Skaven

The Skaven are a race of man sized rat-like creatures in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. They live in a series of overpopulated tunnels beneath the surface of the world, plotting for the day when they will rise up and overrun the surface realms. more...

Humans remain mostly ignorant of the Skaven, a state of affairs which the ratmen take great effort to maintain. Those who do know of their existence tend to classify them as merely a sub-breed of Beastmen rather than as a unique race.

Skaven in the real world

Skaven were introduced into the Warhammer world in the Spring 1986 issue of the Citadel Journal, billed as "a new Chaos race". The original 1986 Skaven range of Citadel miniatures was sculpted by renowned sculptor Jes (Jeremy) Goodwin, who also provided the original background in the 1986 Citadel Journal (introducing the core of the background that remains to this day, including the Clan structure, the Council of Thirteen, the Grey Seers, the Horned Rat, and so on). The miniatures proved very popular, and the range was expanded by Goodwin over the next few years.

Skaven formed the core opponents of Games Workshop's popular Advanced Heroquest adventure game, released in 1990.

Skaven in print

Skaven feature heavily in Bill King's "Gotrek and Felix" novels. One of King's best-loved characters, the cunning but cowardly Thanquol, became integrated into the game background and received his own Jes Goodwin–sculpted miniature in 1994.

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