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The Old Ones did not appear in the first edition material of Warhammer 40,000. There was a similar race in their place in the form of the [[Slann]] or Old Slann that featured in [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader]] and [[Codex Titanicus (1st Edition)]], in which they made early contact with the Eldar and taught them the technology to create the Webway. The former source also states that the Slann were responsible for the genetic manipulation of various races and suggested that the Jokaero are one of their creations. In third edition material, starting with [[Codex: Necrons]], the Old Ones are first mentioned and their backstory elaborated by stating they genetically manipulated early life and fought the an ancient war against the Necrons. Future material such as [[Codex: Eldar (4th Edition)]] and [[Codex: Chaos Daemons (4th Edition)]] also stated that the Old Ones had a hand in teaching the Eldar to make use of the Webway whilst [[Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition)]] claimed that they actually created it in the first place.
The Old Ones also get a partial mention in the [[Liber Chaotica]] "[[Slaanesh]]" in the chapter ''"Echoes of the Birth"'' where they are called the ''"First Ones"''. This section covers the Eldar race, stating that they were raised by figures of shadow and light that were an ancient as well as powerful race. These First Ones are said to be the first to have reached into the starry night and to be older than gods yet mortal as well as subject to time. They are said to have left the Eldar and returned to the sky in order to allow their charges to develop over millennia. Afterwards, they returned in strange, vast vessels that were worn and scarred whilst light dim along with their shadows dispersing. This is because they were engaged in an unending war against the Yngir with the First Ones returning to inspect the Eldar and determine whether they were fit for the battle that lay ahead. The First Ones are known to have encouraged their younger race to focus their psychic abilities in order to create warp-derived beings as weapons against the the vampiric gods of starlight. The battle that continued was long and the First Ones dwindled in number to the point that they lost influence among the Eldar. Without their creators' wisdom, the Eldar's warp-beings changed from sentient weapons into living gods of the Immaterium who were the first of their kind. After the absence of the First Ones, the Eldar heroes [[Eldanesh]] and [[Ulthanash]] proved to be the only beings that could harness the power of the warp gods to battle against their foes until they fled from a daemonic plague. In the aftermath, the Eldar are said to have adapted, refined and perfected the First Ones' skill in measuring the Warp and predicting its movements.
''[[Xenology]]'' also makes a potential reference to the Old Ones. They are referred to as the '''Old Gods''' who lived prior to the birth of Slaanesh when they fought a war in heaven and hell against Star Devils. According to the author Kurdo Salvador, the Star Devils emerged victorious in this war and killed all the Old Gods, though one managed to survive. This survivor hid away where he continued his Old Ways of tweaking, dabbling, poking and prodding. When he was done with his work, he departed into the Warp in order to hide and watch. When ''"She's"'' born by the longears, Slaanesh chopped the remaining Old One into millions of pieces with the shards kicked into the cold void in order ''"to linger like always..."'' These shattered remnants, according to Salvador, became known as the [[Umbra]]. This entity that was sent to linger also shares many qualities to that of [[Qah]], a deity within the [[Hrud]] pantheon.