The Necrons are a race of ancient, mechanical warriors in Warhammer 40k, born from the Necrontyr and now awakening after 60 million years of dormancy to reclaim their dynasties and challenge the galaxy.
What are the Necrons?
The Necrons are a xenos race of skeletal, mechanical warriors created from the Necrontyr, an ancient civilisation that predated even the Eldar. After a catastrophic war and a Faustian bargain with the C’tan star gods, they traded their frail flesh for bodies of living metal and retreated into stasis-tombs for sixty million years.
Now they’re waking up. Their goal is simple: rebuild the Infinite Empire and rule the galaxy once more. They see the younger races, including humanity, as little more than vermin squatting on their rightful territory.
Origins and the War in Heaven
The Necrontyr were a short-lived, disease-ridden race cursed by their hostile homeworld. Their advanced technology couldn’t cure their biological frailty, so they envied the immortal Old Ones. That envy turned to war: the War in Heaven, one of the bloodiest conflicts in galactic history.
The Necrontyr were losing badly. Desperate, they found the C’tan, beings of pure energy that fed on stars. The C’tan offered them immortality through biotransference, the process that turned the entire race into the metal automatons we know today. It was a trick: the C’tan consumed their souls, and the Necrons became their slaves.
The Great Sleep and the awakening
After shattering the C’tan into shards, the Necrons faced a new enemy: the Enslavers, creatures of the Warp that feasted on psychic races. With their empire in ruins, the Silent King ordered the Great Sleep. The Necrons sealed themselves in stasis-tombs on tomb worlds across the galaxy, intending to rise again when the galaxy was ripe for conquest.
That time is now. The awakening is uneven and often glitchy. Some tomb worlds are waking early, others are damaged, and a few are controlled by madness or rebellion. The Necrons are a fractured but terrifying threat, with dynasties pursuing their own agendas while the Silent King tries to unite them.
Technology and reanimation
Necron technology is far beyond anything the Imperium can match. Their weapons strip matter apart at a molecular level, their vehicles phase through solid rock, and their warriors can repair themselves mid-battle through reanimation protocols. Even destroying a Necron isn’t permanent: if the tomb’s resurrection systems are intact, they’ll just get back up.
Their society is rigidly hierarchical, ruled by dynasties with titles like Overlord, Lord, and Cryptek. The Triarch once led them all, but now the Silent King has returned to reclaim that role. Not every dynasty is loyal, though, and internal feuds are common.
Key facts
- The Necrons are ancient mechanical xenos created from the Necrontyr through biotransference.
- They slept for 60 million years in stasis-tombs and are now awakening to rebuild their empire.
- Their technology includes reanimation protocols, living metal, and weapons that disassemble matter.
- Necron society is divided into dynasties, with the Silent King as their returned leader.
- They were once slaves to the C’tan star gods, whom they later shattered into shards.
FAQ
Are Necrons undead?
Not exactly. They’re soulless machines with the memories and personalities of the original Necrontyr, but they’re not supernatural undead like Warhammer Fantasy’s Tomb Kings. They’re a technological horror.
What’s the difference between Necrons and Necrontyr?
The Necrontyr were the original organic race, short-lived and disease-prone. After biotransference, they became the Necrons: immortal, mechanical, and far more powerful but stripped of their souls.
Why did the Necrons go to sleep?
They were weakened after the War in Heaven and the war against the C’tan, and the rise of psychic races like the Eldar made the galaxy dangerous. The Great Sleep was a strategic retreat to wait out their enemies.