Bloodthirsters are the Greater Daemons of Khorne. These savage beasts exhibit extreme rage, martial skill and bloodlust.[40]
Overview
Bloodthirsters are the most savage and martial of the Blood God's servants. Their bloodlust extends beyond mortal comprehension and their power is said to be only matched by the Primarchs of old.[1][2][3]
They manifest as towering, muscular behemoths with bestial, almost canine faces, bloodied manes and sharp horns and are clad in the Brass Armour of Khorne which protects them from magic spells and from ranged attacks.[1][3][4] More noteworthy are their great leathery wings that allow them to dive into the midst of battle.[3] In combat they use immense Axes that have been forged in the heat of Khorne's wrath and bear the essence of a caged Greater Daemon in conjunction with a long whip known as a Gorewhip that allows them to attack more distant foes.[1][4] Some of the most favored Bloodthirsters of Khorne will also wield great Firestorm Blades.[12c]
The Eight Hosts
Only those well versed in daemonic lore are aware of the Bloodthirster hierarchy. They are organised into eight hosts, ascending in power, prestige, and favour. Each Bloodthirster commands its own legions of daemons and possesses its own lethal skills. Underestimating even those of the eighth and weakest host is a fatal error; they are still greater daemons and far more powerful than any mortal warriors.[13a]
- First Host: These Exalted Bloodthirsters are the mightiest of their kind. Only eight of these mighty Daemons exist, and amonst their ranks are An'ggrath, Ka'Bandha, and Skarbrand.[21]
- Third Host: The Wrath of Khorne are hero-hunters who seek out the mightiest heroes of the enemy and maim them in the name of Khorne.[13a] They wield a Bloodflail and an Axe of Khorne.[24]
- Sixth Host: Bloodthirsters of Insensate Rage are berserk destroyers who wield great axes as tall as a castle's gate. Nothing can stand before them on the battlefield and daemons of Khorne are instinctively drawn on in their wake.[13a] They wield a Great Axe of Khorne[24].
- Eighth Host: Bloodthirsters of Unfettered Fury are skilled generals and command Khorne's daemonic legions in their attacks on real space. They are armed with the combination of an Axe of Khorne and a Lash of Khorne.[13a]
Notable Bloodthirsters
- Anarkh'ad'nron[8b]
- An'ggrath — Lord of Bloodthirsters, Guardian of the Throne of Skulls[4]
- An'kha'arak — butchered 50,000 Imperial servants at Toreus[8c]
- Arbra'Gax — massacred the Masque of the Silent Shroud[13b]
- Ax'akhan
- Bhorghaster
- Cruor Praetoria — twelve Bloodthirsters who acted as Angron's bodyguard during the First War for Armageddon.[11]
- Ere'khul — head of the Kaedium Blood Cult[37]
- Gahrlukh[29]
- Gha’Kharax — turned Almarit into a Daemon World[13c]
- Ghalh'kra — Commands eight lesser Bloodthirsters
- Gore Lord — master of the vast Daemonic warband the Brazen Host.[7]
- G'rmakht[22]
- Hakk'an'graah — ally of Abaddon the Despoiler[16]
- Hak'Vasha — member of the Quadrifold Abominatum[17]
- Hk'ghaa'resh - Exalted Bloodthirster
- Infurnace — near-mythical in the sagas of the Space Wolves[15]
- Ka'Bandha — bane of the Blood Angels[6]
- Ka'jagga'nath — Lord of the Bloodtide[9a]
- Kar'Voth — killed in the warp by Kaldor Draigo.[9b]
- Kha Ak-Lash Kha-Aksha — bound in a daemon axe[12d]
- Khargenthul — ally of Chaos Lord Bane of the World Eaters[18]
- Kh'argosh Boilblood[26]
- Khaz'khul
- Khan'zhar
- Kharkexx
- Khulzhar
- Khorg'gux
- Kor'agar'and[9c]
- Krangar[27]
- Ma'ken'gorr[28]
- Ragged Knight — ancient daemon born in M2[14]
- Skarbrand — the Exiled One[5]
- Slayer of Worlds[6]
- Shazhn'oegtol — bound in a small dagger[12b]
- Xakros'Ka
- Vangash'hagash the Ever-Bloody — rules the Daemon World of Kathalon, continually battling the daemonic legions of Tzeentch.[8a]
- Vor'hakk — the Annihilator of Xarn, Bloodthirster of the Sixth Host[19]
- Zhul'korr
- Z'Satrop[20]
Images
Bloodthirster of Khorne[25]
Bloodthirster leading an army.[8d]
Bloodthirster by Tony Ackland.[36]
Miniatures
Sources
- 1: Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness,
[Help] - 2: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), [Help]
- 3: Liber Chaotica: Khorne, [Help]
- 4: Codex: Chaos Daemons (4th Edition), [Help]
- 5: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse, [Help]
- 6: Horus Heresy: Collected Visions, pgs. 350–351
- 7: White Dwarf 368 (UK), pgs. 25–27
- 8: Codex: Chaos Daemons (4th Edition):
- 9: Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition):
- 10: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
- 11: The Emperor's Gift (Novel), Chapter 16, pg. 201
- 12: Black Crusade: The Tome of Blood:
- 13: Codex: Khorne Daemonkin (7th Edition):
- 14: The Talon of Horus (Novel), Chapter IV
- 15: Infurnace (Short Story)
- 16: Black Legion - A Codex: Chaos Space Marines Supplement, A Legacy of Vengeance
- 17: Codex: Tyranids (6th Edition), The Fall of Shadowbrink
- 18: White Dwarf 392 (UK), pgs. 64–65
- 19: War Zone Fenris: Curse of the Wulfen, The Svellgard Incursion
- 20: Dark Millennium (game system), Damnation's Gate — Z'Satrop
- 21: Warhammer Community
- 22: Psychic Awakening: Engine War pg.95
- 23: Games Workshop Bloodthirster (last accessed 26 October 2020)
- 24: Codex: Chaos Daemons (8th Edition), pgs. 86-88
- 25: White Dwarf 219 (UK), pg. 14
- 26: Codex: Chaos Daemons (9th Edition), pg. 29 - Maelstrom
- 27: White Dwarf 60 (2015) — Paying The Blood Tithe
- 28: Renegades: Lord of Excess (Novel), Chapter 26
- 29: The Horus Heresy: Legions - Shadow of the Warmaster: Chaos, card description
- 30: White Dwarf 104 (UK), pg. 36
- 31: Games Workshop The 2002 Catalogue, pg. 138
- 32: White Dwarf 341 (UK), pg. 115
- 33: Forge World: Bloodthirster - Greater Daemon of Khorne (saved archive, last accessed 06/03/2023)
- 34: http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Skarbrand-Bloodthirster (last accessed 12 October 2015)
- 35: Warhammer Community : LVO 2022 – Ka’Bandha’s Monstrous New Model Is the Biggest Horus Heresy Character Ever (saved archive page, dated 28 January 2022, last accessed 28 January 2022)
- 36: White Dwarf 132 (UK), pg. 16
- 37: Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate
- 38: Realms of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned, pg. 82
- 39: Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond Warhammer 40,000 - Bloodthirster
- 40: Faction Pack: Chaos Daemons, pg. 17 (archived from the original 10 December 2025, last accessed 27 December 2025)
