The Barghesi are minor antagonists in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. They are an enigmatic, incredibly hostile xeno species contained by the Imperium of Man. While never officially depicted, Barghesi are described as intelligent lifeforms, yet implied to resemble some sort of animal.
Barghesi mentioned in the 4th and 5th edition rulebook of the tabletop game, in the supplementary 5th edition codices for Space Marines and Dark Eldar, and in the novels The Horus Heresy Book 6, Fabius Bile: Clonelord, and The Iron Kingdom.
History[]
By the 31st millennium, the Barghesi lived in the Eastern Fringe of the Milky Way, in a star cluster known as the Grendl Stars. They were a hyper-violent, incredibly aggressive species, yet appeared confined to their cluster. At the same time, the Imperium of Man launched a Great Crusade across the stars, seeking to reunite the scattered, crumbling human settlements across the galaxy and recreate the lost golden age of mankind. To do this, the Emperor of Mankind created 20 Legions of Astartes, better known as Space Marines, to lead the Imperial Army in campaigns against hostile aliens and defiant colonies. During the Great Crusade, a brotherhood of the White Scars Legion, known as the Brotherhood of the Foresworn, reached the Grendl Stars, where they were nearly completely destroyed by the belligerent Barghesi.
The near-destruction of the Brotherhood of the Foresworn sparked recurring conflicts between the Barghesi and the Imperium, with Space Marines of the Emperor's Children, including Fabius Bile, sent to battle the Barghesi. However, the xenos survived each campaign. Soon, the Imperium of Man was nearly destroyed by the destructive Horus Heresy, a great betrayal of the Emperor of Mankind by His most favored son, Horus Lupercal, seemingly stopping further Imperial action against the Barghesi.
Thousands of years later, in the 38th millennium, the Imperium of Man degraded into a theocratic, authoritarian, oppressive state, where the Space Marine Legions had been dissolved and divided into countless Chapters. One of these Chapters, the Iron Lords, stopped the Barghesi from expanding out of the Grendl Stars, successfully containing them to the cluster. Additionally, when the Tyranids invaded the galaxy, the Iron Lords were instrumental in stopping Hive Fleet Kraken from reaching the Grendl Stars and adding the horrific biological potential of the Barghesi to their bioforms. The Iron Lords managed to establish their own fortresses in the Grendl Stars to both keep the Tyranids out and beat the Barghesi breakout attempts back.
In the late 41st millennium, the Imperium of Man was once again divided by the 13th Black Crusade, where Abaddon the Despoiler created the Great Rift, a Warp storm that cleaved the galaxy in two. In the chaos, the Barghesi fought against the still-standing Imperial blockades around the Grendl Stars, seeking to escape and wreak havoc on the galaxy at large, yet the beleaguered Iron Lords continued to hold the line against the Barghesi.
Despite the quarantine, Dark Eldar Beastmasters were able to enter the Grendl Stars and abduct Barghesi, who were sought for their sheer violent tendencies. In Beastmaster custody, Barghesi were sent to Commorragh, the Webway-based Dark Eldar city, to be used as opponents in the gladiatorial Wych arenas.
