"How much flesh can a Ghorgon gorge on?
A Ghorgon gorges on flesh 'til it's gone.
He'd gorge on more, of it that you can be sure
If only he could find more to gorge on."
- —Tongue-twister popular amongst woodcutters' children in the Drakwald Forest.[2a]
A massive Ghorgon charging through a battlefield.
Ghorgons are huge, four-armed, ox-headed variants of the Minotaur race that have evolved into their current state from the extreme overconsumption of tainted flesh, which triggered rapid growth and extreme amounts of physical mutation.[1a][2a]
As such, they now tower as large as a Giant above the Beastmen tribes of the Gor, sprouting a line of rigid spikes in the back and an extra pair of arms, ending in bony blades instead of true hands.[1a][2a]
Role
"Gluttony and hunger are all that some beasts know."
- —Description of Ghorgon in Total War: Warhammer II.
A Ghorgon leads a host of Beastmen to battle in Total War: Warhammer II.
A near-mythical creature even amongst the Beastmen warherds themselves, it is well that these "bloodbrutes" are so rare, for even one Ghorgon can consume an entire Beastman tribe in a single frenzied and terrifying night. Ghorgons are the ultimate carnivores, driven to devour anything they can catch -- the meatier the better.[1a]
Concept art for a Ghorgon created for Total War: Warhammer II.
It is thought amongst the Beastmen's Bray-Shamans that the Ghorgons began life as the largest Minotaurs in their tribe, Doombulls who chose gluttony over leadership. Cannibals all, each has devoured his lesser kin in a vile feast, and hence the accumulated bloodlust that has built into their hearts eventually reached a fever pitch that consumes them in mind, body and soul.[1a]
All Beastmen know that to subsist upon lean, muscled flesh is to grow strong, and to inherit the power of those upon which you feed. The Ghorgons embody this belief. The vile creatures have gorged so much that they have grown tall and broad beyond measure, towering to the height of Giants, and sprouting many limbs and mouths to aid their endless feasting upon the meat of the Minotaurs, and hence they are the strongest of all the denizens of the dark woods.[1a]
A Ghorgon as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II.[3]
Such is the monstrous vileness of these creatures that they must surely have consumed the tainted as well as the true. Some whisper that it is not just mountains of raw flesh the Ghorgons consume, but also the baleful, glowing shards of warpstone that nestle in the cankerous depths of the blighted forests. Perhaps the nature of the twisted beasts upon which the Ghorgons feast has burgeoned forth in fleshy tribute to the chaos of the deep woods. Either way, Ghorgons bear grotesque mutations that aid them in their eternal quest to wolf down those they catch.[1a]
It is only the most gifted Bray-Shamans who can channel the Ghorgon's insatiable lust for flesh into the ranks of the enemy, but the psychotic displays of violence and destruction that ensue are well worth a few dozen of the warherd in the meantime.[1a] During a battle, a Ghorgon wades into a mass of enemies and uses its many arms to grasp, stuff and shovel great gobbets of flesh into its multiple maws.[2a]
In its insatiable lust for food, the Ghorgon has been known to swallow its victims whole, the entire body bolted down in a savage display of gluttonous delight. Smeared with gore and drooling slather, a Ghorgon can regain new strength from its flesh feast. Yet no matter how much a Ghorgon devours, the hideous beast remains as ravenous as ever.[2a]
Notable Ghorgons
- Bloodbrute Behemoth - This Ghorgon has received the blessings of the Chaos God Khorne. Its ravenous appetite for blood and gore is never truly sated. The Ghorgon devour all. Their endless hunger has twisted them with mutation, transforming them into savage, many-armed monstrosities, feasting on the flesh of enemy and ally alike. When capably channelled towards a common foe, the Ghorgon rampage through their ranks, brutally slaughtering their victims and consuming them whole. Their hunger however, is never sated. Should the well-spring of enemy flesh run dry, their ravenous focus is likely to shift, and those they once warred beside may soon become their next meal, a particular danger with a Ghorgon blessed by Khorne like the Bloodbrute Behemoth.[3]
Miniatures
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Beastmen (7th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 51
- 2: Warhammer Expansion: Storm of Magic (8th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 109
- 3: Total War: Warhammer II (PC Game)
Gallery
