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Thunder Warriors

2022-07-16T23:23:43Z

2600:1700:91C1:A4E0:BD40:6823:1010:A0C3: /* The Outcast Dead incident */

[[File:T5b26bd95vs41.jpg|350px|right|thumb|I'm better than any of you [[Space Marines|bitches]]...if only I could live longer and not get my ass kicked by the [[Custodes]] and the [[Dark Angels]]. [[Dreadwing|Though if you consider what I may have been fighting]]. You wouldn't have survived either.]]

{{Awesome}}
The '''Thunder Warriors''' were the first soldiers of the man who eventually became the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]]. In many ways, they were the precursors to the [[Space Marines]].

==Origins==
Known as the Legio Cataegis (Latin: Storm Legion), they were formed during the [[Age of Strife]], when the Emperor judged that it was the right time to make His presence known. He needed some advantage over the warlords, techno-barbarians, and other would-be world rulers that were currently reenacting Mad Max all over Terra, and so He created twenty regiments consisting of hundreds of genetically enhanced soldiers, led by commanding officers known as "primarchs" (one of these primarchs was named Ushotan, and he was in command of the [[Iron Warriors|IV Legion, who specialized in siege warfare]]). These soldiers wore simple, smog producing, yet flamboyant and decorative powered armor. Because the Emperor's symbol at the time was a raptor and thunderbolt, this symbol was prominently displayed on the chestplate of the armor, the armor came to be known as [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Thunder Armor]] and the warriors who wore said armor were called Thunder Warriors in Low Gothic.

Created using a simplified cookie-cutter version of the Custodes' bio-alchemy on adult subjects (in contrast the Custodes' custom-tailored process subjected on infants), the Thunder Warriors were devastatingly effective and quickly became icons of the Emperor's armies; just the threat of the Thunder Warriors' arrival could convince a warlord to surrender, and those who refused quickly learned that the Thunder Warriors' reputation was not exaggerated. According to the fluff, they were even more physically powerful and ruthless than the Space Marines. And while physically stronger, they were not nearly as mentally or physiologically stable, and overall '''FAR''' inferior to the Custodes.

And yet, for all their successes, the Thunder Warriors were not perfect. Though at the time, it was believed they were, in fact, the pinnacle of mass produced military genetic engineering. However, along with Amar Astarte (the "mother" of the Thunder Warriors, Primarchs and Space Marines), the Emperor was able to refine the process and stabilize the genetic instability that ran amok in the Thunder Warriors, utilizing the Astartes Primarchs as templates to stabilise a new breed of warrior.

None of them could be counted on to last long, as either their minds or bodies gave out at unpredictable intervals, and the technology didn't yet exist to give them a lifespan longer than the average human's. They were suitable for fighting the barbarian [[human]] armies of the [[Age of Strife]], but not for the long, star-spanning campaign of the [[Great Crusade]] that the Emperor had set as His next goal, so as soon as He had enough territory to set up a secure laboratory and enough scientists to man it, He set to work on the next generation of warriors: the [[Primarch]]s. Interesting to note, when confronted by Chaotic energy, whilst the Custodes were immune to Chaos, the Thunder Warriors seemed strengthened by it at the cost of mental control. During the war against the Confederacy of Maulland Sen (one of the earliest conquests in the Unification Wars), they were exposed to Warp energy, which drove them into a berserk frenzy and caused them to butcher everyone in their way, even noncombatants and those whom the Emperor would have preferred to keep alive. The amount of carnage from their exposure to sorcery was the first serious cause for concern in all Imperial chains of command.

This may indicate that the Thunder Warriors' augmentations involved Warpcraft. Which would make sense as Thunder Warriors and Astartes alike commonly demonstrate superhuman physical abilities far beyond any augmentation could hope to justify. Such as relatively unequipped Thunder Warriors slaughtering [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] with several Astartes killed for each Thunder Warrior dead even after many years of genetic degradation. Valdor even obliquely states in context with the Thunder Warriors that it was necessary to create subjects [The Primarchs] that were in ''greater control over their powers''. So it's clear psychic mumbo jumbo is at work and that it was not working right with the Thunder Warriors. He also states that the project failed and [after the Scattering] only the smallest fragments remained - hinting that the Astartes and Thunder Warriors were supposed to be much more.

===Eventual Fate===
[[File:Thunder_warriors.jpg|200px|thumb|right|P.S. the man in the picture is not an actual thunder warrior, he just stole the armor from a copy of one.]]
The Thunder Warriors were not what He [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|envisioned]] as the defenders of humanity; they were blunt tools of destruction and little else. It is very important to note that the Astartes were already in circulation before the Thunder Warriors were "retired", the [[Dark Angels|First Legion]] had already been established and Proto-Legions all the way up to the [[Salamanders|XVIIIth]] were seeing active combat. The Emperor saw no great loss in removing them for good now that they were obsolete. The Imperial records indicate that the last of the Thunder Warriors all perished at the '''Battle of Mount Ararat''', which is strongly believed to be a cover story. Though the details are scarce, the battle did actually happen and there were survivors, hinting at a possible betrayal and a cull instigated by the Custodians.

However, contrary to this popular viewpoint, the retirement of the Thunder Warriors may not have been a betrayal and perhaps something less dickish; more like putting down an old guard dog with cancer than a complete betrayal. The Thunder Warriors leader: '''Arik Taranis''' is vague on the details and admits he holds no ill will towards the Emperor for what he did. Another survivor: '''Dahren Heruk''' still considers himself loyal to the Emperor and holds to his pre-Unity oaths. More interestingly, when Heruk rescues a Custodian from a group of Alpha Legion hiding on Terra, the surprised Custodian thanks him and seems prepared to leave him where he is, at least until a mortally wounded Heruk halts him to request and be granted an "honoured death" (basically a mercy kill with a blade through the heart). Like Arik and Ghota, Heruk's group of Thunder Warriors are all failing physically, filled with cancer, and required to undergo regular organ transplantation just to stay alive; and are failing mentally, wracked with hallucinations of the Unity Wars like soldiers with PTSD. It may be that the last of the Thunder Warriors went willingly to their ends at Mount Ararat at the very height of their eminence, knowing that they could go no further than that. The alternative being eventual madness and inevitable biological collapse, coupled with being rendered obsolete in the shadow of the newly rising Astartes. Heruk remembers the battle of Mount Ararat to have been glorious with little to no bitterness, and he and his companions all believe that they have simply [[Death Korps of Krieg|''lived too long'']].

The 8th Edition Custodes Codex explained that the Thunder Warriors were purged after they rebelled due to learning that they were engineered with intentionally short lifespans. More specifically, they revolted over what they perceived as the Emperor's betrayal for deliberately giving them a shortened lifespan. Ironically, the remaining Thunder Warriors were purged by the first few thousand prototype Astartes from the [[Dark Angels|I Legion]] in their first combat engagement after joining forces with Imperial officials planning a coup. As such, it would make sense that any surviving Thunder Warriors would be those whose loyalty to the Emperor prevented them from holding such a grudge. The ones who revolted got put down by the proto Astartes Legions, while those who marched to their ends likely were loyalists anyway and probably considered the last battle of the Unification Wars as something between a last chance at martyrdom, euthanasia and assisted suicide.

[[File:Thunder Warrior Model.jpg|200px|thumb|left|If only GW bothered to re-make the model like they did with the Space Marines... It seems big E wasn't the only one who abandoned them.]]

The so-called "cull" wasn't the end of the Thunder Warriors, though, as some of them managed to escape and spread throughout the Imperium. Per Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, scattered bands of survivors endured in hiding through out Terra and the immediate space around the Sol System but most were systematically hunted down and liquidated by the I Legion. In one notable incident during the [[Great Crusade]], there was an insurrection on the asteroid prison colony of Cerberus. Though the Thunder Warriors ''were not'' the only members of the rebellion, there were enough of them to form a group calling themselves the '''Dait'Tar'''. The Emperor did not like that and sent an army of [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] to crush the prison riot with impunity. The Astartes having gotten bored with maiming and killing prisoners not worthy of their challenge, found themselves some Thunder Warriors grouping up in a defensive position. Instead of just showering bullets on the surviving Warriors like a more sensible Legion might have, the War Hounds rushed in and engaged them in close combat. But Thunder Warriors are basically mini-[[Primarchs]] without the immortality, and were able to claim three to four Marine kills in melee for each Warrior that went down. After five hours of carnage and RAEG of old vs. new, the [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Army]] forces waiting in orbit got bored and decided to join the party, but the party was already done and left nothing but Thunder Warrior corpses, lots of War Hound corpses, and lots and lots of regular prisoner corpses cut down apparently trying to escape the melee.

Others descended into the Underworld of Terra, taking roles amongst the criminal element or eking out a living as gladiators. One group managed to steal an Astartes progenoid gland to extend their lifespans and went into hiding, so far not to be seen again. This itself is not unprecedented as the [[Traitor Legion Loyalists|World Eater Blackshield]], Endryd Haar, was rumored to be a proto-legionnaire that was converted into an Astartes from Cataegis gene-stock; being mentioned to be a giant even among Space marines, having killed one of the Dait'Tar by breaking his neck in single combat, and was recognized by Malcador as one of the first Terran War Hounds. Likewise, [[Autek Mor]] was one of the first Iron Hands and his brutality was severe enough by Astartes standards to spread rumors that his gene-seed and lineage aren’t what they seem. [[Trazyn]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7bf6tIzWs is known to have at least one in stasis] on Solemnace, which could perhaps be the enigmatic "giant in baroque armor" mentioned in the Necron Codex.

==Capabilities==
It is generally accepted that peak Thunder Warriors probably ''(the fluff is hazy on this)'' fall somewhere between Astartes and Custodes on the scale of who-beats-who. Though their exact capabilities are not covered in any great detail. As a military force, the Thunder Warriors were considered unmatched even in their time, yet were recorded as being lacking in discipline. Custodes vs Thunder Warriors has gone both ways with both being said to be unmatched even though both existed concurrently. So it may simply be that Custodes utilize teamwork and Thunder Warriors do not or who knows what. Since Custodes are made using the Emperor's own blood, they likely have more potent fuck-physics superhuman capabilities.

During the Unification Wars, every Warlord and his dog had access to some form of advanced technology, whether through cyber-augmentation, bio-alchemical processes or genetic tampering, the Thunder Warrior was supposed to be superior to all of them. In '''HH1''' they were claimed to have ''"unprecedented superhuman physical power, gene-programmed resistance to environment"'' and most notably: resistance to "psychic attack". However, in the context of the statement the Thunder Warriors were explicitly superior to anything the Emperor's enemies could field '''against''' him rather than '''by''' him; however the '''HH7''' entry for Custodians explicitly states that they were designed to be ''"stronger, faster, more acute of sense and more resilient than even the doomed Thunder Warriors"'', pretty much putting the matter to bed. Yet in their time the Thunder Warriors existed as a legion while there were only a handful of Custodians attending the Emperor, so they easily projected a far more dangerous military threat. Even by the final '''Battle of Ararat''' there were only a few hundred Custodes, so the Thunder Warriors remained the deadlier force while the Custodians were still some barely understood figures who remained at the Emperor's side and it took the new Astartes warriors to eventually take down the Thunder Warriors.

Resistance to psychic attack is particularly notable, since while his Custodians and Astartes are possessed of some impressive willpower and determination, as well as a lot of hypno-indoctrinated mental safeguards, they seem to be no more or less able to resist psykers than any other human. What's more is that we can possibly narrow this down even further and credit it to the Emperor directly, rather than any form of genetic/biological upgrade. [[Fallen Angels|Merir Astelan]] and the [[Dark Angels|first 5000 Space Marines]] all had similar psychic wards build into their minds granted from the Emperor himself, manifesting as a golden aura that seems to make psychic compulsions have no affect on them, and giving telepaths headaches for trying to read them. This is probably why the later Astartes don't share this capability, as the Emperor probably didn't have the time to mind-lock every soldier under his command. Additionally, while they did not seem vulnerable to mutation or mind control upon being exposed to sorcery, the Battle of Maulland Sen demonstrated that Warp energy exposure made them go berserk in a manner that would make even pre-Heresy Angron surprised in his more lucid moments. This implies the Thunder Warriors' psychic resistance was actually part of their enhancements and not from the Emperor's personal attention. And "resistance" probably translated to "murderize everything in range until you kill the psyker".

In terms of tactics and physical combat, it was noted by observers that the Astartes and Cataegis were very different in combat style and doctrine during the Palace Coup's battle between Valdor's first batch of Dark Angels initiates against the Thunder Warrior Survivors and their allies. Whereas the Thunder Warriors and their Primarch, Ushotan, were described as flamboyant; emotionally unrestricted; and individually imposing, the first Dark Angels were described as functional; mechanical in nature; and methodical. Additionally, while the book, Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, made clear that each Thunder Warrior and Ushotan were individually larger and more powerful than each Dark Angel they fought, the latter were described as almost always wounding or maiming their Cataegis opponents before they died and were replaced by reinforcements that would eventually wear their opponents down. Whereas Ushotan was described as a single berserk bear (in contrast to the Thunder Warrior Dahren Heruk's description of the Custodes as an indomitable pride of lions), the Astartes were described as a pack of instinctively coordinated wolves that gave him significantly more trouble than the power armored techno-barbarians he typically mowed down with contempt. The fact that they were on the verge of overwhelming him made Constantin challenge Ushotan himself to give the Cataegis Primarch a more fitting and honorable death.

In any case, a few things are clear. While they do have additional organs (seeing as they had to harvest organs from their own dead rather than from normal humans to prolong their lives), there are a number of organs/abilities they do not have.
*No Black Carapace; the original [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Mk. 1 Thunder Armour]] was never designed to function with one, so Thunder Warriors wore their heavy armour like any mortal would, rather than interfacing with it like a second skin.
*They don't have a secondary heart, as seen with their tradition of "Honoured Deaths" with fellow warriors mercy killing mortally wounded comrades with a blade through the heart.
*They also don't have a Betcher's Gland; one of Dahren Heruk's companions, Vezula Vult, forgot about this when he tangled with a group of Alpha Legionnaires in the slums of Terra, getting sizzled in the face by acid because he wasn't paying attention and joked about how ''"[[Emperor|He]] gave them all the gifts. Didn't He?" ''
*They may not have a Larramans Organ ''(or equivalent)'' as each of Heruk's companions were shown bleeding out at various points rather than have it clot in moments the same way that Astartes do: Kabe, after being stabbed with a spear was shown to have a pool of blood forming beneath him and was beyond saving by the time it was accumulating in his lungs; Gairok had blood bubbling from his lips after being run through with a sword; while Vult was also shown to be slowly dying from a wet and dark wound to the gut some time after the wound had been inflicted.
*Finally, and probably most importantly, they don't have a Progenoid Gland, which for Space Marine is the ''eau de Astartes'', making them everything that they are and providing the means to make more of them.

These points aside, the fact the Thunder Warriors are physically superior to Astartes is not really in doubt, with each conflict in the fluff between them generally resulting in it taking several Astartes just to bring down a single Thunder Warrior, and even in most of these reported situations, the Thunder Warriors in question are long past their physical prime and are undoubtedly in the throes of genetic degredation, so who knows that they might have been capable of at the peak of their power. They might have been directly superior to Custodians, who knows? The best example thus far is the duel between Primarch Ushotan and Constantin Valdor; both the highest exemplars of their respective breeds. Though Ushotan was wounded by several Astartes he slew before the duel actually started, with both combatants having started the battle at the same time and Valdor had since gone through a number of Thunder Warriors singlehandedly so it's still a fair starting point. Ushotan still had the strength to check several of Valdor's blows which Valdor had to return by piling more strength upon strength ''(even in his superior auramite armour)''. However, Ushotan was tiring from lactic acid build-up, which Valdor exploited with a perfectly timed strike. The Thunder Warrior ''may'' have been stronger, but the Custodian fought with unmatched martial perfection and could perceive the flow of the fight even while it was happening and presumably didn't apply one hundred percent strength and was able to work his way up while his foe had to go one hundred percent and stay there trying to fight exhaustion as he had no other advantage.

All things considered: a Dreadnought is deadlier than a single Space Marine, but the Imperium does not force healthy Space Marines to become dreadnoughts simply because they are deadlier. An Ogryn might be capable of tearing a Marines arm off, while an Assassin might be swift enough to punch through power armour, but they are all reserved for specific situations and purposes. The same should be said between the differences between the three different branches of superhuman: The Custodians were intended to be peers and guardians of the Emperor himself; and remain with him in whatever future he had planned for humanity. The Astartes were designed for long campaigns that stretch out over centuries, and were capable of fighting in any number of environments against strange alien foes. In a similar way that a lance is better at stabbing than a shorter but more versatile sword, the Thunder Warriors were designed to fight in '''one''' environment against '''one''' set of foes from '''one''' planet: [[Terra]]. A single campaign against some of the deadliest examples humanity could throw back at them, so it is no wonder they seem to do so well compared against Space Marines and Custodians, since they are more a tool/weapon designed for only one circumstance.

===Lifespans===
{{Topquote|There was never time for perfection, and so the Cataegis were always a compromise. They were the best that could have been created under such conditions, but nobody believed they were permanent.|Amar Astarte}}

As to the issue of longevity, the Custodians and Astartes don't age (well, they get the cosmetics of aging but it's only skin-deep and in a sexy GILF way instead of spots and wrinkles). The Emperor could have granted the Thunder Warriors longer lifespans, even biological immortality ''(it's actually pretty simple since aging is caused by imperfect DNA caused by cellular division; make division create perfect copies and there is no aging)'', but what would be the point of extending their lifespan if he did not intend to make any more of them since they were only required to take over one world (and maybe in a best case scenario Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and the gas giants to suicide against the biggest nasties present) anyway?

The Emperor had twenty more groups of transhumans ready to take over the known galaxy - the sheer number of worlds and the distances between them practically demands the creation of a military force that can stand the test of time. One could then propose that if the Thunder Warriors had longer lifespans then they could have fulfilled that role instead of the Astartes. But as mentioned above, while they might have been physically superior, they simply weren't equipped with the same augmentations that might be useful in more varied environments. Thunder Warriors were designed for a task and they performed it well, providing them with immortality to survive beyond this would have been needlessly sentimental.

It is also interesting that the issue of raising new Thunder Warrior regiments hasn't been brought up; The Thunder Warriors clearly had the medical knowledge to attempt to delay the failure of their physiologies, but either lacked the facilities or the desire to make more of themselves. Very little is known about Thunder Warrior recruitment and augmentation processes such as how long they take, what standards they must adhere to and what specialised equipment is required to create them. By contrast the Space Marines are equipped with their own means of reproduction; the Gene Seed allows them to make more of themselves from varied human sources ''(for example, the [[Blood Angels|IXth Legion]] were even able to recruit from mutated stock)'' and without direct oversight even when on campaign far from their home-worlds. Even if the Thunder Warriors were superior combatants in every conceivable way, the ability to replicate virtually unlimited "lesser" superhumans anywhere in the galaxy is an advantage too great to give up. Similar to how the genetic diversity and adaptivity of the Grey Wolf (which could still interbreed with coyotes and dogs) enabled it to supplant the larger Dire Wolf (which had a more specialized diet and a more restricted gene-pool).

===Development===
The Emperor could have simply made custom augmentations for each Regiment/Legion of Thunder Warriors to specialize them for each intended purpose and could have used the knowledge from the Mechanicum and cybernetics to correct the genetic flaws and smooth things out. Considering that this was how he ended up with twenty Astartes Legions, then why not bring both programs together and create Thunder Warriors with added organs so they could adapt to different environments, or make Astartes with greater size, strength, and resilience on a par with the warriors that preceded them? Considering his development of Primarchs, Astartes, and Custodes, he clearly had enough knowledge, and skill, and tools to do this, whether it was cost effective or not is a different matter; as Constantin Valdor once mentioned that to make an army of Custodians on a similar scale to the Thunder Warriors would have practically bankrupted Terra, and who knows if the programs were even compatible with each other? The existence of the World Eater Blackshield - Endryd Haar, the Terran Iron Hand - Autek Mor, as well as Arik Taranis’ success in splicing Astartes gene-seed into his body to stabilize his lifespan also suggests that it is possible that the Thunder Warriors could’ve been “upgraded and repurposed” as senior advisory cadres to supplement the Astartes but the rebellion and the cost to do so before Luna and Mars were subjugated was too prohibitive and moot if they had to be purged after the Palace Coup. Even then, it would’ve been imperfect in the same manner Khor Phaeron, Amon, and Luther weren’t able to truly fit into their adopted legions as augmented adult humans; particularly when Endryd Haar was still a berserker (albeit, an intelligent one, as Malcador remarked) without the Butcher’s Nails and killed any subordinates who defied his orders. On the flipside, Autek Mor was a sociopath tactician who didn’t give a damn about collateral damage to non-combatants or even his own subordinates so long as all his enemies wound up dead.

In any case: As much as people try to put the blame squarely at his feet for being lazy or short-sighted; Amar Astarte claimed that while his influence certainly sped things along, ''the Emperor'' was not the only person working on his transhuman projects. He had enormous laboratories with hundreds, if not thousands of scientists working in secrecy just to get as far as they did with the Space Marines, and had been working on the Space Marine project even '''before''' the Thunder Warriors existed; they were only ever just a stop-gap. Bearing in mind that the project was set-back and all of the laboratories were destroyed '''twice'''. First with the Scattering of the Primarchs due to the fucking moron [[Erda]] dropping the anti Chaos God defenses to protect the Primarchs (which would severely backfire), secondly when Amar Astarte herself decided that the loss of said Primarchs was going to doom the Astartes Program to the same failures as the Thunder Warriors ''- a very telling reason indeed-'' This means the Great Crusade race was essentially started early, as the Emperor was now on a timer in order to reclaim them before they were irretrievable and still needed to build the [[Astronomican]], claim [[Mars]] and get ''himself'' out into the galaxy to meet his sons. And he had to do this all before the Orks and/or the Rangdan hit critical mass and killed everything so Big E was already under massive pressure.

The fact that [[Primaris Marines]] now exist that are larger, stronger, and more resilient than basic Space Marines shows that the gap has finally been filled. They are still not the equals of Custodians on the tabletop, but we're only talking the about the level of variance within a single point. They are probably much closer to Thunder Warriors and are potentially what the Emperor always intended, if he had the time to focus on his project and continue, or at the very least just one or two steps below, Thunder Warrior level fighters with all the stability and mass production capability of Astartes.

Considering the threats to Unity and dangers of Terra at the time; From nations of psykers to Men of Iron hidden within the core of the planet, and [[Chaos]] licking their lips the whole time, let alone everything else like the [[Rangdan Xenocides|Rangda]] and [[Ork]]s hitting critical mass and bulldozing everything. It's unsurprising the Emperor moved as quickly as he did and used every tool at his disposal.

===Armaments===
Thunder Warriors seem to have been poorly armed compared to [[Custodes]] and [[Space Marines]]. While some assumed [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], [[Plasma]] and [[Radium_Weaponry|Rad weapons]] would have been standard issue. This was not the case. They used larger versions of [[Bolters]] and [[Lasgun|Lasrifles]]. Yes the standard issue weapon of the [[Solar Auxilia]]. That's like making the standard issue weapon of the [[Custodes]] [[Hotshot_Lasgun|Hotshot Lasguns]]. Some also had what looked like Power Weapons or some equivalent. No wonder their shit was pushed in by Empys bodyguards and the [[Dark Angels]]. Their weapons were utter garbage compared to the stuff the new boys got. Good thing for them [[Terminator]] armor didn't (or shouldn't) exist at this time.(disclaimer because Black Library writers tend to forget their own fluff) The battle described in Valdor: Birth of the Imperium would have wound up even more one sided in favor of the fucking new guys.

They also employed Skylance, the predecessor of [[Stormbird]]. So one can guess they had decent air support at the very least.

== Arik Taranis ==

The first badass granddaddy of all Space Marines and Thunder Warriors who would make Guilliman and Dante envious for his existence. He was known to win lots and lots of battles for the Emperor, survive dozens of suicidal fights in which countless Thunder Warriors (who are stronger than space marines) would die, especially the last battle in which he barely made it to victory with his comrade. The Emperor, knowing the Thunder Warrior's limited lifespan would not serve any good for his [[Great Crusade|future conquest]], decided to abandon the Thunder Warriors by arranging an utter betrayal with Arik that would make Horus look like a saint. [[Grimdark|As a result, Arik was forced witness the killing pretty much all his surviving comrades while according to the record, it would be reported that Arik and the Thunder Warriors had been honorably slain during the last battle]]. Despite the betrayal, Arik had no sense of hatred towards the Emperor, for he knew that Thunder Warriors would only serve as an impediment to their [[Space Marines|future cousins]] and he understood the stakes of the Great Crusade.

Anyway, Arik would later hide among Terra's population with his large, obvious body and become the Kingpin of Terra. He started out in the Petitioner's City of the Imperial Palace as the leader of some pissant gang named Dhakal, gang raping his way up the food chain with his only remaining Thunder Warrior buddy, Ghota (who, as described in The Outcast Dead, is an overgrown, cantankerous motherfucker with eyes like the rage zombies from 28 Days Later, apparently a side effect of the Thunder Warriors' painful physical degradation) and at least thirty other survivors, until he was effectively the big cheese of gangsters. Calling himself Babu Dhakal (or at least everyone else called him that... the man was crazy, but he wasn't crazy enough to address himself in the third person), Arik expanded his control until it encompassed [[Drugs]], bitches, gambling, weapons, and even toilets--the absolute madman! He would go on to control criminals and heretics alike, causing the Adeptus Arbites to rage quit because they couldn't handle Arik's near swaglord level reputation and rampant (to the point of being fucking psycho) badassery.

He somehow got lucky and found a secret and surprisingly advance lab with all the necessary equipment buried within Terra which is about as common as finding a functional buried starship on a post-apocalyptic Terra. Meaning it probably wasn't an accident at all. This, coupled with the scientific knowledge he somehow got from the Emperor (which it is not explained whether Emperor "shared" it, Arik being a badass and learned it from just watching, or [[just as planned| the Emperor directly taught him in order prepare for some kind of backup plan]].) would help him to genetically modify and increase his life span (but not really enough to keep him alive -- until the Horus Heresy came around).

=== The Outcast Dead incident ===
When heresy first became a thing that happened in the Imperium, Arik managed to get a functioning Progenoid Gland from one of the outcast dead space marines (it's unclear which one, but they probably didn't mind too much--being outcast and dead and all). He was able to extract at least some of the information he needed to replicate the gland, and was then able to plant a functioning copy he had created within his own body, as well as Ghota's. Since GW never expanded their storyline, we can assume that either they have successfully outlived the Emperor and become more raidy, pillagey, and space piratey than the Dark Eldar, or that the result of all their careful work was that they up and turned into uber powerful heroes of the Imperium or straight up killed by either stealthy [[Custodes]] or the [[Assassinorum]] ... we have no idea. They may have just settled down on Terra. However, since the Siege of Terra is getting its own series, it is possible for them to show up again.

=== Arik Taranis Facts ===
Despite being outdated and retired, Arik has demonstrated some epic Primarch-level shits:

*He knocked down the "Azurite Tower" during the Unification Wars, as well as earning tons of fucking countless titles.
*He survived the Battle of Mount Ararat, a final yet deadly battle that nearly wiped out his army, meaning he gets shit done even if it almost killed him.
*His Thunder Warrior subordinate Ghota can fight 5 elite Astartes to a stalemate even killing one of them, yet Ghota bows to Arik. Although that doesn't mean Arik is physically stronger than Ghota, is just Ghota having more loyalty to his master.
*Arik has the Emperor's knowledge on gene-seed which the Emperor somehow allows. If Arik were still be alive today, he could probably be the greatest Apothecary in the Imperium, next to The Emperor and Eldar goddess [[Isha]] (and [[Fabius Bile|Apothecary Fabius]] if he hadn't turned [[heresy|bad]]).
*Atharva, one of the outcast dead and a powerful Thousand Sons psyker observed Arik and commented that he has an: "aura too bright to look upon. His presence had a gravity all it's own, demanding all attention and fear." and he "could barely stand to turn his psychic senses on him for fear of being overwhelmed.". Keep in mind only the Emperor and the Primarchs has that kind of aura, yet Arik, a Thunder Warrior has that kind of aura surrounding him. This also raised an interesting theory about him being the test subject of the Primarch project, where the Emperor imbued part of his soul onto a living being using somekind of forgotten psychic technique.
*He is named after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranis Taranis], the Celtic god of... [[Just as Planned|thunder]]. So yeah, the guy is literally a god-tier (thunder) warrior. Interestingly, this actually could be evidence of his fandom's pseudo-Primarch/proto-Primarch (the physical prototype as opposed to [[The Angel]] being the soul prototype) view of him. Because being a Thunder Warrior named after a god of thunder has some...implications.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mk1 Thunder Armour.jpg| Thunder armor is said to be inferior to space marine armor, but it is nonetheless more badass because it comes with a biker shade.
File:Thunder Warrior 1.jpg|One of the Thunder Warriors officers. May or may not be Arik Taranis.
File:Thunder Warrior 2.jpg
File:Thunder Warrior 3.jpg
</gallery>
{{Imperium}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]

Captain Titus

2022-07-16T22:51:52Z

2600:1700:91C1:A4E0:BD40:6823:1010:A0C3: /* Graia */

{{awesome}}
[[Image:Titus titlescreen.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Making the Ultramarines [[awesome]] again.]]
{{topquote|The Codex Astartes is a set of rules. They guide us, shape us as Ultramarines, teach us to place duty and honour above all. But how we live with those rules is the true test of a Space Marine. And you, have failed.|Captain Titus to Leandros, showing Ward and his failures just how wrong they are}}

'''Lieutenant Titus''' (as of Space Marine II, demoted from his rank of Captain), first name generally assumed to be "Motherfucking", is the disgraced Captain of the [[Ultramarines]] Second Company and the protagonist of the vidya [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine]]. He is voiced by <s>'''MARK MOTHERFUCKING STRONG!!!!'''</s> Clive Standen, aka Rollo of Normandy.

While his immediate fate after the first game is unknown, the trailer for Space Marine 2 confirms he's alive, has crossed the rubicon primaris, and is kicking ass again. He appears to have spent a formative amount of time with the Black Templars, seeing how he has his chainsword chained to his wrist and is ripping the heads off of tyranid warriors.

== Graia ==
When Forgeworld Graia was invaded by Warboss [[Grimskull]] and his [[Ork]] WAAAAGHH!!!, the Imperium, rather annoyed by this, in particular because of fear of losing some Warlord-class [[Titans 40k|Titans]], responded by sending the Ultramarines Second Company, led by Captain Titus. Titus, along with fellow Ultramarines Brother Leandros and Veteran Sergeant Sidonus, proceeded to aid the remaining Imperial Guardsmen led by Second Lieutenant Miranda 'Mira' Nero.

After destroying a captured planetary defense cannon that was shooting down Imperial reinforcements ("Clever of the damned Orks", as Sidonus put it), and furthering the guardsmen's advance, Titus and his companions made their way to Manufactorum Ajakis, where they found an inquisitorial servo skull, which carried a holographic video recording. The recording shows Inquisitor Drogan asking for aid, along with safeguarding an experimental device if he were to die. The Ultramarines then made their way inside the Titan works where they found the Titan ''Invictus'', intact but abandoned, and Drogan. Drogan explained that he needed to retrieve the power source of the experimental device from its chamber deep beneath the Manufactorum. They then proceeded to retrieve the power source, whilst also killing invading Orks and evading Grimskull himself.

As Titus obtained the power source, its instability made the entire room collapse. Titus, however, ''somehow'' survived and placed the power source into its canister. After escaping the sewers and reuniting with his comrades, they rendez-voused with Drogan in a ruined plaza. Drogan expressed surprise that Titus survived, since the power source was composed of [[Warp]] energy. Drogan then explains that during his time on Graia, he created a weapon known as the 'Psychic Scourge' in hopes of helping the Imperium's war against xenos, whilst also experimenting on Warp energy. The weapon's effect are described in audio logs as blowing up heads of selected Xenos (confirmed by testing on [[Orks]], [[Eldar]], [[Tyranids]] and even [[Tau]]).

Titus and friends fought their way to the Inquisitor's lab (both on their feet and in Valkyries), then through it, to the Psychic Scourge's firing station (blowing up all the Inquisition servoturrets in the process), where they jammed the Power Source in and turned it on. Unfortunately, the Psychic Scourge opened a bunch of Chaos portals instead of killing the Orks like advertised. Well, the Warboss got jumped by Bloodletters, but still... Sorcerer Lord [[Nemeroth]] showed up and blasted the Ultramarines with psyker power, all while declaring Drogan a long-dead puppet possessed by a handy daemon; but Titus resisted like a boss long enough for Grimskull to reappear and pull Nemeroth off the scene along with himself. Titus then fought his way past Bloodletters, Chaos Havoc Marines, and even more Orks to meet up with Mira's guardsmen.

After dueling with Warboss Grimskull (yes, a Sorcerer in Terminator Armour had not taken out the guy, because he was not finished with the Space Marine) and blowing up the big Ork's head with a [[plasma pistol]] ([[Awesome|because the Marine was finished with him]]), Titus returned to the manufactorum to power up the Titan. After he put the Power Source inside the giant death machine, the Titan's cannon blew the fuck out of the Orbital Spire with the big Chaos portal on top, before Nemeroth could bring in his ships. Titus gave the Power Source to Sidonus, but then Nemeroth teleport-snuck up behind them and [[Rape|rapes]] Sidonus with lightning claws. This makes Titus rage harder than fa/tg/uys in a Matt Ward thread, but Nemeroth just grabs the Power Source and teleports away like the Chaos pussy he is.

Still brimming with rage, Titus jumped off the manufactorum, met up with some [[Blood Ravens|Blud Rehvens]] who were practicing their [[Indrick Boreale|Steel Rehn]], and blasted his way across a bridge with a ton of Chaos Marines on it. Then he grabbed the same Thunderhawk he had jumped off and chased Nemeroth to the Orbital Spire (which was still floating somehow). Nemeroth tried to use the Power Source to turn into a daemon prince, [[Awesome|but Titus just bum-rushed the Chaos pansy off the Orbital Spire and beat him to death in freefall. Using the manly power of his hands, Titus crushed both the Sorcerer Lord's face and the Power Source, which exploded, and then he landed inside a flying Thunderhawk.]]

The next morning Titus is getting some much needed shut-eye as the Ultramarines, Blood Ravens, and Mira's guardsmen clean up the last tiny remnants of Nemeroth's invaders. Unfortunately, Titus wakes up to find Leandros has called the Inquisition on Titus. Wait... Didn't Leandros quote the Codex as Chaos allegiance causing Warp resistance, not the other way around? [[Fail|Logical fallacy! *faceplam*]] The Inquisitor clearly doesn't believe Leandros but has to arrest Titus anyway, so Titus tells Leandros that Guilliman's Codex is just guidelines and tactics, and that '''Leandros fails as a Space Marine because he's a blind [[Matt Ward|spiritual-liege-worshiping]] bitch who can't think for himself.''' Then Titus climbs aboard the Inquisition ship and flies off to <s>get painfully investigated for Heresy</s> save another day for the Emprah.

Ironically, in one of the Horus Heresy novels, Roboute Guilliman admits that while the Codex is an excellent work of strategic and tactical brilliance, it does not qualify as a replacement for the soldier's ability to independently act in the field (read: brains). So Titus was in fact holding to the Codex as Guilliman intended and is far more true to it than Leandros, making Leandros a freakin' [[Heresy|heretic]]. In other words, it's a scathing condemnation of [[Matt Ward|He who must never be named]] as a whole.

Double Irony, the Codex states if a Marine suspects that one of his brothers have fallen to Chaos he should go to the Companies' Chaplain and Librarian, those part of their duties within the chapter. In other words, Leandros violated the Codex and circumvented the chain of command while claiming he's following it. [[Derp|IRL soldiers are demoted or court martialed than kicked out of the armed forces for doing that]]! Titus's punishment was demotion to Lieutenant for breaking protocol. So we can assume Leandros has been knocked down to the reserves or Scout Companies or sentenced into one man Penitent Crusades by Space Marine 2. Maybe even kicked out of the Ultramarines and forced to work as a Black Shield.

== Relationships with characters ==
[[File:Mira.jpg|200px|right|thumb|"Hey there, Captain"]]
* '''Sidonus''' - Titus regarded Sidonus as his 'most trusted battle-brother' and closest friend. Sidonus in return shared this friendship with him. Unlike Leandros, who was quickly suspecting Titus of chaos corruption, Sidonus never suspected or even accused Titus of taint. When Sidonus got impaled with extreme prejudice by Nemeroth, Titus actually did a Big No! ([http://youtu.be/kvk9uZeorCE Which is parodied here]), and swore vengeance. Titus finally got revenge when he killed Nemeroth.
* '''Leandros''' - Titus is disappointed by Leandros' strict adherence to the Codex Astartes, but nonetheless tolerates his behavior due to Titus seeing it as immaturity. Leandros originally saw Titus as an inspiration, but his violations to the Codex Astartes and his supposed Chaos taint caused Leandros to suspect his captain. When Leandros gives Titus to the Inquisition, Titus tells him that his devotion to the Codex means he has failed to truly become a Space Marine because he cannot see past the Codex' text to the battlefield it is applied to. We last see Leandros unable to look Titus in the eye like the pussy Codex-[[Word Bearers|worshiper]] he is as the latter leaves with the Inquisitor.
* '''Second Lieutenant Miranda Nero''' - While there isn't any real action between her and Captain Titus and they spend the game focusing on their duties, there are very small hints that they do have some feelings for each other. Titus affectionately calls her Mira, instead of her formal name - that said, she always, ''always'' goes by Mira in the game. However, Mira urged Titus to try and resist the authority of the Inquisition when they accused him of Chaos taint, but Titus decided to surrender himself to them so that they wouldn't hurt Mira and his battle-brothers. Of course these hints are all vague and shouldn't be taken seriously (which cannot be said the same for [[Rule 34]] fanboys). It's much more likely that it's mutual respect due to the fact that Titus is a Space Marine and Mira earned his respect by taking charge and holding out against the Orks for so long. Besides, it's not like Space Marines have much in the way of sex drive (Have you forgotten [[Lukas the Trickster]]?). (BUT what woman could resist falling for a [[Space Marines|hunk genetically engineered by the science of the EMPRAHH]]?)
* '''Inquisitor Drogan''' - Titus is the only Marine in the game who trusts Drogan, and actually shows concern about the Inquisitor's near-fatal wounds, thinking it would be a shame to lose such a powerful ally. Of course, Drogan is a corpse being puppeted by a daemon.
* '''[[Warboss Grimskull]]''' - Contrary to most Marines, Titus sees the Warboss as an enemy that must be put down, but not to the extent that he's all zealous about it - In fact, he never underestimates the danger that the rather cunning Warboss presents, but doesn't put the Warboss down before much, much later, because the Ork isn't a top priority. Sure, he messes up the Captain's plans from time to time, but then again, the Marines' only job is to help liberate the planet (with a side quest for a certain Inquisitor coming popping up later), but going after the Warboss would consume so many resources that it wouldn't be worth it. In fact, after the Chaos invasion was started, Grimskull takes a backseat, trying to hold together his WAAAGH!, but failing to do so, and making a last stand against the Captain, trying to take him down to get revenge... Unfortunately, he had run out of patience for the Warboss. [[Blam|The results are obvious.]]
* '''[[Nemeroth]]''' - A fucking huge Chaos Sorcerer of Chaos Undivided. Through a bit of [[Just as Planned]] and similar douchbaggery, the Sorcerer arrive on Graia to use an artefact on the planet to simultaneously get his army into Realspace and to become even more fuckhueg. While Titus regards Nemeroth with the same kind of professionalism as he did with Grimskull, Nemeroth has much interest in the Captain, bordering to some sort of obsession. He frequently addresses him as "brother", which can mean one of many things (Brother, as in "fellow Marine", or making the point that the Captain might be susceptible to the forces of Chaos). Nemeroth also takes note of Titus' ability to "[[Promotions|resist his touch]]", claiming that the Captain is something special, as he is almost immune to Chaos in general. Even after Titus tells him to fuck off back to the Warp and stop his "brother"-bullshit, Nemeroth still addresses him as brother, and seems to know something about the Captain, which will bite him in the ass later... [[Just as Planned|Just according to keikaku]]. He also seems to have more [[Bloodletters]] at his disposal than Chaos Marines, [[Fail|despite being a Sorcerer.]]

== Reasons why Titus is such a Badass ==
[[File:Inquisitor Titus.jpg|330px|right|thumb|Leandros was wrong]]
* He's a fucking Space Marine. What did you expect?
** He's a fucking Space Marine Captain. Of the greatest cha{{BLAM}}
* He hails from Terra, a well-policed area known as Miami
* Women want him and men want to be him. Yeah baby!
* He was one of the VERY few Ultramarines characters prior to the 8th Edition rework that was multidimensional, not an arrogant ass, and a generally cool guy who cared about protecting others.
* He is one of very few, repeat, '''VERY''' few Ultramarines that <s>actually offs</s> gives the Codex Astartes proportionate importance. He states that the Codex is <s>just a set of rules and guidelines</s> a useful source of tactical and moral guidance, but should not be followed blindly, and how they choose to live by it is what makes them Space Marines.(The Codex is more what you call guidelines than actual rules.)
** The irony is that [[Roboute Guilliman]] would love Titus and be pissed with the rest of the chapter. Now that Robby's back, he'd probably want to talk to Titus. Grandpa Smurf being the kind of guy who reads debriefings to form his own opinion. Guilliman also would be able to see Titus is lacking in the areas of teamwork, leadership and tactics. So as a compromise for the Inquisition. He would reassign Titus to redeem himself in service to the [[Deathwatch]]. He may even be demoted to serve as leader of a [[Kill Team]].
** His interpretation of the Codex Astartes falls closer to that of the [[Raptors (Chapter)]], although the way that it is implemented relies on his own badassery.
* Unlike the majority of his chapter, Titus actually improvises when dealing with the enemy, be it Ork or Chaos, and is willing to employ somewhat unorthodox tactics to get the job done.
** Examples: His solution to his Thunderhawk being unable to land safely due to ork gun batteries is to simply use jump packs and descend down to the ork Kill Krooza (armed with nothing but his combat knife, his bolt pistol and his GIANT CERAMITE BALLS no less), and then blowing said krooza's bridge with its own dorsal gun battery (this tactic is similar to that favored by the [[Angry Marines]], but with less collateral damage); When the Orks were trying to use a Titan-sized laser weapon hanging from a crane to get into a Forge, Titus' way to deal with this was, of course, to drop the thing on the Orks; When an Imperial Warlord Titan gets ready to go shoot the Chaos-controlled orbital spire, two [[Blight Drone|Blight Drones]] and Chaos psyker sorcerers try to shut it down before it's ready. [[Awesome|Titus' solution is to surf the fucking Titan and kill them, without cover no less.]]
*** In short, Titus [[gets shit done]].
** Unlike [[Uriel Ventris]], Titus does this only when it is necessary. As opposed to trying to make some sort of point about the Codex Astartes.
* As said above, he killed thousands of enemies by himself and also with only Sidonus and Leandros to aid him.
* His reaction to a one-on-one challenge by a Daemon Prince? Body-tackle it off the edge of a kilometers-tall orbital spire and fight it while in free-fall, proceed to single-handedly beat the snot out of the partially daemonized Nemeroth.. and finally killing it by crushing the Daemon Prince's head ''with his bare hands while still in free-fall'' (unlike some cock-sure moron who got his body possessed by another Daemon Prince who's name is [[Ultramarines:The Movie|Severus]], not the [[Warhammer 40,000: Fire_Warrior|OTHER Severus]].)
* He's voiced by '''MARK STRONG !!!!'''. At least in the first game; time will tell if the new VA can do him justice.
* He's nice to the Imperial Guard he meets, even the lowest ranking Guardsmen, which can't be said about most high-ranking Imperials. He's, in fact, nicer to Guardsmen than some of their own commanders.
* He is surprisingly humble, attributing his successes to the Emperor's will, seeing himself as simply being an instrument of that will. This is a refreshing contrast to the stereotype of Ultramarines taking their label as the "Imperium's favored sons" for granted.
* He had the balls to stand up to the goddamn Inquisition, backed by four Black Templars. He willingly gives himself up to the Inquisition in order to save his friends and his chapter. Unlike Leandros, who betrayed his brother through his [[Matt Ward|ignorant adherence to the Codex]].
* He kinda looks like your dad.
* He and his few men were responsible in 5 minutes for more bad guy deaths than the entire Ultramarine chapter history.
* He gives zero to little fucks about standard protocol when there is a job to be done.
* He surfs a Warlord Titan
** No, really, he ''surfs'' on a motherfucking '''Warlord Titan'''. ''While blasting [[Blight Drone|plague drones]]''.
* Show me anything that solos groups of 10+ plus Bloodletters
** [[Eliphas|Eliphas the Inheritor]].
** [[Kaldor_Draigo|Kaldor Draigo]].
* His entire speech at the end of the game to Leandros is basically telling Matt Ward that he has failed as a writer.
**Several fans consider Titus to be the best balance between [[Matt Ward|Matt Ward's]] [[Lawful Stupid]] [[Spiritual Liege]] fan-wankery over the [[Codex Astartes]] and [[Graham McNeill|Graham McNeill's]] "the Codex Astartes is useless and cool Space Marines don't follow it" [[Chaotic Stupid]] [[Mary Sue]] special snowflake [[Uriel Ventris]].
* As of the recent space marine update, he has his own miniature model head alongside Sidonus (via sternguard squad).
[[File:Sternguard.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The minis in question. Our heroes are on the far right]]
* The future games starring him would have had him escape, become a renegade Astartes, go on a Jack Bauer killing spree across the galaxy in the name of the Emprah, and finally returning to head his ''own chapter'', presumably to beat some sense into Leandros and shame the Inquisition. Awesome.
** If he does become a Chapter Master, he will probably smack sense back into the rest of the Adeptus Astartes and, from there, the rest of the Imperium. Then mankind will steamroll the rest of the galaxy.
* Because the developers knew their audience, he's not a meaty slab of walking tank able to take any assault and come out unscathed, and on any difficulty above normal the game is genuinely challenging and requires [[Reasonable Marines|more strategy]] than simply wading in and killing everything. This is awesome for two reasons. The first is that it does the enemies of the Imperium full justice instead of just making them easily destroyable blood-juice-boxes, e.g. a large enough group of [[Bloodletter|Bloodletters]] is easily capable of overpowering you if you don't fight them in the right way. The second is that enemies that require you to ''think'' to take down are about ten times more satisfying to fight. Not to mention you're reminded that these enemies you have to actually work to defeat are fought by the Imperial Guard, too. Balls of adamantium the size of universes.

== ANGRY MARINE? ==
Damn straight. Titus thinks the Codex is for pussies, uses authentic [[Angry Marines|Angry Marine]] tactics such as fucking orks to death with his chainsword, and even gets an Angry Purity Seal which gives him an Angryness Meter. The latter is canon. He is also fueled by violence and thus regenerates health by murdering Orks to death in particularly messy ways. His basic equivalent of a medkit? Punching gretchin into bloody mist. His way of finishing off a Nob? Either jamming a chainsword through his mouth, or pinning its foot with an axe and tearing said mouth open with his bare hands. Not to mention he also has the lesser known Angry marine trait, namely a resistance to the warp.

Obviously at some point, maybe during a rare joint operation, some geneseed got mixed up and the Ultramarines got some Angry Marine geneseed, and the Angry marines got some Ultramarine. Equally obvious, when the angry geneseed was used by the Ultramarines most of there recruits blew up unable to contain THE SHEER FURY that is the angry marines, and when the angry marines used the Ultramarine geneseed they were like "WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THIS WEAK ASS SHIT?" and their recruits equally failed as marines, but may have become serfs or something. Titus just lucked out in being able to take the angry geneseed, though you have to wonder what the Angry Marine version of Titus, an Angry Marine with Ultra traits, would be like.

I guess we know where the Inquisition is sending him.

== SERVANT OF KHORNE?! ==
Actually he's probably just being corrupted by Khorne and doesn't know it. His resistance to the warp is similar to the psychic immunity Khorne gives to his followers (see [[Kharn]], who really is a swell chap) and he rejuvenates himself by killing things in RIP AND TEAR fashion and by bathing himself in blood ([[Khornate_Knights|although all this is also a hallmark of the most pure and incorruptible of the Imperiums defenders]]). Also, he runs on anger, like all Khornate Chaos Marines. And can tap into it to go into what is pretty much a [[Berserker]]'s rage. Oh yeah, and he's fighting a douchebag Sorcerer of Tzeentch's. <s>Nemeroth isn't Tzeentch, he's one of those wishy-washy "unaligned" pussies.</s> Most Undivided Chaos sorcerers have heavy leanings towards Tzeentch anyway.
Or, he was just a hollow-guy.

Probably more relevant is one of the quotes he gives you on death: "Success is measured in blood: yours or your enemy's." Which, while the Imperium is certainly not opposed so some good old fashioned bloodshed, that sounds pretty Khornate.

Note: if he's corrupted this way, than what does that make the Black Templars?
PS: Remember, there's some that get immunity to the effects of the warp. Grey Knights are an example. He might just be a [[Blank]] who managed to avoid getting skullfucked by the Black Ships. You never see any Librarians willingly hanging around the guy, after all. Then again serving long enough to become a captain means he would have been around psykers long enough for them to have notice he was a blank. So we could just kept it to sheer willpower combine the fact he's emotionally stable means warp stuff wouldn't harm him as much.

It's possible he's a pariah, instead of a blank, since he's shown to be partially affected by the powers of the warp (like when the power source literally backfired in his face and just knocked him out cold when it should very easily have atomized him). Of course, it is important to remember that the Warp is entirely a matter of willpower. The device itself (especially its backlash) had no will. Compare that to the willpower of a Space Marine captain's determination to win. Yeah. So, in that way, he saved himself through sheer badassery. Literally. Which if you think about it fits the game (and canon in general) pretty well.

"A true man may flinch away its embrace, if he is stalwart, and he girds his soul with the armour of contempt.” - [[Ravenor|Gideon Ravenor]]

== '''Titus: The [[Living Saint]]!''' ==
Titus was undergoing apotheosis and becoming a [[Living Saint]]! Think about it. He suddenly is surrounded by a golden glow (like Living Saints), he gets a full heal (like Living Saints' ability to resurrect), his attacks become more powerful (Empowered by the Emprah!), and he has an ever growing resistance to the Warp. Nemroth even points out that he has been "touched by the Warp", yet its Titus. He doesn't have even an iota of Chaos corruption. He killed a Chaos Champion, '''WITH HIS BARE EMPEROR BLESSED HANDS!'''. His fury was not the unrestrained rage of Khorne (he would have glowed red), he was channeling '''THE EMPEROR'S HOLY WRATH!!''' He wasn't a full Living Saint yet, but he was well on his way to becoming another [[Greater Daemon]] of the Emperor!

== What would have happened in Space Marine 2 & 3 ==
“I had some big plans for Titus,” van Lierop said. “The second part of his story was to focus on a ‘Titus Unleashed’ plot—basically there were forces arrayed against him that would see his loyalty to the Adeptus Astartes pushed to its limit, and his reaction would be to kind of ‘[[Heresy|go rogue]],’ and we'd see a different Titus, not quite as in control as we saw him in Space Marine. He would be kicked out as a consequence—exiled, which would basically be a death sentence for him.” ([[Awesome|or a ticket to the Deathwatch as a Blackshield]])

The first game showed us what it looked like when a Space Marine was fighting in a disciplined manner, and the second game would have opened the door for a slightly wilder version of the character. That’s not the end, though.

“He would survive, and come back even stronger in the third game, where other Space Marines still loyal to him would rally around him and he'd return to ‘clean house,’ but as the head of a [[Astral Claws|brand new Chapter]] that we would build around him,” van Lierop continued.

So what kept this from happening?

“Sadly, THQ was already starting to fall apart by then and it became clear that Space Marine 2 wasn't going to happen. I was pretty heartbroken about that,” he said. “But that's the way the business works. In the end I'm glad things turned out the way they did, because I think if the end hadn't been so hard, I might not have sought out a better way. And Hinterland might not have ever happened.”

=== [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II]] ===
[[File:Titus 2021.png|800px|thumb|center|Titus, now a Primaris Lieutenant]]

Come December 2021, and a [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II|sequel]] under Focus Home Interactive and Saber Interactive has been announced. Trailer shows Captain Titus returning but as a [[Primaris Lieutenant]] and saving a bunch of guardsmen from a horde of Tyranids. We can safely assume that whatever plans Lierop had for him have been scrapped. Judging by Titus' services studs, he is now 400 years old or so. Eagle eyed viewers can also see that he has a small inquisitorial medallion (not a rosette, obvs) on his armour, suggesting that he did them some kind of service after his arrest on Graia as a deal.

== Subject of Canon ==
Captain Titus is considered canon by Black Library writer Nick Kyme. In the audiobook ''Veil of Darkness'' [[Cato Sicarius]] is walking in the [[Macragge]] Hall of Heroes, and one of the memorial statues is labeled "Captain Titus". Conveniently the video game itself doesn't timestamp itself at any point, only taking place sometime after "the Aurelian Crusade". Since there were actually three Aurelian Crusades, one for each ''Dawn of War II'' game, <s>we could theorize that Captain Titus fights on Graia sometime between ''DoW II'' and ''Chaos Rising''.</s>
Only we really can't because the Blood Raven said "None shall find us wanting, Ultramarine", which is their battle cry post-Retribution.

As per the release of the trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Titus is now officially canon.

The best way to interpret this is that the statue belongs to some other Captain Titus from earlier in the Chapter's history. A chance to finagle this is that Titus was Acting Captain at Graia while Sicarius was overseeing [[Uriel Ventris]]'s trial for codex breach and he was serving with the Black Templars during the events that took place between the [[Daemonculaba]] incident and before Chapter Master [[Marneus Calgar]] became Primaris. With a final adjustment of Sevastus Acheran, Cato's successor to Second Company Captain as the latter was missing in the warp before the [[Plague Wars]], being a senior sergeant to Titus but being wounded while Graia was being invaded and thus being the proper successor to the Second Company as Titus becomes a lieutenant after returning with Sicarius out of the way and promoted to the [[Victrix Guard]].

==Videos Starring Captain Titus ==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh-NkuAtHW8 This Is Officially Canon.]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvk9uZeorCE just...no.]
{{Template:Marines-Characters}}

[[Category:Awesome]]

Veteran Squad

2022-07-16T22:47:16Z

2600:1700:91C1:A4E0:BD40:6823:1010:A0C3: /* Sternguard Veterans */ cleanup

[[File:Sternguard.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Ultramarines Sternguard Veterans]]
Though the term '''Veteran Squad''' can refer to any number of groups of experienced soldiers gathered in a single unit, in the context of [[Warhammer 40k]] this almost always means either the Hardened Veteran squads of the [[Imperial Guard]] (Read: [[Grimdark|actually survived a battle]]) or, more frequently, the squads consisting of the most experienced brothers of a Chapter of [[Space Marines]].

Consisting exclusively of members of the Chapter's First Company, Veteran Squads consist of three different kinds of Battle Brothers: the [[Terminators]], the Sternguard Veterans and the Vanguard Veterans. Though these groups maintain a sense of rivalry with one another, on the battlefield they are a lethal and efficient force. And yes, the two helmetless guys in the picture are likely [[Captain Titus]] and [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine|Sidonus]] in their younger years.

==On the Tabletop==
[[File:Vanguard Veterans.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Ultramarines Vanguard Veterans]]
Both Sternguards and Vanguards were significantly retooled for 8th Edition. For starters, the Sternguard no longer have their four flavors of Bolter rounds (those are now a [[Deathwatch]] exclusive): instead they get a [[Special Issue Boltgun]] with 30" Rapid Fire 1 S4 AP-2 D1. While a significant downgrade from what they used to have, it is still a superior Bolter. This, and the LD of 8 instead of 7, makes for the main difference between the bare Sternguard and Tactical Marines, which comes with a price tag of 18 points instead of 13. It's when you look at the upgrades when they start to shine. For starters, a five-man Sternguard squad can pick two Special or Heavy weapons, including the Heavy Flamer while a ten-man Tactical squad can pick one Special and one Heavy weapon. But the real fun begins when you realize that everyone can replace their Special Issue Boltguns with a weapon from the [[combi-weapon]]s list. This includes the [[Storm Bolter]], which doubles the fire rate of a [[Astartes Boltgun|regular Bolter]] (but loses the improved range and AP of the [[Special Issue Boltgun]], so it's not worth it), but more importantly the [[Combi-Flamer]], [[Combi-Plasma]], [[Combi-Melta]] and [[Combi-Grav]]. These are not by any means cheap (starting at 11 for the [[Combi-Flamer]]), but when you realize that these guns can be fired ''in addition'' to their Bolters, and that ''flamers hit automatically'' means that with Combi-Flamers the Sternguard is now capable of devouring entire infantry blobs at a time. Furthermore, ALL Sternguard in a unit can take combi-weapons, not just the four initial ones running with the sergeant (who can take one too). Can you say 10d6 hits from flamers alone? If you're feeling lucky and are willing to stand close to your opponents, you can give them all combi-plasmas to act like a cheap [[Hellblaster]] squad, but don't use them against [[TEQ]]s.

Vanguard Veterans do more or less the same. Meant for assault, the Vanguard cost only 18 points bare with [[Jump Pack]]s. At that point you start slapping on the special weapons. A combo of Power Sword/Storm Shield only sets you back a modest 27 points a model for something with a 3++ save that chops up power armored enemies with ease. An alternative is using a pair of [[Lightning Claws]]: while a bit more expensive it nets you a re-roll to failed to wound rolls and +1 Attack. This is especially useful against [[Nurgle]] worshipers, and if you're feeling lucky they might be able to finish a damaged vehicle under T8. Very expensive, but also very lethal, is to give everyone [[Thunder Hammer]]s. Almost doubling your points, it allows your Vanguard to reliably kick holes in tanks with S8 AP-3 D3. Sure, you'll only hit on a 4+, but it's hilarious when you manage to beat a [[Monolith]] into dust.

===Power Ratings===
When using Power Ratings the Sternguard become even crazier: you now no longer have to pay out the nose for those expensive combi-weapons. Slap on a series of Combi-Gravs and watch them devour entire squads of Terminators. 7 Power is a bit expensive for a small and relatively fragile frame, so do keep them protected.

The same goes for the Vanguard: 39 points is a lot for a one-wound model with a Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, but for five Vanguards armed like that when using Power Rating it's the same base 7 power. This makes them hilariously scary when used properly, beating up enemies left and right while being annoyingly durable thanks to their 3++. They're not invincible though, so use them with care.

==Sternguard Veterans==
[[File:BloodAngelsSternguardVeterans.png|200px|thumb|right|Blood Angels|thumb|Blood Angels Sternguard]]
The Sternguard are [[Tactical Squad|Tactical Marines]] cranked up to 11. They are the masters of the [[Bolter]] in all of its forms (In fluff, in the Crunch they have the exact same Ballistic Skill): from their [[Special Issue Boltguns|Bolter#Special_Issue_Boltgun] to the [[Storm Bolter]] to various kinds of [[Combi-weapon]]s all the way up to the [[Heavy Bolter]]. They are also trained in the use of heavy & support weapons used by Tactical Marines: [[Flamers]], the [[Plasma Gun]]s, [[Meltagun]]s, [[Grav-gun]]s, [[Missile Launcher]]s, [[Lascannons]], [[Grav-Cannon]]s, [[Multi-Melta]]s and [[Plasma Cannon]]s. They are also one of the few squads entrusted with [[Heavy Flamer]]s.

Aside from the standard issue Bolt round the Sternguard Veterans are equipped with a number of different and specialized [[Bolt|Bolter rounds]]:
* Dragonfire Bolts are designed to explode into a superheated gas to tell any form of cover the enemy is in to go fuck itself.
* Hellfire Bolts replace the projectile's explosive payload with mutagenic acid, designed to combat the Tyranids and all sorts of big non-vehicle targets.
* Kraken Pattern Penetrator Bolts are improved rounds with a better range and penetration.
* Vengeance Bolts are more or less miniature plasma grenades that violently explode upon impact, but are a danger to the user as well. These were designed to combat the [[Chaos Space Marines]].

Post 8th edition. Specialized Bolter rounds are now exclusive to the Deathwatch. Being replaced with Special Issue Boltguns that fire rounds with the [[What|range of Kraken rounds and the damage of Vengeance Bolts.]] Which isn't as overpowered as it sounds. However it does make the options with a reach under 30" a huge waste on Sternguard Veterans. Heavy Weapons being the preferred loadout

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==Vanguard Veterans==
[[File:BloodAngelsVanguardVeterans.png|200px|thumb|right|Blood Angels Vanguard]]
The Vanguard are the big brothers of the [[Assault Squad|Assault Marines]]. Highly skilled in close-quarter fighting, they use their [[Jump Pack]]s and powerful weaponry to make short work of the enemy.

Though the standard equipment of the Vanguard are the [[Bolt Pistol]] and [[Chainsword]], they have access to the Chapter's armory to become even deadlier in combat. The most commonly used equipment for the squad consists of twin [[Lightning Claws]] and the [[Thunder Hammer]]/Storm Shield combination, depending on what the mission calls for. They are also equipped with a selection of grenades.

Their "Heroic Intervention" rule used to let them assault out of deep strike, but needed to be declared they were going to try before placing and rolling for scatter. This has been changed so that they ignore disordered charges, and their sarge auto passes the test for a Glorious intervention.

In 7th, they still ignore disordered charges, but no more auto-pass Glorious Intervention tests: they can now re-roll dice for charge. Which, if you have Jump Packs, is pointless, as you can already re-roll charge. (Which is why you use the jump packs in the MOVEMENT phase.)

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==Tyrannic War Veterans==
[[image:TyrannicWarVeterans.png|200px|right|thumb|Tyrannic War Veterans]]
After the [[Hive Fleet Behemoth|Battle for Macragge]], the [[Ultramarines]] formed the Tyrannic War Veterans from the survivors of the battle Companies. Trained by [[Ortan Cassius]], their sole mission is to exterminate all Tyranids. They are more or less Sternguard with a bit of [[Deathwatch]]-light training thrown in to kill Tyranids as quickly as possible.

Tyrannic War Veterans "are" actually part of the first company, though they take their orders directly from Chaplain Cassius. They are a select group of Veterans from all companies that survived the Tyrannic Wars, but since they act as a separate unit from the rest of the chapter's organisation this meant a bit of deviation over the [[Codex Astartes]] on the part of [[Marneus Calgar]] before they could be deployed. They all carry relics of the fallen first company, wearing armour pieced together from the previous 1st company veterans, and carrying their old bolters which they load with Hellfire shells. Following the events of the Gathering Storm, they were recognized as an official part of the Chapter organization by Roboute Guilliman.

They also don't recruit new members, and number only a few dozen, which will inevitably decrease over time and be replaced with "standard" 1st company veterans. That said, following their Primarch's approval many of the Ultramarines' successors began to create similar squads.

Also, with the Tyranids Codex being the shitfest it was, the powers that be decided to drop in a Dataslate for the Tyrannic War Veterans, being a special formation whose existence is akin to kicking a dying puppy.

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==Company Veterans==
[[image:DarkAngelsCompanyVeterans.png|200px|right|thumb|Dark Angels Company Veterans]]
Since all of the Dark Angel's first company veterans who would normally make up the Vanguard or Sternguard units only deploy in [[Terminator Armour]] or become [[Ravenwing|Ravenwing Black Knights]] they don't get either. Instead they get "Company Veterans Squad". Literally veterans of whatever company they're in rather than the first. While not singularly specialized for ranged or melee like Sternguard/Vanguard, lacking Special Issue Boltguns for shooting, and jump packs for assaulting. They have the option to discard their Bolt pistols for a Storm Shield or a [[Power Weapon]], while exchanging their [[Chainsword]] to mix melee and ranged into the same unit, giving them some good versatility. They're also cheaper, as compensation for not having Special Bolter Rounds.

Command Squads have been axed in 8th and rolled into Company Veterans so everyone has them but lack the options that the Dark Angels can take. Including the ability to take Bikes for a cost, while Champions and Apothecaries are taken separately. The Dark Angels for some reason can't take Biker Vets at all. [[derp|So no choice but to take characters for bikes in the Elite slot.]]

Dark Angels can upgrade to Combat Shields without having to give up one of their weapons. Making them the best choice for Green Wing armies, or can be [[Cheese|meats shields for the Imperial Space Marine]]. One can also replace their Chainsword for a Heavy Weapon. With the buffs to Plasma weapons and Combi-guns, its not like DA players weren't already taking them for more Plasma spam. Admit it, you were already guilty of this or considered doing so.

Note that, organizationally, many otherwise-codex marines do use company champions rather than First Company veterans. Notably, the [[Space Sharks]], [[Iron Snakes]], and [[Iron Hands]].

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== See Also ==
* [[Bladeguard Veteran]]: ''The [[Veteran Squad]] of [[Primaris Space Marines]].''
* [[Wolf Guard]]
* [[Deathwing]]
* [[Terminator]]

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