Chaos; literally a state of extreme confusion and disorder. A major influence is Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. This appears to be the largest source for shaping the ideas to Chaos. Another minor one may be the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the same number as there are Chaos powers.

Nurgal, the plague god, is the only one with a mythological reference. From Mesopotamian, there was a god of war and plague named Nergal (also Nirgal or Nirgali). Its horseman equivalent is Death, who is associated with sickness, decay, and death.

Khorne is a blood god and may be based on the taboos and beliefs in the power of blood. The closest god or goddess would be Kali, who had blood and skulls as symbols. This may be more a western interpretation than the Hindu view of Kali. Another influence may be Red Caps, the malevolent goblin-like creatures that live in ruins found at the border between England and Scotland. They would stain their hats with blood, giving them their name. Ares, of Greek mythology, may be yet another source. Its horseman would be war who rode a red horse. The flesh hounds bring to mind a line from Julius Caesar by Shakespear; “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”.

Slaanesh may be associated with the first horseman, its crown signifying an extravagant life style. However its name may be made up of two words. The first SLAA is acronym for sex and love addicts anonymous. The second is nesh, which in Manx, means soft or sissyish. Now since there is a strong influence of the Celts with the Eldar, the White Lady may be represented here. A goddess of death and destruction, she was a Crone aspect of the Goddess.

Tzeentch is the Great Sorcerer is similar to the more malicious trickster gods. The likes of Loki, Bamapana and Eris. It is also the architect of fate which is seen in the scales carried by one of the horsemen. The fire and bird imagery may come from the phoenix, a mythical bird with some association with magic. One of it’s symbols is the ever watching eye, which is not unlike the Illuminati eye. The Illuminati have numerous conspiracy theories surrounding them.

Michael Moorcock gets a mention in the old Chaos Space Marine Codex in the minor Chaos power, Morc'ck. So does fantasy artist Frank Frazetta with Fraz'etar. This leaves Ans'l who is Brian Ansel, one of GW earliest miniatures designers, one of the pioneers in making Chaos spiky.

Two authors who may have influenced chaos are HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe. Lovecraft with his ancient panthion of evil gods and how deamonic names are spelt, the use of apostrophes and extra letters used with real words. Poe has some stories like “Mask of the Read Death” (Nurgle) and “Fall of the House of Usher” (deamonic house) just to name two.

To start we’ll look at HP Lovecraft and the pantheon he created of the Cthonian, the word being a variation on chthonian; meaning of the underworld, an excellent name for their former home world. More of this influence is seen in Abbadon’s sword Drach'nyen, as the apostrophe and extra letters used with real words is another Lovecraftian thing. The sword possibly being named after the word drachen which means dragon. Abaddon the Destroyer, in Hebrew, the name Abaddon, refers to the angel of the bottomless pit who is also called the destroyer.

Primarch Horus has the name of an ancient Egyptian god. However, the Egyptian Horus was not evil but good. So why use the name? If we go back to the oldest version called Heru-ur you’ll find that his eyes were the sun and moon (may be a reference to the Lunar Wolves). Yet during a new moon he was blind and often attacked friends after mistaking them for enemies. Very similar to being blinded by chaos and and attacking the imperium.

Fulgrim, his name may come from two words, fulg and grim. Each one represents a time in his life. Grim, the last part of the name, would be his early years, while Fulg, meaning shining and excessive in Latin, would be after his turn to chaos. Lord Eidolon, a commander that the Inquisition doesn’t know is alive or dead, has a name that means phantom or apparition. Fabius Bile the most notorious member of the legion has two possible meanings for his names. The first, the name Fabius is an old Roman name, but may be related more to the Latin word faber, which means craftsman. Bile may be a reference to medieval medicine as it is half of the basic humours (bodily fluids). This could make his name mean medical craftsman. Last is the home world of Chemos which may be based on Chemosh, a god of the Moabites known as the destroyer or subduer.

Barbarus, the home world of Mortarion, means barbarian. While this is obvious it doesn’t fit as well as another of its meanings; foreigner. This is how the primarch was seen by the local villagers for quite some time. After all if you showed up with a name that has a root word that means death, mortis, people wouldn’t welcome you with open arms.

Now on to those who raised him. Could these have been early Haemonculus? This would have happened shortly after the fall of the Eldar and with humans civilization not yet unified, a small group could set themselves up on a planet. The shambling creations of theirs are reminiscent of Grotesques. If this is the case then Mortarion was a primarch raised by a xenos.

Typhus, the one who followed Nurgle before the rest of the legion, has a fitting name. It is a rickettsial disease transmitted by body lice and characterized by skin rash and high fever. In this case the lice become a swarm of flies. There is also a monster from Greek mythology named Typhus who fought with Zeus after the defeat of the Titans.

Angron, the name sounds like the word angry, yet may be based on angon. An angon is a spear having a long, narrow iron shaft and a small, usually barbed tip (5th - 8th centuries A.D.). These conjure up the image of the chain axes, with the barbs being replaced by the chain saw like teeth.

On a world much like ancient Rome, Angron is turned into a gladiator for the enjoyment of the rich and the distraction of the poor. The story follows the life of a man named Spartacus. A slave turned into a gladiator, who escapes with other slaves, fights the Romans for a time and eventually is killed.

The Ghenna scouring, the night an entire planet died. Where in history would you start looking for a reference to this? The bible has a place which has to come to mean a place or state of torment or suffering and the abode of condemned souls. A fitting name, Gehenna (the New Testament meaning, the one used here, is different from the Old Testament one).

Last but not least is Kharn, the destroyer. The first thing that comes to mind is that it could be derived from carnage. If so, there could not be a better name. Though there is a character from Robotech named Khyron the Backstabber who shares many of Kharns traits and may have been an influence.

Olympia, a world of city states, rugged and full of mountains, takes us to Greece and Olympus, home of the gods. In Greek mythology there is a character named Achilles who lets pride get in his way. This leads him to eventually abandon his comrades because he has been slighted at the hands of his commander. Sound familiar? Every bit like Pertarabo, Achilles even sacrifices some enemy prisoners at a funeral, which could be like what happened after the iron cage.

Perturabo’s name is close to a Spanish word; peturbador which translates to perturbing or trouble maker. There is also some conection with Aleister Crowley's writings or possibly a nickname/alias.

Lorgar the zealot, a primarch who may have some thing in common with Martin Luther, seeing as both turned from their traditional religious views. That, of course, is where it ends. While Lorgar and Luther are similar, the primarch’s name has several other possible sources. It could be made up of the Gaelic words léir; meaning torment, pain and distress, and gàir; meaning an outcry, shout or din. It could be an altered fògair, which is to expel, banish or chase. Last it may be made of a shortening of the words lore and guard, which would also fit as he saw himself as guardian of the imperial creed.

The home world of Colchis is the name of the land where Jason and the Argonauts went to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Of their maelstrom worlds only Sicarus is close to anything, and that is sicarii, a group of religious zealots from biblical times.

Alpharius who has a name derived from alpha. In biology the alpha is always the most dominant individual of a group. While he was the last primarch to be found his background suggests that he was the leading strategist and tactician, a man with whom you could associate such individuals as Sun Tzu and Napoleon.

In a book called Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, you will find a character named Kurtz. The novel is eventually made into the movie Apocalypse Now. In both he is a man who has given up on the conventions of civilization as they only get in the way of what must be done. An archetypal evil genius, he chooses to act as a nightmare to accomplish his goals. Yet these actions eventually lead to his death. In the movie an assassin is allowed to come into the camp and finally end the life of Kurtz. The actor who played the assassin was Martin Sheen who has his name shortened to become M’Shin, Night Haunter’s assassin.

While the name is a mix of Joseph Conrad and his character Kurtz, it has a slight alteration, Curze as the last name. A possibility for this would be how similar it sounds to the word curse. Considering how Night Haunter felt his life was cursed and only was able to see the darkest futures, it seems to fit. Curze also shares some similarities with the comic book character Batman. A man, who lost his parents at a young age, then goes on to become a thing that criminals would fear. The nightmare form that was chosen was a bat, the wings of which are part of the Night Lords icon.

Gotham City, with its dark streets, may be one source for the appearance of Nostramo. Another could be Giedi Prime, from Dune, home of the Harkonens, a bleak industrial world with a strong criminal element. Yet where does the planet’s name come from? Possibly the French psychic Nostradamus (Michel de Nostradame), known for his predictions of future events. Most of which were about disasters or wars, only the darkest possible futures, much like the visions of Night Haunter. There is also a novel by Joseph Conrad called Nostromo, set in a fictional country similar to the world Night Haunter grew up on, the story is themed around individual isolation.

The Lord Acerbus is a daemon prince from the Night Lords with a name that translates from Latin into: bitter, gloomy, dark, much like the legion.

Magnus the red, primarch, psychic, and daemon prince, fitting for one whose name means great in Latin. The real question is why ‘the red’? It could be a reference to the expression red headed step child, one that is very different from the other children and is subject to abuse and mistrust. Aleister Crowley, and his membership in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, may also have influenced the background. To make a long story short Crowley was hoping to start a new Renaissance for a magical age.

Shakespeare's the Tempest provides the name of the home world Prospero. A wizard who seeks knowledge and wants to perfect his craft, Prospero is blind to the danger in his actions. It is the pursuit of knowledge that gets Prospero into trouble in the first place (the culmination of which is seen in contacting the emperor psychically). He neglected everyday matters while a duke and gave his brother a chance to rise against him (Russ).

A council was called by the emperor Constantine the first at Nicaea to deal with a major schism that affected the early Christian church. This is replayed in the views of the council of Nikaea which dealt with psychic abilities rather than divinity issues.

Ahriman, the special character, has a name is found in the Zoroastrian faith. In it Ahriman is being of evil, an equivalent to Satan.

The look of the Thousand Sons is taken from ancient Egypt, a stylized version of the clothing worn by the pharaohs.