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I understand why Chaos Space Marines and Orks would wear them(and maybe perhaps savage feral Guard regiments)

but why do various Space Marines and inquisitors wear them? aren't they trying to NOT be like Chaos? and whose skulls would they be wearing anyways?(skulls of those they have killed? or skulls of those who have fallen)

you shouldn't wear other people's body parts on your armor; its not very nice

I think its space marines idea of camo.... I mean have you seen how many skulls are on the average IoM building????

Intimidation and fear tactics/psychological warfare. As If seeing an armoured giant charging towards you wasn't enough, now you have an over zealous armoured giant adorned in the skulls of those they have declared bad guys.

Never heard of guardsmen wearing skulls though :S

In Imperium sculls indicate "Only in Death does duty ends."

But sculls are represented in art and others to give it a more grimdark look.

Of course Guardsmen would take 'trophies' of their vanquished foes, whether it's body parts (Mortant VII 'Headhunters' spring to mind), bones*, teeth** or skulls, it's proof of having overcome and defeated the enemy. They might also be worn as good luck charms, because in Death's lottery of battle every little bit of luck will help.

Of course some regiments will display gruesome tokens/trophies as a means of psychological warfare - "Don't mess with us or we'll do this to you", kind of thing.

So it's not beyond imagination for Guardsmen to have human skulls lashed on to their armour or hanging from their uniform/backpack.

*The uniform/armour of the Morbidian regiment from the back of the 3rd Ed. Codex consists of bones.
**Lexxian IX 'Sawtooths' for example.

Skulls are common in army badges and field signs too.
Honor badges with skulls include the iron skull, the imperialis,the machina opus, themarksmans honour, the crux termiatus,
and as an example:
(insignium astartes, page 62) Skull and motto

In addition of the specific badge of the iron skull there are many other icons and emblems which incorporate the skull.
As honours these often have a multitude of uses and meanings. Often combined with simple mottos the skull honour can be seen on shoulder pads, helmets,kneepads and een on bolter cases and vehicles.
The human skull is an image that has close associations with the Emperor of Humanity himself and is of special importance to the chapters chaplains.

Skulls are a common image and the step from painted skulls to "real" skulls is small.
If the skulls the OP has in mind are "real human skullz", which I may doubt as some gear may have the image of a skull but isn't one, I would like to see a few examples.

The LoD is covered in skulls.
IMO the only human skulls are the servo skulls and some relics. Maybe some trophys at the Guard regiments mentioned before too.

To remind you, the audience, that Chaos are the baddies, and the Imperium of Man are the goodies who feed thousands of innocent people to a corpse on a throne every day, among other attrocities.

The human skull is supposed to represent the emperor and his sacrifice for humanity, after the HH it became a unofficial symbol of the IoM, along with the official emblem the two headed eagle with one eye.

I believe this bit of fluff was in FFG Deathwatch main book IIRC.

Human skulls are an important symbol for the Imperium, and humanity in general. It's an important religious and cultural symbol.

Firstly, it is very tangibly human in a culture that fears and hates anything non-human like xenos and mutants. It represents humanity as a whole.

Secondly, due to their constant warfare, millenia of history, and culture of sacrifice they are a very death focused society. Preserving portions of their ancestors, saints and heroes is a well established part of their culture. Thigh bones, knuckle bones, ribs, etc. are common items of veneration. Skulls, the house of the intellect and spirit of a person, are the ultimate relic.

Thirdly, as was mentioned, they represent the Emperor's sacrifice. Remember, they worship a living corpse. Just as crosses represent the christian god, the corpse represents the Imperium's god.

There is lots of precedent for such behavior in the real world. Many christian denominations in the past preserved bones, and used skulls in the iconography. Sou th and central America still sport very death-centric cultures where the skull is an important symbol. Dia de Muertos (day of the dead) is one of the most important holidays, Santa Muerte (Saint Death or Holy Death) is one of the most important religious figures, and skulls are an important part of religious decoration. Numerous Indian, Native American, and Eastern European cultures have similar traditions.

Skulls being associated with evil and chaos is a very Western European/American sentiment, and a fairly recent one at that. To those in the Imperium (and many places in the real world) skulls don't have a dark connotation, they are a powerful and reverent reminder of humanity, life, and those that came before.

Isn't it obvious? With all the mountains of skulls on terrain and the pit of skulls on the battle board, skulls are actually the currency of the imperium. The average guardsman will carry around a couple skulls to be able to take the bus home after battle.

-cgmckenzie

Find me some models or artwork that has actual human skulls as decoration, not skull iconography. Because they have a lot of the latter, I can't think of any of the former.

Mechanized Space Corps wrote:Intimidation and fear tactics/psychological warfare. As If seeing an armoured giant charging towards you wasn't enough, now you have an over zealous armoured giant adorned in the skulls of those they have declared bad guys.

Never heard of guardsmen wearing skulls though :S

I thing the DKoK pulls off something similar, as their grenadier units have the armor on their gas masks designed to resemble a skull.

I guess the Imperium is not too far off after all

Dude thats creepy.

That is a badass DkoK picture above.

PresidentOfAsia wrote:I understand why Chaos Space Marines and Orks would wear them(and maybe perhaps savage feral Guard regiments)

but why do various Space Marines and inquisitors wear them? aren't they trying to NOT be like Chaos? and whose skulls would they be wearing anyways?(skulls of those they have killed? or skulls of those who have fallen)

you shouldn't wear other people's body parts on your armor; its not very nice

Wearing skulls <> chaos.

Here is another bit of data

Evil <> Chaos.

Chaos is evil. Not all evil is chaos.

In addition, there's the religious aspect of carrying around relics of dead saints or heroes, something that was commonly accepted as a practice in the Middle Ages and in some places even today.
It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being evil, just obsessed with death/relgious awe.

The Mad Tanker wrote:

Mechanized Space Corps wrote:Intimidation and fear tactics/psychological warfare. As If seeing an armoured giant charging towards you wasn't enough, now you have an over zealous armoured giant adorned in the skulls of those they have declared bad guys.

Never heard of guardsmen wearing skulls though :S

I thing the DKoK pulls off something similar, as their grenadier units have the armor on their gas masks designed to resemble a skull.

Spoiler:

DKoK Grenadiers wear the skull as a mark that they lived too long they're veteran and are sent to the most dangerous missions.

Edit: Fixed the spoiler.

It's "Human Pride". There's nothing more distinctly human than the human skull. There just representing yo'

DarknessEternal wrote:Find me some models or artwork that has actual human skulls as decoration, not skull iconography. Because they have a lot of the latter, I can't think of any of the former.

Aye and the classic 2nd Ed Codex:SoB main figure on the cover... though not sure what species the bosom skulls are supposed to belong to (funny-looking Orks?). Probably trophies from slain enemies, where the one on her backpack is from an honoured comrade, still doing His good work.

Like the Adept in Gav Thorpe's 'Annihilation Squad' and the reverence, love and protectiveness he shows his clapped-out servo skull; it's suggested that it might have been the skull of his father. Can't see warriors being any less of that kind of persuasion... good ol' IoM - you've got to love it!

The way I understood it, the human skull stands for the concept of the "Sacred Human Form"*. It is a symbol for humanity as a whole, and for its purity and divine purpose.

(*: this term only popped up in a BL product - the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer - but I thought it fits in with the Imperial style and have thus incorporated it into my perception of the setting)

"The Imperium stands upon a foundation of the bones of martyrs."

The skull is representative of the martyred warrior, the God-Emperor's sacrifice, and a host of other pro-Imperial/pro-Humanity philosophies.

Skulls all the way!

Now, this prompted me to do a bit of reading. Wikipedia actually has a couple nice articles on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skull_symbolism

"Our present society predominantly associates skulls with death and evil. However, to some ancient societies it is believed to have had the opposite association, where objects like crystal skulls represent "life": the honoring of humanity in the flesh and the embodiment of consciousness."

That's the way I think the IoM sees it. They don't see as being all grimdark. It's just something very human in a galaxy full of hostile non-human things.

I imagine the human skulls would be trophies from slain cultist/heretics that have been killed by the INQ/IG/SM in question.

The book "Gildar Rift" talks about how the Silver Skulls take them as a mark of defeating a powerful foe.

The servo skulls the Inquisition use are made out of the heads of favored servants.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:The servo skulls the Inquisition use are made out of the heads of favored servants.

dead favoured servants right? I doubt they would kill their favourite ones