Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-90.211.181.229-20130907201722/@comment-6078851-20131201011258

maybe, but it wouldn't have been as united an empire as the imperium, and as such it would be more vulnerable. an interex empire would be based on co-operation with other races and could have some hope of a bright, and varied, future, but there would always be the xenophobes who would rather destroy such an empire. what emps did was to forge humanity's inate irrationality, fear, childishness, and superiority complex into an uncompromisingly xenophobic hatred. maybe not emps' best move but he knows how to use humanity's basic traits as a deadly weapon.

humanity didn't need the emperor though, while the imperium, a galaxy spanning government, most certainly did. without emps there would have been no imperium but humanity would still be around: humanity is like the rats of the galaxy's sentient species - can feed on anything, can live almost anywhere, and breeds like....well, like rats :)