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What is in your opinion the most Grimdark thing that happened in 40k ( I know, it's Grimdark universe itself but what is so Grimdark that top other Grimdark? ).

I can't decide between Death Korps of Krieg, Fall of Eldar and Fate of Necrontyr.

The most grimdark thing is when the Imperium of Man fell off the Fiscal Cliff.

A thousand psychers a day sacrificed to power a throne occupied by a corpse..about as grimdark as it gets, and what has always stuck with me since I read it in Rogue Trader.

Failing that the most Grimdark thing in 40k is its fans....

 Brother Captain Alexander wrote:
Fall of Eldar

I'd say that the situation that the Fall created for Eldar is one of the more Grimdarky things

Yes, humans die to horrible, horrible things. Get tortured, eaten from inside, shot, exploded, slashed, mauled, crippled etc... Even if their suffering may last a long, long time it's nothing comparing to the inevitable, endless torture of the soul.

The hopelessness of a single human citizen in the universe.

The swarms of xenos, heretics and other things found in the galaxy.

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote: A thousand psychers a day sacrificed to power a throne occupied by a corpse......

This.

This is the sort of thing that a Deathklok song gets written about.

The thing IMHO that is most grimdark is that if you put yourself in the shoes of almost any average human in 40k, life always sucks. You're a Guardsman, life sucks. You're a factory worker, life sucks. You're a slave in the bowels of some Imperial Navy ship, life sucks. There are very few positions for people that don't suck.

The Imperium as a whole.

 TheCrazyCryptek wrote:
The thing IMHO that is most grimdark is that if you put yourself in the shoes of almost any human in the 40k, life always sucks. You're a Guardsman, life sucks. You're a factory worker, life sucks. You're a slave in the bowels of some Imperial Navy ship, life sucks. There are very few positions for people that don't suck.

I can show you two things that prove you wrong.

Being an Astartes only sucks if you get killed.

Being a Sister of Battle only sucks if you get called a Bolter Bitch, or get killed.

Being an Inquisitor can't suck, really...

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote: A thousand psychers a day sacrificed to power a throne occupied by a corpse..about as grimdark as it gets, and what has always stuck with me since I read it in Rogue Trader.

Failing that the most Grimdark thing in 40k is its fans....

It gets worse: Over a thousand a day are fed to it, the emperor and the throne process this, then the excrement / waste (whatever you want to call it) is used to make Psybolt Ammo and such.

A lot of it is so ridiculously OTT 'grimdark' it's beginning to (or just is) subvert itself as to be comical in just how bad everything is.

Personally - I'll go with the prices are the most grimdark thing about 40K

 Ovion wrote:

Soo'Vah'Cha wrote: A thousand psychers a day sacrificed to power a throne occupied by a corpse..about as grimdark as it gets, and what has always stuck with me since I read it in Rogue Trader.

Failing that the most Grimdark thing in 40k is its fans....

Personally - I'll go with the prices are the most grimdark thing about 40K

^As a recent purchaser of a preheresy army, part of which was purchased off the sale of a Warhound Titan I completely agree with the above statement^

Its a sickness really.

For me its how insignificant a single human life is, how expendable it is and how worthless it is.

 Novelist47 wrote:
For me its how insignificant a single human life is, how expendable it is and how worthless it is.

Yeah.

This.



Abnett and Watson's novels do a great job of conveying it, though at the end of the day it's not all that differnt from life in North Korea or any number of other places.

15 Hours or anything relating to Commorragh.

Your 8yrs old and have just been kidnaped and told your going to be surgicly operated on and stuff shoved inside you to alter your body weather you like it or not.

If you survive that your going to go through the toughest training known to man for many years with trials that if you suck at will kill you if you fail them.

Then to top it off your told your going to fight monsters that are the stuff of nightmares until the day you die, oh and you don't get paid but its ok we're going to mind wipe your memories so you learn to love everything I just said and shout 'for the Emperor!' while your doing it.

And people wonder why their not very talkative

Catching the Flu puts you at risk of becoming a slave to Nurgle.

If you've ever read the short stories on how the Grey Knights make their armour, you'd realize how dark and twisted the "good guys" are.

It also makes the Ultramarines way more redeemable than the Grey Knights, who I think I might just be a tzeentch plot taken off

Id have to go with the Tyranid invasion. An unknowingly huge invasion where the more you throw at it, the tougher it gets, until youre hopelessly devoured and all life is extinguished.

Neutralista wrote:

 TheCrazyCryptek wrote:
The thing IMHO that is most grimdark is that if you put yourself in the shoes of almost any human in the 40k, life always sucks. You're a Guardsman, life sucks. You're a factory worker, life sucks. You're a slave in the bowels of some Imperial Navy ship, life sucks. There are very few positions for people that don't suck.

I can show you two things that prove you wrong.

Being an Astartes only sucks if you get killed.

Being a Sister of Battle only sucks if you get called a Bolter Bitch, or get killed.

Being an Inquisitor can't suck, really...

An Inquisitor is constantly on guard. He or she must doubt everyone in their loyalty unless they are betrayed and the Imperium suffers. He or she must be prepared to kill anyone. Lover, friend, comrade, a planet...
A Space Marine is taken from early life and trained for nothing but war. Once upon a time they may have contemplated great things and been philosophers and artists but in more 'modern' times they are merely biological weapons. They are feared by those they protect and will never have a normal life. They are so far removed from humanity that there are some who hate them and hunt them despite the fact they protect them.
A Sister of Battle is merely a guardsman with more faith, better training and bigger firepower. However, they will never have a normal life, the only chance they can hope for is to live long enough to be useless on the battlefield and become a trainer of others to teach them how to kill and how to die.

Typhus's farts.... Nuff said

Jollydevil wrote:
Id have to go with the Tyranid invasion. An unknowingly huge invasion where the more you throw at it, the tougher it gets, until youre hopelessly devoured and all life is extinguished.

Don't be ridiculous, the tyranids simply want everyone to join them in their all loving hive, really it's an act of kindness to remove the poor souls from their tortured life. Also at the same time they'll be bringing as end to chaos since the tyranid swarm is incredibly ordered.

I for one welcome our alien overlords

Jollydevil wrote:
Id have to go with the Tyranid invasion. An unknowingly huge invasion where the more you throw at it, the tougher it gets, until youre hopelessly devoured and all life is extinguished.

Yes, but they got out-grimdark'd by Maugan Ra. Entire Hive Fleet slaughtered by one space elf. That is daaaark. Also, he has a skull-helmet.

 Lobukia wrote:
If you've ever read the short stories on how the Grey Knights make their armour, you'd realize how dark and twisted the "good guys" are.

It also makes the Ultramarines way more redeemable than the Grey Knights, who I think I might just be a tzeentch plot taken off

How do they do it?

 Sturmwächter wrote:

 Lobukia wrote:
If you've ever read the short stories on how the Grey Knights make their armour, you'd realize how dark and twisted the "good guys" are.

It also makes the Ultramarines way more redeemable than the Grey Knights, who I think I might just be a tzeentch plot taken off

How do they do it?

MASSIVE SPOILER, DON'T Click!



My personal vote goes to Krieg and their way of war. Perfectly grimdark from their birth to death and even post mortum quartermaster fun times. The regiments from the book Fifteen Hours is also pretty nicely grimdark. After reading the newcrons dex, I find it to be probably the least grimdark even more cheerful than Tau. They are on the upswing for the most part with just some crazies but when you got the nids avoiding you, blowing up planets if you chose to, and even have time to troll the inquisition and orks, I see nothing grimdark there. Bleak for humanity yes but from their internal race perspective, it seems down right positive. (as long as you are a cryptec or lord). Heck, even though Tau seem optimistic, the fluff in the tail ends of the codex makes it seem that they are gonna get stomped pretty bad from nids, orks, imperium, necrons, and even some internal stryfe with allies really kind of backstabbing like kroot that disobey and even Farsight breaking away with his own faction. Internally, it feels like they are almost on the verge of falling apart. More grimdark feeling than the silent king uniting the different necron worlds or imotek just rolfstomping his way through the galaxy.

Eldar I don't feel like they are really grimdark. They have a more tragic feel like Elves in Lord of the rings feel. Tragic but not feeling like it's grimdark tragic if that makes any sense. Not in a futile false belief sort of struggle against hopeless odds but essentially trying to survive to return to a more glorious time kind of vibe. More a forelorn, "ya that's kind of sad" but not like "gawd dang I just want to kill myself, why I not dead yet" sort of vibe.

Honestly Warp travel would scare the crap out of me, the chance of running into a space hulk which would either be infested by nids or orkz or who knows what and daemons and the possibility of getting lost for millions of years. I shudder thinking about it.

Only one of a million psykers becomes a grey knight of those who arrive on Titan. That is a lot of psykers

I suppose it's that no matter how large you are, no matter how powerful you think you are, and that no matter how many people have slain you are still an insignificant little worm and you'll die like one. Even Necrons, even the Tyranids and even the Space Marines.

"Oh thanks for fighting off that massive chaotic incursion for us, please report to the nearest slave labour camp for sterilisation and summary execution."

Probably the darkest thing I've read in a while.

Simply that trillions of humans live in a galaxy that is berefit of hope. Doomed to short lives filled with hard labor and zero compassion.

And, on the flipside: hosts of alien species who would just as soon be left alone that are routinely "cleansed" for no other reason than their existence is an affront to some idiots "moral" imperative.

And the topper, that some of humanities best warriors are so secret that those who know of their existence must die; even after heroically helping said warriors.

Yeah, pretty grim.