Warhammer has no shortage of characters who could stand as the main enemy of any story. However, there is one that truly stands over the others in both power and lore. Be’lakor has finally made his appearance in Total War: Warhammer III. However, for players who never engaged with the main lore, he has seemingly come from nowhere.
Be’lakor is a creature with many names and titles, he is known as the Harbinger, Messenger of the Undivided and many more. However, his title that gives some inkling into who he is is simply: The First Damned. In Warhammer lore, Be’lakor was the first mortal to ever be turned into a demon prince. While the deeds he accomplished as a mortal are lost, the acts he has committed as a demon as legendary. However, the character is not as old as players would expect, with his current appearance being a relatively recent addition to the canon.
One of the most important aspects of Be’lakor is that main is that he is, arguably, the only demon that could be classed as undivided. Undivided is a term used for Chaos forces that worship the gods as a pantheon rather than only following a single one. As the first demon prince, Be’lakor was worshipped as a god himself, but this would eventually lead to his downfall and his imprisonment. While Be’lakor was powerful, he was eventually sapped of his strength as other mortals ascended to princedom and the actions of the elves eventually lead to his banishment. When he was able to return, he proceeded to feign repentance before the gods, but his hubris was punished.
Be’lakor was eventually made to be the Harbinger of the Everchosen. This meant that he would be the one to crown each new Everchosen as the champion of Chaos, while never being able to reach the goal himself. Be’lakor would slowly try to twist each Everchosen to follow his will instead of the gods and find a way to reach the levels of power he had before. Unfortunately for him, the gods were aware of this and saw it as more of a test for their champions rather than any real threat.
However, Be’lakor would soon be granted the freedom he sought during the Storm of Chaos event. The gods allowed him to march on the fields of mortals again and he was soon viewed as one of the most powerful entities of the gods. He would be a constant threat for the entire war, only to eventually be banished by the combined efforts of the Lady of the Lake and the Incarnates.
For most of Warhammer Fantasy, Be’lakor was really only a name that was mentioned in lore on occasion. However, the Sixth Edition Storm of Chaos campaign finally gave him rules and a model. He was one of the most powerful models of the time, with a mastery of shadow magic and a special rule that could decimate opponents. He was a powerful model, and the lore was retconned to make him more of an influential figure than he had been before — though even his powers couldn’t do much to save the old world from its fate.
While Be’lakor is interesting, fans never expected him to appear outside of the tabletop game. However, Total War bringing him back is interesting because his powers and his connection to the end of the old world could indicate where Creative Assembly is aiming to move the series. This could be the end times indeed, but that could lead players into a whole new world and age.
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