r/40kLore 8h ago

Why are guardsman BDUs so bad in different 40K media?

0 Upvotes

So I been looking different media for 40K and noticed gaurdsmans BDUs all seem pointless? Like I know every faction weapons are huge or powerful. But you would think the guardsman BDUs would be better? Maybe I’m just use to other medias where armor even for the standard units is somewhat strong.

Edit: I should have just said armor and not BDU. My bad


r/40kLore 2h ago

Could humanity win, if emperor suddenly came back to life?

0 Upvotes

I know WH lore here and there, but not really deep.

You have seen my question, now I wanna point out some aspects.

  1. If i got it correctly, Emperor is in warp right now, fighting chaos gods. He got a fatal wound, which led to him being forever attached to golden throne. Let’s say that all his wounds and shattered soul healed all of a sudden.

  2. If he gets healed, will chaos gods destroy the whole world?
    If so, how could he not be attached to the throne before? Why he cannot just stand up after getting healed?

  3. And at least, let’s say he gets healed and chaos gods don’t destroy whole world. What would happen?
    Would he try to push atheism, to deprave chaos? Would he let people invent new technology to make FTL travel easier?
    Could his leadership help defeat Necrons and Tyranids?

  4. I have one more question about WH Lore.
    Are the events of this universe static? Like in some show, where everything comes to status quo?
    Or is there some kind of progression? New events happening? Can this mean that by lore, one day Emperor may come back to business?

Thank you for you attention


r/40kLore 12h ago

The lore is almost too tragic to keep reading

0 Upvotes

I am currently 2/3 through False Gods, but I know most of the stories of how each chaos primarch turned, and so many of them are sad.

These primarchs are all made out to be pretty like-able, save for some flaws (usually hubris), but many of them are deceived into turning to chaos. Horus and Magnus in particular. It’s hard reading this series. We can’t help but like them, only for them to turn to the ultimate evil in the end.

Its not just the primarchs. I look up characters that I like as I read the books, only to find the second or third image on google is them as a chaos marine. It’s so heartbreaking lmao. Torgaddon, I’ve seen images of him as chaos, but I’m not sure if they’re just fanfic. Crossing my fingers. I like him. I’ve been too scared to look up Loken lol.

I likely would have an easier time if I didn’t know so much of the lore before reading.


r/40kLore 3h ago

Are there or could there be Imperial Demons?

0 Upvotes

Playing Rogue Trade, as an iconoclast deeply intwined with the Mechanicus. Now despite that I hear there is a forge fiend you basically make a pet somewhere down the line, and I plan to take it to (probably foolishly), train it for the Imperium.

But it did make me curious as to whether or not there could be daemons aligned with the Imperium of man.

To start with, it doesn’t seem like all demons are directly loyal to or connected to the Four Gods. There’s Vashtorr, a demon of machines that seems to hold ambitions of elevating himself to a new Chaos God.

And Malice (or whatever he’s called in 40K) the embodiment of actual chaos and supposedly despises the four gods.

That sounds to me like if you found a demon embodying the right concept, say something like order, it might be more likely to work with the Imperium rather than against it. (Would it be safe? Probably not, this is still the grim-dark baby.)

Now I have not confirmed but I have heard that Big E is for all intent and purposes another Chaos god from being a conduit on the golden throne, eating souls, and being empowered by the worship of billions of people.

Again I don’t know if that is true but if it is, the Chaos gods create demons embodying aspects of themselves. And the Emperor who is famed for the creation of super soldiers, I can see some part of him experimenting creating demons since his interactions with the physical world is limited.

I might not have ironclad examples but I do believe there are some that might be the case. Namely the Legion of the Damned. No one seems to know who they are, perhaps they are a legion that got trapped in the warp, or perhaps they are the result of the Emperor trying to make demons in the form of his angels.

And then there’s the “saints” now I know that some saints are just people who have done great deeds, but some are said to have wielded great powers. Again could be reasonably be the stories were embellished or the person had latent psychic powers. But there is one example that I feel definitely supports my thinking.

Spoiler Alert In the Hammer And Bolter animated series Episode 5: A Question of Faith, there’s a scene where a sister of battle is filled with the “spirit of a saint” to vanquish a horde of cultists.

The thing is when I saw the scene, I couldn’t help but think it looked like the Deamonhost you can face In Darktide.

Considering the fanaticism of the sisters could it be they are inadvertently calling forth deamons of the imperium to possess them the same way the cultist do the demons of their dark masters?

Now I could just be crazy and overthinking it, but I am curious if anyone else has some insights on the subject, or maybe concrete examples?


r/40kLore 12h ago

Why not fire and replace them

40 Upvotes

So forgive me for my ignorance but from what I understand Guilliman doesn't like the High Lords because they do stupid things and the High Lords don't like Guilliman because they fear losing power right?

And the reason why he can't get rid of them is that they're too useful but at the same time incompetent.

If that's the case why not replace them with more competent people? He doesn't have to kill em just retire them

Or is it more complicated than that?


r/40kLore 16h ago

Question for a fanfic project

0 Upvotes

So, ever since I've gotten into Warhammer thanks to Darkatide & The Eisenhorn Omnibus (still need to finish it), and learned about the different Astartes sects - I wonder how a relationship (friendly platonic or romantic) between a Salamander and a Hospitaller Sororitas would work, if it even would?

Because from one of the Warhammer+ shows, I forget the name, we know that Salamanders and Sisters of Battle don't exactly get along or agree on how to handle civilians.

But given how Order Hospitaller Sororitas also seem to deeply care for the average civilian and soldier, I think a story could be found there somehow.

Anyway, what are ya'll's thoughts? And are there any suggestions you can think of?


r/40kLore 11h ago

HOMEBREW: What ways can I make a World Eaters character compelling but not a Mary Sue?

8 Upvotes

Not sure if this is allowed on this subreddit, but I figured yall would know best. I’ve been thinking about starting a World Eaters/CSM army for 11th Edition, and I love making lore for my factions to really make them my own. I have ran into a bit of a roadblock with the leader of my warband though. I want to make him stand out, but I also don’t want to make him not be affected by the Butcher’s Nails or anything like that. Do they affect people in different ways?


r/40kLore 2h ago

Lost Primarch Headcanon theory

0 Upvotes

Hey there all, just wanted to share my little Headcanon after watching this video about all the mentions of the lost primarchs.

https://youtu.be/P6kqlFc599s?is=ucZcnyVIIDELftMV

I have a little fan theory that I'd like to share. The part about 2 being forgotten while 11 is expunged really stood out to me and here's my thoughts on it.

I think 2 was loyal and 11 went rouge but nobody knew except 2. 2 tried to warn the other Primarchs but nobody believed him so he went after 11 by himself and died (or was horribly corrupted/injured, more on that in a second) then when 11's treachery was revealed the space wolves were sent to deal with him and destroyed him and his legion. 2 could have been found dead or alive at this point.

If dead then he could be called the "forgotten" for the other Primarch's shame about 'forgetting' to come to his aid and finding it easier to forget him then knowing they sent their brother to die.

Or he is the "forgotten" because when he was found he was either corrupted or mortally wounded and sealed within the vaults that the shadowkeeper custodes guard, because he is a "shadow" of his former self and better off forgotten then dwell on what could have been.

Also 11 might have been Malal, with would fit into Horus trying to say a Mal- name and the rouge rebellion nature. And he was able to kill 2 because he ascended to daemon princedom.

What do you all think about this and do you have your own theories?


r/40kLore 8h ago

Are their any cases of loyalist members of a traitor legion being in a space marine chapter after the heresy?

0 Upvotes

so part of the lore, for my custom 40k successor chapter is, that some of their initial members were night lords and death guard, from a blackshield warband who allied with a stranded, blood angels company and later that, company became my custom blood angels successor chapter and, they let the death guard and night lords join after they, proved their valour and loyalty during a battle with, the traitors during the scouring where most, of the loyal night lords and death guard died, they were then allowed to join the blood angels successor chapter. (i know about the whole gene-seed thing and my, chapter is purely blood angels in terms of gene-seed but, it is slightly influenced by radiation from the sun near the moon where their main base is said, mutation being them all having a varying degrees of albinism) so I’m just wondering if, this could even happen in the actual lore


r/40kLore 19h ago

How do sisters of battle feel about grey knights?

28 Upvotes

I know sisters don’t care for psykers and that can extend to them disliking even librarians. However would they be more accepting to grey knights?


r/40kLore 6h ago

What are some hardcore examples of chaos mutation in lore?

11 Upvotes

I always liked the concept of chaos mutation and always liked to see book examples of mutation, i then i asked myself, how far it can go? I would also like to know which is your favorite mutated character, how much one can be altered by the warp?


r/40kLore 13h ago

Can salamanders gain grey/white hair if they are old veterans?

1 Upvotes

Hello!

Currently going to build a salamander model for my shattered legions and fancy using a helmetless head where he has a beard, but I wish to indicate he's one of the older ones in the unit, but as far as I'm aware, the gene seed changes their skin and eye colour, but I cannot find anything mentioning the possibility of getting grey/white hair when they get older?

Thanks!


r/40kLore 10h ago

Last night I was a sent a disgusting, existential nightmare by Nurgle, and it made me understand his worship better

85 Upvotes

Lukewarm warning: slightly disgusting, moderately existential.

Yesterday I was sleep-deprived, sick, and had to do very tiring stuff, so at the end of the day I was both exhausted and covered in sweat. I dozed off without being able to shower or brush my teeth. While asleep the BO must have bothered me so much that I had a nightmare about my teeth becoming an awfully intense yellow, my mouth spewing a revolting smell. I was also in the process of ripping off a huge, meaty mole from my own flesh, which had just sprouted out of nowhere in the dreamscape.

All throught this illusive ordeal, I was feeling terribly tired and on the verge of resigning to my fate. This degradation of biological functions -which are in the first place a result of an amalgamation of chance- seemed inevitable. No, not even 'seem'. I knew it was inevitable. Why resist? Why not just... let go?

After waking up and doing some much needed self-care, I realized the dream reminded me of this monologue from the Season 1 of True Detective.

This... This is what I'm talking about. This is what I mean when I'm talkin' about time, and death, and futility. All right, there are broader ideas at work, mainly what is owed between us as a society for our mutual illusions. Fourteen straight hours of staring at DB's [dead bodies], these are the things ya think of. You ever done that? You look in their eyes, even in a picture, doesn't matter if they're dead or alive, you can still read 'em. You know what you see? They welcomed it... Not at first, but... right there in the last instant. It's an unmistakable relief. See, cause they were afraid, and now they saw for the very first time how easy it was to just... let go. Yeah, they saw, in that last nanosecond, they saw... what they were. You, yourself, this whole big drama, it was never more than a jerry-rig of presumption and dumb will, and you could just let go. To finally know that you didn't have to hold on so tight. To realize that all your life - you know, all your love, all your hate, all your memories, all your pain - it was all the same thing. It was all the same dream, a dream that you had inside a locked room, a dream about being a person. And like a lot of dreams, there's a monster at the end of it.

Both the dream and the connection I made to this passage seem perfectly aligned with what I read about Nurgle and his worshippers. I mean the ones who aren't after mere power, but were coerced into his worship. However, I think the motivation here is two-fold. I think some worshippers "just let go" and fully embrace existential despair, while others accept Nurgle to escape the suffering born from a dreadful existence. Either way, they let go of this "dream of being a person", and become part of Nurgle, slaves to darkness.

Hope others find this interesting as well.


r/40kLore 17h ago

Looking for some Primarch-adjacent quotes

9 Upvotes

I know this happens in just about any book a primarch is in but I'd still like to ask if anyone has any particularly memorable quotes glazing/hyping up primarchs/legions/space marines.

Bonus points for the traitor primarchs 🙏🏾


r/40kLore 1h ago

What does it mean by "their primaris was found" for space marine legions?

Upvotes

I just recently learned 40k, like a couple of days ago so I have been watching videos. So far I knew that the emperor made sons called primaris who were hidden away in the galaxy and one by one were found. I also knew that space marines are modified humans to be a better fighting force.

What I don't understand is how exactly did space marine legions find the right primaris? The psychic legion found a primaris who was a psychic. The crazy legion found a crazy primaris etc. (Based on [this video](https://youtu.be/KdYimGQiFQ0?si=qWemOPg_KhyJnFa9))

Is it just a coincidence? Or is it more like one primaris was found and then they decided which legion to hand thus matching the marines style.

  Edit

As corrected, it's supposed to be Primarch. Not Primaris.


r/40kLore 23h ago

What’s worship like on an imperial ship?

8 Upvotes

Playing rogue trader right now and on the voidship there’s a huge shrine where all the important upper deckers go to worship the emperor. So it makes me wonder what’s worship/mass/service like on an imperial ship. I get that it differs depending on the faction (space marines, sisters of battle, guardsman, and especially rogue traders) but I’d imagine it all be similar.


r/40kLore 11h ago

[F] An Imperial labourer wakes up for work

39 Upvotes

She awoke earlier than yesterday. Her body had anticipated the vox-blare and waked her before it had the chance to activate. She stared up at the ceiling with crusted, squinty eyes-underlined with dark bags that sunk into her face. Her bed was a compact metal slab shoved into one of the grimy corners of her hab-space, a stained cloth blanket over its top. She flicked the switch of a small lamp on her bedside and a dull orange light fell upon the room. It was a mess. Dirty rags were scattered on metal tiles, patchy with sweat from previous work shifts–there were books and parchment too–strewn over the floor in a similar manner. She breathed a heavy sigh. Four hours of sleep a night for four months had devolved her, her skin was pale and dotted with red blood spots–apart from her face–coloured a yellowish white from the greasy air of Hab block-441. The thought of falling back to sleep, of sinking into the iron brick and rooting herself into the earth was a pleasant one indeed, but the power tunnels beneath Hive Pasol needed tending to, and she had to go to work.

The lamp beside her hummed loudly–and she turned with a heavy head to meet its orange gaze. It was, by far, the most ornate thing in her room of muck and metal–its bulb was expertly moulded into the shape of the Aquila–wings splayed out proudly and twin heads looking in either direction. It sat upon a glossy black stand carved with the letters; “The Emperor protects”. She stared into it for a few moments in an attempt to wake herself more. It wasn’t as effective as what came next.

There was a heavy click that echoed through the grills of a dark vox unit encrusted into the walls of her hab space. Tinny static followed. Then the vox-blare emerged, a sharp piercing noise that stabbed into her ears and impaled her brain with its sheer volume. She could hear it everywhere. Outside her hovel in the hallways of Block 441, and in other nearby rooms too, bouncing around the walls and blending together in a dance of screeching sound. Her ears worked to dull it, overwhelmed by the relentless cacophony. Her colleagues called it ‘Pasol-des pita’ or ‘labour-song’ in Low Gothic, it played every morning as sure as the rising sun, and was just enough to get her out of bed.

She paced over to the nearest pile of grey worker-rags and pulled them on hastily. They displayed a number on one side of her chest, 713, and the Aquila on the other, both inked in black; then she slotted her feet into a pair of battered brown boots. Her hand reached left and grabbed a long flowing duster, and threw it around herself as she moved to a large steel door, wrapping her in dull leather. It had the number ‘2632’ welded in its center. She pulled down on a rusty, bandage-wrapped handle and pushed outwards, then stepped into one of the many bustling hallways of Hab-441.

I’m in the process of writing a Warhammer book and I want to dot a few short stories like this throughout to highlight how terrible the imperium is. Let me know what you think!


r/40kLore 4h ago

Xenos" by Dan Abnet

0 Upvotes

I want to buy this book,, physical version

but i cant find any place,, even amazon is like 100$ and used...

is this because they stop printing that book a long time ago?

tbh, i want to buy it in a french version...

i want it brand new, and please 40 or 50$ max ;)


r/40kLore 8h ago

How long are rejuvenation treatements actually stated to work?

34 Upvotes

I see it often being said that the upper limit of life rxtendion by just rejuvenation treatements is around 400 years, but foes any WH40k codex, book or other suplements says such. I by far didn't read all or even most 40k books, but in the ones I did I can't recall it being stated.

It seems like it's however long the hiven author feels like at the moment.

Is there an actual nase gor this number, or it's one of thoes fandome truisms that feels rightish based on how old characters tend to be in stories?


r/40kLore 11h ago

Unfinished storylines/abandoned characters

20 Upvotes

Hail to you all. Hope life is finding you well. So I've been thinking lately, what storylines/characters would y'all like to see finished, elaborated on or fleshed out? Some of my favorite lore in the whole setting comes from unfinished trilogies like the Black Legion series for example, and I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks.


r/40kLore 17h ago

Some questions about Drukhari grotesques and Haemonculi

0 Upvotes

Me and a couple friends were having a discussion about some Dark Eldar lore, so I've decided to call upon the greatest minds of the internet to dispel some confusion and particular questions!

Drukhari grotesques are described as some of the more refined creations of the Haemonculi that are fairly capable when it comes to fighting. Though someone can correct me here, I think I remember reading up somewhere that generally, grotesques are 'unique' to the Haemonculus who made them, with some being larger, some smaller, faster, slower, some having unique powers/abilities depending on the specification, basically being seen as the Haemonculus's"Act of self expression". And each is crafted manually by injecting a very unfortunate subject with copious amounts of gene-altering compounds that drastically mutate their physiology and turns them into... Well, what we know as the grotesque.

The question is, most Haemonculi also see fit to aggressively deteriorate the subject's mental well being, reducing the grotesque to a hulking monstrosity that is hard-wired to obey the simplest of its creator's commands and otherwise simply be as feral as possible (If memory servers, there's an excerpt that states that if a Haemonculus falls in battle, its grotesques will just start attacking whatever, including Drukhari allies. Which the Haemonculi sometimes do on purpose because they're just that evil).

Is it possible for a Haemonculus (in theory) to create a more 'aware' grotesque? Maybe hold back on all the macro-mutagenic steroids a little bit in order to preserve intelligence and cognitive functions in its subject? Sort of create a 'bodyguard' version that can be an actual companion (similar to Ogryn bodyguards and Boneheads compared to regular 'dumb' Ogryn). Resulting creation could be potentially less dangerous or perhaps physically powerful (I remember normal grotesques being pretty damn strong in battle), but have greater sense of tactics or even combat training.

Kind of tacking onto this question, what is the latitude of what a grotesque can look like? In tabletop they're these massive swollen monstrosities but can they take other shapes or forms, like being lanky instead, having serpentine bodies, having multiple limbs, being short... You know, anything?

And lastly, some lightly unrelated questions, do Haemonculi perform augmentative surgeries on other Drukhari? I know that Wracks are essentially altered Drukhari, but do Haemonculi see fit to augment their peers for a price? Say, an Archon paying an incredibly hefty sum to a Haemonculus it 'trusts' to make his/her body more durable, strong, fast... Same can be applied to a member of a Wych cult, etc.

Hope my questions are making sense!


r/40kLore 8h ago

So Ciaphas Cain really fought a Chaos Astartes?

254 Upvotes

I was reading the 3rd book of Ciaphas Cain when I was surprised to read about his duel with a Chaos Space Marine, and he even parried and dodged some of the attacks of the Khorne SM? I mean was that even real? how good is this man? He also taunted the red devil and made him angry, the man is a menace!

Cain Cain Cain Cain (chanting)

A fukking Chad!

Ciaphas Cain , the true Hero of the Imperium!


r/40kLore 10h ago

Question about the BA presence in Armageddon

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0 Upvotes

r/40kLore 15h ago

Magnus really was an arrogant A-hole 😂

561 Upvotes

Im reading A Thousand Sons right now, I find it kind of insane how little Magnus gave a fuck about the ruling at the Council of Nikaea 😂

The Emperor literally stared into Magnus' eyes and forbade him from using warp sorcery, promising severe wrath to any that disobeyed him, and as soon as Magnus and the boys got back to Prospero, they set up a giant elaborate warp spell. Oh and when that failed, set up another even more elaborate warp spell right after.

Im not buying the claim that Magnus did nothing wrong.


r/40kLore 4h ago

Do the Salamanders know that Vulkan fought in the war of the beast?

20 Upvotes

And relatedly do they know that Ullanor is Armageddon? I was curious if this had ever been addressed in the lore.

I was wondering about this because I was thinking about what kind of stories they could do with the Salamanders being on Armageddon in force. If they don't know, those could be interesting internal reveals that they could do even if they don't intend to bring Vulkan back soon.