10 Fates In The Warhammer 40K Universe Worse Than Death

In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium there is only war, death, and something much worse.

Lucius The Eternal
Games Workshop

In a setting focused entirely on the unending war between various factions across the galaxy it will come as no shock that death is a big part of the overall theme. But sometimes dying can be a lighter sentence compared to what the denizens, creatures and gods of Warhammer 40K have in store for the hapless inhabitants of the dystopia hellscape that is the far future.

As the famous phrase goes "Only in death does duty end" well here are 10 examples of people pulling double or even triple duty in that respect.

10. Becoming A Space Marine

Lucius The Eternal
Games Workshop

Surely this is some kind of mistake? Being a super jacked, genetically enhanced super soldier would be amazing right? Sure, if you like being psycho-chemically indoctrinated into being entirely subservient to a lumbering and stagnant empire. Also if you're a fan of having most of your humanity emotionally and physically removed from you.

The creation of an Astartes is a violent and invasive procedure involving the implantation of various super-human organs and the crucial gene-seed containing all the genetic coding and quirks for each specific chapter of space marines. These have often been recycled from fallen brothers so you'll most likely be getting a grotty hand-me-down shoved inside you.

If you survive having your innards scooped out and replaced you'll be slapped on the front lines ready to suffer any of the rest of the fates on this list. Not really a fair trade for wash board abs when you think about it.

Contributor
Contributor

Summoned forth from a terrible accident involving a Warhammer Rule Book and a bottle of tonic wine Lawson has been stalking the north east of England in a paint splattered haze for over 3 decades.