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Witch Hunters

2023-05-22T18:04:30Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Link to how magic works in warhammer

[[File:Witchhunter.jpg|thumb|right|Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.]]
{{Topquote|1=[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7zHuV0znQ0 Here there be witches and all must die]|2=Creature Feature}}
{{Topquote|The crime is your foul existence, the sentence is death!|[[Vermintide|Victor Saltzpyre]]}}

Known as the Ordo Hereticus, the Witch Hunters are a branch of the [[Inquisition]] dedicated and specialized in hunting down and destroying [[Eldar|witches]], [[Cultist-chan|heretics]], and [[Chris-chan|mutants]] in the name of the [[Empra]] but will also kill just about anyone who's an enemy of the Imperium if confronted. Commonly fields [[Sisters of Battle]] or [[Imperial_Guard|Inquisitorial Storm Troopers]], though a Witch Hunter Inquisitor Lord may call on the [[Imperial Guard]], [[Space Marines]], [[Deathwatch]], and even [[Grey Knights]] to assist them in battle.

The Ordo Hereticus was originally created after the [[Age of Apostasy]] to ensure that the [[Ecclesiarchy]] could never go batshit insane again and stick to the ''Decree Passive''; since then it has expanded into the rigid enforcers of the [[Imperial Cult]], stamping out all traces of unorthodoxy among the populace, whether they are genuinely tainted by [[Chaos]] or [[Genestealer Cult|Genestealers]] or not. Ironically this made them the closest allies and enforcers of the very organization they're supposed to police over. This power creep from the Inquisition's original goal to mainly fight Chaos itself characterizes how far removed they've become from [[Malcador]]'s original vision for the eternal watchmen of mankind.

These chaps usually like to go medieval, often equipping themselves with esoteric shit like a [[Purgatus Crossbow]], [[Stake Crossbow]] and a goddamned [[Power weapon#Power Stake|Power Stake]]. They, like all Inquisitors wear the [[Ignatus Pattern Armour]] for defense. Occasionally they may opt for something more traditional like a [[Hand Flamer]], a [[Force weapon#Nemesis Warding Stave|Nemesis Warding Stave]] or a [[Force weapon#Force Rod|Force Rod]] if they are feeling pickish.

All female Sisters of Battle players rage hard when you call SoBs 'Witch Hunters' or imply that they are the same group. [[Matt Ward]] apparently agrees because as of 5E they have been separated again. Fucking Ward. They have a [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles|WFB]] equivalent. Also called, unsurprisingly, Witch Hunters. Both flavors get [[Hat|bitchin' pimp hats]] and the fantasy counterparts have the only reliable guns in the world.

FUCK YEAH!

== So what is Heresy? ==
IF IT AIN'T INVOLVING THE EMPEROR, IT'S ALL HERESY!

This above sentence may seem an overstatement but really it is closer to the truth then you'd think. To the Witch Hunters anything that veers from the Emperor's light is to be found and purged and the purging is usually done in [[Salamanders|fire]].

Unlike the [[Daemonhunters]], Witch Hunters act as more of a police instead of a military force. While the Daemon Hunters search the stars for daemons and the chaos crazies responsible for them with the Grey Knights; Witch Hunters are instead more focused on rooting out heresy from within the Imperium's worlds, finding heretics that have infiltrated the Imperium already and purging any [[chaos cults|cults]] they may have formed.

Apostasy is also an extreme form of heresy and the one viewed most unfavorably by the Ordo. Thus, the name Witch Hunter. Apostates, for the purposes of 40k, are any [[psyker]]s who have not submitted to Imperial authority and specifically those that avoid said authority. Although, sorcerers are just plain purged period. Sorcery in 40k does not require being a psyker and is easily influenced by Chaos and there is a Chaos God specifically with control over sorcery. Also because the Emperor forbade sorcery. These are witches in the more traditional sense by real life standards.

They are the firebrand Inquisitors which give the Inquisition its [[Grimdark|(Grim)]]dark reputation and all you heard about them is very true.

The Ordo Hereticus fights The Enemy Within, the [[Ordo Xenos]] fights The Enemy Without, and the Ordo Malleus fights The Enemy Beyond.

== Notable Members of the Ordos Hereticus ==
[[Image:Karamazov.gif|frame|left|Lazy Bastard]]
==== Lord Inquisitor [[Fyodor Karamazov]] ====
''"There is no such thing as a plea of innocence in my court, a plea of innocence is guilty of wasting my time. Guilty."''

Lazy bastard. Sits on a massive, dreadnought-esque chair and merely points to where the servitor should aim his triple-linked multi-melta while his trusty aide Dominique makes snide comments. The other thing he's known for is his many flavors of orbital bombardment, all of which seem to be more accurate when blasting his own men rather than the enemy. He's a great believer in [[JUST AS PLANNED|Just. As. Planned.]] but the Empy version. Jokingly called Lord Krazypantsoff by several immature (and hilarious) users of /tg/. Many Thorian inquisitors, and even the Ecclesiarch himself, hate this guy, thanks to an incident where he [[Derp|purged a priest who had just reclaimed his world for the Imperium]]. Yeah, that quote up above wasn't an exaggeration. Unfortunately the quote ended up being correct this time, as the priest's cult had chaos worshipers in it that would've gone unnoticed (and possibly fucked everything up again) if Karamazov wasn't such an asshole.

To be fair, the priest did break the Decree Passive and the main thing the Ordo Hereticus and Sisters of Battle were created for was to prevent and punish exactly that.

He's also [[Bald Marines|bald]] due to an anti-aging cream gone wrong - all the workers for the company (called Dove) were subsequently purged and crucified.

As the quote states: even if you're innocent he's gonna kill you anyway. So since you're fucked no matter what, go crazy.

Set that baby on fire.

G'wan. ''You know you wanna.''

He's named after Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and his famous book ''The Brothers Karamazov'' - which is known for its chapter ''The Grand Inquisitor'', where the eponymous Inquisitor arrests and judges ''the risen Christ''.

As the above text shows, he is the butt of many [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]] jokes due to being one of the main characters in the series. As of now, he's also the motherfucking Starchild's vessel.
(Still a little bitch though). Sadly it seems he is likely to remain so forever, given TTS' fate.

==== Witch Hunter Tyrus ====
[[Image:Tyrus Miniature.JPG|frame|right|"YOU! YES YOU! STAND STILL, LADDIE!"]]
This guy is so badass that all the motherflippin' [[-4 Str|ladies]] get PURGED when he enters the room. He was taken under the care of an inquisitor as a child after a [[grimdark|Daemon Prince ripped one of his ears and eyes out for fun before razing the rest of his village. Years later, the same Daemon Prince killed his mentor in battle but Tyrus was able to banish the bastard back to the warp again.]]
His favorite method for finding [[Heresy|HERESY]] is forcing the accused to consume a jug of holy water. If they choke then they are considered heretic and crucified, shot, burned, then he lets a blind butcher loose on them, then they get shot again.

Plus he loathes psykers, even the ones in the Inquisition. So don't ask him if he wants to see your new [[magic]] card trick.

<gallery>
Witch_Hunter_Tyrus.jpg|OH YEAH!
</gallery>
====Adrastia====
[[Image:Adrastia.jpg|right|200px|"My chief weapons are surprise and fear!"|thumb]]
[[Adrastia]] is a lot like what you'd expect from a Witch Hunter. Suspicious, ruthless, uncompromising and utterly devoted to finding and destroying all things heretical for the Emprah. She has a haughty and cavalier attitude and frequently found herself in conflict with Sergeant [[Merrick]] who was convinced she only came to sub-sector Aurelia because she hoped to capture Kyras and net herself a promotion rather than actually giving a crap about the sub-sector's imminent annihilation.

She doesn't really bother to confirm or deny his accusations instead telling him to quit bitching at her and get on with his work but when Kyras turns into a gigantic Daemon the option to capture him alive quickly disappears so who knows. Her personality is somewhat grumpy and harsh having very little time for anyone who is not a heretic or pointing her in the direction of one (then again being kind of a buzzkill is pretty normal for Inquisitors who are not [[Amberley Vail]] so we can't really fault Adrastia for that).

====[[Inquisitor Greyfax|Katarinya Greyfax]]====

{{Inquisition}}

== In Warhammer Fantasy ==
[[Category:The Empire]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

After Sigmar himself defeated the bone daddy [[Nagash]], he appointed Wolfgart Von Krieger ([[Awesome|his best friend <3]]) to create an organization known as the Order of the Silver Hammer, a precursor organization which would then become the '''Holy Order of the Templars of Sigmar''' under Emperor Magnus the Pious' reign.

Witch hunters are the agents of the Sigmarite church who specialize in hunting down necromancers, chaos cultists, [[beastmen]], probably orc shamans and any other sorcerer who practices [[Warhammer_Magic|any magics proscribed by the Colleges of Magic]] (which ironically means the wizards have huge power over them as the wizards decide what counts as witchcraft, and they don't really need the Witch Hunters help if one of their own has fallen since each order could've just sent a Master Vigilant to hunt their fallen kin). They are just about as ruthless and bad news as their 40k version which they also share the same fashion sense by wearing pimping pilgrim hats and are equipped with the best shiny pistols available in the Empire. The witch hunter's other job besides killing the wyrds and sorcerers is to also spread propaganda among the Empire's province, and it is important since most of the citizens in the Empire lives in rural towns far from the city. Without many modern inventions like phones, internet and other fast travel vehicles meaning their ignorance is most often suspect to chaos, and the forest near their town may containing lots of evil things like heretics or monsters like beastmens hiding there. Witch Hunters or Warrior Priests that sometimes passes by would make sure they could cleanse the place off any heresy they could find, then crucify and display their dead heretic prey in the town center to serve as a grim reminder for the locals. The locals were also forced to cooperate the hunter in hunting down the heretics, and they will also be judged if one of them is found guilty for assisted the said heretics, or being one of them.

Sadly, even a secretive organization such as this that's supposed to know any deviant cult still refuses to acknowledge that the [[Skaven]] exist [[The End Times|until the shit hit the floor]]. Though it could be argued that this is to ensure that there are no panic attacks among the populace, it still doesn't stop witch hunters like [[Vermintide|Victor Saltzpyre]] from being shunned in the order for being obsessed with some mythical ratmen creature that walks on two leg. However, the said Witch Hunter can still be promoted to be a captain, but only in desperate times.

According to [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] in the section about Rat Catcher career, Humans were aware of the Skaven and were also aware of their spying and assassination to any humans who spread rumors about the Skaven that persons' of aforementioned profession had developed a habit to not straight up admitting their existence, but calling them rats that are "too big" or "too clever" instead. The Witch Hunters other than Saltzpyre were probably in the same shoe just so they don't have to get stabbed by a Gutter Runner in their sleep. However, now that Saltzpyre has began his ratmen killing crusade, it is highly likely that his antic has endangered his entire order to be either straight up assassinated or drowned in vermintide very soon.

Notable examples include Wolfgart Von Krieger, [[Sigmar|Sigmar's]] [[Awesome|own best friend]] (The capital of Ostland Wolfenburg is named after him), [[Vermintide|Victor Saltzpyre]], the single most Witch-Huntery Witch-Hunter in the entire realm of Witch-Huntery, and Mathias Thulmann, the single deadliest individual who has the biggest balls of steel in the entire order (as well as being the most humane and competent one, which is surprising in case of the first one).

Fun Fact: [[Archaon|Archaon the Everchosen]] used to be a witch hunter under his birth name, Diederick Castner in the older lore. Whats more was that he might even be one of the greatest servant of Sigmar, yet he was turned to Chaos because of the cruel fate the dark gods has planned for him (especially since [[Be'lakor]] made it extra sure by pulling some time reality fuckery scheme).

As a wonderful irony, the Witch Hunter's Handbook actually implies decent reasons for hunting things like fortunetellers and healers. Basically, both are charlatans whose guidance causes more harm than good. Like claiming putting a certain flower in a hat will cure insanity and drunkenness. Hint: it doesn't. Logically, people who believe this and try it and release the "cured" nutters just cause madmen to cause more harm before they can be captured again. Holding the "healer" who caused the mess responsible for it is totally justified. The same for fortunetellers who feed crap to wishful thinkers and end up damaging or ruining lives because of it or just scamming people (which happens a lot from the meddling of real-life fortunetellers "give me your life's savings and I'll 'purify it' for you and your problems will go away") The callous mass-burnings and such are implied to be genuinely necessary due to Chaos corruption or the like and the witch hunters allow the public to think the hunters go around murdering innocents and accept the hatred for it to keep them blissfully ignorant of the true threats constantly assailing the Empire in secret. Until a hunter ends up insane due to all the horrible things he's had to do crushing him with guilt and the mind-breaking things he's seen and fought finally becoming too much. Then it often becomes his turn at the stake.

Also noteworthy is that the introduction to the handbook explains that the author is probably insane and so the methods of hunting are not to be taken at face value or as solid fact. So how much of what is in the book is how the witch hunters actually operate and how much of it is the ramblings of a paranoid madman obsessed with the belief that ''everyone'' is a heretic even if they're innocent is up to the real-life reader to determine. Probably everything given how incredibly "you're guilty especially if you're innocent" the book tends to be.

Be warned, the only official model you can buy these guys in is [[Finecast|Failcast]], and his model is both incredibly prone to bubbles (Oh Boy) and includes a sword which is always bent beyond usability in the casting process. (Double oh Boy.)

<gallery>
WHnt 05.jpg
BLPROCESSED-condemned-3.webp
300px-Empire Witch Hunter.jpeg
</gallery>

== Mordheim ==
Witch Hunters are part of the default warband choices in [[Mordheim]], which really only makes sense considering that we're talking about a city being smashed by a comet made up of [[warpstone|crystallized Chaos magic]] hitting it like the fist of an angry god. Their primary enemy is, of course, the [[Cult of the Possessed]], but they also have a major hateboner going for the [[Sisters of Sigmar]], apparently over some bullshit sectarian difference that mostly seems to boil down to the Sisters claiming that women have the right to be priests of [[Sigmar]] too.

Uniquely amongst the default warbands, there is a very strong and lore-justified divide between the Hero and Henchmen selections. Heroes represent the ''actual'' Witch Hunters, with players being able to take up to 3 "regular" Witch Hunters and a single Sigmar Warrior-Priest alongside the mandatory Witch Hunter Captain to lead them - both versions of Witch Hunter gain Hatred against any model with the ability to cast spells, whilst the Warrior-Priest is a "pseudo-caster" hero, similar to its role in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. The Henchmen represent the various fanatics and losers who gravitate to the Witch Hunters and serve as their expendable thugs, with the warband being able to take any number of Zealots (generic warriors), up to 5 Flagellants (religious nutters so crazy they have the Frenzy rule), and up to 5 wardogs.

Witch Hunter heroes will generally be both really skilled combatants ''and'' quite book smart, as Witch Hunter Captains, Witch Hunters and Warrior-Priests are all able to take skills from the ''Combat'' and ''Academics'' tables. Both the WH Captain and the vanilla WH can also take ''Shooting'' and ''Speed'', whilst the WHC and the Warrior-Priest can both take ''Strength'' skills.

== Age of Sigmar ==

Funny enough this job survived [[The End Times|the end times]] since witch hunters do appear in Age of Sigmar, I guess with Archaon running amuck everywhere, and Chaos spreading into all of the realms, Sigmar need someone to "kindly" remind people why he is the better option. It is also implied that free elves and free dwarves can also be witch hunters.

The Witch Hunters of AoS fall under the wider umbrella of the Order of Azyr, Sigmar's version of the Inquisition. This organization not only includes Witch Hunters, but a wide variety of agents and officials comprised of nearly all the races and factions in the Order Grand Alliance. While not quite as grim dark as their 40k or Fantasy counterparts, they do continue their predecessors' ruthless streak with their frequent use of extra judicial punishment.

[https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/01/23/warhammer-preview-online-the-dead-and-the-divine/ And, they're back in the new Warhammer Quest, though the character is TECHNICALLY just a vampire hunter.] The Aesthetic is just perfect with that ridiculous stake rifle he is carrying plus the giant sword on his back, as well as him wearing his iconic hat.

The Witch Hunters got even more love in the final book of the Broken Realms Saga, [[Kragnos]], with the introduction of the Van Densts. This father-daughter duo specialize not only in murdering the various heretics, mutants and undead, but also are quite proficient at banishing rogue endless spells. The father Galen excels up close with his classic sword and pistol combo, while his daughter Doralia serves as a sniper with a massive stake crossbow.

{{Troops of the Empire of Sigmar}}

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Witch Hunters|Tactics/Witch Hunters]]
{{clear}}
{{Template:Inquisition}}
{{Imperium}}
[[Category:Inquisition]]

Verena

2023-05-22T17:46:19Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: /* Priests */

{{Whfb-stub}}
[[File:Verena shrine.jpg|left|300px]]
[[File:Verena symbol.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The symbol of Verena.]]
A goddess in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Worshiped by humans as a god of scholars, bureaucrats, and justice. Fairly popular in the [[Empire]] due to the fact they have state run wizards and a lot of paperwork. Her [[High Elf]] counterpart is [[Hoeth]], and it's unknown what relations exist between the two although based on the relations between their worshipers it's possibly friendly. Wife of [[Morr]], mother of the goddesses [[Shallya]] and [[Myrmidia]]. She has no 40k counterpart.

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

There is little formal hierarchy within the cult. Instead, it operates in small cells, scattered throughout the centres of civilisation, being prevalent in districts that are given over to scholarly pursuits, where they run or fund universities to promote learning and education.

Individual cultists worship law and knowledge and seek professions related to these concepts often serving as advisors in noble courts, and in some places, such as Nuln, they functioning as judiciaries, working ceaselessly to ensure the rule of law holds sway.

However the Cult of Verena tends to find itself in the center of controversy for their dedication to the preservation of knowledge specifically the radical belief that all writing is worth protecting. Such views put the cult at odds with [[Witch_Hunters|Witch Hunters]] and the [[Sigmar|Cult of Sigmar]], who would see all heretical texts burned in holy fire.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Verena 1e.jpg
Verena priest.jpg
Verena priest fight.jpg
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

Shallya

2023-05-22T17:34:06Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Shallyans are good people but snake oil salesmen exist even in fantasyland.

[[File:Shallya doves.jpg|left|300px]]
[[File:Shallya symbol.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The symbol of Shallya.]]
A goddess in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Very un-grimdark in that she is the patron god of healing and mercy. Daughter of [[Morr]] and [[Verena]], sister of [[Myrmidia]].
Her symbol is an eye filled with tears, making an interesting parallel between her and [[Isha]]. It's possible that it's simply Isha taking an interest in human affairs, or just a shared domain. Speaking of tears, her statues are said to weep her sacred tears, which have powerful properties. [[Ranald]], God of Thieves and Trickery, is said to have convinced Shallya to let him drink a vial of her tears to gain godhood. In the mortal realms the tears are a powerful healing agent.

Shallya is the enemy of the Chaos God [[Nurgle]], the two gods having opposing realms to each other. Nothing strikes more fear into the hearts of the priests of Shallya then the work of the Plaguefather, and even the most disgusting of Nurgle's minions despair at Shallya's purity. Unfortunately by the events of [[The End Times]], though the Shallyites preach otherwise, Nurgle is the stronger of the two, and has imprisoned her in his pestilent kitchen, forcing her into slavery as the "Poxfulcrum", a distorted daemon upon whom Nurgle tests all of his latest plagues and concoctions before potentially deploying them to the mortal world. [[Isha]] takes this role in 40K. Assuming he doesn't have both of them. Papa Nurgle's love is enough for everyone. Ugh.

During the End Times [[Araloth]] and Kalara make a dangerous trip into the Realm of Chaos at the behest of [[Lileath]]. Kalara takes Shallya's place as the Poxfulcrum to keep Nurgle deceived, whilst Araloth helps Shallya escape, allowing her to aid in curing [[Taal]] and thus breaking Nurgle's currently powerful grip on the mortal world. Though she is shown returning to full strength at the end of book 2, by the events of Thanquol she and the other old gods have faded for [[derp|whatever reason]].

It is unknown if she survived the End-Times and managed to get to the newly formed Mortal Realms, but if Taal did it, then there is hope for the other human gods
==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}

The priests of Shallya are sworn pacifists and healers as such the cult of Shallya has a presence throughout the old world, and her temples double as hospitals for those too poor to afford a physician. In the empire, many cities and major towns have a white temple to Shallya and, even in small towns and villages, the temples and shrines to the other gods will often contain a small chapel dedicated to Shallya.

Tragically their extreme dedication to pacifism and positive reputation as healers has led to the rise of false temples masquerading as Shallyan hospices from simple swindlers to covens of vampires and worse this propensity of charlatans using the good name of Shallya for evil has led to a general paranoid fear of Shallyan priests.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Shallya.jpg
Priestess of Shallya 1.jpg
Priestess of Shallya 2.jpg
Priestess of Shallya 3.jpg
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

Rhya

2023-05-22T17:22:54Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73:

{{Whfb-stub}}
[[File:Rhya woodcut.jpg|right|300px]]
Rhya is a goddess of the [[Warhammer Fantasy]] setting. Her main domain is nature's fertility. She's one of the Old Gods, the other being [[Taal]], who are widely worshipped in [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|the Empire]], though generally overlooked in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|wargame]] in favour of gods for smashing up [[Ulric|Beastmen]] and smashing up [[Sigmar|Greenskins]], probably for the best, all things considered. She's [[Mathlann|Manaan]]'s mother. She's all about natural beauty and being nurturing, and is up there with [[Isha|the nicer]] [[Shallya|gods of]] [[Nurgle|the setting]]. Her priests are more like [[druid]]s, and is mainly worshiped by farmers and the like who cultivate the earth.

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

There is no priesthood of Rhya her customs and blessings are largely taken up by the priestesses of Taal. Although people may pray to Taal to ensure that their crops are not spoiled, they thank Rhya when the crops are finally harvested. They also bear witness as midwives to the birth of animals and the children of believers in Taal & Rhya.

The Priestesses of Taal are also versed in general medicine and herbology. In the deepest wilds a follower of Rhya is often the only medical practitioner for many miles. Urban folk who do not understand rural ways find a Taalist natural remedies and blessings uncomfortable, but this is a small price to pay in service to their deity. These aspects of Taal are represented by Rhya's nurturing, protective nature are often expressed on the conservative side of Taal's blessings, while the more wild and aggressive aspects of nature are depicted on the reckless side of his blessings.

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}
* '''The Longshanks''' - They are the holy warriors of Taal & Rhya they wander the thick woods of the Empire ensuring that the shrines, temples, and glens dedicated to Taal and Rhya are in good repair and working order. Also despite being a templar order they are not against skirmish tactics using ambushers and ranged infantry to defeat their foes.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Taal and Rhya symbol.png|The symbol of the Cult of Taal and Rhya.
Rhya shrine.jpg|A shrine to Rhya.
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

==D&D History==
{{D&D-Historical-Deities}}

Rhya

2023-05-22T17:17:21Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Rhya has no fully dedicated priests female priests of Taal are also priests of Rhya.

{{Whfb-stub}}
[[File:Rhya woodcut.jpg|right|300px]]
Rhya is a goddess of the [[Warhammer Fantasy]] setting. Her main domain is nature's fertility. She's one of the Old Gods, the other being [[Taal]], who are widely worshipped in [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|the Empire]], though generally overlooked in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|wargame]] in favour of gods for smashing up [[Ulric|Beastmen]] and smashing up [[Sigmar|Greenskins]], probably for the best, all things considered. She's [[Mathlann|Manaan]]'s mother. She's all about natural beauty and being nurturing, and is up there with [[Isha|the nicer]] [[Shallya|gods of]] [[Nurgle|the setting]]. Her priests are more like [[druid]]s, and is mainly worshiped by farmers and the like who cultivate the earth.

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

There is no priesthood of Rhya her customs and blessings are largely taken up by the priestesses of Taal. Although people may pray to Taal to ensure that their crops are not spoiled, they thank Rhya when the crops are finally harvested. They also bear witness as midwives to the birth of animals and the children believers in Taal & Rhya.

The Priestesses of Taal are also versed in general medicine and herbology. In the deepest wilds a follower of Rhya is often the only medical practitioner for many miles. Urban folk who do not understand rural ways find a Taalist natural remedies and blessings uncomfortable, but this is a small price to pay in service to their deity. These aspects of Taal are represented by Rhya's nurturing, protective nature are often expressed on the conservative side of Taal's blessings, while the more wild and aggressive aspects of nature are depicted on the reckless side of his blessings.

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Taal and Rhya symbol.png|The symbol of the Cult of Taal and Rhya.
Rhya shrine.jpg|A shrine to Rhya.
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

==D&D History==
{{D&D-Historical-Deities}}

Morr

2023-05-22T17:07:45Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: /* Knightly Orders */

[[File:Morr symbol.png|left|200px]]
[[File:Morr.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Morr according to Warhammer: Invasion.]]
A god in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Morr is the human god of the dead in the setting. His followers see to funerals, and try to keep the dead at rest as well as do their part (usually by aiding Witch Hunters) against the [[Vampire Counts|Undead]]. He maintains the afterlife for humans in the setting, which is a calm and restful place where sanctuaries for the other human gods also exist to provide whatever afterlives they see fit to give. He also has power over dreams and to a limited extent prophecy. He is the reason skulls are so prevalent on [[Empire]] architecture, being that he is a very important being to both commoner and noble.

Despite being a human god, he is described as being the brother of [[Khaine]] with whom he has a very poor relationship. He is worshiped as an elf named [[Sarriel]] by [[High Elves]] and [[Wood Elves (Warhammer)|Wood Elves]], and as a [[Dwarf]] god named [[Gazul]]. He has a third name, [[Forsagh]], given to him by gypsies. After [[Sigmar]] and [[Ulric]], he is the most popular god in the Empire. His name is often lent to names relating to the undead, like the evil warpstone moon [[Morrslieb]]. Morr's got a few knightly orders dedicated to him as well - the Black Guard/Knights of Morr (Black-armoured knights who will use ranged weapons and are under a vow of silence [...outside of actual battle, of course] on their duty to guard graves and Morr-sacred places from the undead to the death), Knights of the Raven (veteran vampire hunters who instead aggressively seek to destroy the undead and their masters that seem to be jinxed [probably due to vampires]), and the Order of the Black Rose (mostly just a knightly order who just uses their black armour to look spooky).

In [[Vermintide]], Saltzpyre often quoted "Morr's scythe" before fighting any of his enemies (usually Stormvermins or Chaos Warriors), that the god of death would claim the souls of their enemies before their enemy gods (chaos gods and horned rat) does.

Of note, one of the neater scenery models GW has released is named after him; the Garden of Morr.

In the [[End Times]], [[Nagash]] defeated and consumed the god of the Underworld, [[Usirian]], which seemingly also resulted in the destruction of Morr, indicating Morr and Usirian are the same god with different names.

Or at least that's how it appeared until...

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

Priests of Morr are found throughout the old world wherever there are dead to be taken care of, his is not a religion which is practised widely. Most people pay homage to Morr during funerals and avoid his cult the rest of the time. He is worshipped mainly by mourners, who offer up prayers and sacrifices in the hope that their departed will reach his realm safely and prosper there.

The cult is not centrally organised, and each local temple/funerary house is independent. The most senior temple is located in Luccini, Tilea, where a convocation is held every ten years and matters of religious doctrine are debated and decided upon.

As Morr is vehemently opposed to the undead to the point that even [[vampire|involuntary infected]] are destroyed the priesthood of Morr is adamant in hunting down any of their priesthood who would use [[necromancy|the dark arts]] to deny Morr his due.

Any extension of ones natural lifespan is not enough to get you killed but it is enough to earn the priesthoods suspicion and [[Witch_Hunters|frequent visits from their representatives]] for inspection of possible [[heresy|foul play]].

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

*[[Knightly_Orders_of_the_Empire| The Black Guard of Morr]] - They are called upon to hunt down [[undead]] and the necromancers who would bring them into the world. The knights of Morr are widely feared for their devotion to the god of the dead, and dark tales are abound regarding their initiation rites. Even so, their martial prowess is more than welcome to those they fight alongside, for their silent efficiency is among the best in the [[empire]].

==Age of Sigmar==
The Mortal Realms' equivelant of Morr is Morrda. Seen as the patron of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer stormhost, legend claims that Morrda is the only death god who has managed to escape being devoured by Nagash. The Lethisian Defenders allegiance abilities from Forbidden Power gives its priests the ability to call upon prayers dedicated to Morrda, suggesting the myth is true and he's still capable of divine intervention. According to the Obernarn Stone found in Tome of Salvation, he has survived the world's destruction at least twice now.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Morr old.jpg
Morr shrine.jpg|A shrine to Morr.
Morr cultist.png|Members of the Cult of Morr.
Morr cultist procession.png|More Morr cultists.
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

Morr

2023-05-22T17:01:26Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: /* Knightly Orders */

[[File:Morr symbol.png|left|200px]]
[[File:Morr.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Morr according to Warhammer: Invasion.]]
A god in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Morr is the human god of the dead in the setting. His followers see to funerals, and try to keep the dead at rest as well as do their part (usually by aiding Witch Hunters) against the [[Vampire Counts|Undead]]. He maintains the afterlife for humans in the setting, which is a calm and restful place where sanctuaries for the other human gods also exist to provide whatever afterlives they see fit to give. He also has power over dreams and to a limited extent prophecy. He is the reason skulls are so prevalent on [[Empire]] architecture, being that he is a very important being to both commoner and noble.

Despite being a human god, he is described as being the brother of [[Khaine]] with whom he has a very poor relationship. He is worshiped as an elf named [[Sarriel]] by [[High Elves]] and [[Wood Elves (Warhammer)|Wood Elves]], and as a [[Dwarf]] god named [[Gazul]]. He has a third name, [[Forsagh]], given to him by gypsies. After [[Sigmar]] and [[Ulric]], he is the most popular god in the Empire. His name is often lent to names relating to the undead, like the evil warpstone moon [[Morrslieb]]. Morr's got a few knightly orders dedicated to him as well - the Black Guard/Knights of Morr (Black-armoured knights who will use ranged weapons and are under a vow of silence [...outside of actual battle, of course] on their duty to guard graves and Morr-sacred places from the undead to the death), Knights of the Raven (veteran vampire hunters who instead aggressively seek to destroy the undead and their masters that seem to be jinxed [probably due to vampires]), and the Order of the Black Rose (mostly just a knightly order who just uses their black armour to look spooky).

In [[Vermintide]], Saltzpyre often quoted "Morr's scythe" before fighting any of his enemies (usually Stormvermins or Chaos Warriors), that the god of death would claim the souls of their enemies before their enemy gods (chaos gods and horned rat) does.

Of note, one of the neater scenery models GW has released is named after him; the Garden of Morr.

In the [[End Times]], [[Nagash]] defeated and consumed the god of the Underworld, [[Usirian]], which seemingly also resulted in the destruction of Morr, indicating Morr and Usirian are the same god with different names.

Or at least that's how it appeared until...

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

Priests of Morr are found throughout the old world wherever there are dead to be taken care of, his is not a religion which is practised widely. Most people pay homage to Morr during funerals and avoid his cult the rest of the time. He is worshipped mainly by mourners, who offer up prayers and sacrifices in the hope that their departed will reach his realm safely and prosper there.

The cult is not centrally organised, and each local temple/funerary house is independent. The most senior temple is located in Luccini, Tilea, where a convocation is held every ten years and matters of religious doctrine are debated and decided upon.

As Morr is vehemently opposed to the undead to the point that even [[vampire|involuntary infected]] are destroyed the priesthood of Morr is adamant in hunting down any of their priesthood who would use [[necromancy|the dark arts]] to deny Morr his due.

Any extension of ones natural lifespan is not enough to get you killed but it is enough to earn the priesthoods suspicion and [[Witch_Hunters|frequent visits from their representatives]] for inspection of possible [[heresy|foul play]].

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

*[[Knightly_Orders_of_the_Empire| The Black Guard of Morr]] - They are called upon to hunt down Undead and the Necromancers who would bring them into the world. The Knights of Morr are widely feared for their devotion to the god of the dead, and dark tales abound regarding their initiation rites. Even so, their martial prowess is more than welcome to those they fight alongside, for their silent efficiency is among the best in the Empire.

==Age of Sigmar==
The Mortal Realms' equivelant of Morr is Morrda. Seen as the patron of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer stormhost, legend claims that Morrda is the only death god who has managed to escape being devoured by Nagash. The Lethisian Defenders allegiance abilities from Forbidden Power gives its priests the ability to call upon prayers dedicated to Morrda, suggesting the myth is true and he's still capable of divine intervention. According to the Obernarn Stone found in Tome of Salvation, he has survived the world's destruction at least twice now.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Morr old.jpg
Morr shrine.jpg|A shrine to Morr.
Morr cultist.png|Members of the Cult of Morr.
Morr cultist procession.png|More Morr cultists.
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

Morr

2023-05-22T16:34:34Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Info on priests of morr.

[[File:Morr symbol.png|left|200px]]
[[File:Morr.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Morr according to Warhammer: Invasion.]]
A god in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Morr is the human god of the dead in the setting. His followers see to funerals, and try to keep the dead at rest as well as do their part (usually by aiding Witch Hunters) against the [[Vampire Counts|Undead]]. He maintains the afterlife for humans in the setting, which is a calm and restful place where sanctuaries for the other human gods also exist to provide whatever afterlives they see fit to give. He also has power over dreams and to a limited extent prophecy. He is the reason skulls are so prevalent on [[Empire]] architecture, being that he is a very important being to both commoner and noble.

Despite being a human god, he is described as being the brother of [[Khaine]] with whom he has a very poor relationship. He is worshiped as an elf named [[Sarriel]] by [[High Elves]] and [[Wood Elves (Warhammer)|Wood Elves]], and as a [[Dwarf]] god named [[Gazul]]. He has a third name, [[Forsagh]], given to him by gypsies. After [[Sigmar]] and [[Ulric]], he is the most popular god in the Empire. His name is often lent to names relating to the undead, like the evil warpstone moon [[Morrslieb]]. Morr's got a few knightly orders dedicated to him as well - the Black Guard/Knights of Morr (Black-armoured knights who will use ranged weapons and are under a vow of silence [...outside of actual battle, of course] on their duty to guard graves and Morr-sacred places from the undead to the death), Knights of the Raven (veteran vampire hunters who instead aggressively seek to destroy the undead and their masters that seem to be jinxed [probably due to vampires]), and the Order of the Black Rose (mostly just a knightly order who just uses their black armour to look spooky).

In [[Vermintide]], Saltzpyre often quoted "Morr's scythe" before fighting any of his enemies (usually Stormvermins or Chaos Warriors), that the god of death would claim the souls of their enemies before their enemy gods (chaos gods and horned rat) does.

Of note, one of the neater scenery models GW has released is named after him; the Garden of Morr.

In the [[End Times]], [[Nagash]] defeated and consumed the god of the Underworld, [[Usirian]], which seemingly also resulted in the destruction of Morr, indicating Morr and Usirian are the same god with different names.

Or at least that's how it appeared until...

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

Priests of Morr are found throughout the old world wherever there are dead to be taken care of, his is not a religion which is practised widely. Most people pay homage to Morr during funerals and avoid his cult the rest of the time. He is worshipped mainly by mourners, who offer up prayers and sacrifices in the hope that their departed will reach his realm safely and prosper there.

The cult is not centrally organised, and each local temple/funerary house is independent. The most senior temple is located in Luccini, Tilea, where a convocation is held every ten years and matters of religious doctrine are debated and decided upon.

As Morr is vehemently opposed to the undead to the point that even [[vampire|involuntary infected]] are destroyed the priesthood of Morr is adamant in hunting down any of their priesthood who would use [[necromancy|the dark arts]] to deny Morr his due.

Any extension of ones natural lifespan is not enough to get you killed but it is enough to earn the priesthoods suspicion and [[Witch_Hunters|frequent visits from their representatives]] for inspection of possible [[heresy|foul play]].

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}
==Age of Sigmar==
The Mortal Realms' equivelant of Morr is Morrda. Seen as the patron of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer stormhost, legend claims that Morrda is the only death god who has managed to escape being devoured by Nagash. The Lethisian Defenders allegiance abilities from Forbidden Power gives its priests the ability to call upon prayers dedicated to Morrda, suggesting the myth is true and he's still capable of divine intervention. According to the Obernarn Stone found in Tome of Salvation, he has survived the world's destruction at least twice now.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Morr old.jpg
Morr shrine.jpg|A shrine to Morr.
Morr cultist.png|Members of the Cult of Morr.
Morr cultist procession.png|More Morr cultists.
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

Ulric

2023-05-22T15:56:03Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: grammar errors fixed

[[File:Ulric woodcut.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Ulric''' is the god of winter, battle, and [[Leman Russ|wolves]] in the [[Warhammer Fantasy]] world. He is the second most popular god in the [[Empire]] (just behind [[Sigmar]]), and is mainly worshiped in the northern provinces of the Empire (that is, Nordland, Ostland and Middenland). He is part of the Cult of the Old Gods.

Originally, Ulric was the most important of the gods of the pre-unification. At least every Imperial tribe worshiped Ulric in some aspect, with the Teutogens being his most ardent followers (a trend which continues to this day, as the descendants of the Teutogens now rule Middenland and the office of Ar-Ulric is open only to those of pure Teutogen ancestry). Sigmar himself was perhaps the most deeply devout of Ulric's mortal followers. Hence, it goes without saying, that if he were alive to see how the Cult of Ulric has been marginalized and ridiculed by the Sigmarites, he would likely launch into an apocalyptic blood rage that would wipe out the Old World and impress [[Khorne]] Himself. Assuming they didn't actually become the same being for the good of Order. One might say Sigmar was basically a Warrior-Priest of Ulric.

The moment the Empire switched to Sigmar-worship, they became the punching bag of everyone else instead of doing the punching. Worship of Sigmar is great for ensuring your warriors are honorable and disciplined, but Ulric was the source of Sigmar’s strength and ass-kicking. Woops!

==Commandments==
Bravery, self-reliance and strength are the greatest virtues. Underhandedness of any kind is dishonorable and at odds with Ulric's nature of directness and honor. Obey your military superiors and never refuse an order unless doing so would break another of Ulric's tenets. Never refuse a direct challenge. Modern weapons, such as [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder weapons]], artillery, crossbows and fire-bombs, because they do not rely any physical strength are shunned. Followers of Ulric must never allow one of the fires of a shrine or temple to go out. Oppose [[Chaos]] wherever you see it. Never flee a fight unless facing overwhelming odds and the greater good would be served by such a flight.

His portfolio is very similar to [[Sigmar]]'s (though the Ulrican doctrines focus more on the physical aspects of battle than Sigmarite ideals, which tend to encompass the spiritual and mental portions of warriorhood), and so the churches do have various disputes, especially over the election of a new Emperor; the main sticking point is that the cult of Ulric only has one vote compared to the cult of Sigmar's three.

Given the Ulrican slant towards forthrightness in battle and life and disdain for cowardice, followers of Ulric distrust the followers of Ranald, the god of thievery and luck.

In Kislev, there exists much suspicion between the followers of the Winter Wolf and those who place their faith in the Sun God [[Dazh]]. This is primarily due to the fact that Kislev gets the worst winters in the world, second only to Norsca, and they don't need some silly southerners telling them how nice that is. FUCK. Of course, embracing Ulric would solve that problem for Kislev, but since this has "Warhammer" in the name, [[Heresy|common sense]] can go fuck itself. If anyone suggested worshipping the god of winter for protection from winter’s danger, they’d be in deep shit for not being a moron.

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

Ulrican priests, monks, nuns, and warrior priests are referred to as the wolfborn. More powerful priests claim the title lord wolf.

Initiates wear black robes and a silver wolf head medallion around their neck. The few females wear scooped necklines and a high necked blouse beneath. When training, they usually strip to undergarments as skin is considered less valuable than robes & many have minor scars.

A priest wears much the same robes but made from better cloth and trimmed with fur and with a white wolf head decorating the chest. Some wear wolf pelts that they are required to hunt themselves with high ranking priests wearing robes embellished with silk & the eyes of the wolf pelt are replaced with jewels.

The priesthood is led by the Ar-Ulric, high priest of the cult and often on a more personal level by the grand master of the knightly order they serve for many priests of Ulric are also warrior priests or atleast voluntary hunters of [[heresy|foul beings]].

As seen with the case of [[Vampire|Jerek Kruger]] and the bastard [[Werewolf|children of Ulric]] the god will not abandon those of his priesthood if they are involuntarily mutated so long as they fight in his name. However should the individual fall to darkness completely they will be dealt a [[slayer|worthy death]] & will be hunted down as the monsters they have become.

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}
*[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Knightly_Orders_of_the_Empire#Knights_of_the_White_Wolf|'''The Knights of the White Wolf'''] - The Knights of the White Wolf are the most ancient and largest of the knightly orders. Their wolfskin cloaks, coupled with their long wild hair & beards give them a barbaric appearance similar to those of the first worshippers of Ulric, but in truth they are a highly disciplined order who's presence inspires both courage and savagery.

==The End Times==
Ulric is fighting the chaos gods during the end times, holding them back so that [[Archaon]] and his chaos forces can't take Middenheim. Unfortunately, [[Teclis]] being the typical [[Eldrad|selfish-elf-dick-archetype]] stole his flame to power up/revive his bro and thus killed Ulric (because risking Chaos winning is totally worth giving your brother a little longer to live and, by the way, risking Chaos getting said brother's soul if Chaos wins). With Ulric's absence and Boris Todbringer murdered by a bunch of stupid [[Beastmen]], whom Boris decided to take some quick vengeance on, Middenheim finally fell. Although Ulric was able to buff the new supreme patriarch Gregor Martak with the power to kill Malagor the Dark Omen, he still gets slammed and then uses his remaining power to possess a knight named Wendel Volker.

Ulric knew Teclis was the one that stole his flame and confronts him later on with Wendel's body and the Emperor on his side, which Teclis responded
to by saying [[Eldrad|he would steal his flame even a thousand times if he were able to travel back in time because the age of the gods is over and it is time for the incarnate of winds to take charge.]] Well fuck you Teclis, you pointy-eared piece of shit, you are no better an elf than [[Malekith]] or your brother. It can be inferred Teclis believed Chaos would be beaten back by said incarnates instead of relying on the, y'know, ''guarantee'' that the gods actually holding back Chaos would...hold back Chaos. He just wanted an excuse to resurrect his brother and use wishful thinking (spoiler: he was wrong). To say nothing of the fact he believed the incarnates would hold back Chaos after he just witnessed a city fall specifically because of his reliance on incarnates.

Like all elves outside of Tolkien, the fucktard thought he could have his cake (his brother) and eat it (stop Chaos from full victory). And like all elves, he didn’t care how many people died or worse because of it even if he had succeeded (he failed miserably). Even though a lot of those were his own people.

Then again, if the gods couldn’t protect themselves from a mortal...

Interestingly, it was discovered by Archaon that the flame of Ulric was housed on top of a device of the Old Ones, and just like every Old One artifact, it is warp-related machinery that has the power to create a chaos rift if properly tended. This might have raised some interesting question about Ulric's origin.

Even so, the weakening of Ulric with the loss of his flame makes no sense by Warhammer’s own Warp. That people spent like, forever believing him to be a god and so on, the fires should be irrelevant to his power no matter what their original purpose was. Acting as an Ulric-controlled Warp rift to more easily strengthen and and shield his faithful would make sense, but instead Games Workshop ignored how gods and the Warp have always worked. But only for Ulric and only in the End Times.

Another notable feature about Ulric is that when he possessed people like Gregor Martak and Wendel Volker, it made their hair turn white and their eyes become the color of amber, like wolves. Both of them also gained the ability to cast ice related magic, having omnipresence to their surroundings as well as lower the surrounding temperature like a true wolf-god of winter. Also, he technically isn't really dead, otherwise he couldn't possess anyone. His body is kaput but he's a god, he can fix that or make a new one and since the gods exist in the Warp which is only as real as you believe...exactly. Teclis isn't quite smart enough to realize he pissed off the strongest gods in the setting. Or that humans might decide that killing off his species in retribution sounds fair.

[[Age of Sigmar|Or, at least, that could have been the case if the Old World didn't suddenly get eaten by a Chaos rift, sealing the fate of everything save Sigmar and Archaon]].

==Crossover==
[[Leman Russ|Does Ulric's portfolio of beliefs sound kinda familiar?]]

<s>[[Khorne|...No, really, does it?]]</s> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!*'''}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Ulric 1e.jpg
Ulric symbol.png|Symbol of the Cult of Ulric.
Ulric priest.png
Priest of Ulric.png
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [http://warhammerfb.wikia.com/wiki/Ulric Ulric's Warhammerfb.wiki page]

{{Empire-Gods}}

Ulric

2023-05-22T15:51:19Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Added lore on the priesthood of Ulric

[[File:Ulric woodcut.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Ulric''' is the god of winter, battle, and [[Leman Russ|wolves]] in the [[Warhammer Fantasy]] world. He is the second most popular god in the [[Empire]] (just behind [[Sigmar]]), and is mainly worshiped in the northern provinces of the Empire (that is, Nordland, Ostland and Middenland). He is part of the Cult of the Old Gods.

Originally, Ulric was the most important of the gods of the pre-unification. At least every Imperial tribe worshiped Ulric in some aspect, with the Teutogens being his most ardent followers (a trend which continues to this day, as the descendants of the Teutogens now rule Middenland and the office of Ar-Ulric is open only to those of pure Teutogen ancestry). Sigmar himself was perhaps the most deeply devout of Ulric's mortal followers. Hence, it goes without saying, that if he were alive to see how the Cult of Ulric has been marginalized and ridiculed by the Sigmarites, he would likely launch into an apocalyptic blood rage that would wipe out the Old World and impress [[Khorne]] Himself. Assuming they didn't actually become the same being for the good of Order. One might say Sigmar was basically a Warrior-Priest of Ulric.

The moment the Empire switched to Sigmar-worship, they became the punching bag of everyone else instead of doing the punching. Worship of Sigmar is great for ensuring your warriors are honorable and disciplined, but Ulric was the source of Sigmar’s strength and ass-kicking. Woops!

==Commandments==
Bravery, self-reliance and strength are the greatest virtues. Underhandedness of any kind is dishonorable and at odds with Ulric's nature of directness and honor. Obey your military superiors and never refuse an order unless doing so would break another of Ulric's tenets. Never refuse a direct challenge. Modern weapons, such as [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder weapons]], artillery, crossbows and fire-bombs, because they do not rely any physical strength are shunned. Followers of Ulric must never allow one of the fires of a shrine or temple to go out. Oppose [[Chaos]] wherever you see it. Never flee a fight unless facing overwhelming odds and the greater good would be served by such a flight.

His portfolio is very similar to [[Sigmar]]'s (though the Ulrican doctrines focus more on the physical aspects of battle than Sigmarite ideals, which tend to encompass the spiritual and mental portions of warriorhood), and so the churches do have various disputes, especially over the election of a new Emperor; the main sticking point is that the cult of Ulric only has one vote compared to the cult of Sigmar's three.

Given the Ulrican slant towards forthrightness in battle and life and disdain for cowardice, followers of Ulric distrust the followers of Ranald, the god of thievery and luck.

In Kislev, there exists much suspicion between the followers of the Winter Wolf and those who place their faith in the Sun God [[Dazh]]. This is primarily due to the fact that Kislev gets the worst winters in the world, second only to Norsca, and they don't need some silly southerners telling them how nice that is. FUCK. Of course, embracing Ulric would solve that problem for Kislev, but since this has "Warhammer" in the name, [[Heresy|common sense]] can go fuck itself. If anyone suggested worshipping the god of winter for protection from winter’s danger, they’d be in deep shit for not being a moron.

==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

Ulrican Priests, Monks, Nuns, and Warrior Priests referred to as The Wolfborn. More powerful priests claim the title Lord Wolf.

Initiates wear black robes and a silver wolf head medallion around their neck. The few females wear scooped necklines and a high necked blouse beneath. When training, they usually strip to undergarments as skin is considered less valuable than robes & many have minor scars.

A priest wears much the same robes but made from better cloth and trimmed with fur and with a white wolf head decorating the chest. Some wear wolf pelts that they are required to hunt themselves with high ranking priests wearing robes embellished with silk & the eyes of the wolf pelt are replaced with jewels.

The priesthood is led by the Ar-Ulric, High Priest of the Cult and often on a more personal level by the grand master of the knightly order they serve for many priests of Ulric are also warrior priests or atleast voluntary hunters of [[heresy|foul beings]].

As seen with the case of [[Vampire|Jerek Kruger]] and the bastard [[Werewolf|children of Ulric]] the god will not abandon those of his priesthood if they are involuntarily mutated so long as they fight in his name. However should the individual fall to darkness completely they will be dealt a [[slayer|worthy death]] & will be hunted down as the monsters they have become.

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}
*[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Knightly_Orders_of_the_Empire#Knights_of_the_White_Wolf|'''The Knights of the White Wolf'''] - The Knights of the White Wolf are the most ancient and largest of the knightly orders. Their wolfskin cloaks, coupled with their long wild hair & beards give them a barbaric appearance similar to those of the first worshippers of Ulric, but in truth they are a highly disciplined order who's presence inspires both courage and savagery.

==The End Times==
Ulric is fighting the chaos gods during the end times, holding them back so that [[Archaon]] and his chaos forces can't take Middenheim. Unfortunately, [[Teclis]] being the typical [[Eldrad|selfish-elf-dick-archetype]] stole his flame to power up/revive his bro and thus killed Ulric (because risking Chaos winning is totally worth giving your brother a little longer to live and, by the way, risking Chaos getting said brother's soul if Chaos wins). With Ulric's absence and Boris Todbringer murdered by a bunch of stupid [[Beastmen]], whom Boris decided to take some quick vengeance on, Middenheim finally fell. Although Ulric was able to buff the new supreme patriarch Gregor Martak with the power to kill Malagor the Dark Omen, he still gets slammed and then uses his remaining power to possess a knight named Wendel Volker.

Ulric knew Teclis was the one that stole his flame and confronts him later on with Wendel's body and the Emperor on his side, which Teclis responded
to by saying [[Eldrad|he would steal his flame even a thousand times if he were able to travel back in time because the age of the gods is over and it is time for the incarnate of winds to take charge.]] Well fuck you Teclis, you pointy-eared piece of shit, you are no better an elf than [[Malekith]] or your brother. It can be inferred Teclis believed Chaos would be beaten back by said incarnates instead of relying on the, y'know, ''guarantee'' that the gods actually holding back Chaos would...hold back Chaos. He just wanted an excuse to resurrect his brother and use wishful thinking (spoiler: he was wrong). To say nothing of the fact he believed the incarnates would hold back Chaos after he just witnessed a city fall specifically because of his reliance on incarnates.

Like all elves outside of Tolkien, the fucktard thought he could have his cake (his brother) and eat it (stop Chaos from full victory). And like all elves, he didn’t care how many people died or worse because of it even if he had succeeded (he failed miserably). Even though a lot of those were his own people.

Then again, if the gods couldn’t protect themselves from a mortal...

Interestingly, it was discovered by Archaon that the flame of Ulric was housed on top of a device of the Old Ones, and just like every Old One artifact, it is warp-related machinery that has the power to create a chaos rift if properly tended. This might have raised some interesting question about Ulric's origin.

Even so, the weakening of Ulric with the loss of his flame makes no sense by Warhammer’s own Warp. That people spent like, forever believing him to be a god and so on, the fires should be irrelevant to his power no matter what their original purpose was. Acting as an Ulric-controlled Warp rift to more easily strengthen and and shield his faithful would make sense, but instead Games Workshop ignored how gods and the Warp have always worked. But only for Ulric and only in the End Times.

Another notable feature about Ulric is that when he possessed people like Gregor Martak and Wendel Volker, it made their hair turn white and their eyes become the color of amber, like wolves. Both of them also gained the ability to cast ice related magic, having omnipresence to their surroundings as well as lower the surrounding temperature like a true wolf-god of winter. Also, he technically isn't really dead, otherwise he couldn't possess anyone. His body is kaput but he's a god, he can fix that or make a new one and since the gods exist in the Warp which is only as real as you believe...exactly. Teclis isn't quite smart enough to realize he pissed off the strongest gods in the setting. Or that humans might decide that killing off his species in retribution sounds fair.

[[Age of Sigmar|Or, at least, that could have been the case if the Old World didn't suddenly get eaten by a Chaos rift, sealing the fate of everything save Sigmar and Archaon]].

==Crossover==
[[Leman Russ|Does Ulric's portfolio of beliefs sound kinda familiar?]]

<s>[[Khorne|...No, really, does it?]]</s> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!*'''}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Ulric 1e.jpg
Ulric symbol.png|Symbol of the Cult of Ulric.
Ulric priest.png
Priest of Ulric.png
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [http://warhammerfb.wikia.com/wiki/Ulric Ulric's Warhammerfb.wiki page]

{{Empire-Gods}}

Myrmidia

2023-05-22T14:56:26Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Added some text on myrmidian priests and traditions.

[[File:Myrmidia battle.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Myrmidia guiding men into battle.]]
[[File:Myrmidia symbol.jpg|right|100px|thumb|The symbol of Myrmidia.]]
A goddess in [[Warhammer Fantasy]] worshiped by the men of [[Tilea]] and [[Estalia]], as well as the [[Empire]] in a reduced capacity. She's an outright knockoff of [[Athena]], being a goddess of strategy and the chain of command. Her followers are usually rivals of the main gods of the setting ([[Ulric]] and [[Sigmar]] respectively), who are mainly about going on human WAAAGH!s against [[Chaos]] worshipers and the Undead. She is the daughter of [[Morr]], the human god of the dead, and [[Verena]], the goddess of justice and scholars. According to 4th edition [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], a language 'Battle Tongue' used by human soldiers in, well, battle was created by Myrmidia herself. She has a number of knightly orders, but the most prominent is the Order of the Blazing Sun, which produces classically heavily-armored knights whose real claim to fame is being exemplars of her tenets that are some of the best tacticians/strategists around. Her sister is [[Shallya]], goddess of mercy and healing. She apparently managed to survive [[the End Times]] and live on into the [[Age of Sigmar]] as there is mention of a gender-neutral knightly order ”the Order of the Ardent Star” that once worshipped Myrmidia in their homeland of the Flamescar Plateau in the Realm of Aqshy. Said knights wore black and gold, rode into battle on giant murder lizards called demidroths (who sadly did not breathe fire like their larger magmadroth cousins) and took pride in a banner with a star on it that supposedly was given to them during the Age of Myth by the goddess (hence their order’s name). Also despite being relatively near to them geographically the order did not have particularly good relationship with the Fyreslayers of Hermdar lodge, something which would come back to bite them. See despite their battle cry being “Stella Invicti” or the “Unconquerable Star” and their past victories in a thousand battles beforehand, without any allied support they were all but obliterated by a horde of Khornate warriors lead by the female Khornate champion Sulkotha Godspite during the Age of Chaos. Godspite, wielding a spiked demonic chain whip, a cursed demonic blade and looking like she stepped out of a heavy metal album cover due to her wearing spiked armor with a breast plate etched with demonic faces with burning eyes, first broke the order’s fortress “the Redoubt” located at Drakemount before moving on and finally killing the order’s leader Sir Karon and most of his remaining subordinates at their last stronghold “the Chapel Fortress” which lay to the west of the Desert of Glass. The only survivor of the order’s massacre was a single female knight named Sir Anaea who managed to escape from the slaughter with the order’s sacred banner before hiding it in the mountains nearby.

Also she seems to be highly worshiped by the Tempest Lords Stormhost of the Stormcast Eternals, a bunch of nobles who actually got off their ass and did something with their lives, so she ain't out of followers for the time being.

In [[Warhammer 40k]] her closest equivalent is, or rather was, an obscure war goddess named Mythrus who was mentioned in one of the [[Siege of Terra]] books and who counted among her worshippers the grandson of one [[Ollanius Pius]]. Despite [[The Emperor]] having banned all religions and pseudo-religious systems (excluding his Imperial Truth and the Machine Cult) due to fear of them fueling the [[Chaos Gods]] Mythrus was apparently still being worshipped by secret groups in the [[Imperial Guard]] up till the [[Horus Heresy]] due to humans instinctively having a strong desire to look up to a higher power for guidance, something big E couldn't seem to comprehend despite his millennia of life. As an aside it’s possible the Emperor had some sort of connection with the goddess as the infamously disliked Ultramarine animated movie featured a similarly named book of warp magic called the Liber Mithrus that was supposedly entrusted to the Imperial fists for safe keeping upon their founding. However given the poor quality of the movie it’s possible the name was just an oversight on GW’s part. In any event at the end of the heresy [[Horus]] got killed, [[The Emperor]] got put on life-support, and the [[Imperium of Man]] replaced the Imperial truth with worship of [[The Emperor]] as a god leaving no room for the cult of Mythrus which was wiped out.
==Priests==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}
Most who wish to become priests or join one of the knightly orders of the goddess come from the upper echelons of society. The cult prizes above all duty, honour, and learnedness, and these qualities are found often among the noble class, who have the resources to be well educated and the opportunity to practise moral integrity.

The cult however does not restrict its membership to nobility as unlike [[Bretonnia|bretonnian traditions]] they do not worship those who are in power for the creed of myrmidia demands nobility in deeds from all and offers [[Flagellant|penance through self sacrifice]] to those [[Blood_Dragon|sinners]] who truly desire to better themselves. In contrast false converts and spies seeking to infiltrate the followers of the goddess are punished by the [[inquisition]] with wrath fiercer than any [[Witch_Hunters| imperial witch hunter]].

Whereas in other lands the first seeds of [[heresy|chaos]] are ignored, in [[Estalia]] would be cultists are ruthlessly rooted out and destroyed. Any hint of heresy is purged by the inquistion who wield tremendous political power in the various kingdoms that worship Myrmidia. Even their mercenary warbands are known to contain agents of the inquisition as these are viewed as opportunities to spread the faith far and wide.

==Knightly Orders==
{{whfb-stub}}{{NeedsImages}}

The [https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Myrmidons "Myrmidons"],[[Knights of the Blazing Sun]],and [[Knights of the Verdant Field]] have Myrmidia as their patron.

==In Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay==
One of the largest exposes on the Cult of Myrmidia in the context of [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] can be found in the [[splatbook]] "Up In Arms!", which examines the soldiers and mercenaries of the Old World. Here, the summary of the cult goes thus:
::Seat of Power: The Archecclesiastium, the chief temple in Magritta.
::Head of the Cult: La Aguila Ultima Isabella Giovanna Luccelli .
::Primary Orders: Order of the Blazing Sun, Order of the Eagle, Order of the Righteous Spear.
::Major Festivals: No fixed holy days, but celebrations to Myrmidia are held at the beginning and end of campaigns and it it common practice to sacrifice to her before and after a battle.
::Popular Holy Books: Bellona Myrmidia, Bellum Strategia, The Book of War.
::Holy Symbols: A spear behind a shield, an eagle.

Myrmidia's faith is described as being a confusing tangle of historical fact and pure myth, very akin to that of [[Sigmar]]; like Sigmar, Myrmidia is believed to have been a real god-queen who once presided over a great empire in the southern regions of the Old World, covering the lands now known as [[Tilea]] and [[Estalia]]. Interestingly, [[Wight]]-guarded barrows from the Old World ''have'' occasionally been looted to reveal what are obviously sacred statuettes depicting a warrior woman wielding stone arms and armor, so it's an indisputable fact that some kind of warrior goddess was worshipped in the pre-Sigmar cultures of the Old World... the debate is whether or not this goddess was actually Myrmida. For obvious reasons, Imperial theologians tend to be very dismissive of the legend of Myrmida, often going so far as to suggest that her legends are simply poor imitations of Sigmar's legends and that the "southern empire" is a pure fiction. The smart ones don't say ''that'' where any Tilean or Estalian can hear them!

One of the more interesting aspects of Myrmidia's faith is that there's actually a schism in it. Whilst her Cult is widely spread in both [[Tilea]] and [[Estalia]], these two nations have very different perspectives on several major views about the goddess and her lore, not helped by the fact that her three holy books each present very all different accounts of her origins and place varying emphasis on the importance of her story. Whilst such distinctions may be seen as pointless or arbitrary to outsiders, they are taken ''very'' seriously by Tileans and Estalians, and are the source of bitter contention, which keeps the cult on the verge of schisming. It has even led to everything from duels between champions of the rival sects to full-blown wars, and the fall of the Reman empire is sometimes attributed to the religious schism between Tilean and Estalian worshippers of Myrmidia. Is this perhaps a tongue-in-cheek nod to the split of Christianity between Catholics and Orthodox? Well, we wouldn't past them...

So, what are the big issues and the differing views? Well...

{| class=wikitable
!Issue ||Tileans || Estalians
|-
|Centre of cult authority ||L’Ultima Aquila Isabella Giovanna Luccelli is the head of the cult, and ought to move its centre to the High Temple in Remas||La Aguila Ultima Isabella Giovanna Luccelli is the High Priestess at The Archecclesiastium, the chief temple in Magritta
|-
|Legitimacy of ''Bellona Myrmidia'' ||Literal truth of Myrmidia’s life and achievements||A collection of folklore and fairy tales, of spiritual importance but not historical fact
|-
|Legitimacy of ''Bellum Strategia'' ||Apocryphal ramblings that may inspire the faithful but hold no true veracity||The holy revelation of Myrmidia’s manifestation as a goddess incarnate in Magritta
|-
|Legitimacy of ''The Book of War'' ||An important work in understanding the precepts a good Myrmidian ought to abide by, and an account of twelve battles fought under the generalship of Myrmidia||An important work in understanding the precepts a good Myrmidian ought to abide by, and an account of twelve battles fought under the guidance of generals inspired by Myrmidian principles
|-
|Myrmidia was previously a goddess of Civilisation and companion to Tylos ||Commonly understood to be fact, or at least a respected legend||Dismissed as a Tilean myth
|-
|Belief that a Myrmidian classical age... ||began in Remas, led by Myrmidia herself, and conquered Estalia|| began in Magritta, was either led by Myrmidia herself or those who were inspired by her, and conquered Tilea
|-
|Enjoy the favour of... ||the Order of the Eagle|| the Order of the Blazing Sun
|-
|Belief that Myrmidia spent time as a mortal... ||is hugely important and proper to all true Myrmidians|| is optional and of secondary importance to understanding what she represents
|}

Although facing resistance from the Cult of Ulric and the more hardcore Cultists of Sigmar (though the broader Sigmar church actually welcomes Myrmidia's faith, if largely to spite Ulricans), the cult of Myrmidia is spreading across the Empire, in particular gaining a lot of ground amongst the ''women'' of the Empire, which might be another Christianity reference; women were often the first to convert to that faith in reality. They appreciate Myrmidia's emphasis on fighting smarter, not harder, and her advocation of minimizing casualties. A common saying amongst Myrmidian women of the Empire goes "Sigmar takes you to war, but Myrmidia brings you back".

...Obviously, most Sigmarites get very grumpy at hearing this parable.

===Tenets of Myrmidia===
According to her writeup in "Up At Arms", the faith of Myrmidia fundamentally revolves around three central concepts; '''Honor''', '''Knowledge''' and '''Aesthetic Flair'''.

Of these concepts, the Myrmidian concept of Honor is the deepest and most complex - and the one most ridiculed by Ulricans and hostile Sigmarites, for Myrmidian honor champions efficiency and compassion over brute strength and martial pride. In Myrmidia's eyes, honorable behavor is to avoid wasting soldiers' lives, win battles quickly and decisively, extend respect to the dead, submit to one's master - but disobey them if they prove corrupt, redress wrongs, right injustices, and protect the weak.

Knowledge is sacred to Myrmidia, and her adherents both dedicate themselves to seeking out ancient or lost texts relating to the lore and art of battle, and strive to improve themselves and their combat abilities.

Finally, one's martial equipment should be crafted and cared for to bring it to the pinnacle of its beauty. Armor should be polished, blades honed to a razor's edge. No Myrmidian worthy of their faith would allow their gear to be rusty or subpar!

Boiled down to their bluntest, these are the Myrmidian commandments:
* '''Act with honor and dignity in all matters.'''
* '''Respect prisoners of war and never kill an enemy who surrenders.'''
* '''Show no mercy to the unrepentant enemies of Humanity.'''
* '''Obey all honorable orders.'''
* '''Preserve the weak from the horrors of war.'''

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Myrmidia.jpg
Myrmidia shrine.jpg
Warriors of Myrmidia.png|Warriors of the Cult of Myrmidia
Priestess of Myrmidia.jpg|A priestess of Myrmidia.
</gallery>

{{Empire-Gods}}

Proud Warrior Race

2023-05-22T14:11:22Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Finished fixes on spartan section.

{{stub}}
The '''Proud Warrior Race''' is a fairly common archetype in speculative fiction for various civilizations and cultures, both sci-fi and fantasy. The basic idea is based (and this must be stressed, ''very loosely'') on a variety of IRL cultures like the Vikings, Sengoku era Japan, medieval Knights, Spartans, Mongols and certain Native American tribes such as the Apaches. In any case what they have in common is this...

* Placing extreme value on marshal prowess and master of combat techniques. One should dedicate one's life towards mastering combat.
** A veneration of heroic military figures, often by oral record. To join their ranks of the exalted heroes is often the end goal in a warrior's life.
** Position in this society is generally dictated by being the best fighter one way or another.
* A strong and strict code of honour outlines the life of a Warrior, especially in combat.
** An attitude towards death that's at the very least accepting and usually glorifies dying in Honorable combat. Often to the point that it's disgraceful to simply fade away in a hospital bed of old age, as opposed to falling in battle.
* A decentralized society with power divided over small tightly knit sub-groups (often familial) which often fight with each other for position.
* A societal reverence towards war at the expense of other aspects of their society (economic, commercial, scientific, cultural, etc).
* A tendency to try to shoehorn warrior stuff in every aspect of their culture.

It should be noted that the "Race" part, while often a thing here, is not essential as the trope also applies to a social caste. You can have variations on this in which heritage is easily trumped by commitment to the code. (Like, for instance, Star Wars' Mandalorians who accept(ed) anyone willing to live by the ''Resol'nare'' code.)
== Problems ==
There are a lot of issues with the Proud Warrior Race and how they function, but the stem of it is that any society is complex and reducing them to one part of that greater whole makes as much sense as designing a car and only designing an engine.

The first and most obvious point is that even in a Warrior Culture, someone needs to keep them fed, clothed, armed and armoured. To get their sword, a warrior gets a blacksmith to forge it. To do so, the blacksmith needs food, fuel, metal, and a forge to work them in. This requires peasants to feed them and supply them with coal and bog iron, as well as a mason to build their forge (who also needs to be fed, requiring even more peasants) and the peasants and mason will need metal tools, so you'd probably want another smith who'd make them who'd also need food, a tanner to make forge bellows for the smiths, a carpenter to build their houses, etc. In the end for every full time warrior, you need a bunch of other people behind them providing support.

Similarly, even in warlike cultures not everything was about war and fighting all the time. The Vikings and the Mongols were not only warriors, but skilled traders. The Samurai produced a lot of capable poets and artists who's work would as often be about flowers than battle and eventually they largely evolved into a class of Bureaucrats.

That said, a Warrior Culture can still exist and thrive in a pre-industrial context as they lord over civilian subjects and are not above doing some farming, herding, trade, accounting and landscape painting on the side themselves. A few elite warriors clad in the best armour with the best weapons, trained from childhood to use them and willing to press on even when death seems certain can best several times their number of peasants with cheap spears and helmets and minimal training that are liable to panic if things don't go their way. The most obvious and extreme example of this in history are the Spartans. The Spartans (i.e. offcially recognized full citizens of the city of Sparta) themselves did all the Proud Warrior Race guy stuff training, Spartan way extreme training, fighting and so on and so on. But they were supported by an entire social class of slaves, the Helots. Said Helots were conquered at some point in history (we think this was over 2,000 years ago), and were kept in slavery to do all the support work the Spartans required for their Proud Warrior stuff. But due to them being slaves, the Spartans had to spend a lot of time and energy keeping them in line. Nevertheless, it was effective for a few hundred years roughly between 900BC and 200BC: Sparta's power and influence would only wane away by the time Alexander the Great came conquering along and ultimately be definitively put under by the Romans.

The problem is that as societies and technology advance, this model gets less and less viable. When a nation has access to both firearms and cannons as well as the apparatuses of state to recruit the sons of peasants, artisans, clerks, etc... in the tens of thousands and train, drill and organize them into a professional army; said army can overcome mighty warriors trough tactics and/or sheer numbers, even if the opposition has a substantial advantage in one-on-one fights. Do note that it is a lot easier said then done: historically, only the Roman Empire and maybe China could really claim to have been able to do that until arguably the 16th century. In a fantasy setting, the Proud Warrior Race Guy can perfectly make sense make sense: one could say the romanticized version of a [[knight]] is a form of Proud Warrior Race Guy. It's when you start getting into the vast industrial complexes of science fiction that this can strain suspension of disbelief without some additional thought put into it the way the T'au do for example.

Another problem is the "Proud" part of "Proud Warrior Race Guy". Codes of Honour are not a bad thing in of themselves, after all they can provide stability and encourage people to do their best and push their boundaries. The problem is that the Honour systems the Proud Warrior Races usually are more concerned with glorifying an individual. They'd often avoid weapons and tactics they deem "cowardly", which a pragmatic and opportunistic enemy will identify and exploit. There are of course various degrees this could be portrayed: a modern real-world military like the US Marines could be said to have a code of honour. '''Not shooting medics''' and '''Not harming non-combatants''' and '''Not using chemical weapons/sub-munitions/etc...''' make for a reasonable code, as they limit collateral damage and casualties without hampering the combatants ([[skub|too much]]). In fiction, however, it get taken to stupid levels like '''No ambushing, head straight for the enemy!''' or '''Ranged weapons are a coward's tool!''': such codes are so inherently self-limiting that you wonder how they're able to manage to be successful warriors in the first place.

Overall in both fiction and IRL: the Proud Warrior Race guys tend to eventually lose to those societies that are better able to mobilize larger parts of their population than the small, more elite Proud Warriors. More so when firearms are involved.

== Examples ==
* Green Martians in John Carter of Mars
* Klingons in [[Star Trek]] - probably the most well known incarnation.
* Sontarans in [[Doctor Who]] are a rare exception to the rule, as their militaristic traditions are shown in a negative (or humorous) light rather than positive or at least neutral.
* Sangheili in [[Halo]]
* [[The Clans]] in BattleTech
* [[Orc]]s often fall into this trope.
** Same can often be said for the [[Dark Elves]].
* Saiyans in Dragonball
* Mandalorians in [[Star Wars]] sort of straddle the line between race and creed, but either way they only focus on warfare and making weapons for warfare.
* The [[Tau]] [[Fire Caste]]. While often not thought of that way, the Tau Fire Caste are the proud warrior "race" or maybe sub-species of the Tau Empire with even subtle eugenic pressures to ensure that the best Fire Warriors have children who themselves will become Fire Warriors. They are of course supported by other castes of Tau which solves the various logistical issues a Proud Warrior race may have.
* Turians from Mass Effect. The Turians an interesting case in that there 'proud warrior race guy' trope is manifested as a strong and legally mandated tradition of public service, which is often done through the army which does more then just fight and covers police forces, fire fighters, engineers and even civilian shipping via a merchant marine force. It does also mean that like a more stereotyped proud warrior race, every single Turian can if pressed join the armed forces and fight to the last and they openly practice Total War rather then doing anything in a limited fashion. Overall if your on the receiving end of a Turian war it probably look a lot like a Klingon or most other Proud Warrior Race Guys with the entire society mobilizing to kick your ass, but unlike other proud warrior race guy's there not actually looking for somebody to fight at all times.

*[[Spartans]] from [[Halo]] are a UNSC military program meant to design a new race of humans but while the spartan 1 program [[fail|flopped]] the spartan 2 program known originally as the ORION project generation II, was the most effective part of the SPARTAN program, an effort to produce elite soldiers through mechanical and biological augmentation. [[grimdark|The spartan 2 test subjects were kidnapped children so their mentality would be separate from mainstream humanity as social connections like family and nation were replaced with the UNSC]]. Even though they were originally meant to crush separatist rebellions they served as the defense of humanity against the [[covenant]].The [[astartes|subsequent generations of spartan programs would be more humanitarian in their treatment of test subjects]] causing them to be of lesser quality than their [[custodes|spartan 2 counterparts]].

Proud Warrior Race

2023-05-22T13:52:29Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Capitalization

{{stub}}
The '''Proud Warrior Race''' is a fairly common archetype in speculative fiction for various civilizations and cultures, both sci-fi and fantasy. The basic idea is based (and this must be stressed, ''very loosely'') on a variety of IRL cultures like the Vikings, Sengoku era Japan, medieval Knights, Spartans, Mongols and certain Native American tribes such as the Apaches. In any case what they have in common is this...

* Placing extreme value on marshal prowess and master of combat techniques. One should dedicate one's life towards mastering combat.
** A veneration of heroic military figures, often by oral record. To join their ranks of the exalted heroes is often the end goal in a warrior's life.
** Position in this society is generally dictated by being the best fighter one way or another.
* A strong and strict code of honour outlines the life of a Warrior, especially in combat.
** An attitude towards death that's at the very least accepting and usually glorifies dying in Honorable combat. Often to the point that it's disgraceful to simply fade away in a hospital bed of old age, as opposed to falling in battle.
* A decentralized society with power divided over small tightly knit sub-groups (often familial) which often fight with each other for position.
* A societal reverence towards war at the expense of other aspects of their society (economic, commercial, scientific, cultural, etc).
* A tendency to try to shoehorn warrior stuff in every aspect of their culture.

It should be noted that the "Race" part, while often a thing here, is not essential as the trope also applies to a social caste. You can have variations on this in which heritage is easily trumped by commitment to the code. (Like, for instance, Star Wars' Mandalorians who accept(ed) anyone willing to live by the ''Resol'nare'' code.)
== Problems ==
There are a lot of issues with the Proud Warrior Race and how they function, but the stem of it is that any society is complex and reducing them to one part of that greater whole makes as much sense as designing a car and only designing an engine.

The first and most obvious point is that even in a Warrior Culture, someone needs to keep them fed, clothed, armed and armoured. To get their sword, a warrior gets a blacksmith to forge it. To do so, the blacksmith needs food, fuel, metal, and a forge to work them in. This requires peasants to feed them and supply them with coal and bog iron, as well as a mason to build their forge (who also needs to be fed, requiring even more peasants) and the peasants and mason will need metal tools, so you'd probably want another smith who'd make them who'd also need food, a tanner to make forge bellows for the smiths, a carpenter to build their houses, etc. In the end for every full time warrior, you need a bunch of other people behind them providing support.

Similarly, even in warlike cultures not everything was about war and fighting all the time. The Vikings and the Mongols were not only warriors, but skilled traders. The Samurai produced a lot of capable poets and artists who's work would as often be about flowers than battle and eventually they largely evolved into a class of Bureaucrats.

That said, a Warrior Culture can still exist and thrive in a pre-industrial context as they lord over civilian subjects and are not above doing some farming, herding, trade, accounting and landscape painting on the side themselves. A few elite warriors clad in the best armour with the best weapons, trained from childhood to use them and willing to press on even when death seems certain can best several times their number of peasants with cheap spears and helmets and minimal training that are liable to panic if things don't go their way. The most obvious and extreme example of this in history are the Spartans. The Spartans (i.e. offcially recognized full citizens of the city of Sparta) themselves did all the Proud Warrior Race guy stuff training, Spartan way extreme training, fighting and so on and so on. But they were supported by an entire social class of slaves, the Helots. Said Helots were conquered at some point in history (we think this was over 2,000 years ago), and were kept in slavery to do all the support work the Spartans required for their Proud Warrior stuff. But due to them being slaves, the Spartans had to spend a lot of time and energy keeping them in line. Nevertheless, it was effective for a few hundred years roughly between 900BC and 200BC: Sparta's power and influence would only wane away by the time Alexander the Great came conquering along and ultimately be definitively put under by the Romans.

The problem is that as societies and technology advance, this model gets less and less viable. When a nation has access to both firearms and cannons as well as the apparatuses of state to recruit the sons of peasants, artisans, clerks, etc... in the tens of thousands and train, drill and organize them into a professional army; said army can overcome mighty warriors trough tactics and/or sheer numbers, even if the opposition has a substantial advantage in one-on-one fights. Do note that it is a lot easier said then done: historically, only the Roman Empire and maybe China could really claim to have been able to do that until arguably the 16th century. In a fantasy setting, the Proud Warrior Race Guy can perfectly make sense make sense: one could say the romanticized version of a [[knight]] is a form of Proud Warrior Race Guy. It's when you start getting into the vast industrial complexes of science fiction that this can strain suspension of disbelief without some additional thought put into it the way the T'au do for example.

Another problem is the "Proud" part of "Proud Warrior Race Guy". Codes of Honour are not a bad thing in of themselves, after all they can provide stability and encourage people to do their best and push their boundaries. The problem is that the Honour systems the Proud Warrior Races usually are more concerned with glorifying an individual. They'd often avoid weapons and tactics they deem "cowardly", which a pragmatic and opportunistic enemy will identify and exploit. There are of course various degrees this could be portrayed: a modern real-world military like the US Marines could be said to have a code of honour. '''Not shooting medics''' and '''Not harming non-combatants''' and '''Not using chemical weapons/sub-munitions/etc...''' make for a reasonable code, as they limit collateral damage and casualties without hampering the combatants ([[skub|too much]]). In fiction, however, it get taken to stupid levels like '''No ambushing, head straight for the enemy!''' or '''Ranged weapons are a coward's tool!''': such codes are so inherently self-limiting that you wonder how they're able to manage to be successful warriors in the first place.

Overall in both fiction and IRL: the Proud Warrior Race guys tend to eventually lose to those societies that are better able to mobilize larger parts of their population than the small, more elite Proud Warriors. More so when firearms are involved.

== Examples ==
* Green Martians in John Carter of Mars
* Klingons in [[Star Trek]] - probably the most well known incarnation.
* Sontarans in [[Doctor Who]] are a rare exception to the rule, as their militaristic traditions are shown in a negative (or humorous) light rather than positive or at least neutral.
* Sangheili in [[Halo]]
* [[The Clans]] in BattleTech
* [[Orc]]s often fall into this trope.
** Same can often be said for the [[Dark Elves]].
* Saiyans in Dragonball
* Mandalorians in [[Star Wars]] sort of straddle the line between race and creed, but either way they only focus on warfare and making weapons for warfare.
* The [[Tau]] [[Fire Caste]]. While often not thought of that way, the Tau Fire Caste are the proud warrior "race" or maybe sub-species of the Tau Empire with even subtle eugenic pressures to ensure that the best Fire Warriors have children who themselves will become Fire Warriors. They are of course supported by other castes of Tau which solves the various logistical issues a Proud Warrior race may have.
* Turians from Mass Effect. The Turians an interesting case in that there 'proud warrior race guy' trope is manifested as a strong and legally mandated tradition of public service, which is often done through the army which does more then just fight and covers police forces, fire fighters, engineers and even civilian shipping via a merchant marine force. It does also mean that like a more stereotyped proud warrior race, every single Turian can if pressed join the armed forces and fight to the last and they openly practice Total War rather then doing anything in a limited fashion. Overall if your on the receiving end of a Turian war it probably look a lot like a Klingon or most other Proud Warrior Race Guys with the entire society mobilizing to kick your ass, but unlike other proud warrior race guy's there not actually looking for somebody to fight at all times.

*[[Spartans]] from [[Halo]] are a UNSC military program meant to design a new race of humans but while the spartan 1 program [[fail|flopped]] the spartan 2 program known originally as the ORION project generation II, was the most effective part of the SPARTAN program, an effort to produce elite soldiers through mechanical and biological augmentation. [[grimdark|The spartan 2 test subjects were kidnapped children so their mentality is separate from mainstream humanity as social connections like family and nation are replaced with the UNSC]]. Even though they were originally meant to crush separatist rebellions they served as the defense of humanity against the [[covenant]].The [[astartes|subsequent generations of spartan projects would more humanitarian in their treatment of test subjects]] causing them to be of lesser quality than their [[custodes|spartan 2 counterparts]].

Proud Warrior Race

2023-05-22T13:48:04Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: grammar fix

{{stub}}
The '''Proud Warrior Race''' is a fairly common archetype in speculative fiction for various civilizations and cultures, both sci-fi and fantasy. The basic idea is based (and this must be stressed, ''very loosely'') on a variety of IRL cultures like the Vikings, Sengoku era Japan, medieval Knights, Spartans, Mongols and certain Native American tribes such as the Apaches. In any case what they have in common is this...

* Placing extreme value on marshal prowess and master of combat techniques. One should dedicate one's life towards mastering combat.
** A veneration of heroic military figures, often by oral record. To join their ranks of the exalted heroes is often the end goal in a warrior's life.
** Position in this society is generally dictated by being the best fighter one way or another.
* A strong and strict code of honour outlines the life of a Warrior, especially in combat.
** An attitude towards death that's at the very least accepting and usually glorifies dying in Honorable combat. Often to the point that it's disgraceful to simply fade away in a hospital bed of old age, as opposed to falling in battle.
* A decentralized society with power divided over small tightly knit sub-groups (often familial) which often fight with each other for position.
* A societal reverence towards war at the expense of other aspects of their society (economic, commercial, scientific, cultural, etc).
* A tendency to try to shoehorn warrior stuff in every aspect of their culture.

It should be noted that the "Race" part, while often a thing here, is not essential as the trope also applies to a social caste. You can have variations on this in which heritage is easily trumped by commitment to the code. (Like, for instance, Star Wars' Mandalorians who accept(ed) anyone willing to live by the ''Resol'nare'' code.)
== Problems ==
There are a lot of issues with the Proud Warrior Race and how they function, but the stem of it is that any society is complex and reducing them to one part of that greater whole makes as much sense as designing a car and only designing an engine.

The first and most obvious point is that even in a Warrior Culture, someone needs to keep them fed, clothed, armed and armoured. To get their sword, a warrior gets a blacksmith to forge it. To do so, the blacksmith needs food, fuel, metal, and a forge to work them in. This requires peasants to feed them and supply them with coal and bog iron, as well as a mason to build their forge (who also needs to be fed, requiring even more peasants) and the peasants and mason will need metal tools, so you'd probably want another smith who'd make them who'd also need food, a tanner to make forge bellows for the smiths, a carpenter to build their houses, etc. In the end for every full time warrior, you need a bunch of other people behind them providing support.

Similarly, even in warlike cultures not everything was about war and fighting all the time. The Vikings and the Mongols were not only warriors, but skilled traders. The Samurai produced a lot of capable poets and artists who's work would as often be about flowers than battle and eventually they largely evolved into a class of Bureaucrats.

That said, a Warrior Culture can still exist and thrive in a pre-industrial context as they lord over civilian subjects and are not above doing some farming, herding, trade, accounting and landscape painting on the side themselves. A few elite warriors clad in the best armour with the best weapons, trained from childhood to use them and willing to press on even when death seems certain can best several times their number of peasants with cheap spears and helmets and minimal training that are liable to panic if things don't go their way. The most obvious and extreme example of this in history are the Spartans. The Spartans (i.e. offcially recognized full citizens of the city of Sparta) themselves did all the Proud Warrior Race guy stuff training, Spartan way extreme training, fighting and so on and so on. But they were supported by an entire social class of slaves, the Helots. Said Helots were conquered at some point in history (we think this was over 2,000 years ago), and were kept in slavery to do all the support work the Spartans required for their Proud Warrior stuff. But due to them being slaves, the Spartans had to spend a lot of time and energy keeping them in line. Nevertheless, it was effective for a few hundred years roughly between 900BC and 200BC: Sparta's power and influence would only wane away by the time Alexander the Great came conquering along and ultimately be definitively put under by the Romans.

The problem is that as societies and technology advance, this model gets less and less viable. When a nation has access to both firearms and cannons as well as the apparatuses of state to recruit the sons of peasants, artisans, clerks, etc... in the tens of thousands and train, drill and organize them into a professional army; said army can overcome mighty warriors trough tactics and/or sheer numbers, even if the opposition has a substantial advantage in one-on-one fights. Do note that it is a lot easier said then done: historically, only the Roman Empire and maybe China could really claim to have been able to do that until arguably the 16th century. In a fantasy setting, the Proud Warrior Race Guy can perfectly make sense make sense: one could say the romanticized version of a [[knight]] is a form of Proud Warrior Race Guy. It's when you start getting into the vast industrial complexes of science fiction that this can strain suspension of disbelief without some additional thought put into it the way the T'au do for example.

Another problem is the "Proud" part of "Proud Warrior Race Guy". Codes of Honour are not a bad thing in of themselves, after all they can provide stability and encourage people to do their best and push their boundaries. The problem is that the Honour systems the Proud Warrior Races usually are more concerned with glorifying an individual. They'd often avoid weapons and tactics they deem "cowardly", which a pragmatic and opportunistic enemy will identify and exploit. There are of course various degrees this could be portrayed: a modern real-world military like the US Marines could be said to have a code of honour. '''Not shooting medics''' and '''Not harming non-combatants''' and '''Not using chemical weapons/sub-munitions/etc...''' make for a reasonable code, as they limit collateral damage and casualties without hampering the combatants ([[skub|too much]]). In fiction, however, it get taken to stupid levels like '''No ambushing, head straight for the enemy!''' or '''Ranged weapons are a coward's tool!''': such codes are so inherently self-limiting that you wonder how they're able to manage to be successful warriors in the first place.

Overall in both fiction and IRL: the Proud Warrior Race guys tend to eventually lose to those societies that are better able to mobilize larger parts of their population than the small, more elite Proud Warriors. More so when firearms are involved.

== Examples ==
* Green Martians in John Carter of Mars
* Klingons in [[Star Trek]] - probably the most well known incarnation.
* Sontarans in [[Doctor Who]] are a rare exception to the rule, as their militaristic traditions are shown in a negative (or humorous) light rather than positive or at least neutral.
* Sangheili in [[Halo]]
* [[The Clans]] in BattleTech
* [[Orc]]s often fall into this trope.
** Same can often be said for the [[Dark Elves]].
* Saiyans in Dragonball
* Mandalorians in [[Star Wars]] sort of straddle the line between race and creed, but either way they only focus on warfare and making weapons for warfare.
* The [[Tau]] [[Fire Caste]]. While often not thought of that way, the Tau Fire Caste are the proud warrior "race" or maybe sub-species of the Tau Empire with even subtle eugenic pressures to ensure that the best Fire Warriors have children who themselves will become Fire Warriors. They are of course supported by other castes of Tau which solves the various logistical issues a Proud Warrior race may have.
* Turians from Mass Effect. The Turians an interesting case in that there 'proud warrior race guy' trope is manifested as a strong and legally mandated tradition of public service, which is often done through the army which does more then just fight and covers police forces, fire fighters, engineers and even civilian shipping via a merchant marine force. It does also mean that like a more stereotyped proud warrior race, every single Turian can if pressed join the armed forces and fight to the last and they openly practice Total War rather then doing anything in a limited fashion. Overall if your on the receiving end of a Turian war it probably look a lot like a Klingon or most other Proud Warrior Race Guys with the entire society mobilizing to kick your ass, but unlike other proud warrior race guy's there not actually looking for somebody to fight at all times.

*[[Spartans]] from [[Halo]] are a UNSC military program meant to design a new race of humans while the spartan 1 program [[fail|flopped]] the spartan 2 program known originally as the ORION Project Generation II, was the most effective part of the SPARTAN Program, an effort to produce elite soldiers through mechanical and biological augmentation. [[grimdark|The spartan 2 subjects were kidnapped children their mentality is separate from mainstream humanity as social connections like family and nation are replaced with the UNSC]]. Originally meant to crush separatist rebellions they served as the defense of humanity against the [[covenant]]. [[astartes|The Subsequent generations of spartan projects would more humanitarian in their treatment of test subjects]] causing them to be of lesser quality than their [[custodes|spartan 2 counterparts]].

Proud Warrior Race

2023-05-22T13:46:27Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: typo

{{stub}}
The '''Proud Warrior Race''' is a fairly common archetype in speculative fiction for various civilizations and cultures, both sci-fi and fantasy. The basic idea is based (and this must be stressed, ''very loosely'') on a variety of IRL cultures like the Vikings, Sengoku era Japan, medieval Knights, Spartans, Mongols and certain Native American tribes such as the Apaches. In any case what they have in common is this...

* Placing extreme value on marshal prowess and master of combat techniques. One should dedicate one's life towards mastering combat.
** A veneration of heroic military figures, often by oral record. To join their ranks of the exalted heroes is often the end goal in a warrior's life.
** Position in this society is generally dictated by being the best fighter one way or another.
* A strong and strict code of honour outlines the life of a Warrior, especially in combat.
** An attitude towards death that's at the very least accepting and usually glorifies dying in Honorable combat. Often to the point that it's disgraceful to simply fade away in a hospital bed of old age, as opposed to falling in battle.
* A decentralized society with power divided over small tightly knit sub-groups (often familial) which often fight with each other for position.
* A societal reverence towards war at the expense of other aspects of their society (economic, commercial, scientific, cultural, etc).
* A tendency to try to shoehorn warrior stuff in every aspect of their culture.

It should be noted that the "Race" part, while often a thing here, is not essential as the trope also applies to a social caste. You can have variations on this in which heritage is easily trumped by commitment to the code. (Like, for instance, Star Wars' Mandalorians who accept(ed) anyone willing to live by the ''Resol'nare'' code.)
== Problems ==
There are a lot of issues with the Proud Warrior Race and how they function, but the stem of it is that any society is complex and reducing them to one part of that greater whole makes as much sense as designing a car and only designing an engine.

The first and most obvious point is that even in a Warrior Culture, someone needs to keep them fed, clothed, armed and armoured. To get their sword, a warrior gets a blacksmith to forge it. To do so, the blacksmith needs food, fuel, metal, and a forge to work them in. This requires peasants to feed them and supply them with coal and bog iron, as well as a mason to build their forge (who also needs to be fed, requiring even more peasants) and the peasants and mason will need metal tools, so you'd probably want another smith who'd make them who'd also need food, a tanner to make forge bellows for the smiths, a carpenter to build their houses, etc. In the end for every full time warrior, you need a bunch of other people behind them providing support.

Similarly, even in warlike cultures not everything was about war and fighting all the time. The Vikings and the Mongols were not only warriors, but skilled traders. The Samurai produced a lot of capable poets and artists who's work would as often be about flowers than battle and eventually they largely evolved into a class of Bureaucrats.

That said, a Warrior Culture can still exist and thrive in a pre-industrial context as they lord over civilian subjects and are not above doing some farming, herding, trade, accounting and landscape painting on the side themselves. A few elite warriors clad in the best armour with the best weapons, trained from childhood to use them and willing to press on even when death seems certain can best several times their number of peasants with cheap spears and helmets and minimal training that are liable to panic if things don't go their way. The most obvious and extreme example of this in history are the Spartans. The Spartans (i.e. offcially recognized full citizens of the city of Sparta) themselves did all the Proud Warrior Race guy stuff training, Spartan way extreme training, fighting and so on and so on. But they were supported by an entire social class of slaves, the Helots. Said Helots were conquered at some point in history (we think this was over 2,000 years ago), and were kept in slavery to do all the support work the Spartans required for their Proud Warrior stuff. But due to them being slaves, the Spartans had to spend a lot of time and energy keeping them in line. Nevertheless, it was effective for a few hundred years roughly between 900BC and 200BC: Sparta's power and influence would only wane away by the time Alexander the Great came conquering along and ultimately be definitively put under by the Romans.

The problem is that as societies and technology advance, this model gets less and less viable. When a nation has access to both firearms and cannons as well as the apparatuses of state to recruit the sons of peasants, artisans, clerks, etc... in the tens of thousands and train, drill and organize them into a professional army; said army can overcome mighty warriors trough tactics and/or sheer numbers, even if the opposition has a substantial advantage in one-on-one fights. Do note that it is a lot easier said then done: historically, only the Roman Empire and maybe China could really claim to have been able to do that until arguably the 16th century. In a fantasy setting, the Proud Warrior Race Guy can perfectly make sense make sense: one could say the romanticized version of a [[knight]] is a form of Proud Warrior Race Guy. It's when you start getting into the vast industrial complexes of science fiction that this can strain suspension of disbelief without some additional thought put into it the way the T'au do for example.

Another problem is the "Proud" part of "Proud Warrior Race Guy". Codes of Honour are not a bad thing in of themselves, after all they can provide stability and encourage people to do their best and push their boundaries. The problem is that the Honour systems the Proud Warrior Races usually are more concerned with glorifying an individual. They'd often avoid weapons and tactics they deem "cowardly", which a pragmatic and opportunistic enemy will identify and exploit. There are of course various degrees this could be portrayed: a modern real-world military like the US Marines could be said to have a code of honour. '''Not shooting medics''' and '''Not harming non-combatants''' and '''Not using chemical weapons/sub-munitions/etc...''' make for a reasonable code, as they limit collateral damage and casualties without hampering the combatants ([[skub|too much]]). In fiction, however, it get taken to stupid levels like '''No ambushing, head straight for the enemy!''' or '''Ranged weapons are a coward's tool!''': such codes are so inherently self-limiting that you wonder how they're able to manage to be successful warriors in the first place.

Overall in both fiction and IRL: the Proud Warrior Race guys tend to eventually lose to those societies that are better able to mobilize larger parts of their population than the small, more elite Proud Warriors. More so when firearms are involved.

== Examples ==
* Green Martians in John Carter of Mars
* Klingons in [[Star Trek]] - probably the most well known incarnation.
* Sontarans in [[Doctor Who]] are a rare exception to the rule, as their militaristic traditions are shown in a negative (or humorous) light rather than positive or at least neutral.
* Sangheili in [[Halo]]
* [[The Clans]] in BattleTech
* [[Orc]]s often fall into this trope.
** Same can often be said for the [[Dark Elves]].
* Saiyans in Dragonball
* Mandalorians in [[Star Wars]] sort of straddle the line between race and creed, but either way they only focus on warfare and making weapons for warfare.
* The [[Tau]] [[Fire Caste]]. While often not thought of that way, the Tau Fire Caste are the proud warrior "race" or maybe sub-species of the Tau Empire with even subtle eugenic pressures to ensure that the best Fire Warriors have children who themselves will become Fire Warriors. They are of course supported by other castes of Tau which solves the various logistical issues a Proud Warrior race may have.
* Turians from Mass Effect. The Turians an interesting case in that there 'proud warrior race guy' trope is manifested as a strong and legally mandated tradition of public service, which is often done through the army which does more then just fight and covers police forces, fire fighters, engineers and even civilian shipping via a merchant marine force. It does also mean that like a more stereotyped proud warrior race, every single Turian can if pressed join the armed forces and fight to the last and they openly practice Total War rather then doing anything in a limited fashion. Overall if your on the receiving end of a Turian war it probably look a lot like a Klingon or most other Proud Warrior Race Guys with the entire society mobilizing to kick your ass, but unlike other proud warrior race guy's there not actually looking for somebody to fight at all times.

*[[Spartans]] from [[Halo]] are a UNSC military program meant to design a new race of humans while the spartan 1 program [[fail|flopped]] the spartan 2 program known originally as the ORION Project Generation II, was the most effective part of the SPARTAN Program, an effort to produce elite soldiers through mechanical and biological augmentation. [[grimdark|The spartan 2 subjects were kidnapped children their mentality is separate from mainstream humanity as social connections like family and nation are replaced with the UNSC]]. Originally meant to crush separatist rebellions they served as the defense of humanity against the [[covenant]]. [[astartes|Subsequent generations spartan projects would more humanitarian in their treatment of test subjects]] causing them to be of lesser quality than their [[custodes|spartan 2 counterparts]].

Proud Warrior Race

2023-05-22T13:45:51Z

2600:387:9:3:0:0:0:73: Added some halo fluff.

{{stub}}
The '''Proud Warrior Race''' is a fairly common archetype in speculative fiction for various civilizations and cultures, both sci-fi and fantasy. The basic idea is based (and this must be stressed, ''very loosely'') on a variety of IRL cultures like the Vikings, Sengoku era Japan, medieval Knights, Spartans, Mongols and certain Native American tribes such as the Apaches. In any case what they have in common is this...

* Placing extreme value on marshal prowess and master of combat techniques. One should dedicate one's life towards mastering combat.
** A veneration of heroic military figures, often by oral record. To join their ranks of the exalted heroes is often the end goal in a warrior's life.
** Position in this society is generally dictated by being the best fighter one way or another.
* A strong and strict code of honour outlines the life of a Warrior, especially in combat.
** An attitude towards death that's at the very least accepting and usually glorifies dying in Honorable combat. Often to the point that it's disgraceful to simply fade away in a hospital bed of old age, as opposed to falling in battle.
* A decentralized society with power divided over small tightly knit sub-groups (often familial) which often fight with each other for position.
* A societal reverence towards war at the expense of other aspects of their society (economic, commercial, scientific, cultural, etc).
* A tendency to try to shoehorn warrior stuff in every aspect of their culture.

It should be noted that the "Race" part, while often a thing here, is not essential as the trope also applies to a social caste. You can have variations on this in which heritage is easily trumped by commitment to the code. (Like, for instance, Star Wars' Mandalorians who accept(ed) anyone willing to live by the ''Resol'nare'' code.)
== Problems ==
There are a lot of issues with the Proud Warrior Race and how they function, but the stem of it is that any society is complex and reducing them to one part of that greater whole makes as much sense as designing a car and only designing an engine.

The first and most obvious point is that even in a Warrior Culture, someone needs to keep them fed, clothed, armed and armoured. To get their sword, a warrior gets a blacksmith to forge it. To do so, the blacksmith needs food, fuel, metal, and a forge to work them in. This requires peasants to feed them and supply them with coal and bog iron, as well as a mason to build their forge (who also needs to be fed, requiring even more peasants) and the peasants and mason will need metal tools, so you'd probably want another smith who'd make them who'd also need food, a tanner to make forge bellows for the smiths, a carpenter to build their houses, etc. In the end for every full time warrior, you need a bunch of other people behind them providing support.

Similarly, even in warlike cultures not everything was about war and fighting all the time. The Vikings and the Mongols were not only warriors, but skilled traders. The Samurai produced a lot of capable poets and artists who's work would as often be about flowers than battle and eventually they largely evolved into a class of Bureaucrats.

That said, a Warrior Culture can still exist and thrive in a pre-industrial context as they lord over civilian subjects and are not above doing some farming, herding, trade, accounting and landscape painting on the side themselves. A few elite warriors clad in the best armour with the best weapons, trained from childhood to use them and willing to press on even when death seems certain can best several times their number of peasants with cheap spears and helmets and minimal training that are liable to panic if things don't go their way. The most obvious and extreme example of this in history are the Spartans. The Spartans (i.e. offcially recognized full citizens of the city of Sparta) themselves did all the Proud Warrior Race guy stuff training, Spartan way extreme training, fighting and so on and so on. But they were supported by an entire social class of slaves, the Helots. Said Helots were conquered at some point in history (we think this was over 2,000 years ago), and were kept in slavery to do all the support work the Spartans required for their Proud Warrior stuff. But due to them being slaves, the Spartans had to spend a lot of time and energy keeping them in line. Nevertheless, it was effective for a few hundred years roughly between 900BC and 200BC: Sparta's power and influence would only wane away by the time Alexander the Great came conquering along and ultimately be definitively put under by the Romans.

The problem is that as societies and technology advance, this model gets less and less viable. When a nation has access to both firearms and cannons as well as the apparatuses of state to recruit the sons of peasants, artisans, clerks, etc... in the tens of thousands and train, drill and organize them into a professional army; said army can overcome mighty warriors trough tactics and/or sheer numbers, even if the opposition has a substantial advantage in one-on-one fights. Do note that it is a lot easier said then done: historically, only the Roman Empire and maybe China could really claim to have been able to do that until arguably the 16th century. In a fantasy setting, the Proud Warrior Race Guy can perfectly make sense make sense: one could say the romanticized version of a [[knight]] is a form of Proud Warrior Race Guy. It's when you start getting into the vast industrial complexes of science fiction that this can strain suspension of disbelief without some additional thought put into it the way the T'au do for example.

Another problem is the "Proud" part of "Proud Warrior Race Guy". Codes of Honour are not a bad thing in of themselves, after all they can provide stability and encourage people to do their best and push their boundaries. The problem is that the Honour systems the Proud Warrior Races usually are more concerned with glorifying an individual. They'd often avoid weapons and tactics they deem "cowardly", which a pragmatic and opportunistic enemy will identify and exploit. There are of course various degrees this could be portrayed: a modern real-world military like the US Marines could be said to have a code of honour. '''Not shooting medics''' and '''Not harming non-combatants''' and '''Not using chemical weapons/sub-munitions/etc...''' make for a reasonable code, as they limit collateral damage and casualties without hampering the combatants ([[skub|too much]]). In fiction, however, it get taken to stupid levels like '''No ambushing, head straight for the enemy!''' or '''Ranged weapons are a coward's tool!''': such codes are so inherently self-limiting that you wonder how they're able to manage to be successful warriors in the first place.

Overall in both fiction and IRL: the Proud Warrior Race guys tend to eventually lose to those societies that are better able to mobilize larger parts of their population than the small, more elite Proud Warriors. More so when firearms are involved.

== Examples ==
* Green Martians in John Carter of Mars
* Klingons in [[Star Trek]] - probably the most well known incarnation.
* Sontarans in [[Doctor Who]] are a rare exception to the rule, as their militaristic traditions are shown in a negative (or humorous) light rather than positive or at least neutral.
* Sangheili in [[Halo]]
* [[The Clans]] in BattleTech
* [[Orc]]s often fall into this trope.
** Same can often be said for the [[Dark Elves]].
* Saiyans in Dragonball
* Mandalorians in [[Star Wars]] sort of straddle the line between race and creed, but either way they only focus on warfare and making weapons for warfare.
* The [[Tau]] [[Fire Caste]]. While often not thought of that way, the Tau Fire Caste are the proud warrior "race" or maybe sub-species of the Tau Empire with even subtle eugenic pressures to ensure that the best Fire Warriors have children who themselves will become Fire Warriors. They are of course supported by other castes of Tau which solves the various logistical issues a Proud Warrior race may have.
* Turians from Mass Effect. The Turians an interesting case in that there 'proud warrior race guy' trope is manifested as a strong and legally mandated tradition of public service, which is often done through the army which does more then just fight and covers police forces, fire fighters, engineers and even civilian shipping via a merchant marine force. It does also mean that like a more stereotyped proud warrior race, every single Turian can if pressed join the armed forces and fight to the last and they openly practice Total War rather then doing anything in a limited fashion. Overall if your on the receiving end of a Turian war it probably look a lot like a Klingon or most other Proud Warrior Race Guys with the entire society mobilizing to kick your ass, but unlike other proud warrior race guy's there not actually looking for somebody to fight at all times.

*[[Spartans]] from [[Halo]] are a UNSC military program meant to design a new race of humans while the spartan 1 program [[fail|flopped]] the spartan 2 program known originally known as the ORION Project Generation II, was the most effective part of the SPARTAN Program, an effort to produce elite soldiers through mechanical and biological augmentation. [[grimdark|The spartan 2 subjects were kidnapped children their mentality is separate from mainstream humanity as social connections like family and nation are replaced with the UNSC]]. Originally meant to crush separatist rebellions they served as the defense of humanity against the [[covenant]]. [[astartes|Subsequent generations spartan projects would more humanitarian in their treatment of test subjects]] causing them to be of lesser quality than their [[custodes|spartan 2 counterparts]].