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Warpspace is a dimension of random energy known as [[Chaos]]. It is the domain of the [[Chaos Gods]]. The warp Warp is without form and with its own fluid laws of time and space. Its energies are in constant turmoil, subject to endless disturbances.

The common analogy used to describe warp space Warpspace compares the warp Warp to a vast sea of energy, which is subject to constant movement, currents, undertows, etc. Although with its own reality, warp Warp and real space do bear a relationship as dimensions parallel to each other. The fact they share this relationship allows a warpWarp-capable craft to enter the warpWarp, carried for a time along the warp Warp flows, until reemerging into real space a distance away from its starting point. The common metaphor used for warp Warp-jumping compares the warp Warp to a fast flowing stream. Its motionless banks represent real space. A leaf dropped into the water upstream will be carried along by the currents. This is a useful metaphor in understanding warp spaceWarpspace, although the warp Warp is far more complex in its movements than a linear stream. The warp Warp moves in endlessly unpredictable and convoluted patterns.³

The Formless Wastes refer to the rest of the warp Warp uncontrolled by one of the Chaos Gods. Other powers such as [[Greater Daemon|Greater Daemons]] and [[Daemon Prince|Daemon Princes]] who have become capable of forcing a small influence over their surroundings sometimes create their abodes here. The Wastes are also the home to [[Fury|Furies]], grotesque gargoyles forbidden from entering the Chaos God's realms. They roam the Wastes searching for new helpless souls of mortals not yet absorbed by the warpWarp.^2a

The warp Warp is an important factor in the survival of the human race. Spacecraft, capable of voyaging thousands of light years in a matter of days, travel across the warpWarp. By such fragile means Humanity humanity is bound together in a single Imperium. The Emperor's will may be mighty, but his reach is long only because warpspace Warpspace may be crossed by his fleets.¹

A spaceship may enter the warp Warp through the use of [[warp Warp drive]]s. This is the means by which space craft spacecraft effectively travel faster than the speed of light. This is achieved because warp space Warpspace is a domain of pure energy, where spacecraft can navigate between streams, as in an ocean. Time also proceeds a great deal slower in the warp Warp than in the material universe, creating a form of stasis. While this solution is effective, it is far from perfect.

Long-distance journeys take months or even years, and the timing itself is unpredictable due to the very nature of the warpWarp.

The warp Warp is an extremely volatile medium. At times, disturbances can turn areas of the warp Warp into raging storms of incomprehensibly destructive fury. These storms can last for days or even centuries. Ships caught in these storms, at best, might be blown off course, to emerge thousands of light years off course into uncharted areas of the galaxy. Ships can find themselves trapped inside the warpWarp, a terrible fate for its passengers as they become playthings for the dark creatures that inhabit the malign realm. Sometimes a ship, after traveling through the warp Warp for only a short time, will emerge from the warp Warp and find that centuries have passed in real space. The storms also cut off warp Warp travel through certain regions, isolating systems from the Imperium for months, years , or even centuries. Some systems have always been isolated and show no hint of becoming otherwise.³

A warp Warp rift is a weakening of the barrier between real space and the immaterial , allowing creatures of the warp Warp to enter the material universe. Sometimes warp Warp rifts occur randomly, other times the Chaos Gods or mortals manufacture them. Some last mere moments, others for days, years , or even centuries. They can take many forms, often a seething whirlpool of raw magic, other times they may show a glimpse into the realm of chaosChaos, they have also appeared as gates of green fire, clouds of impenetrable shadow, boiling lakes of pus, and other terrifying visions driving mortals mad. Examples that can induce a warp Warp rift include unpredictable movements of the warp Warp causing a break into real space, daemon possession of a mortal, deliberate rituals of daemon summoning, a focus of suffering and death from a great war, chance circumstances such as a warp Warp drive implosion, or most insidiously through the mind of an unprotected [[psyker|psychic creature]].^2c

The warpWarp, though utterly hostile to creatures of the material realm, is home to its own form of life. These are often voracious entities which are drawn to the psychic emanations of mortals of real space - these creatures include the [[Vampyre]], [[Psychneuein]], [[Astral Spectre]], [[Astral Hound]], [[Enslaver]], and most terrifying and numerous of all, the [[daemon|Daemons of Chaos]].

Ships travelling traveling in the warp Warp are shielded against attacks from these creatures. Without these [[Warp drive#Gellar Field|shields]] travelers through the warp Warp would be consumed by daemons.

The warp Warp is also the realm of the four [[Gods of Chaos]]: [[Khorne]], [[Slaanesh]], [[Tzeentch]], and [[Nurgle]]. Though the warp Warp and the Chaos Gods are formed of the same energy and are practically synonymous, each God god has a form that embodies their personalities and dwells at the heart of their realms.^2b

*¹:''[[Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness]] '' (1988), p. 212*²:[[Codex: Chaos Daemons (4th Edition)|''Codex: Chaos Daemons'' (4th Edition)]]

*³:''[[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader]] '' (1987), pp. 130-132