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The big question is where would the Space Marine would have learned to skills necessary to be an Inquisitor. An inquisitor is, first and foremost, an investigator. Their stuff is mostly very high level detective stuff which requires a set of skills very different from a soldier and even an officer. SWAT guys are not detective and Space Marines are like the ultimate SWAT guys. Of course, nothing is truly impossible in such a setting.

It's funny people protest the idea when literally one of the five named models for Inquisition, Hector Rex, is SM(ish) Inquisitor. Gee, pray tell, how exactly is that seven foot dude always walking in custom made Terminator armor 'blending in'? Does he don funny hat and a raincoat?

Then there were plans to make Titus of SM game fame an inquisitor, there is even a concept art of how that would have looked - so yeah, the idea is so inconceivable that two (three if we count FFG games) things focusing in Inquisition do it, so impossible, eh?

From what I can see online, Hector Rex is not an Astartes in Terminator Armor. He is a psycher and genetically-modified Inquisitor Lord in Artificer Armor. He's probably less an undercover gumshoe and more a FBI SWAT team leader. I'm sure he can undercover a lot by crashing in doors, taking prisoners, and then conducting psychically-assisted interrogations.

To be fair even Amberely Vail with her love of going undercover has a suit of artificer armour that she goes into battle with.

An inquisitor is, first and foremost, an investigator

Yes but they don;t need to be going undercover - lorewise some def collate and anylise, dictate and order their minons - if the Alpha Legion can do the same thing no reason why a occassional Astartes could not

Hector Rex isn't an Astartes, but he is unusually huge and approaching one in size and strength. He does not strike me as the subtle kind who skulks in the shadows.

It is noted that the Ordo Malleus tends to be the least subtle of the big 3 though- when it comes down to it, once the daemons are pouring in there is no more chance for sneaking (unless you are a blank), it is time for the hammers. Force of arms is the only thing that can contain a daemonic incursion and get the rift closed.

Whereas heretics and aliens generally can't see souls and subterfuge can be an option even once war is breaking out.

But as mentioned, many Inquisitors (typically towards the Puritan end) abhor cloaking their identity and refuse to hide it. An Astartes Inquisitor could happily operate in this paradigm. Under the typical robes, they would just seem to be a huge person to most too.

I suspect an Astartes would fit in on any heavy industrial world very easily. When you consider all the augmentation, servitors, mutants and even just gangs and groups (look at Necromunda). Then an 8ft tall person would blend in pretty easily in the setting.

Once you take the Power Armour off a Marine they might well not stand out in Imperial society at large. Sure there will be social groups where they will stand out like a sore thumb, but even then its more that they'd be abnormal than "oh wait that guy must be astartes". In fact it would be more likely "Oh him.. yeah I think he's some peasant worker stock who managed to make it rich enough to get invited to the party" or such.



And as noted several times over, Inquisitors don't have to be private detectives and spies themselves. Someone has to run the spy network; command the larger forces and all. A Marine could easily work in the capacity as a leader; guiding the direction of their agents to ferret out corruption. They'd likely work great at dealing with larger and more organised cults and problems; where you do need force of arms to tackle the issue. Plus the ability to deal one-on-one with very powerful foes.




Heck in the Eisenhorn books we see him encounter Chaos Marines operating almost on their own or in small teams. If Chaos can do that then what's to stop Marines doing that themselves through the Inquisition.



Honestly the most likely barrier isn't finding a use for a Marine in that role or the social elements or such - it would be the politics of the Marines and Inquisition allowing such a thing to happen in the first place. The various power groups of the Imperium are highly segmented and swapping staff between groups, esp high level staff, isn't easily done. Chances are it would be a constantly issue with many of the Inquisition perhaps not trusting the Marine or regarding them as a spy for the Astartes into the Inquisition itself.

I'd think an exceptional Kill Marine might have a chance of it happening as a backstory. They are, on their own, kind of a hilarious concept in their "hey their fellow kids" concept, but it does set a precedent for an Astartes working with the kind of agency a Inquisitor does.

I feel like the Deathwatch Watchmaster is almost an inqusitorial agents by that point. They are responsible more managing and overseeing an entire military wing of the Inquisition. I wouldn't be shocked if they also occasional decree their own operations.

I personally always liked the idea of there being an inquisitorial agent who was a space marine from an extinct chapter. The last surviving member with nowhere else to go. That would be a cool inquisitor.

usmcmidn wrote:

So this topic was brought up a lot.

Well Inquisitor came out in 2001 and the Inquisitor community has been fielding this question pretty much on a loop since then for the past 23 years.

Could it happen? Sure, anything *could* happen. There's a Genestealer Cult on terra, them infecting the Emperor *could* happen. Is it vanishingly unlikely? Yes.

The point of Inquisitors is to wield unlimited authority for the betterment of Humanity. They are not hamstrung by endless bureaucracy or chains of command, they are trusted to use any resources they deem necessary to advance the Imperium's survival, even through means that normal men would call Heresy.

A Space Marine is a psycho-indoctrinated weapon of war, they are beholden to the very chains that Inquisitors need to be free of to do their jobs. Their loyalties are divided - if their Chapter Master commands them to do something with the Ultimate Authority, are they really going to disobey? And in that case why not just give Chapter Masters the Ultimate Authority directly.

It's nothing to do with them being unsubtle - plenty of Inquisitors are unsubtle. It's nothing to do with their transhuman physiology - plenty of Inquisitors skirt the line between humanity and something else, but Space Marines are not psychologically capable of the kind of thinking being an Inquisitor requires.

It's kind of like how Space Marines differ from the Custodes in fighting styles, Marines are trained to act as part of a unit, they're a cog in a war machine, whereas the Custodes all train to be superlative individual combatants. Space Marines are part of a machine and Inquisitors build new machines from parts all over the Imperium. So a Space Marine is certainly a useful asset to have in an Inquisitors retinue, but they aren't ever going to be good at building those machines.

I think there are lots of exceptions in the lore to all of those arguments though.

As I understand it, marines in the Desthwatch are no longer beholden to their chapter master. There are also the examples stated previously of orphaned survivors of chapter massacres that no longer have such loyalties to deal with.

Also solid examples exist of individual marines being sent off to act as observers/advisors, or even on individual missions.

I’m not sure that there is sufficient evidence to put any absolutes on whether a marine could function as an inquisitor. I agree it’s unlikely, but Definately not impossible.

I for one could go for a sanctioned strike team comprised of orphaned Astartes outside of the Deathwatch.

Consider that highly secretive Chapters exist, like the Dark Angels. If successors had taken a kicking with only the merest handful of survivors? That’s your supply lines sorted. Other than that, they’re free to get on with rooting out cults and that.

The whole sole surviving Astarte, being recruited by an inquisitor and then becoming one themselves would be a cool story.