The Coolest Ork Characters in 40K
The Coolest Ork Characters in Warhammer 40,000
With the new 11th Edition of Warhammer 40K launching with the Armageddon box and the Fourth War for Armageddon kicking off, the Orks are having a moment. The green tide is descending on the ash wastes once again, and there's never been a better time to start an Ork army or dive into the lore of the galaxy's most enthusiastic warmongers. Orks don't fight for ideology or survival. They fight because fighting is the best thing there is, and their greatest characters embody that philosophy in gloriously different ways. Here are the coolest Ork characters in Warhammer 40,000.
Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka
The big one. The Prophet of Gork and Mork, the Beast of Armageddon, and the closest thing the Orks have ever had to a unifying leader. Ghazghkull started life as a fairly ordinary Goff boy until a bullet to the head and some creative surgery from Mad Dok Grotsnik left him with an adamantium skull and a direct line to the Ork gods. Since then he has launched two full-scale invasions of Armageddon, fought a decades-long grudge match against Commissar Yarrick, been beheaded by Ragnar Blackmane, and been rebuilt by Grotsnik into an even bigger body because being dead is apparently just another obstacle to krump. Now his WAAAGH! has returned to Armageddon to finish what he started, and the entire setting is shaking because of it. No character in 40K has more momentum right now.
Wazdakka Gutsmek
The Speedboss himself. Wazdakka is the greatest bike-riding Ork who ever lived, a Mekboy-turned-warlord whose life's ambition is to build a warbike big enough to ride across the galaxy, jumping from planet to planet in one endless roaring convoy. That is an absolutely deranged goal and he pursues it with total sincerity, which is what makes him great. In the new edition's lore, Wazdakka leads the vanguard of the invasion of Armageddon, tearing across the ash wastes ahead of Ghazghkull's main force. If you love Speed Freeks, buggies, and the Evil Sunz philosophy that red ones go faster, Wazdakka is your guy.
Makari
A grot. Just a grot. And yet Makari might be the most beloved character on this list. He is Ghazghkull's personal banner bearer, and he has survived battles that have annihilated entire armies, always emerging without a scratch while clutching the boss's banner. Orks believe he's blessed by Gork and Mork, and honestly, the evidence supports it. There's something perfect about the mightiest warlord in the galaxy being followed around by a tiny, smug, improbably lucky gretchin, and the current model of Makari holding the banner aloft is one of the most characterful sculpts Games Workshop has ever made.
Mad Dok Grotsnik
Every Ork Painboy is a nightmare, but Grotsnik is the nightmare other Painboys tell stories about. After a Dark Eldar attack scrambled his brain, Grotsnik rebuilt his own head with a reinforced skull plate and lost whatever passed for restraint he had before. He performs surgery nobody asked for, installs bionics into patients who came in for a checkup, and famously wired his own body with explosives so nobody could profit from killing him. He's also the reason Ghazghkull exists in his current form, twice. Grotsnik is equal parts hilarious and horrifying, which is the Ork faction in a nutshell.
Kaptin Badrukk
The most notorious Freebooter in the galaxy and the richest Ork alive. Badrukk leads da Blacktoof Flash Gits, a mob of mercenary pirates armed with absurdly overbuilt guns, and his own weapon, Da Rippa, is so powerful it's slowly killing him with radiation. He wears it as a badge of honour. Badrukk fights for teef and glory, sells his services to any warlord who can pay, and struts around in a greatcoat and bicorne hat like an Ork Napoleon. He's pure style, and his model remains one of the best in the entire Ork range.
Boss Snikrot
The scariest Ork on this list, and the one with the deepest Armageddon roots. Snikrot is a Blood Axe Kommando who spent the Third War for Armageddon haunting the equatorial jungles, ambushing Imperial patrols and leaving no survivors except the ones he deliberately let escape to spread the fear. Imperial soldiers on Armageddon genuinely believed he was a myth, right up until he wasn't. While most Orks announce themselves from a mile away, Snikrot and his Red Skull Kommandos appear out of nowhere, do horrible things quietly, and vanish. With the war returning to Armageddon, you have to imagine he's out there in the green somewhere, waiting.
Start Your Own WAAAGH!
Whether you're drawn to Ghazghkull's unstoppable momentum or Snikrot's silent menace, there's an Ork playstyle for every kind of hobbyist, and the new Armageddon launch box is a fantastic way to start an Ork army in 11th Edition Warhammer 40K. Wandering Adventures in Woodbridge (Vaughan), Ontario carries Warhammer 40,000 miniatures, the Armageddon boxed set, and everything you need to paint your greenskins, including Citadel, AK Interactive, Vallejo, and Army Painter paints. Visit us in-store or shop online at wanderingadventures.ca with free shipping across Canada on orders over $150.
