Why There Has Never Been A Better Time For Female Space Marines

The subject of female Space Marines was something I had personally hoped to address once and never again. In a previous article on this blog, I briefly summed up the problems with adding them into the lore, issues with how to depict them, and thematic problems. This ended with what seemed to be the only viable way to add them into the setting though, in order to show just how fans could create chapters without disrupting the status quo. Well, if the large scar of Warp energy dividing the galaxy wasn't enough of a clue, the status quo has been shaken up a bit.

This is no longer a timeline which ends on (and in one or two cases slightly after) M42. We have crossed that event horizon and into a desperate age which is infinitely more hopeful and infinitely bleaker at once. While it has stumbled in a few places, and people will almost certainly lament the need to press forward, overall it's a move Games Workshop has handled extremely well. While it isn't demanding that players forget the past, while it is frequently revisiting previous eras and using older characters, we're off the edge of the map here. This can be seen in nothing better than the Primaris Space Marines themselves.

For those who somehow missed them, these are effectively a Mk. II version of the Adeptus Astartes. Taller, tougher, with enhanced reaction times and largely bereft of genetic failings, they are Guilliman's new secret weapon. Yet, they were not made by his hand. The man responsible for this was Belisarius Cawl, an ancient cog in the Imperium's machine. Almost ten thousand years old himself, the Archmagos Dominus has spent much of his long life working on this project, but more importantly also innovating on it. While we know little of his history, it's evident that Cawl is a rare figure in the Adeptus Mechanicus. Someone who can, rather than repurpose existing components or recreate advanced lost technology, completely innovate on a design. In most settings, this would make him a revolutionary, but this is Warhammer where even the best man tends to have a shade of darkness to him.

Cawl is a Heretek, either borderline or outright, and has broken more than a few rules. Along with effectively building a personal AI and redefining the Mechanicus' boundaries, he is power hungry and has few scruples. He is detached from most human morals and even the most general sense of honour. In fact, the idea that he has spent so long on this project means that it would not be a surprise to learn that he had a hand in the Cursed Founding. Using it either as a test bed for his ideas, or perhaps even intentionally sabotaging it so that it wouldn't overshadow his own accomplishments. 

With those character flaws in mind, one of the major things he pushed for was to take full advantage of the genetic information behind the Primarchs. Simply ignoring the genetic material of who had turned on the Emperor, was a waste in his eyes, and given the scale of their threat they needed every resource they could access. So, with that in mind, one of the great weaknesses of the Space Marines was that their gene-seed could only work with one gender. Wouldn't he think of adapting it to both? It's hardly an impossible idea, after all. Given that his work has erased so many prior flaws and even refined the overall process of making an Astartes, tweaking the shortcoming which meant it worked only with males isn't out of the question. We even know of "mongrel" creations in M41 which have been made from the gene-seed of multiple primarchs, after all, so you could even use that as a justification for why he might experiment further.

Even if he did not wish to openly admit to this, you could perhaps have Cawl attempt it in secret. Perhaps he could find somewhere primitive enough for his needs, and use his resources to found a private chapter. Something akin to the Steel Confessors, where a force has been privately funded and assembled without outside knowledge. Given the fact that - as discussed in the previous article - these would likely only have minor physical differences once they had fully matured, it would not be impossible for them to remain openly active with no one noticing any true oddities. Given how varied and diverse chapters are in their cultures and genetics, many qualities could simply be written off as a genetic quirk.

Even without this aspect, however, you could even argue in favour of another faction benefitting from gene-modification. The Sisters of Battle have long lacked an equivalent to Terminators in their armies, or a harder hitting elite option. If Cawl or another were to experiment with gene-forging a limited number of members (at least of those Orders who would be open to the idea, rather than those who deem the Adeptus Astartes as mutants) it would open the door there as well. Perhaps their process might even be closer to that of the Custodes, where each is individually rebuilt and tailor-made, rather than being reliant upon the gene-seed process. This would help them somewhat sidestep the issue of simply being the alternative to Space Marines, and would further diversify that army for those seeking to give them more time in the spotlight.

The state of the Imperium overall also means that a multitude of new story opportunities have arisen. There are new threats, new cataclysms and new fronts in each war, obviously. However, the lore also notes rather nebulously that several hundred chapters are currently unaccounted for, and that others were outright destroyed. Both would allow fans the opportunity to experiment with their personal lore and depiction of existing chapters. Perhaps a new one was created based on this experimental gene-seed alternative under the name of a destroyed one, either to respect their loss or for Cawl to hide their existence. Others would even be able to exist alongside them due to poor communication or simply serving as a replacement while the original was MIA.

Why is this important exactly? The first reason is simple - In the original article, a big problem cited emphasised how many existing cultures were already heavily used for the basis certain existing chapters. Some are obvious such as the Space Wolves being the Norse faction of the setting, while the Thousand Sons served as the Egyptian group. Part of the problem here cited from how many were already taken up, but also in how a substantial number benefitted from having that closer link to reality due to the gender choices. The fact that fans can easily alter, supplant or re-arrange the lesser known chapters means that there are more options to work with female Space Marines now. It allows them access to cultures previously more closely associated with others, while the actual planets themselves can be somewhat rewritten due to the state of the galaxy at large. 

Few worlds seem to have escaped from the recent years unscathed after all, which gives writers leeway to re-write certain elements due to cataclysms or even social changes borne by new threats. Due to this method, and the fact that the timeline is now moving forward, this means that you're not having to overwrite or even erase ideas previously set in stone. Instead, you can have one evolve from the previous lore into something new, which sidesteps many obvious issues in terms of canon or continuity.

None of this is to say that Games Workshop must have female versions of the Adeptus Astartes of course. Many previous points in the prior article still remain relevant, and I personally still stand by them. However, if there ever was a time to start creating these as fans or even the company as a whole, now is the best time possible to justify their presence.