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Adeptus Custodes

2016-10-03T04:55:09Z

2A02:C7D:C5E:A200:B8D5:DCA5:F186:22ED: /* Capabilities */

[[File:Adeptus Custode.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Paladins of the 31st millennium. The 41th ones are marginally less clad in gold and a lot more naked.]]

The Adeptus Custodes are the guardians of the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]] and the most badass group of genetically engineered/enhanced warriors/motherfuckers the galaxy has ever known (with the exception for Assassins and the Primarchs). So badass in-fact that they can get away with dressing like drag queens and transvestites (they love skirts). Well, the skirts are actually a bit closer to the ancient Roman Legionaries, which is pretty awesome in itself, and on the whole they come off as elite and badass.

==Origins & Design==
[[File:Pillarstodes.jpg|400px|left|thumb|[https://youtu.be/R9w_uoUHgiE?t=1m40s ''"After the confinement of the Emperor within the Golden Throne, the Custodes abandoned, among other things, the use of their armour, and their traditional colour of red was changed to black."'']- Horus Heresy: Collected Visions. Hence, the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDEbsZpweDo Pillarstodes] meme isn't actually too far from the truth.]]

The Custodes are warriors unmatched in the galaxy, genetically-engineered by the Emperor himself. The Emperor first created these elite warriors back in the old days of his conquest of Terra, making them souped-up and more long-lived versions of the already hilariously OP [[Thunder Warriors]]. While the Thunder Warriors were eventually replaced by the far more stable but slightly less powerful Space Marines, the Custodes apparently still use those ancient methods (but geared towards producing far more stable warriors) and as such lack a gene-seed.

Although the Custodes were among the first genetically-modified warriors to be created by the Emperor, they were never intended to be part of a conquering army (though The Wolf of Ash and Fire shows that the Emperor sometimes rolled with a hundreds-strong posse of Custodes in battle); such a role was to be filled by the latter [[Adeptus Astartes]] armies. This is revealed both in their mindset and training: While Custodians share a genetic kinship with one another within the formation, they do not foster the same spirit of brotherhood that is instilled within the Astartes in order to function together as a unit. Indeed, each Custodian prepares and inspects his equipment individually, rather than on military parade. The individuality of each Custodes is further promoted by the fact that the processes required to produce them is not as refined or as simple as that of the Astartes and thus they are not "mass-produced" as the Astartes are; meaning that each Custodian is a unique investment for the [[Imperium]]. It was implied in False Gods that the creation of a Custode was a long and arduous process, utterly different from the creation process of a regular Astartes and much costlier, thus their relatively small numbers.

One ritual that the Custodes do share is the recognition of mighty deeds, manifested in the awarding of names, which are added to the Custodian's title to represent the actions he has performed in service to the [[Emperor]]. ('''Constantin Valdor''' obtained 1932 names prior to the assault of Horus upon Terra.) Such names were inscribed onto the inside of the warrior's battle armour as marks of individual pride.

The training of the Custodes also differed immensely from the Adeptus Astartes, since they were intended to be bodyguards rather than soldiers. It is clear from their '''Blood Games''' that Custodians are trained in the arts of assassination -- both improvised and professional -- in order to counter possible assassination attempts on the Emperor. It is common for several Custodians to be on detached duty for these Blood Games so that the organisation remains vigilant against developing threats. Even pre-Heresy, they were clued up enough to recognise Warp-sorcery for what it was.

Furthermore it is clear that the Custodes are also well-versed in the political etiquette of Terra, and have been known to act outside of Imperial law, to infiltrate influential Noble Houses and to investigate any potential threats. (A role that a Space Marine would ''never'' be expected to fulfill.) This aspect of the Custodian mindset is advantageous, given that the Captain-General of the order often shares a seat with the [[High Lords of Terra]] and thus allows him to navigate the political maneuverings of the Imperium's various agencies, while still remaining an awe-inspiring warrior.

==Capabilities==
The martial capabilities of the Adeptus Custodes remain largely unknown. What is known is that they possess skill beyond even a 'normal' member of the [[Adeptus Astartes]]. It has been said that the Adeptus Custodes are to a Space Marine what a Space Marine is to a member of the Imperial Guard. They are similar to the ''[[Grey Knights]]'', the militant arm of the [[Ordo Malleus]] branch of the [[Inquisition]], in that both are elite, secret organisations with close ties to the [[Emperor]]. Custodes are unique as they have neither a known [[Primarch]] nor do they use gene-seed to produce their genetic modifications. They stand a full head taller than a Space Marine and it is said that they were almost the same size as a Primarch. In fact it was said that '''Constantine Valdor''', Chief Custodian to the Emperor during the Horus Heresy, was the same size as the traitor Primarch [[Alpharius]] of the [[Alpha Legion]] (not a great achievement after all, considering Alpharius was the shortest of Primarchs - the size of a tall space marine)

Dan Abnett's ''Blood Games'', however, provides a different version of the relationship between the Astartes and Custodes. Abnett claims that, although Custodians are slightly larger on average than Space Marines, to an observer it would be a tough bet on who would win in a fight based on strength and size alone.

James Swallow's ''Sword of Truth'' sees [[Brother-Captain|Captain]] [[Nathaniel Garro]] fight a one-on-one duel with a mid-level Custodian ''(if there is such a term)'', which he finds is one of the toughest battles of his life and only wins by playing to his opponent's overconfidence and manages to exhaust himself in the process.

Aaron Dembski-Bowden's ''The First Heretic'' further expands on the Custodes fighting style and armoury. Each weapon used by the Custodes is gene-coded to only be used by only that Custodian (Argel Tal stole some and used his demonic powers to unlock them and then kill loyalists. Even funnier when you remember that certain [[Blood Ravens|bloody magpies]] have working Custodian bolter in their armory and some [[Minotaurs|Greeks]] have a Halbard). The weapons are given to them personally by the Emperor (or at least they were in the 31st millennium, they've probably dropped this rule by the 41st) and as such one of the highest [[Heresy|heresies]] possible is to allow a non-Custodian to handle the weapon. Perhaps the most notable thing about the Adeptus Custodes is the radically different combat approach between them and the Adeptus Astartes: Custodes are not brothers. While Space Marines are trained to support their battle-brothers in combat, each Custodian fights by himself, never intending to receive support from their fellow Custodes. The [[Word Bearers]] who observed this were utterly dumbfounded by this approach, thinking the fighting was just "wrong", despite their fighting being individually perfect. They are "tigers" compared to the "wolves" the space marines represent. Ironically though, one becomes good friends with a Word Bearer to the point that they end up fighting in lockstep like true Astartes (even more ironically, that Word Bearer is possessed by a daemon). Also, he has a Custodian named Vendatha kill 3 WB chapter masters in a second, and then survive a full bolter magazine and sword to the face. And on top he has 3 Custodes kill 7 out of 11 the original possessed marines the Gal Vorbak, including a beautiful final kill. Winning.

But in Graham McNeill's ''The Outcast Dead'', an armed and armoured Custodes fights an unarmed and unarmoured World Eater and [[What|loses]] when the World Eater breaks open his armour and [[Rip and tear|rips out the Custodes spine through his chest]], something he threatened to do earlier. So fuck knows how good Custodes are, since Black Library's writers can't get their collective shits together and decide. That or Khorne just felt like trolling the Emperor that day. To be fair, said Custodian was crippled so his physical capabilities were just under what was required for active duty guarding the Emperor, hence the reason he was stuck on guard duty.

''The Outcast Dead'' also provides an example of a Custodian taking on two Astartes at the same time. While Saturnalia dies, he does succeed in killing both of his opponents.

In Anthony Reynolds ''The Purge'', Word Bearer Captain, Sor Talgron makes his personal assessment on Custodians, where while he figures that a single Custodian would likely have little problems dispatching a single Legionary, the larger the theatre of war became, the more the odds would tip in the Astartes favour. Because although Custodians might be peerless warriors, but they are not soldiers.

In Guy Haley's ''Throneworld'', a Shadow Seer and a Death Jester kill a dozen Custodes between the two of them, before being brought down by "hundreds" more. Note that, although ''Throneworld'' is set 1500 years after the Horus Heresy, it's clear that the Custodes were still equipped with golden armour, so inadequate equipment is not an excuse for their poor showing.

The thing is that Custodes are not mass produced and are without a Gene-Seed, which aught to provide some level of genetic normality amongst those from the same Chapter. This would lead to a large discrepancy in their individual levels of strength; most of them are superior than the Astartes, but some are weaker.
Thus, where the average Astartes would be a take-all-comers warrior, some Custodes will specialize in infiltration, some will specialize in war, some go more into politics. With enough Custodians, this means that they eventually cover nearly any possible route to attack the Emperor. This would ensure that any opponent attempting to penetrate the Custodes' defenses (being ''bodyguards'' of the Emperor and all) would run into fighting the Custodes who specialize in countering their plan, whatever it may be. But because of the lack of exclusive focus on military matters compared to what Astartes get, if two large forces of equal size came together, it is likely that the Custodians would be cut to pieces due to the Astartes superior coordination and battlefield control.

==Role==
[[File:Shirtless custode.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Chest armor is for pussies anyway...]]
They have the final word on security in the Imperial Palace, and even the High Lords of Terra are subservient to them within its walls.

Although their full numbers remain unknown, three hundred Custodes guard the Emperor's chambers at all times. Also, back before the God-Emperor was interred into the Golden Throne, the Adeptus Custodes was known as the ''Legio Custodes'' (Custodes Legion), and numbered in Ten thousand golden warriors. It is strongly believed that this is their same number today.

Only three hundred of the Adeptus Custodes serve as the actual personal guard of the Emperor, called the Companions. These are those Custodes that are privileged enough to be in the Emperor's physical presence. Each unit of Companions is led by a Centurion. It was one such Centurion that led a small group of Companions to meet Alicia Dominica, head of the Brides of the Emperor (later Sisters of Battle) during Vandire's Reign of Blood. One such Custodian, Constantine Valdor, was the Chief Custodian during the Horus Heresy. He was the most honoured of all the Emperor of Mankind's creations. No other being had served the Emperor for as long as he, save [[Malcador the Sigillite]]. Valdor was a proud and respectful warrior unmatched in his devotion and loyalty to the Emperor. Valdor was ever-present at the Emperor's side, always protecting him from unseen enemies and saving the Emperor's life innumerable times. Along with Malcador, Valdor was his most trusted friend and advisor.

Constantine Valdor was one of the first members of the Council of [[Earth|Terra]]. He also had a close relationship with the Primarchs Rogal Dorn and Leman Russ, although initially Russ and Valdor didn't see eye to eye. Dorn was ever-present at the Imperial Palace during the great Crusade and so Valdor and the Primarch spent much time together. On the other hand, Valdor only earned Russ's respect when the former defeated Horus in a sparring match. The two were then together during the Battle of Prospero. There is no mention of when or how Valdor was killed if he was killed at all. He stepped down from command as a High Lord so that he could protect his beloved Emperor, now ensconced within the Golden Throne.

===Effectiveness===
Occasionally you see questions raised on forums regarding their effectiveness after apparently spending 10,000 years on guard duty, suggesting that despite their biological augmentations; without any actual combat experience they might have simply become a symbolic organisation since Terra is so well defended by other means.

In fact the Custodians sat through most of the [[Age of Apostasy]], not participating until the last moment to bring order when the fighting made it to the Imperial Palace. They also were mysteriously absent during [[The Beheading]] when the [[Officio Assassinorum]] started leveling city blocks. Added to the fact that the ''admittedly'' very old pictures of Custodians show them not even bothering to wear their armour any more indicates that they don't actually have very much to do these days.

However, one very important fact remains: The Golden Throne is a portal to the [[Webway]] which was [[Magnus|broken]], and it takes the [[Emperor]] every ounce of his concentration to stop that energy spilling out into a new [[Eye of Terror]]. Underneath the Imperial Palace [[Malcador the Sigillite]] showed one of the human founders of the [[Inquisition]] a series of adamantium doors the size of Imperator Titans, and even when standing at the first door it sounds like the greatest battle of all time was going on behind them.

The Custodians are fighting a warp incursion on Terran soil [[awesome|24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for 10 000 years]]. A battle which cannot be won unless someone figures out how to fix the Throne and seal the breach, and since only the Emperor knew how it operated in the first place it's likely that the incursion can [[Grimdark|ONLY]] by held at bay.
The Custodians visible throughout the palace are simply being rotated out for rest and recuperation and nobody knows about the major warzone underneath their feet.

So while the [[Grey Knights]] are cruising through the galaxy responding to daemonic threats, the Custodians are holding the line at home, fighting perhaps the most significant ''(and secret)'' battle in the history of mankind, making them perhaps the most badass of any fighting forces EVER.

==Notable Custodians==
[[File:1264391028586.jpg|500px|thumb|right|And people bitch about Space Marines and Grey Knights having overdone armor....]]
*'''Amon Tauromachian'''- One of the most notable Custodes. In combat, unarmoured, versus three " Migou" ([[H.P. Lovecraft|I see what you did there]]) or Genestock Ogres from Nei Monggol (Ogryns anybody?) Amon is impressive, he is apparently strong enough to effortlessly break an Ogryn's arm, relieving it of its punch-dagger, then ram it through the poor sods skull. One of them grabs him from behind in a bear hug, which he literally shrugs off, then punches his hand through the Ogryn's chest and rips out its heart. Mary Sue you say? All this is from Dan Abnett himself from his short story ''Blood Games''. Also, he is probably refered to in ''The First Heretic'' as an instructor of at least 2 other Custodes, even though the "last" (well, gene-stock/family) name of said Amon is not revealed.
*'''Constantin Valdor'''- The big cheese of the Custodian Guard, he is a mary sue of epic proportions (Almost like [[Kaldor Draigo]]). A monster of a man, he was described as being a head taller than Amon (who was already significantly larger than an Astartes) and the size of a Primarch (Alpharius to be exact). At one point he defeated Horus himself in a sparring match, however, it is never stated how old Horus was when the duel took place. Valdor was one of the Emperors closest friends and his second most trusted advisor (Malcador the Sigillite being #1). He was described as being the mightiest warrior in the entire Imperium with the exception of the Primarchs and Big E himself (he was almost killed by Phosis T'Kar on Prospero however, only surviving because Phosis [[Chaos Spawn|accidentally rolled snake eyes on Chaos Boon]]). Naturally he shared a close relationship with a number of the Primarchs, the most notable being Horus, Rogal Dorn, and Leman Russ. Also, he rolls with the [[Officio Assassinorum]], so he earns massive bonus points there. At the end of the Heresy, he was one of the high lords of Terra, but stepped down sometime after that to be able to look after the Emperor personally. He has since been replaced as Captain-General: in M32 the Custodians are commanded by a new guy called '''Beyreuth'''.

*'''Aquillon'''- the "Oculi Imperator" who was charged with leading four other Custodes, watching over Lorgar and the Word Bearers after the Monarchia kerfuffle. They were kept in the dark about the Heresy until Isstvan V, but left alive because Erebus wanted their blood. Aquillon embarked on a tragic bromance with Argel Tal. It ended badly - Aquillon killed Argel Tal's mortal waifu Cyrene, and the possessed Astartes [[Rip and Tear|bit his head off]].

===Non-canon===
*'''[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device#Team_Emperor|Little Kitten]]'''- known on /tg/ as the Captain-General of the group during "[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]]". May or may not be Constantine Valdor, it's kept deliberately contradictory, what's known is that he was the Custodian who brought Alicia Dominica to the Emperor during the [[Age of Apostasy|Reign of Blood]]. Known for basically telling Big E what is everything. Called "Kitten" for purring up the ranks of the Custodes. Despite the vaguely British accent, he is highly American as he hates [[Tau|Communist fuckers]] with a passion. <s>(It's actually because [[Shadowsun|one]] was tsundere enough that she dropped him before he could tap that ass.)</s> SHIT'S NOT CANON! What is canon though is that he is a black guy (that is, normal human black guy, not [[Salamander]]-Class black). Also manage to beat up a million ton's worth of [[cheese]] in [[Yu-Gi-Oh|a children's card game]].

*'''"[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device#Imperials_(So_sorta_good_guys)|Fab-Custodes]]"'''- aka the Pillar-stodes, See 2nd picture for an idea of what they look like. Their whole image is based on the old post-heresy depiction of the Custodes from [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|First Edition]]. They are NUTS, even more so than [[Rage|the dipshit who wrote twilight]]. They are oily, snickering, gay as [[Slaanesh]]'s hell and love it. Seriously, even Kitten knows this and is worried for the Emperor's safety around them, saying that none of this was his idea.

==Getting a codex==
[[File:1474071012706.jpg|300px|right|thumb|We have leaked information of the Custodes from [[White Dwarf]]! Woot Woot! Damn do those models not disappoint! The hype train has no breaks!]]
In Warhammer 40k no, in Warhammer 30k hell yes.

We're likely to see some golden bananas on the tabletop and Age of Sigmar is coming out with some beautiful golden armored units will be a great base for conversions.

Forge World confirmed that Adeptus Custodes, will indeed, get not only rules, but models. The rules will likely be in Burning of Prospero book, which was (originally) the 3rd book in the third HH trilogy. They will be released alongside Sisters of Silence rules (also getting models, let us hope they have nipple spikes like the old Blanche art!)

==See Also==
*[[Grey Knights]]

{{Template:Custodes}}
{{Template:Imperium}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]]

Gene-seed

2016-10-03T04:11:45Z

2A02:C7D:C5E:A200:B8D5:DCA5:F186:22ED: /* The Organs */

In [[Warhammer 40,000]], [[humans]] are transformed into [[Space Marines]] by, among other things, implanting them with a series of 19 organs that dramatically alter and enhance their biology. The organs' DNA strings, from which they are vat-grown, are collectively known as "gene-seed."

== Origins ==

Gene-seed is a vital part of the [[Space Marine]] program, and is as old as the Astartes themselves. When the [[God-Emperor of Mankind]] was still conquering [[Terra]], many of the techno-barbarians' armies had augmented human warriors. The Emperor then realized that he would need vast armies of super-soldiers for his coming [[Great Crusade]], so he embarked on a project to create a mass-producible means of enhancing humans. This project resulted in the twenty [[Primarchs]], and from their genes, he created the gene-seed organs to be implanted into each Space Marine.

== The Organs ==

# The '''Secondary Heart''' is pretty self-explanatory. It lets a Space Marine get more blood flowing through his body, which lets his muscles work harder and longer, and it gives him a backup just in case one fails (i.e. gets shot, stabbed, [[Kor Phaeron|ripped out by Guilliman]] or what have you). The Secondary Heart is not beating at all times. It only activates during times of stress (bear in mind that a twenty mile run is not considered stressful to Astartes) otherwise it just sits there awaiting activation.
# The '''Ossmudula''' makes a Space Marine's skeleton grow and incorporate some ceramic dietary supplements into itself and fuses his ribs together into a solid structure. The Tyrant guard's fused ribcage hints that the Hive mind has incorporated Space marine DNA into-{{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Heresy!}} Ironically, the fusing of the rib cage would be considered a bad thing, as the Space Marine would not be able to breath properly, but since this is 40K, something else is going on and it's left to fans to speculate, since most writers presumably aren't educated biologists.
# The '''Biscopea''' triggers muscle growth. These first three organs are often implanted together, as they collectively prepare the Initiate's body for further augmentation. Around this time, the Initiate gets put on a diet containing extra nutrients to fuel his new growth.
# The '''Haemastamen''' enhances a Space Marine's blood to better accommodate the Space Marine's nifty set of new organs. It also turns it [[Orks|bright red]].
# The '''Larraman's Organ''' creates Larraman's Cells, which are like super-platelets: they make wounds rapidly scab over. This also can work against them, sealing poisoned wounds with poison still within, before the bloodstream wash most of it out, like is the case with normal humans. Yes, marines have in-built anti-toxin organs, but Dark Eldar and Tyranid poisons don't give a fuck about that, and can usually bypass that.
# The '''Catalepsean Node''' messes with the body's sleep cycle, letting Space Marines get away with four hours of sleep every day, or even less, and making it possible for them not lose awareness, even after like 2 weeks without sleep. It also makes the brain susceptible to hypno-therapy, which is a fancy word for "brainwashing" the Initiates while they are asleep. As a nasty side effect, it allows Chaos marines to re-brainwash loyalists they captured alive (or better: in suspended animation). Unsurprisingly to anyone familiar with Chaos, this trick doesn't work in reverse, which might just go to show that the Chaos Marines might be [[Heresy|closer to the true human nature than the loyal Marines...]]
# The '''Preomnor''' is like a bird's crop, in that it stores food before passing it to the stomach, except that the Preomnor also decontaminates it's contents as well. In Ian Watson's Space Marine novel, Initiates celebrated getting this organ by eating the most disgusting things they could until they finally provoked a vomit reflex.
# The '''Omophagea''' is one of the odder organs. It connects to the stomach and the spinal cord, and somehow takes knowledge from the brain tissue that a Space Marine can eat. Interestingly, Space Marines are pretty reluctant to actually eat brains, as the process is physically extremely unpleasant, leaves them in a vulnerable torpor whilst they process the information, and is one of the very few things that will make a Space Marine vomit afterwards. In fact, it is not just the brain, since some Astartes rituals, if not chapter names, originated from this ; the Blood Angels and their descendants are especially famous for blood drinking and [[Rip and tear]] in general, this is actually because they receive knowledge and visions from it. What ? You thought the Blood Angels had visions of Sanguinius only to had a [[Grimdark]] and [[Machine spirit|mystical aura]] ? Additionally, the memories they absorb become very hard to forget (brain washing technologies can help). Now just add some chaos to that mix and you've got heresy brewing..
# The '''Multi-Lung'''... do I have to spell it out? It's an additional lung! It also has a lot of filters and the like, and can function underwater and in low-oxygen atmospheres. In other words, it allows the Space Marine without a helmet to breathe under water and in toxic air.
# The '''Occulobe''' gives Space Marines super-vision, and allows their eyes to adjust to changes in light almost instantly.
# The '''Lyman's Ear''' gives them super-hearing and makes them immune to motion sickness and concussion. However in-game, they have no particular immunity or even resistance to concussion, probably because it's often delivered by a hammer to the head.
# The '''Sus-an Membrane''' lets them enter a state of ''Sus''pended ''an''imation when they are critically hurt or starving. This serves the purpose of conserving a mortally wounded marine until his body is recovered and healed by apothecaries. So each time you remove a marine model on the tabletop, chances are (fluff-wise) it has entered sus-an, rather than died. In fact, on most campaigns that's what happens to your characters. It should be noted, marines cannot leave suspended animation state at will, and can only be "awakened" through the use of specific drugs.
# The '''Melanchromic Organ''' makes Space Marine skin like Transition lenses: it darkens in response to radiation. On the plus side, they tan really fast, but the fact that they pale right back up once they're inside armour is not that great.
# The '''Oolitic Kidney''' detoxifies their blood, like their regular kidneys, but this one does it really fast. Also, it controls some of the other organs' hormones. As a result, Space Marines are incapable of ingesting poison unless with the help of [[Chaos]] or the [[Dark Eldar]]. It also means they can't get drunk, though the Space Wolves found a way around that by creating Mjöd, an extremely toxic drink made of local plants of Fenris, that temporarily neutralizes the Oolitic kidney's ability to filter toxins.
# The '''Neuroglottis''' lets a Space Marine identify chemicals and track adversaries by taste. Blood-hound much?
# The '''Mucranoid''' gives Space Marines super-sweat that protects them from heat and cold, and can even be hardened into a vacuum-proof shell. Remember that awesome scene where Guilliman boxes Word Bearers in space? Yep, he did it while covered in that thing.
# The '''Betcher's Gland''' gives them acid spit, which is probably the only bonus for going to combat [[Helmet#Helmets_and_Faces|without a helmet]]. The acid within varies depending on the source, from simply reacting only to organic tissue to fully dissolving ceramite. Some Chapters, such as the [[Blood Angels]] and the [[Iron Snakes]], consider using the Betcher's Gland in combat to be [[DERP|dishonourable]].
# The '''Progenoids''' provide no benefit to the Space Marine, but are universally considered the most important organs, as they are the keys to making more of the organs above. Each Space Marine starts with two, one in the neck and one in the chest, and they are removed after their death. The neck-based progenoid is ready for harvesting five years after implantation, while the chest-based progenoid is ready after ten. Each harvested progenoid is a bunch of DNA and chemical stuff, that when implanted in a suitable environment, grows into more organs. Chapters that took severe losses and could not reclaim the gene-seed of their brothers basically take random people with an affinity to the Astartes gene-seed (or vat grown bodies similar to the ones they use for Servitors), implant them with all space marine organs, wait ten years and slaughter them to harvest the gene-seed. Sometimes, the term "gene-seed" is taken to refer to these glands specifically.
# The '''Black Carapace''' interfaces a Space Marine with his [[Power Armour|armour]], making them effectively one being. It also serves as a back up armour, providing a level of protection similar to a flak jacket, in case a marine somehow ends up [[Adeptus Custodes|running around naked]]. [[Scout|Space Marine Scouts]] don't have this yet, because of the [[Codex Astartes]]. They don't get it (and thus an expensive suit of power armor) until they've spent a decade or more in a Scout Company. Tyranids nicked this for their tyrant guard, which makes you think how did the foot-slogging hive tyrants survive anything beforehand.

Funny how most 40K works never refer to most of these organs, if any. Especially when situations come up where these organs might have been especially useful. Even in the game, marines are vulnerable to Concussive and Blind rules. Having two hearts, super-fast-clotting blood and three lungs still only nets one wound, it seems. A marine can survive a heart being ripped out, but a lucky shot can kill him? The Toughness 4 stat is probably the one that symbolizes the awesome organs. When a shot hits but doesn't wound you, it doesn't mean the bullet just bounced harmlessly off your skin. It means it's a flesh wound, like being shot in the shoulder. Or, in the case of Space marines, [https://youtu.be/zKhEw7nD9C4?t=80 losing the whole arm]. ''Yarrick sends his regards''. And fluff-wise, most cases of "removed as casualty" are not really "dead", but instead "injured hard enough he's unable to continue fighting and probably entered the suspended animation". That's true of real soldiers too, as 'casualty' simply means 'unable to serve'.

== Gene-seed vs. Genetic Engineering ==

A lot of people (including, it must be admitted, Games Workshop itself) often think of gene-seed as a genetic modification program, but this is inaccurate. Gene-seed does fall under the blanket of "bio-enhancement" or "bio-engineering" - that is, the augmentation of the physical form. However, gene-seed is based on the physical implantation of artificially designed and engineered organs, whereas genetic engineering would modify the DNA of the aspirants to naturally develop the various traits. In essence, Space Marines are what [[Rifts]] would call "bio-borgs" - organisms biologically modified by artificial biological implants. Fleshy cyborgs, essentially. This is an important difference, as it allows the Space Marines to wriggle around that pesky "thou shalt not modify the holy human form" law of the Imperium. From a genetic standpoint, a Space Marine is probably closer to human than most [[abhuman]]s are, and so they fulfill the letter of the law (if not its spirit - but hey, the Emperor made the rules, so he can break them as much as he wants, 'cause he's the motherfucking Emperor).

'''Note:''' Like Mitochondria (powerhouse of the cell), the implanted organs carry ''their own DNA'', cloned from the Primarchs, thus turning the marines into [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)#Humans Chimeric humans]. So yes indeed, bio-borgs, but ones that show characteristics of DNA foreign to the host's body. Example: is there a specific organ that gave Sigismund "a patrician face that echoed the same austere lines as his liege lord, Rogal Dorn"? Let us be reminded, Sig was terran, and Dorn grew on another planet (he was made by the Emperor on a Petri dish, does that count as being born on Terra too?). Who knows how he looked like when he was mortal, he now looks like a son of Dorn. In fact, most astartes ended looking similar to their parent Primarchs, like Horus "little Horus" Aximand looking like Horus "fuckin Horus" Lupercal. Of course, this is because GW thinks it is bioengineering, but at least is "Human Chimeras" instead of "Humans with [[Space Wolves|furry creatures]]", that'd be Heresy, right Emps?

<span style='color:gold;font-size:300%'>'''RIGHT'''</span>

== The Tithe and New Foundings ==

As part of the deal in Guilliman's [[Codex Astartes]], the Astartes were afforded almost complete autonomy from the [[Administratum]], which means they don't have to pay Imperial Taxes '''except''' for a tithe of 5% of their gene-seed which they must send to Mars.

This has a couple of important purposes:
# To monitor the genetic purity of the Space Marine Chapter as a whole and make certain a chapter is not suffering heretical mutations.
# To create new foundings of Space Marines whenever the High Lords of Terra deem it appropriate to do so.

Note that even though the Adeptus Mechanicum will have stockpiles of a chapter's genetic material, it is not really a contingency for a space marine chapter if things get a bit hairy. Several times in the fluff a Chapter has faced extinction due to high losses ''(see [[Black Consuls]], [[Celestial Lions]], [[Lamenters]], [[Marines Errant]], [[Scythes of the Emperor]] yadda yadda yadda)'' but they'd never thought to ask Mars for their gene-seed back.

It's also a bit uncertain how chapters with particularly negative defects manage to keep their genetic condition concealed, if the government has access to their core materials. [[Black Dragons|Some chapters]] get around it by sending only the "purest" gene-seed to Mars and so come out of the inspection smelling of roses, but when the condition is widespread (as it is with the [[Blood Angels]]) it probably only highlights how little the Mechanicus actually understand about biology.

It's also important to note that each chapter's gene-seed is kept in isolation. i.e: Just because a chapter claims ''descent'' from the [[Ultramarines]] does not actually make their gene-seed the same as their forefather. Its basic evolutionary biology that when a population splits and develops elsewhere it starts forming its own traits advantageous to its circumstances and environment. Hence the [[Mortifactors]] gene-seed will largely be very different from the [[Howling Griffons]], despite sharing a common ancestor. So rather than being genetic "brothers" as they would be ''within'' a chapter, different space marine chapters sharing a lineage would be more like nephews or cousins.

When the time comes around to found new chapters, the adepts will look for favourable traits that they want to replicate, although the Ultramarines are cited as being the most utilised source for new foundings, thus any new chapter of Ultramarine descendants would likely be second generation Ultramarines and be quite close to their forefather genetically at least until the chapter adapted to its founding homeworld or particular circumstances. But that doesn't prevent those descendants themselves from being used as templates in later foundings, so after several generations you could end up with something completely different from the original baseline stock.

== Mutation ==

As each new set of gene-seed comes from a Space Marine, requires many years to mature, and many more to be used, there is a lot of room for things to go wrong. This is especially true when desperate circumstances (the impending [[Great Crusade]], or a Chapter being dangerously under-strength) cause Space Marines to skimp on the safety checks and wait periods in order to accelerate Chapter growth. Over the millennia, many flaws have found their way into into the gene-seeds of each Legion, and some of their successors have even more.

=== Dark Angels ===
{{Main|Dark Angels}}
No defects, unless you consider their <s>rampant paranoia and secrecy</s> STAUNCH LOYALTY AND HONOUR as such. Ties with Ultramarines for "most stable source", so the limited number of Dark Angels successors is usually put down the [[Inquisition]]'s limited knowledge of the [[Fallen Angels]]. That and the fact that due to successor chapters often working with/take orders from the Dark Angels has lead to the Inquisition to fear the Angels and successors to be <s>"[[Astral Claws|legion building]]"</s> THE MOST LOYAL CHAPTERS DUE TO THE PURITY OF THEIR GENE SEED.

=== Emperor's Children ===
{{Main|Emperor's Children}}
An accident during the early days of the raising the Legions resulted in only two hundred Space Marines of the III Legion by the time the Emperor found [[Fulgrim]] and Chemos, forcing the Emperor's Children to work alongside the [[Black Legion|Luna Wolves]] for the early decades of the Great Crusade; due to Fulgrim's high standards of perfection being passed on the Legion's [[Apothecary|apothecaries]], Emperor's Children Aspirants had to be nothing less than physically perfect, resulting a largely stable gene-seed, including forbidding psykers to join the ranks. By the 41st millennium, however, the Emperor's Children's gene-seed is fucked up beyond all reasonability. Millennia of drugs from both inside and out the Warp have damaged it greatly. While the relatively few sane [[tech-priests]] left and [[Dark Mechanicus]] working with them can and do make new Marines (thus proving their Marines can and do make new gene-seed), the chemical and other material abuse render each generation further crazy. Even before the Heresy, they were more sensitive to external stimuli like sound.

=== Iron Warriors===
{{Main|Iron Warriors}}
* Innate familiarity with machinery, due to millennia of work and cybernetic implants.
* Noted expertise with problem-solving, especially in pragmatic methods, but also prone to distrust.
* Lowest gene seed rejection rate, which enabled them to replenish their huge number of casualties with an even higher number of recruits.
* Minor Ossmundula mutation ''sometimes'' cause limbs to twist and deform as marine grows really old (we're talking hundreds of years to millennia) - this is usually dealt with by replacing limbs with bionic or cutting them off and placing the cripple into a Dreadnought, Hellbrute, or some weird custom made dreadnought-esque walker, since due to their specialty and organization only high-ranking officers can survive for so long, and they surely ain't going to suffer from the "Crazed" rule.

Especially noteworthy for the Iron Warriors considering they reside in the Eye Of Terror, there has been little mutation in their gene-seed as well. Those that do suffer mutation simply replace their mutated limbs with cybernetics. However, there may be some unknown issue which caused them to be afflicted with the [[Obliterators|Obliterator Virus]] (or was it they who made it?) More easily - the first ones originated from them.

However, this is rendered null by the fact they are the [[/d/|sick]] [[Honsou|fucks]] behind the [[Daemonculaba]]. Due to its nature, the women themselves may have the gene-seed organs implanted (among other things), or at least the DNA required to be able to quickly grow the organs into a child stuck in their wombs. While the poor, innocent, scared kid inside can become a skinless abomination/mutant, they will normally emerge a genetically stable, gene-seed uncorrupted [[grimdark|skinless adult SPHESS MAHREEN with the mind of that same scared child]]. Suffice to say, this is a sick way of getting to [[Female Space Marines|FEMALE SPHESS MAHREENS]], and is [[Extra Heresy|DOUBLE HERESY]].

=== White Scars ===
{{Main|White Scars}}
* ''No noted defects.''
* Mongolians, but this just makes them better.

Possibly corrupted slightly, due to them fighting the [[Dark Eldar]] for so long, that there HAS to be some sex/hybrids in there SOMEWHERE. Don't even ask about the White Scars prisoners in [[Commorragh]].

=== Space Wolves ===
{{Main|Space Wolves}}
They actually have two different implanted DNA: the Canis Helix, which makes them viking werewolves (long canines, tough skin, awesome sense of smell, animalistic [[RAEG]] in combat) or, if one is really unfortunate, into an ordinary werewolf ([[Furry|the ones they ride at that]]), and their super-unstable geneseed, which can't function without pre-implanted Canis Helix and has been found incompatible with any populace outside of Fenris. For the most part, they get around this by just founding tons and tons more Space Wolves than the [[Codex Astartes]] would normally permit, meaning that they ''still'' tend to have tons of chapters' worth of marines on call. Of particular note are the [[Wulfen]], who are Space Wolves who happened to be in the Warp for over ten thousand years. Instead of being mutated into [[Chaos Spawn|unmentionable gribbly beasts]], they managed to turn into literal werewolves with savage strength, meaning there's a possibility the gene-seed has a factor that lets them resist the influence of Chaos.

While many factions within the chapter are proud of how "potent" their gene-seed is, plenty of Space Wolves have constantly labored to stabilize their genome in order to found successors to cordon off the [[Eye of Terror]], and crusade against the [[Thousand Sons]], a plan called "the Sons of Russ." Once, [[Wolf Brothers|they got really close]], which [[Magnus the Red]] didn't like, so he took his Marines and bumped off the Wolf Priest in charge (and generally wrecked things for the Space Wolves), using some [[Tzeentch|Tzeentchian]] trickery to get an opening. In short, he [[gets shit done|got shit done!]]. But considering just how needlessly cruel and dickish the Space Wolves have been to the Thousand Sons (how exactly do you NOT even doubt or question an order to destroy a valiant and loyal Legion just because your boss feels pissy at their boss?) since day one, many people think this was a rightly delivered boot in the ass to the [[Space Wolves|Furries In Power Armor]]. Even if [[Black Library]] disagrees.

=== Imperial Fists ===
{{Main|Imperial Fists}}
* Missing Betcher's Gland (no acid spit)
* Missing Sus-an Membrane (no suspended animation)
* Possibly increased pain tolerance and/or a tendency towards masochism.

Despite missing two organs, the Imperial Fists gene-seed is considered to be amongst the most stable and most manly sources. It is the second most desirable source of gene-seed for Foundings. ''Second'' to the Ultramarines, of course.

=== Night Lords ===
{{Main|Night Lords}}
Despite what you may think, ''no defects''! The Night Lords are officially the most stable of the Traitor Legions, a trait often put down to the fact that they rarely dwell in the [[Eye of Terror]]. That, and they don't even like Chaos or the gods. What little mutations there are are usually upon their Sorcerers...what ones have survived do not have them anymore either. While there are some implications that the Legion's exceptional night vision is part of the gene-seed, it is important to note that Night Lords' eyes are extremely sensitive to light largely due to an environmental condition because of the nocturnal conditions of [[Nostramo]], and not due to an inherent flaw in [[Konrad Curze]]'s gene-seed.

Also Curze's gene-seed has passed onto psykers within his Legion his "gift" of seeing the future in the worst way possible, and as scenarios that become self-fulfilling prophecies. In one case, it was found out that the Primarch's "gift" was actually the side effect of a marine's body slowly rejecting the gene-seed. Prior to receiving this gift, he never demonstrated '''any''' psychic capability. Even so, this situation is rare.

=== Blood Angels ===
{{Main|Blood Angels}}
* Occasional bouts of [[Rip and tear|bloodthirsty, genocidal rage]], otherwise known as the [[Red Thirst]].
** Occasional bouts of permanent, [[Rip and tear|bloodthirsty, hallucinatory, genocidal rage]], better known as the [[Black Rage]].
* Extreme longevity.
Stable, but flawed. Prior to the [[Horus Heresy]], [[Sanguinius]] discovered that some of his sons were beginning to suffer the [[Red Thirst]], where they would descend into a thirst for blood, whether [[human]] or [[xenos]], in a blind rage. If that wasn't bad enough, as a result of Sanguinius's death at the hands of [[Horus]] imprinting itself on their genetic memory (or something), all Blood Angels and their successors have the [[Black Rage]]; a berserk rage where they [[Derp|believe themselves to be Sanguinius during his final battle]]. Meaning that he quite literally hit Sanguinius so hard that his grandchildren's-grandchildren's-ad-infinitum-children still feel it.

=== Iron Hands ===
{{Main|Iron Hands}}
* ''No defects.''
* Noted predilection towards machinery and a disdain towards flesh.

And just to make sure, if there are any, they follow the Bible's advice on offending organs and replace them with holy machinery instead. Would probably be a very desirable source for new chapters if not for the absolute devastation they suffered in the [[Drop Site Massacre]] leaving them barely recovered millennia later and needing all the gene-seed they can get for themselves. Because, you know, even though there has been more than enough time for more than twenty other foundings of whole, brand new chapters, and some of those foundings likely making new foundings of their own, the Iron Hands still haven't had enough time. It also doesn't help how they tend to be total pricks at times.

=== World Eaters ===
{{Main|World Eaters}}
Pretty stable for a Chaos-heavy traitor legion, so long as the Butcher Surgeons don't fuck up the extraction process. Nothing particularly mutated about the gene-seed either except for minor things like increased adrenaline, etc; but during training [[Angron]] had the Legion's neophytes undergo cybernetic conditioning like the surgery he received as a gladiator (referred to as the ''Butcher's Nails'') that increased aggression even further, making an already testosterone-fueled warrior even more aggressive and unstable. While not ''technically'' part of their gene-seed, it has been carried on as a tradition by all the "successors" that resulted from the Legion's fracturing after the [[Battle of Skalathrax]].

=== Ultramarines ===
{{Main|Ultramarines}}
*''No official defects.'' Considered the most stable and preferred source of gene-seed for new Foundings.
**Due to a lack of any real interesting or identifying traits in and of itself, discussions for reclassifying the Ultramarine gene-seed from the most stable source to the most generic source were in the works. These talks were surreptitiously shut down by [[Who Watches Them|Inquisitor Warden]] for offending his sensibilities.

=== Thousand Sons ===
{{Main|Thousand Sons}}
* Increased chance of bringing out psychic powers, as well as amplified psychic power.
* Recipients subject to a high rate of mutation, called The Flesh Change; unstable.

The most unstable genome in the Space Marine legions, the Thousand Sons suffer from the Flesh-Change, a problem that caused Thousand Sons to mutate spontaneously. [[Magnus the Red]] fixed it, with some "[[Just as Planned|help]]" from [[Tzeentch]]. After the [[Horus Heresy]], the flesh-change came back with a vengeance. [[Ahzek Ahriman]] tried to fix it with his Rubric, and he did end up stopping the flesh-change... by turning all non-[[psyker]] Thousand Sons into dust; sorcerers also had their powers enhanced in addition to no longer suffering ill-effects from the Flesh-Change. So while theoretically, the Sorcerers of the long suffering Legion can provide gene-seed, in practice, it's corrupted so often that few will ever make new Marines. Thousand Sons specifically hunt for healthy and stable psyker boys to implant them with their oh-so-rare gene-seed to ensure the recipient would become a sorcerer. If "Masters, bidding!" TS character words to be trusted, Thousands Sons found a way to implant their progenoids into grown up men (so they can teach and test them for longer before implantation), and perform a scaled down Rubric on them to prevent the Flesh Change..

=== Death Guard ===
{{Main|Death Guard}}
Pre-heresy, the Death Guard had a much stronger constitution than most Legions, leading to their role as the toxic environment specialists. Post-heresy, however, the Death Guard are so diseased that implanting Aspirants seems more or less impossible - however, there have been new Death Guard legionaries, who are not defectors from other Legions or renegade Chapters. This means that its possible that gene-seed is used in the Legion to make new Marines. How it functions still no one knows, though we suspect it has something to do with [[Nurgle]] and that he has necromantic powers of sorts, who can raise his fallen disciples back from the dead.

Another possibility is that they're creating new marines using another chapter's/legion's gene seed and working their Nurgle magics on them to turn them into full-fledged Plague Marines. Not a complete impossibility given how the Black Legion is still able to do it.

=== Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus/Black Legion ===
{{Main|Black Legion}}
No real defects, but the tendency for members to look more like their [[Horus|Primarch]] is more pronounced (and possibly more frequent) than it is for members of other legions to resemble their own respective Primarchs. [[Aximand]] was the most notable example of this, but by no means the only one. This gives extra meaning to the "Sons of Horus" thing. In fact, before the Luna Wolves was renamed the Sons of Horus, Luna Wolves that resembled Horus in appearance were known as "Sons of Horus". Ten thousand years in the Eye of Terror has left the Legion's gene-seed more unstable. However, we do know that new Black Legionaries are inducted constantly (seeing as they are the primary generic Chaos Space Marines faction), so its a good bet a large part of theirs is still usable [[grimdark|and that generations of children for millennia to come will be torn away from their parents and families, unfortunate enough to live in the Eye Of Terror, to be inducted into the Legion.]] Furthermore, given that they frequently "recruit" from other chapters and legions, it's not always easy to tell which Black Legionnaires are descended from Horus and which are from other Primarchs.

=== Word Bearers ===
{{Main|Word Bearers}}
The Word Bearers suffer a unique "quirk" in their gene-seed, resulting in a psychologically obsessive loyalty to something, be it a man, a religion, or even an ideal. The Word Bearers in turn thus have a much stronger sense of loyalty to their battle-brothers and Primarch than other Chaos Space Marines, helping them to maintain cohesion and avoid treachery, but this loyalty also borders on fanaticism. Otherwise, while given to some instabilities, they have been able to maintain strength.

=== Salamanders ===
{{Main|Salamanders}}
* <s>Malfunctioning</s> Unique Melanchromic Organ (between Vulkan's personal blackness and Nocturne's volcanoes, Salamanders are all black, all the time, and have glowing red eyes)
* Possibly altered Mucranoid - high degree of heat resistance.
* Possibly altered Biscopea - tend to be somewhat slower than other marines, although sometimes its conferred to the somewhat high gravity on Nocturne, since they can still run at the same level as any other chapter. (Way back when, they had -1 Initiative.)

While slightly dysfunctional, their gene-seed is pretty stable. Would probably be, like the [[Iron Hands]], a common source of new chapters if not for, again, their extreme decimation during the [[Drop Site Massacre]]. They've since recovered, perhaps a little quicker than the Iron Hands (possibly due to being a little closer to the center and being able to evacuate more marines), and may have contributed to a few successors over the millennia.

=== Raven Guard ===
{{Main|Raven Guard}}
* Malfunctioning Melanchromic Organ (their skin is always pale and their eyes are always dark. Anti-Salamanders, basically.)
* Missing Mucranoid (no super-sweat)
* Missing Betcher's Gland (no acid spit)
* Occasional bouts of suicidal rage (Luckily for them this is not permanent unlike a certain other chapter.)

While their primary gene-seed is decently stable, when under extreme stress a percentage Raven Guard warriors will lapse into bouts of suicidal rage known as Ash Blindness or Sable Brand. This is rarely permanent, but occurred with enough frequency that [[Corax]] would organize these warriors into the Moritat. Their missing and malfunctioning geneseed organs is a result of [[Corax]], out of desperation following the [[Drop Site Massacre]], delving into use of forbidden lore and archeo-tech from days long past to accelerate gene-seed maturation, and try to boost his Legion's numbers after their losses during the [[Horus Heresy]]. He was successful, until the [[Alpha Legion]] decided to make the whole project go FUBAR. The subsequent 'Marines', if they can be called that, were numerous, but were barely controllable monsters and/or would simply die off as a result of the extreme imbalances in their dispositions. Presumably, a few of them would even have functioning Progenoids, let alone usable gene-seed. Due to the law of averages though, at least a FEW would have had to been stable enough, and is being worked on secretly by the Raven Guard Apothecaries and associated [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Mechanicus]] Biologicans.
Otherwise, despite being pretty fucked up by the [[Drop Site Massacre]], they've mostly recovered (thanks in no small part to having the ''only'' loyalist Primarch to get away from the Massacre in one piece) and do still contribute to successors here and there.

=== Alpha Legion ===
{{Main|Alpha Legion}}
<s>No such Legion exists, therefore no such gene-seed exists.</s>

In all seriousness; like much of the Alpha Legion, we don't know all that much about their gene-seed. Whatever idiosecreces or flaws they have are kept under very tight lock and key. And with their nature of running as individual operatives in and out of the [[Eye of Terror]], to what degree their gene-seed is tainted by the Warp or other means varies from Marine to Marine. Though their knack for secrecy, paranoia, and tendency to subvert the enemy instead of direct combat is probably a notable trait. Outside of occasional Warp-corruption, we ''assume'' it's possibly one of the most stable gene-seeds, probably as much as the Imperial Fists or Night Lords. Something of note; they often use any mutations that they have as a scare tactic, hiding them and then revealing them on the battlefield in order to shock the opponent.

=== Blood Ravens ===
{{Main|Blood Ravens}}
* A mutated Catalepsean Node - gives them perfect memory recall, but unable to enter REM (deep) sleep
* Unknown mutation that increases psychic ability and occurrences
* Small tendency towards mutations (hurr sounds like [[Thousand Sons|any other Legions]] we know of?)
* Horrendously massive tendency to develop kleptomania.
* The pores in their scalps secrete a substance not all too dissimilar to hair gel, often resulting in a higher tendency to develop hair-etical hair compared to other chapters.
** Alternatively, the pores on their scalps may prevent hair from growing altogether, giving the marine Astartes-pattern baldness. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZfvIg_M5yE It has been long thought to be a terrible weapon to behold.]
* Unknown mutation that results in their voices changing every few years.

=== Blood Drinkers ===
{{Main|Blood Drinkers}}
* They suffer from a literal blood thirst, and must drink blood. This is often a fantastic party trick.
* Standard Blood Angel problems too, though the blood chugging seems to stabilize them. (''[[Just As Planned|Mwuhahahaha!]]'')

=== The Flawless Host ===
{{Main|The Flawless Host}}
* Possibly an offshoot of the Emperor's Children, these psychos are so hopped up on combat and other (read, Warp derived, impossible) drugs that they make normal Emperor's Children drug use look tame - however, damage from things like extreme sounds/etc doesn't seem as prevalent. Little comfort. Despite all this, and defying any sense of physics or reality, their Progenoids still seem to manufacture new gene-seed.

===The Cleaved===
A Chaos Space Marine warband unique in the fact that they constantly ooze some oily liquid from broken joints and seals within their armor. Have an abominably high threshold of pain tolerance, and can take huge amounts of damage that would fell a normal Space Marine. What that means for their gene-seed can only be guessed at, though when these guys appear to be some kind of mix between rubric marines and plague marines, [[Brother Konig|animated suits of armor filled with nothing but corrupted melted goo]], the odds aren't good for any delicate organs that might still be bobbing around inside.

=== A Note On That Sick Fuck Fabius Bile ===

[[Fabius Bile]] is fucking insane. I mean shit, his labcoat is made of human skin - normally only [[Space Wolves]] wear clothing made of that stuff. While originally the Chief Apothecary of the Emperor's Children, he is now a freelancer. His goal even before the Heresy was to find and unlock the secret to the creation of the Space Marines. In the [[Warp]], he provides a valuable service to the Chaos Legion warbands and their auxiliaries of billions more regular Chaos humans - while often millions strong even now, the warbands still need to replenish their numbers. Considering how many die and how often they are away from any place where they can produce more, that's a lot. Even with slave raiding into the Imperium, child abduction both in and out, breeding centers (stop touching yourself) and many [[Daemonculaba|other creative ideas]], its still not enough. Fabius provides services of human cloning, along with gene-seed production, among his many skills. As he is not a super-devotee of Chaos, the gene-seed he has and makes is some of the least corrupted found within the [[Eye Of Terror]]. Though of course, he fucks this all up by hopping up his own warband's clones with the same psycho drugs and shit that make monsters out of men. Lore hints that his genetic tinkering is far more than we have been lead to believe - much of his 'changes' to even standard human genome are genetic and now passable by both men and [[Female Space Marines|women]]. Even now the Imperium is trying to hunt and eradicate what they call his '[[Twilight|New Men]]'. He also has access to a small quantity of what is alleged to be the blood of the Primarch Sanguinius.

=== 21st Founding ===
{{Main|21st Founding}}
Over the millennia, further mutations have afflicted the many Successor Chapters, but the 21st or "Cursed" Founding deserves a special mention, because a bunch of [[Adeptus Mechanicus|tech-priests]] decided that they wanted to try and fix the flaws, but failed so hard they actually created some new ones.

* Bursting into Flames: Yes, the [[Flame Falcons]] really were covered in fire. The Flame Falcons thought it was a blessing from the [[God-Emperor of Mankind]], but the [[Inquisition]] disagreed, and sent the [[Grey Knights]] to wipe them out.
* Bone Growths: Due to a malfunctioning Ossmudula, the [[Black Dragons]] suffer a bone solid growth to harden and extend from their forehead and forearms during times of stress. The ones on the forearm can be used as weapons against unarmored opponents, so they decided to coat them in adamantium. So in essence, they're space-Wolverine-after-the-bone-claws kind of guys. Issue is that this is a very visible mutation, and as this is the grimderp Imperium, mutations from the sacred human form are EVUL, even if they are fucking awesome.
* Indestructibility: The [[Sons of Antaeus]] are much tougher than normal marines, and nobody knows why. Some speculate something about a super-reinforced skeleton, some say it's [[Nurgle]]'s doing, etc. The only real truth to it is that there's some sort of mutation present in the gene-seed.

=== A Note On Implant Organs/DNA Elsewhere ===

While the SPHESS MAHREENS are the most widespread users of artificial glands, organs, and such, they are not the only ones. [[Inquisitor]]s likely have access to organs or other artificial mutations they require thanks to their influence in the Imperium. Depending on what world they hail from and its beliefs, Imperial Guard regiments and PDF may also have artificial organs, or even whole new ones derived from millennia of mutations, which of course has certain advantages. Furthermore, Warp Exposure can result in a change of the functions of organs - a simple example of this is the [[Cadia]]ns, who nearly universally have powerful, violet colored eyes. [[Gland War Veteran|Gland Warriors]] were an [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] project to help legions of Guardsmen heading into battle against a [[Tyranid]] hive fleet. They were to do battle in an incredibly toxic and hard environment, and a variety of experimental organs and DNA strands were utilized - including organs that would secrete stims, painkillers, and various medical drugs, more powerful natural air filters, and the like. While only [[grimdark|three survived]] the whole campaign in the end, the AdMech was pleased and took the three to be debriefed.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]