Space marines are a mainstay of the Warhammer 40K setting, and are generally the first point of contact for newcomers to the game. It's probably unsurprising then that the internet is awash with questions about them, from the very basic to the very, very odd. I took a gander at the forbidden archeotech of Google autocomplete to discover the internet's most asked questions about space marines, and I can now finally provide the answers many of us didn't even know we needed. Let's take a look...

Why Are Space Marines Called Marines?

Let's start with an easy one! They're called space marines because they're marines - in space! More helpfully, modern marines are military forces that usually represent a specialist division of the navy ('marine' coming from Latin 'mare', meaning sea). This reflects the space marines' status as an elite force of the Imperium. Additionally, space and space travel are often described in nautical terms - think spaceships - so the idea of a space marine is a fairly natural extension of that. They just make landfall by drop pod instead of by dinghy.

Why Are Space Marines Called Astartes?

This is also pretty straightforward to answer. The first space marines were created by the Emperor of Mankind using genetic manipulation and advanced technology. He was aided in this task by various scientists, one of whom was named Amar Astarte. Astarte was the head of the Emperor's Biotechnical Division, and had a major hand in the development of the first generation marines; in her honour, the space marines are known in-universe as the Adeptus Astartes.

In the real world, Astarte was actually a classical Greek goddess (though her roots go back much further), symbolising both fertility and war - the perfect namesake for the 'mother' of everyone's favourite genetically modified super-soldiers.

Why Are There No Female Space Marines?

Surely you must have guessed that this question was coming? Let's just get it out of the way early, shall we? Deep breath everyone...

Women are very conspicuous by their absence in Games Workshop's flagship faction. It's become a hot-button topic, and there are strong opinions on whether this is a good thing, a bad thing, or thing that is neither good nor bad, but merely is. When it comes to explaining why there are no female space marines there are two answers - the in-universe explanation, and the out-of-universe or real world explanation.

In-universe, the canonical reason for the lack of female space marines is that the Emperor tried to make them, but failed. The genetic material used to convert a normal human male into a space marine ultimately comes from the Emperor himself - a man - and it just doesn't take properly in female subjects. Think organ rejection, chemical imbalances and a horrific death.

As for the real world explanation, that's harder to determine. In the very earliest days of Warhammer 40K (before the lore and setting were properly established), Games Workshop did sell a small number of female space marine models, but it's been alleged that they didn't sell well. They were later renamed 'female adventurers in power armour' before being discontinued altogether. Is a simple commercial decision made way back in the 1980s the real reason that there are still no female space marines today? Probably, but we may never know for sure.

Why Are Space Marines So Big?

A space marine starts life as a normal sized human. When a human adolescent is chosen to be genetically transformed into a space marine, they're implanted with several new organs. Some of these organs specifically alter the growth of bodily tissues, making the subject grow bigger and faster. These are the Ossmodula (bones), the Biscopea (muscles) and the Magnificat, which enhances the function of both. A fully grown marine is typically between 8ft and 10ft tall depending on whether they're 'firstborn' or 'primaris', but that's another topic.

Why Are Space Marines Bald?

This is an odd one. Why would the internet ask this? The truth is, it only takes a cursory glance at the space marine miniatures range to see that space marine cranial adornments are as varied as those of regular human beings. Some marines shave their heads, some have their hair cropped short, and others have a luxuriant mane of locks billowing majestically behind them. Space marines aren't bald. Ask better questions, internet!

Are Space Marines Sterile?

The lore is pretty consistent on this subject. It seems that the radiation and other treatments that a prospective space marine is subjected to during the conversion process does render them sterile. Space marines can't reproduce sexually (probably for the best). What the lore is less consistent on is whether or not space marines are physically able to copulate, or even have any inclination to do so. Most of the time they're presented as asexual, but there are exceptions.

Are Space Marines Immortal?

Physically no, philosophically... sort of. Space marines are genetically advanced and technologically augmented super-soldiers, which makes them very hard to kill - they can shrug off wounds that would turn a normal human into a fine red mist. They are largely immune to poisons and can even survive for extended periods in the vacuum of space. That said, they're still made of flesh and blood, so if they take enough damage they will die.

Space marines do, however, pass on their genetic information to the next generation via their 'progenoid glands', which are extracted upon death for implantation into another prospective marine. Which is immortality of a sort, and arguably even a form of asexual reproduction.

Are Space Marines Human?

Again, this is kind of a 'yes and no' situation. Space marines certainly start out as human, but in the process of being transformed into a marine they become something more. Clearly they must share some genetic coding with a regular human being, but there's a whole lot of bioengineered material in there too that technically isn't human. In the parlance of science fiction and futurism, space marines are best described as transhuman - beings that are both human, and more than human.

Are Space Marines Clones?

No, space marines aren't clones. For the most part they start out as natural born human beings. By the time they've been transformed into a fully functional space marine they do contain a lot of genetic material inherited from both their Primarch and the Emperor of Mankind, and this material could be said to be cloned, but this cloned material doesn't represent the entirety of a marine's genetic makeup. Marines of the same chapter may share many genetic traits with their Primarch and with each other, but they're still genetically distinct individuals.

How Do Space Marines Poop?

Why is this one of the most asked questions? Who even... just why? I mean, a lot of people want to know if Google autocomplete is to be believed but honestly, of all the questions to ask.

Sadly(?), there doesn't appear to be a definitive answer to this. It's assumed that their power armour probably has some kind of waste processing system, but who knows? There's no mention of a Gulliman's Sphincter organ or anything of that sort being grafted in the marine genetic conversion process, so Occam's Razor suggests that they probably just do their business the same way you and I do.

How Do Space Marines Become Primaris?

There are two types of space marine - firstborn and primaris. For the vast majority of the Imperium's 10,000 year existence, firstborn marines were the only marines, all created using the genetic process originally devised by the Emperor. Then, an individual name Belisarius Cawl revealed his secret project - an enhanced and expanded version of the process that could make marines bigger and better - these would become the primaris marines.

Cawl's method is largely the same as the original - you take an adolescent human male, stuff him full of extra organs and pray to the God Emperor that he survives the process. The main difference is that primaris marines undergo even more genetic augmentation and receive even more new organs, making them physically bigger, more durable and better in combat than their firstborn counterparts.

However, firstborn marines can also be converted into primaris marines - a process known as 'crossing the Rubicon Primaris'. Essentially, they're subjected to a whole lot of extra genetic augmentation that wasn't really designed with their puny firstborn physiology in mind. This is extremely dodgy, and a lot of marines don't survive.

What Are Space Marine Backpacks For?

Why do space marines have backpacks? Easy! It contains the power source for their armoured suits. Remember how the first mobile phones needed you to carry an external battery the size of a briefcase around? Yep, it's like that.

Are Space Marines And Imperial Guard Allies?

Space Marines and the Imperial Guard (AKA the Astra Militarum) are both military forces of the Imperium of Man, so in one sense they're more than just allies - they're separate arms of the same military power. On the other hand, space marine chapters operate largely independently of the imperial hierarchy, and are subject to very little oversight. They often have their own agendas, and these can cause them to come into conflict with other imperial forces and organisations.

Why Do Space Marines Fight Imperial Guard?

I do so love it when one question flows neatly into the next. Space marines might fight the Imperial Guard for a number of reasons. They may have mistakenly been given conflicting orders - not an uncommon occurrence thanks to the Imperium's bloated, sprawling and clandestine hierarchy. Or, as mentioned above, the fiercely independent and ruthless space marines may have their own agenda that puts them in direct conflict with the Imperial Guard.

Probably the most common reason for space marines to fight the Imperial Guard though is heresy - deviation from the Imperium's cultural norms and religious dogma. An Imperial Guard regiment may be under the control of a traitorous planetary governor trying to secede from the Imperium, or they may have fallen under the corrupting influence of the Chaos gods. Marines hate that stuff.

Why Do Space Marines Turn To Chaos?

There are so many different ways for a person to fall under the insidious influence of Chaos that I could make this a whole article unto itself. For the sake of brevity, let's say that there are probably three major ways that this could happen to a marine, one of humanity's purest and most vigilant sons.

The first is pretty simple - massive or prolonged exposure to raw Chaos energies. Think of it like radiation poisoning, only as well as corrupting your body it also corrupts your body and soul. It's powerful stuff, and while marines are more resistant to it than most, they will eventually succumb.

A space marine might also be turned to the path of Chaos by more insidious means. They may unwittingly be manipulated by a daemon or corrupted ally into taking questionable actions which they believe are for the good of humanity, but which ultimately send them spiralling ever downward into damnation. A 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' sort of deal.

Finally, marines can sometimes make the foolish error of trying to use the power of Chaos against itself - maybe by repurposing a daemonic weapon or artefact to aid them in battle. They then inevitably fall under its dark influence. It never works. Don't do it kids.

Where Can I Find A Space Marine Character Name Generator?

Okay, truth time. The internet did not in fact ask this question, but I'm a shameless self-promoter, and you can find a great selection of space marine character name generators right here on Realm of Plastic.

Which Space Marine Chapter Is The Strongest?

There are two ways of looking at this question - which chapter is the strongest in the lore, and which is strongest on the tabletop.

There are a few different ways of looking at this from a lore perspective, and some may argue for one chapter over another. Technically a space marine chapter should be comprised of no more than 1,000 marines at any given time, so their relative strength should be about the same. In practice though, there are quirks and exceptions that may give some chapters the edge. The Dark Angels, for example, are able to reunite all of the chapters that are descended from them at a moment's notice, giving them strength through loyalty and numbers that other chapters lack.

By most measures though, it's the Ultramarines that take the cake - they have their own vast and largely autonomous empire within the Imperium of Man, and can put all of its resources to work in support of the chapter. They're also the only chapter to be led by a living Primarch, Robute Gulliman, arguably the most powerful and respected individual in the entire Imperium.

The space marine chapter that's strongest on the tabletop changes every time Games Workshop releases a new book or FAQ. By the time you've finished building and painting the world's strongest army it won't be the world's strongest army any more, or possibly ever again. Don't worry about it and just enjoy pushing your cool war dollies around.

Oh fine, it's Dark Angels. Happy?