Changeling (Warhammer)
The Changeling is a literary demon who features in Warhammer.
Contents |
Biography
Warhammer Fantasy
The Changeling
Warhammer 40,000
The Changeling
Roaming the galaxy and Warp alike in search of committing both practical jokes and devastating mayhem, the Changeling has appeared on the battlefield as a mirror-image of a hero, his comrades unable to tell the difference between the two until it was too late. It was the Changeling who in the image of Lord Solar Macharius ordered the retreat on Goranna just as the real Warmaster was about to direct his forces to the front line. As a Grot, the Changeling sabotoged Warboss Gitsmasha's favorite Shoota, blowing the Warlord and his retinue to smithereens as soon as it was fired. On one occasion, the Changeling even took the shape of a Keeper of Secrets and answered the summoning of a traitorous Imperial Governor whose palace was besieged by Dark Angels. There, the Changeling traded the souls of the desperate man's daughters for a "powerful artifact" to turn the tide of the siege, but turned out to be a stolen Ravenwing teleportation beacon.
The Changeling proved instrumental in orchestrating the events that began the Siege of the Fenris System in 999.M41. Disguising himself first as a Dark Angels Scout Marine and later as Sammael, the Grand Master of the Ravenwing, the Changeling convinced the Dark Angels' Supreme Grand Master Azrael that the Space Wolves had become mutated and were responsible for attacks on Dark Angels targets across the galaxy, leading them to launch an assault upon the Fenris System.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, the Changeling was a supernatural, shifting entity who functioned as a high-ranking Herald of Tzeentch. Because the Changeling was an absolute shapeshifter, it could vary its physical form seamlessly to mimic any entity in existence, spanning the entire size spectrum from a minuscule, multi-legged insect to a colossal, towering Greater Daemon, flawlessly copying the precise physical height, build, vocal patterns, and biological traits of its target. In its base configuration, however, the Changeling manifested as a multi-armed figure whose true visage and identity remained entirely hidden beneath a massive, deep fabric hood. Its attire consisted of a sweeping, billowing cloth cloak that floated above a swirling vortex of unnatural, magical warpfire rather than relying on human legs or feet. The left side of its body featured three fully functional, expressive arms concentrated together, while its right side possessed a single arm holding its primary wargear, with three mysterious, ancient parchment scrolls securely fastened and hanging along the length of its robes.
The Changeling personifies the part of Tzeentch’s psyche that is the meddler and the deceiver. It is the ultimate trickster, who can take the form of other beings, from the tiniest of insects to the most massive of Greater Daemons. None, save perhaps Tzeentch himself, knows the Changeling’s true form, for he goes cowled and cloaked when in his own shape — perhaps even the Changeling himself has forgotten it. Not only can the Changeling mirror the form of another, he can adopt mannerisms and personalities in so flawless a fashion that even the Dark Gods can be deceived. In all of creation there is only one entity that the Changeling cannot duplicate: the Great God Tzeentch himself. The Grand Schemer will not suffer any being to steal his identity, even for a moment.
The Changeling has altered so many times that even he has forgotten his original appearance. Only the God Tzeentch remembers it, and keeps it secret as a means of controlling the Changeling. The Changeling's schemes are not limited to the mortal realm, and he has been known to play tricks on even Gods of Chaos themselves, such as cutting Slaanesh's hair as the Dark Prince slept or putting Nurglings on Khorne's throne, creating a mess the next time the Blood God sat down.
Powers and abilities
The Changeling was born a natural member of the daemonic Pink Horror species, native entirely to the Warp and serving as a direct extension of the Chaos God Tzeentch. On a basic feats level, this unique extra-dimensional physiology granted the Changeling absolute mastery over illusory disguise, voice mimicry, and the manipulation of physical forms when operating within realspace. It possessed the exceptional innate capability to assume any fleshly masquerade it chose, completely hiding its presence from its quarry until it chose to throw aside its false identity to strike. When reverting to its combat form, the Changeling wielded a specialized Trickster's Staff capped with a sinister, living snake, using its magical properties alongside its three left arms to continuously conjure and blast destructive torrents of raw warpfire at its opponents. The Changeling held no traditional biological vulnerabilities to mortal poisons, age, or standard terrestrial diseases, and its extra-dimensional nature allowed it to cross safely between realspace and the Warp without requiring mechanical spacecraft or physical warp drives. Despite these vast deceptive capabilities, the Changeling was restricted by an absolute physiological framework native to its creation: it was completely unable to assume the form of its creator Tzeentch, nor could it ever replicate or remember its own original, true daemonic form, rendering it an eternal mimic with no static physical identity of its own.
The Changeling wielded the Trickster's Staff, which could mimic the weapons of his enemies.
Notes
- The Changeling was created by Games Workshop where he featured in the setting of the Warhammer universe.
In other media
Video games
- In Total War: Warhammer III, the Changeling appeared as a playable hero in the setting of the RTS video game.
Appearances
- Warhammer 40,000:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
