10 Things You Didn't Know About Space Marines

Space Marines are the backbone of the Empire's military in Warhammer 40K Universe. Space Marines are genetically enhanced humans who leave their humanity behind to become something greater in the service of the Emperor and the Empire.

The life of Space Marines is eternal service and war, going from one battlefield to another in the bleak darkness of the distant future. Being such a staple of the Empire, their basics are well known; but here are some of the lesser known facts about Space Marines.

10 Becoming a Space Marine

Few are chosen, fewer reach

• Many children die or go insane from the trials.
• It lasts about 8 to 10 years.

The exact process of becoming a Space Marine varies from chapter to chapter, though some common factors are how young the process begins and what those new recruits have to go through. At the oldest end, a 10- to 12-year-old is selected to become a Space Marine and immediately begins his trials, training, and modifications; some chapters even go as low as taking babies.

Once selected, the next few years include many surgeries, hypno-suggestive therapy, and mental and physical training to transform them both mentally and physically into a Space Marine. Each stage of this process is difficult and only a small percentage of those who go through it survive and become a Space Marine.

9 Looking down on people

They are replaceable

• Few chapters value human life.
• Some chapters accidentally kill people in battle without thinking.

The goal of a Space Marine is victory over the enemies of the Empire and to follow the Emperor's orders no matter what. This often leads to Space Marines not caring about the lives of those around them outside of the Battle-Brothers.

While the Space Wars fight alongside many other factions of the Imperium, not many chapters actually care about those people or those of the Imperium, and instead see them as lesser beings who serve a function for the Imperium, but are replaceable with other simple people.

8 Acid spit

A hidden tool

• Some Gene-Seeds disable this mutation.
• Not a consistently reliable weapon in combat.

One of the many organs surgically added to a Space Marine is the Betcher Gland. This turns Space Marine saliva into a powerful acid capable of breaking down almost any material.

Compared to a Space Marine's other weapons, this additional ability is mainly used to destroy and digest certain things that may be dangerous to consume, or to escape from a dangerous situation where they have been disarmed. Over time, this gland has also become unusable for many chapters and is not used very often, if at all, by most Space Marines.

7 Functionally immortal

Age is no longer a problem

• The studs in the head represent centuries of service.
• Most live well beyond the average human lifespan.

Due to all the modifications to a Space Marine, they are functionally immortal and stop aging once they reach adulthood and all their implants have been received. Space Marines no longer have to worry about dying of old age or any other age related disease or human experience issues.

Although they don't have to worry about dying from old age, they always go into battles and risk dying. Because of this, most Space Marines live around a few hundred years or so, although some of the elites in a chapter live well beyond a few hundred years.

6 Living coffins

Eternal service until death

• It can keep a Space Marine alive even when they are almost dead.
• Held in high regard in the Chapter.

Should a high-ranking and honored Space Marine fall in battle with their body mostly dead, they will be moved into a machine that is essentially a living coffin. This machine will keep whatever is left of the Space Marine and his mind alive before being placed in a Dreadnought.

These machines continue the eternal service of the Space Marines and keep them alive even longer, now even stronger than before. Dreadnoughts are often held in extreme honor as their service far exceeds that of the average Space Marine in what is essentially life suspended just before death.

5 Lots of genetic changes

They leave humanity behind

• About 20 additional organs.
• Grow Space Marines in size to make room for new organs.

During the process of becoming a Space Marine, they will receive somewhere between 19 and 21 new organs implanted into their bodies. This is done over several years and in a specific order as the recruit's body grows and makes room for additional implants.

Many of the additional implants are additional organs, allowing Space Marines to breathe in low-oxygen environments, filter blood faster to render poisons ineffective, or the Black Carapace, which allows a Space Marine to interact directly with their power armor. While all of these implants are a necessity to be a Space Marine, the most important is the genetic seed.

4 Gene-Seed & Mutations

Making each chapter even more unique

• The most important implant.
• Gene-Seed comes from existing Space Marines.

The Gene-Seed is a chapter-specific implant given to each Space Marine that truly makes them a Space Marine and makes all of their additional implants function as a whole. The Gene-Seed is the most important part of a Space Marine, and upon death, the Gene-Seed of a dead Space Marine is extracted to be put into another new recruit.

Gene-Seed varies greatly from chapter to chapter, many resulting in unique mutations or changes in Space Marine bodies or minds. Blood Angels get Black Fury from Gene-Seed, while Space Wolves have enlarged canines to name a few. Not every Gene-Seed in the Chapter has these side effects, but every Chapter keeps its own Gene-Seed and holds them as the most precious part of the Chapter.

3 Incredibly rare

The average person will never see one

• They are always fighting all over the galaxy.
• There are only about 1 million Space Marines.

Despite being the backbone of the Empire, Space Marines are not often seen throughout the galaxy in the 41st Millennium due to the size of the galaxy and the number of Space Marines. Even fighting on the front lines, many of the other factions of the Empire will go their entire lives without ever seeing a Space Marine.

The power of a Space Marine usually means that the entire chapter is rarely in one place, as the different companies fight on different fronts. It's incredibly rare to see an entire chapter together, making the events of Baal one of the largest gatherings of Space Marines since the Heresy.

2 The Astartes Codex

Keeping the Space Marines in line

• No more than 1,000 Space Marines in a chapter.
• Some Loyalist chapters do not follow.

After Guilliman returned and saw the state of the Empire during the 41st Millennium, he wrote the Codex Astartes as guidelines for all Space Marines chapters. While not every chapter follows this book, the purpose of the book is to rule as well as restrict the Astartes.

Due to the Codex, a Chapter is limited to only 1,000 Space Marines, leading to the creation of many successor Chapters. The goal is to divide the singular control of whoever heads a Space Marine chapter to ensure that no one person ever leads a force of thousands of Space Marines and leads to another Heresy.

1 Primaris Space Marines

Space Marines, only better

• Upgrades that many consider heretical.
• Current Space Marines can be upgraded and upgraded.

A new aspect of Space Marines in the 41st Millennium are the Primaris Space Marines, who are larger, stronger, and faster than regular Space Marines. While this may seem like a good idea, the acceptance of Primaris Space Marines varies, as it changes the bases of the Space Marines, which came from the Emperor.

Guilliman is the current leader of the Empire, and by his command, Primaris Space Marines are created and added to the various chapters, as the dangers of the galaxy are said to have grown greater than what the “Firstborn” Space Marines can handle.