulded and spiked by gore.[2a][4a]
These Daemons' eyes are deeply set, milk-white and without pupils. They possess sharp, fanged teeth, behind which lies a long, black tongue that slides and caresses their razor-toothed mouths. Their spittle is said to be an acid that may burn metal and scourge the skin beneath.[2a][4a]
Quick Answers
What is the significance of the Bloodletter's shrieking sword in Warhammer 40k?
What is the role of the Bloodletters in the Legions of their Master?
What does the term 'Khorne's Chosen' signify in relation to the Bloodletter?
What is the symbolism behind the Bloodletter's armor in Warhammer 40k?
Role[]
A pair of Bloodletters, hungry for battle.
Bloodletters gather into regiments, chanting their brutal praises to Khorne. Each unit of Bloodletters marches beneath a gore-soaked banner upon which the names of their victims are inscribed. When loosed into the fray, Bloodletters sprint from one enemy to the next, hacking the foe apart before springing away in search of new victims.[1a] [2a]
A horrific illustration of a Bloodletter going to war.
With each fresh kill, the Bloodletters loose great shouts of victory that echo across the battlefield and chill the souls of all who hear.[1a] They are full of hate, and they live to fight. They are carnage incarnate, and they know only killing and murder.[2a]
Each Bloodletter carries a Hellblade, a jagged iron sword whose blackened blade glows with heinous enchantment. A wound from one of these weapons can slay even the hardiest heroes, draining their soul and sucking dry their shrivelled corpse.[1a]
The Hellblade is formed from the Bloodletter's own magical essence and can never be discarded nor torn from its grasp. Each life taken by the Hellblade strengthens the Bloodletter, fuelling both its power and rage. As such, a Bloodletter is even more terrifying at a battle's close than its start, having gorged itself on the slaughter it has caused, overwhelmed by the need to take more skulls for Khorne.[1a]
Capabilities[]
A Bloodletter attacking a Kislevite Tzar Guard.
These creatures are the Lesser Daemons in the Daemonic stable of Khorne. They fight as Khorne's footsoldiers in vicious mobs, which bray and keen for blood. They march forwards in serried ranks, carrying tattered banners and other unholy marks of their devotion. And as they march, there can be heard a surrusant chanting, a litany of words that some claim are evil enchantments. Others swear they hear the names of fallen comrades,[4a] and indeed, these Daemons chant the names of those they have slain in battle.[2a]
A Bloodletter as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.
Although Khorne is also a god of martial honour, there is no foul trick or cruel tactic that is beneath the Bloodletters. They represent all that is vile and low in battle: the cruel savagery, the desperate ferocity, and the gleeful sadism when victory is seized. Once these marching monsters have closed in on their foe all of their martial order and coherence is lost as they work themselves into a berserk frenzy at the prospect of bloodletting. They will charge forward, shrieking the praises of their Blood God.[4a]
Bloodletters always fight with terrible magical swords known as Hellblades, laughing as the blades slice into the flesh of their foes.[2a] These weapons may take the form of a blade, axe or any manner of melee weapon. Bloodletters might even fight with tooth and claw, for they care not how the blood is spilt, only that it flows.[4a]
Their arms and bodies are comprised of the solidified magical energies of Chaos and will tear through all that does not bear the protective enchantments of Sigmar or the other gods of the Old World Pantheon, just as only consecrated weapons or purifying fire may stand a chance of killing these fell beasts.[4a]
Though it is in battle that Bloodletters are found, first and foremost, the touch of evil spreads into every mortal heart, and with that follows the Daemonic. Thus it is not only the warriors of Kislev and the north that need fear the threat of the Daemon, but all mortals. They are eternal, and uncaring of the passing of the ages, and can exist wherever that potential corruption runs deep.[4a]
Numberless, Bloodletters fight amongst each other for the honour of being dispatched to the mortal world, to take the fight against those who oppose Chaos and slice their enemies into quivering pieces of bloody meat in the name and for the glory of the Blood God.[2a]
In the Ode de Martin Lantre, the Questing Knights do battle with these Daemons in the Bretonnian heartwood. In the Imperial Chronicles, witch hunters have discovered them in villages deep within the Empire.[4a]
And the legends are many of the wandering bands of adventurers who have faced these entities deep within damnable shrines found in the mountains and wastelands, forgotten by all except the servants of Chaos that protect them.[4a]
Exalted Bloodletters[]
"Those Bloodletters that bring their master more skulls are elevated, and so their lust for blood grows."
- —Description of Exalted Bloodletters of Khorne in Total War: Warhammer III.
A trio of Exalted Bloodletters, their Hellblades glowing with infernal energy, as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.
Exalted Bloodletters are more powerful Bloodletters who were among the foremost of Khorne's followers in their mortal lives, said to possess a will as implacable and blood-hungry as the Blood God himself. Exalted Bloodletters gather in their own regiments, chanting brutal prayers to their Bloodfather. In the fashion of the mortal Chaos Warriors they once were, each unit marches beneath a blood-soaked banner upon which the names of those they have slain are inscribed.[5a]
Exalted Bloodletters have better armour than their rank-and-file counterparts and they are tougher, more fearsome combatants. They also possess better weapons, their Hellblades blazing brightly with the power of their fury. Once they slay enough foes on the battlefield, their blades are empowered by the Blood God, greatly increasing the Exalted Bloodletters' strength and thus allowing them to become more effective the longer the battle rages on. Red-eyed and perpetually snarling, each Exalted Bloodletter has the Mark of Khorne emblazoned upon its skull.[5a]
Exalted Bloodletters are sometimes known to mount Juggernauts, the mechanical brass Daemonic beasts of Khorne. Regiment of Juggernaut-mounted Exalted Bloodthirsters are known as Bloodcrushers of Khorne. Exalted Bloodletters are also seen mounted on top of Blood Shrines, inspiring their lesser kin from Khorne's unholy altars.[5]
Notable Bloodletter Regiments[]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (8th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 29
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Corruption (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 225
- 3: Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness (1st Edition)
- 3a: pg. 18
- 4: Liber Chaotica Volume I (Background Book)
- 4a: pg. 72
- 5: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
- 5a: Exiles of Khorne (Unit Browser)
- 6: The End Times Vol V: Archaon (8th Edition)
- 6a: pg. 15
- 7: Total War: Warhammer III Khorne Roster Reveal
- 7a: Bloodletters Unit Description
Gallery[]
