Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka (usually shortened to Ghazghkull Thraka) is a fictional character from the table top miniature game Warhammer 40,000. He featured heavily in the Armageddon campaigns in which he led a huge Ork horde to try to take the planet. Every campaign in Armageddon also features his nemesis Commissar Yarrick.

Early history
Ghazghkull started off as a common Ork of the Goff Klan, on the world of Urk. During a raid, Ghazghkull suffered extensive brain damage from a bolter round to the head. He was tended to by an Ork 'Painboy' known as 'Mad Dok' Grotsnik, who used a bionic device made from adamantium to replace Ghazghkull's cerebellum. Ever since that operation, (although it is unknown if it was because the implant triggered latent psychic powers, or Ghazghkull was just delusional), Ghazghkull began to claim that he was the recipient of visions from the Ork gods, Gork and Mork.

From this point, Ghazghkull rose through the Ork power structure in an ascent that has been described as "meteoric". His strength and courage earned him the respect of other Orks. Ghazghkull also possessed something most Orks lacked - vision. His speeches concerned the Orks' mission to conquer the galaxy. He granted the Orks a sense of unity and purpose (as much as these words can be used to describe Orks and their actions).

The Waaagh!
At the time Ghazghkull reached the peak of his influence on the world of Urk, the star the world orbited began to show signs of entering the final stages of its life cycle. Ghazghkull claimed that this was a sign from Gork, proclaiming that it was time to launch a great Waaagh!. The Orks of Urk were given a choice: Follow Ghazghkull, or die.

They followed Ghazghkull to an Ork, wanting to claim the galaxy or die in the attempt. The first system to be attacked by the Waaagh! was Armageddon, creating a massive conflict that would come to be known in the Imperium as the Second War for Armageddon. Many chapters of Space Marines, along with the Imperial Guard, were all called on to stop the orks' bloody warpath. Despite initial successes, Ghazghkull was defeated, and retreated from the system.

A notable effect of this invasion resulted in Ghazghkull earning the wrath of Commissar Yarrick, who dedicated his efforts after the Second War to hunting down Ghazghkull, with little success.

The Third War for Armageddon
During the fifty seven years following the Second War, Ghazghkull regrouped his forces, and reassessed his strategy. Remembering his defeat at Hades hive 57 years ago, he was not eager to repeat his mistake. That was going to be one of the first places to fall. He led several small attacks on Imperial worlds to test his new methods and technology, and fifty seven years to the day of the previous invasion, he again led the Orks to the Armageddon system.

The campaign waged by both sides was long and bloody, leaving the vital world of Armageddon in a continual state of war.

After the Third War had been fought for a year, Ghazghkull left his forces, leaving the system in a modified Space Hulk. He was pursued by High Marshal Helbrecht and an entire Crusade of the Black Templars Space Marines, along with Commissar Yarrick. The whereabouts and fate of Ghazghkull and this pursuit force are unknown.

Special Character History
Ghazghkull first appeared in White Dwarf Magazine (issue 134). He was the 'Boss' of Andy Chambers' sample Goff army list; his 'attributes' of an admanatium skull and the ability to call on the Waaagh! were randomly generated. The first Ghazghkull model was an in-house conversion.

Ghazghkull's next appearance was in the Battle for Armageddon boardgame, based around the events of the Second War for Armageddon, featured opposite Commissar Yarrick. Inspired by the game's backstory, Jervis Johnson wrote up special rules for the two characters' use in Warhammer 40,000 and Epic 40,000 games, making Ghazghkull one of the first two 'special characters' ever released by Games Workshop. The special rules were based on the random attributes selected by Andy Chambers back at Ghazghkull's first appearance.

Rules for Ghazghkull appeared in the third edition of Warhammer 40,000, and a new model was created for the worldwide campaign organised around the Third War for Armageddon. The rules were updated to reflect Ghazghkull at a point just prior to the Third War for Armageddon.