The Skaven are one of the most beloved and uniquely Warhammer factions in the entire franchise. A civilization of billions of ratmen living in a vast under-empire beneath the feet of the unsuspecting surface world. They worship the Great Horned Rat, scheme endlessly against each other, wield insane warpstone-powered technology, and would have conquered the world ten times over if they could stop backstabbing each other for five minutes.

They're evil, hilarious, tragic, and terrifying — often all at once. This guide covers their lore, clan structure, key characters, and how they play across every major Warhammer game.

What Are the Skaven?

The Skaven are a race of anthropomorphic rats who inhabit the Under-Empire — a network of tunnels, warrens, and cities that spans the entire globe beneath the surface. Their civilization is the largest on the planet by population, possibly exceeding all other races combined.

Despite this, the surface world largely denies their existence. In the Empire (Warhammer Fantasy's human nation), even discussing the Skaven is heresy — official doctrine states they're a myth. This denial is partly propaganda, partly willful ignorance, and partly because admitting that billions of murderous ratmen live beneath your cities would cause mass panic.

Aspect	Details
Homeworld	Skavenblight (capital city, beneath Tilea/Italy equivalent)
God	The Great Horned Rat (Chaos God of decay, ruin, and pestilence)
Government	Council of Thirteen (13 seats, one always empty for the Great Horned Rat)
Population	Billions — the most numerous civilized race
Technology	Warpstone-powered insanity (ratling guns, doomwheels, warp-lightning cannons)
Greatest Strength	Numbers, technology, ruthlessness
Greatest Weakness	Cowardice, treachery, inability to cooperate

The Great Clans

Skaven society is organized into clans, each with a specialty. Four Great Clans dominate, with hundreds of lesser Warlord Clans beneath them.

Clan Skryre — The Warlock Engineers

The mad scientists. Clan Skryre combines sorcery and technology into warpstone-powered weapons that are as dangerous to their operators as to their targets. They make ratling guns, warpfire throwers, doomwheels, and warp-lightning cannons. Everything they build is unstable, experimental, and devastating — when it works.

Specialty	Key Units	Playstyle
Warpstone technology	Warlock Engineers, Ratling Guns, Warpfire Throwers, Doomwheels, Stormfiends	Shooting and area denial. High damage, high risk — weapons can misfire and kill your own models.

Clan Moulder — The Flesh Shapers

Biological engineers who breed and mutate monsters in the Hell Pit, a nightmarish underground laboratory complex. They create Rat Ogres, Hell Pit Abominations, and other twisted beasts by grafting warpstone into living flesh.

Specialty	Key Units	Playstyle
Monster breeding	Master Moulders, Rat Ogres, Hell Pit Abomination, Giant Rats, Brood Horrors	Melee monsters and beast packs. Overwhelming the enemy with mutated horrors.

Clan Eshin — The Silent Killers

Assassins and spies. Clan Eshin learned their arts in the distant lands of Cathay (Warhammer's China equivalent) and returned as the most deadly covert operatives in the world. They sell their services to other clans — murder is their currency.

Specialty	Key Units	Playstyle
Assassination, espionage	Deathmaster Snikch, Night Runners, Gutter Runners, Assassins	Skirmish and assassination. Kill key targets, disrupt enemy plans, vanish.

Clan Pestilens — The Plague Monks

Religious zealots who worship the Great Horned Rat through disease and filth. They brew plagues, spread pestilence, and fight with frenzied devotion. They're the Skaven equivalent of a death cult — and they're effective.

Specialty	Key Units	Playstyle
Plague and disease	Plague Monks, Plague Censer Bearers, Plague Priests, Plagueclaw Catapults	Frenzied melee hordes. Mortal wounds from disease. Expendable but overwhelming.

Key Characters

Character	Title	Notable For
Thanquol	Grey Seer	The most recurring Skaven character in Warhammer fiction. A scheming sorcerer who fails upward spectacularly. Rides the rat ogre Boneripper. Beloved by fans for his delusional self-importance.
Queek Headtaker	Warlord of Clan Mors	The greatest Skaven warrior ever. Collects the heads of defeated champions and talks to them. Genuinely terrifying in combat despite being a 4-foot rat.
Deathmaster Snikch	Chief Assassin of Clan Eshin	The deadliest assassin in the Warhammer world. Has never failed a contract. Can kill almost anything in a single strike.
Ikit Claw	Chief Warlock of Clan Skryre	The most dangerous inventor in the world. Created the Doomsphere (a warpstone nuclear weapon). His workshop runs on under Skavenblight.
Lord Skrolk	Plague Lord of Clan Pestilens	So diseased that his very presence kills. Carries the Liber Bubonicus, a book of plagues. Blind, navigates by smell.

Skaven Lore: The Under-Empire

Society & Hierarchy

Skaven society is a brutal hierarchy based on strength, cunning, and treachery. Every Skaven wants to climb higher. Every Skaven above them wants to push them down. The result is a civilization in permanent, productive chaos.

Council of Thirteen — The ruling body. Twelve seats held by the most powerful Lords, one empty seat for the Great Horned Rat. Council members are constantly assassinating each other for position.
Grey Seers — Sorcerer-priests born with grey or white fur (extremely rare). They serve as the Great Horned Rat's intermediaries and are feared by all clans.
Warlord Clans — Hundreds of lesser clans that owe allegiance to the Great Clans. They provide the bulk of Skaven armies (clanrats, slaves).
Skavenslaves — The bottom of the hierarchy. Prisoners, failed experiments, and disgraced Skaven. They fight because the alternative is worse.

Warpstone: The Skaven Drug

Warpstone is solidified Chaos energy — and the Skaven are addicted to it. They eat it, power their weapons with it, fuel their magic with it, and build their technology around it. It's simultaneously their greatest resource and the thing that will eventually destroy them. Every piece of Skaven technology runs on warpstone, and every piece of warpstone slowly mutates and kills its users.

The Great Horned Rat

The Skaven's deity. In Warhammer Fantasy, the Great Horned Rat was a minor Chaos entity. In Age of Sigmar, he ascended to become the fifth major Chaos God — replacing Slaanesh, who was captured. This is one of the biggest lore developments in Warhammer history and elevated the Skaven from a regional pest to a cosmic threat.

Playing Skaven: By Game

Warhammer: The Old World

Classic rank-and-file. Massive blocks of clanrats backed by insane war machines. The fun is in the gambling — every weapon can misfire, every plan can collapse, but when it works, it's devastating. Bring lots of models.

Age of Sigmar

The Skaven are united as the Skaventide faction. You can build mono-clan (all Skryre, all Pestilens) or mix and match. The army rewards flooding objectives with cheap bodies while your elite units do the killing.

Total War: Warhammer

Skaven are arguably the most unique faction in Total War: Warhammer. Their settlements are hidden on the campaign map (appearing as ruins to other factions). They spread corruption, ambush constantly, use food as a resource mechanic, and can nuke cities with the Doomsphere. Ikit Claw's campaign is widely considered one of the best in the entire game.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

In WFRP, Skaven are primarily enemies — but what enemies. Entire campaign arcs revolve around uncovering Skaven plots beneath cities. The "Skaven don't exist" propaganda makes investigations doubly difficult, as NPCs refuse to believe the evidence. The Enemy Within campaign features Skaven prominently.

Skaven FAQ

Are Skaven Chaos?

Yes and no. Skaven worship the Great Horned Rat, who is a Chaos God. They use warpstone (Chaos material). But they're not aligned with the four traditional Chaos Gods (Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, Slaanesh) and often fight against them. They're Chaos-adjacent — they benefit from Chaos but serve their own agenda.

Why are Skaven so popular?

They're unique to Warhammer (no other franchise has anything quite like them), they're simultaneously funny and terrifying, their models are incredibly expressive, their lore is deep and entertaining, and they appeal to players who love scheming, mad science, and controlled chaos.

Can you play as Skaven in Warhammer RPGs?

In official WFRP, Skaven are NPC enemies only. However, homebrew rules for Skaven player characters exist and are popular in the community. In Age of Sigmar: Soulbound, there are no official Skaven player options, but the community has created fan supplements.

What is the best Skaven clan?

For tabletop: Clan Skryre has the most powerful and fun units (Stormfiends, Ratling Guns, Doomwheels). For lore: Clan Eshin has the coolest characters and stories. For Total War: Clan Skryre (Ikit Claw's campaign) is the community favorite by a wide margin.

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Skaven: Complete Faction Guide & Lore