Nurgle, the Lord of Pestilence.
Inside of the psychic dimension of the immaterium, there have arisen several self-aware entities far
more powerful than anything else in the warp, akin to gods in their potential.
These entities are created and sustained entirely by the emotions and collective desires of every
sentient being of the material universe, and each of these chaos gods seeks to obtain total dominion
over all mortal life, for they are strengthened by the worship and service of mortals.
Each of the four have been among the greatest enemies to the imperium of mankind,
but in this video we’re going to be discussing Nurgle, the plaguefather and lord of decay.
Nurgle’s domain is that of disease, despair, and decay, but while one might suspect such
an entity to be quite morose and grim, Nurgle is anything but. Let’s take a look.
Like all of the chaos gods, Nurgle embodies certain universal concepts,
corrupting mortals in his own way to fit best into his domain of chaos.
Nurgle in particular embodies more than anything the concept of physical decay. All things,
no matter how permanent they may seem, inevitably succumb to decay and destruction. Outwardly,
Nurgle generally presents this concept through the spread of virulent diseases and pestilences.
That being said, Nurgle doesn’t actually want to kill off mortals through horrific illnesses, but
rather wants them to endure and survive through them, becoming stronger in the process. Of course,
his hope is that in their desperation, they will turn to him to escape the pain and despair,
and by embracing chaos, they’ll learn that these diseases are not a curse, but rather a blessing.
Unlike Khorne, who revels in constant death and bloodshed, Nurgle and his followers are
often jovial and enjoy life, as decay is just a part of the natural cycle of life,
leading Nurgle to sometimes be referred to as The Lord of All.
Due to this, Nurgle is the chaos god most directly involved with mortals, particularly humans,
as humans have such an innate fear of pain and death. Nurgle represents the often unconscious
fear of mortality that most lock away inside of their minds, while also representing the
defiance of being alive in the face of such mortality. Because of this, and because every
human experiences the pain of illness and disease at some point in their lives, Nurgle is deeply
intertwined with mortal existence, and few mortals can escape nurgle’s touch throughout their lives.
While the spread of great pandemics across entire systems are when nurgle’s power is at its peak, he
also feeds off of the small points of desperation, of a parent praying for help for their sick child
or a dying man wishing to live just a little bit longer. Since Nurgle is so intertwined
with mortal existence, and represents the decay of all things, there is very little that happens that
doesn’t further nurgle’s aims in some way. Every cure breeds a newer and more powerful disease,
every victory leaves an enemy susceptible to illness, and no one can escape decay.
While Khorne’s philosophy and methods may differ quite a bit from Nurgle’s,
Nurgle’s main opposition among the chaos gods is actually Tzeentch, due to their completely
opposite ideologies. Nurgle represents despair, mortality, the inevitable cycle of life and death,
and the acceptance of this cycle. Tzeentch on the other hand represents ambition, hope,
the will to change, and breaking your own cycle. Interestingly,
both chaos gods seek out the same type of mortals, the downtrodden and disenfranchised,
but while tzeentch works to get them to break out of this and use others to advance themselves,
Nurgle works to get them to accept this fate, and find comfort in Nurgle and others like themselves.
Although it’s a bit trite, the concept of family is central to Nurgle’s identity,
as it’s not a coincidence that he’s often referred to as Father Nurgle or Grandfather Nurgle.
Acceptance is a big thing among Nurgle’s followers, acceptance of chaos, acceptance
of mortality, and acceptance of eachother. This collectivism is quite unique among the
various forces of chaos, in comparison to the constant violence of khorne followers,
the backstabbing of tzeentch’s followers, and the hedonism of slaanesh’s. In contrast to the others,
who offer great boons to their followers in the form of power, influence, or pleasure, Nurgle
primarily offers an alleviation of suffering, even if they often spread suffering in the process.
In accepting that death and decay are an inevitable part of life, nurgle’s followers find
contentment in both death and decay, no longer bothered by disease and illness and corruption.
Rot becomes their constant companion, no longer a source of pain, but instead a guiding light.
Physically, like all chaos gods, Nurgle can take any number of forms if he so chooses, but unlike
the others, Nurgle often takes on a very similar appearance. His form is most commonly said to be
that of an immense bloated humanoid, with leathery dead skin pocked with sores and oozing wounds.
Internal organs are seen bulging with decay out of the ruptured skin, and his lesser minions
are often seen frolicing in his gaping wounds, suckling upon the bursting pustules and playing
in the pools of pus around his feet. The smell is quite literally unimaginable, and his form
is always accompanied by an enveloping cloud of flies, while maggots and other carrion feeders
dwell under his fingernails, continually laying eggs that periodically burst open.
Despite being an embodiment of death and decay however, he is quite jovial, and is surrounded
by a constant tide of new life amidst the death, with his children sharing in his jocularity.
Nurgle’s realm in the maelstrom of the warp is known as the land of the plaguelord,
or more commonly, the Garden of Nurgle. This realm is a perversely beautiful domain of bewildering
flora and fauna interconnected with one another, much like a normal biome. It is filled with an
incomprehensible array of deadly and horrific diseases, and various creatures here often
become exposed to new illnesses concocted by nurgle or his followers, exhibiting a constant
cycle of life and death. Like all the realms of the chaos gods, it is not a physical location in
any sort of logical sense, but a continual swirling domain of disease, rot, and life.
A visitor to the realm wouldn’t walk among the garden, but would rather experience things they
need to experience. They might come across a field of trees made of nothing but the flesh of Eldar,
constantly oozing their tears, or a field of tongues sprouting from the ground, each
one blistered from a different infection. They might see beetles walking along a riverbank with
human features on their heads, or massive fungi constantly puffing out clouds of choking spores.
The one constant thing amidst all this chaos is a massive mansion belonging to Nurgle himself,
a decrepit yet sturdy structure of rotted timbers and broken walls, overgrown with
crawling poison ivy and thick mosses. Inside, Nurgle continually works to create new contagions,
each one greater and more horrific than the last, utilizing a vast cauldron said to be
large enough to contain all the oceans of all the worlds. New diseases perpetually flourish
inside of this cauldron as Nurgle toils away, and these diseases are scattered through the stars.
Occasionally, Nurgle will reach down to scoop some of the mixture in his mouth to taste the
fruits of his labor, and his ultimate goal is to eventually brew the perfect disease.
This will be the ultimate plague that will spread across the entire universe,
corrupting and decaying all living things and drawing them into his embrace.
Also in his mansion is said to be one of the last aeldari gods, Isha, who was taken captive
by Slaanesh during his birth, but was later taken by Nurgle and imprisoned. Now, Nurgle continually
tests his new concoctions on Isha to see how long it takes for her to recover from them.
Like the other gods of chaos, Nurgle has an array of daemonic minions to do his bidding,
all of which share his necrotic and putrid appearance, as well as his cheerful and
disturbingly friendly demeanor. The smallest and most minor of these are known as Nurglings, tiny,
rotund imps that often gather in swarms amidst nurgle’s armies. They possess sharp claws that,
if they don’t kill their target outright, will almost certainly leave behind a festering disease.
They most often emerge from boils and pustules of greater daemons,
but there are certain diseases that can cause them to develop inside of mortals before bursting out.
Plaguebearers are next in ranking, forming the rank and file of nurgle’s armies, being daemons
formed from the souls of mortals that have died from nurgle’s most infamous and successful disease
to date, known as nurgle’s rot. Plaguebearers are shambling necrotic creatures, constantly
surrounded by clouds of flies, that feel no pain and often shrug off what should be lethal blows.
They each wield a rusted blade called a plaguesword,
which drips with a coating of slime, and those struck by one, even slightly, should
hope to be killed rather than face the myriad of horrible diseases that each blade could carry.
Other lesser daemons of nurgle include plague toads, capable of swallowing a man whole,
rot flies, which are hideous insects large enough to be used as flying mounts by other daemons,
and vile savants, the living manifestations of diseases that have claimed mortal lives.
The greater daemons of Nurgle are creatures known as Great Unclean Ones,
and each resembles a smaller version of the plague god himself.
They are covered in rotting flesh and open sores, maggot-ridden innards spilling out
of their bloated torsos, with clusters of pustules that birth swarms of nurglings.
Great unclean ones act as Nurgle’s field generals, and each one shares his paternal instinct towards
the lesser daemons, laughing and encouraging them in their efforts to spread death and decay.
Finally there are the daemon princes of nurgle, former mortals that have impressed
nurgle so much that he has blessed them by turning them into an immortal daemon prince.
They are now nigh-invulnerable, for even if a mighty weapon manages to punch a hole through
them, it will only serve to spray infected pus and innards around them. They possess strength
enough to toss a battle tank through the air, and many of them possess potent psychic abilities.
There are a number of these, but the most notable among them is the daemon
primarch Mortarion, leader of the Death Guard legion of chaos space marines.
Nurgle is unique among the chaos gods in that he operates as such a contradiction of philosophies.
The others are very clear in their ideologies,
focusing on power, ambition, pleasure, while nurgle functions as a strange juxtaposition.
Nurgle’s followers come to believe that their lives aren’t necessarily going to be better
because of nurgle’s influence, but rather that they will accept life and death for what they are.
While slaanesh’s followers will find pleasure in pain, nurgle’s followers will find no pain
whatsoever, for it is irrelevant to the great cycle of death and rebirth.
For me personally, I think Nurgle’s philosophies are the most interesting of the four chaos gods,
functioning almost as negative utilitarianism in his efforts to not necessarily increase happiness
among the population of the universe, but simply reduce suffering, obviously through a highly
contradictory process of diseases and illnesses. Their acceptance of the cycle of life and the
close bonds of familiarity make nurgle and his followers the most jovial of the daemon forces,
and it’s not really that surprising that so many mortals turn to accept his gifts.
This is not to say that Nurgle is anything close to a force of good,
but if you’re going to worship any of the chaos gods, Papa Nurgle might just be your safest bet.