[Zooey72]

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Sons_of_Malice

I have a theory that Malal (old school 5th chaos god that they seldom use any more) was/is the Emperor. The Emperor is/was on the same power level as the Chaos gods, and he was fanatic in his attempt to destroy them.

People on these boards say they won't bring back Malal because of copyright stuff, but they did create the Sons of Malice who worship him.

Eating bodies does stink of Chaos, but if you look at the other parts of the Son's of Malice you could see them serving the Emperor. The imperium props up the Emp's corpse as holy and that worship can strengthen chaos in the warp. They hate chaos because the emp. hated chaos.

I can't imagine in their own minds they believe themselves to be part of Chaos. How can you hate something and commit yourself to destroying it if you know you are no different from that which you hate? They use daemons, but only ones that they have enslaved. Mutations seem to be more of a punishment for failure rather than a gift from their god. Once they mutate they are abandon by the chapter in a space hulk to be like some kind of 'wandering monster' from a D&D adventure.

I will concede you really can't get past the flesh eating as being really Chaos like.

 

[Kreuger]

I doubt they'd bring Malal back. And in the old fluff Malal definitely wasn't the emperor. Do some reading on the star child, the sensei, the illuminati, and the emperor's older origins.

The emperor was adrift in the warp fighting chaos while his body was in the golden throne. And on his death me would be either reborn as a new human or a positive god.

 

[MEQinc]

I have a theory that Malal (old school 5th chaos god that they seldom use any more) was/is the Emperor. The Emperor is/was on the same power level as the Chaos gods, and he was fanatic in his attempt to destroy them.

1) The Emperor is a physical being. The Chaos Gods are not.
2) The Emperor is not on the same power level as the Chaos Gods. He is far more limited in his reach than they are.

Eating bodies does stink of Chaos, but if you look at the other parts of the Son's of Malice you could see them serving the Emperor.

Except for the murder of Imperial servants you mean.

 

[Zooey72]

It is old fluff, but I know it. Back in the 90s they also had the Emperor's feces being used as a weapon against Daemons. They got rid of the Star Child thing, although I think it would be very interesting if they returned to it. A good question would be why go through the hassle of genetically engineering your children when a one night stand could produce the same results? That leads to other questions and I will save those for another thread.

The 'corpse king' is on his golden throne and fighting chaos, but his power is greatly diminished. He is fed thousands of psychers a month to keep this fight going. I would argue that the Emperor's body is not sentient anymore, it is more like a cannon being fed ammunition - and the cannon is breaking down. What he is in the warp is something else entirely. He is fed huge amounts of power through worship of trillions of humans. I think when the Emperor is 'reborn' it will be similar (if not greater) than when Slannesh was 'born'.

Malal has been used in some recent fiction. In one of the "Heroes of the Space Marines" they used the Son's of Malice and it was clear that they worshipped Malal. I won't go through the whole story, but ultimately the last sacrifice was made by the Sons of Malice to bring Malal back.

Old fluff, because I am an old guy (41), but in the original Warhammer game they had gods of Law. They were as bat shit crazy as the Chaos ones. One of their rituals was to stare at the sun until they went blind (because the sun is unchanging - apparently there is a Zen moment when you burn out your retinas).

The only reason I bring that up is because I think the Emperor may be that crazy, and I also think the Sons of Malice would stare at the sun until they went blind for their god.

 

[MEQinc]

They got rid of the Star Child thing, although I think it would be very interesting if they returned to it.

Technically they didn't 'get rid' of the Star Child theory, they just revealed that it was a Tzeentchian cult.

He is fed huge amounts of power through worship of trillions of humans. I think when the Emperor is 'reborn' it will be similar (if not greater) than when Slannesh was 'born'.

1) Except that the Emperor isn't fed through the worship of humanity. That's simply not how the warp works.
2) Another event like Slaanesh's birth would be catastrophic for humanity, especially if it occured around Terra.

Malal has been used in some recent fiction. In one of the "Heroes of the Space Marines" they used the Son's of Malice and it was clear that they worshipped Malal. I won't go through the whole story, but ultimately the last sacrifice was made by the Sons of Malice to bring Malal back.

Well, if they bring him back than he clearly isn't a true Chaos God. Seems most likely that the Sons of Malice follow a powerful daemon-prince named Malal (or Malice, as I think their fluff now calls him), rather than a God.

 

[forkmaster]

Technically they didn't 'get rid' of the Star Child theory, they just revealed that it was a Tzeentchian cult.

Well, if they bring him back than he clearly isn't a true Chaos God. Seems most likely that the Sons of Malice follow a powerful daemon-prince named Malal (or Malice, as I think their fluff now calls him), rather than a God.

Where did you read about the first part? And I've heard Malice is a rights-issue as someone personally owns the right to the God left GW and took the rights with him.

 

[BlackGuard]

It would be interesting if the Emperor returned as a God. Though let us assume that this is true. He would still be significantly weaker than even Slaanesh. He would be the bastard step-child of the Warp. The birth of Slaanesh was fueled exclusively by the Eldar race and thousands of years of gradual descent into decadence. The Eldar are known to be far more psychically powerful and sensitive than humans. I think the example used was that an Eldar is like a candle flame in the Warp whereas a human is a gutter spark.

(Spoilers)

In Aurelian that demon spoke to Lorgar and explained that Slaanesh was created by possibly quadrillions of Eldar dying at once -- that type of psychic trauma is what gave Slaanesh sentience since it fed upon the Eldar.

When the Emperor finally dies, if he intends to ascend to godhood, it will be on the backs of Humanity. I could actually see him do this once he realizes that Humanity is lost without His guidance. Even then, if he sacrifices 500 trillion humans, most of them are not psychically active. Hell, some humans have the pariah gene or are less potent 'blanks'. The entire Eldar race are psykers in some way or form to my knowledge.

Assuming he sacrifices all of Humanity, and thus spawns another Eye of Terror around Terra -- it will be significantly smaller and weaker than Slaanesh's afterbirth. Humanity just doesn't have the potential to create a true god in the Warp.