History CrapsackWorld / Warhammer40000

''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' manages to be such a [[CrapsackWorld spectacularly suck-tastic place to live]] [[UpToEleven that it eventually had to be made into]] [[CrapsackWorld/Warhammer40000 its own page]]. Let's count the ways, shall we?

* Between the eternally warmongering, xenophobic and corrupt factions fighting for the remains of the galaxy ([[OurOrcsAreDifferent one of which literally exists]] for the sole purpose of killing and looting), the [[CorruptChurch poverty-ridden heresy-crushing Imperium of Man]] (whose [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucracies]] and [[FeudalFuture feudal orders]] do spend a lot of their time figuratively and literally clashing and fighting each other), and the [[HyperSpaceIsAScaryPlace infernal nightmare]] of the Warp infested by the [[EldritchAbomination Ruinous Powers of Chaos]] and their [[TheLegionsOfHell ravenous insane Daemonic apostles]], life in the universe of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' [[OverlyLongGag really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really]] ''[[UpToEleven REALLY]]'' [[PrecisionFStrike fucking sucks]]. It's to the point the universe of ''40K'' seems to be exclusively designed to invoke [[CosmicPlaything as much misery and suffering as inhumanly possible]] out of the universe's myriad denizens, and atrocious enough that ''a brand new word'' was invented to describe the sheer hopelessness of the setting, aptly named "{{Grimdark}}". And the setting is completely self-aware of it, too.

-> '''''It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom [a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.\\

* [[CosmicHorrorStory Really, you can't expect much else in a world]] where [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Faster Than Light Travel means literally going through Hell]] infested by Chaos Daemons willing to [[MindRape rape your mind and soul]] in countless different painful ways if you dare go in without protection, sanity checks, close-minded religious dogmatism and the use of said Emperor's living soul ([[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by the agonizing deaths of psykers sacrificed for his life support]]) as a galaxy-spanning psychic lighthouse. ''And said Chaos Gods are the twisted excessive manifestations of our very own emotions.'' That Hell where all daemons are born? ''The souls of every human in the universe'' pass through there. Faith and the Emperor protects human souls passing through to prevent daemons from eating them. The god of Hope? ''A ManipulativeBastard even by 40k standards.'' If you're a good curious person? You get sent there ''sooner'' with the next pirate or bandit raid, rampaging monster or invading army. That said, the collective misery of the inhabitants of the real world manifests in the Warp as Gods, who then scheme to cause more chaos in the Real World, resulting in a vicious cycle of neverending melancholy both in and out.
* And thanks to an accident by the Eldar SpaceElves, [[FromBadToWorse that Hell has broken loose]]. The only reason why said Space Elves have it worse than humans is that the few remnants of them still living need to stave off their inevitable extinction for a ''bit'' longer, since for them dying instantly means absorption into a disgusting vortex of [[FateWorseThanDeath eternal torture, humiliation and rape]] by what is the living manifestation of every soul's suffering and sensation. It is completely necessary for them to make gut-wrenching sacrifices, including manipulating other civilizations into destroying each other (and in one case torturing other species' constantly as sacrifice to appease said god of pain), just so that they can save one of their own from their perpetual fate.
* On top of that, the Chaos Gods themselves? [[AlwaysABiggerFish They're dwarfed in scale completely by even Greater Older Ones]] that make Chaos shit themselves in terror, such as an ancient race of overpowered robotic zombie {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s created to harvest tasty souls to appease the addiction of their Star-Gods, and an intergalactic HiveMind of a constantly-evolving constantly-hungry HordeOfAlienLocusts that [[AdaptiveAbility adapt to anything used against it]] and [[ZergRush devour all biomass in its path to convert it into ever more of themselves]]. The only ones who have anything closest to happiness is a race of green [[OurOrcsAreDifferent psychic savages who kill and pillage]] everybody else and each other because it's built into their genetic code... [[BloodKnight and because it's fun]]. In this universe, being a kind, compassionate, and curious person ''will'' result in you getting {{Mind Rape}}d or literally tentacle-raped by a daemon, and tearing open a portal to hell roughly the size of your planet. "An open mind is like a fortress, with its gates unbarred and unguarded."
* How crapsack is 40K? Tzeentch, the utterly amoral Eldritch Abomination who plots countless schemes to bring endless misery to the universe ForTheEvulz, and is basically [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Nyarlathotep]] turned up to eleven, is the resident ''God of Hope'' of all things. While the [[PlagueMaster God of Disease and Decay]], Nurgle, comes off as AffablyEvil by comparison. The revelation that Nurgle is actually an agent of the EternalRecurrence who is acting out only because it's way past time that this galaxy died out and gave new civilizations a chance to rise from the ruins not only makes him ''more'' sympathetic, [[VillainHasAPoint it's hard not to see his point]] that it's time to wipe the slate clean. Except the only reason for his reason to exist is ''because he's acting out in the first place.''

** [[CosmicHorrorStory Really, you can't expect much else in a world]] where [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Faster Than Light Travel means literally going through Hell]] infested by Chaos Daemons willing to [[MindRape rape your mind and soul]] in countless different painful ways if you dare go in without protection, sanity checks, close-minded religious dogmatism and the use of said Emperor's living soul ([[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by the agonizing deaths of psykers sacrificed for his life support]]) as a galaxy-spanning psychic lighthouse. ''And said Chaos Gods are the twisted excessive manifestations of our very own emotions.'' That Hell where all daemons are born? ''The souls of every human in the universe'' pass through there. Faith and the Emperor protects human souls passing through to prevent daemons from eating them. The god of Hope? ''A ManipulativeBastard even by 40k standards.'' If you're a good curious person? You get sent there ''sooner'' with the next pirate or bandit raid, rampaging monster or invading army. That said, the collective misery of the inhabitants of the real world manifests in the Warp as Gods, who then scheme to cause more chaos in the Real World, resulting in a vicious cycle of neverending melancholy both in and out.
** And thanks to an accident by the Eldar SpaceElves, [[FromBadToWorse that Hell has broken loose]]. The only reason why said Space Elves have it worse than humans is that the few remnants of them still living need to stave off their inevitable extinction for a ''bit'' longer, since for them dying instantly means absorption into a disgusting vortex of [[FateWorseThanDeath eternal torture, humiliation and rape]] by what is the living manifestation of every soul's suffering and sensation. It is completely necessary for them to make gut-wrenching sacrifices, including manipulating other civilizations into destroying each other (and in one case torturing other species' constantly as sacrifice to appease said god of pain), just so that they can save one of their own from their perpetual fate.
** On top of that, the Chaos Gods themselves? [[AlwaysABiggerFish They're dwarfed in scale completely by even Greater Older Ones]] that make Chaos shit themselves in terror, such as an ancient race of overpowered robotic zombie {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s created to harvest tasty souls to appease the addiction of their Star-Gods, and an intergalactic HiveMind of a constantly-evolving constantly-hungry HordeOfAlienLocusts that [[AdaptiveAbility adapt to anything used against it]] and [[ZergRush devour all biomass in its path to convert it into ever more of themselves]]. The only ones who have anything closest to happiness is a race of green [[OurOrcsAreDifferent psychic savages who kill and pillage]] everybody else and each other because it's built into their genetic code... [[BloodKnight and because it's fun]]. In this universe, being a kind, compassionate, and curious person ''will'' result in you getting {{Mind Rape}}d or literally tentacle-raped by a daemon, and tearing open a portal to hell roughly the size of your planet. "An open mind is like a fortress, with its gates unbarred and unguarded."
** How crapsack is 40K? Tzeentch, the utterly amoral Eldritch Abomination who plots countless schemes to bring endless misery to the universe ForTheEvulz, and is basically [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Nyarlathotep]] turned up to eleven, is the resident ''God of Hope'' of all things. While the [[PlagueMaster God of Disease and Decay]], Nurgle, comes off as AffablyEvil by comparison. The revelation that Nurgle is actually an agent of the EternalRecurrence who is acting out only because it's way past time that this galaxy died out and gave new civilizations a chance to rise from the ruins not only makes him ''more'' sympathetic, [[VillainHasAPoint it's hard not to see his point]] that it's time to wipe the slate clean. Except the only reason for his reason to exist is ''because he's acting out in the first place.''

-->-- '''The standard intro to every Imperium-centered written work from the 40K universe, [[EstablishingSeriesMoment perfectly surmising what to expect from here]].

* Between the eternally warmongering, xenophobic and corrupt factions fighting for the remains of the galaxy ([[OurOrcsAreDifferent one of which literally exists]] for the sole purpose of killing and looting), the [[CorruptChurch poverty-ridden heresy-crushing Imperium of Man]] (whose [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucracies]] and [[FeudalFuture feudal orders]] do spend a lot of their time figuratively and literally clashing and fighting each other), and the [[HyperSpaceIsAScaryPlace infernal nightmare]] of the Warp infested by the [[EldritchAbomination Ruinous Powers of Chaos]] and their [[TheLegionsOfHell ravenous insane Daemonic apostles]], life in the universe of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' [[OverlyLongGag really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really]] ''REALLY'' [[PrecisionFStrike fucking sucks]]. It's to the point the universe of ''40K'' seems to be exclusively designed to invoke [[CosmicPlaything as much misery and suffering as inhumanly possible]] out of the universe's myriad denizens, and atrocious enough that ''a brand new word'' was invented to describe the sheer hopelessness of the setting, aptly named "{{Grimdark}}". And the setting is completely self-aware of it, too.

** To emphasize how unimaginably, mind-bogglingly, unapologetically, unthinkably, horrendously and abominably shitty life is in this universe, let's cover some of the biggest {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}s of the entire setting: The [[DarkMessiah Emperor of Mankind]], the [[LawfulGood Salamanders, Ultramarines]], [[ChaoticGood Space Wolves]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist the Tau]] and what happened to them.

''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' manages to be such a [[CrapsackWorld spectacularly suck-tastic place to live]] [[UpToEleven that it eventually had to be made into its own page]]. Let's count the ways, shall we?