At least the unthinking psychopathic killer started out merely wanting to unite the lands under one glorious kingdom; at some point there was a greater good. The follower of Slaanesh is literally just kicking puppies for shits and giggles. So yeah, some higher ground
That's a very positive view of the Khornate lord/warrior but in my opinion, a bit unrealistic when compared to the fluff. Many/most of Khorne's mortal underlings are warriors and chieftains of the north. I don't think the motives or actions of these people were ever in any way related to a greater good. I think of them as a more extreme and fantastical version of an Attila the Hun type character. Their motive is personal power and glory, not any sense of a greater good.
In relation to the high ground, I'd rather have some person come by an kick a puppy than murder my whole family.
In fairness; that's mostly physical though. Ignoring physical appearances followers of Nurgle would be more pleasant, at least they're nice and try to share their gifts and build up a familial brotherhood with eachother
Sharing their "gifts" equals an agonizing and horrible death. If someone went around purposefully infecting people with Ebola, they'd be tried for murder... regardless if they thought it was a gift or not. You can essentially make the same argument for Slaanesh. They too are trying to share their gifts of excess, experience and pleasure.
And yeah, ultimatly Tzeentch remains the best
At least we can agree on that.
Nurgle's powerfantasy would be uplifting the poor and wretched, finding brotherhood, accepting your problems and sharing your blessings.
And the powerfantasy of Slaanesh would be perfection except that the perfect warrior/conqueror would already be a follower of Khorne which if we take this metaphorically would also include sports and the like, while the perfect sage/artist/other intellectual pursuit would be a follower of Tzeentch. Which leaves Slaanesh rather empty as the only things left are vain pursuits; like being the prettiest.
That's an interesting point on the perfect warrior. They might be pursuing that perfection in different ways. I'll use Game of Thrones (the earlier seasons, not the trash heap it became later on) as an example. A Khorne warrior might be someone like the Mountain, while a Slaaneshi champion might be someone like prince Oberyn Martell. Both are highly effective combatants, but in very different ways (and yes, I am aware of how their encounter ends... fitting too, the Slaaneshi fighter falling victim to his own overconfidence).
Often in the Warhammer lore, the Khorne warriors are portrayed as mindless frenzied blood hungry berserkers. While effective, that is not my ideal vision of a perfect warrior. I prefer the agile, refined, precise and refined approach. That is something that is typically better represented by Slaanesh.
Another interesting point on the professions:
- Khorne ➝ athlete
- Tzeentch ➝ scholar, politician
- Slaanesh ➝ actor, model, artisan
- Nurgle ➝ ironically, a doctor
I think the artisan label fits Slaanesh much better than Tzeentch. Tzeentch is more associated with intelligence (i.e. scholar) and manipulation (i.e. politician). Even in 40k (Horus Hersey novels), those that eventually succumb to Slaanesh show an interest/appreciation/aptitude for the arts. Art is the capture and representation of beauty and experience... sounds pretty Slaaneshi to me.
