Warhammer 40,000: Major Players
This post is the second in a series of blogs on the 40k universe. you can access the first blog post here for an overview of what Warhammer 40k is and links to deeper explorations of specific topics. In this part we will take a look at a small number of the more prominent individuals and groups in The Imperium of Man, as well as their greatest threat. First, of course, is the Emperor of Man.
The Emperor of Man: Origin The true origin of the Emperor is not known in certainty. The most common origin is that of the ancient shamans. somewhere in ancient central Anatolia (modern Turkey) in the 8th Millennium B.C. there were ancient shaman psykers. For centuries these psykers had been able to reincarnate upon death by sending there souls back to earth through the warp. As the warp became more hostile and chaotic the shaman faced permanent death as their souls had more trouble returning to the material world. To avoid this death thousands of the shaman met and performed mass suicide simultaneously. By fusing all their souls and psychic power, they were reborn as one man who would become the Emperor.
Early Life of the Emperor: The Man who would be the Emperor held immense psychic power, he would alter his own genome to become biologically immortal and physically powerful. He would later “perfect” his genome and become the giant of a man we associate with the Emperor. As millennia went by, this man watched humanity develop. He traveled the globe, watching and helping, sometimes adopting the persona of a great leader or adviser. In times of trouble he became a crusader, a religious leader or even a messiah, at other times he remained a back-stage contributor to events, an adviser to kings, a court magician, a pioneering scientist. The Emperor would push humanity forward from the shadows, he knew the dangers they would one day face in the warp and would prepare them for that day. Eventually taking control of humanity on earth and truly becoming the Emperor of man through his Great Crusade. Information on the Great Crusade and the Emperors downfall is on the first blog post.
The Goals of the Emperor: Put simply, the goal of the Emperor is to see humanity survive and be the dominant force in the galaxy. On of his great motivations in his reign was to abolish all religion and establish a purely secular society. Through seeing firsthand the atrocities committed by humanity against themselves in the name of religion convinced him that it all must go. The Emperor was the greatest scientist and beyond a genius, he believed it was only through scientific advancement that humanity could thrive. His greatest frustration was perhaps that many would come to worship him as a god even before he became entombed on the golden throne. After all, he came as a gold-clad giant, wielding immense psychic power, and was liberating the lost colonies of man. We may be able to forgive those who thought he was divine, but the Emperor tolerated no such believers while he lived. Overall it is important to remember that the Emperor was just a man, and made mistakes and judgments that were sometimes hypocritical or outright unjust for the sake of the unification of the Imperium.
The Imperial Guard: The Astra Militarum, also known as the Imperial Guard, is the largest coherent fighting force in the galaxy. They are the Imperium of Man’s primary combat force and first line of defense against the myriad hoards of xenos and chaos that threaten the existence of the human race in the 41st Millennium. It is comprised of countless billions of men and women divided into hundreds of thousands of different regiments.
Origins: The Imperial Guard dates back to the Great Crusade. While the legions of space marines were the most formidable fighting force in existence, the growing empire was to large to protect and expand with the limited number of space marines. Each marine fought with the might of a dozen men, but they simply couldn’t cover enough ground. The Emperor required more manpower, and so the Imperial Army was created.
Significance: The Imperial Guardsman is truly the symbol of the spirit of humanity. The mere human who fights monstrous horrors that can only be defeated by force of will and numbers. They show the stubbornness of the human spirit to endure.
As they are so numerous it is a common joke that the guardsmen are used as cannon fodder as often as a tactical force. It doesn’t help that the standard issue weapon of the Guard is the Lasgun. This laser rifle is often referred to as a “flashlight” for all the good it does against such horrors as Tyranids, Demons, Traitor Marines, etc.
Despite this, the bravery of these men and women, who would charge the horrors that threaten their people with a boot knife if need be, can be inspiring even to the mighty space marines who fight with them. They have held the line against humanities’ doom for ten thousand years.
Roboute Guilliman: Sometimes referred to as the “Avenging Son,” or “The Master of Ultramar”, is the Primarch of the Ultramarines Space Marine Legion and its Successor Chapters. Held by some as a paragon among the Emperor’s 20 Primarchs, Roboute Guilliman was as much a patrician statesman as he was an unstoppable warrior. Guilliman became the lord commander of the Imperium after the Emperor fell and shaped the Imperium as we know it. He established the Imperial administration and wrote the Codex Astartes, which gives instructions on how space marine chapters are to be organized and created then on.
In His Absence: Soon thereafter in the history if the Imperium, Guilliman was mortally wounded by one of his traitor brother Primarchs and put in stasis on his domain planet of Ultramar. Perhaps had this not occured the Imperium would not be in its current state of forced religion and choking bureaucracy. Without the guidance of an undisputed leader, the Imperium would devolve as the secular teachings of the Emperor were forgotten and the Imperial Cult formed. The Emperor was worshiped as the divine savior of humanity and humanity became locked in war against the threats of xenos and chaos. Weakened with the destruction of the Primarchs, mankind has been locked in an unfathomably large war of attrition for ten millennia.
The Return and Guilliman’s Goal: In 999.M41 Guilliman was resurected from his preserved state of near death. He could only look in horror at what had become of the Imperium. Currently in 40k he has reclaimed command of the Imperium. Any plans he has to return the Imperium to their old ways will have to wait as the first priority is to defend against the encroching forces of chaos which have only grown in recent years. Much like the Emperor, Guilliman exists to ensure the survival of humanity and work towards their prosperity. We will have to wait and see how the Imperium changes under the returned Primarch and speculate what Guilliman has planned for the future.
The Space Marines: Formally know as the Adeptus Astartes, the space marines are the elite forces of the Imperium. The Astartes are physically stronger, more resilient, and often mentally removed from the lot of most normal human beings. This is due to them spending little time among civilian populations and the immense physical and mental superiority they wield. In the presence of the Astartes, most people feel a combination of awe and fear, and many cultures on the more primitive worlds simply worship them outright as demigods or angels of the God-Emperor. Part of what makes the Astartes so invaluable is their power to inspire the forces of humanity. A regiment of guards may well fight with renewed hope and vigor if they saw even a small number of these legendary warriors fighting alongside them.
Without their impressive power armor each marine stands roughly 7 feet tall and roughly 8 feet tall in power armor. Through their enhanced genetics their bodies function much more efficiently than a normal humans and have 19 extra organs including: a second heart, a third lung, and entirely new organs such as Lyman’s Ear. This organ complements the inner ear and makes it nearly impossible for a space marine to be disorientated.
Still Human: It is important to know that all space marines were once average humans. Through the most rigorous of testing, in which most candidates will fail or die, space marine chapters recruit individuals who they believe could become space marines. Though easy to see the 8 foot tall warriors as mindless war machines, there is much more to them. They are still human at heart and mind, even if they feel distanced from their smaller brothers, and behind every helmet is a different individual with their own feelings. That said, every space marine’s goal and desire is to defend humanity against the threats only they could face and survive. If you want to hear more on the trials a potential marine must face click here.
Organization: Each Chapter of space marines is organized into a chapter of 1000 marines under the chapter master. Every chapter has their own emblems and colors relating back (typically) to the legion that their chapter originated from. For example, all the chapters that originated from the Ultramarine legion wear blue power armor with the Ultramarine “Horseshoe” emblem.
Below is perhaps one of the greatest video depictions of space marines in action. In this fan made film you see the frightening efficiency with which the space marines operate, as well as how they tower over normal men. You also see two powerful psykers in action and the challenge psychic powers pose to even the mightiest of warriors.
Chaos: Many would argue that the forces of chaos that pervade the warp/immaterium are the greatest threat faced by humanity. The negative energies of the warp have given birth to four being known as the chaos gods.
They are Khorne (top left), The Blood God, God of War, Murder, Battle
Tzeentch (bottom left), The Changer of the Ways, God of Change, Sorcery, Fate and Hope
Nurgle (top right), The Plague Lord, God of Death, Disease and Decay
And Slaanesh (bottom right), The Prince of Pleasure, God of Pleasure, Sensation and Desire
They are manifestations of the powerful emotions felt by beings in the material world. As such they are tied, in part, to the goings on of the material world/materium.
The Great Game: The Chaos Gods are rivals to each other. The constant war between them mirrors the struggle between their followers in the material universe, and vice-versa. This struggle for dominance over the Warp and the physical universe by the Chaos Gods is known as the “Great Game.” The Chaos gods have powerful cults that operate in the materium. Besides the normal human cultists, the fallen space marine chapters from the Horus Heresy (refer to the first post) aligned with the gods of chaos. The former legion of The Emperors Children serve Slaanesh for example. The Death Guard-Nurgle, The World Eaters-Khorne, and The Thousand Sons-Tzeentch just to list a few.
Goals: The goals of each chaos god is to dominate the other three gods and invade the materium. If the chaos gods ever stopped playing their “Great Game” and focused on flooding the materium with the full might of their demon and cultist armies, nothing could stop them. At leas so long as the races of the materium remain locked in war with each other. At the height of the Imperium’s might in the 30th millennium, it could be argues that humanity could have fought, and defeated, chaos. However in the dark future of the 41st millennium with a galactic war of attrition raging at every corner, humanity can only hope that the game never ends.
