10 Fates In The Warhammer 40K Universe Worse Than Death

There are a plethora of diseases out there in the galaxy, but none are more pestilent than the Poxwalker Plague from Papa Nurgle himself, lovingly dealt out by the Death Guard and other minions of the Plague Father.

So what is this juicy and oozing "blessing"? Well it turns it's victims into poxwalkers, which in simple terms is a zombie but far worse when you scratch the surface. You see victims of the plague don't become the undead, in fact they don't even realise what they've become until it's far too late. The Black Library novel The Lords of Silence depicts a guardsmen captured by the titular war-band and left in the holding pens of their ship, surrounded by those afflicted with the plague, rictus grins spread across their faces, and he is justifiably horrified for days and weeks that he's been left with these creatures.

However he finally catches sight of himself in a dank puddle and realises he's also been a poxwalker this entire time, causing him to give up hope that he will ever rejoin his comrades. He accepts his fate, picks up a weapon and fights on the side of his captors. Resigned to letting the disease take him. And the fact that in the game these models are used like chaff gives you an indication of how good the rest of their lives are.