Warhammer 40K fans were shocked at the reveal of the female Custodes code

In the galaxy of War hammer 40,000, the Imperium of Man is built upon the support of superhuman soldiers. There are the iconic Space Marines, genetically engineered and mass-produced by the Emperor of Mankind, but when you need something a little more specialized, you can turn to the Adeptus Custodes . This group is 10,000 strong and each one is a work of art. These philosopher-warriors serve as the Emperor's personal guards and agents, even in his current skeletal state.

These warriors are super strong, extremely fast and cannot be conquered by Chaos. But one question still lingers: Could they be women? Based on a recent X post from the official Warhammer account, the answer is yes, which means the Overseer is currently the subject of debate on social media.

The Custodes team has been around ever since Warhammer 40,000: Smuggler, the original version of the game was published in 1987. Custodes are 10-foot-tall super-human soldiers, crafted from a human infant, genetically tampered with and Warp Magic, and built to restore Emperor's case on Terra. They really can't help but agree with the Emperor, which is quite funny since this faction constantly brags about their intellectual prowess.

Image: Games Workshop

It was only in 2017 with the seventh edition, along with the launch of the current era of lore, that they became their own fighting army that players could fight alongside Tyranids, Necrons or the Astra Militarum. Bananas, as they are affectionately called by fans, are popular because they are a cost-effective way for new players to get into the game. If someone isn't up to the task of painting dozens or hundreds of little guys, painting just a few golden Custodes is a much less difficult and more affordable job. They also Henry Cavill's favored armywho is currently working on a 40K adaptation with Amazon.

If you're a Custodes fan, you'll probably enjoy the intelligence and bravery of these soldiers. Meanwhile, the haters tend not to like how the Custodians are super-super-soldiers in the setting were dominated by Space Marines. In the arms race for ever-greater boys, the Custodes are the absolute pinnacle of the Imperium's scale of power.

The faction was initially described as exclusively male. After the Emperor united Earth's warring factions under the banner of the Imperium over 10,000 years ago, he began a tradition in which noble houses would abandon their firstborn sons to become into materials to create Custodes. But Codex most recent 10th edition includes a lore from the point of view of Calladayce Taurovalia Kesh, who uses the pronouns she/her. Some fans wondered if this was the Sister of Silence (the Custodes work with a mysterious organization of mute women with strong immunity to the Warp), but the official Warhammer account has confirmed realizes that she is actually a female Custodes.

Fans were not thrilled with this revelation. “Since 1987 there hasn't been much of a whisper in lore or fiction or a single miniature,” one fan wrote in response on X. “Now suddenly BOOM 'they've always been a thing '. There is no world building or development. It's disappointing and pathetic.” This revelation was also discussed on forums and subreddits with 40k fans, such as r/Grimdank meme board, maintains the “no female Space Marine” rule as it is a controversial and heated topic within the fan community. As revealed, the mods are Posting on this topic is allowed for one week. The post pinned by the mods reads in part: “At that point, I would consider the proverbial horse dead and truly beaten, as in reality both threads share the same arguments , meaning they were answered by and from all POVs.”

Space Marines and Custodes have both been depicted as male so far. For the Space Marines, this is explained in-universe by the fact that their male biology is only compatible with the complex biological processes used to create sufficient numbers of them on scale. large tissue. But Custodes are not mass produced; These noble babies are handcrafted following an extremely specific process.

For a while, it seemed like Custodes would remain exclusively male. Aaron Dembski-Bowden, author of Games Workshop's Black Library publishing division, wrote a related post on Reddit five years ago about his experience writing the Custodes novel for Horus Heresy:

At the time of lore research, there was no reason they couldn't be male or female (and as things stand, there's still no lore reason they couldn't be). But there is a non-legendary reason, which is that the IP owner previously said “There are no female Guardian models, they are all male, so don't write any female models”.

A few years later, there was also a request from the Studio that “Do not be a female Guardian”. Again, that appears to be tied to the release of a men's mini line.

Two very rare moments directed from above.

Image: Games Workshop

This raises the question of whether this is a retcon – one that goes against the long-standing identity of the Custodes – or whether it just fits the lore with ideas from the creators involved to franchise. Warhammer is no stranger to retcons; The core concept of the setting is that the player is piecing together a subjective truth from biased historical documents and events.

The social media outrage currently circulating suggests that female Guardians are a big deal, but in reality it's a relatively small change, especially compared to other changes Guardians have seen recently. This. For example, they are currently leaving Terra, walking into real space with Roboute Guilliman and the Imperium's army. Games Workshop also regularly releases revisions, such as the change to the Necrons that transformed them from mysterious Terminators into fully fleshed-out characters dealing with political issues and rivalries. power.

Change can be a good thing, and the Guardians retain all of the moral ambiguity and lore from their previous iterations. Some fans will be delighted at the possibility of a 10-foot-tall woman crushing humanity's enemies – and I think that's beautiful.

And according to some old hands, this kind of versatility was always the purpose of the larger Canon 40K. Nick Davis, former Games Workshop employee, shared a thought-provoking article on X about his efforts to make Warhammer a more well-rounded hobby during his time with the company. He wrote: “I am overjoyed to see that the hobby that once gave me the means to live is so integrated. “Seeing female, LGBTQ+ gamers and seeing them represented at the highest level in the GW toy lineup is pure joy.”