Appears in: Masters of Darkness

Darklord Ghanesh was a ruler of the Black City, or Helgedad. A long time foe of Darklords Xog and Taktaal, Ghanesh stood up in face of great adversity, as both of his opponents were remarkably powerful and determined. Ghanesh, along with the six other Darklords of Helgedad, fought for the title of second-in-command under Archlord Gnaag, and lost when Taktaal was chosen. His emblem color is silver, and all of his followers wear clothing of that color.

Darklord Ghanesh was not the most powerful of the Darklords, but his major activity was his battles at Lencia. After the tanoz-tukor, which enabled Darklords to survive outside of the Darklands, was developed, Ghanesh led his hordes to Lencia, while Xog conquered Cloeasia and Taktaal stayed behind to guard the Black City from intruders. Ghanesh in particular had many Liganim and Nadziranim, but they still payed fealty to Darklord Gnaag, whose early machinations had won him the throne of the Darklands and, without the knowledge of most of the other Darklords, control over most of the Nadziranim of the other Darklords.

Since there was intense fighting in Helgedad between followers of Ghanesh and those of Xog and Taktaal, and feuding between other Darklords may have contributed to Darklord Kraagenskul readily leaving Helgedad for Argazad, sectors were set off in the Black City for each Darklord. Minions who cross into other territories face certain death-this was established and sanctioned by order of the Archlord. On the other hand, all of the territories meet in a focal point, the Tower of the Damned. This lies in the Imperial Sector, which is the most heavily guarded area of Helgedad, as the Archlord himself resides in the topmost level, as do many other Darklords. At the top of the Tower of the Damned lies not only the Archlord but the Transfusor, a machine that powers the tanoz-tukor and allows communication between the Black City and all Darklords outside Helgedad. Darklords reside in various levels of the Tower, but confrontation between two feuding Darklords has not yet happened, perhaps due to the fact that transportation is usually utilized by Zlanbeast. Minions seeking to meet with their masters are admitted to the Tower of the Damned through a checkpoint. Here, a device determines if the minion is lying or not when questioned its name. The device is comprised of seven slivers of crystal, each colored for each Darklord's emblem color (in Ghanesh's case, a silver crystal is used, and so forth). If the minion is lying, the crystal will turn amber. If not, it will emit a tinkling sound. This is not a very good precaution, but since all visitors to the Imperial Sector will already have passed through several checkpoints, it is of little importance.

After Darklord Haakon's destruction, a civil war raged in Helgedad. During this time Darklord Ghanesh threw his support behind Darklord Ghurch, Lord of Ghargon.