The universe of Warhammer is vast and encompasses far more than just the grim sci-fi world of Warhammer 40,000. The fantasy counterpart Warhammer Fantasy (as well as Age of Sigmar) has its own lore – and there is a race that you will never see in 40k: Skaven. MeinMMO explains what makes this rat folk so interesting.
Sure, Space Marines with their two hearts and three lungs are cool and all. But have you ever seen a giant rat in plate armor charging at you with a glowing green halberd, screaming “Kill kill, yes-yes!” while being flanked by a flamethrower shooting green fire? THAT is absurd entertainment.
Warhammer Fantasy is a medieval-inspired world where the same conflicts exist as in Warhammer 40,000. Everyone hates each other, there are constant bell tolls, and somehow the all-threatening Chaos is also involved. And Warhammer Fantasy has many unique races, including the Skaven.
Skaven are upright walking rats, slightly smaller than humans but much more vicious. Their numbers are legion, and that is their only strength. Where other races rely on craftsmanship and finesse, Skaven simply drown their enemies with their bodies. Sometimes literally.
Skaven play a significant role in Age of Sigmar:
13 bell tolls mark the birth of the Skaven
Where the ratmen come from is not fully clarified. Many sources cite the city of Kavzar as the likely origin, where once humans and dwarves lived together.
The people there wanted to build a temple to honor their gods. Due to a lack of materials, this became increasingly difficult until a hooded wanderer offered them help. He wanted to finish the temple in one night if he could leave a sign of his gods.
Indeed, the temple was finished, and in its great hall hung an enormous bell that struck 13 times at midnight – accompanied by ominous signs. From then on, Kavzar was doomed to destruction.
Black rain made the people sick and destroyed crops. The little food that remained was eaten by rats, which grew larger and bolder over time. Eventually, supplies and corpses were not enough; the last citizens were eaten as well. Where Kavzar once stood, today is Skavenblight, the capital of the Skaven.
Eat, eat, eat!
The Skaven pursue many different goals for power and dominance, but in the end, it is mainly about finding something to eat. It doesn’t matter what the food is: corpses of enemies, allies… or even their own slaves if necessary.
One of the reasons is probably that Skaven are said to have an incredibly fast metabolism. This supposedly allows them to move faster. If a rat doesn’t get food quickly, it may simply fall dead.
In Warhammer Fantasy, Skaven are a constant danger because they can be virtually anywhere, just undetected. They live in undercities and tunnels and can appear anywhere at any time. Such an event is called a rat flood, or in English: Vermintide.
And yes, the eponymous games refer exactly to that.
Of clans and fur colors, yes-yes!
After their emergence, the Skaven split into several clans scattered throughout the world of Warhammer Fantasy. Each clan has specialized in something different:
- Clan Mors produces powerful fighters.
- Clan Pestilens is known for its dealings with plagues and diseases.
- Clan Skryre builds the feared warpstone weapons of the Skaven.
- The breeder clan creates monstrous Skaven like rat ogres and wolf rats.
- The Skaven of Clan Eshin are master assassins and infiltrators.
The majority of the Skaven population consists of slaves and clan rats. The fur color determines the social standing of a Skaven. Most Skaven have brown fur, and the powerful warriors, the storm rats, have black fur. Rats with white fur are great leaders or mages.
Although society is primarily based on the law of the stronger and betrayal is a common practice, the Skaven have the Council of Thirteen as the highest governing body. These twelve rats (yes, we will get to that shortly) ultimately determine what the Skaven do next.
A chaos god just for the rats
Skaven worship only one god, the Horned Rat. This chaos god represents disease, disorder, and decay, broadly similar to Nurgle. The holy number of the Horned Rat is 13 – which is why it is the 13th member of the council.
The Horned Rat grants the rats a certain power over magic and other gifts, essentially like any other god in the realm of chaos. The god is so powerful that it has joined Nurgle, Tzeentch, Khorne, and Slaanesh as the fifth god in the main pantheon of Chaos in Age of Sigmar.
Since 13 is the holy number of the Horned Rat, the 13×13, hence 169, commandments are akin to the laws of the Skaven. These are inscribed on a large pillar made of warpstone, the most important material for the Skaven.
With warpstone to absurd weapons
Warpstone, or Wyrdstone, is manifested chaos and therefore the “ultimate magical substance.” Every chaos worshipper seeks this material, and Skaven use it more than anyone else.
Almost every piece of equipment the Skaven have contains at least some warpstone somewhere, and the most powerful weapons have enormous destructive power:
- Warp flamethrowers burn everything before them to the ground.
- Ratling guns fire bullets at enemies at an enormous speed.
- Warp lightning cannons can shoot concentrated magical bolts over great distances.
- Doomwheels roll over the battlefield and impale their victims on spikes.
Since Skaven have no use for gold, warpstone is actually their primary form of currency, if necessary. The use of this substance is strictly banned by most powers of order.
Rats in space – Where are the Skaven in Warhammer 40,000?
Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy are strictly separate, distinct universes. While there are numerous parallels – such as elves and Eldar, dark elves and Dark Eldar, or greenskins and orks – Warhammer 40,000 is not just the same universe but much later.
Accordingly, there are no Skaven in Warhammer 40,000, even though they have been mentioned in some game texts. Instead, there are some allusions and correspondences:
- Ratlings are a type of mutated humans who are much smaller than all other humans. They are often good snipers.
- The Hrud are essentially the 40k counterpart to the Skaven. Both races use warp-based technology, inhabit tunnel systems, and utilize loot for all kinds of things.
A close connection between Fantasy and 40,000 would probably lead to significant complications and contradictions in the already complex lore. For example, in Warhammer Fantasy, there are Tomb Kings, whose 40k counterpart has been asleep for a while and is no longer so fleshy.
Skaven are therefore limited to Fantasy but appear in numerous video games. For instance, you can control them as a separate faction in the strategy game Total War: Warhammer 3, and the Vermintide games deal specifically with the struggle between Skaven and the Empire. And recently, you can even play as Skaven yourself, which is surprisingly a lot of fun: Because a developer talked to me from the side, I got a highlight at gamescom 2024
