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The big question is where would the Space Marine would have learned to skills necessary to be an Inquisitor. An inquisitor is, first and foremost, an investigator. Their stuff is mostly very high level detective stuff which requires a set of skills very different from a soldier and even an officer. SWAT guys are not detective and Space Marines are like the ultimate SWAT guys. Of course, nothing is truly impossible in such a setting.

It's funny people protest the idea when literally one of the five named models for Inquisition, Hector Rex, is SM(ish) Inquisitor. Gee, pray tell, how exactly is that seven foot dude always walking in custom made Terminator armor 'blending in'? Does he don funny hat and a raincoat?

Then there were plans to make Titus of SM game fame an inquisitor, there is even a concept art of how that would have looked - so yeah, the idea is so inconceivable that two (three if we count FFG games) things focusing in Inquisition do it, so impossible, eh?

From what I can see online, Hector Rex is not an Astartes in Terminator Armor. He is a psycher and genetically-modified Inquisitor Lord in Artificer Armor. He's probably less an undercover gumshoe and more a FBI SWAT team leader. I'm sure he can undercover a lot by crashing in doors, taking prisoners, and then conducting psychically-assisted interrogations.

To be fair even Amberely Vail with her love of going undercover has a suit of artificer armour that she goes into battle with.

An inquisitor is, first and foremost, an investigator

Yes but they don;t need to be going undercover - lorewise some def collate and anylise, dictate and order their minons - if the Alpha Legion can do the same thing no reason why a occassional Astartes could not

Hector Rex isn't an Astartes, but he is unusually huge and approaching one in size and strength. He does not strike me as the subtle kind who skulks in the shadows.

It is noted that the Ordo Malleus tends to be the least subtle of the big 3 though- when it comes down to it, once the daemons are pouring in there is no more chance for sneaking (unless you are a blank), it is time for the hammers. Force of arms is the only thing that can contain a daemonic incursion and get the rift closed.

Whereas heretics and aliens generally can't see souls and subterfuge can be an option even once war is breaking out.

But as mentioned, many Inquisitors (typically towards the Puritan end) abhor cloaking their identity and refuse to hide it. An Astartes Inquisitor could happily operate in this paradigm. Under the typical robes, they would just seem to be a huge person to most too.

I suspect an Astartes would fit in on any heavy industrial world very easily. When you consider all the augmentation, servitors, mutants and even just gangs and groups (look at Necromunda). Then an 8ft tall person would blend in pretty easily in the setting.

Once you take the Power Armour off a Marine they might well not stand out in Imperial society at large. Sure there will be social groups where they will stand out like a sore thumb, but even then its more that they'd be abnormal than "oh wait that guy must be astartes". In fact it would be more likely "Oh him.. yeah I think he's some peasant worker stock who managed to make it rich enough to get invited to the party" or such.



And as noted several times over, Inquisitors don't have to be private detectives and spies themselves. Someone has to run the spy network; command the larger forces and all. A Marine could easily work in the capacity as a leader; guiding the direction of their agents to ferret out corruption. They'd likely work great at dealing with larger and more organised cults and problems; where you do need force of arms to tackle the issue. Plus the ability to deal one-on-one with very powerful foes.




Heck in the Eisenhorn books we see him encounter Chaos Marines operating almost on their own or in small teams. If Chaos can do that then what's to stop Marines doing that themselves through the Inquisition.



Honestly the most likely barrier isn't finding a use for a Marine in that role or the social elements or such - it would be the politics of the Marines and Inquisition allowing such a thing to happen in the first place. The various power groups of the Imperium are highly segmented and swapping staff between groups, esp high level staff, isn't easily done. Chances are it would be a constantly issue with many of the Inquisition perhaps not trusting the Marine or regarding them as a spy for the Astartes into the Inquisition itself.

I'd think an exceptional Kill Marine might have a chance of it happening as a backstory. They are, on their own, kind of a hilarious concept in their "hey their fellow kids" concept, but it does set a precedent for an Astartes working with the kind of agency a Inquisitor does.