Imperium of Man

The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire that contains the majority of humanity, set in the Warhammer 40K universe created by Games Workshop.

History of the Imperium
The Imperium was founded by the Emperor (Master of mankind, ruler of humanity and God of the human race) at the end of the "Age of Strife", a period of anarchy, lawlessness and senseless destruction that lasted for dozens of centuries and during which all but the faintest traces of the vast, advanced galactic civilization built by men in previous eras disappeared.

However, when the warpstorms of the Age of Strife subsided, the Emperor set forth to unite mankind under his rule, turning his hordes of techno-barbaric warriors into the first superhuman Space Marines.

After having secured the scientific posts and spacedocks of Luna, along with the factories and weaponshops based on Mars, the Emperor built a warfleet with which he undertook the Great Crusade, which lasted for two centuries and ended with the formal establishment of Imperial Rule over all but the most scattered and distant human colonized worlds.

During this period, the Emperor employed his most potent soldiers, the Space Marines, and their born leaders, the Primarchs. These, coupled with the combined might of the Imperial Army/Navy (later the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy as separate organisations), made Mankind the preeminent force to contend with in the galaxy, as its teeming numbers fulfilled what many saw as Man's destiny to rule the galaxy.

The Imperium in the 41st millennium
The Imperium is nominally ruled by the most beneficent God-Emperor of Mankind. However, his eternal vigil in creating the Ray of Hope requires most of his time and energy, and the duties of actually ruling the Imperium are carried out by the Senatorum Imperialis, led by the twelve High Lords of Terra. The identity of all of these High Lords is not known, but members include a representative of the Inquisition, the Master of the Administratum, the Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the Lord Commander Militant, supreme commander of the Imperial Guard.

They are in control of the entire Imperium, and are responsible for maintaining the functioning of the Imperium through the Adeptus Terra and the Imperial Commanders.

The Adeptus Terra
The Adeptus Terra is the enormous priesthood and bureaucracy of Earth, whose scriptoria, continent-sized archives and pilgrimage sites occupy nearly all of the holy hiveworld of Terra that is not taken up by the Sanctum Imperialis, the Emperor's own resting place. The Adeptus Terra is so immense, and operates so slowly, that whole departments of it still service agencies no longer extant and worlds dead for thousands of years.

The Administratum
One of the more useful divisions of the Adeptus Terra is the Adeptus Administratum. This organisation's main purpose is the assessment of planetary tithes: the goods, war materials and Guard regiments each Imperial world is regularly required to provide for the Imperium. However, it has also acquired many other interplanetary organisational duties.

The Ecclesiarchy
The Adeptus Ministorum, also known as the Ministorum or Ecclesiarchy, is the Church of the God-Emperor. Although the Ministorum allows variations of Imperial faith to flourish, "The only cult we do not abhor is that of the Emperor", and the division between heresy and pious zeal can be hair-thin and malleable to those with power. Most versions of the Imperial faith encourage productivity ("Work is Prayer"), adherence to duty, obedience to authority, thankfulness to the Emperor and other such important virtues.

The Departmento Munitorum
The Departmento Munitorum is the Tech-Priest of the Imperial warmachine, organising the logistics of planetary tithes, troop movements and troop deployment. The Departmento is far more decentralised than the other divisions of the Adeptus Terra, establishing a presence on any world with a significant tithe-grade. Distress calls from an invaded world are processed by the Munitorum, and will be passed up the ladder of system-subsector-sector-Segmentum-Imperium HQ until a division with enough reach can raise the armies needed from neighbouring systems and respond. Thus, the harder a foe strikes at the Imperium the greater the retribution will be.

The Adeptus Mechanicus
The Adeptus Mechanicus, the Tech-Priests of Mars, are the engineers and technicians of the Imperium, and create most of the Imperium's more advanced weaponry, build and maintain the Titan Legions and so on.

The Inquisition

 * See main article: Inquisition

Independent of the rest of the Adeptus Terra are the Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition. They are the ultimate judicial and police authority in the Imperium, second only to the Emperor himself.

The Imperial Commanders
In addition to the Adeptus Terra and the militaries, the High Lords also command the Segmentum Commanders, who each oversee one of the five galactic regions known as the Segmentae Majoris: Segmentum Solar, Segmentum Pacificus, Segmentum Obscurus, Segmentum Tempestus and Ultima Segmentum. Each Segmentum Commander oversees his sector Commanders, who in turn oversee subsector Commanders, who oversee Imperial Commanders, also known as planetary governors. The higher ranks in this system are usually combined with a basic planetary governorship as well as interplanetary duties. This system is the means by which the Imperium, which is largely a confederacy, maintains control of the separate planets that make it up.

An Imperial Commander is the ruler of a world, although the methods of rule are largely up to them. Some Commanders are elected democratically and rule benevolently, others are brutal and oppressive tyrants. A rare few preside over feral or medieval worlds where the Imperium has not seen fit to introduce technology. These Commanders usually remain distant on orbital installations, only occasionally visiting the planet to control mutation and heresy, as well as collect the modest tithes these planets receive.

The duties of a Commander include paying the planetary tithe to the Administratum, controlling mutation, insurrections and heresy on his world and maintaining a planetary defence force capable of defending the planet in the event of invasion. The Planetary Defence Forces (abbreviated to PDF) should be able to stop attacks from most foes, or at least hold out until reinforcements arrive, which could be a period of months or even years.

A relatively small number of Imperial worlds are not ruled by a Commander, overseen by an alternate organisation such as the Adeptus Terra, Imperial Guard or Space Marines. These include the Forge Worlds of the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose inhabitants toil without pause to manufacture the weapons of the Emperor's armies (including Mars, Gryphonne IV and Fortis Binary), the Cardinal worlds of the Ecclesiarchy, which are given entirely over to education and worship of the God-Emperor (Ignatius Cardinal), fortress worlds of the Imperial Guard (Cadia), and the Space Marine homeworlds (Fenris, Rynn's World).

Forces of the Imperium
In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Imperium represents mankind's only hope for survival in the grim, merciless future of the forty first millennium. The Imperium is surrounded by alien species, and is also under continual attack by the forces of Chaos, and at least one extragalactic species (the Tyranids).

The Imperium's defence forces consist of the:
 * Imperial Guard
 * Imperial Navy
 * Space Marines

The forces of the Inquisition have absolute authority to combat enemies both within and outside the Imperium. Most inquisitors belong to one of three orders:
 * The Ordo Malleus, or Daemonhunters, including the Grey Knights
 * The Ordo Hereticus, or Witchhunters, including the Sisters of Battle
 * The Ordo Xenos, or Alien Hunters, including the Deathwatch Space Marines.

Together, these help defend the Imperium from various enemies, which include:
 * The forces of Chaos
 * The Eldar and Dark Eldar
 * The Tyranid Hive Fleets
 * The various Ork 'Waaagh!'s
 * The Tau Empire
 * The Necrons

The Immortal God Emperor of Mankind
The origins, and original name, of the Emperor are not known. Some have theorized that he was born approximately 8000 BCE (-8M) in central Anatolia. He grew up within an isolated and meagre territory, and it was rumoured that he has the power to stop his own aging and numerous other psychic abilities. After many years passing, the Emperor became more wise and focused. He intuitively knew of the corruption of Mankind's behaviour and set out to correct it. Always, he remained in the background, facilitating some of mankind’s most important events in history and generally guiding and protecting humanity through its evolution.

The first mention of him in Imperial records is when he conquered Earth after the Age of Strife (sometime in the 29th Millennium). The Emperor's use of genetically engineered warriors enabled him to reunite the people of Earth, and to set his sights on the stars. With the assistance of the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars the Emperor created the first Space Marines and fleets of interstellar ships to carry his glorious armies to the farthest reaches of the Galaxy. The Emperor also created the Primarchs from whom the Space Marines' gene-seed was developed, however the Chaos gods had scattered them across the Galaxy. During the Great Crusade all but two of the Primarchs were found and reunited with their Legion of Space Marines. However the Emperor's most trusted servant Horus turned on the Emperor and along with nearly half the Space Marine Legions started a massive civil war. This period of turmoil became known as the Horus Heresy.

In the conflict with Horus the Emperor believed that Horus could be saved, that his evils could be undone. However the Emperor underestimated Horus’ insanity and devotion and was subsequently critically injured in a conflict that he would have been able to win without struggle. When Rogal Dorn discovered the Emperor's broken body the Emperor was immediately incarcerated in the Golden Throne ,which supported him and kept him alive. The Emperor has remained in the Golden Throne since his 'ascension' to this day, neither fully living nor dead.

The Golden Throne is a complex life support device located in an immense complex called the Imperial Palace over what was once the British Isles. The structure is countless miles in height and footprint and is a fortress to protect the Emperor, indeed the entire planet and the solar system is a fortress to protect the Emperor. The throne itself lies in the Sanctum Imperialis, over the place that was Nottingham, and is guarded by the implacable Adeptus Custodes. There the Emperor's physical form is preserved and his life functions are carried out by carefully maintained machinery. This machinery has an unconventional power source: the souls of human psykers. Hundreds of psykers are sacrificed in this way every day, that the Emperor may continue to live.

The Golden Throne is also connected to a massive warp beacon known as the Astronomican that generates the system of signals making faster than light Warp travel in the Imperium possible. The Emperor himself generates this signal, also known as the Ray of Hope or the Golden Path, but much of the raw power behind it is supplied by a choir of psykers ten thousand strong. These psykers also give their lives to their task within weeks.

The Emperor is worshipped as an omni-present deity by all of the denizens of the Imperium, often referred to as “The God-Emperor”. Belief and worship in him is taught and upheld by the Imperium, and disobedience to this is punished by death without question. Imperial citizens believe that the Emperor guides and watches over them, protecting them from the greater horrors and evils of the Immaterium.

Background to the Imperium in other Science Fiction
The Imperium itself, keeping with the dystopian themes of Warhammer 40K is a highly oppressive techno-theocracy, (akin to that in the Empire of the Fading Suns), with extreme persecution of those questioning the morality or validity of the endless conflicts and divine rule of the Emperor. The Imperium has an Inquisition, carries out crusades and uses a debased form of Latin extensively, and so may be an indirect criticism of historical episodes in the Catholic Church. The Imperium's foremost enemy, Chaos, is said to 'corrupt' weak beings in a manner very analogous to 'sin'.

Whilst the Imperial Guard are human soldiers, considered expendable and used in great numbers with heavy artillery support, (deliberately akin to the First World War), the Space Marines (Warhammer 40,000) are super-humans with modifications to their physical and mental make up for combat, much like the Armoured Mobile Infantry of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Their unswerving and blind loyalty to their militaristic God Emperor is an indirect criticism of soldiers motivated by religious zeal, much like the Fremen in Dune. Similarities to Dune also exist with the use of Navigators very similar to those of the Spacing Guild in Frank Herbert's work as well as extensive references to the role of powerful nobility and merchant houses in galactic politics.

The Imperium is also highly xenophobic and can barely comprehend serious dialogue with any alien species - even clearly civilised ones like the Eldar (delicate and cultured, in fact, making most other species appear primitive by comparison) and Tau (diplomatic utilitarians who believe in the supremacy of what they call the Greater Good) - highlighting the common human potential for hatred and savagery. Although this is in part justified through the near constant attacks humanity suffers from. The insectoid Tyranids devour the biomass of the galaxy, the insidious extra-dimensional forces of Chaos threaten to twist the fabric of known existence, the mindless Orks overrun worlds in their never ending sanguinary rampage, and perhaps most of all, the ancient soulless evil of the C'tan and their Necron servants awakening from their long slumber to sterilize the universe of all life; and it is perhaps not surprising that humanity has adopted such a hostile view. Even the civilized races of the Eldar and Tau fight wars of aggression, the Eldar for reasons inscrutable to the 'primitive younger species' (often they attempt to manipulate the greater flow of events through well-calculated surgical strikes), and the Tau feel that if one will not willingly work towards the Greater Good (and the Imperium is anything but cooperative with "alien filth"), then one must be forced into compliance with it.

Comparisons to the Nazis
The Imperium draws some obvious parallels with the Nazi regime, but it is rather shallow-minded to compare the two directly; as already stated, the Imperium represents 'the evil that men do' as a whole, not just one specific political/racial ideal. The most obvious parallels are:


 * The theme of maintaining genetic purity within the human race
 * The strong Roman-inspired iconography; eagles, classical architecture, decorative banners, etc.
 * The idea of genetics dictating role or importance within society (the Space Marines are all genetically descended from the Emperor, by way of the Primarchs. This makes them superior to other beings*).
 * The unswerving loyalty to their leader, and the God-like status their Emperor is given by them.
 * The Terminator Cross (Crux Terminatus), a distinction given to the greatest veterans and heroes of the Space Marines, is similar in shape to the German Iron Cross (though the Iron Cross pre-dates Nazi Germany).
 * The portrayal of Space Marines as "Superhuman", a kind of Ubermensch.
 * The concept of the whole live as a conflict. The Motto of the Game is "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only WAR."


 * - To a point of view. Certain Space Marine chapters view themselves as less than human because they are genetically modified. They see such sacrifice of their purity necessary to fight the evils of the Imperium. However, other Chapters are disdainful of humans for reasons such as weakness (Iron Hands Chapter, who use extensive cybernetics) amongst others.

Crux Terminatus: 

Iron Cross: 


 * The Imperial Guard especially contains very obvious references to the Nazis. One of the elite Imperial Guard units are called 'Stormtroopers', and this unit's logo is a lightning flash, which is obviously similar to the SS logo and the uniforms worn by Imperial officers is very similar to the garb worn by Nazi officers (especially those of the Armageddon Steel Legion). Another nod towards Germany can be found in the grim regiment of the Death Korps of Krieg.

It is unfair to say that the Imperium is meant to ape the Nazis completely; there are also references to the Soviet Red Army (the role of Commissars as political officers in military units, the Valhallan Ice Warriors, etc) and, some may argue, to Imperial Japan (the Emperor being worshiped as God, as the Japanese Emperor Hirohito was, not to mention that both the Space Marines and Imperial Guards were fanatically willing to die for the Emperor, as the Japanese were for Hirohito).

But, as the Warhammer 40,000 universe is representative of a bleak and unenviable future (where the cost of a life is nothing in the grand scheme of things), where conflict and death are rife, it seems obvious that the game designers would draw inspiration from the very worst chapters of human history. As the game's literature explains: "in times such as these we can not afford the luxury of morality".

In Defence of the Imperium
At first glance it is easier to condemn the Imperium as brutal and inhumane. However, the concept of the Imperium has much more depth than that. The Imperium is in truth the last bastion of human strength. As unpredictable aliens and traitorous Chaos forces flood all else of the galaxy, should the Imperium fail, the forces of Chaos will lay waste to the galaxy, and a time of darkness with no end would begin. The insidious powers of Chaos would warp the galaxy, and the Eye of Terror would expand and engulf the universe. The planets themselves would all become daemon worlds, and humanity would degenerate into the mindless slaves of the dark gods. As a species we would no longer be human, and man would be indistinguishable from mutant and daemon. It is better for the entire galaxy to be slaughtered than to become the living hell that the power of chaos would render it. Such is the price of failure for the Imperium, and such is why the Inquisition eliminates those whom it deems a threat without trial, why the Imperial Guard die in their billions on the battle fields, why mutants and rogue psykers are exterminated without a care. It is to commit to the lesser evil, so that the greater evil will never come to pass. Should the Imperium falter, should doubt seep in, law and order would break down, the cults of the dark gods would rise up, and humanity as we know it would come to a infernal and nightmarish end. It is also possible that humanity could fall before the Tyranid swarm and be consumed to sustain the relentless advance of the the hive fleets. Or to fall to the inhuman Necrons; the minds, the bodies and even the souls of all humanity becoming the sustenance which helps to fuel the ancient drive to sweep the universe clean of life. These and other dark fates await mankind should the Imperium fall. Only through devotion to the Emperor and the will to resist such aggression can humanity be saved. So the Imperium is more than a callous brutal dictatorship: it is also the only real defence of the humanity from enslavement or oblivion.

Criticism of the Imperium
The Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40k is the last bastion of mankind's strength, but it also represents, figuratively, everything wrong about the behaviour of mankind, and the danger of becoming a monster in order to fight monsters. From its oppressive Inquisition, violent warrior cults, extremely draconian laws and punishment system, and the nearly omnipotent power of the Ecclesiarchy, the Imperium is a merging of both dystopian, cyberpunk, and post-apocalyptic literary genres. On countless Forge-worlds entire planetary populations live and die short, miserable lives in the presence of noxious fumes and extreme danger in order to make sure that the weapons of the Imperium are produced in great enough numbers to continue to fight its enemies. The Imperial Guard, Space Marines, and Inquisition spend as much, if not more, time fighting planetary rebellions than they do fighting the various enemies of the Imperium. The Adeptus Mechanicus is allowed to kidnap and relocate entire planetary populations in order to meet its needs for personnel. The Space Marines maintain worlds that have warlike and barbaric conditions in order to have only the hardiest and toughest recruits to draw their Space Marines from. The Ecclesiarch is allowed to imprison and torture any citizens that display insufficient piety during worship services.

It is notable that, despite the extremity of the enemies it faces, the Imperium of Man goes farther than necessary in adapting its society to combat all the threats to it. In fact, the severity and corruption of the Imperium on all levels very likely do much work to make those threats far worse than they actually would be otherwise. In a skilful display of literary irony, Games Workshop created a setting in which the main reason that Chaos is so attractive is that life within the Imperium is so oppressive and bleak for the majority of its citizens that being ruled over by daemons and monsters often seems like a positive alternative. Lately the contrast has been made even more apparent by the appearance of the Tau into the Warhammer 40k setting, another interstellar society that manages to combat all its threats and thrive, without any of the draconian oppressiveness and extreme brutality of the Imperium's regime. It should, however, be noted that in this regard the Tau are very similar to Mankind during the Dark Age of Technology, and the event that ended the Dark Age for Mankind and necessitated the Imperium, namely the appearance of psykers and the increased contact with Warp entities this brought, has yet to happen for the Tau and, considering their expansionist outlook and the increased Warp interaction this brings as they leave the tightly packed star cluster they mainly inhabit, may yet come to pass.

<!-- I might write up this lot too if I get time... - EuT

The AGE OF STRIFE was in turn a result of the terrifying WARPSTORMS generated by the awakening of SLAANESH, chaos god of hedonism and perverted pleasure, whose birth dealt a most severe blow to the ELDAR civilization too; forcing that people to leave their home worlds (sucked into the warp/realspace overlap created by Slaanesh' arise...now known as the EYE OF TERROR) and to begin an endless pilgrimage aboard of their CRAFTWORLDS. The IMPERIUM, though, ain't as stable and/or monolithic as it pretends to be, each planet is virtually property of its governor (often called imperial commander, too) which rules and administrates it to his whim and is left largely undisturbed as long as: -he pays his tithes and provides the quota of goods requested by the Adeptus Administratum -he mantains the anti-mutant and psyker control measures effective -he keeps the Planetary Defence Force to a                                minimum of efficiency (to safeguard his own                                position too!) -he meets the periodical draft requests from the IMPERIAL GUARD with an adequate number of recruits. The ADEPTUS ADMINISTRATUM provides the bureaucracy needed to scan, scrutiny and keep in line most systems and commanders.

The ADEPTUS ASTRONOMICAN redirects and magnifies the psychic beacon projected by the EMPEROR himself, forever sealed in his biomechanical GOLDEN THRONE, thanks to its efforts human NAVIGATORS can risk longer jumps through WARPSPACE than could be feasible if unassisted...this miracle has a grisly price though, since each psychically gifted adept encased in the magnifying dome is drained of his spiritual and mental energies til reduced to a dry, lifeless husk.

The INQUISITION is a loose organization of investigative agents, troubleshooters with licence to do almost anything in order to counter menaces to the imperial order and mankind's welfare (PRECISELY in that order, note...).

The ADEPTUS ASTARTES or SPACE MARINES is an elite body of troops (1,000,000 in the whole of the galaxy) used to swiftly react to rebellions, insurgency and invasions.

The IMPERIAL GUARD is a much more standard body of troops slow to react but ponderous and nigh unstoppable in its march, used for longer lasting conflict than the MARINES' blitz actions.

The OFFICIO ASSASSINORUM is a top secret organization whose members work undercover, unbeknown even by high ranked imperial officiers they are nija-style infiltrators and killers used to remove key individuals whose actions could endanger the IMPERIUM.

(all of these info were based on the 'old edition' of the WH40K rules -an hardback book with breathtaking cover light on rules but heavy on back ground and diverse info- and from the articles and expansions put forth by GW prior than the release of the infamous 'big box' edition...it could be that some of the facts or events cited here have been modified during later releases of the game...) -->

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