The following is a list of planets in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Types of planet

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Agri-Worlds

Many planets in the Imperium, such as Forge Worlds and Hive Worlds, are completely incapable of sustaining the people who live and work on them. To feed these people, as well as the vast armies of the Imperial Guard, many planets have been completely transformed into giant farms, their entire surface (and even under the oceans) dedicated to growing food to feed the trillions upon trillions of mouths in the Imperium.

Death Worlds

Death World is a term used by the Imperium to designate a planet with a climate, terrain, and even ecosystem highly dangerous, even hostile, to human life. Nonetheless, many of these worlds have large human settlements, where the people have grown strong and self-reliant. Many of the people of these worlds are inducted into the Imperial Guard, or recruited in the Space Marines, a fact which is often the sole reason for the continued habitation of those worlds. Notable Death Worlds include Catachan and Fenris.

Death Worlds and the Tyranids

It has been theorized by Imperial biologists that many Death Worlds are the result of seeding by ancient advance fleets of the Tyranids. Many of the monstrous creatures inhabiting these worlds, such as the Catachan Devil and the Kraken of Fenris have many features in common with Tyranids organisms, and may in fact be descended from them.

Forge Worlds

A Forge World is a term for the numerous worlds that are directly controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus. All have in common that they are completely dedicated to the manufacture of the various machines of the Imperium, the pursuit for and preservation of (ancient) knowledge and the worship of the Machine God. Because of the Adeptus Mechanicus' monopoly on technical knowledge and expertise, the Forge Worlds are the Imperium's primary source of all kinds of hardware: from farming equipment to war machines such as tanks, fighters, or even Titans. Ancient pacts between the Adeptus Mechanicus and other worlds and institutions of the Imperium oblige the various Forge Worlds to supply other worlds and the various military arms of the Imperium, such as the Imperial Guard.

The surface of a Forge World is normally completely covered in massive factory complexes that stretch across the horizon. As to be expected, its ecosystem has been completely destroyed. The air is saturated with toxic gases and rivers flow with toxic runoff from factories. In many cases, even seas and oceans have been dried up to make room for more factories. However, the sheer output benefits the Imperium as a whole.

While there are hundreds of forge worlds in the Imperium, one of the best-known is Mars, home of the Adeptus Mechanicus' political and spiritual head, the Fabricator-General and the Imperium's first forge world. Other forge worlds include: Ryza, known for its advanced plasma technology; Agripinaa, a primary supplier of Cadia; Phaeton, home of the Leman Russ MBT; and Urdesh, major forge world within the Sabbat Worlds.

Forge Worlds are mostly independent from the rest of the Imperium and have their own armed forces. Each of these worlds is home to one of the Titan Legions, supported by legions of Skitarii, the Mechanicus' cybernetically enhanced soldiers.

Hive Worlds

Hive Worlds are worlds that have an extremely high population, which is confined in massive Arcologies called "hives", each of which is essentially an individual nation occupying a single city. Of the species in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, only the humans of the Imperium are known to live on such worlds. The world outside the hives is usually heavily polluted and desolate, and most hivers live their entire lives without ever having seen the outside of their hive. Hive Worlds often provide manufacturing services it has been said that the sacrifice of over a million soldiers is worth "one days' production" in weapons and armor.

Perhaps even more valuable is what at first glance seems to be a byproduct of the monolithic city's design. The population of any given world* approximately doubles every 100 years. With each hive housing between 10 - 100 billion people and 5 - 20 hives per planet the sheer number of citizens is staggering. And each of those citizens is a potential soldier for the Emperor's armies. Hives manufacture far more than mere steel and silica, they are vast factories for the most useful possible resource: people. It is no accident that hive worlds contribute the vast bulk of the recruits for the Imperial Guard. The often violent gangland lifestyle which most residents are forced to live is also semi-deliberate. Almost every recruit will already know how to handle a gun. Hive worlds also serve to populate newly discovered planets. Imperial citizens are gathered from various hive worlds (willingly or unwillingly) and shipped off to distant colonies. An example of this would be Medusa V.

In common with most other Imperial worlds, Hive Worlds are often based on a very obvious class system, with a ruling class and a working class, although with populations so tightly packed there develops a lower class that become violent street gangs.

Some extensively developed Hive Worlds do not even simply consist of various enclosed arcologies surrounded by wasteland, jungle, ice, or plains. These Hive Worlds are completely urbanized and stacked with hundreds of layers of arcologies, covering the entirety of the planet, effectively being an Ecumenopolis. Holy Terra is an example of this "Super Hive World" (and may be the only one, even in such a huge galaxy as Warhammer 40,000).

Notable Hive Worlds include Holy Terra (where the whole planet is one hive), Armageddon, Necromunda and Verghast (from the Gaunt's Ghosts novels).

Specific planets

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Cadia

See Cadia (Warhammer 40,000)

Caliban

Once the homeworld of the Dark Angels chapter, Caliban was destroyed during a heresy on the planet. Now all that remains is an asteroid field, and The Rock, the mobile fortress-monestary of the Dark Angels.

Calth

As part of Ultramar, an area under the jurisdiction of the Ultramarines, Calth provides recruits for the Ultramarines Chapter. The aspirants compete in a series of contests between hopefuls to determine who is worthy of joining the Space Marines. Calth's inhabitants live in subterranean cities where the deadly light of Calth's blue sun cannot reach them. The caverns of Calth are constructed on such a huge scale, and with such grandeur, that they are as light and airy as any city of Macragge. The world above is devoid of air, the atmosphere stripped away during the Horus Heresy, when the Ultramarines and the traitorous Word Bearers, under the command of Kor Phaeron and Erebus the Dark Apostle, came into conflict.

Although the inhabitants are perfectly capable of living on what is grown in nutrient vats, they prefer to import foodstuffs from Iax. The shipyards of Calth also earn the world a name to look up to, their vessels used by the Ultramarines and the Imperium at large.

The fictional character Uriel Ventris was born upon Calth. The Tyranid "character" Old One Eye was discovered on Calth in icepacks. At least one regiment of the Imperial Guard has been raised on Calth.

Catachan

Catachan is a death world almost entirely covered in dense jungle. Vegetation on Catachan reacts to attempts at colonisation and rapidly grows back whenever it is cleared. This forces the population of the planet to live a semi-nomadic existence, moving on whenever the jungle violently reclaims their land. Those born on Catachan are, unsurprisingly, of hardy stock, and the regiments of Catachan Jungle Fighters raised from the planet are among the Imperium's best guerrilla fighters.

It is believed that all of Catachan's native fauna is carnivorous, as is much of the flora. Poisonous creatures are extremely common. The most well known of Catachan's native animals is the infamous Catachan Devil, a voracious predator somewhat similar in appearance to an enormous scorpion. Devils can be up to 40 paces long, but their bulk and lack of speed allow many creatures to simply avoid them. One of the most dangerous animals on the planet is the Catachan Barking Toad, a seemingly innocuous-looking creature which discourages predators by exploding and spraying a highly lethal acidic toxin on anything nearby. The largest of the species, the Greater Catachan Barking Toad, is rumoured to be capable of annihilating everything within a half-kilometer radius upon detonation. The dangers in Catachan's jungles are not limited to the fauna; in many cases the plant life can be just as deadly. The Spiker, for example, is a plant capable of firing extremely sharp spikes into the bodies of its victims, which then emit a mutative chemical which eventually turns the unfortunate recipient into another spiker. The Brain Leaf is an example of the more insidious dangers to be found on Catachan. The brain leaf has long, smooth tendrils, at the end of each of which is a single leaf. The plant can attach these leaves to living creatures, taking control of their nervous systems and using them as protection and, eventually, compost. Creatures native to Catachan are often found elsewhere in the Imperium (the brain leaf can also be found on Necromunda, for example). Sometimes they are exported deliberately, as in the case of the Face Eater, and sometimes they are simply unwitting stowaways on board transport vessels.

A quote from the downloadable Codex: Catachans perfectly outlines how the world has affected its populace: "We've run into scorpions the size of battle tanks, three men died from Eyerot this week, I've sweat enough to fill a lake, my boots got sucked into a sink-swamp and the trees are so thick in places you can't squeeze between them. Emperor help me, I love this place! It's just like home!" - Captain Rock of the Catachan IIIrd "Green Devils" on Varestus Prime.

Fenris

Fenris is a cold, icy planet that is the homeworld of the Space Wolves. By decree of the Space Wolves, the planet's culture is made almost entirely of scattered tribes similar to Viking Age Scandinavia. The Space Wolves keep a close watch over the people of the world, recruiting fallen warriors from battles much like the Valkyries of Norse mythology.

The tallest mountain on the planet is called the Fang, a massive rock that pierces the atmosphere of the world. The Space Wolves have built their Fortress-Monastery on the slopes and peaks of the Fang.

Gudrun

Located in the Helican sub-sector of Segmentum Obscurus it is a relatively idyllic world with stately manors controlling vast estates of rolling green hills studded with small villages. For a time it was the home and headquarters of Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn.

References

Holy Terra

Holy Terra is the future incarnation of Earth.

Throne world of the Imperium, Terra is the birthplace of human civilisation and has been its home for dozens of millennia. Classed as a Hive World, billions of humans seek out a living be they scribes or normal civilians, highly influential and highly ranked Adeptus Administratum officials or the sometimes fanatical individuals of the Adeptus Ministorum. Massive arcologies cover the entire surface of the planet, the Imperial Palace alone covering the better part of a hemisphere. Terra is the resting place of the Emperor of Mankind, where he has sat on the life-preserving Golden Throne not quite dead, yet not fully alive either, for ten thousand years. He is guarded by the Adeptus Custodes, powerful warriors created by the Emperor to reconquer Terra that are far superior to a normal Space Marine, and three hundred of them are his personal bodyguards, a select inner corps, known as Companions. The Custodes only duty is to protect the Emperor.

The Moon has been colonised also, and is home to immense planetary defence lasers charged with protecting Earth from invasion and which caused serious damage to the invading rebel fleets of Warmaster Horus, during the latter stages of the Horus Heresy. The Moon also gives its name to a class of Imperial Battle Cruiser, called the Lunar Class.

The concept of Holy Terra is very similar to the world of Trantor from the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, as well as Coruscant from Star Wars.

Hubris

Hubris was named for the excessive pride of the colonists who founded a society there despite the harsh climate which sees the planet icebound for 11 months of the 29 month Lunar Cycle. This period is known locally as Dormant and the majority of the population enters cryogenic stasis in hibernation tombs to escape the cold. This is followed by Thaw, a period of feasting and activity designed to help overcome the effects of cryosleep and Vital, the normal active time of the planet.

It was on Hubris that Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn killed the heretic Murdin Eyclone, who was attempting the bodily resurrection of the infamous Pontius Glaw with the mass murder of cryosleepers and it was the start of the chain of events that marked Eisenhorn's slide into radicalism.

References

Lorn V

Lorn V is the planet fought over in the Dawn of War expansion Winter Assault. The planet has already fallen to two separate forces of Orks and Chaos servants of Khorne, who had taken to fighting each other. The Cadian 412th was sent to the planet on a mission to salvage a Warlord Titan before the Xenos and traitors could find it. A force of Necrons were also buried deep underground, bringing the Eldar to the planet in an attempt to keep them from awakening.

In the novel Dawn of War: Ascension (Goto, 2005), Lorn V is mentioned to have been a former Eldar Exodite world. However, the canonicity of this statement is debatable since other plot elements in the novel conflict those in the game, for example Farseer Taldeer being from the Biel-Tan Craftworld instead of the Ulthwé Craftworld, and the Blood Ravens assisting the The Cadian 412th instead of the Ultramarines as seen in the game.

References

Nostramo

Former homeworld of the Night Lords Chaos Space Marines Legion.

The world of Nostramo was shielded from its sun by an enormous moon as well as tremendous pollution. As a result, the planet was covered in almost perpetual darkness. Nostramo boasted five major cities, Nostramo Prime through Nostramo Quintus, from which the planet’s vast reserves of naturally occurring adamantium were processed and exported off-world. Society was dominated by a ruling hierarchy and its thugs, and any who protested the status quo were trampled down or killed. Depression was widespread and overpopulation prevented not through war, disease or legislation, but suicide.

The Nostramans were superficially similar to normal humans, save for their lack of irises (the pupil having expanded for better night vision), and albinism, though recessive, was common.

Then the Primarch Konrad Curze arrived. The impact of the infant Primarch's capsule upon Nostramo left a massive tunnel boring almost through to the planet’s core. Curze later adopted the name Night Haunter and decimated the hierarchy’s ranks until he was the sole ruler of the planet. Social equality was enforced through Curze’s horrific acts of retribution, until the Emperor arrived and Curze rejoined his Legion. The arrival of Imperial rule had removed the last shield protecting Nostramo: ignorance. Aware of the existence of other worlds and light, and that these were unreachable, Nostramo descended back into chaos.

After learning of his world's anarchy, Night Haunter arrived with his fleet and concentrated its fire upon the shaft left by his arrival decades earlier. The planet's volatile core did not hold out for long - the planet's unstable tectonics resulted in Nostramo exploding.

Prospero

Prospero was the original homeworld of the Thousand Sons Legion of Space Marines and Magnus the Red.

Chosen by settlers for the planets isolated position, although far closer to Terra than many colonies, Prospero had few redeeming qualities - no independent resources, little contact with any outsiders and few sources of nourishment. The only reason for setting a colony there was because it was a very good place to hide, and became such for a large community of psychically talented humans.

During the Great Crusade Prospero had developed into a paradise world. Many of the vast buildings on the planet were massive gold and marble pyramids, although these have only been drawn as such in the CCG game The Horus Heresy. It is depicted as a planet with blue skies and gleaming Egyptianesque architecture. One of the many cities is the capital Tizca, often referred to as the City of Light, where the Thousand Sons held out against the Space Wolves when they were mistakenly declared traitors.

Prospero's 'cleansing' at the hands of the Space Wolves was hastened by the dilapidated state of the planetary defences. As homeworld of a Space Marine Legion, it was standard for the surface of a planet to be dotted by immense defence lasers; sunk into reinforced silos many miles beneath settlements. Orbital fire platforms, automated tracking stations, minefields, as well as a number of the Legion's own starships – All manned continuously and diligently.

The focus of the Thousand Sons, having always been away from the traditional Space Marine role of combat in most forms, led to dangerous weakening of the defence grid. The cavernous subterranean defence lasers were neglected, unmanned and poorly maintained and orbital defences virtually non-existent. As a result, the arrival of the Space Wolves' battle barges went uncontested, their orbit-to-surface ordinance barrages unanswered and their drop-pods unchallenged.

Ironically, whilst the attack was underway, the Thousand Sons focus remained their lore – rushing to save what incalculably precious works they could whilst the righteous, if possibly misplaced retribution of Leman Russ' chapter went unchallenged. Indeed had a defence of Prospero been attempted, more time might have been bought to evacuate the libraries and studies of their ultimately costly work.

Today the planet is a blasted ruin, picked clean by millennia of looters and rogue traders, declared 'exterminatus' by the Inquisition.

References

Stalinvast

Stalinvast is a hive world covered in coral-like city growths used in the manufacturing of weapons for the Imperium, between which grow vast blue-green jungles filled with teeming life and vicious predators. Stalinvast was subject to a genestealer infestation which was cleared out, at a vast expense of lives, by Inquisitor Harq Obispal. He was given a free reign in this by planetary governor Lord Voronov-Vaux who was suffering from a minor hereditary mutation, thus being in no position to argue with a member of the Inquisition.

The Hydra

The millions of deaths on Stalinvast also served as energy to generate the Hydra, a bizarre Chaos manifestation supposedly designed to help mankind in their battle with Chaos. Obispal was unknowingly being watched by the Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Jac Draco, who subsequently ordered an exterminatus on Stalinvast, but then rescinded the order upon learning that the Hydra had withdrawn from the world. However the astropath Moma Parsheen sent the message for destruction as vengeance for the suffering she had undergone as a consequence of her profession, and Draco himself was later considered a heretic by his order for the unsanctioned action. The Eldar later used the dead world as the site for an alien ritual due to the calamity which had befallen it.

References

Tanith

''See Tanith (Warhammer 40,000)

Tartarus

Tartarus was the planet fought over in the computer game Dawn of War. It was classified a Civilized World that had frequent problems with raids by Orks. During a terrible invasion, the Blood Ravens's 3rd Company, led by Brother-Captain Gabriel Angelos, were called in to assist. But the situation turned out to be more than just a simple Ork incursion.

Hundreds of years ago, the Eldar battled a powerful Daemon of Khorne on the planet, sealing it inside a stone known as the Maledictium. Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion had also come to the planet, seeking to gain power by releasing it. The Blood Ravens battled the Orks, Eldar from the Craftworld of Biel-Tan, and the Alpha Legion, and were victorious, although they failed to prevent the release of the Daemon. The Blood Ravens evacuated the planet as the Warp Storm engulfed it, Angelos swearing to track down and destroy the Daemon.

T'au

T'au is the homeworld of the Tau. It had been discovered by the Adeptus Mechanicus a few thousand years before the emergence of the Tau, but a freak warp storm closed the planet and the surrounding area off from the Imperium before they could cleanse and colonize the world.

Thracian Primaris

For a time the capital of the Helican subsector in Segmentum Obscurus, Thracian Primaris is a hive world. Its decline followed an atrocity orchestrated by renegade Inquisitor Quixos in 337.M41 and its position of dominance was overtaken by Eustis Majoris.

References

Xerxes Quintus

Xerxes Quintus is the fifth planet of a harsh white sun. It had lost contact with the Imperium thousands of years before and had no knowledge of the origins of human settlement there or of the God Emperor of Mankind. It was an agricultural world harbouring a large percentage of mutants and psykers. This generated a tradition of neighbours raising each other's children so that their parents would not have to condemn their own offspring if they proved to be tainted. The language is a highly bastardized version of High Gothic punctuated by oaths. Of religious beliefs they are heretical, holding no saviour figure but rather a reviling of the God of Change, which is how they saw the actions of Chaos in causing mutation.

It is most notable as the birthplace of Inquisitor Jaq Draco, whose parents were adepts of genetics given a life assignment to helping reabsorb Xerxes Quintus into the Imperium. The planet had been recontacted by the Imperium approximately a century before Jaq's birth and plans were being made to utilise it as an agricultural export world, which would in turn allow exploitation of the mineral wealth of its sister world Quartus.

References

Warhammer 40,000 | Warhammer 40,000 planets