'It is curious how little thought has been given to the nature of the Greenskin, given our shared tumultuous history. Their motivations, their behaviours, would appear of vital importance for us to understand. And yet, all we are told is that they are our enemy, and that they must be destroyed.

Whilst I have no doubt that, where Greenskin and Human meet, there shall be blood, I cannot help but reflect on this curiosity. Perhaps there is something we are not meant to know. Perhaps there is something it would be inconventient to learn...' 

Reimagining: Greenskins in Warhammer

Greenskins are something of a... well, I can't really tell you what they're something of, because they've been so many different things throughout the generations of the Warhammer setting, that their style, tone, and purpose are largely confused.

Greenskins first played the role of "Ultimate Enemies of Humanity." Which has largely been usurped by the hordes of Chaos.

Then, Greenskins played the role of "Comedic Inhuman Foe." Which has largely been usurped by Skaven.

Then again, Greenskins played the role of "Unbeatable Primeval Tide." Which has largely been usurped by Beastmen.

After that they played the role of... The Other Bad Guys to Watch Out For. Which is fine, in a fantasy wargame where lore doesn't matter too much, and where more armies means more options and variety. But in a setting-sense, it's confusing. And we got the greatest example of that with the old Storm of Chaos campaign. The Greenskins won the ultimate campaign, but that didn't actually mean anything because the Greenskins don't mean anything.

Oh, there's also the incredibly fucked up comparisons between the Greenskins and indigenous cultures — most noticable among the Goblin Spider Riders — which is likewise based into their very name. That's an aspect that I definitely want to de-emphasise, as it's... well... lazy, at the least, and extremely Not OK any way you look at it.

So let's change all that, shall we? Let's have a look at what they could be.

Greenskins: The Known, Unknown, and Half-Known

We know that the Greenskins are an intrinsically violent species. Normally I am not one for having intrinsic moral truths about a whole species, but in the case of the Greenskins (based on my later working) I actually think this makes sense. Theirs is a society not just built around violence, but almost entirely fuelled by it.

We know that the Greenskins have multiple different types: Snotlings, Goblins, Orcs, even Squigs seem to be genetically linked somehow. This seems to be a static thing: a Greenskin is 'born' (how?) as one form, but doesn't shift later in life. They undergo no metamorphosis... except, they get bigger. They seemingly grow indefinitely, in proportion to the violence they commit.

But we don't really know how they propagate. Older Editions featured "half-orcs" and references to breeding, and Blood Bowl had "female orcs" as cheerleaders (*sigh*). But then during the 40K & WFB are the Same Setting boom, the Greenskins of Warhammer Fantasy got linked with fungus. These links remain, what with the focus on mad cap mushrooms, mushroom-shaped iconography, and other aspects of the Greenskin lore, but the nature of their breeding has fallen away. So we don't really know how they spread. We just know that they seem to breed a lot.

We also know that they're scavengers of a sort, but also capable of making their own industry (of a fashion). They loot from others and then reforge things they find into new forms more befitting their own sizes and shapes. They modify buildings to become fortresses. Despite their animosity and near-constant violence, they must have some level of co-operation to build, forge, and fortify. They do, indeed, have industry.

Lastly, we don't really know where the Greenskins came from. There have been mentions that they arrived as 'spores' in prior lore — linked to the 40K-WFB era — that probably were attached to some Old One crafts or something. But it's not clear where they stand now. They seem like a wholly failed experiment if they were created by the gene-editing Old Ones (who liked ORDER and having enslaved, controllable servants). They also seem like an absolute blunder if they were introduced accidently, which whilst possible, seems like the wrong kind of oversight for the Old Ones to commit (they were arrogant and hyper logical, and should fall to hubris, not neglect). So where did they come from?

And what does all of this add up to? Well, to my mind, the Greenskins sound like the fit the same niche as the Tyranids in 40K, but inverted.

Greenskins: An Alternate Reading

My thinking is that the Greenskins are, like the Dragons, true native creatures to the Warhammer world. Before the Old Ones arrived and magically moved the planet closer to the sun to create a perfect testing ground for their genetic experiments, the Greenskins existed as a sort of semi-sentient fungus / algae. Like fungus on our planet, the Greenskins' function in the native ecology was to consume dead or dying organic matter, helping in the decomposition cycle. This was done in a violent way, of course, much like any scavenger. But it wasn't evil. Vultures and cheetahs are no more evil than any other animal. They just eat things that are dying or have died.

However, when the Old Ones moved the planet to be warmer, the Greenskin-algae bloomed massively. Like a fish tank that suddenly rises a few degrees, the Warhammer world was quickly awash with Greenskins which were suddenly far stronger and more aggressive than they were before. They blossomed over the Warhammer world, and the first great struggle for the Old Ones on the planet had begun. The Old Ones created the Saurus to combat them, and it worked for the most part. But the shift in the Greenskins was done. Their battle lust, fuelled by their instinctual desire to decompose the world, but engorged by the closeness of the sun, meant their numbers couldn't be contained.

Greenskins work together, not as 'societies', but as colonies of algae. Or ants. They work together out of an instinct to further their purpose. They attack a building, kill the inhabitants, and then — almost mechanically — begin to fortify it. Sure, a particularly clever Orc might rise up and take more charge than this — directing specific fortifications, and instructing in the construction of specific weapons and deployment of specific tactics — but the Greenskins instinctually spread and reclaim.

And, in the end, that's what they evolved to do. The planet is theirs originally. It's not their fault they've been altered inadvertently by the Old Ones, any more than it is the fault of Humans and Elves and Dwarves for being introduced to the world and mutated just the same. Warhammer is a petri dish, and the scientists are long dead.