The Old Ones were the first intelligent species to cross the stars in the 40k galaxy, and almost everything younger, Eldar, Orks, humans, exists downstream of them. They’re the reason the Warp is a mess and the reason the Necrons hate everyone.
What they were
They were an ancient reptilian species with a cold, patient way of thinking. They studied the sky until astronomy became something closer to sorcery, and they used that understanding to do things nobody else has matched since.
They were functionally immortal and believed all life had a purpose. That’s why they seeded so many worlds and nudged so many species into existence, the Eldar, the Orks, and plenty of others we’d call the Young Races.
- Reptilian, long-lived, possibly biologically immortal
- The first sentient species and the first spacefaring one
- Viewed life as useful in its own right, which is why they made so much of it
The Webway and psychic engineering
Their signature achievement is the Webway, a tunnel network through the Warp that lets you cross the galaxy without ever touching the Warp itself. The Eldar inherited it. The Emperor spent ten thousand years trying to get humanity into it.
They were also masters of psychic engineering, including work that touched alternate dimensions. That talent is what let them build species and shape the galaxy, and it’s also what drew the attention of things that shouldn’t have noticed them.
The War in Heaven
The Necrontyr asked the Old Ones for the secret of eternal life. The Old Ones said no. That refusal turned an already bitter species into an enemy, and the Necrontyr’s ruling Triarch used the grudge to unify their feuding dynasties under one banner.
The resulting conflict, the War in Heaven, is the single biggest event in the setting’s deep history. It’s the war that broke the Necrons, created the C’tan’s role in their story, and left the Warp scarred in ways that never healed. Sources differ on the details and the timeline, but everyone agrees it was catastrophic.
What happened to them
They lost, or at least they vanished. The Eldar inherited the Webway and the Orks inherited the war, and the Old Ones themselves are gone, leaving only ruins, carvings, and speculation.
That absence is the point. They’re a mystery by design, and 40k is careful never to fully explain them. What we know comes from secondhand accounts, xenos legend, and Necron memory, none of which are neutral.
Why they still matter
Almost every major faction traces back to them. The Eldar are their heirs, the Orks are their weapons that outlived the war, and the Necrons are their enemies who never got over it. Even Chaos’s grip on the galaxy is partly a scar from the War in Heaven.
If you want to understand why the 40k setting looks the way it does, the Old Ones are the starting point. Everything after them is fallout.
Key facts
- The Old Ones were the galaxy’s first sentient and first spacefaring species, described as reptilian and extraordinarily long-lived.
- They built the Webway, a Warp-adjacent tunnel network that lets travellers cross the galaxy without entering the Warp.
- They created or uplifted many of the Young Races, including the Eldar and the Orks.
- Their refusal to grant the Necrontyr immortality triggered the War in Heaven, the setting’s defining ancient conflict.
- They vanished after the war, and 40k deliberately keeps their fate unexplained.
FAQ
Are the Old Ones still alive in Warhammer 40k?
Nobody knows for certain. They disappeared after the War in Heaven and no living Old One has been confirmed in the current setting. What’s left are ruins, carvings, and other races’ memories of them.
Did the Old Ones create the Eldar and the Orks?
Yes, that’s the standard account. They engineered or uplifted the Eldar and created the Orks (or their ancestors, the Krork) as a weapon during the War in Heaven.
Why did the Old Ones refuse the Necrontyr immortality?
Sources don’t give a clear reason. The Necrontyr took it as contempt, and that refusal is what triggered the War in Heaven.
Who built the Webway?
The Old Ones built it. The Eldar inherited and expanded it afterward, and it’s still the safest way to travel the galaxy without touching the Warp.