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Though it is possible an Ork may question their society, one has to keep in mind “or you can just give the next Ork a kicking and take his stuff” is a well established hierarchy.

It’s also possible for an Ork to become depressed, perhaps because they took their shot and lost, or someone just nicked all their Teef etc. But as ever it’s mostly a temporary state of affairs. If nothing else there’s likely to be a fight you can go watch to cheer yourself up.

Angst just isn’t part of the Orky psyche though. No hand wringing, no what ifs. No second guessing yourself. I wouldn’t say they act solely on instinct, but they’re definitely impulsive.

Impulsive can be bad. But in a pretty permissive society, not so much, because whilst you might get jeered at, there’s not going to be trial and punishment type thing.

Even if you’re exiled from your tribe, you’re likely either an Oddboy to begin with (Rogue Doks and Meks) or at least half way to being a Madboy. And it still needs to be a pretty serious error of judgement.

And even then there's plenty of Oddboys and Madboys kicking about. Being exiled can even be a good thing. For example:
Gronk got exiled from his original clan because he put some things in some brains he maybe shouldn't have.
But to the next clan over that's well cool and they're going to pay Gronk truck loads of Teef for them shiny upgrades. Now Gronk has it in with that clan's Warboss and they go to crump Gronk's old clan using their new shiny laser eyes and metal skulls. Grunk then gets his share of the loot and starts doing more "ethically questionable" surgeries until he learns how to make Killa Kans. Now he's one of the Warboss's Top Ladz. Gronk is a happy (if slightly insane) Ork.

Yup! And if not, there are always Freebooterz in need of Oddboyz.

 Overread wrote:
Indeed. Orks are perhaps the only race in the entire setting who are truly happy.

Tyranids might not understand the concept of happy, but they have to fight for every meal which isn't ideal.

Necrons are grumpy that there are upstarts all over the lawn

Eldar are highly depressed after they birthed a chaos god

Chaos is a huge mix. You could argue Demons are rather happy since they've got perpetual war right now. Mortals might not be so happy as they are never allowed any freedom

Tau are slowly discovering that the Galaxy is rather scary!

Imperium is a total mess. Some worlds pure paradise others hellish. Though in general their society is highly restrictive. If you've got money and influence you can live for generations and be on top and awesome; but the vast majority are little more than treated like machines. Used to breed and manufacture and process paperwork.

But, can Orks be "truly happy" if they arent sad (except during the brief moments between fights)??

What happens to Orks that are unable to fight?

They likely die long, long before they become infirm, simply as a result of Orky society.

Add in Orky physiology being robust, and the prevalence of Bioniks, no Ork is ever truly crippled for long.

I was thinking more on the lines of being unable to fight because they are taken prisioners, or they are stranded alone with out any worthy oponent arround.

Arent "Mad Boyz" still a thing? (in regards to robust Ork Spicology).

They fight the other prisoners. If they're alone then they get bored and start fighting whatever they can or go mad. Then when they die a bunch of spores get released and make new Orks who fight each other.

The Xenology book, which is of uncertain canon now, makes claims that Orks kept in isolation weaken, wither and die.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
The Xenology book, which is of uncertain canon now, makes claims that Orks kept in isolation weaken, wither and die.

Makes sense. THANKS

Some good Orky readin' from Mike Mag Uruk Brooks:
Where Dere's Da Warp Dere's A Way (also in Nexus and Other Stories)
Brutal Kunnin
Road Rage

You know, I’d give my left nut (no not that one. The other one) for GW to reprint the three Orky Books as they’ve done for Realms of Chaos.

They’re amazing, engrossing reads, and so much of it remains canon to this day.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
As to their psychology? Orks are, for all intents and purposes, a utopian society. Nobody is purposefully left behind or, by their standards, unfairly kept down. Even the victims (Grots) find their own ways to climb the social ladder.

Uh, what? Pretty much every ork besides the top 1% is being unfairly kept down, by business end of shoota or klaw if needs be. Nob sees you have fancy kutta or other gubbin? Congratulations, now nob has it. Nob wants new shoota? His mob is about to find out how it feels to be punched in the face till they cough up enough teef for it. And as bad as being in a mob is, not being in one is even worse as then not just one dude tries to exploit you, but everyone around. Imagine mafia racket except every single member of ork society is a member of a gang.

You might be a Lowly Boy right now. But there absolutely is path to greater standing. And that’s fightin’ and win in’. The more you fight and win, the bigger and stronger you get. If you get big enough, there’s precisely nothing stopping you from clobbering your immediate superior and taking their position from them. Even if you fail in that attempt, provided you survive, you still gain and can give it another try later.

You forget one teeny tiny thing. Accumulation of resources. That nob you want to challenge? Good luck with that, even if you're just as strong he will have 'ard armor, klaw, and souped up shoota. You? If you're lucky, a cardboard shirt, piece of barely sharpened metal and a pistol half the size, if that (see above). And Gork help you if said nob has mega armour as then you will never advance till some space marine does you a favor. In this respect, ork society is ultracapitalistic - capital is everything, no seed cash, no luck, and the only way to advance is to wait till something unrelated blows up the obstacle freeing a niche for you, except there is 99 other lesser orks also wanting in and dragging you down even if you manage to get a lucky break...

And as the original Waaaargh! The Orks so ably explains, they’ve even got a pretty egalitarian economic system, because they use Teef. Every Ork has Teef, and they grow new ones throughout their life, so even abject poverty is never permanent. Should you not have enough Teef at a given point? It’s perfectly acceptable in Ork society to just go and beat someone up and steal their Teef right out their gob. Indeed, you can nick pretty much anything, if you’re ‘ard enough.

Funny, I read that and the story running through book was about massive exploitation of the bottom 99% of society making them really sad (with graphic descriptions of ork mafia pulling your teeth before they fall off naturally or a grot having to sell favourite squig because of made up debts). It really doesn't strike me as egalitarian or happy in any way. That famous Discworld quote about vote comes to mind - except with warboss and teef, because boss is the only one who has them when it matters

 Gert wrote:
Everyone in the embrace of Papa Nurgle is pretty happy most of the time.

Only because the parts of brain with such insignificant stuff as free will and ability to feel down tend to rot first. So, that's kinda cheating

Thing is….Every Ork Accepts That Might Makes Right.

If the Nob or another Ork wants your stuff? You fight for it. If you win, great. You keep your stuff and you may climb the pecking order. If you lose? Well it’s a fair cop because they are bigger and stronger than you.

This is why Deffskulls can be looked down upon, because they steal stuff without having a scrap over it first.

Orks also don’t tend to have inherited wealth. This is because Orky Teef naturally decay, only lasting for a finite time. And when a particularly wealthy Ork snuffs it? It’s kind of a free for all on his gear, especially if there was a group effort to perish him.

Hence Orky society is oddly egalitarian, with most if not all Noticeably Powerful Orks being self made by their own standards. Sure being in the Bosses good books helps - but even if you’re not, there’s nothing societally organised to keep you down. Because as always, if you’re big and ‘ard enough, you can scrap your way to a higher position.

There is also the Morky route as opposed to the Gorky one. You could very well beat the Big Boss in a scrap but what if you slowly sabotage his gear? What if you ruin his plans by making them not entirely successful? You could get support from the other Ladz for a cheeky little coup. Yubgutz isn't so tuff after all, maybe we need a new Boss?
The Orks that think are the really dangerous ones.

Also depends on the Clan in question. If it’s Goffs? It’s gonna be fisticuffs, every single time. Anything else Just Isn’t Orky.

Blood Axes and Deffskullz may well go for a Morkier route to gain power, but would still need to be ‘ard to keep power, especially if there’s other Clans to be bossed about.

Oh for sure. You aren't going to have a not-tuff Boss in charge. But as you said, what makes a good Boss is different for each clan.
MDG have you read the recent Catachan Devils book? If not I highly recommend it.

I’ve not, no!

I’ll look into it

They ARE a mafia racket, Irbis. Motorcycle gang, the bad lads off that dodgy estate... That IS Orks. They're not an army, still less a nation. They're a collection of gangs, warbands, tribes. And funnily enough, even in 'real' history there is an element of - generosity isn't quite the right word, perhaps, but if your nobz and other drinking buddies are packing some dead snazzy gear - not TOO snazzy, of course, don't want to make you look like a scruffy grot - then it shows that if other boys follow you, THEY can get snazzy loot too.
And if anyone doesn't like it, then to quote the immortal Kaptin, they can take it up with the complaints department.