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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
→Overview
Since the [[Horus Heresy]], thousands of individual [[Knight]]s and even entire [[Knight House]]s have been corrupted by [[Chaos]] and betrayed the [[Imperium]]. The first Renegade Knights appeared during the [[Horus Heresy]], when many of the Knightly households sided with [[Warmaster]] [[Horus]].{{Fn|3a}} However since the Heresy, many more Knights have betrayed the Imperium. Some were corrupted after their worlds were swallowed by [[Warp Storm]]s while others were slowly driven mad by the endless carnage they witnessed and inflicted on countless campaigns.{{Fn|3b}}
[[Imagefile:ChaosKnightIcons.jpg|thumb|right|Typical Chaos Knight Iconography & Heraldry{{Fn|3b}}]]Each Chaos Knight is a twisted reflections reflection of the [[Imperial]] [[Knight]]s. The Knight suits were first created using [[Standard Template Construct]]s during the [[Dark Age of Technology]], and many have survived through the innumerable wars that have characterized the long millennia since. Over years or even centuries, Chaos energies seep into the war engine, torturing its [[Machine Spiritmachine spirit]] and mutating its mechanical form. Where once the suit and its pilot were a gleaming beacon, the Chaos Knight and its Fallen Noble fallen noble comprise a symbiotic beast of wrath and hate. A Noble noble is enabled able to pilot their war machine by being wired into an arcane contraption that is implanted into their Knight’s cockpit the - a [[Throne Mechanicum]] in the larger Knightsknights, or a [[Helm Mechanicum]] in the smaller classes. Within each Throne Mechanicum are the spectral echoes of its previous pilots. Thus , only the strongest of the Fallen Pilots fallen pilots are able to commune with a Throne Mechanicum and not go mad in the process. Even those who survived become tortured beings, their suffering reflected in their Throne Mechanicum for centuries to come. Nobles who are wired into a Helm Mechanicum are similarly twisted by Chaos energies that have been absorbed by their war engine. The Helms helms also yoke these pilots , mind and soul , to the will of their Knightly knightly overlords.{{Fn|3a}} Other , less fortunate pilots have fused entirely to their Throne Mechanicum , while others have simply died and their suits are now controlled wholly by [[Daemondaemon]]s.{{Fn|3b}}
Fallen Nobles embark on campaigns for many reasons. Some do so to conquer territory in the name of the [[Ruinous Powers]]. Others have sworn fealty to the [[Dark Mechanicum]], [[Chaos Space Marine]]s, or powerful daemonic entities, and answer the dread summons of war whenever they are called upon. Others still are driven by insanity, launching quests to unravel the very fabric of existence and transform the galaxy into a twisted hellscape. Chaos Knights are either sole traitors classified by the [[Ordo Hereticus]] as [[Dreadblade Knight|Dreadblade]]s, or part of a greater Household that has turned its back on the Imperium. The latter are considered a far greater threat, often allying with the [[Traitor Titan Legion]]s and Dark Mechanicum. Others have more varied fealty, such as to Chaos Space Marine warbands or the [[Chaos Gods]] themselves.{{Fn|3a}}
