Of all the races in Warhammer 40,000, the Orks are probably the most unique. The species consists basically of sentient … wait, no. They are just murderous fungi that can wield magic, travel through space on trash balls – and have their own gods. These gods are so powerful that even some humans believe in them.
This is the translated version of the text. If you want to read the text in Orkish, you can find it on page 1.
Big, chubby, brutal, and above all green: that’s the Orks in Warhammer 40,000, a very special species full of war-hungry berserkers. They could dominate the galaxy, if they didn’t constantly fight among themselves.
The entire culture of the Orks is designed to just hit something hard. No matter who. Similar to the Chaos god Khorne, it’s only important that there is fighting. That’s where Orks feel at home, at least most of them.
Surprisingly, there is indeed room for a spiritual component. In fact, the Orks have two gods they worship – similar to the Emperor among humans. But of course, the Ork gods are just how the Orks need them: big, chubby, brutal … and above all green.
Gork and Mork: Brutally Clever Gods
Depending on which Ork you ask, Gork is seen as brutal and clever (“brutally cunning”) and Mork as clever and brutal (“cunningly brutal”). Sometimes the other way around. The Orks themselves often mix this up, and this is frequently a point of contention that leads to full-blown religious wars within the tribes.
Among the Orks, the largest and toughest become the leaders – and interestingly, more powerful Orks also grow bigger. Accordingly, Gork and Mork are depicted as absolutely titanic giants.
Unlike the gifts of the Chaos gods, Gork and Mork support the Orks more in a figurative sense. Real interventions are not known. However, Orks believe that after death they go to the “Great Green”, where Gork and Mork resurrect them, if they have achieved something special in life.
Interestingly, there are even cults within the Imperium of Man that worship Gork and Mork. This is of course absolute heresy, but these humans try to establish social structures similar to those of the Orks and pay homage to the two gods.
That Gork and Mork are green is, by the way, an enormously important detail. Green is the best color in Ork belief, just as red is fast, blue brings luck, black makes stronger, yellow stands for size, and purple serves as camouflage. How much of this is really true and works has been a topic of discussion among fans and experts in the world for ages.
Orks have a Presence in the Warp, of all places in the Realm of Emotion
Gork and Mork are Warp entities, like most known gods in the world of Warhammer. The Warp, or the Immaterium, is the realm of Chaos and is formed from the emotions and ambitions of psychic beings like humans and Eldar – or Orks.
For other races, such a connection means they can harness the powers of Chaos. Human psykers, for example, can cast spells of devastating magnitude this way.
Orks can do this too, but not intentionally. Those Orks who have a strong connection to the Warp call themselves Weirdboyz. However, most of them lack the ability to channel the energy from the Warp in a targeted manner.
Instead, they simply fill up, until they eventually release the gathered power with a “sneeze.” Weirdboyz are often used as a weapon by other Orks: once they are charged, point them at the enemy and annihilate. Works… most of the time.
The Waaagh! as the Ultimate Praise for the Gods
Orks have a very special connection to the Warp in that they can create a psychic field when a sufficient number of Orks gather. This field is the Waaagh!, which has various meanings:
- The Waaagh! as a psychic field allows the Orks to identify the largest and strongest among them. Some members of the Mechanicus also suspect that it’s the reason why Ork weapons only work in the hands of Orks.
- A Waaagh! can also occur when the Orks unite and launch a war against a specific target. As long as there is something to fight, the Waaagh! grows larger and attracts more and more Orks. Once there is nothing left to fight, the Orks will brawl among themselves.
- A large gathering of Orks under a leader is also called a Waaagh!.
The currently largest Waaagh! is led by Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, who calls himself the Prophet of Mork and Gork and claims to receive visions from the gods during a particularly powerful Waaagh!.
Thraka uses the Waaagh! as a kind of holy crusade in the name of his gods to become bigger and stronger – which apparently works. The war could one day even lead to the Orks becoming one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest threat in the galaxy: All the major factions of Warhammer 40,000 in the power ranking – who could dominate the galaxy?
