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one of me mates came up with this storyline about a imperial officer whose father was a space marine...

wha?

do space marines have children???
are the children like ownage, cna breathe in vacums and spit acid???
would a space marine have a bastard anyway??? (cause i always looked at them like paladins from DND (no sleeping around etc etc))

Thanks

Elegost

As far as I know, Space Marines are probably neutered and, apart from that, have probably zero interest in sex life. They have simply better things to do. And they are superhumans that "reproduce" by implanting organs into new recruits. That way, they are more "alien" than real aliens like Eldar for example. So..I don't think this is a good backstory.

awesome thanks...

i thought it was weird.

In the Horus herasy its implied the do have a sex life but since there are no 8 ft super woman their pick is sacarec because the would crush regular people, it was in the second or first book

I am sure there is at least one chapter which is known to have children.

And a lot of the modifications (such as their height etc) are produced through implanted organs, not their own DNA. Hence any children they have will be fairly normal humans (though probably because of the selection process of the Marines, pretty good genetic stock).

I have had an extensive debate on this topic with my employer. (And its corollary, 'do space marines have sex?')

I think that the authors of the various novels have avoided the sex topic. Not becuase they dont want to address Space Marine sex, but because they just dont seem to like to address sex as a topic whatsoever. But that's fine with me, everyone has their own hangups. Much like a 20's movie, I assume it is going on backstage where appropriate. But Space Marines? I think that it is unlikely in most cases. My boss thinks that the creation process of a Space Marine sterilizes them. It would make a certain amount of sense (along the same lines as the myth about American boot camps putting saltpeter in the water) as would this: making a Space Marine physiologically incapable of having sex, but keeping his testosterone production the same (or higher) would heighten aggression.

However, I dont think that is the case. I think that they can have sex, they just dont. Whether due to strict discipline (Ultramarines) or lack of connection with sexual partners (vagrant void-travelling chapters) I think that they just don't. But in the ten thousand odd years since their creation, i am sure it has happened. However, the woman in question was probably injured. (Maybe severely, maybe even killed) What's more, since the life of a Space Marine leaves little time for romance, I think the circumstances were probably less than honorable. (Space Wolf got reeeeeeealy hammered, someone starts betting that he wouldn't sleep with the Ogryn chick...cue porn music) The disgrace of the marine in question is probably why it is never discussed.

And as a final note, there are Chaos marines (physically the same, after all) who worship Slaanesh. (an entire Legion, in fact) You cannot tell me that the Emperor's Children do not have sex. Or at least commit rape. Granted, it is probably less like conventional sex as we understand it and more along the lines of using a penis as a murder weapon, but the point stands.

An amusing hypothetical.

This thread has made me think about something.

Do Space marines visit there Human Parents?

In the novel Salamander, they say that the vast majority of marines dont remember their life before being inducted. They might remember a nationality, or that they enjoy torture, but not specific things like family. The main character of the novel is the only marine that remembers his past. (That he has ever heard of) And even he doesnt remember all of it, he just remembers fragments. AND that is due to him being a latent psyker.

The Grey Knights have absolutely every little ounce of memory of their past life erased, so there is no weakness an enemy can use. Other chapters are probably not that rigorous, but the Space Wolf novels bei William King suggest that Marines feel very disconnected to their past life. It seems probably meaningless and small to them...Ragnar, for example, fought little skirmishes against other tribes on Fenris. As a Space Marine, he fights galaxy-devouring monstrosities and the archenemy himself in the shape of the Thousand Sons. From this perspective, childhood and teenage times look probably rather pathetic. (During training as a scout and before drinking the DNA cocktail, his past is quite important to him, though.)
Their mental training ("And the shall know no fear") lets them feel less nostalgia or longing for past times, too. Those who know of their past life probably shrug their shoulders and say "Well, I wasn't a Marine back then." if someone asks them.

Orkfantic wrote:In the Horus herasy its implied the do have a sex life but since there are no 8 ft super woman their pick is sacarec because the would crush regular people, it was in the second or first book

Death by Snoo Snoo.

Jimsolo wrote:r lack of connection with sexual partners (vagrant void-travelling chapters) I think that they just don't.

Have you heard about the "Law of the sea"? xD And after 6th months witout reaching a planet, the one who picks the shorter straw... xDDD

Jokes apart, I figure them like the Knight Templars oand other members of the old Militia Dei, having chastity votes.

jimsolo wrote:In the novel Salamander, they say that the vast majority of marines dont remember their life before being inducted. They might remember a nationality, or that they enjoy torture, but not specific things like family. The main character of the novel is the only marine that remembers his past. (That he has ever heard of) And even he doesnt remember all of it, he just remembers fragments. AND that is due to him being a latent psyker.

The Horus Heresy series disagrees with you, my friend.

But then, Salamander was written first (I think), so it is older fluff.

I bet the ladies like them huge muscle-laden boys I imagine that having a relation with a Space Marine might even bring some status with it or be a 'hobby' of the Imperium's nobility. And I don't think the Marines would kill or injure their partners. They're strong and huge, but they're also very dexterous - I think they can control what they do.

However, I'd agree that they have probably chastity votes, no time or opportunity to have sex and perhaps little interest, but as the galaxy is a huge place and there are lots of different Marine chapters, I'd say the possibility is there. Even though it may be an uncommon occurrence.

I had actually been mulling over the idea of a child of a space marine after reading Nightbringer. Uriel remembers his family and life prior to being a marine cadet - he was in the PDF where the ultras are drawn from. One imagines that PDF forces aren't children - adolescents maybe, but not children - and when men and women are together, whoopee ensues. And if you don't think it happens in a regimented society like the military, let me tell you the stories told to me by my buddies in the army and navy!

That being said, I think it's completely feasable for a marine to have left behind children prior to becoming a marine and for those children to know that their parent is now a genetically modified monster capable of smelling their fear at 20 paces, killing them with a loogey, and eating their brains to absorb their memories.

Dark wrote:Jokes apart, I figure them like the Knight Templars and other members of the old Militia Dei, having chastity vows.

Fixed your typo. I'd imagine the same, but how many members of a celebite order have broken or bent their vows for whatever reason? At least the marines have the explanation that many of their emotions can be controlled by their unique biology letting them shut off or turn on (pun intended there, sorry!) various glands to supress or induce fear, lust, rage, and the like. The corruption of these organs could be the beginning of how marines become seduced or subjugated to Chaos.

Vow, not votes in english, note taken.

And about breaking from that rule, only happened to the ones with low forces of will, that is, chaos fodder

Horus Heresy does deal with this indirectly

Loken has a remembrencer in his arming chamber when he is oiled up in a loin cloth and she is openly admiring him - real world the outcome of that situation had he any lust was a no brainer

Real clincher for me was when in Fulgrim book the tainted remembrencer shows her bits on stage and all Fulgrim's officers are like 'huh' and 'if I was attracted to women I SUPPOSE that would be attractive'

My view - they have no interest, that stone age urge dissapears as part of their prepubescent transition to Mr Awesome

I rember that all the regular humans where having this massive group sesion and the marines where killing anything they could get there hands on.

The closest we get is Ragnar Blackmane having a crush on an Inquisitor woman in one of William King's books.
I think that those saying they just lose their libido are correct; sex is ultimately about reproduction of the species. For an astartes, reproduction of the chapter is the most important thing and so their attention is focused on protecting their chapter's geneseed.

As part of their psycho-indoctrination Marines have their sexual desire removed so that they cannot be manipulated. In the novel Eye of Terror a daemonette has no sexual effect upon a Dark Angel due to this; and while mentioning Dark Angels there's this from Azrael:

"Forget your past life. From this day on you are simply a Dark Angel - nothing else is of consequence. The Chapter is all that matters."

Renegade or Chaos Marines who break their conditioning can however get their natural instincts back. Hence this quote from Tyrell:

"Take care, lest your protests grow tiresome. I have asked for so little! Anyone would think that I have asked you to sacrifice yourselves and your sons! And yet, in Slaanesh's boundless and pleasing mercy, I have asked only for your daughters. Surely you would not deny me my small enjoyments?"

It is possible that a Marine could father a child from his time before becoming a marine. Ragnar has one last fling in the William King novel 'Space Wolf'.

It is possible that a Marine could keep in contact with relatives or more likey that they would be aware of having a Marine as a relative. Uriel Ventris was not the only Ventris to become an Ultramarine and Shira Calpurnia also had two relatives in the Ultramarines, a distant ancestor and an uncle.

As far as the Horus Heresy saying i am seriously wrong, I can only respond with two points: The first is that I have only read up through Fulgrim and the second is that up through those books, the Space Marines portrayed never have sex. Even when it would be really acceptable, plotwise, for them to do so.

Anything after the fifth book, I cant comment on, because I haven't read that far.

Space Marines, gathering from one bit in one of the Ultramarines books, DO have sexual urges; but their brainwashing is so complete that they can immediately suppress errant thoughts; be it fear, or just lust...

Though Uriel Ventris would sometimes think to himself about what could have been; raising a family, living on a farm... and he does feel a tinge of regret :<