is there really a need for female space marines?
There are rumblings, rumours and talks of female Space Marines floating around that dark scary place known as the internet. With franchises focusing on diversity and inclusivity over story , will we see female Space Marines? My question would be do we need female Space Marines?
Lets travel back in time a little to the days of Rogue Trader.
Back in the days of Rogue Trader Space Marines were a fundamental part of the story and were mainly depicted as male but did you know that back in 1987 there were depictions of female Space Marines! Now, some would say that justifies female Space Marines in the modern 40k universe. But you need to understand that Rogue Trader Space Marines are very different to the Space Marines we know now.
Rogue Trader era Space Marines weren’t super human soldiers created by the Emperor of mankind. Space Marines in Rogue Trader were just humans in suits of armour more akin to the Astra Militarums Tempestus Scions.
Many things were different back in the days of Rogue Trader, so much so that it doesn’t really fit into the Warhammer 40’000 universe.
Space Marines as we know them now first appeared in the Warhammer 40.000 universe back in 1989 in the Warhammer 40’000 compendium in the article Adeptus Astartes. The Warhammer 40’000 Compendium was the first building blocks of the 40k universe that we know and love now. The Compendium fleshed out the races of the Warhammer 40’000 universe going into detail of their origins and cultures. It was in this article that we first learnt about the Adeptus Astartes, their gene seed and organ implants and what it actually means to be turned into a Space Marine.
This is the recruitment information on creating a Space Marine from the Warhammer 40’000 compendium back in 1989.
Space Marines are a long established part of the Warhammer 40’000 universe. Lore or cannon can be changed though as we have seen with many franchises/ universe but time has shown that often this isn’t for the better.
Some say the Warhammer 40000 universe isn’t diverse enough, i would argue that diversity within playable armies is very representable in the 40k universe. The Astra Militarum are the all inclusive force, Space marines are the male force by lore and the Sisters of battle are the Female arm.
Even when you look at the other races in the 40k universe The Eldar fight as an all inclusive force male/ female etc, same as the Tau. Other races such as the Orks, Necrons and Tyranids have no designated sex. They are built, bio weapons or fungus.
Where the diversity of the 40k universe could do with some improvement is with representation within the special characters. Off the top of my head I can only think of around 5 playable female special characters.
Lets get back on track, do we really need female Space Marines?
In the 40k universe there is already an all female playable force. The Sisters of Battle.
If Games Workshop made female Space Marines wouldn’t it take away some of what makes the Space Marines and Sisters of Battle lore special? Differences between the playable forces is what makes them interesting, if everything is the same its boring. Who needs female Space Marines when Sisters of Battle are so much tougher, the Sisters are regular humans, not genetically engineered super soldiers. The Sisters still wear the same power armour as the Space Marines and hit the battle field just as hard, destroying the enemies of mankind.
The Sisters of Battle don’t need genetic enhancements to kick arse!
So in my opinion the Warhammer 40’000 universe doesn’t need female Space Marines because we already have the true tough guys of the Warhammer 40’000 universe, the Sisters of Battle.
