Inquisitor
I think the inquisitor is a pretty cool guy. Eh, exterminates heretics and doesnt afraid of anything.
Well...sure, that could be them distilled down to a glib one-liner but there's more to them than that.
Inquisitors in general have multiple meanings. (Such as "There is no such thing as a stupid question. There are however a lot of inquisitive idiots.") With regards to the Warhammer 40k universe, Inquisitors belong to the Inquisition of the Imperium of Man. They are mainly responsible for rooting out heresy or other threats that inwardly or outwardly threaten the Imperium's interests. Where the Space Marines are the Scalpel, the Imperial Guard is the Sledgehammer, Inquisitors are often used like a Shiv, quick, deadly and able to accomplish their tasks with as little fanfare as possible. This is not to say that Inquisitors do not complete their tasks only in the shadows. Whilst this is their preferred method of operation, their unique status in the Imperium means that they can take command of pretty much everything short of an entire space marine chapter, and even then the Chapter would be hard pressed to come up with a reason to defy an Inquisitor's request.
For In-Game matters, this article from Lexicanum online sums it up rather nicely.
Inquisitors are members of the Inquisition, the organization responsible for ensuring the safety of the Imperium.
Potential Inquisitors are usually drawn from the Progena of the Schola Progenium showing the most promise. (source?)
All Inquisitors begin as Acolytes, apprentice-Inquisitors given over to the tutelage of a more experienced member of the Inquisition. Acolytes accompany a fully experienced Inquisitor in his Inquisitorial duties. He may perform a number of tasks such as warrior, scribe, and interrogator. After a set amount of time, his master will give him a recommendation to the Ordos of the Inquisition to advance his pupil to full Inquisitorial rank. After this, the Acolyte is a full Inquisitor and begins his own agenda and operations. Although the Acolyte/Inquisitor is no longer bound to his old master, they will have formed a bond and may work together and help one another in the future.
Retinue: Inquisitors have the right to call on the services of any citizen or servant of the Emperor. Often an experienced Inquisitor, or one in need of specific services (depending on the current situation at hand), will have a retinue of henchmen that he has deemed most useful. These retinues are made up of individuals drawn from citizens with unique and useful talents, and from the ranks of all Imperial institutions, such as the Ecclesiarchy and Adeptus Mechanicus. The full list of known henchmen types is described below:
- Acolytes - Interrogator/Explicator/Notary: Apprentice-Inquisitors, useful for taking damage in game terms. Acolytes are in training to become full-fledged Inquisitors.
- Chirurgeons - Torturer/Excoriator/Sister Hospitalier: Members of the Orders Hospitalier or just those trained in the medical field to assist in interrogation and torture; useful in combat for healing wounds suffered by the Inquisitor.
- Familiar - Cherubim/Servo-skull/Psyber-eagle: Familiars are artificial constructs, boosting the psychic prowess of inquisitors and allowing him faster initiative. (In Inquisitor these are characters' equipment, not members of the warband.)
- Hierophant - Castigator/Ecclesiarchy Priest/Exorcist: Fanatical members of the Ecclesiarchy, they boost the faith of the Demonhunters they are in service to and chant exorcisms and prayers that can cause agony to nearby daemons.
- Mystic - Astropath/Warp-Seer/Sanctioned Psyker: Psykers used by Inquisitors to detect the presence of daemonic creatures.
- Penitent - Bound Psyker/Penitent Witch/Pariah: When a Witch Hunter makes a heretic psyker repent his sins (a notably rare event), he can become what could be called a "psychic lightning rod", used to absorb the psychic attacks of other heretic psykers and protecting the Inquisitor and his retinue in battle.
- Sage - Autosavant/Lexmechanic/Calculus Logi/Sister Dialogus: battlefield logisticians.
- Warrior - Imperial Guard Veteran/Combat-Servitor/Gun-Servitor/Crusader: Bodyguards and gunmen.
Especially helpful, competent, or attractive retainers may become permanent members of an Inquisitor's retinue. Note that this list is not exhaustive as many different kinds of individuals with many different personalities and jobs have been seen in the employ of Inquisitors in fiction: from bounty hunters to daemonhosts to prostitutes to circus performers to assassins. This allows for Inquisitorial Retinues and the Inquisitors themselves to be highly characterful models with different personalities, weapons, histories and attitudes.
So that's pretty much a nice quick summation.
See Also
- Exterminatus - when an inquisitor deems a planet too heretical to exist.
