"Well, yer gots yer Boyz, ‘den you gots yer Oddboyz, see? ‘Dey’s called ‘dat ‘cause dey’s, well, a little off in ‘der head if you knows wot I mean. Dey can still loot an’ krump wit’ ‘da best uv ‘em, tho."
A Mekboy of the Death Skulls Ork klan
An Oddboy (pl. Oddboyz) is an Ork who is born with specific information programmed into his DNA that is released into his mind as he reaches maturity. Oddboyz specialise in doing those tasks other than fighting that most other Orks cannot do, although a standard Ork's genetically encoded knowledge allows him to at least keep his weapons in working order. Often there are competitions between individual Oddboyz to see who can make the most Orky item, whether it is biological or technological in nature.
The abilities of Orks to build machines, practice medicine or even use psychic powers are passed down through Ork society on a primordial, genetic level. No studies of the Greenskins by the magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus or the scholars of the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos have ever successfully determined how this process works. Yet it seems likely that the knowledge is engineered into the genome of the Orks, perhaps a legacy left to them by their legendary Brain Boyz.
A Mekboy knows how to create working vehicle engines and fusion power generators even though he has never been taught to do so, and a Painboy instinctively knows which leaky tube connects to which wriggly bit when he is delving into some unfortunate patient's abdomen.
If asked where this knowledge comes from, an Oddboy, if he replies at all, might say only that it was in his blood all along. However he comes by his inherent knowledge, as an Ork Oddboy matures it will start to make itself apparent, leading him to assume the role in Ork society for which he is best suited.
Should he lack any such specialist knowledge, the Ork will happily join the vast throng of normal Boyz at the heart of each tribe and content himself with the simple pleasures of constant bloodshed.
Types of Oddboy[]
There are several different types of Oddboy, collectively called Oddboyz. Some of these different types of Oddboy include:
- Painboyz - (also known as "Mad Doks" or "Doks")
- Mekboyz - (also known as "Mekaniaks" or just "Meks")
- Runtherds - (also known as Slavers)
- Weirdboyz - (including Warpheads, the Ork psykers)
- Pigdoks
- Herdas
- Brewboyz
- Diggerz - (not to be confused with Gorkamorka's Digganobz)
- Sumboyz
- Yellerz
Sources[]
- Codex: Orks (2nd Edition), pg. 12
- Codex: Orks (4th Edition), pg. 11
- Codex: Orks (7th Edition), pp. 13-14