Why do Chaos Space Marines...take 'mortal' skulls?

[Trevak Dal]

I mean, the average human isn't really formidable against your average space marine.  Enemy Space Marines wouldn't be impressed I wouldn't say, and I doubt that fellow Chaos Space Marines would see that as a "impressive kill".

 

I get the whole Khorne thing-they're skull happy.  But not Khorne Dedicated CSMs...whats up with that?

[TheDevourer]

As a mere mortal I would be even more afraid of a space marine who is covered in skull trophys.

I guess some guys will do it to show their disdain for the Imperium, others to please their gods. 

Hell maybe it´s fashion in the great eye. 

I would say human skulls would be kept for the duration of a conflict, whereas worthy opponents might find a permanent place on a suitable spike.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Because sometimes, they fight armies other than other Space Marines?

[Kol Saresk]

Because the mortal skulls aren't those of the average human. They're those of the unaverage.

 

Those great "heroes" who rallied the horrified Guardsmen when your Space Marines hit their lines. That Commissar who has spent his life with a sword in his and thanks to an augmetic arm, was able to keep up with you long enough to be considered worthy kill. That saint who banished ten greater daemons, slew several warlords and broke entire armies, only to die by your blade. Or that Warmaster who constantly outwitted you in every battle of the campaign, until you launched a suicidal attack as only an Astartes could and achieved victory.

 

The skulls are not those of average mortals, but those of the Imperium's Finest. At least, that has always been my interpretation.

[MaliGn]

Because as we all know, the baddest ass space marines go to war leaving their helmets behind, so the chaos marines can't display the helm as a trophy and must settle for the skull. I don't remember anything about space marine skulls being inherently different from any other human skull. Also heads are more intimidating trophies than pinky fingers.

[the jeske]

WFB khorn is not the W40k khorn . Every skull is good . That is why it is possible to get demon prince status after wiping out a hive world with no defense other then a PDF.

[ElectricPaladin]

Because they're jerks. They like to kill, they like to take trophies, and they don't care about honor.

[Tenebris]

Well taking worthy trophies from your enemies is hardly a new thing for the Chaos Space Marines, most of them practiced this even in the illuminated age of the Great Crusade. In short the marines are warriors, or to be exact members of a warrior cult. To fight a foe is your calling, and to carry the trophy of a worthy foe is a honor you have earned trough bloodshed. While fingers, medals, scalps or even a flayed skin are both worthy trophies and fear inspiring items on your person the skull carries within its form a primordial focus, a totem that most commonly represents the warrior to which it belonged, the spirit of the slain foe, and a Chaos Marine as well as his loyalist bretheren, guardsmen and other human warriors proudly carry this totemic loci in order to have the spirit and the strength of the slain foe always with them. 

 

In Khornate cults this totemic ritual is carried further but to display the skull of a slain foe is to display his person, to mark the might of this champion that fought you with valor and in the human culture of 40k this is one of the dominant reasons why there are skulls everywhere. With the death of this foe, of which you carry the skull on your trophy rack, you have served the Dark Gods, you have tested your mettle and you have proven to yourself and the others of your warband, as well as to the enemies who are smart enough to realize this that you are a warrior and that you carry with you several of such powerful warrior spirits. 

 

The same question could be asked to an Ork, a Sister of Battle, a Guardsman or a Space Marine, but the answer would be the same, to honor the warrior spirit of the slain foe and to carry with you his powerful warrior spirit as a testimony to your own might as a warrior. 

[Wade Garrett]

As far as I am aware, the main non Khornate group of Astartes who takes skulls are the Night Lords. And their motivation is that by adorning themselves with the iconography of death and morbidity, they can inflict more fear into the hearts of their enemies.

 

And even 40k Khorne cares...somewhat about honor. True, it is of no concern to him from where the blood flows, only that it does, but the skulls laid before his throne are those of mighty champions, both his enemies and his own followers. It's part of the contradiction of his nature, kind of like how Tzeencht is the Lord of Change, yet at any given time he has a billion complicated plans, a billion more complicated plans whose goals are the exact opposite of the first billion, and the end result is they cancel each other out and everything stays the same, because if he ever truly pulled the Big Plan To Win Everything Forever Off he'd cease to exist.

[Urauloth]

The chances are not all of those skulls are human, either. I'm not sure what the difference is between human and, say, eldar skulls, but I doubt there's much.

[Jiron]

My warriors who worship Khorne, take skulls in the name of the Blood God. And it doesn't matter from what they take the skull. At the end of battle, the Space Rats Khornates compare each others kill counts by dedicating taken skulls on a pile that resembles the image of His Skull Throne. The skulls they are wearing on their armour and trophy racks are those of mighty foes they have killed in a single combat or after some grand battle.

 

The other of my warriors who don't worship Khorne takes skulls of mortals just to intimidate other mortals. Because nothing works better then: "Lord Inquisitor will find you and burn you, heretic!" -"Oh yeah?! See this one! I have taken this one from your Lord Inquisitor's shoulders!"

[Dragonlover]

Also, quantity has a quality all of it's own. Sure, one Guardsman is nothing, but him, his squad mates, then the other four squads in the blob by yourself? Yeah, you'd take a trophy for that.

 

Dragonlover

[Urauloth]

Yeah but that only counts if you take ALL the skulls. You can't just pick the shiniest one. :p

[MaliGn]

Because immortal skulls are too chatty?

 

kill a daemon and it is banished back to the warp - not much skull to mount, necrons phase out, everything else is mortal so erm... What else is there? Humanity accounts for a much greater percentage of the galactic population than any other species, making their skills more readily available. Plus there are chaos figures with xenos trophies available anyway.

[KaosRaptor]

Seems to me that, considering Chaos marines may kill guardsmen/civilians/other mortals a fair bit, the type of skulls the marine is wearing isn't going to be so important to said mortals. What is important is that a 7 foot armored killing machine draped in skulls consecrated by the Dark Gods is coming to murder them.

Can't really imagine a guardsman saying "Oh look lads, that Word Bearer only has skulls of children and regular people on him, nothing to worry about!"

[Iron_Within]

Do you know how hard it is to get amiables in the Eye of Terror? Lapping Powder, Oils, Talc, a decent mattress... It's next to impossible. The only thing that seems to work a dam is oils from human hair and powdered bones. Bone beds with skull talc n powder with some entrail concealer sells well in the Warp.

 

Dammit collecting skulls from mortals isn't war. It's shopping! The Long War. Because I'm worth it.

 

Seriously though, skulls of a particular human have no significance on that person. So while a Marine might take a skull of a worthy foe he equally might take the skull of the last Guardsman or innocent he sacrificed on a world burned in the name of hate. It's a token of a battle he wishes to remember. It's hard to remember individual battles after 10,000 years but any sort of memento will stir the memory so the marine can reminisce while on downtime.

[Pariah Mk.231]

Because immortal skulls are too chatty?

 

 

If it had the abilities of Johnson from the game Shadows of the Damned, I could deal with an immortal skull being too chatty.

[Brother Eleysium]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say because chicks and Daemonettes dig it?

But seriously, if you're going to try and strike fear in the hearts of your enemies, what better way then to cover yourself in skulls of his/her fellow warriors? You also have to keep in mind how often Chaos Marines fight IG or Sisters, or any other normal humans. It's a lot more prevalent than fighting loyalist marines, the popularity of an army definitely doesn't reflect how common they are in the fluff. So having human skulls would be pretty intimidating and unnerving to your enemies when fighting most battles.

And another reason, did you ever stop and think how sick and twisted you'd have to be to actually do the things Chaos Marines do, and or to allow your body to mutate in such a grotesque fashion. Most of them obviously aren't right in the the head, they're a bunch of sick 's for crying out loud!!!

[Brother Heinrich]

Speaking for the Night Lords; because it's easier to kill weak squishy humans and feed on their fear, than tough, stalwart Space Marines who make life hard and hit back.

[Kol Saresk]

Speaking for the Night Lords; because it's easier to kill weak squishy humans and feed on their fear, than tough, stalwart Space Marines who make life hard and hit back.

Dude, I told you. Hamstring, shoot arms off, and then kill. Yeesh. The young ones never learn.

[Brother Heinrich]

Speaking for the Night Lords; because it's easier to kill weak squishy humans and feed on their fear, than tough, stalwart Space Marines who make life hard and hit back.

Dude, I told you. Hamstring, shoot arms off, and then kill. Yeesh. The young ones never learn.

Shoot out plasma drives.... run away and laugh at mad Marines.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Because they're jerks.

 

Well there you go. It doesn't have to be more complicated than this, does it?

[Verythrax Draconis]

Did you see Universal Soldier. the scene with the ear collar?

Something along these lines ;)

[Deus de Mortalis]

The skulls of enemy warlords, kings, commanders, etc are prized even if said human isn't exactly a match for a space marine. Some others collect them because they are crazy. That or they just want to look as scary as possible.