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.

This just struck me while reading another thread. It sounds weird but fits awfully well. Hear me out.

Yarricks was written in 3d ed for the codex Armagedon, well before perpetuals where introduced into the fluff. His rules have varied but his current ones are fairly similar to his original ones. Namely his 3 trademark items: power claw, forcefield and eye laser (more on how they support this theory below) as well as his two signature special rules: eternal warrior and Iron will.

Special rules: Yarricks special rules are weird. Actually they are very weird. He's the single toughest guard character due to being the only human (appart from Celestine) with eternal warrior. According to the codex he's the only human that will not be obliderated by a lascannon or pulverised by a brightlance or Ion cannon. Second is Iron will. No matter how gravely wounded Yarrick can rise again and continue to fight, a rule only shared with Celestine and the necrons in the entire game. It's tributed to his insane willpower but willpower can physically only get you so far when 60% of your body mass gets irradicated.

Wargear: Naturally it makes little sense for Yarrick to have to replace his arm and eye due to wounds if he was a perpetual, but then that was never the case. The reason for both his signature items are not the loss of limbs but pshychology. Yarrick knows Orcs talked about him as being able to kill with a look so he implanted a laser eye to make it true. He also chose a power claw instead of a far less cubersome power fist to show dominance over his nemesis race, the Orcs. He took it of a dead warboss after all. The arms shows he beat one of the biggest orcs around in combat, quite a powerfull message to Orcs. Finally he can claim any insane survival was made possible because of his special force field.

So why would we not know? Well consider the Imperium. If a commander, even one with Yarricks renown, would magically heal from any wounds he'd be classed as a whitch and be hunted and killed by the Inquisition (and probably by his Commissar colleuges as well). Better let propaganda work for him as well as the fear of the orcs, letting rumours grow that he can survive any wound and fell any opponent. The Imperium runs on heroic exaggerated propaganda, and the Orcs are going to hype what Ghazkuul hypes.

As a side note Ghazkuul said he left him alive after their fight in Hade hive but it's possible old Ghazzy roughed him up just enough to kill a mortal man to check his worth. Even if Ghazzy holds back how many men doyou think would survive a one on one fight with him?

Alot of things concerning Yarrick makes sense with this theory. I have read the first Yarrick book and it does not dissprove the theory, but doesn't really support it either.

Am I chasing ghost where there are none or am I on to something?

Edit: I had to edit this quite a lot due to my phone but this is the final version. If you read this then know that there'll be no more editting. This turned out to be quite the wall of text. Sorry if it was bothersome to read through.

Afraid not, as Yarrick during the 3rd War is an old man. He's clearly aged quite a bit.

...that would be awesome.

Congratulations you've contributed to my own internal headcanon

I've always like the idea of perpetuals. Not Vulkan, as having a perpetual primarch just seems a bit Mary Sue, but just normal dudes that just...won't...die. Neat little hat tip to Highlander as well

Aw crap, didn't think about aging. Unless he's really good with make up but chances of that are pretty slim.

Haha, thanks Ynneadwraith. I litteraly just thought of it, double checked the codex and then posted this on a whim.

Do we know that perpetuals don't age?

I know Highlanders don't, and if they're based on them then they remain exactly the same age they were when they became immortal. For instance, one of the most dangerous Highlanders is a couple of hundred years old but has the body of a young kid.

Actually, have we even heard of Yarrick being young? Perhaps he became a perpetual at age 65 and has remained 65 ever since...

Oll Pearson in the Horus Heresy series aged and would get reincarnated (memories attached if I recall correctly) when he died.

It would be hilarious if Yarrick was made a perpetual by the ork belief that he can't be killed. I know the whole "ork stuff works because they belive it does" isn't 100%... But wouldn't that be hilarious?
Made immortal by the greenskins believing he could never die and therefore he never does?

I like that

 Engine of War wrote:
It would be hilarious if Yarrick was made a perpetual by the ork belief that he can't be killed. I know the whole "ork stuff works because they belive it does" isn't 100%... But wouldn't that be hilarious?
Made immortal by the greenskins believing he could never die and therefore he never does?

Omg, this so much. It'd actually make him into some sort of minor Orc warp avtar. This should be cannon.

Do we know how perpetuals are made? Could it be that they change from mortals to perpetuals due to warp shenanigans?

I hope not! For me that would significantly detract from the mythos of Yarrick.

In a galaxy where so many ordinary humans are expendable we need some exceptional specimens to show what humanity can do without being genetically enhanced, having psychic powers, being mysteriously immortal, secretly coming to earth as a baby with a tail etc.

The scope of Yarricks achievements isn't inconsistent with him being an ordinary human. He has made the most of his available resources, is an impressive strategos and has survived the cut throat world of imperial politics.
I see no reason to justify these achievements with superpowers and would prefer if he remained a shining example of what the seemingly squishy pink humies can achieve all on their own.

He also serves as an example of the cost a humans pays to be so exceptional, the hardship, obsession and bitterness of an old man who has spent his youth and vitality fighting for a thankless cause.

If he is he's likely a different kind of perpetual and "revived" subconsciously by the orks. Likely he didn't know about it, but I think if the orks believed widely enough about the legend of Yarrick they might be unwittingly giving him a little boost.

 n0t_u wrote:
If he is he's likely a different kind of perpetual and "revived" subconsciously by the orks. Likely he didn't know about it, but I think if the orks believed widely enough about the legend of Yarrick they might be unwittingly giving him a little boost.

Maybe orks are more human than we give them credit for? Maybe, like humans, they need to be united against something otherwise they become fractious and prone to infighting and political dissent?

As such, what if the 'immortalising' of an enemy figure head is actually a feature, not a bug of the orks?

No "Ladies and Gentleman, we gottim!" until the orks got em all!

Kroem wrote:
I hope not! For me that would significantly detract from the mythos of Yarrick.

In a galaxy where so many ordinary humans are expendable we need some exceptional specimens to show what humanity can do without being genetically enhanced, having psychic powers, being mysteriously immortal, secretly coming to earth as a baby with a tail etc.

The scope of Yarricks achievements isn't inconsistent with him being an ordinary human. He has made the most of his available resources, is an impressive strategos and has survived the cut throat world of imperial politics.
I see no reason to justify these achievements with superpowers and would prefer if he remained a shining example of what the seemingly squishy pink humies can achieve all on their own.

He also serves as an example of the cost a humans pays to be so exceptional, the hardship, obsession and bitterness of an old man who has spent his youth and vitality fighting for a thankless cause.

This. Being a perpetual utterly ruined the point of Ollanius, it would do the same to Yarrick.

Of all the inane bs BL is responsible for the perpetuals are the absolute worst.

I had a long post recently which I detailed why the Orks believe Yarrick is an ork and the benefits received. Ghazzy purposely convinced the Orks that he is. Orks don't die of old age, or at least none has ever known to. Yarrick was an old man during Armageddon 2 and was enjoying his retirement. He was fully up and kicking 57 yrs later for Armageddon 3 and us still kicking at the settings present time. The only human I know who uses an or weapon and it works. No no no its not an Imperial made proto type. He took it from the warboss he killed in the same fight that cost him his arm. Orks have a story amongst themselves that Yarrick can kill with a simple look. Yarrick has an eye replaced with a laser. I don't think he had a choice the Orks believed it and their psykic gestalt field made it so.

This all came from Ghazzy telling his Boyz that Yarrick isn't a normal human but orky like they are. When Ghazzy captured Yarrick after Armageddon 2 he kept tossing Yarrick in certain death situations telling his Boyz that unlike the other prisoners not only will Yarrick survive but he'll come back and challenge Ghazzy like a proper or. Which he did over and over. Once he convinced his Boyz that Yarrick is orky he let him go and told hI'm to prepare Armageddon for a true fight.

I don't think Yarrick has a choice now - he's an ork.

nareik wrote:
Maybe orks are more human than we give them credit for? Maybe, like humans, they need to be united against something otherwise they become fractious and prone to infighting and political dissent?

As such, what if the 'immortalising' of an enemy figure head is actually a feature, not a bug of the orks?

No "Ladies and Gentleman, we gottim!" until the orks got em all!

I think 'prone to infighting' is an accurate (if understated) description of Ork culture in its entirety, so you might be onto something there...

 Crimson wrote:
This. Being a perpetual utterly ruined the point of Ollanius, it would do the same to Yarrick.

Of all the inane bs BL is responsible for the perpetuals are the absolute worst.

While I absolutely agree with you on the Ollanius front, I don't actually think that perpetuals are necessarily a bad idea. They're a neat culture reference to Highlander.

Ollanius should have stayed human. His entire story is about bravery, which is diluted if he's immortal.

Yarrick I'm not so certain about. I think being a closet perpetual makes his story more believable (as has been stated, why is he still knocking around 57 years after retirement, and why does he have Eternal Warrior/that rule where he can get back up after being killed).

I feel like 40k's best descriptions of normal humans as great despite their frailty. Like Creed. Tactically brilliant, but still squishy. Rather that than inexplicably making a regular human hard as nails compared to genetically engineered supersoldiers.

As with all these things though, I really, really don't want them to come out and outright say 'Yarrick is a perpetual'. That'd be crap. I much prefer it when they drop hints, like inexplicably giving a regular human an unnatural lifespan and Eternal Warrior, and letting us work it out for ourselves/incorporate it into our headcanon as we see fit. That way I get to be happy with perpetual-Yarrick, and you get to be happy with true-grit Yarrick

 ProwlerPC wrote:
I had a long post recently which I detailed why the Orks believe Yarrick is an ork and the benefits received. Ghazzy purposely convinced the Orks that he is. Orks don't die of old age, or at least none has ever known to. Yarrick was an old man during Armageddon 2 and was enjoying his retirement. He was fully up and kicking 57 yrs later for Armageddon 3 and us still kicking at the settings present time. The only human I know who uses an or weapon and it works. No no no its not an Imperial made proto type. He took it from the warboss he killed in the same fight that cost him his arm. Orks have a story amongst themselves that Yarrick can kill with a simple look. Yarrick has an eye replaced with a laser. I don't think he had a choice the Orks believed it and their psykic gestalt field made it so.

This all came from Ghazzy telling his Boyz that Yarrick isn't a normal human but orky like they are. When Ghazzy captured Yarrick after Armageddon 2 he kept tossing Yarrick in certain death situations telling his Boyz that unlike the other prisoners not only will Yarrick survive but he'll come back and challenge Ghazzy like a proper or. Which he did over and over. Once he convinced his Boyz that Yarrick is orky he let him go and told hI'm to prepare Armageddon for a true fight.

I don't think Yarrick has a choice now - he's an ork.

Yeah I was trying to find that thread I do quite like that explanation too, especially about Ghazzy being the only Ork so far to be aware of the gestalt field.

Perpetuals aren't a bad idea, but I agree that Ollanius Pius isn't one, no matter how much GW's authors like to claim he was.

 Engine of War wrote:
It would be hilarious if Yarrick was made a perpetual by the ork belief that he can't be killed. I know the whole "ork stuff works because they belive it does" isn't 100%... But wouldn't that be hilarious?
Made immortal by the greenskins believing he could never die and therefore he never does?

I think this would be interesting. He started as just an ordinary human but had so much impact on the orks that they elevated him into their mythos, making him more than human.

Okay the one thing in this Thread that is annoying me is saying that Yarick is a old man..

Yes he retired from the Military life, and Yes it was 57yrs between wars. But with the level of Technology and Rejuvenation treatments and augmentation a Human in the 40k universe can live several hundred years and appear no more then 50years standard. Ofcourse these treatments are generally expensive, but being a figurehead hero of the imperium I don't see it being a hassle for him.

Other then that I love the idea that he cant die because the Orks believe he cant

As far as I know a perpetual just kinda.... "comes to be" with no explanation. But being MADE into a Perpetual who cannot die through a 3rd party (kinda) would be cool.
Hence if a vast majority of Orks believe (or at least all those under Gazzy who KNOW Yarrick which is still ALOT of orks) that Yarrick cannot die and that MADE him into a psedo-perpetual or something that would be crazy and awesome (and hilarious).


NOW WE MUST CONVINCE ALL THE ORKS IN THE GALAXY THAT THE EMPEROR WILL LIVE AGAIN.

 Melissia wrote:
Perpetuals aren't a bad idea, but I agree that Ollanius Pius isn't one, no matter how much GW's authors like to claim he was.

Well whole Ollanious thing is illogical from the get-go. Unless Emperor could transfer tons of guys into the ship there's no point bringing in regular humans who can't be brought in sufficient numbers to be actually useful. Does Emperor pick some random trooper or space marine? Of course trooper!

He shouldn't have been written in before to begin with. Or what? Had Horus open ship day having teleporters set up so that any random visitor could come in to visit?

 gnome_idea_what wrote:

I think this would be interesting. He started as just an ordinary human but had so much impact on the orks that they elevated him into their mythos, making him more than human.

I think that's a great idea. You still get the awesomeness of Yarrick just being a regular guy who has excelled beyond all expectation, but you also get an explanation for why he's so unkillable

GodDamUser wrote:
Okay the one thing in this Thread that is annoying me is saying that Yarick is a old man..

Yes he retired from the Military life, and Yes it was 57yrs between wars. But with the level of Technology and Rejuvenation treatments and augmentation a Human in the 40k universe can live several hundred years and appear no more then 50years standard. Ofcourse these treatments are generally expensive, but being a figurehead hero of the imperium I don't see it being a hassle for him.

Other then that I love the idea that he cant die because the Orks believe he cant

Presumably, if you're a highly commended general of the Imperium, you're not going to be allowed to retire until your rejuvenation treatments start failing. So, Yarrick is probably already a couple of hundred years old before he reaches 'retirement age'.

tneva82 wrote:

 Melissia wrote:
Perpetuals aren't a bad idea, but I agree that Ollanius Pius isn't one, no matter how much GW's authors like to claim he was.

Well whole Ollanious thing is illogical from the get-go. Unless Emperor could transfer tons of guys into the ship there's no point bringing in regular humans who can't be brought in sufficient numbers to be actually useful. Does Emperor pick some random trooper or space marine? Of course trooper!

He shouldn't have been written in before to begin with. Or what? Had Horus open ship day having teleporters set up so that any random visitor could come in to visit?

Horus' ship dropping its shields was a fleeting moment of desperate opportunity during a hectic siege. You don't have time to sit there and put together a strike team. You literally scramble and take whoever's in the room (so to speak) at the time.

Hence why you get a mishmash of Marines and humans. It's literally whoever he can grab at the last second.

"'E's not a "per-pet-chew-all" - e's wot youse call "ded-'ard", innit ?"

He's not the messiah, he's just harder to kill than a superannuated short guy with hairy feet ( because "old hobbits die hard").

Possessed of a strength of will more powerful than a locomotive transport and a successful enough commander that his position on the triage list gets moved up pronto.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Horus' ship dropping its shields was a fleeting moment of desperate opportunity during a hectic siege. You don't have time to sit there and put together a strike team. You literally scramble and take whoever's in the room (so to speak) at the time.

Hence why you get a mishmash of Marines and humans. It's literally whoever he can grab at the last second.

Still why care if regular humie gets killed. He or it is quite happy to throw everyone under the bus. Its not like he hasnt splatted a regular human or two in his path.
More important is why and how. You got the Vindicare assassin still running around on Horus's flagship. You have the wolf markings leading to the bridge. Theres the possibility of Little Horus changing his mind.

Yarrick is definitely not a perpetual. However the Ork Gestalt field is likely contributing to his longevity and his inability to be killed.

The orks believe that he is invincible and gives the best fight ever. Therefor, it becomes true.

Ha I can see it now.
after 100yrs juvinate. But those damn kids just cant do anything properly. Good thing Ive got my Fortress of Arogance. Cowboy up mother fethers.
Yarrick wants to die. But those efin oks wont let him. Jurgon. Oi. Cain stop hiding behind the bar.