New Warhammer rulebook ditches controversial gender language for Space Marines
A very small piece of lore has been omitted from the third edition Warhammer: the Horus Heresy rulebook. In the ‘Process of Initiation’ sidebar which describes how Space Marines are created, no reference is made to the gender of Space Marine initiates, removing the second edition’s explicit statement that the process relies on the “hormonal and biological make-up of the human male”.
The topic of female Space Marines in Warhammer 40k fandom and lore is a fraught one, one front in the online culture war. The wording of the ‘Process of Initiation’ in the second edition Horus Heresy rulebook came under criticism from progressive commentators for two main reasons: it emboldened harassers who were targeting fans making miniatures, fanart, or fanfiction about their own custom female Space Marine Chapters; and it embodied simplistic concepts of biology also found in harmful transphobic and misogynist rhetoric.
The revised wording has already attracted concern from conservative fans. One post in the Warhammer 40k Heresyposting facebook group speculates; “I WONDER WHY GW[?] FEMALE CUSTODES WASN’T ENOUGH WAS IT?” No part of the Horus Heresy rulebook mentions female Space Marines.
I think conservatives should be careful what they wish for. The Heresy 2.0 description invoked scientific language, but Space Marines don’t stand up to scientific scrutiny. Our guide to the Space Marine organs was compiled by a medical doctor in consultation with other medical specialists from several fields, who determined that the majority of the organs could not possibly work as described – their functions were self-contradicting.
The “hormonal and biological make-up of the human male” is particularly irrelevant to organ transplantation, which cares primarily about tissue matches. And if we start to reflect what the science of Space Marines might actually be like, we should reflect that the only real world group of people to undergo chemical, hormonal, and surgical transformations to enhance their muscle mass and bone density is trans men. You can’t spell “transhuman” without “trans”, after all.
As I’ve noted before, I don’t believe GW has any plans to make female Space Marines any time soon, if ever. Despite the upside of making the most popular Warhammer 40k faction more relatable to a wider potential customer base, the firm has demonstrated that it is extremely conservative when it comes to making changes to its golden goose, on top of its substantial risk aversion.
If you’ve got a custom Space Marine chapter, of any kind, we’d love to see it in the official Wargamer Discord community – we have a whole Share Your Army section just for the purpose!
Horus Heresy third edition is proving fraught. I was extremely positive about the core rules in my Saturnine box set review, but long-term fans are feeling betrayed after changes to army lists mean heavily invested players are finding their most expensive, time-consuming converted units no longer match legal – see this article for more details.
