Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'll make the assumption that the average imperial citizen is probably a lot like a modern day human in terms of lifespan (assuming they aren't seiged by Chaos or hit with an Ork Waaagh!). They probably live 60-100 years and die of organ failure or some other non-viloent but otherwise "natural" cause.

The Noble classes, ruling bodies, and members of the various miliant bodies have access to gene therapy, genetic augmentation, nano technology, biological implants, and even cerebral prosthetics than can extend their life by quite a bit, presumably double or even tripple.

Astartes are basically immortal by their own right, and being maintained by their apothecaries they probably have a pretty good chance of living on indefinitely were their occupation not so ... well not what it is.

The Tau are described as being quite human-like in thier aging process (accept the Ethereals who are long lived but not immortal).

The Eldar are immortal (so far as I can tell since characters like Vect have been around since before the HH nad even before the Fall of the Eldar).

But orks... are Orks immortal? I mean, the bigger they get, the smarter they become... being both a big and smart (by ork standards) has to dramatically increase your life expectancy if not your actual lifespan. But I've never heard anything definitive on if orks get old or die naturally? Anyone have any ideas?

orks die by natural causes all the time,losing there head to a choppa, getting munched on by tyranids, trying to catch bolter rounds between there eyes etc etc
i don't think orks die to diseases or old age

The best Juvnat the Imperium has appears to be able to let a human survive around 400 years, and thats without major augmentation. The Ad Mech can live even longer, probably indefinitly. Although it has been mentioned in several books that as a priest gets older(and has more and more augmetics) he gets more... senile seems to be the word. Their mind eventually dissolves, they view this as becoming one with the machine.

Marines do experience degeneration in their bodies, enough that it appears some marines "retire". And by that it seems to mean get rotated back to the chapter fortress to be relegated to training new recruits and other non-battle field duties, like captaining one of the Chapter's ships.

This does appear to be a rare occurence, mostly because its rare for a marine to live long enough to get to this age.

Tau have very short lives even by normal human standards. The last codex had their max age at around 40 terran years. This is one fact that makes their slow method of warp travel even worse for them. A warp jump that takes the better part of a year is a significant portion of a Tau's natural life.


Orks do appear immortal, simply getting bigger as they age and fight more. Gharkul Blackfang was at least 25' tall. And in the fluff there was some story about a planet somewhere thats actually an ork that had grown to a massive bloated size.

Eisenhorn would suggest humans with access to all the best Juvenat treatments can live to 700 or over, looking young for most of that time. That's the very cream of Imperial society though.

Marines do age, it's just that most never live long enough to even show the signs. Just look at Chaplain Cassius, said to be the oldest active Ultramarine at less than 400... He calls his Chapter Master "young Calgar" and looks like a grumpy 70-year old man. Some Chapters can live longer but it's very rare there too because Marines get themself killed in combat all the time.

Certain Abhumans can live for thousands of years. See the Emperor and Ollanius Pius.

I think the average lifespan for your average imperial citizen is around 150-200Years,

Orks i think don't really age as such just grow bigger but most wouldn't last long anyway so they would only be expected to live for barely 10 years.

Space marines do age but very slowly most space marines might expect to see 10-30 years of Active service before being killed in battle, A space marine receives a stud on there forehead (Commonly mistaken for a bullet lodged in the head) every 50 years of service most many chapters have this tradition but not all. Uriel Ventris a main character in the Ultramarines novels is 90years old but looks like he is 20. When a space marine does actually age too much to be useful in battle anymore he might become a dreadnought or ship captain, Bjorn the fell handed is a dreadnought who is 10-15 thousand standard years old.


Chaos marines i would assume do not die of age because of what they are. Time also travels much faster in the warp so a chaos marine could be in the warp for 1 year but is 10 years older in real space.

Not sure about the lifespan of Tau but i would assume its similar to that of modern day humans.

I would actually assume that due to the deplorable conditions in most major population centres (Hive Worlds and Forge Worlds), the average human would have an average age much less than today's modern world, the average topping out at 40, max.
Agriworlds and other lucky planets with conditions similar to today's earth would have a higher average, I think.

With regards to Space Marines, Ultramarines would age at the average speed for Space Marines - logical, considering that, what 80% of all Chapters geneseed is derived from their stock.
Space Wolves age more slowly, with Logan Grimnar at 700 years old and Ulrik the Slayer (having been his mentor) even older (though it's not specified how much).

Neither can hold a candle to the Blood Angels; Commander Dante at 1100 years old is the oldest non-Dreadnought Marine in the Imperium, not counting special cases like loyal Fallen (whose actual age is a matter of perspective).

Chaos Marines - who can say? Time in the Warp is mutable.

Avarage citizen age? Since the vast majority of the imperiums citizens lives in hives, this will probably be less then 60.

As for Space Marines. I think it's storm of iron that this was featured in. Some space marines got caught in a time quickening thing, essentialy aging them 10k years in span of seconds. They became very frail but they didn't die from old age.

I think Eldar are not immortal. At least Seers are prone to cristalyze after messing with the infinity circuit for too long. Also I've always read that they possess a long life-span, not that they were immortal.

 noghri wrote:
I think Eldar are not immortal. At least Seers are prone to cristalyze after messing with the infinity circuit for too long. Also I've always read that they possess a long life-span, not that they were immortal.

That seemed to be the case for the Warlock in Ghostmaker. His final act before snuffing it was the massive Eldritch Storm.

Tau only live until about 40-50, unless they're an ethereal.
Eldar simply have a long lifespan unless they happen to be DE and have access to a whole load of pain to enjoy.
No ork has ever died of old age, though Ghazgull is getting closer than any ork has done before, I believe.
I'd imagine that the average imperial citizen wouldn't live longer than 80 years, given that if they're not working at least 18 hours a day they're likely to be shot and turned into a floating skull.

2nd Edition Eldar codex said that Eldar commonly live to a 1000 years before old age overtakes them. I can't recall if they use enhancements/gene therapy though.

I guess that makes Eldrad pretty unique since he's lived since before the Great Crusade.

I imagine with the eldar it's more about how long they want to live, given the power of their minds they can probably keep their bodies going until they finally decide they've had enough.

Brother Chaplain Haigh wrote:
I think the average lifespan for your average imperial citizen is around 150-200Years,

Orks i think don't really age as such just grow bigger but most wouldn't last long anyway so they would only be expected to live for barely 10 years.

Space marines do age but very slowly most space marines might expect to see 10-30 years of Active service before being killed in battle, A space marine receives a stud on there forehead (Commonly mistaken for a bullet lodged in the head) every 50 years of service most many chapters have this tradition but not all. Uriel Ventris a main character in the Ultramarines novels is 90years old but looks like he is 20. When a space marine does actually age too much to be useful in battle anymore he might become a dreadnought or ship captain, Bjorn the fell handed is a dreadnought who is 10-15 thousand standard years old.


Chaos marines i would assume do not die of age because of what they are. Time also travels much faster in the warp so a chaos marine could be in the warp for 1 year but is 10 years older in real space.

Not sure about the lifespan of Tau but i would assume its similar to that of modern day humans.

Most marines live significantly longer than 10-30 years I would guess. Uriel Ventris was 123 when he took command of the 4th company, he had been a full battle-brother for 90 years. Bjorn is just about 10000 years old as he was a young marine during the heresy, but he wasn't put in a dreadnought due to old age.

Blood Angels are more resistant to aging that most Astartes, which is why Dante is still going strong after being chapter master for 1100 years. Considering how you would not expect a young Blood Angel to become chapter master, it's easy to assume that he is actually 1300 years old or more.

I'm pretty sure Space Marines (of Codex Chapters) take upwards of ten years just to become a full battle-brother. They do several years in a scout squad (where I imagine the attrition rate is the highest) and several years in a Devastator squad. I think the average Marine in a Tactical Squad is probably a thirty-year veteran or so, and many of those have a hundred or more years of service ahead of them. I also get the impression that attrition is very gradual in most circumstances, with single digits of casualties per complete operation, until the rare circumstance where a commander underestimates an enemy and loses a company or more, necessitating a major recruitment push.

As for civilian lifespan in the Imperium, I have to think the median age is somewhere in the 20s, due to the trillions living on hive worlds, surrounded by pollution, surviving on minimal food and water, and putting in back-breaking labor. The mean age is no doubt even lower, as those factors aren't exactly good for infant mortality rates either. Almost all aristocrats will live into the multiple hundreds, but as one in a billion they can't have much effect on the aggregate numbers.

I think the average imperial citizen, living in decent conditions, would live much longer than 100 years. The average lifespan of a human is already growing. Currently, in the UK at least, it's around 80 years old. It used to be closer to 70 and many doctors have predicted that the generation of kids being born now will mostly live to around 100. So, I imagine that humans in the 41st Millennium will live a very long time indeed, hundreds of years, if not getting into four figures.

Of course, I understand that life in 40k is not so nice, with most average citizens working in bad conditions and/or not being well looked after. I imagine this will reduce the life expectancy considerably. Grimdark.

Well, the reason for our lifespan increase is because of increased medical care, hygine, and nutrition.

I would hazard the average imperial Hiver doesn't have access to the best medical care or nutrition.

Eisenhorn also has some... decidedly unnatural ways to extend his life. He was, however, around 300 years of age towards the end of the first series, though he mentions having taken juvenat treatments. The current storyline is not significantly later than the end of the Ravenor series (I think twenty-some years?).

It is conjectured that Space Marines are biologically immortal, meaning that old age is not what will end their lives. However, given that the job title of "Space Marine" does not endear one to longevity, it is unlikely that any of them will be able to test this theory.

There are some Eldar who remember their Pre-Fall society, so I would hazard to guess that, while the "average" may only be 1000 years, this is a mathematical construct caused by those living to 11000 years and spikes in child mortality.

Orks... well, they are partially fungoid, so could possibly live forever... but Ork society generally indicates that this will not be possible.

Necrons live forever, if you can call it that.

Average humans? Depends on where you're from. If you live on a quiet Agri-World, you can probably make it to 100. If you're uber-wealthy and live on a Paradise World? 300, 400 years is not out of the question. Live on a Hive or Forge World? If you make it to 60, you beat the odds.

In Salamander, by Nick Kyme, the green marines encounter a group of distant colleagues who've been hidden away for millenia. They have all died of what could conceivably be termed 'natural causes' or 'old age,' although it's debatable.

And ones over 10,000 years old mind you

hmmm, i'd describe their death more as a result of starvation and atrophy than actual aging.

If they had proper supplies they could possibly have survived indefinitly.

The Power Armor suit turns waste into nutrient paste that they could indefinitely survive off fluff-wise

There's a law of diminishing returns there... the less you eat, the less waste you produce. Eventually, you're not eating enough to produce any waste, so the suit has nothing to recycle.

Doesn't the Imperium have access to tech to indefinitely extend your lifespan?

Also, how the hell is Dante 1300 years old and still hasn't succumbed to the Black Rage/Red Thirst?

You'd think he pass on the baton by now.

Orks being plants / fungus don't think age like other races. I feel if it wasn't for their violent social structure they could live for a very long time.

Look at Ghazghull isn't he several hundreds years old ??

Yeah, but several hundreds of years isn't particularly noteworthy, really. There are humans making it to that with juvenat treatments.

I'd expect a great deal of variation between the sources. Personally, I'm going by what GW tells me in their rulebooks, which tell me that Space Marines can live 2-3 times as long as the average human being. I'm thinking this probably equals 200-300 years, although that's a fairly generous estimate that depends hugely on what one considers "average" in the Imperium of Man. As far as rejuvenation treatments are concerned, the 6E rulebook does have that old Saint who is at least 791 years old, judging from his entries in the timeline - unless one were to assume he spent a lot of time in stasis or the Warp. Ultimately, I think it fits to some Astartes also being way older .. and I have that theory that Astartes longevity is simply Imperial rejuvenation treatment hardwired into their bodies, which would explain the overlap. When the IoM has the technology, why not use it for both the Marines and powerful/influential/important humans?

The technology certainly exists, but even the most important humans such as the High Lords of Terra are not immortal, and all 12 members have been replaced countless times over the thousands of years since their creation... at least according to the 6E BRB. That suggests to me that even with rejuvenation treatments there is still a ceiling, even to the artificially extended lives of normal humans.

The old BT Codex and the Current SM codex both seem to imply (as stated before) that SM are biologically immortal and do not suffer from degeneration of the cells and would live indefinitely given the proper setting. This of course being somewhat moot since they are SM and whether immortal or not they have some nasty occupational hazards.

I also didn't take Psykers into account. The Warp is 40k's catch-all for explaining away fictional factors in their lore. Psykers could use their connection to the warp to extend their lives "unnaturally" as well, meaning that they could live for as long as their will allows (provided they don't get gobbled up by daemons on the other side).

I also agree with the conclusions that life for the average Imperial citizen would vary from world to world, but perspective is an issue here as well. While Aggri Worlds are probably a lot less harsh than a Forge World or Hive World, that doesn't mean it would measurably shorten your life. Hive world (and the gangers) would probably be the most noteworthy difference since it increases your risk for a violent (but not natural) death... but working on a Forge World not be much more dangerous than working on an Aggri World. Labor of any kind has actually be shown to help develop better bone structure and a healthy musculature. Studies have also shown that manual labor is good for the part of the brain that develop higher functions such as logical and reason.

The Forge World's atmosphere is probably radioactive, and filled with industrial pollutants.

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
Doesn't the Imperium have access to tech to indefinitely extend your lifespan?

Also, how the hell is Dante 1300 years old and still hasn't succumbed to the Black Rage/Red Thirst?

You'd think he pass on the baton by now.

Because he's a Marine, one thats had access to supplies.

And Age for a BA actually makes you less likely to succumb to the Black Rage, just like the older a Space Wolf is the less likely he is to fall to the Wulfen. He's more likely to die in battle than fall to the Black Rage.