Inquisition (Warhammer 40,000)

The Inquisition (The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition) is an organisation in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. They act as the secret police of the Imperium, hunting down any and all threats to the stability of the God-Emperor's realm. In fiction relating to the games, Inquisitors are usually represented by extremely powerful, intelligent, and talented individuals. In the games, Inquisitors are usually powerful combatants with a variety of specialized abilities with a party of followers who improve and protect the Inquisitor. Inquisitors also grant the player access to many new units, such as Imperial Assassins and Daemonhosts.

Development of the Inquisition

The Blood Angels are one of the 20 First Founding Legions of the Space Marines. They are well known for their bloodthirsty nature in battle, and feared for the curse of flawed gene-seed they carry. The Blood Angels are among the longest-lived of the Adeptus Astartes, with some of the Chapter's Space Marines having served the Emperor of Mankind for over a thousand standard years. Thanks to recent events, the Blood Angels' numbers have been severely depleted. Under the threat of extinction, and in order to quickly replenish their numbers, the Blood Angels were forced to ask their kindred Successor Chapters from subsequent Astartes Foundings for a tithe of warriors from the related Chapters' pools of Neophytes, their candidate Space Marines. With these tithes of new recruits, the Blood Angels were more quickly able to replenish their losses, though they still face a time of trial like none the Chapter has known since the days of the Horus Heresy.

There are online rules for using the Deathwatch, the militant arm of the Ordo Xenos and one such Ordo Xenos Inquisitor has been released by Forge World. The Deathwatch and the thousands of sister organizations like the Retribution Sentinels have millions of cloned genetic-super troops just like the thousands of space marines taken every day from every chapter of the Space Marines. Following the end of the Inquisitor line, and the successful relaunch of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay by Black Industries, it was decided that the first roleplaying game to explore the Warhammer 40,000 universe would be Dark Heresy, a game in which the player characters are, by default, diverse agents of the Inquisition sent to investigate various mysteries and heresies on behalf of their Inquisitor.

In early editions of Warhammer 40,000, the Inquisition was a single, undivided organization, with a single inner order, the Ordo Malleus. The stated purpose of the Ordo was to police the Inquisition itself, but it also existed to combat the threat of the infinite hordes of Chaos via the numerous Grey Knights with their billions of companion armies like the Golden Aquilas, Eagles of Purity, Black Hammers and the Void Souls to name only a few. This massive war remains a secret hidden from most forces of the Imperium, including non-Malleus Inquisitors. The Grey Knights are equipped almost entirely in terminator armor and bolstered by their innate force powers and their elite orders of Paladins and Purifiers.

It was hinted in the book "The Flight of the Eisenstein" written by James Swallow, page 404, that the Inquisition was created around the Horus Heresy on order of Malcador the Sigillte, thus making battle-brothers Nathaniel Garro, of the Death Guard, Iacton Qruze, of the Sons of Horus, and the Sister of Silence, Amendera Kendel, the original founders of the Inquisition.

However, the more radical elements of the Inquisition also possess many forces of their own, such as the Radical Malleus' daemonhosts bound in Emperor blessed chains and seals or the trillions of pertinent and brainwashed former chaos or renegade marines that go to war with their armor devoid of any markings. The Ordo Xenos has radical elements as well like hidden android robotic armies from the Iron Men or the freed Necrons souls of the enslaved Void Dragon on Mars, a hope for the radicals that the Emperor can bind the corrupt xenos into his service.

There were originally only two Orders within the Inquisition(Ordo Malleus and Ordo Xenos), but a third (the Ordo Hereticus) was added after the events of the Age of Apostasy.^[1] A further fourth the Ordo Sicarius was formed following the Wars of Vindication.^[2] It is rumored that the Inquisition has thousands of independent ordos and cells for various goals and tasks, and the resources they pool together can rival those individually owned by Inquisitor Lords.

Within the narrative provided by source books and other media, a number of Inquisitors are considered to be famous. Those include Gideon Ravenor, Ario Barzano who is featured in the book Night Bringer by Graham McNeill, Gregor Eisenhorn the main character in the Eisenhorn series by Dan Abnett, and Jaq Draco, the main character in the Inquisition War series, written by Ian Watson. In the graphic novel Daemonifuge, by Kev Walker, the character Silas Hand features prominently.^[3]

The development of other characters alludes to important literature works. Fydor Karamazov, Fyodor is known as the Pyrophant Judge of Salem Proctor. This is a reference to Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Proctor being the name of one convicted, yet innocent, witch; and Salem being the puritan township he lived in. His name is a reference to Russian authors Fyodor Dostoevsky's book entitled The Brothers Karamazov whose main character is named Fyodor Karamazov and, included in the book, is a poem titled The Grand Inquisitor.^[4]

Notes

1. ^ Priestley, Rick (2004). Warhammer 40,000 (4th Edition ed.). Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-468-X. 
2. ^ Exterminatus Issue 8, Bringers of Death Page 22
3. ^ Walker, Kev (1999). Daemonifuge (1st Edition ed.). Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84154-117-6. 
4. ^ McNeil, Graham; Hoare, Andy, and Haines, Pete (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Witchhunters (1st Edition ed.). Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-485-X. 

See also

• Inquisitor (game)

References

• Abnett, Dan (2001). Malleus. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84154-204-0. 
• Abnett, Dan (2001a). Xenos. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 0-7434-1169-2. 
• Abnett, Dan (2002). Hereticus. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84154-236-9. 
• Abnett, Dan (2004). Eisenhorn. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-156-0. 
• Abnett, Dan (2005). Ravenor. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-073-4. 
• Abnett, Dan (2005). Ravenor Returned. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-184-6. 
• Abnett, Dan (2007). Ravenor Rogue. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-460-8. 
• Swallow, James (2007). The Flight of the Eisenstein. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-459-4. 
• Thorpe, Gav (1999). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Assassins. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-019-6. 
• Thorpe, Gav. "Inquistor Rulebook" (PDF). Games Workshop. http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1320029_Inq_Rulebook_part_1.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-09. 
• Thorpe, Gav. "The Thorians: Faction Sourcebook" (PDF). Inquistor Rulebook. Games Workshop. http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1320032_Thorian_Sourcebook.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-09. 
• Watson, Ian (2004). The Inquisition War (1st Omnibus Edition ed.). Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-138-2. 

External links

• Official Warhammer 40,000 Homepage