A Chaos Cultist is a mortal follower of the Dark Gods, the most numerous and most easily replaced of all the servants of ruin. Drawn from the disaffected, the desperate, and the ambitious of a million worlds, cultists worship the Chaos Gods in secret, gnawing at the foundations of civilisation from within.
Cults take root wherever misery and injustice give the Ruinous Powers purchase, which is to say almost everywhere. A cult may masquerade as a harmless sect, a political movement, or a labour guild, spreading its influence through whispered promises of power, pleasure, vengeance, or salvation. Some remain hidden for generations, biding their time; others erupt into open rebellion, rising up to butcher their overlords and cast down the symbols of the old order.
In battle, cultists are poorly armed and poorly trained compared to the superhuman Chaos Space Marines they often serve, but they make up for it in fanatical zeal and sheer numbers. Many are marked by their devotion, bearing the Mark of Chaos upon their flesh. Whether they seek reward or merely oblivion, cultists are the rot within the Imperium's walls, proof that the greatest threats to humanity often wear a human face.