Are there any instances in literature of Blanks/pariahs serving as Space Marines? Surely they'd be unstoppable when facing warp entities. I know assassins can be blanks and they're rare, etc.
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Short answer. No! Have read all the W40K literature from Black Library and there are NO instances of Space Marines being blanks. They are extremely rare individuals and most of them are snatched by the black ships to work as assassins or Inquisitors.– CherubelCommented Jan 23, 2015 at 9:25
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Would you count an Imperial Guard as a Space Marine? If so, Farik Jurgen. warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Ferik_Jurgen– FirebatCommented Jan 23, 2015 at 16:06
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5@S.Fruggiero: why would someone consider an Imperial Guard as a Space Marine? The fluff makes it clear that Space Marines are considered, by themselves and by other Imperium citizens, as being "above humanity".– TaladrisCommented Feb 3, 2015 at 11:24
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8 Answers
No. in order for a human to be inducted as a scout and later a marine he has to undergo mental conditioning as well as physical.
A Blank couldn't bee screened by the psykers and therefore not be eligible for becoming a Space Marine.
We see a glimpse of becoming a Space Marine in Space Wolf novels.
(Yes they are not conventional), but the process itself couldn't be that much different from other chapters.
The complete "standard" process is here.
The Space Wolves have another ritual called "passing the gates of Morkai".
In this test the Librarians take over the mind of an aspirant and judge it worthy or NOT worthy. If any other chapters have similar tests Blanks would not be permitted to become Space Marines. They certainly can't become Space Wolves.
Also we see the effect that Blanks have on psykers in the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies. So any aspirant trying out for the Space Marines would be found out fairly quick and either killed outright or passed on to the Black ships.
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Not sure why this got downvoted, the author offers a good explanation with evidence. +1 from me– TommyBsCommented Mar 5, 2015 at 7:38
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Space Wolves have their rune priests, but what about chapters who abhor psykers like Black Templars? Wouldn't they find a uses for a blank?– svarogCommented Apr 25, 2015 at 6:19
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1@svarog Abhor the witch is part of the Black Templar creed. So no! Anything that is remotly touched bu the Warp is per definition unclean in the eyes of the Black Templars.– CherubelCommented Apr 27, 2015 at 6:02
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2just how exactly blanks are touched by the warp? blanks are totally invisible in the warp and can actually hurt spykers just by standing a few meters from them doing nothing. blanks are prized by the Imperium, can't see why a chapter such as BT won't go the extra effort and get one or two.– svarogCommented Apr 27, 2015 at 6:15
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1@svarog mutant, witch, alien. That is what the Black Templars Abhor and they are fanatical in their hate for those things. A chapter like the Black templars or any other "Conventional" chapter wouldnt ever have a blank among them. A Chapter like the Flesh tearers or some of the more wierd chapters could employ blanks. There are some chapters that even use Chaos forged weapons against Chaos. So it is possible. Im saying becaouse of the backstory abd the existing cannon that it couldnt happen in a named chapter.– CherubelCommented Apr 27, 2015 at 6:22
Yes
But we have only ONE occasion of Blank in whole Wh40k literature. It is introduced in the novel Emperor's Gift from Aaron Dembski-Bowden at chapter eleven, when Grey Knights Chapter marines arrive to Titan - their Chapter monastery planet, to give away the body of their fallen brother to be buried in Dead Fields. There battle-brothers met Phlegyras - a so-called Ferrymen who’s work concludes in giving a proper ritual and burial to the fallen. These men do not serve in any kind of battle roles. Grey Knights immediately recognized Space Marine-like body type of this ferryman, and his unnatural aura of nothingness because he was a blank. But anyways, no matter questions asked, Phlegyras never revealed who he was and how he became a Blank.
At any occasion, it is impossible to say how it is possible. Gene-seed implantation to a naturally-born blank will result in immediate death because of psi-infused nature of gene-seed (please remember who their Grandfather is). At least, that's the most popular theory the imperial scholars have. So Phlegyras should become pariah after initiation to the Chapter.
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The wiki summary of Ferrymen claims all Ferrymen are former Grey Knights (ergo, Space Marines with gene-seed, and psykers to boot) whose training and purification turns them into at some later point Pariahs. So the order is backwards (Space Marine first, Pariah later), but that resolves the issue with "how do you become a Space Marine when the process requires a Warp connection?" by establishing that the Warp connection was there when they became Space Marines. Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 1:57
In the Space Marine video game Captain Titus is a Blank. He holds a warp generating device and fights an almost-daemon price with no mutation. His immunity to the warp gets the Inquisition alerted by Leandros.
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"The Space Marine video game takes place in a parallel Warhammer 40,000 timeline where the Ultramarines 2nd Company is commanded by Captain Titus rather than Cato Sicarius although the events are the same. " Commented Dec 27, 2016 at 23:26
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1. He is not necessary blank, just he was protected from the warp effect in that one instance. Miracles happen all the time if you keep your faith in the Emperor! 2. @Schneejäger It is not "parallel universe" - in the Wh40k "everything is canon but not everything is true". Existence of Titus could have been purged from archives and then replaced with Cato etc.– YasskierCommented Aug 5, 2021 at 20:49
Nope, it's never happened. And it never would because they're too valuable / rare / un-likeable to become Space Marines
As a male in the 40k universe, you have a 1 in 2 billion chance of being born with the Pariah Gene, so when one pops up, the Inquisition will always be the first on the scene.
And even if the Pariah were born on a chapter's recruiting world, chances are he would be rejected out right. Obviously the chapter's Liberians would detect the Pariah immediately and either hand him over to the Inquisition or possibly kill him, depending on the chapter.
But some chapters don't employ any psykers at all, The Black Templars for example. I'm sure they'd have other tests to check for Chaos or corruption but if a Pariah did pass these tests, they'd have another problem. Pariahs give off an aura which makes people instantly and intensely dislike and distrust them. They couldn't possibly be part of a squad when every one of their brothers permanently despises them.
Another possible explanation is that they simply wouldn't be chosen.
A typical Chapter controls several recruiting worlds which may have populations in the millions or billions. From this, they derive a very small number of recruits every year: given what we know of Chapter sizes and Space Marine lifespans and loss rates (when not appearing in other factions' codices, at least), it might be in the single digits. So they can afford to be extremely choosy, with literally millions of people passed over for every one accepted.
At the same time, because normal human empathy is to some degree psychic, Blanks are not accepted by others around them - including, we must assume, Space Marines. Even if the Blank is superlatively capable, the examining Marine will invent a flaw, simply because of his innate dislike of the Blank. Since by definition everyone who makes the shortlist to be inducted is exceptional, it wouldn't take much to tilt the examiner's decision away from the Blank.
No, because such a person would be immediately picked up on by the Chapter's Librarians. There are no examples of what happens next if such an individual is found: perhaps they are killed, or handed over to the Inquisition.
answered Jan 26, 2015 at 15:24
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The answer could be different if we consider the pre-Nikaea era: the attitude towards psykers varied a lot in each legion and some legion that abhored psykers might have appreciated the incorporation of pariah. Of course, there is nothing to support this claim in the fluff– TaladrisCommented Feb 3, 2015 at 11:28
AFAIK, there is no born Blank that has ever become a Space Marine. This could be the result of the Gene-Seed being psionically induced and therefore would kill a Pariah getting it.
However, there are the Ferrymen of the Grey Knights that are Space Marines that became Pariahs:
The Ferrymen are former Grey Knights who serve as seneschals to the Sepulcars who tend the Dead Fields. They are trained and purified for their duty in a tradition dating back to the founding of the Grey Knights, resulting in them becoming Pariahs.
From the Lexicanum article on the Ferryman.
To add to the already existing answers there is also another point that needs to be taken into consideration. The empire of mankind and especially the space marines are bound by tradition. They are bound so strongly that they often see the invention of new technology or knowledge as heresy and act upon it with fire and bolter.
Now the problem is: Blanks have never been space marines before and nobody even knows why they exist. The later probably raises hackles in the ranks of the inquisition and the former: Tradition says NORMAL huamns and PSYKER humans can become space marines nothing about the blanks......so go home and stay there or go to the administratum so that they find a better use for you.
With other words: As there were no blanks so far who became space marines it is so that because of tradition their chances are quite low to ever become space marines or even see as a possible asset to space marines.
One additional thought there: If we take into account that almost all primarchs had at least some psyker powers and even the emperor himself it could be even worse for blanks in regards to space marines as we dont know how much of their conditioning and power builds upon these psyker templates of the past.
