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Space Sharks

2017-06-10T00:08:44Z

2001:8003:70C8:5D00:6C1B:88CA:145A:BCA0: No-one needs an edit war between furries and everyone else.

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''"He could sense the Company Master's fury, the rage he was battling to keep in check. The Blindness was beckoning to him, that precipice poised above a black sea of hatred and needless slaughter-sacrifice" - Chief Librarian Te Kahurangi's assessment of 3rd Captain Akia ''

[[File:B5oUxpr.jpg|200px|thumb|left|This is what [[furry|some]] believe the Space Sharks look like.]]
{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Space Sharks/Carcharadon Astra
|Heraldry = [[Image:Carcharodons Livery.jpg|center|140px]]
|Number =
|Battle Cry = "From the void we come - darkness there, and nothing more" Alternatively: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdhp33n3pU0]
|Founding = Either 2nd (according to a GW article) or 23rd (according to FFG) Basically '''Unknown'''
|Successors of = Either the [[Raven Guard]], [[Night Lords]] or [[World Eaters]]
|Successor Chapters = None (thankfully)
|Chapter Master = Believed to be [[Tyberos the Red Wake]]
|Primarch = Probably [[Corax]] or more likely [[Angron]] or even more likely [[Konrad Curze]]
|Homeworld = Fleet Based
|Specialty = Terror and scorched earth tactics, with brutal close combat preference.
|Strength = 1000 (ish)
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Grey, with black pauldrons and white helmet faces (and the occasional blood splatter)
}}
[[File:Sharks Bitch!.jpg|200px|thumb|left|This is what they [[Awesome|really look like]].]]This is what happened when someone from [[Games Workshop]] watched Street Sharks and thought "there oughta be some spess mehrens like that." These guys call themselves "Carcharadons" (Carcharodon, pronounced "car-care-uh-dawn" is the scientific name for a family of big sharks), or Carcharadon Astra if they are being extra formal. They have light-grey skin and black eyes like sharks, and according to FFG they increase the resemblance by filing their teeth to be shark teeth. Their chapter logo is a white shark on its side and their colours are grey with black/dark grey shoulders. Once upon a time, they were light grey with a red stripe down the middle of their helmets and their logo was a stupid looking cartoon of a black shark with red eyes. Luckily, IA10 broomed that silliness under a rug and gave us what we have right now.

They're as mad as hell, even the [[Angry Marines]] might wanna think twice before cutting in front of them in line (hey, that would be a cool fight...)(YOU FUCKING WHAT LIKE WE'D LOSE TO A LOAD OF FISH FURIES), and with enough blood lust to make a Space Wolf go "Well Damn...". They're described as sneaking into place before going batshit insane with a rage probably close to in comparison (carnage wise) to a feeding frenzy, a defining characteristic of the animal the get their name sake from. But, their rage is also controlled. So they're like Khorne Berzerkers (though maybe the pre-Angron War Hounds are a better comparison) mixed with the <strike>SAS</strike> SBS. Also comparable to the way Leman russ conducted himself in battle. Outside of combat, they've been observed to be quite devout and even polite, albeit in a terse and tense fashion. It harkens back their shark theme, where sharks can be quite docile until they smell blood after which they become batshit insane. They also like to cover their armour with Polynesian looking tattoos (hunting sharks was a major rite of passage in some Polynesian societies). Also they try to stay quiet in combat, because <strike>they think it makes them cool</strike> sharks can't talk, however they do tend to roar loudly when charging. Their specialty seems to be committing indiscriminate genocide, sparing only children they can enslave into being Chapter serfs or turn into more Carcharadons (said children have to fight each other to the death). They also like to wear Heresy-era armour to give people more incentive to buy from Forge World (or it did until [[Games Workshop|GeeDubs]] released [[what|reasonably priced mk 3 and 4 pattern armour]]).

Very old records say they are where sent out on a crusade outside the borders of Imperium controlled space to, for all intents and purposes, preemptively kill anything that may or may not be a future threat to the Imperium of Man. And to our best knowledge, they where promptly forgotten about, because when they showed up again no knew who the hell they where or what side they where on.

The Carcharadons come up in the Badab War, where it's kinda hinted that they're Raven Guard mutants or descended from those other deranged genocidal space marines - the Night Lords. Anywho, they're deployed to Afghanistan in space to fight the space Taliban and they solve the problem that the Fire Angels had been having by killing everybody to root out teh terrorists. Grimdark. Then they go over to Badab and blow the place up, ending the Badab War. Then they go back to the ashes of space Afghanistan and make a bunch of boys kill each other to become the next generation of Carcharadons before heading back out to smash someone else's planet. Also, according to rumor, they helped to trash Failbaddon's 7th Black Crusade.

Their leader is Tyberos the Red Wake, a terminator who couldn't decide if he liked lightning claws or chainfists better, so he made Lightning Chainclaws...the ugly offspring of the two weapons after a couple glasses of Blacklabel and a night of extremely violent and questionable life choices. Though very quiet in the way of formal encounters, Tyberos, when war ensues, becomes something that nightmares piss themselves to think about. In the Badab War, Tyberos wrote a name for himself and his chapter across the surface of the planet in the blood of the Mantis'. Adorned by a set of Terminator Armour, Tyberos was always at the front lines, and saw that the traitors paid for all the trouble they caused in blood and resources. Setting about his task in the grimly silent fashion known to be common to the Carcharadons.

They are different to the [[Saharduin]], who are actually are [[Furry|sharks in space]]. They do, however, share the same [[Shark|battle cry]].

Their beakies look fucking amazing.

==Organization==
[[File:Space Shark Mk5.jpeg|thumb|right|Space Shark in Heresy-era armor.]]
The Sharks are assumed to be a fleet based chapter. At some point in their history the Void Father (the Emperor) banished them from their home world and set them to hunt amongst the stars and slaughter the enemies of man with no quarter. To this end, he granted the rite of Tithe; the Grey, to claim or requisition all physical material they needed for their duty, and the Red, a claim to prisoners, rebels, rejects, and other detritus for ship crew and potential recruits. They are explicitly forbidden from taking serving members of the Adeptus Terra (read - anyone from any other branch of the Imperium) in their tithing. They hope their actions (or more likely their descendants actions) will redeem them for their crimes and allow them to return home, wherever that might originally be. Most chapter veterans don't believe this and channel their shame and remorse into meticulously violent murder. They follow the battle half of the codex but ignore everything else about organization. Cruising around in the void between beyond the galaxies edge can be nasty business. Years without resupply or any kind of constant reliable resources means they must be resourceful. Because of this each company practices high self-reliance, salvaging, repairing and re-purposing stuff to make sure it lasts as long as possible. This is why they sport so much working Heresy-era gear and why stuff like vehicles and Terminator armor are often kept together using a variety of patterns and models. Because of this, Techmarines are seldom seen on the battlefield. They also don't use reserve companies (realizing that having 100 of the finest warriors sitting around doing nothing is fucking stupid). Each company is thought to be a self-contained force, with their own scouts and veterans, ensuring they've got guys for every situation on hand. This has drawbacks of course as they can't simply ask for reinforcements from a reserve company and must make do, and for this reason Apothecaries are prized and kept off the front lines since every Marine makes a difference. At the same time it means that they've got all their companies actively doing stuff.
It could be theorised that part of the scorched earth campaign the Chapter did during the Badab War was in fact them violently restocking their inventory after having spent so long outside known space. Filling up on ammo, weapons, supplies, and [[Blood_Ravens|grabbing anything and everything that could be useful]], before destroying anything the enemy could possible have and inevitably returned there. We do know that they claimed a bunch of recruits post-Badab, and they probably do this after all their big campaigns (maybe every time they come back into contact with the Imperium).

Also, they have librarians cable of using spells only known to them. They are:

"From The Depths": The librarian casting this causes his targets to become intensely frightend, and they will begin to hallucinate about being in the deep dark depths of the ocean, immobilizing they're opponent so that the Carcharadons can finish they're target with out a fight.

"Rendering Maw": The librarian using this ability basically does a [[Fizz]] ult, but is cooler about it and summons a giant spirit shark that comes up and bites the shit out of anyone unlucky enough to be there a the time.

==Gene-Seed Speculation==
[[File:Space Shark Tau.jpeg|right|thumb|''FFFFFUCKING WEEB!'']]
Initially, many fa/tg/uys speculated that the Carcharadons were of Raven Guard or Night Lord descent, or possibly a loyalist remnant. A minority also speculated that they might be World Eater remnants, though since that seems to be the old [[Minotaurs]]' schtick it's probably not true. Moreover, given that they are believed to have been founded by M32 and most of their wargear appears to be Heresy-era, they are most likely of the Second Founding or a product of the Heresy.

Most of the evidence for these theories is based on their military tactics and the few descriptions we had of marines outside of their armour.

Their favored tactics, relying heavily on stealth and surprise, would seem to fall in line with the Raven Guard's combat doctrines. However, their preference for close-combat, total slaughter, and the strategic use of terror put them at odds with the "tacticool operator" style of the modern Raven Guard. Their method of war is closer to the pre-Heresy Night Lords, if substantially higher in body count, or the World Eaters, if they were a little more subtle.

Physically, the Carcharadon's displayed pale white skin and black eyes with black sclera. These were common traits of people living upon Lycaeus and Nostramo, the homeworlds of Corvus Corax and Konrad Curze, respectively. While the modern Raven Guard exhibit these traits as a result of mutations within their gene-seed, ''[[Imperial Armour#Volume Ten - The Badab War - Part Two|Imperial Armour]]'' states that the Space Shark's gene-seed is unusually pure, i.e. stable, and that these traits are unlikely to be the result of mutation. However, their Chief Librarian has toothy denticle growths on his elbows and around his neck which comes from a "degraded genetic inheritance" which essentially gives him sharkskin, though it is made unclear whether the trait is unique to him alone or to his lineage.

This makes their appearance all the more unusual, as the Carcharadons are known to take recruits from the worlds they conquer, meaning there is no common genetic source that could explain their development other than through their gene-seed. Interestingly, the Chief Librarian also seems to make a note of the 3rd Captain's particular genetic heritage, as if it were somehow significant. It may very well be that the Carcharadons have more than one gene-seed source; Corvus Corax was noted for his snow-white skin, and Konrad Curze for his black eyes.

===Raven Guard===
Following the publication of ''Imperial Armour 10'', new evidence was published to support the Raven Guard theory by Games Workshop's licensors. Presumably the idea that every Traitor Legion has a secret Loyalist Successor was too much for them.

[[Fantasy Flight Games]]' ''[[Deathwatch]] RPG'' included rules for playing the Carcharadons ('''Honour the Chapter'''). Among the fluff, it is stated that Deathwatch Apothecaries have occasionally had the chance to analyze the gene-seed of Carcharadon's slain in the service of the Deathwatch, and that they bear certain genetic markers unique to the Raven Guard. Of course, this being the Imperium of Man, you can never be certain what they're actually finding or if the records are accurate.

Forgeworld's ''[[Horus Heresy]] Book 3'' included a bunch of new information on the Raven Guard, and their predecessor [[First Founding|Legion]], the '''Pale Nomads'''. The Pale Nomads were noted for being the Emperor's preferred operators, often stealthing their way into enemy fortresses and armies to slay their leaders should they refuse surrender, and adopting multi-angle strike-and-fade tactics if the enemy continued to fight on. The latter is a favored tactic of the Carcharadons on the battlefield. The Pale Nomads were known for crushing any hint of resistance, which some have equated to the Space Sharks decimating entire star systems in order to sow terror. Their tactics evidenced a disdain for humans that the Raven Lord couldn't stomach, which is similar to the attitude adopted by the Space Sharks during the Badab War when they Exterminatus'd Badab and hundreds of Loyalist Space Marines along with it. The Pale Nomads were also slavers, who would take children from defeated worlds to raise as Legionnaires, a practice that the Space Sharks have adopted. The Xeric tribesmen from which the Pale Nomads recruited also had a tradition of tattooing their bodies and painting their armor with tribal markings.

This could possibly explain why the Space Sharks have an abundance of [[Beakie|MkVI armor]] alongside their other Heresy-era tech, since the Raven Guard were the first to get their hands on them when they entered production during the Horus Heresy and that they're unusually stealthy with a variety of sensory systems to assist them in the void of space. Additionally, the Raven Guard were revealed to suffer from a gene-seed defect known as the ''Ash Blind'' or ''Sable Brand''. Similar to the ''Black Rage'', this defect caused otherwise normal Space Marines to charge into battle seeking only to destroy all trace of their foes, whether they lived or died. Those afflicted would develop eyes of solid black, and would neither speak nor reason until the condition passed.

Finally, it is stated that Corax would divest the Raven Guard of the surviving Terran-born Pale Nomads, whom he found too similar to the cruel lords he overthrew on [[Deliverance]]. One of the many branches of Raven Guard he sent off on isolated, never-ending crusades contained the [[Battle Barge]] '''Nicor''', (an old English word for a water sprite or monster) later to be found in the fleet of Space Sharks who ended the Badab War.

Tellingly, in '''Horus Heresy book 3''', Corax had no idea what happened to the fleet of Terran Exiles or to its master Akhas Fal and made no effort to contact them in the build-up prior to the Isstvan Dropsite Massacre. There is no evidence that these exiles were recalled after the massacre either, despite the 4000 men "officially" counting towards about half of the size of the remaining Legion, so they were considered an entirely separate force. They could simply have been designated a new Chapter following the end of the civil war.

===Loyalist Traitors===
[[File:Space Shark Chainaxe.jpeg|left|thumb|[[Rip and Tear]] at its finest.]]

Contradicting the Raven Guard theory are some logical inconsistencies, the issue of their battle tactics, and recently published material from '''Horus Heresy Book 6''' where it is revealed that a band of around 4000 Terrans exiled by Corvax from the Raven Guard turned full renegade, calling themselves the '''Ashen Claws''' and abandoning the Imperium to build their own domain in the Segmentum Tempestus. With no contact from the Imperium, no support from the Emperor, and no reward for their loyalty, it seems likely that other Raven Guard exiles could have turned. Interestingly, this band of exiles raided the fortress worlds of the Night Lords for supplies before returning to the darkness beyond the Imperium.

The fact that the Carcharadons adhere to a known pattern of crusading behavior, the "Nomad-Predation Pattern," would seem to indicate that their "recruiting" practices aren't unique to any Legion or Chapter, but an established Space Marine tactic for dealing with long crusades beyond the supply lines of the Imperium. Rather than being a relic of Xeric nomads recruited by the Emperor, it seems likely that the Space Sharks are only unique in that they utilize this pattern exclusively, obeying the order to "ravage the foes of Mankind" in the darkness beyond the galactic plane. It also points to them either being formed prior to the implementation of the [[Codex Astartes]] or an utter disregard for it.

If the Space Sharks were founded during the Second Founding, you'd expect them to have roughly equal portions of their gear granted to them from their original Legion, and thus have higher proportions of more "modern" gear such as mark VI ''(Corvus)'' & VII ''(Aquilla)'' plate, yet it is older mark V ''(Heresy)'' plate alongside Phobos pattern boltguns which predominantly fill the ranks. This points to the Space Sharks resupplying during the throes of the Heresy and their access to more recent patterns of wargear have come from salvaged or reclaimed equipment gathered over the years. Even their revered terminator suits seem to be modified in unorthodox ways just to keep them operational. If they descend from any other Primarch, especially considering their tactics and manner of deployment, it's possible that they simply salvaged ''Nicor'' and other wargear from some distant and bloody battlefield.

The Space Shark's preferred tactics are bloody and brutal, far more so than expected from any pre-Heresy Space Marine Legion besides the Night Lords and the World Eaters. During the Badab War they had no qualms about using the exterminations of worlds and systems loyal to the [[Mantis Warriors]] to draw them into battle by the scale of their horror, and they would use the shattered survivors of their bloody attacks to demoralize and weaken rebel forces.

The history, as known, of the Space Sharks points to their being present during the Second Founding. Whether the Raven Guard exiles were recalled or returned on their own, or if they were a Loyalist remnant of the Night Lords, or more unlikely the World Eaters, and were given the chance to forge a new life and history, it seems odd that they would've been dispatched to such distant battlefields if they weren't regarded with mistrust by the High Lords of Terra. And assuming they possessed a reputation for such brutality that "ravage" is a more appropriate word for their orders than "harry" or "destroy," they should be descended from a Legion or portion of a Legion with a particularly bloody reputation.

Amusingly, the same ''Honour The Chapter'' splatbook that posits that the Carcharadons are descended from the Raven Guard also says they are of the 23rd Founding, descended from the Eagle Warriors. And the Chapter immediately preceding them in the splatbook, the [[Raptors|Reasonable Marines]], are definitively stated to be a Second Founding descendant of the Raven Guard. While the Raptors skin grows translucent and their hair grows darker as they age, the Space Sharks gain gray, shark-like skin and their hair turns whiter as they age. In addition, the Carcharadons by implication have a fully-functioning set of gene-seed organs, unlike the Raven Guard and Raptors who lack functioning Mucranoid and/or Betcher's Glands, as do other Raven Guard Successors.

====Night Lords====
The Carcharadon's deliverance of bloody and total judgement upon the followers of the rebellious Badab Chapters is in line with the [[Night Lords]]' pre-Curze and pre-Heresy role and attitudes towards those who failed the Emperor in loyalty or deed. Brutal purges of the disloyal would build into a reputation that became one of terror and bloody death under Konrad Curze, and his use of fear and fluid, almost wild maneuvers in battle are seen by some in the descriptions of the Space Shark's battles.

The Space Shark's apparently fractious nature and their manner of giving personal titles of distinction and honor could be echoes of the Night Lords' practices as well. Many commanders and captains would have personal honorifics, like Zso Sahaal, would either earn idiosyncratic titles or have lurid and unique ranks within the Legion's organizational structure. Likewise, ''The Red Wake'' could be an honorific specific to the Chapter Master, or a personal one. As the Night Lords were grouped into semi-independent Companies with individual names, traditions, and markings, it's possible the Carcharadons could be one such Company that rejected the Heresy or returned to the Emperor's light. It would also explain why their forces never seem to gather in full Chapter strength; having passed down this tradition of building brotherhood solely within small, tribal bands like the gangs of Nostramo and fighting in semi-independent units as preferred by the Night Haunter, they would see little reason to fight together while other conflicts and enemies require their notice.

The Chapter's preference for close-combat is in stark contrast to the Raven Guard's preference for long-ranged and quick-moving strikes, especially as they prefer stealth and speed to the roar of assault jetpacks and jetbikes. However, these tactics were favored by the Night Lords and their Terror Squads. Indeed, the enforced silence and refusal to coordinate with Imperial forces of the Space Shark's is similar to the silence that Terror Squads would work with during the latter years of the Great Crusade. Rather than being a gene-seed curse, as with the Raven Guard, the Carcharadons simply isolate their vox nets and refuse to speak to anyone unless it is truly urgent and necessary.

As with the Space Sharks, the Night Lords were infamous for stealing the youth of conquered worlds for rapid implantation and hypno-indoctrination. While the former could also be a hallmark of the Nomad-Predation deployment pattern, the latter is a practice that seems to have been preferred by the Night Lords since it was the fastest and quickest way to make a new, battle-ready Space Marine in spite of the risks of instability and insanity it engendered.

====World Eaters====
Yet another possibility may be [[World Eaters]], since Space Sharks are silent and brooding outside of battle but go absolutely batshit crazy when ''in'' battle, no questions asked, and they seem to have a preference for chain-axes, which is somewhat unusual among Loyalist Space Marines. Their predilection for close-combat and bloody melee, to an even greater degree than the Space Wolves, would be in keeping with the attitudes of the World Eaters and the War Hounds. Like the World Eaters, the Space Sharks have a preference for Drop Pod assaults, fast vehicles like Land Speeders, and Assault Terminators, and it can be argued that Tyberos's Terminator bodyguards, the ''Red Brethren'', are reminiscent of Angron's own Terminator posse, the ''Devourers''. Some of their ships also possess Ursus Claws, which only World Eaters used (but then again, it could just be a salvaged ship).

The main problem with this theory is the Butcher's Nails. We can assume one of two things when it comes to the Nails:
#The Space Sharks learned to control their urges outside of battle, lest they snap and massacre each other, since they're out in the void of space for long periods of time doing nothing.
#Or they could have simply phased them out of their recruitment process after the Horus Heresy, seeing as it drove the other World Eaters fucking bonkers and was detrimental in the long run.

And whilst there were very few loyalist Night Lords (only two examples in the canon thus far), there are canonically loyalist World Eaters, both at Istvaan III and scattered around the Imperium during the Heresy.

====Chimeric Geneseed====
As another wrench thrown in, in Robbie MacNiven's Black Library novel ''Red Tithe'', it is heavily hinted that there are, in fact, ''multiple'' geneseeds utilized by the Space Sharks, primarily Raven Guard, Night Lords, and World Eaters. Given the typical canon conflicts that the Black Library in known for, this should be looked at with skepticism at least and as a half-assed excuse to explain why they have traits of all three Legions at best. Hopefully this will be elaborated on in the future but for now we can only theorize what this entails.

It is possible that the Carcharadons once consisted of Blackshields of Raven Guard and both loyalist Night Lords and World Eaters during the Horus Heresy, and after a time they were reformed into their own chapter and the traitor aspects of their origins were buried away. This ''could'' explain why their combat doctrine is an odd hybrid of their three supposed predecessors, any mutations they have are hard to connect to any one Legion, why their equipment is so old and haphazard, and why they were sent out in the void of space due to their origins. Until we have hard evidence from Forge World itself on any such Blackshields, however, this is up in the air.

Another, simpler explanation is that, given the nature of the Space Sharks to scavenge whatever they find, it's possible that they harvested the geneseed of the fallen marines they have killed. It's never explicitly said that their geneseed is comprised of ''only'' the three suspected Legions; rather, it just happened to just be mostly the aforementioned three. For all we know they could trace back to every Legion through a small percentage of their geneseed. Though admittedly, this train of thought makes their origin even harder to pinpoint as we don't have a clear-cut predecessor.

And it should be kept in mind that a good chunk of this information in the novel was divulged to one of the Space Sharks by a daemon. ''A daemon,'' for shit's sake. As we've seen with [[Magnus]], Chaos usually doesn't give accurate information.

This said, this is practically confirmed in HH6, where the Ashen Claws (Raven Guard) raid the Nostromo Sector to take their gear and geneseed. So if the Carcharodons are the Ashen Claws or a related group/successor, then they're Raven Guard and Night Lords.
Given how things were during the heresy, it's perfectly reasonable that there's some World Eater geneseed in there, as well as some "loyalists" who joined up as Blackshields, seeing as they spent the Heresy as an independent force at the edges of the Imperium.

===TL;DR===
'''The first mention of the Carcharadons says that their gene-seed might be Raven Guard''', but doesn't expand on that. Given that this was during the time that the [[Blood Ravens]] were really in the popular vogue, the idea that the Carcharadons are secretly Loyalist Traitors was pretty popular because their tactics are more like the Night Lords than anyone else's. GW has tried to walk it back a bit by saying the Raven Guard were basically the Night Lords only with Corax instead of Curze since then, but the debate still rages on because most of the documents supporting the Raven Guard hypothesis are speculative in-universe, and the Imperium would probably cover up a loyal Chapter being descended from Traitors if the Blood Ravens are anything to go by.

==On the Tabletop==

Carchadons Chapter tactics gives all Space Marines models Fear, and allows Tactical marines to replace their bolters with a chainsword or keep it and buy an additional close combat weapon for 1pt each. In addition they gain Rage after destroying or forcing an infantry unit to fallback in close combat, however they must consolidate towards the nearest unit they can hurt (after all, [[Khorne|the rape train]] [[Meme|has no brakes!]]). This can make stuff like Vanguard Veterans, Assault Marines, or even bikes surprisingly dangerous. Even a full batch of 10 footslogging Tacticals with extra CC weapons can be a pretty scary thing to face up against. Also, Dreadnoughts with Fear and Rage? Yes please.

Tyberos, their believed Chapter Master, is quite the beast. He can destroy just about anything in the game in close combat. His Scent of Blood rule makes him and and any Carcharodon unit subject to Rage +1 strength for the rest of the game. He is [[Reasonable Marines|reasonable]] enough to wear a helmet and does not carry banner and a shitton of flashy trinkets on his armour, unlike most other chapter masters, whose wargear just screams "Shoot me down, sniper!" Also, allows you to take a unit of lightning claw equipped assault terminators as troops; and he and any unit he joins have preferred enemy (infantry). Why aren't you taking him again? He's never explicitly said to be Chapter Master, but its a forgone conclusion since he's got the same stats as one.

You can only ally with Imperial Forces and all of those are bumped down to Desperate Allies. All this means that, with them, you play Horus Heresy World Eaters with Fear and all the shiny new toys of the 40k arsenal of Space Marines.

{{Template:Marines-Official}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Space Marines]]

My Little Pony

2017-06-10T00:03:48Z

2001:8003:70C8:5D00:6C1B:88CA:145A:BCA0: Undo revision 414964 by 84.238.29.57 (talk)

{{Cleanup}}
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[[Image:FIM.jpg|right|350px|thumb|I think this is triggering my epilepssdffshaghahtaj]]
The '''My Little Pony''' franchise consists of a series of toys and cartoons created and owned by [[Hasbro]] (yes, [[Wizards of the Coast|that Hasbro]]). As anyone with even a passing familiarity with the subject will know, the target demographic is [[loli|small girls]], and Hasbro generally regards the animated component as an advertisement for the line of toys (just like [[Transformers]] and <strike>[[Black Library]] books</strike>{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}). The franchise has been around since the eighties and was beginning to lose traction with the economic downturn, but the most recent revision, begun in 2010, has seen an explosion of popularity on the internet, amassing a cult following of "adult" (or semi-adult) men. There's also a healthy female audience, but they're largely not spoken of, since it's not viewed as weird when girls enjoy lovable, marshmallow horses.

Pony fans are called or refer to themselves as '''bronies''', ponyfags, horsefuckers, and a variety of other monikers, and while every enthusiastic fanbase on the Internet tends to sow [[rage|drama]] everywhere they go, the bronies have had their notoriety given a leg up by [[mod|moderator]] temper tantrums and [[Exterminatus|mass banning]] across 4chan.

==A Legacy Typical to 4chan==
[[Image:MLP01.jpg|right|thumb|This is the true face of the 80s.]]

When the fourth generation of the My Little Pony Show, led by Lauren Faust who had a hand in the creation of works like Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends and The PowerPuff Girls, first aired on television, it found itself being discussed on /co/. Whether the first people to talk about the show were male or female is a mystery, but the fact remains that the show itself was vibrant, colorful, and contained some essential elements that have been present in a lot of big cultural phenomena since jobs and money have become more scarce. Namely escapist and romantic themes, including a society where everyone has a role in life thanks to their most prolific talent being stamped on every pony's butts - they almost always wind up working in the right jobs, with unemployment being all but unheard of.

However, the show also featured some (possibly unintentional) dark undertones starting off. There were hints of political dissent, infidelity, ponies who couldn't find their talents doomed to a life of carting manure, and an episode that strongly hinted one of the ponies was a lesbian with an inter-species girlfriend. Most of these undercurrents have been all but lost as of the third season, but at the time, these niggling strings proved hilarious for adults to grab hold of to unravel the sweater of the show. An animation error even led fans to invent a character with strabismus, who was later formally adopted into show canon and then subsequently banned by Hasbro corporate - until Hot Topic pointed out tons of money could be made by lifting the character idea from the fans.

Growing interest in the show, coupled with a range of expressive screen caps, caused My Little Pony to spill out of /co/. People began using MLP for reaction images, and naturally, this raised a few eyebrows. Threads wound up being derailed as people demanded to know what in the hell they were looking at, and board regulars got tired of seeing it explained all the time. It interrupted discussion because it was confusing and new - some began to get angry for this reason, and others got mad because they simply didn't like seeing a cute girls' cartoon becoming a popular cultural thing on a site known as a den of racism and hatred. It kind of screwed up the rep.

[[Image:InsanePinky.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Had the regulars of /mlp/ actually been [[loli|cheery-eyed schoolgirls]], the clusterfuck that has engulfed the entire Internet would never have come to pass.]]

Ultimately, MLP probably would have come and gone in the natural order of things, rising up then waning again between seasons. However, 4chan has, for years now, tolerated increased moderator activity, including overhauls to mod power which allows them to ban larger crowds for smaller infractions; this wouldn't have been a problem if the moderators weren't so bad at using their increased power. 4chan's mods are dumbasses - it is not a secret - and sadly, they felt it was their sacred, sworn duty to make an ultimate decision on whether or not My Little Pony should be discussed on the website. They arbitrarily decided the answer was "no."

Thus began the show's meteoric rise, with the conflict between mods and the show's growing fanbase attracting all the more attention and sparking up debates across multiple boards. Posting Pony-related content of any type became a bannable offense everywhere and users began to take sides; ponies quickly became a tool for trolling mods and those in the opposing camps, and needless to say, it all became a complete clusterfuck. It was essentially 4chan moderation at its finest, and the final result is a lingering, yet slowly passing aftertaste where many remember a time that they could not get away from My Little Pony if they visited 4chan at all.

Eventually the moderators had to cede some ground because, as they still have yet to learn, crowds are governed by consent, and the mods didn't have the resources to ban enough dissenters to gain consent by the majority remaining. In a rare moment of Pyrrhic victory, 4chan had actually defeated the site's largest moderator rampage to date. However, although ponies were once again permitted on /co/, a terse stand-off remained, as the mods do not like to lose and they weren't willing to call it quits on the fight.

My Little Pony was allowed a ''single'' thread on /co/. It was not the first time that a general thread was used to contain something the moderators did not like to see, but it is a notable landmark in 4chan history, since the use of general threads for the mods' benefit has expanded greatly as a practice afterward. Users went along with it, since it was better than a universal ban; a script was created that directed people to the general threads, which were very active and populated by numerous artists, including /tg/'s own Weaver, the man responsible for Ruby Quest, then going by the name "Glitter Glue".

Unfortunately, the mods were still idiots. Occasionally, 4chan staff would pop in and delete the general thread, which caused chaos. The only possible result was that countless new threads would pop up and almost the entire front page of /co/ would be attempts to recreate "MLP General". 4chan staff would go on banning the new threads ad nauseum, and users would find it impossible to establish a proper, organized thread that followed the rules. This caused various forms of rebellion - sometimes the general thread would be completely relocated to a different 4chan board where mods didn't seem to be as active. There the new general would stay, irritating the locals, until the mods left and the people were allowed to reorganize again.

This ongoing strife of argumentation, kicking the fandom hive, and the growing size of the fandom itself eventually forced the mods to come up with a plan so that they could have things their way while still resolving the problem. Unwilling to admit that their actions were at odds with 4chan itself due to the numerous effects of the abuse, Moot and the moderators once again established a global ban on My Little Pony. But this time, Moot offered an apology which proved empty over time, and he created a new board where the show was to be discussed exclusively. The board was called /mlp/.

So surprisingly, the pony fandom has had a huge impact on 4chan in general and can be inferred to have caused Moot to rethink the way he runs the site in some degrees. Not in a positive direction - he merely works on ways to slow 4chan down to make it easier for his staff to control everything so that he'll never have to admit a tactical loss to his userbase again.

==On [[:/tg/]]==
[[File:Pony rape.png|250px|thumb|This [[Pretty Marines]] Dreadnought was jealous of Pinkie Pie's color scheme. Either that, or it mistook her for a [[Dwarf|Leprechaun]] and thought [[Cake|Lucky Charms]] would fall out if it [[Fist of the North Star|ripped it open]]. [[/tg/|Experts]] are not entirely sure which; draw your own conclusions.]]
Fa/tg/uys have a historical record of wishing to be the little girl, but the days when /tg/ stood for /totally gay/ and/or /[[Touhou|touhou games]]/ have long since passed and are merely a happy memory now, so our beloved board responded to the Pony plague in much the same way that /tg/ responds to everything it doesn't know how to feel about: [[RAGE|violent anger]].

For serious, it's just another iteration of the same thing. We saw it before with [[Touhou]], we'll see it again some other time and wish that Ponies were the least of our problems. Regardless, /tg/'s mods never learn from their past mistakes, and fired up the [[Commissar|Commissariat]] - discussion of ''My Little Pony'' on /tg/ is now [[Extra Heresy]] and will be responded to with bans. Because much like with [[chakat]]s before them, /tg/ has a built-in excuse [[Warhammer Wednesday|literally as old as /tg/ itself]]; ''suffer not the furry to live.''

Ponies are still common-as-hell on /b/, /f/, and /co/, but they're infrequently brought up on the other boards anymore, /tg/ included. The addition of the /mlp/ board gave bronies a general board to post their content. The mods make it too much trouble to fight for it anywhere else, as the global ban is still in effect and the chances of it being lifted before the fandom dies out is slim.

The general reaction to any mention of ponies on /tg/ varies between simple exuberance, to indifference and apathy, to [[Khorne]]-pausing [[RAGE]] depending on how well you roll, though the second scenario is more prevalent overall. Even with the bans in place, fans on /tg/ have proven their time-honored ability to [[/tg/ gets shit done|get shit done]] and produced a veritable arsenal of Pony-flavoured [[RPG]]s, including titles like [[Don't Rest Your Hooves]], [[Ponyfinder]], [[Poor Unfortunate Foals]] and other things that can be found on the internet and had their genesis in /tg/. It just goes to show that even when something's completely ridiculous, /tg/ won't be prevented from dicking around with it and trying to make some win in the process, or at least prying some laughs and mockery out of it. If you go looking around the seven Internets, you can even find fanfiction about the main cast playing [[D&D]], which is like product-placement inception when you remember ''it's all owned by [[Hasbro]] now''. [[Just as planned]]. While 40K has fallen to the filthy plague of pastel-coloured horse loving man-children, regular Warhammer has not, owing to the fact that WHFB has largely into obscurity outside the Tabletop scene due to being overshadowed by it's futuristic, grimdark counterpart.

Overlapping fanbases have resulted in large amounts of crossover fiction and fanart - including the somewhat bizarre meeting of MLP and [[Warhammer 40,000]], amongst others - and they are guaranteed to incense at least a few people every time they rear their mutated heads. Including you, once you reach this page's gallery section. Look out, here it comes!

Oh yeah most of the Dawn of War cast also did VA work on FIM, most notably Farseer Taldeer's who voices Princess Celestia and [[Firaeveus Carron]] who voices Chief Thunder-nuts. In the exact same voice. Meanwhile, Shas'O Kais is done by the same guy who does a gay sea serpent and an annoying little kid on the show.

==/mlp/==
[[File:Mlp_in_a_nutshell.png|thumb|180px|right|A short glimpse into the ride that never ends.]]
/mlp/ is one of 4chan's more active boards. It's also probably the most tragic.

During seasons one and two of My Little Pony, the board was populated with a huge number of fans discussing the show. A few of /tg/'s old artists, who haven't been seen around /tg/ proper since the great content purge of 2009, were there on a regular basis producing hilarious comics, stories, and drawings for the young fandom. The extreme proliferation of materials led to the creation of a website called Equestria Daily, as well as numerous others, and thousands of Youtube parodies and song remixes which range from very good to inconceivably terrible.

However, in the time between seasons, /mlp/ finds itself struggling to discuss new content. The board was made mainly to satisfy 4chan's moderators, not because the fourth generation of My Little Pony had so much going on that an entire board to itself was really necessary. During these times, the site discusses or sometimes destroys fandom artists, official show staff, or Hasbro's corporate politics. In time, the fandom had also developed a number of ongoing sub-cultures that were entirely sustained by fan artists. Notable examples include or included fluffy ponies, Milky Way, Flutterrape, Anon in Equestria, Ponies on Earth, Satyr Abomination, ass worship, bat ponies, and whatever else can be made into a series during the hiatus. In other words, the board is active, but somewhat starving for material related to the actual show.

The board also had a terrible janitor who was so bad at his job that he became a joke around the site. He was often apathetic, deleted threads inexplicably, and didn't seem to have a purpose beyond wasting everyone's time. Eventually, the board named him "Scruffy", after the janitor from Futurama who seems to have no purpose or positive influence on anything. After that, he was always depicted as the character, and Scruffy's face was sometimes plastered over questionable or NSFW content as a kind of jab at the guy. He wasn't exactly liked, but he wasn't a scourge. Yet.

Eventually, that changed. For unknown reasons, possibly a visit by Lauren Faust, Scruffy began a crackdown and /mlp/ got to re-live the days of bans and fighting for the right to post content on their own board. He arbitrarily chose a number of the generals to die, some because of racy content and others just because he didn't like them and Global Rule #6 allows a mod to delete anything he feels falls outside of "positive contributions". He rapidly went from a character teasingly thought of as someone who couldn't do a job to someone who was actively doing his job very badly. Further outrage ensued when screen caps from the hidden janitor board, /j/, revealed Scruffy to be a total dick hole who obviously kind of hated the board - maybe all of 4chan while we're at it, but that's our moderators for you.

Around this same time, Hasbro realized they were sitting on a money printing machine, and instead of standing back and leaving it alone to just print money, they began hitting it with a sledgehammer in the hopes that the machine would produce some kind of totally new money with a more enticing scent that would be more valuable.

It didn't.

Lauren Faust left the show by the middle of season two. The exact reasons have been left to speculation, but it probably a variety of causes. MLP has been noted for dealing with constant executive interference, and its writers have complained that there are frequently "too many chefs" in the kitchen. But there's also evidence of some events in Faust's personal life which may have led to her resignation.

Anyway, by the end of season two and all of season three, Hasbro was actively injecting lame ideas into new episodes, culminating with the release of a brilliant plan: clutter the main character up with a pair of goose wings and call her a princess. Disney is making tons of dosh on princesses! How could this go wrong?

Then they took their next step. They introduced a spin-off called Equestria Girls. It was a novel concept in the way that it took a bunch of young adult characters with clear future prospects, an open world full of magic, and a friendly, colorful atmosphere, and then completely obliterated all of that by making the ponies into human, teenage girls trapped in motherfucking high school. It was a movie, and the entire plot revolved around how much the high school basically sucked compared to the pony universe. To the total, utter, unparalleled shock of Hasbro's astounding marketing teams, somehow, a show about pastel girls in the shackles of a tired, stressful cliche of a system did not capture quite the same audience.

Going forward, the show has had multiple directors and has lost its sense of vision. The setting has become like wet toilet paper: every time they touch something, they put holes in it. /mlp/ is in a state that was inevitable from the very beginning, where 90% of the threads are about a fetish or the latest greentext fad, and the remaining 10% of threads are arguing over whether the show is still good. The show doesn't bother much with logic any longer, so nobody can really string ideas onto the world and there's a whole lot less creative musing. Fan content is still made, but it's usually character portraits and pornography. Overall, the culture that remains is pretty spergy, even by 4chan's standards.

==Post-Mortum Analysis==
<s>Many things can be gleaned from the rise and subsuquent fall of [[/mlp/]], and not just crass observations by [[/tg/]] that [[Hasbro]]'s marketing division either has or every soon will be [[Squats|undergoing some downsizing]]. Indeed, one can compare it to the rise and fall of [[Flare|many]] [[AnonTalk|other]] [[Evony|diseases]] that swept through 4chan, and were similarly fucking loathed - but as the MLP fandom, disjointed mess that it is, had a lot of legitimate fans, one can make the argument that you can't really compare it to these embodiments of failure.</s>

<s>...But we all know which fandom it was that brought us [[FATAL|horse-fucking]], so [[butthurt|fair enough]].</s>

<s>[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnexplainedRecovery ...We got better]</s>

No we fucking didn't.

As it stands the My Little Pony fanbase has been skimmed down to a elite few, the franchise no longer having the mass appeal it seemingly had previously. Those who have left claim it's because of the declining quality of show itself, not to mention the string of terrible movies more akin to a Barbie franchise then the cartoon they loved so much. Those who stay claim that the show is as good as it's always been, it's just been pretty silly and simple from day one. People who have stuck to the board are biased and continually rate episodes highly in polls, but the largest enterprises established for the fandom have been signaling their financial doom due to collapsing interest in the show. The split really occurred around the first movie, which was following one of the worse seasons in many fans opinion and a change of story direction that made many raise their eyebrows. From here it really depends who you ask, either the quality nosedived or it stayed the same, though there are exceptions. It's impossible to be certain when the people who give up on the show also quit commenting on it.

The main point is the once growing and dominant Brony fandom has finally settled into a more niche environment, like the Beast Wars and Gem fandoms. While not dead, it's more a fandom that's...Just there, as opposed to some attacking force plaguing the internet.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:pony_defeat_at_stalliongrad_by_curtsibling-d4rqbg1.jpg|Comrade Curt Sibling Provides.
File:Most_bizarre_heresy_ever.jpg|I don't even know what is happening anymore.
File:My Little Captain.jpg|A [[Derp|SPEHSS MARE-EEN]] mini.
File:Spacemare-ens.JPG|''".....We stood at the end of discord and would have fallen, if it were not for the God-Princess and her Ponies of Friendship. Forged in love, tempered in tolerance, we are the living weapons of friendship: The Space Mare-eens."''
File:Borealemlp.jpg|Hereseh my Batul brothars, hereseh!
File:Ultramarine_claims_Princess_Celestia.png|Yep. Celestia just got claimed by the [[Ultramarines|Ultrasfmurfs]]. Probably to get <s>purged</s> a better spiritual liege.
File:Boreale_clehms_Celestia.jpg|[[Indrick Boreale|Brotha Boreale]] clehmed Princess Celestia from teh [[Ultramarines]]!
File:Ponyified Wardian Heresy.png|Heresy unending within heresy.
Image:SPESS MARE-EENS.jpg|Even /tg/ has not been immune.
Image:40k Ponies.jpg|In the grim darkness of the far future, there are only ponies.
Image:more40kponies.jpg|Ridiculous amount of ponies, that is.
File:Evil ponies.jpg|Nothing must be spared.
File:Forever_alone_pony_brony_luke_is_the_new_meme_myoc.jpg|Typical constituent of the 'expanded demographic'. Note the eerie resemblance to fa/tg/uys.
File:Chaos Space Mareeens.jpg|Chaos Space Mare-eens of Khorne, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch.
File:Plague Pon-e.jpg|Papa Nurgle's version.
Image:Adeptusmechanus_techpony.jpg|A tech-filly of the Ponyius Mechanicus.
Image:Equestria Heresy.png| Venerate the God-Empress of Ponykind or else.
File:Empress celestia.jpg|[[Rule 63|The Empress Protects]].
Image:My rare hesperax by hattonslayden-d35k7or.jpg|Rarity as Hesperax? Dark Eldar would find that sick... yet strangely erotic.
Image:Idealized.jpg|[[Dark Eldar]] + Rarity = [[/d/|WHY BONER?! '''WHY?''']]
File:XV25 Dash.png|The Tau'va is now 20% cooler.
File:Librarian Sparkle.jpg|Through the tolerance of our enemies do we earn our salvation.
File:Commissar Applejack.jpg|If you will not serve in combat, then you will serve on the bucking line.
File:Grey Knight Rarity.jpg|Lo', though the time is dark, my face shines.
File:Terminator Fluttershy.jpg|I LOVE NO EVIL FOR I AM LOVE INCARNATE!
File:Pinkie Pie flamer.jpeg|Initiating party protocol 23.
File:The_rainbow_chapter_by_laaseensld-d4sc0sn.jpg|Consolidating friendship on the objective!
File:Assault Marine dash.jpg|Eat powerhooves!
File:Collection.jpg|The Emperor's Ponies of Death.
File:Chaotic discord.png|[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-zreLMC3FI *Plot Twist*]
Image:Pony Cultist.png|C-C-C-COMBO CANCER
Image:Marines vs Ponies.jpg|Suffer not the pony to live.
Image:Mlpexterminatus.png|The Imperium has judged these mutants and found them.... wanting......
File:CelestiaExterminatus.jpg|The Imperium has ju.....FAITH IS A LIE, TRUTH IS A LIE.
File:Termies vs dash.png|Praise the Emperor and strike down his foes.
Image:FUKLAW_PONY.jpg|'''EXTRA HERESY!'''
Image:2181 - crossover warhammer 40k.jpg|Heretical and ''terrifying''.
Image:11487_-_commissar_crossover_fluttershy_fluttertank_hat_sword_tank_warhammer_40k.jpg|Impersonating the Emperor's Commissars is extra heresy and punishable by BLAM.
File:LunaHeresycolored.jpg|This picture is heresy within heresy. A work of infinite fractal heresy without beginning or end.
Image:Hoofed heretics.jpg|''[[Azariah Kyras|He]] walked me through the ruins of Victory Bay, celebrating the slaughter I had carried out there! If you had been there, you too would see what a rotten veil of lies our chapter has become!"'' - Avitus
Image:Ponyfinder_page26.jpg|Nor Paizo. [[Ponyfinder]] is your new RPG.
File:Ponyfinder page28.jpg|Ponyfinder Pegasus datasheet
File:Ponyfinder page27.jpg|Ponyfinder Unicorn datasheet
File:Ponyfinder april1st.jpg|Ponyfinder Rainbow Dash datashe...wait.
Image:Pony4str.png|[[-4 Str]]
File:MyLittleMagesExpanded.jpg|Have to give 'em credit. Foul as the underlying concept might be, its presentation was carried out well.
Image:Boardponies.jpg|what is this I don't even
File:MyLittlePwny.jpg|Suffer not the furry to live. Note that this is the actual result of being hit by a power weapon.
File:WTF_chart_bronie_sociological_analysis_flowchart_by_broniepologist-d4f95jq.jpg|tl;dr "bronies do it for the lulz".
File:Warhammer 40k pony angry marines HERESY mlp fim by yourou-d3asnso.jpg|<s>Anyone still not convinced the faggots have gone too far?</s> [http://1d4chan.org/images/1/1f/Animated_yiff_furry_marines_1211613516571.gif There are worse abominations.]
</Gallery>

== See Also ==
;/tg/ Related:
Official games:
* [http://enter-play.com/products/mlpccg.html|My Little Pony CCG] - A pretty fun variation of [[Magic: The Gathering|MtG]] which stresses multi-color decks and solving friendship problems instead of killing each other.
* [[Tails of Equestria]] - Recently announced official P&P role-playing game poised to come in winter 2016, written by [[Alessio Cavatore]] of Games Workshop fame.
Fan made content:
* [[Ponyfinder]] - the [[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game|Pathfinder]] splatbook for MLP races and classes
* [[Don't Rest Your Hooves]] - the [[Don't Rest Your Head|horror]] of Saturday-morning cartoons
* [http://giftkrieg23.deviantart.com/art/The-Savage-World-of-My-Little-Pony-4th-Edition-347963248 Savage World of MLP] - the [[Savage Worlds]] splatbook for MLP
* [[Rainbow Warriors]] - A [[Space Marine]] chapter whose colours are disturbingly similar to Rainbow Dash.
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=80240.0 My Little Dwarf Fortress] - use your hooves to [[Dwarf Fortress|strike the earth!]] Now with 441 different pony hairstyles.
* [[Poor Unfortunate Foals]] - A completely homebrewed system for horror roleplaying as fillies and colts lost in the Everfree Forest of the MLP setting.
* [http://fav.me/d8493z3 MLP 45E] - the [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|D&D 5E]] splatbook for classes, races, feats, etc.
* [http://ponyglue.ytmnd.com/ /tg/'s general outlook on the My Little Pony phenomena can be accurately portrayed thus.]
* [http://anonpone.pineapplecomputing.com/ Quest Archive] - /mlp/'s quest archive.

;Elsewhere
* [http://boards.4chan.org/mlp/ 4chan's pony board] - The dedicated board for ponyfags and is SFW(Most of the time). Has surprisingly copied /tg/'s ability of being immune to trolls. Simple explanation really, they have both endured so much misunderstanding in the past (both having the fat,basement dwelling stereotype) that any hate is just background noise.
* [http://derpibooru.org/ derpibooru]- Pretty much /mlp/ lite and more pictures and not fully there on the trolling part (most have a "don't like it, filter it" mindset)
* [http://broniepologist.deviantart.com/art/Bronie-Sociological-Analysis-Flowchart-267486038 Behold as a DeviantArt sperglord completely ruins any fondness you may or may not have for the series]

;Video Review
* [http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opinionated-reviews/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-review-5658418 Opinionated review of My Little Pony FIM]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWRPNLrrzSc A fairly accurate depiction of a archetypical brony.]

[[Category:Heresy]][[Category:RAGE]][[Category:Television]][[Category:FAIL]][[Category:Not related]]