What is a Skaven?
A Skaven is a malevolent and diabolical race of large, intelligent, humanoid rats that inhabit a massive, inter-continental, subterranean empire known in their tongue simply as the “Under-Empire”, representing the worst aspects of humanity with none of its redeeming features. The Skaven are corrupted by chaos, embodying the Old World’s perspective on technology as imbalanced, unpredictable, and unreliable, and symbolizing the lack of moral constraint in regards to science.
Understanding the Skaven
To delve deeper into the world of the Skaven, it’s essential to address some of the most frequently asked questions about these intriguing creatures.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What do Skaven represent? Skaven represent the worst aspects of humanity, with none of its redeeming features, embodying concepts such as selfishness, spite, paranoia, cowardice, treachery, greed, and hatred.
- What are Skaven based on? The Skaven are not based on any real-life regime or country; instead, they represent and embody the Old World’s perspective on technology as imbalanced, unpredictable, and unreliable.
- Are Skaven considered chaos? Skaven are corrupted by chaos, this is why they are Skaven, with Warpstone being the physical form of pure chaos energy and their divinity, the Great Horned Rat, being a lesser chaos God.
- Do the Skaven exist? According to the commoners in the Empire, Skaven do not exist, but in reality, they do, posing a significant threat to the world above.
- Why do people not believe in Skaven? People do not believe in the true nature of the Skaven, nor the true enormity of the threat they represent, often due to a lack of knowledge or the inability to speak out.
- Why are the Skaven evil? Skaven society is most succinctly described as tyranny moderated by assassination, with the ratmen despising and denigrating other races, and having no great love for their fellow ratmen.
- Is Skaven a furry? Despite being bipedal animals with fur, Skaven are NOT furries.
- How long do Skaven live? The average Skaven has an expected lifespan of about 20 years, but they might live well past 50 if not for their violent internal competition.
- How do Skaven reproduce? Skaven have females hidden deep in their hives, who are bloated, drugged, and continuously breeding, leading a tragic existence.
- Why does the empire ignore the Skaven? The Skaven don’t attack the Empire in all-out war to avoid being a threat, conserve resources, and focus on their constant war with the Orks and Dwarfs.
- Do Skaven have genders? There are indeed female Skaven, locked away in the depths of the Under-Empire, serving no other purpose than to propagate their vile species.
- Why are Skaven kept a secret? The Council of Thirteen tries to conceal the existence of the Skaven race from humanity to keep them ignorant and unprepared for the Skaven threat.
- What do Skaven do to prisoners? Skaven keep captive slaves as a free labor force or a food supply, forcing them to work until they die or using them for sustenance when they are unable to work.
- Who is the Skaven God? The Great Horned Rat is the unholy god of the Skaven and one of the five major Chaos Gods active in seeking to corrupt the Mortal Realms.
- Can Skaven fall to chaos? Skaven are already corrupted by chaos, which is why they are Skaven, with Warpstone embodying pure chaos energy and their divinity being a lesser chaos God.