Space Marines
For the vidya gaem, please see: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
"O my brothers, I dedicate and direct you to a new nobility: you shall become procreators and cultivators and sowers of the future — verily, not to a nobility that you might buy like shopkeepers and with shopkeepers' gold: for whatever has its price has little value. Not whence you came shall henceforth constitute your honor, but whither you are going! Your will and your foot which has a will to go over and beyond yourselves — that shall constitute your new honor."
--Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
"They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear."
--The God-Emperor of Mankind, on the Creation of the Space Marines.And now in music format!
The Space Marines, also known as SPESS MEHREENS (canonically named the Adeptus Astartes; Astarte is the Greek name for the Mesopotamian goddess of war, Ishtar. Ironic given that the Astartes is an all-male organization) are an army in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. They are bio-enhanced super soldiers clad in Power Armour, and are generally regarded as the toughest warriors to ever serve the Emperor (except for the Adeptus Custodes and Imperial Assassins). The average Space Marine is around eight feet tall. They used to be seven feet in the old fluff, but Dan Abnett and the rest of Games Workshop have a hard-on for gigantism (though they have addressed the problems real-life gigantism can cause by throwing in more bio-engineering) so they jacked them up a foot, though RPGs from Fantasy Flight Games and games by THQ scaled them back to the more reasonable seven feet. Although do note that the height of Marines can vary greatly; some can even reach ten feet, like Asterion Moloc.
Internally, they have bones that can repel anything short of a boltgun round and can breathe underwater even without their helmets on because they have a third lung. They can also breathe all but the most potent of toxic fumes with little to no damage to their respiratory system, have two hearts, and live for hundreds of years (they may be functionally immortal, but they usually die in battle after a few centuries, so nobody can be sure). They are vastly more powerful in their official descriptions than they actually are in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game (although the Marines statted in Dark Heresy or Rogue Trader are walking rapemachines, and the player character Marines in Deathwatch are hard as nails). Much like the Chaos Space Marines are the 40k successors of the Warriors of Chaos, Space Marines are the 40k successors of Warrior Priests, right down to their BALD. Portrayals range from hardcore but plausible super-soldiers to shameless Mary Sues who could fight off Batman with one hand and the Joker with the other. Although occasionally, they serve to make other galactic forces seem superior. More like the Ineptes Astartes.
They account for approximately 35% of the playable armies (counting chaos space marines) in 40k, over 21.4% (yeah, I thought that was a pretty conservative estimate too) of played armies among the 40k fandom (factoring in that people can collect and play more than one 40k army), and as of October 2010, receive about 50% or more of new releases. While there are many, many chapters that you can choose from, the actual armies basically boil down to five main choices: Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Grey Knights, and everybody else. Everyone who's a successor of the first two choices follows their codex and generally share their units, while the "everybody else" just follows the Space Marine codex. Don't let the promotional art fool you, though; the Space Marine army isn't exclusively smurfs. It used to be that you also had individual codices for chapters like the Black Templars and Legion of the Damned, but they got folded into the generic Space Marine army.
Contrary to that, fluff-wise Space Marines are amongst the smallest factions in the game, second only to the Sisters of Battle. With all Chaos and Loyalist Marines combined they number below two millions in a galaxy where Imperium alone have tens of millions of honest to good inhabited worlds (not some dipshit colonies with a population of only few millions). In fact any single capital-class space ship have a population higher than the entirety of Marines in the Galaxy. Furthermore, marine armies are extremely fractured, very rarely deployed at above a few companies per war zone. GW never cared to explain how forces so small could have such a huge impact on the battlefields, when Orks, Guard and Tyranids could field their troops in millions, and Chaos can convert entire populations of planets (which is often tens of billions). Regardless, everything that is something in the setting has a tendency to at least have a bit Space Marines in it, if they aren't flat-out the protagonists. Expect enormous campaigns to revolve around a few companies, regardless of the involved numbers of Guardsmen and enemy xenos and chaotic characters, and the Marines to be the key to victory in any given war.
Of the many kinds of 40k fans, the Space Marine fanboy might be the most obnoxious and common one. They closely resemble fans of a politically radical movements; having little to no ability to see their own faction's obvious and glaring faults, while demonstratively arguing that all other factions are below them. The Space Marine fan fervently believes that any Marine-centered Bolter Porn presents the truth about the setting, which will lead to many a SM Fan proclaiming that they know exactly how all other factions are weaker in relation to Marines, regardless of what the actual fans of those factions and accepted lore actually says. Space Marine fans are often fans who have been reading the books or playing Dawn of War before getting into the wider setting, and as such get their views in a bit of a twist. Fortunately, many Space Marine fans end up migrating to another faction, becoming bored with the Marines and getting into a faction with some meat in it, or, in search of further elitist kicks, get's into something even worse.
Geedubs has a hard-on for Space Marines. Between the writers favoritism and the "Spots the Space Marine" fiasco, it's gotten to the point where they should seek professional help."
History
After the end of the Age of Strife, the Emperor of Mankind wanted to reunite humanity in a Great Crusade across the galaxy, and he realized that in order to do this he would need one epic-ass army and equally epic generals to lead it. He created the Primarchs, his sons, to be his generals, and let me tell you, these guys were some of the most insanely powerful badasses in all the lore of 40k, and that is saying something. (There is a story in which one of them snaps a fucking Bloodthirster's spine over his knee.) From their DNA, he created the Legiones Astartes, the first Space Marines. Their first task was to locate their Primarchs, because the Gods of Chaos had scattered them across the galaxy in an attempt to foil the Emperor's efforts at human reunification. All of the Primarchs were eventually recovered and reunited with their respective legions, but then, at the height of the Space Marines' power, disaster struck. Horus, the Emperor's most trusted Primarch, fell to Chaos and turned traitor along with his legion, the Luna Wolves, and several others followed suit. After much sorrow, pain, and civil warring, the Emperor killed Horus personally, but was mortally wounded in the process, which is why he is now a zombie being kept alive by the technologies of the Golden Throne. The traitor legions, who are now known as the Chaos Space Marines, were defeated and pushed back to the Eye of Terror. All of the Primarchs that did not fall to Chaos during the Horus Heresy have either disappeared or been killed, and none remain to lead the Space Marine legions (though Roboute Guilliman, primarch of the smurfs, is according to some people healing in stasis). In addition, after the Heresy, the legions were mostly split into smaller "Chapters" of up to a thousand Marines according to the teachings of the Codex Astartes (although some Chapters, such as the Space Wolves and the Black Templars, do not follow Astartes orthodoxy and maintain forces in much greater numbers, and some chapters go so far as to form almost legion-strength forces.)
The Space Marines are most commonly looked upon as warrior-monks, generally referring to each other as "Brother", "Battle Brother" or some variation thereof based on rank, spending most or all of their time training, in battle, or venerating the Emperor. However, no two Chapters are exactly alike, and many differ wildly from the standard perception of the Marines. The Space Wolves, as one example, appear to be much less disciplined than most other Chapters, maintaining a much larger force than permitted by the Codex and frequently having great feasts with much merriment and drinking (the Space Wolves happen to produce the only intoxicating beverage known to have any effect on Marine physiology, and which liquefies the innards of non-Astartes). Their attitude toward others in the Imperium can also differ greatly from Chapter to Chapter or even from marine to marine. Some are very idealistic, believing very strongly in their role as protectors of humanity (such as the Celestial Lions or the Salamanders). Others, like the Black Templars, tend to disregard the ordinary elements of the Imperium, and emphasize much more their role as a weapon against its enemies.
Their attitude towards the Emperor can also vary. Although they are typically believed to worship him as a deity like most of the rest of the Imperium, the Space Marines are, by virtue of their gene-seeds, derived from the Primarchs and hence the Emperor himself, making them much closer to him than most humans. In fact, many of the Space Marine chapters' beliefs maintain some of the old Imperial Truth that the Emperor was not a god, but simply the greatest of mortal men, worthy of praise and veneration but not a deity proper. Although it is true that the majority of the chapters certainly venerate him in an orthodox manner, others just scream his name a lot because that's tradition.
Space Marines are generally regarded as having something of an "unfair advantage" in the tabletop, mainly because every young 40k player has a strong liking for them, and almost every unit in the listings has at least a 3+ armor save, making them rather hard to kill, especially when considering armies such as the Blood Angels have models that allow players to roll an additional "Feel No Pain" 4+ save if they fail the 3+ one. The problem is that it took 3 Space Marine chapter books in 5th edition to come up with a Space Marine Codex framework that didn't suck (almost nothing in C:SW is non-competitive or poorly priced), which is why Long Fangs are usually 50 points cheaper than their Space Marine counterparts, while being twice as effective. Why are Devastators supposedly more expensive? Combat tactics. Yeah, you're never going to use it. The Ultramarines in particular are an extremely popular choice of Space Marine chapter, and their blue design coupled with the small size of the miniatures often leads to them being referred to as "Smurfs". Thanks to Indrick Boreale, the Space Marines in general are frequently called "Spess Mehreens", or variations to that effect.
The Space Marines of today look very different from the glory days of Rogue Trader, when they earned the nickname "beakies" because of their signature helmets.
Also, contrary to popular belief, Chaos Spess Mehreens are better then their non-heretical counterparts. This includes better at failing (I'm looking at you, Abaddon) and making memes (SIINDRI and METAL BAWKSES).
Denizens of /tg/ are prone to claiming a wide variety of things about the Space Marines, usually about their sexual activity (or lack thereof), ranging from assertions that the genitalia of a Space Marine is nonfunctional to claims that they are castrated during the creation process. They never have any supporting evidence for these theories and it is not clear whether or not Space Marines are allowed to have sex, which chapters would allow them to have sex, if they even can have sex, if they're still capable of normal human reproduction, or what bits they may or may not still possess. Still, that doesn't stop anyone from stating their personal opinion as if it were fact.
There is also some fan-wank about whether or not they are biologically immortal, which has been consistently disproven in the codices. Codex: Angels of Death mentions that Blood Angels are noted for having exceptionally long lifespans, namely a 1000 years give or take, meaning Marines from other chapters have considerably shorter lifespans and are in fact not biologically immortal. Despite being from 2nd edition, this has been reaffirmed in the current Blood Angels Codex (Page 12) confirming biological immortality as fan-wank (Note: the current Blood Angels codex was written by GW's biggest Space Marine fanboy. Yes, even Ward says Space Marines can die of old age). Both Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill wrongly claim that they are indeed immortal, and that although they physically age (grey hair, wrinkles, etc.) it is only skin deep and they are in just as good physical condition as when they first joined the Astartes. However, Black Library has a tendency to be inconsistent with the established lore. The reason for this is twofold: firstly, some gamers would think less of the Space Marines if they could die of old age, and Games Workshop doesn't want that. Secondly, Games Workshop seems to agree that they would be awesome if they didn't die of old age, but they don't want to anger the (reasonable) part of the fanbase that would disapprove of Space Marines being biologically immortal, so they're deliberately vague about it.
There was one Space Marine from the Salamanders Chapter who was lost on a world struck by warp storms. When the storms ended, the Salamanders came in to investigate. When they landed there was a rift in the ground, which they entered to investigate. And behold, there were humans living in a secret underground "vault" that only a few knew about. It was in fact a Salamanders starship from the Horus Heresy that had crashed there. While searching inside, they found one Astartes still alive. His armor had melded into the metal of the ship and he could no longer move, but he was alive. He sat there watching over empty, ancient suits of armour from his fallen brothers. The other Salamanders recovered what they could and gave the ancient survivor the Emperor's Peace. He was one of the longest living Astartes that was not in Dreadnought armour.
To summarize, yes, Space Marines CAN die of old age. In practice, this rarely happens as they live a life of near-constant war. This means they usually die in battle, whether in regular battles, during a suicide mission, or, if they can't fight at their peak anymore (because of age or injury), while interred in a Dreadnought.
Creation
Knowing just what the fuck was waiting for humanity in space, the Emperor of Mankind designed the gene-seed, nineteen special organs to enhance the regular human body to keep the Space Marines going when fighting these monstrosities. Over a series of several years, human adolescents, dubbed aspirants, are selected through a rigorous process which varies from Chapter to Chapter. They are always male, with cited reasons including that Astartes are basically clones of their Primarchs, and by extension the Emperor, and that the geneseed requires portions of the Y-chromosome to function.
When their training goes to the next stage, the aspirants are implanted with the initial gene-seed. They then become neophytes, Space Marines in training. As the gene-seed is implanted into them, the neophytes also go through hypnotic conditioning to hone their responses. By the time they're done, the subject has few impulses beyond fighting and killing in the name of the Emperor (it's sometimes thought that this is what kills their sex drive) and most of their memories of their earlier lives are all but forgotten.
After receiving all these organs and conditioning, it's highly arguable if a Space Marine still qualifies as human. Though the Imperium of Man has basic "kill on sight" orders for most non-humans and venerates the "Holy Human Form", the topic of whether or not Space Marines violate this edict is ignored, mostly because they were designed by the Emperor and thus considered holy creations. There is also an understandable hesitance to declare war on the only thing standing between the Imperium and the unfathomable evil of the Chaos Gods. Arguably marines are no less human than Mechanicum, just with organic implants instead of bionics, and mechanicums are likewise still count as 100% right and proper humans (even if most of them consider themselves a separate species or at least "humans 2.0" ).
In fact, this religious need to adhere to the Holy Human Form may be why the Emperor designed the gene-seed to be a bio-enhancement project and not a genetic modification one; all of a Space Marine's inhuman abilities are a result of the artificially engineered organs shoved into their bodies during their creation, either directly (the secondary heart or multi-lung) or indirectly (the Ossmodula, which alters their hormone balance and so makes their skeleton growth go berserk). Consequently, this means a Space Marine would technically pass a genetic scan of being "human" better than an abhuman like an Ogryn or Ratling would.
Yes, this tramples all over the spirit of the law whilst technically adhering to the letter, but it's hardly unique -- see the Ecclesiarchy having its own army of power-armored gun-toting nuns despite being formally forbidden to have "men" under arms.
Another theory is that the Space Marines were designed this way for more symbolic reasons. Done this way Marines retain a link to humanity; all were born human, no more than any other citizen. They became more through science and training but they aren't some new species or a warrior caste. As marines they are beyond humans but they know where they came from. The regular citizens see the marines as the best of humanity, proxies for the emporers power. The marines remember humans are their kin and while they are more than human they are still the same species all coming from the same root. The power vested in them doesn't pass by blood, it passes by (in theory) merit and a normal citizen can still aspire to becoming an astartes even if that's a long shot. The emperos whole deal was based around humanity, so he built something that could be a symbol to all humanity. He could have bred a new war species but he altered us because his dream of the imperium was the dream of humanity. Symbolic difference, sure, but it matters. There's a reason space marines are venerated not feared.
Incidentally, bio-enhancements like the gene-seed are actually more controllable than a genetic enhancing procedure would be, since the resultant outcome is more predictable, more easily mass-produced, and it means that even if a Space Marine could have kids, they would in all likelihood not be different from ordinary humans, since their abilities aren't tied to them on a genetic level.
Official /tg/ Space Marine Chapters
One of /tg/'s favorite pastimes is creating new and exciting chapters of the Adeptus Astartes based on silly concepts. /tg/'s homebrew chapters include:
- Adeptus Orthodontus
- Angry Marines
- Bald Marines
- Alpha Sigma Sigma
- Butthurt Marines
- Classy Marines
- Censor Marines
- Comedy Marines
- Disco Marines
- Dorf Marines
- Drunk Marines
- Emperor's Hammers
- Emperor's Paragons
- Galactic Partridges
- Golden Aquilas
- Lazy Marines
- Manly Marines
- Metal Marines
- Mexicarines
- Mole Marines
- Obstinate Marines
- Pretty Marines
- Reasonable Marines
- Red Skeletons
- Scary Marines
- Silly Marines
- Dream Warriors
- Star Shanks
- Elderly Marines
As you can see, /tg/ has a problem with creativity.
Second Founding of /tg/ Space Marine Chapters
After the release of Deathwatch: Rites of Battle, /tg/ quickly flung itself at the chapter creation rules and began to produce a second wave of /tg/ chapters. Noticeably more serious business than the previous chapters, these Spess Mahreens range from the widely popular Emperor's Nightmare, to the derpy Flesh Helms.
- Abyssal Jaws - Institutionally sharky.
- Black Locks - Institutionally corsair.
- Blood Jaguars - Institutionally Aztec.
- Brotherhood of the Gauntlet - Institutionally Arabic Ghazi.
- Brotherhood of the Megalith - Institutionally rocky.
- Conservators - Institutionally poor and under-equipped. It's what happens when you piss of the Mechanicus.
- Deep Ones - Institutionally aquatic and environmentally resistant.
- Desert Fangs - Institutionally Angry Marines taken seriously.
- Dune Walkers - Institutionally Arabic Nomads.
- Emperor's Bears - Institutionally lost.
- Emperor's Nightmare - Institutionally Sleepy Marines taken seriously.
- Eyes of Mordred - Institutionally Scary Marines taken seriously.
- Flesh Helms - Institutionally Imperial Guard of the Adeptus Astartes.
- Guardians Exemplar - Institutionally equal to the Marines Malevolent.
- Ice Serpents - Institutionally mechanized for war.
- Ice Wraiths - Institutionally cyborg-ice-vampire-yeti-riders.
- Knights Inductor - Institutionally Reasonable Marines taken seriously. Also MARY SUES, don't mention them on /tg/. You'll just cause a shitstorm
- Knights Repentant - Institutionally UTTERLY LOYAL and true pre-heresy Word Bearers.
- Lumbermarines - Institutionally lumberjacks.
- Rising Sons - Institutionally BANZAI!!!
- Screaming Eagles - Institutionally 'MURICAN!!! FUCK YEAH!
- Talons of Corvus - Institutionally a more heroic Nod.
- The Sovereign's Appraisal - Institutionally loyal and sympathetic despite mutations, being declared renegade, Slaanesh trying to seduce them and the Ultramarines and their successors trying to terminate them.
- War Brothers - Institutionally not giving a damn about what the Dark Angels want from them.
- The Adeptus Estates - Institutionally home building.
- Mourning Sons - Institutionally shedding Manly Tears.
- Star Krakens - Institutionally Viking, yet not THAT Viking. Plus one of the biggest of shits that /tg/ has done right. AND HOW!
- Space Knights - Institutionally dour.
The second wave WOULD show improvements to creativity... If they didn't use a RPG system as a crutch, among other issues.
GW Space Marine Chapters
- Aurora Chapter - Institutionally lazily named.
- Astral Claws - Institutionally secessionist.
- Astral Knights - Institutionally crazy awesome, but totally dead.
- Alpha Legion - Institutionally closet loyalists
- Black Dragons - Institutionally taking their cue from Wolverine.
- Black Templars - Institutionally crusaders.
- Blood Angels - Institutionally unstable
- Blood Ravens - Institutionally relic hunters.
- Celestial Lions - Institutionally RAPED BY TEH INQUISITION.
- Crimson Fists - Institutionally MEXICAN MARINEZ
- Dark Angels - THE MOST LOYAL OF ALL SPACE MARINES. PLEASE FOLLOW ME DOWN THIS SUSPICIOUS DARK ALLEY SO THAT I MAY EDUCATE YOU ON HOW LOYAL WE ARE, AND THEN GIVE YOU A PERMANENT VACATION TO A NICE PLACE WHERE YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR FAMILY AGAIN
- Dark Hunters - Institutionally grim of grim marines.
- Death Spectres - Institutionally albino.
- Deathwatch - Institutionally, intentionally and professionally xenocidal. Employed by the Inquisition, recruited from other chapters.
- Doom Eagles - Institutionallydoomed.
- Excoriators - Institutionally ugly.
- Executioners - Institutionally honorable.
- Flesh Tearers - Institutionally RIP AND TEAR.
- Fire Lords - Institutionally burny, possibly more so than the Salamanders (see below).
- Genesis Chapter - Institutionally Ultramarines.
- Grey Knights - Institutionally killing Daemons.
- Guardians of the Covenant - Institutionally record-keeping catholic space monks.
- Hammers of Dorn - Institutionally trolling the Ultramarines.
- Imperial Fists - Institutionally waiting tactically.
- Invaders - Institutionally trading blows with Eldar.
- Iron Hands - Institutionally Scottish
- Lamenters - Institutionally unlucky.
- Legion of the Damned - Institutionally undead
- Marines Malevolent - Institutionally MASSIVE assholes.
- Mantis Warriors - Institutionally misdirecting.
- Mentors - Institutionally academic. Has not been heard from for a long time.
- Minotaurs - Institutionally mysteriously paranoid teamkilling assholes. They are suspected to be in league with the High Lords of Terra as an attempt to police the Adeptus Astartes. Cause that'll work.
- Mortifactors - Institutionally goth.
- Raptors - Institutionally reasonable and shooty.
- Raven Guard - Institutionally tricksy and speedy.
- Red Scorpions - Institutionally pure.
- Relictors - Institutionally radical.
- Salamanders - Institutionally burny. Also, surprisingly nice for all their... fiery nature.
- Scythes of the Emperor - Institutionally NOT DEAD YET.
- Silver Skulls - Institutionally shamanistic.
- Sons of Medusa - Institutionally lime green.
- Soul Drinkers - Institutionally rebellious.
- Space Sharks - Institutionally SHARKS, BITCH!
- Space Wolves - WOLFY WOLFS WOLFING WOLFS WHILE LEAD BY WOLF LORDS WHO RIDE THUNDERWOLVES WIELDING WOLF HAMMERS THAT RIDE STORMWOLVES INTO BATTLE, ACCOMPANIED BY WOLF WOLF WOLF WOLF WOLF WOLF WOLF
- Star Phantoms - Institutionally SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!.
- Storm Wardens - Institutionally Celtic.
- Ultramarines - Institutionally orthodox.
- Matt Ward Ultramarines - Institutionally No longer exist.
- White Scars - Institutionally Mongolian
Space Marine Chapter Masters
- Marneus Calgar (A.K.A Papa Smurf) - Chapter Master of the Ultramarsmur.....I mean Ultramarines. Received the rank by having the most plot armor.
- Dante - Chapter Master of the Blood Angels. Beware!!!!. Dante is watching you! Received the rank for being so old and always wearing a mask so no one knows what his face looks like anymore.
- Logan Grimnar - Great Wolf of the Space Wolves. Is the wolfiest of all the wolf lords without being a furry.
- Azrael - Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels. Best at VANQUISHING FOUL TRAITORS FROM OTHER LEGIONS.
- Vorn Hagen - Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists. Appointed as Chapter Master out of pity after the TRUE HERO turned down the job.
- Jubal Khan - Chapter Master of the White Scars. Proved his speediness by outracing a bike mounted captain wearing only rollerskates.
- Tu'Shan - Master of the Fire Drakes, de-Facto Chapter Master of the Salamanders. Forged the burniest flamer.
- Kardan Stronos - Chapter Master of the Iron Hands(sort of). Was actually democratically elected for diplomatic reasons, temporarily. It's complicated.
- Corvin Severax - Former Chapter Master of the Raven Guard, nicknamed "Master of Shadows". Got the job by being the sneakiest of the sneaky marines(they were looking for him to officially grant him the rank until the last day). Unfortunately some blue-skinned bitch had him killed in the Damocles Gulf (ironically by being even sneakier and trickier then him). Kayvaan Shrike was decided unanimously to be his successor, adding to his awesome.
- Kaldor Draigo - Supreme Grand Master and of the Grey Knights and one of Matt Ward's Special Snowflakes. Honored for being the single biggest mary sue in the whole damn setting.
- Helbrecht - High Marshall of the Black Templars. Was voted High Marshall for being the angriest of the not angry marines.
- Pedro Kantor - Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists. Got the most votes (read: all three) during the election.
- Gabriel Seth - Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. Ripped and tore the most during the chapter master audition(also kicked one of the judges in the balls).
- Azariah Kyras - Former Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens who was killed for being a filthy, despicable, traitorous, no good follower of Chaos. Later replaced by Gabriel Angelos.
- Sarpedon - Chapter Master of the Soul Drinkers.
- Carab Culln - Lord High Commander of the Red Scorpions. Got promoted after the last one was killed.
- Artekus Bardane - Chapter Master of the Relictors. Collects and uses chaos artifacts better then anyone in the chapter.
- Asterion Moloc - Chapter Master of the Minotaurs. No clue how he got the job, our inquiries were met with death threats and top level cease and desist orders. Has a laser-shooting pimp cane.
- Lugft Huron - Chapter Master of the Astral Claws. Got the rank by being absolutely awesome, unfortunately he overdid it and caused the Badab War.
- Lias Issodon - Chapter Master of the Raptors. The most reasonable of the not-reasonable marines.
- Tyberos the Red Wake - Chapter Master of the Space Sharks. Showed the best technique when it came to applying RIP AND TEAR to heretic asses, assisted by his lightning chainfists.
- Omadon Tiresias - Chapter Master of the Star Phantoms. Blinded by warp storms during the evacuation of the Star Phantom home world, he forsook his own sight to save the relics of his chapter.
Rivalries
- Space Wolves and Dark Angels - The Space Wolves and Dark Angels have a rather tumultuous and sometimes violent rivalry, but in a way their legions truly reflect the relationship between brothers. The rivalry itself stems from a confrontation between their primarchs that stemmed from the different cultures the primarchs had come up in. During a joint operation between the Wolves and the Dark Angels, the planet's ruler had insulted Russ personally, so Russ resolved to slay him personally. The Lion tried to cut Russ in on his deep strike plan, but Russ would have none of it: He didn't want to defeat the enemy, he wanted to utterly crush them. Frustrated with his brother's lack of cooperation, the Lion launched his strike without the wolves help, and Russ fought his way into the planetary ruler's palace just in time to watch the Lion behead him. Furious, Russ threw down his weapons and punched the Lion, starting a lengthy fist fight that only ended when Russ started laughing upon realizing how pointless the fight was and how stupid he'd been. Thinking that Russ was laughing at him, the Lion punched Russ unconscious. When Russ awoke he sought out the Lion to make amends, but he had already departed with his fleet. Though the two would work together again, the Lion was rather unforgiving (oh the irony) towards Russ. To Russ the Lion seemed the antagonist. After all, in the halls of Fenris a brawl between angry brothers was hardly unusual. When the fight ended you'd toast each other and drink away the bruises and move on. To the Lion Russ seemed at fault. After all, in the knightly orders of Caliban striking one's brothers was not done: petty infighting could not be tolerated when monsters slavered at the gate. As is so often the case between brothers, both were at fault and neither would back down. To this day the Space Wolves and Dark Angels (and their successor chapters) will fight (usually) non-lethal honor duels to "settle the score," though "the score" has never really been agreed on. Occasionally tensions between the two chapters will boil over into open warfare which is often caused by
Fallen AngelsTRAITORS UNASSOCIATED WITH THE DARK ANGELS hiding amidst the Space Wolves' protectorate worlds, using the tensions to their advantage. Finally it's worth noting that even though the two (former) legions often fight, they never show that rivalry to the wider imperium, and they'll set aside their rivalry whenever they need to get shit done together.
- Ultramarines and the Word Bearers - The Ultramarines are pissed off at the Word Bearers for a great many things: 1) They turned traitor 2) They used millions of cultists as meat shields during the battle of Calth, which the Ultramarines saw as dishonorable and disgusting 3) They almost destroyed Calth
- Ultramarines and the Alpha Legion - The Alpha Legion led the Ultramarines halfway across the galaxy on a fool's errand that ultimately ensured they were nowhere near the Imperial Palace during the Horus Heresy. Adding insult to injury, they inflicted enormous casualties on the Ultramarines, and though they succeeded in killing Alpharius (or did they?), the Alpha Legion's command structure was so decentralized that it did little to affect them.
- Ultramarines and the Black Templars (also the Imperial Fists, the Crimson Fists, the Space Wolves, and the Salamanders) - When Roboute Guilliman tried to force the Codex Astartes on the Space Marine legions after the Horus Heresy, some legions - most notably the Imperial Fists - outright refused, not wanting their legions to be broken down into smaller chapters. Rogal Dorn called Guilliman a coward, while Guilliman called Dorn a rebel. The Space Wolves and the Salamanders ended up backing Dorn, while the Raven Guard and the White Scars supported Guilliman. The rivalry became so intense that the Imperial Navy even fired on the Imperial Fist strike cruiser Terrible Angel, and it seemed that the Space Marines would war against one another once again. Finally, Rogal Dorn yielded to prevent another war and broke his legion into the Black Templars and the Crimson Fists. As the Ultramarines still were wary of the loyalties of the Imperial Fists and their successors, Sigismund - the first Emperor's Champion and the man that Dorn had appointed to be the Black Templars Chapter Master - declared a 10,000 year crusade in the Emperor's name to prove their loyalty. Even though tensions have since cooled between the Ultramarines and the other chapters, the Ultramarines are still suspicious about (read: sticking their nose into the business of) the Black Templars as they still refuse to conform to the Codex Astartes, and won't tell the Ultramarines just how huge their chapter is. In short, Sigismund and Leman Russ told Guilliman where he can shove his Codex Astartes, and he's all anal pained about it.
- Ultramarines and the Iron Warriors - Uriel Ventris and Pasanius Lysane, of the Ultramarines, were sworn to a Death Oath by their Chapter Master Marneus Calgar as punishment for violating the Codex Astartes (specifically, because they had abandoned the rest of their company to assist a Deathwatch Kill-team during the Battle of Tarsus Ultra). Their mission: find and destroy the Daemonculaba. The quest took the Ultramarines pair to the nightmarish Daemon World of Medrengard, within the Eye of Terror itself. Medrengard was the homeworld of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. It was also the location of Honsou, the evil Iron Warriors Warsmith who oversaw the Daemonculaba project from within his fortress, Khalan-Ghol. The Ultramarines were successful in destroying the Daemonculaba, and were also able to bring ruination to Khalan-Ghol and Honsou's forces. Uriel Ventris also managed to shoot Honsou in the head. Unfortunately, the Warsmith survived the headshot. Upon realizing the extent of the damage Uriel had caused, Honsou swore revenge and also the utter annihilation of Ultramar. Honsou was aware that before he ever dealt with Uriel Ventris, the Ultramarines spent years and countless resources and lives to repel a Tyranid incursion at Tarsis Ultra. Honsou thus unleashed a plan which destroyed every living thing on Tarsis Ultra, and reduced the planet itself to a lifeless rock. Destroying the planet provided no strategic gain to the Iron Warriors; Honsou carried out his horrific genocide simply to spite Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines. Following this, the Iron Warriors use an army won from the Red Corsairs to free the Daemon Prince M'kar, and invade Ultramar. Though the "Bloodborn" army is beaten back, the Ultramarines lost over one third of their battle-brothers in the attempt, leaving them open to attack for the first time since the First Tyrannic War and unable to properly participate in the Imperial counter-offensive for the 13th Black Crusade. The Ultramarines and the Iron Warriors have thus become bitter enemies-- with Uriel Ventris and Honsou in particular becoming sworn foes.
- Ultramarines and the Hammers of Dorn - The Hammers adhere rigidly to the Codex Astartes, to the point where they point out any deviations from the codex by the Ultramarines. According to the Hammers of Dorn, Guilliman may have had the genius to pen the codex, but the sons of Dorn are the only ones that can bring out its full potential.
- Ultramarines and the Minotaurs - While the Minotaurs are hated by everyone the Ultramarines have a special grudge against them, due to the Euxine Incident during the Macharian Heresy. During the heresy the loyalist Doom Warriors and Inceptors chapters were busy fighting each other over a matter of honor, and refused to stop and aid Imperial forces. The Minotaurs were sent to quell the dispute, which they did in their usual manner. They attacked both sides in force, nearly destroying them both. The Doom Warriors were badly beaten and forced into a barely-organized retreat almost immediately. The Interceptors weren't so lucky. With no way to withdraw they suffered the full onslaught of the Minotaurs and finally surrendered with less then 100 marines left. The honored 2nd founding chapter was subsequently robbed of most of their chapter relics, the Minotaurs stealing them right off their dead bodies, including their flagship, a relic of the Great Crusade. This brought them a great deal of hatred from the Ultramarines and their successors, who have since forbidden the Minotaurs from entering Ultramar and seek vengeance whenever the opportunity arises.
- Blood Angels and the World Eaters - Both constantly compete for superiority in melee combat and also the angriest motherfucking berserker full of rage.
- Raven Guard and White Scars - Supposedly dates back to a huge fucking argument between Corax and Jaghatai Khan, where the two had a massive spat over the proper use of rapid-reaction forces. Corax insisted they be used as part of infiltration and deep-strike units, and Jaghatai insisted they were to be on the front lines - the two never really saw eye-to-eye, Corax seeing Jaghatai as devastatingly effective, but with the tactical sense of a drunken Space Wolf, and Jaghatai seeing Corax as too cautious and tactical for proper man-fighting. The two would eventually make up after the Horus Heresy, and both the Raven Guard and White Scars would be forced to ally on several occasions - most notably during the infamous Hunt for Voldorius - but an intense rivalry over whose fast-attack doctrine is better persists to this day, and the two factions are still kind of assholes to one another as a result.
- Blood Angels and the Black Legion - Considering that Horus killed their Primarch (who, before the Heresy, were closer than any other Primarchs) which resulted in them suffering from the Black Rage which eventually causes every descendant of Sanguinius to have visions of being killed by Horus, the Blood Angels probably despise the Black Legion to the point of pure obsession. Also as a rule, the Blood Angels have a special hatred for the owner of the Talon of Horus, since it killed their father.
- World Eaters and the Grey Knights - Angron was banished back to the Warp by Grey Knights during the first battle of Armageddon, which resulted in the World Eaters' defeat. Angron has since been resurfacing, and has sworn revenge.
- Raven Guard and the Black Legion (also the Word Bearers, Night Lords, Iron Warriors, and Alpha Legion) - The Raven Guard were the second hardest hit by the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V (the Salamanders got hit worse, but there weren't really enough survivors to hold a grudge). Though all of the traitor legions except the Thousand Sons were involved, the Raven Guard holds a special hatred for the former Luna Wolves and Horus, a hatred which has transferred over to Abaddon and the Black Legion. That said, the Raven Guard go absolutely murderous on any of the Legions who turned on them at Istvaan V.
- Grey Knights and the Space Wolves - Officially, there really isn't a rivalry at all. Because officially the Grey Knights don't exist. Unofficially, during the First War for Armageddon, Grey Knights were ordered to fire on dozens of civilian ships because there was a fraction of a shadow of smidgen of a chance that they were tainted by Chaos. The Space Wolves decided this was pretty dickish, and protected the civilians. Naturally, the Inquisition made it worse. Then old Loggy chops a Grey Knight Grand Master's head off and kills four Justicars, the ugly downward spiral of WTF!?s started there. Eventually, an understanding was reached where the remaining civvies weren't murdered but just mindwiped a bit and Inquisitorial ships would never again come to Fenris or the wolves would tear them a new asshole.
- Imperial Fists and the Iron Warriors - Imagine their rivalry akin to World War I. The Imperial Fists are the Brits who love making defenses, while the Iron Warriors are the Germans who also love making defenses but also love destroying stuff. Also, Perturabo hated Rogal Dorn for being Daddy's golden boy and his constant boasting of the fortifications of the Imperial Palace. Perturabo eventually bested Dorn and the Imperial Fists by making a huge space fortress that Dorn then tried to attack in an effort to bring Perturabo to justice. Inside the fortress was nothing but inwardly-faced gunlines, meaning the entire thing was a trap and wound up cutting down enormous numbers of the Imperial Fists before they could retreat. The Imperial Fists were too fierce for the Iron Warriors to destroy without making the ultimate sacrifice however, proving that they get shit done. Perturabo, naturally, found his plan fucking hilarious.
- Thousand Sons and the Space Wolves - The Space Wolves despised the Red Sorcerers for their practice of magic, and didn't question a goddamned thing after Horus had intentionally given the Wolves incorrect orders (to destroy the Thousand Sons, as opposed to talking Magnus down). Suffice to say, the Space Wolves caused colossal damage to the Thousand Sons, and in the process, destroyed one of the largest repositories of knowledge in the entire fucking Imperium, including a huge amount of information that would have helped the Imperium better fight off its enemies. Horus' dick move forced the Thousand Sons to eventually turn to Tzeentch just to survive. Though the Wolves' offense devastated the Sons, the Legion would nonetheless resurface to attack the Space Wolves: they led a siege on their homeworld and succeeded in causing considerable damage before being driven off. During this offensive, they managed to destroy a series of laboratories, including one that held an entire generation worth of the Space Wolves' Gene-Seed (as well as the cure for the Wulfen curse), and Magnus himself was responsible for killing the Space Wolves' chapter-master.
- White Scars and the Space Wolves - Thousand Sons were the biggest bros of the Scars during the Great Crusade, their primarchs were total bros too, so when they figured out that Wolves destroyed Prospero, killed most of the (still totally loyal) Thousand Sons, forced surviving ones into going heretic, and don't even feel any guilt or remorse about it, none were surprised Scars kept a huge grudge against the Space Yiffs. Also during the crusade, the Scars hated being compared to the Wolves because of the apparent link to barbarism. The Wolves themselves also have a thing or two to say about the multiple times Scars hadn't come to help when they could, starting from when they left Wolves alone against entire Alpha Legion fleet.
- Iron Hands and the Emperor's Children - Prior to the Heresy, Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus were extremely close friends. Their bond ran so deep that even as Fulgrim declared his intentions of joining the forces of Chaos to Ferrus, asking him to join him in overthrowing the Emperor, Ferrus couldn't open fire on his brother's ship. Naturally, this had some rather nasty effects in the long term, not least of which was Fulgrim decapitating the Gorgon with his own sword. The Iron Hands did not take kindly to this. Also, getting all repressed and logical over the next 10,000 years caused Slaanesh to take breaking them as a challenge.
- World Eaters and The Emperor's Children - In addition to following rival deities, the Emperor's Children lost huge numbers of troops to the World Eaters at Skalthrax. Really, all you need to know is that Kharn and a Flamer were involved, and that before this incident, the World Eaters were a much more coordinated force.
- World Eaters and World Eaters - This event caused the World Eaters to break up into warbands
- Emperor's Children and the Iron Warriors - Given that Fulgrim tried to sacrifice Peturabo's soul to Slaanesh to fuel his ascension to Daemon Prince...
- Dark Angels and FOUL TRAITORS - Do not get between them and a FOUL TRAITOR TO THE IMPERIUM WHO CERTAINLY HAS NO CONNECTION TO THE SONS OF THE LION. It can only end in tears.
- Thousand Sons and World Eaters: Khorne hates sorcery, and so the World Eaters hate the Sons. Sadly for the World Eaters, they're usually well out of the Sons' league; the Thousand Sons tend to pick conflicts selectively, which means the followers of Khorne have rarely even had the chance to fight them. Also, it doesn't do much to appease Khorne's bloodlust, since there is no blood or skulls to offer, just dust.
- Blood Ravens and EVERYONE: Apart from Captain Titus of the Ultramarines, almost every Marine Chapter mentioned in having contact with the Blood Ravens have not been on good terms. Most likely due to their rampant kleptomania. This animosity extends beyond the Space Marines, and into the rest of the Imperium as well; Imperial Guard forces hate them for exterminating the Kronus Liberators, and the Inquisition doesn't like them for their secrecy.
- Blood Angels and the Emperor's Children - Fabius Bile stole the blood of Sanguinius from the Blood Angels' Fortress-Monastery as part of a plot to make a clone of the God-Emperor. As the neophyte initiation process for the Blood Angels requires the consumption of some of the aforementioned blood, the Blood Angels and all their Successor Chapters have sworn to find and kill Bile at all costs. (For a while, it looked like they succeeded- that is, until they found out that Bile had begun cloning himself.)
- Iron Hands and Raven Guard and Salamanders - The Iron Hands are still pissy about the whole Isstvan V thing. They believe that had the Salamanders and Raven Guard followed their Primarch Ferrus Manus they would have won at the dropsite massacre. Completely overlooking the fact that they were surprised, surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. They don't like the Raven Guard in particular for their use of stealth and subterfuge, and also for having a pretty much identical color scheme. The Salamanders aren't too keen about the Iron Hands belief of "purging the weak" and usual disregard for civilian casualties and sometimes their own Marines. The Raven Guard and Salamanders never pulled any of this bullshit with each other, though, and remain close allies, if for nothing other than the Hands constantly being dicks to both of them.
- Marines Malevolent and Salamanders - What happens when the galaxy's greatest assholes meet the galaxy's greatest humanitarian marines? Hilarity that's what. The hate fueled rivalry that was first widely known came during the Third War for Armageddon where a squad of Marines Malevolent used their Whirlwinds to fire upon an Ork-occupied camp, when they knew that the camp contained hundreds of Imperial civilian hostages, mostly women and children. Oh and guess what their response was, something to do with "Meh, we only serve the Emprah only" and "We didn't know there were "that" many civilians". As you can imagine, this both horrified and royally pissed off the Salamanders, and when these two Chapters met again after the war, Chapter Master Tu'Shan, to put it simply, bitch-slapped the Captain of the Marines Malevolent in front of everybody in the city., prompting much sniggering and cheering among both Guardsmen and civilians alike. Because of such reaction to complete dickwards, the Salamanders were considered as the Heroes of Armageddon by popular vote.
Bros To the End
As there are several chapters and legions who despise one another, there's a few that get along damned well.
- Raven Guard, Salamanders, and Iron Hands - True since the great crusade, where these three found they worked extremely well in-concert - The Raven Guard acting as the advance and cutting off critical locations and eliminating command units, the Salamanders in providing the heavy punch to follow this up, and the Iron Hands providing the tide of firepower to support both. That being said, the Iron Hands' relationship with the Raven Guard and the Salamanders has deteriorated since the Horus Heresy; they believe that had their allies not retreated from the Drop Site Massacre, Ferrus Manus would not have been killed and Horus would have been defeated before he could pose a threat to the Imperium. (It doesn't take a genius to realize that this would have just led to the complete annihilation of their Legions in practice.) It's not really clear if the Hands still fight alongside their former best bros in the 41st millenium, but given the whole "feeding a Raven Guard company to psyker orks for lulz" thing, it doesn't seem likely.
- Salamanders and Blood Angels - Though the Salamanders are friendly with most Chapters anyway, they're particularly tight with the Blood Angels. Both Chapters are some of the few in the Imperium that actually go out of their way for civilians and put them before pride and glory in battle. This became particularly evident during the Second War of Armageddon, when both fought side-by-side against the Orks and when Dante publicly honored Tu'Shan for his bravery during the war and bitch-slapping the Marines Malevolent Captain.
- Imperial Fists and Imperial Fists successors - Doctrinal differences aside, the sons of Dorn have always been on good terms with each other. Whenever a crisis threatens Terra that is too great for a single chapter, the Imperial Fists and their successors unite to put an end to that threat, such as The War of The Beast, and the Second Siege of Terra to put Goge Vandire in his place. Every century, they also come together for an epic swordfighting tournament called the Feast of Blades.
- Blood Angels and Imperial Fists - Both fought and died in the defense of the Imperial Palace. Broforce = very yes.
- Ultramarines and Imperial Fist - Similar to the Space Wolves and Dark Angels above, beef about the codex aside, the two chapters have always been on very good terms.
- Dark Angels and Dark Angel successors - THE DARK ANGELS HAVE NO SUCH RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR SUCCESSOR CHAPTERS. RUMORS THAT DARK ANGEL SUCCESSORS ARE STILL UNDER DIRECT COMMAND FROM THEIR PARENT CHAPTER, EFFECTIVELY STILL MAKING THEM FUNCTION AS A LEGION, ARE OBVIOUSLY LIES AND SLANDER FABRICATED BY THE FOUL HERETICS OF CHAOS, AS SUCH AN ACT WOULD BREAK THE GUIDELINES OF THE CODEX ASTARTES, WHICH LOYAL CHAPTERS WOULD NOT DO.
Other specializations of Space Marines
GW Linguistic Failure
The name Adeptus Astarte is usually portrayed as meaning Star Adepts. However Astarte is actually Greek for Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, war, sex and sexuality. The Emprah may have been horny and/or romantically interested in the idea of a badass God-Empress and named his sons to symbolically show this using a language that he and Ollanius Pius are the speakers of besides dead people and three of the Ruinous Powers, or this is just the Emperor keeping himself sane by engaging in humor he knows only one loyal person will get, which does not include his last two friends. No wonder the Emprah doesn't smile much.
See Also
- Beakie - When the Spehss mahreens were a̶w̶e̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ stupid looking.
- Chaplain - The spiritual leaders of the space marines.
- Female Space Marines- Records officially decommissioned and terminated by the Inquisition on the grounds of Heresy, there is nothing here trust us. E-Commissars will blam you from your monitor when attempting to access said heretical records.
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine- The official game of Pauldrons (despite the fact that the pauldrons in this game are smaller than they should be)
- Tactics/Space Marines
- Guidelines of the space marines
- Despite the considerable amount of hate at the space marines nowadays, they can still be awesome.
- Stormcast Eternals (AKA, Ground Marines), their Warhammer: Age of Sigmar equivalent.
External Links
- Lexicanum on Space Marines
- The Commandments of the Space Marine
- Rap song dedicated to the mighty-ass space marines.
- Another rap dedicated to the mighty-ass space marines.
- Emperor's quote about the Space Marines in a remix done from If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device glory.
Gallery
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Now gather around children as I recount to you the exploits of the Emperor's chosen...
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Steel Rain in action!
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The Space Wizards of Warpwarts have mastered the art of profecting the power of the warp through small wooden sticks. How they refrain from breaking them is a mystery.
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Brick by brick we shall conquer
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The scary thing is that this isn't fan art, seriously, this was an official GW product
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Salamander Space Marines training starts at a reasonably young age
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Space Marine chicks...do they exist?
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Yes, yes they do.
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A rare glimpse at a Space Marine without his awesome pauldrons on
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Apparently, marines DO in fact have tiny heads
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What historians didn't want you to believe
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Drill Abbots hate him!
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Build a Marine Workshop
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EEECK!
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Don't fuck with Reasonable Marines
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Indrick Boreale nearly turned Space Marines into the laughing stock of the entire franchise.
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Space Marines as depicted during the dark ages of GW art (aka 2nd Edition)
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Taking a page from their fallen brothers.
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Space Marines and ridiculous suits of armour go hand in hand.
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Brother Campbell brings a world into Imperial compliance.
