Editing Space Wolves (section)

===In defence of the Space Furries===
Part of the problem with how the Wolves are seen by a lot of people in the community was created by how they were presented in older fluff.

As already stated GW really, REALLY overdid it in the past with the wolf theme (the Murderfang and Canis Wolfborn are clear examples), forgetting that the Wolves were supposed to be cool space vikings rather than a bunch of furries with more wolves than you could shake a choppa at. Their incredibly bipolar characterisation didn't really help; in one book they were noble warriors that sacrificed everything to protect those that couldn't defend themselves, and in another they were mindless savages with a thirst for blood to make a Bloodthirster pop a boner.

But recent Black Library stuff helped patch things up: in the Leman Russ book of the Primarchs novel series we actually get a pretty big hint on what tempered the Wolves more brutal side; sometimes in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, Russ is shown speaking with the Emperor in a dream of sort, where the Wolf King asks his father's forgiveness for not having been there to save him, to which the Big-E simply reply by telling Russ that he had never been intended to protect Him, but rather what He had created.

This, and a conversation Russ has with one of his sons later on, is the usual not so subtle way of GW of telling us that what Russ himself did in the years before disappearing was working hard to set his Legion/Chapter on the path the Emperor wanted them and making sure that they became the defenders of the Imperium they were always meant to be.

Sure, it's the usual retcon operation on GW's part, but for once it is a pretty good one that adds even more depth to an already cool Chapter and helps getting rid of previous inconsistencies in the fluff.

Another point to consider when comparing the Wolves seeming status as "special kids" with other Chapters like the aforementioned Dark Angels and Blood Angels is the following: they're far from being the only Astartes Chapters to disregard or outright kick in the balls the Inquisition.

A quick example? The Dark Angels threatening to open fire upon a Black Templars' ship after the latter had managed to capture and imprison Cypher (again, the Black Templars GET. SHIT. DONE.), despite the Templars' extremely close ties with the Inquisition, (since, you know, they act as the part of the FUCKING ARMED WING OF THE ORDO HERETICUS). Yet, the Inquisition did not retaliate in any way and let the Angels of Caliban get away with this without any repercussion whatsoever. This is on top of the Dark Angels getting away with their "totally not a legion" shtick, despite the Inquisition coming down hard on [[Astral Claws|other chapters]] for doing so, or all the times they've run off in the middle of critical battles (causing excessive casualties among allies) to pursue their own objectives.

In the Blood Angels case, their "fluff shield" from the Inquisition is more of a passive thing: Sanguinius is arguably the single most beloved Primarch in the eyes of the 41st Millennium Imperium's common population, so the Inquisition can't really move against them without heavily pissing off the common population and the Ecclesiarchy (since he's one of their most important Saints). And that's not even taking into account the way that almost every BA successor (possibly including other Astartes Chapters with alliances/honour debts) would immediately flip out against them, resulting in a bloody civil war that would eventually resolve with the Inquisition getting cyclonic torpedoes up their asses; in the end, it's a lot of work for little gain.

This isn't limited to the above two, either. The Iron Hands got away with straight-up treason and fully a third of their leadership (plus however many regular brothers turned out to be corrupted) falling to Chaos, despite the Imperium having repeatedly screwed over or excommunicated Chapters for far less. The Black Templars have gotten away with one of their crusades out-and-out [https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/uhi3ah/holy_shit_the_black_templars_spoilers_for_throne/ MURDERING FUCKING CUSTODES and the Primaris Marines they brought as a gift], [[Heresy|''directly defying the Emperor's will in doing so''.]] The Cursed Founding Chapters, despite several being mutated and all but stated to be from traitor stock, are still around despite the Inquisition booting Chapters for less severe stuff than that.

And even then, crucially, the Space Wolves ''don't come out unscathed'' when they clash with the Inquisition. Their most cited "Fuck you, Inquisition!" moment ended with the Fang being damaged, the Wolves fleet and manpower getting a kick in the balls, and the Inquisition actively researching methods of bringing them to heel, like tampering with their gene-seed and striking against them when the Chapter is too weak to resist. Warzone Fenris ended with their dark secret being revealed to the wider galaxy, their sole recruiting source being badly fucked up, and most of their homeworld's population being purged by order of the big =][= - all with the Wolves unable to do anything about it.

Furthermore, if one thinks about it, the Space Wolves extreme degree of independence and complete disregard of other imperial authorities completely makes sense, especially if one considers what was said before about Russ realizing the true purpose of his sons: out of all the loyalist Primarchs left at the end of the Horus Heresy, Russ was the one that stuck around the longest (yes, Vulkan was last seen in the 32nd Millennium, but he had left his Legion even before the end of the Heresy and left the Salamanders to their own devices for almost a thousand years, before reappearing for the War of the Beast), almost 200 years in which he properly instructed his sons to do everything in their power to keep the Imperium and its people safe, because THAT was the E-money's wish, so it only makes sense that they would tell an organization of questionable morality and purpose that throughout the millennia had seemed more interested in keeping their powers and privileges than in protecting the Imperium out of a sense of duty and that arbitrarily had BILLIONS shot, murdered and/or Exterminatus'd without anyone to actually control their actions to just go fuck themselves.

Sure, the Wolves are flawed as fuck, stubborn, hard-headed sons of a bitch, that would fight literally anything and everything to do what they think it's right, but that's more than likely what draws so many people to them in the first place and it is probably what basically makes them the most "human" out of all the Astartes, if not of the whole rundown shithole that is Warhammer 40000.