Oldest Chaos God?

[Viciator]

So I was thinking about the Chaos Gods today - I know Slaanesh is the youngest and created by the Eldar, but I wondered if the other three were brought to existence at the same time or if they were created at different times?

I imagine it should be Nurgle or Khrone since violence, hatred, anger and death are things that were always there unlike Magic.

What do you think?

[Eternus]

Hmm, my knowledge about the Chaos gods isn't fantastic, but I can't say I have ever read anything that tells us which is oldest, though it is well known that Slaanesh is youngest. I'll have a look through my Liber Chaotica copy when I get a chance.

[Hephesto]

From what I recall from old GW readings, Realm of Chas & Black Library 4-volume Chaos bundle, Grandfather Nurgle is the oldest of the bunch, followed by Khorne, Tzeentch, and more recently Slaanesh. And lets not forget the ton of minor entitites, some of which have, or continue, to play significant roles in the 40K or WHFB universes, such as old, lost Malal (some seem to think GW has kept references to him around under the guise of Malice, his followers the Sons of Malice and the Dreadaxe from the old codex), and the Skaven's patriarch the Horned Rat.

[Anne Marie]

The oldest Chaos God is actually Nurgle himself. Grandfather Nurgle's been around since the moment death came into being (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Nurgle#.UCetKaASYm8), Khorne is the second oldest when he took the skull from the first corpse... perhaps?

[Viciator]

Yea this is exactly what I thought - Nurgle first, then Khorne (First natural death and disease came, then war :P).

I read about Malice and in a way I think he/she might have appeared before or at the same time as Tzeentch. Malice is the god of Anarchy and Tzeentch is the god of Change - change leads to anarchy? :P

[NoPoet]

I would expect Khorne to be the third after Tzeentch (the ultimate change would be from nothing to something), then Nurgle (represented by death and later disease), then Khorne way down the line after the first sapient species began killing each other on a grand scale. I would imagine the primordial Chaos Gods would be nothing like the ones we now know. Maybe there were other ones first who were destroyed, consumed by the others or simply faded back into the morass of the Warp as circumstances changed and the things that gave them power ceased to exist.

To plug without embarrassment - in my 20K series which is set before the Fall of the Eldar, Nurgle is the dominant God, Tzeentch fulfils some of Slaanesh's duties (perhaps Slaanesh is born from a fraction of Tzeentch or somehow managed to draw some of Tzeentch's power during its birth?) and Khorne is way behind. The galaxy is not at war yet (at least not on the scale of the Heresy and 40K). Also I'm sick of Khorne always getting the attention.

[Viciator]

That makes sense - Tzeentch represents change and time itself as well no? So yea I guess it might have been the first!



perhaps Slaanesh is born from a fraction of Tzeentch

That's an interesting idea - Slaanesh represents "lust, greed, excess, pain, pleasure, perfection and hedonism" but it was also created by all those changes the Eldar society underwent! So I can see how because of that Tzeentch might have been growing stronger but perhaps getting some sort of a second personality which represents downfall and negative change?
Tzeentch might have had an excess of growth? :P

EDIT:
Kinda let my mind go loose on this but hey who knows :P