Permanent death of heroes and villains in Warhammer 40K lore. We need it.

[ThePenitentOne]

Alright, so let's look at what we're really talking about here.

 

There's the Black Library piece... That is, named characters being a huge part of novels. This is more complicated than we're giving it credit for though, because some named character models were created based on BL novels. Ephrael Stern, Minka Lesk, and the Grand Daddy, Eisenhorn... And there are probably others. We can't complain about THESE named characters being in a ton of BL material, because they were a part of BL material before they were named characters, and if BL wasn't done with them when the models dropped, we certainly don't want "fix" the perceived problem by saying "Oh, sorry Mr. Abnet, we can't publish the third book in your trilogy because we made a model of the protagonist, and people think it's ridiculous for named character models to play an oversized role in the lore."

 

What's ALSO true of this category of named-character dominance is that we have little control over it- the novels are what they are, regardless of how we choose to use them or engage with them.

 

Then there's the category of characters that were made as models first and then had BL books written about them, or who play what many of us perceive to be an outsized role in the Codex-based lore. These guys, we can choose to use in our armies or not. Now, admittedly, GW does make that challenging sometimes by making the rules for these guys SO awesome that it's a lot harder to win if you don't use them. But ultimately, that choice DOES exist, and if the issue does bug you as much as it seems, not simply not using the character IS a solution that pretty much IS firmly in our control. Want guard characters dead? Don't use'm. They're dead.

 

Unless..... Unless the REAL problem is you don't want anyone else to be able to use them either.

 

And see, that gets a little sticky. I tend to think that many of the "problems" that people post about are a result of the 2k matched stand-alone pick-up game in a store with a stranger phenomenon, and occasionally I will suggest that people just try a 500-2k Crusade escalation campaign to see if that improves their experience or changes their opinion. Sometimes people react and say "But you're telling people how to play" - but that's a misreading of what I'm saying. Because I would NEVER advocate for the removal of ANYTHING. 

 

Imagine if I was bold enough to say "All the problems everyone sees exist primarily in 2k matched stand-alone pick-up games, therefore we should just eliminate that option. Ridiculous, right? But isn't it really just a difference of degree to say "Oh, Crusade is a waste of time, space and development resources because no one plays it anyway" or "Grey Knights should be just a unit you add to other armies" or "Named characters shouldn't exist"?

 

Now, I'm all for GW adding text to their campaign books saying "Note: at the time when this campaign takes place, the following characters are unavailable because they are dead, the following characters are unavailable because they are engaged in other campaigns across the universe. Caveat: any of these characters can be used, but only if both players consent to their use."

 

This does a few things: first, it acknowledges that character death is only relevant in a narrative context. Seriously, try this: at your next pick-up stand-alone 2k matched play game in a store with a stranger, spend a minute or two asking your opponent questions like "Where in the universe is the game taking place, when and why?" The vast majority of people you play against (based on my own, limited experience, of course) will have no idea. They may find it unusual or quirky that you're even asking. And so how is it possible to say which characters do or don't belong in that battle when you and your opponent neither know nor care where or when that battle is taking place? 

 

"You can't use Yarrick because he's dead."

 

"Oh, I just assumed we would set the battle in a time and place when he was alive because I really like him and wanted to include him in my army."

 

"Yeah, well you assumed wrong."

 

"Oh, okay. When is this battle taking place?"

 

"Oh, I didn't really think about that, it's just taking place sometime after he died."

 

"Well, if you don't really have any strong ideas about where or when, why not just play it as if it's taking place during his lifetime so I can use the army I brought?"

 

Obviously, if you talk to your opponent before game night (not always possible, I know), you can come to an agreement about context. I always do- last game I asked my opponent "So in your mind, is this a Deathwatch vessel, or is it an Imperial vessel that put out a distress call when they detected Xenos on long ranged sensors and the DW showed up to save the day?" - I wanted to give my opponent control over shared narrative, because sometimes I come across as a bit of a control freak. I wanted to make sure that when I finally write up the battle and post it, he could get behind what I wrote.

 

At first, he did seem somewhat surprised I asked. But what was so cool, as that once he adjusted, he took the ball and ran with it. "How about we set it on a SpaceHulk. Both of our teams have been there a while, and we're both looking for "Stuff" and we just happen to bump into each other in this little section of the massive hulk?" I immediately agreed. Based on the composition of our armies, that's all that was necessary- neither of us HAD named characters in our army (or rather, the named characters in both our armies were OUR DUDES). If either army DID have named characters, we probably would have settled on a where and a when- I would pretty much need that, because the story of my battles is important to me. 

 

Now, for my story, the "where" wasn't super important- we're Drukhari and we travel via webway, so "wherever" my opponent needs the game to be, I'm cool. If he had been using Draxus, I'd have recommended somewhere in the Pariah Nexus, because that's where she is in the current timeline as I understand it. The "When" however, IS important to my story, because my Ascendant Lord Archon has been tasked with recovering the territories of a Commorrite splinter realm that fell to Daemons after Yvraine's Ascension during her fight against Lelith in the Crucibael.

 

If his army included a character inconsistent with that timeline, I would have continued to play, the game would have been just as fun, but it never would have been recorded as part of my army's story, because it couldn't possibly have been a part of their story... And that's fine. My army CAN be the Space Lane Raider force organized by Ascendent Lord Archon Sykil Draeven to win an Alliance with Aeldari Corsairs of Prince Larridian Vayle when I'm facing a force that allows me to advance that narrative, but it can just as easily be anonymous Drukhari army 453 when I'm facing a force that does not allow me to advance my narrative.

 

For my opponents and I? Problem solved, with no need for GW to make huge changes to the way the game works just to make a few random players happy.

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

21 hours ago, firestorm40k said:

 

Erebus will slip in the knife just before the Lady Malys release. No waifu for you!

[SvenIronhand]

On 8/31/2025 at 11:25 AM, The Praetorian of Inwit said:

Grimnar should be dead too.

No, and people who talk like this don't get Ragnar's arc.

Also, what Imperial Guard characters that are too long-lived? Creed has been replaced by his illegitimate daughter, Marbo is effectively a Halo Spartan in terms of myth-making around him, Gaunts' Ghosts is clearly meant to represent the characters at the time of the books, and Nork might as well be a generic profile at this point, if you ask me. 

[kabaakaba]

ok... i just don't like named characters, i prefer them in novels, not on tabletop.  

[Marshal Reinhard]

I think a potential with character deaths is, while many support the ideas of some characters dying, I'm not sure they'd always agree on who to kill off...

[ThaneOfTas]

13 hours ago, kabaakaba said:

i just don't like named characters, i prefer them in novels, not on tabletop. 

Then just don't use them on the tabletop?