Warhammer 40,000: Are the Squats Canon?Fiction
In-universe lore. Claims are judged against the fiction's own canon, not the real world.
The "canonical death" of 40k's space dwarfs that every fan repeats - that a Tyranid hive fleet devoured their worlds - was never printed in a single rulebook. It was one designer's offhand forum aside, which fans elevated to scripture before Games Workshop quietly resurrected the entire race in an April Fools' double-bluff.
5 established, 3 disputed, 3 debunked, 2 unresolved. We do not pick an answer; the evidence places each claim. How we decide
44 citations from 12 independent sources - 32 echo the same voices and count once. Graded B1-D1.
Added 3 Jul 2026 - updated 6 Aug 2026 - canon current as of 6 Aug 2026
What the four states mean
- Establishedsupported, uncontested
- Disputedcredible sources disagree
- Debunkedrefuted by the evidence
- Unresolvedno settled answer
Established 5supported, uncontested
Squats were a founding playable race of Warhammer 40,000, present from Rogue Trader in 1987▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- Squats were a founding playable race of Warhammer 40,000, present from Rogue Trader in 1987Squats (Rogue Trader) - Lexicanum summary
- GW's own retrospective describes the Squats debuting as dwarf-like, lasgun-wielding miners - humans who settled mineral-rich, high-gravity worlds - in early 40k.The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- The Squats appeared at length with artwork in the 1987 Rogue Trader hardback, then got a full army list in White Dwarf 111 (Feb 1989) - a fully integrated faction, not a footnote.40K: A Squat Retrospective - Bell of Lost Souls analysis
By 3rd edition (1998) GW had quietly stripped every Squat rule from the game; the last new models were Epic-scale, in 1994▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- By 3rd edition (1998) GW had quietly stripped every Squat rule from the game; the last new models were Epic-scale, in 1994The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- 2nd edition gave the Squats only stopgap rules in the launch box - never a codex or new models - and the last Citadel releases were the Epic-scale war engines around 1994.The Squats - The Story of Thicness - Goonhammer analysis
- GW began phasing the Squats out in the mid-1990s and, by the release of 3rd edition in 1998, had effectively removed them from the setting.Squats (Original) - Warhammer 40k Wiki summary
The Squats gave the hobby its verb for cancellation: to be "squatted" means GW has dropped your faction▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- The Squats gave the hobby its verb for cancellation: to be "squatted" means GW has dropped your factionSquatted - 1d6chan summary
- "To be Squatted" is community shorthand for an army, faction, character or game being abandoned by Games Workshop - a term that exists solely because of the Squats.Squatted - 1d6chan summary
- Squats became a meme for any beloved-but-discontinued element of the game; whenever fans listed factions GW had neglected, the Squats were the first example cited.The Squats - The Story of Thicness - Goonhammer analysis
Squats returned in 2022 as the Leagues of Votann, a full 9th-edition army with its own October 2022 codex▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- Squats returned in 2022 as the Leagues of Votann, a full 9th-edition army with its own October 2022 codexWhat April Fools? The 41st Millennium's Next Faction is Real - Warhammer Community primary
- GW: "Humanity's long-lost cousins actually are making their return... known as the Leagues of Votann - though they refer to themselves as Kin."What April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
- Codex: Leagues of Votann released in October 2022 as a 9th-edition army book, with rules, lore on the Ancestor Cores, and Kin society.Warhammer 40k Leagues of Votann - Wargamer analysis
The Kin are guided by the Votann - ancient AI "Ancestor Cores" - and kept heretical pre-Imperial tech the Imperium never recovered▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- The Kin are guided by the Votann - ancient AI "Ancestor Cores" - and kept heretical pre-Imperial tech the Imperium never recoveredWhat April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
- GW: the Leagues "emerged from the Age of Strife with far more of their ancient technology intact, including some infamous advances the Imperium would consider extremely heretical."What April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
- Each League secretly possesses an Ancestor Core, the Votann - ancient machine intelligences revered as gods that store everything the Kin need to survive among the stars.Kin - Lexicanum summary
Disputed 3credible sources disagree
Why GW axed them is contested: Jervis Johnson said it was creative embarrassment, but the "weak sales" story persists▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against4 points
Supports- Why GW axed them is contested: Jervis Johnson said it was creative embarrassment, but the "weak sales" story persistsJervis Johnson on the fate of the Squats - 40kOnline (archived forum post) primary
- Jervis Johnson (2004): "From the name of the race (Squats - what were we thinking?!?!) through to the short bikers motif, we had... turned what was a proud and noble race... into a joke race in 40K."Jervis Johnson on the fate of the Squats - 40kOnline primary
- Johnson stressed the creatives simply couldn't do the Dwarf archetype justice and couldn't muster enthusiasm to update it - explicitly framing it as a design failure, not a sales decision.The Squats - The Story of Thicness - Goonhammer analysis
Against- Commentary still attributes the cut to commercial reality: a small model range and modest sales next to Marines and Orks made a full redesign hard to justify.Why Squats Aren't Coming Back According to GW - Spikey Bits analysis
Are the Leagues of Votann a true continuation of the old Squats, or a from-scratch reboot?▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against3 points
Supports- Are the Leagues of Votann a true continuation of the old Squats, or a from-scratch reboot?The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- GW threads continuity: the Necromunda Ironhead Squat Prospectors and old survivors tie the same people together, and the Kin are billed as Humanity's "long-lost cousins" sharing common roots.What April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
Against- Yet they were heavily reimagined - clone-kin societies guided by AI Ancestor Cores - dropping the biker-guild "Homeworlds" identity of the 1987 Squats for a substantially new concept.The Squats - The Story of Thicness - Goonhammer analysis
Which Tyranid hive fleet ate the Squat homeworlds - and was it ever even named?▰▰▰▱▱ unlikely2 against4 points
Supports- Which Tyranid hive fleet ate the Squat homeworlds - and was it ever even named?The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- GW's own account leaves it unnamed: "the great Jervis Johnson mentioned in passing that the worlds ruled by the Leagues had been attacked by a Tyranid hive fleet, and that was that."The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
Against- Many fan sources state flatly that the homeworlds were "consumed by Tyranid Hive Fleet Behemoth" - a specific name GW never put in print.What Happened to the Squats? - Warhammer Guild analysis
- Other summaries hedge to "an unnamed Tyranid splinter hive fleet," reflecting that no codex ever fixed the fleet's identity.Squats (Original) - Warhammer 40k Wiki summary
Debunked 3refuted by the evidence
Myth: GW officially declared the Squats extinct in a codex. It was never printed in oneRefuted by
Despite that, fan summaries routinely report it as settled fact - "the Squat species was destroyed by a Tyranid hive fleet" - as though it were a printed codex entry.
refuted1 against4 pointsThe claim rested on- Myth: GW officially declared the Squats extinct in a codex. It was never printed in oneThe Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- GW frames the extinction as casual hearsay, not canon law: Jervis Johnson only "mentioned in passing" that a Tyranid fleet had attacked the worlds, "and that was that."The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- The fullest "explanation" GW ever gave came in Johnson's 2004 message-board reply, not in any rulebook - the original post itself later vanished with GW's old forum.Jervis Johnson on the fate of the Squats - 40kOnline primary
Refuted by- Despite that, fan summaries routinely report it as settled fact - "the Squat species was destroyed by a Tyranid hive fleet" - as though it were a printed codex entry.Squats (Original) - Warhammer 40k Wiki summary
Myth: the April 1, 2022 Squats reveal was just an April Fools' prankRefuted by
Because it dropped on April 1, much of the fanbase initially dismissed the whole thing as GW trolling them.
refuted1 against4 pointsThe claim rested on- Myth: the April 1, 2022 Squats reveal was just an April Fools' prankWhat April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
- The day after the April 1 tease GW posted to confirm it: an "April Fools double-bluff," with the blunt line "They're real. Yes, they're really real."What April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
- Press confirmed GW doubled down with an actual new miniature, proving the returning faction was genuine and not a gag.Squats really are returning to Warhammer 40,000 after all - GamesRadar+ analysis
Refuted by- Because it dropped on April 1, much of the fanbase initially dismissed the whole thing as GW trolling them.GW Confirms New 40k Squats With a Brand New Miniature - Spikey Bits analysis
Myth: the Squats vanished without a trace from 1998 to 2022. GW kept quietly seeding them back inRefuted by
Even so, the common fan narrative is that the Squats were retconned clean out of existence and simply gone for good until 2022.
refuted1 against4 pointsThe claim rested on- Myth: the Squats vanished without a trace from 1998 to 2022. GW kept quietly seeding them back inThe Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- GW: Battlefleet Gothic introduced "the Demiurg, a mysterious group of void-faring miners and traders," and Necromunda added bounty hunters Grendl Grendlsen and Ragnir Gunnstein.The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- GW: "The Book of Judgement confirmed that Squat prospectors are still around," later realised as the Necromunda Ironhead Squat Prospectors.The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
Refuted by- Even so, the common fan narrative is that the Squats were retconned clean out of existence and simply gone for good until 2022.What Happened to the Squats? - Warhammer Guild analysis
Unresolved 2no settled answer
Open question: GW has never detailed the full fate of the original Squat homeworlds - how many fell, how many Kin survived▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- Open question: GW has never detailed the full fate of the original Squat homeworlds - how many fell, how many Kin survivedThe Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- The sole canon note - "attacked by a Tyranid hive fleet, and that was that" - gives no scale, no death toll, and names no survivors, leaving the species' wider fate open.The Saga of the Squats - Warhammer Community primary
- The in-setting history was deliberately left thin, so the survival and reach of the broader Kin civilisation remained an open canvas GW could later fill.The Squats - The Story of Thicness - Goonhammer analysis
Open question: the precise lineage linking the 1987 guild-Squats to the new Leagues of Votann is left deliberately vague▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- Open question: the precise lineage linking the 1987 guild-Squats to the new Leagues of Votann is left deliberately vagueWhat April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
- GW sketches but never pins the bond: the Kin only "share common roots with Humanity" and are "long-lost cousins" - no precise genealogy back to the old Squat Homeworlds.What April Fools? - Warhammer Community primary
- The Kin are presented as a reimagined people whose connection to the original Squats is intentionally loose rather than a one-to-one continuation.Kin - Lexicanum summary
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