Orks
"Ere We Go, 'Ere We Go, 'Ere We Go!"
— Common Ork chant heard during a greenskin WAAAGH!
The Orks, also called greenskins, are a savage, warlike, green-skinned species of humanoids who are spread all across the Milky Way Galaxy. They share many features with Warhammer Fantasy Orcs (and were initially called "Space Orcs" to distinguish them). They are seen by their enemies (pretty much everyone else in the universe) as savage, warlike, and crude, but they are the most successful species in the whole galaxy, outnumbering possibly every other intelligent starfaring species, even Humanity (with the very plausible exception of the Tyranids).
Greenskins are one of the most dangerous alien races to plague the galaxy. Numerous beyond belief and driven always to fight and conquer, the Orks threaten every single intelligent species of the galaxy.
Orks are possibly the most warlike aliens in the 41st Millennium, and their number is beyond counting. Amid constant, seething tides of war and bloodshed, burgeoning Ork stellar empires rise and fall.
Mercifully most are short-lived, soon destroying themselves in a maelstrom of violence and internecine conflict, but should the Orks ever truly unify, they would crush all opposition.
The Orks' unquenchable thirst for battle has always proved their downfall: historically, the Ork tribes have spent much of their time fighting amongst themselves, waging brutal wars with only the strongest surviving. On occasion, an Ork leader will emerge who is mighty enough to defeat his rivals and unite the warring tribes.
His success draws other tribes to him, and soon a great WAAAGH! is underway -- partly a migration, partly a holy war that can exterminate the populations of entire star systems.
When the Orks are on the rampage, the galaxy trembles, and in these dark days of the Time of Ending, there are more WAAAGH!s rising than ever before recorded.
"Of all the races I have battled throughout the galaxy, the Ork is the hardest to comprehend. They wage war with machines that should not work, care little for strategic gains, and are just as likely to slaughter each other as the enemy. How does one battle an enemy that defies all logic?"
— Rogue Trader Varnael Larik
Origins
The Orks are a biologically-engineered species, created more than 60 million Terran years ago as a warrior race originally called the Krork by the long-vanished reptilian alien species known as the Old Ones, whom the Orks refer to as the Brain Boyz.
The ancient Krork were known to possess more advanced technology than that of the present greenskin race, and to be on average larger, in some cases standing as tall as 12 metres.
The Orks were created by the Brain Boyz to fight the Necrons and their C'tan masters in the great interstellar conflict called the War in Heaven that shattered the galactic civilisation of the Old Ones that existed prior to the rise of the Aeldari.
Orks are thus genetically engineered to be muscular, aggressive, and none too bright; their technology is maintained by a caste of Oddboyz who possess genetically-implanted dispositions and technical knowledge that grant them unusual skill with maintaining and developing technology.
However, this skill is an unconscious one preserved through genetic memories hard-wired into the Oddboyz's DNA by the Brain Boyz millions of standard years ago.
Indeed, the Brain Boyz were apparently able to encode information on how to build simple machinery into the genomes of all Orks; thus Mekboyz require very little training in their function within Ork "kultur," since they understand mechanical principles at a fully instinctive level.
Orks lack individual psychic power, being denied such abilities by the Old Ones. However, they do have a sort of collaborative, collective psychic ability, meaning that if enough Orks believe something is true, then it will actually become so, brought into being in realspace through the power of the Immaterium by their gestalt psychic ability.
For example, Ork rockets painted yellow create bigger explosions, simply because the vast majority of Orks believe they do.
This is also why much of the Orks' seemingly ramshackle technology will do terrible damage in the hands of Orks, but will cease to function when used by other intelligent races.
Great Crusade
The Gorro Hollowing
When the Emperor of Mankind revealed Himself to Humanity following the Long Night of the Age of Strife in the early 30th Millennium, He shaped war-torn Terra into a single unified world for the first time in long millennia. Once he had conquered Terra, He looked to taking His Great Crusade to the stars.
Having created the foundations of the Imperium of Man, He launched His massive armies out into the galaxy, seeking to bring all of Human-settled space back under the control of a unified stellar empire. During these early conquests, many Imperial expeditionary fleets encountered the greenskin menace -- a violent xenos species designated as the "Orks" by the early Imperium.
Within the Telon Reach was an Ork empire that rivalled that centred on Ullanor, and at its heart was the scrap world of Gorro. The Ork tech-caste, the Mekboyz, dominated the Orks of Gorro and had made the world their own.
The dominant tech-caste on Gorro seemed to be fascinated by a form of plasma technology never encountered before or since. Capable of generating destructive yields of terrifying potency, these plasma weapons had done much to blunt the Great Crusade's advance across the Telon Reach. The Emperor decreed that Gorro must be destroyed.
When a thousand-strong fleet of warships dropped out of the Warp above Gorro it was the Emperor Himself who gave the order to begin the assault. Horus, Primarch of the vaunted Luna Wolves Space Marine Legion, and ever the dutiful and favoured son, stood at the Emperor's side and watched as tens of thousands of assault craft spread out from the fleet.
The Luna Wolves teleported into the scrap layers beneath the planet's surface, forced to hollow out Gorro from within due to the planet's high resistance to orbital bombardment. In the vanguard was the Emperor and by His side was Horus and a guard of black-armoured Justaerin Terminators from the Luna Wolves' 1st Company as well as the golden-clad warriors of the Legio Custodes.
As the Space Marines attacked, the Ork resistance they faced was near-overwhelming. The Orks of Gorro were huge and augmented with scavenged bionics. Some stood taller than Dreadnoughts and their weaponry burned through Astartes Power Armour easily.
At the height of the battle, the fury of the Orks split the Emperor from His guards. Alone He slew hundreds of them until a blast from an Ork plasma weapon weakened His defences and one of the Ork leaders seized Him. The creature's strength was so great that it took hold of the Emperor and buckled His golden armour.
As the creature's grasp closed to throttle the Master of Mankind, Horus stormed through the press of battle and cut the Ork's arms from its body with a single blow. Together father and son led their forces deeper into the vast sphere of scrap until they reached the centre of Gorro.
The Emperor worked to collapse the self-sustaining plasma sphere that powered much of the world's scavenged Ork technology and that contained a Warp-fold envelope, so that Gorro would implode into the Warp.
The Emperor proved successful, and without its power source, the scrap world collapsed in on itself. A hollow skin of rusted metal around an empty void was all that remained to mark the death of the great Ork empire of Gorro.
The Ullanor Crusade
The Ullanor Crusade was a vast Imperial assault on the Ork empire of the Overlord Urrlak Urruk during the Great Crusade in the final year of the 30th Millennium.
The capital world of this empire and the site of the final assault lay in the Ullanor System of the Ullanor Sector, which had long been under the dominion of Urrlak Urruk's greenskin pocket empire.
The crusade included the deployment of 100,000 Space Marines, 8,000,000 Imperial Army troops, and thousands of Imperial starships and their support personnel. The Luna Wolves spearheaded the assault into the heart of Urlakk's fortress-palace.
During the height of the assault, Horus and a retinue of Luna Wolves Terminators from the elite 1st Company came face to face with the massive Ork warlord and a retinue of 40 Ork Nobz. Horus charged into the Nobz, hacking them apart with his Lightning Claws until he finally faced the Ork Overlord himself.
Urlakk was simply no match for the Primarch's skill and unnatural power. First crippling his enemy, Horus hefted Urlakk's broken body out onto the roof of the greenskin's palace and threw it screaming from the battlements to fall far below amongst the horde of Orks still assaulting the lower levels.
Seeing their leader defeated sent a panic through the greenskin forces, which started to fall back from the Terminators. But the fleeing mobs found they had nowhere to run, as the outer walls had been breached by the attacking Luna Wolves, and the day turned into a slaughter.
In the Overlord's chamber, Horus found every Ork and Terminator dead, apart from the gore-drenched First Captain of the 1st Company, Ezekyle Abaddon, who was surrounded by crushed and broken Ork bodies.
The Ullanor Crusade marked the high point of the Great Crusade's vast effort to reunite the scattered colony worlds of Humanity. The Orks of Ullanor represented the largest concentration of Orks ever defeated by the military forces of the Imperium of Man before the War of the Beast and the Third War for Armageddon began during the late 41st Millennium.
— Common Ork chant heard during a greenskin WAAAGH!
The Orks, also called greenskins, are a savage, warlike, green-skinned species of humanoids who are spread all across the Milky Way Galaxy. They share many features with Warhammer Fantasy Orcs (and were initially called "Space Orcs" to distinguish them). They are seen by their enemies (pretty much everyone else in the universe) as savage, warlike, and crude, but they are the most successful species in the whole galaxy, outnumbering possibly every other intelligent starfaring species, even Humanity (with the very plausible exception of the Tyranids).
Greenskins are one of the most dangerous alien races to plague the galaxy. Numerous beyond belief and driven always to fight and conquer, the Orks threaten every single intelligent species of the galaxy.
Orks are possibly the most warlike aliens in the 41st Millennium, and their number is beyond counting. Amid constant, seething tides of war and bloodshed, burgeoning Ork stellar empires rise and fall.
Mercifully most are short-lived, soon destroying themselves in a maelstrom of violence and internecine conflict, but should the Orks ever truly unify, they would crush all opposition.
The Orks' unquenchable thirst for battle has always proved their downfall: historically, the Ork tribes have spent much of their time fighting amongst themselves, waging brutal wars with only the strongest surviving. On occasion, an Ork leader will emerge who is mighty enough to defeat his rivals and unite the warring tribes.
His success draws other tribes to him, and soon a great WAAAGH! is underway -- partly a migration, partly a holy war that can exterminate the populations of entire star systems.
When the Orks are on the rampage, the galaxy trembles, and in these dark days of the Time of Ending, there are more WAAAGH!s rising than ever before recorded.
History
"Of all the races I have battled throughout the galaxy, the Ork is the hardest to comprehend. They wage war with machines that should not work, care little for strategic gains, and are just as likely to slaughter each other as the enemy. How does one battle an enemy that defies all logic?"
— Rogue Trader Varnael Larik
Origins
The Orks are a biologically-engineered species, created more than 60 million Terran years ago as a warrior race originally called the Krork by the long-vanished reptilian alien species known as the Old Ones, whom the Orks refer to as the Brain Boyz.The ancient Krork were known to possess more advanced technology than that of the present greenskin race, and to be on average larger, in some cases standing as tall as 12 metres.
The Orks were created by the Brain Boyz to fight the Necrons and their C'tan masters in the great interstellar conflict called the War in Heaven that shattered the galactic civilisation of the Old Ones that existed prior to the rise of the Aeldari.
Orks are thus genetically engineered to be muscular, aggressive, and none too bright; their technology is maintained by a caste of Oddboyz who possess genetically-implanted dispositions and technical knowledge that grant them unusual skill with maintaining and developing technology.
However, this skill is an unconscious one preserved through genetic memories hard-wired into the Oddboyz's DNA by the Brain Boyz millions of standard years ago.
Indeed, the Brain Boyz were apparently able to encode information on how to build simple machinery into the genomes of all Orks; thus Mekboyz require very little training in their function within Ork "kultur," since they understand mechanical principles at a fully instinctive level.
Orks lack individual psychic power, being denied such abilities by the Old Ones. However, they do have a sort of collaborative, collective psychic ability, meaning that if enough Orks believe something is true, then it will actually become so, brought into being in realspace through the power of the Immaterium by their gestalt psychic ability.
For example, Ork rockets painted yellow create bigger explosions, simply because the vast majority of Orks believe they do.
This is also why much of the Orks' seemingly ramshackle technology will do terrible damage in the hands of Orks, but will cease to function when used by other intelligent races.
Great Crusade
The Gorro HollowingWhen the Emperor of Mankind revealed Himself to Humanity following the Long Night of the Age of Strife in the early 30th Millennium, He shaped war-torn Terra into a single unified world for the first time in long millennia. Once he had conquered Terra, He looked to taking His Great Crusade to the stars.
Having created the foundations of the Imperium of Man, He launched His massive armies out into the galaxy, seeking to bring all of Human-settled space back under the control of a unified stellar empire. During these early conquests, many Imperial expeditionary fleets encountered the greenskin menace -- a violent xenos species designated as the "Orks" by the early Imperium.
Within the Telon Reach was an Ork empire that rivalled that centred on Ullanor, and at its heart was the scrap world of Gorro. The Ork tech-caste, the Mekboyz, dominated the Orks of Gorro and had made the world their own.
The dominant tech-caste on Gorro seemed to be fascinated by a form of plasma technology never encountered before or since. Capable of generating destructive yields of terrifying potency, these plasma weapons had done much to blunt the Great Crusade's advance across the Telon Reach. The Emperor decreed that Gorro must be destroyed.
When a thousand-strong fleet of warships dropped out of the Warp above Gorro it was the Emperor Himself who gave the order to begin the assault. Horus, Primarch of the vaunted Luna Wolves Space Marine Legion, and ever the dutiful and favoured son, stood at the Emperor's side and watched as tens of thousands of assault craft spread out from the fleet.
The Luna Wolves teleported into the scrap layers beneath the planet's surface, forced to hollow out Gorro from within due to the planet's high resistance to orbital bombardment. In the vanguard was the Emperor and by His side was Horus and a guard of black-armoured Justaerin Terminators from the Luna Wolves' 1st Company as well as the golden-clad warriors of the Legio Custodes.
As the Space Marines attacked, the Ork resistance they faced was near-overwhelming. The Orks of Gorro were huge and augmented with scavenged bionics. Some stood taller than Dreadnoughts and their weaponry burned through Astartes Power Armour easily.
At the height of the battle, the fury of the Orks split the Emperor from His guards. Alone He slew hundreds of them until a blast from an Ork plasma weapon weakened His defences and one of the Ork leaders seized Him. The creature's strength was so great that it took hold of the Emperor and buckled His golden armour.
As the creature's grasp closed to throttle the Master of Mankind, Horus stormed through the press of battle and cut the Ork's arms from its body with a single blow. Together father and son led their forces deeper into the vast sphere of scrap until they reached the centre of Gorro.
The Emperor worked to collapse the self-sustaining plasma sphere that powered much of the world's scavenged Ork technology and that contained a Warp-fold envelope, so that Gorro would implode into the Warp.
The Emperor proved successful, and without its power source, the scrap world collapsed in on itself. A hollow skin of rusted metal around an empty void was all that remained to mark the death of the great Ork empire of Gorro.
The Ullanor Crusade
The Ullanor Crusade was a vast Imperial assault on the Ork empire of the Overlord Urrlak Urruk during the Great Crusade in the final year of the 30th Millennium.
The capital world of this empire and the site of the final assault lay in the Ullanor System of the Ullanor Sector, which had long been under the dominion of Urrlak Urruk's greenskin pocket empire.
The crusade included the deployment of 100,000 Space Marines, 8,000,000 Imperial Army troops, and thousands of Imperial starships and their support personnel. The Luna Wolves spearheaded the assault into the heart of Urlakk's fortress-palace.
During the height of the assault, Horus and a retinue of Luna Wolves Terminators from the elite 1st Company came face to face with the massive Ork warlord and a retinue of 40 Ork Nobz. Horus charged into the Nobz, hacking them apart with his Lightning Claws until he finally faced the Ork Overlord himself.
Urlakk was simply no match for the Primarch's skill and unnatural power. First crippling his enemy, Horus hefted Urlakk's broken body out onto the roof of the greenskin's palace and threw it screaming from the battlements to fall far below amongst the horde of Orks still assaulting the lower levels.
Seeing their leader defeated sent a panic through the greenskin forces, which started to fall back from the Terminators. But the fleeing mobs found they had nowhere to run, as the outer walls had been breached by the attacking Luna Wolves, and the day turned into a slaughter.
In the Overlord's chamber, Horus found every Ork and Terminator dead, apart from the gore-drenched First Captain of the 1st Company, Ezekyle Abaddon, who was surrounded by crushed and broken Ork bodies.
The Ullanor Crusade marked the high point of the Great Crusade's vast effort to reunite the scattered colony worlds of Humanity. The Orks of Ullanor represented the largest concentration of Orks ever defeated by the military forces of the Imperium of Man before the War of the Beast and the Third War for Armageddon began during the late 41st Millennium.
Basic Information
Anatomy
"Ork Physiology is fascinating and terrifying in equal measure, demonstrating inhuman degrees of resilience to the point where they can withstand seemingly fatal wounds with little apparent long-term consequence. Indeed, Orks witnessed suffering fatal wounds in the midst of heavy fighting have often been observed again several days later, larger and stronger than they were before their injuries and with no sign of those wounds save for some largely superficial scarring."
— Genetor Aurelius Thoze, Adeptus Mechanicus Xenobiologist
Orks are green-skinned and red-blooded, a side effect of their symbiotic physiological and genetic relationship with fungi. Orkoid physique itself is so robust that it can withstand tremendous punishment.
Orks feel surprisingly little pain, even from the most grievous of wounds, enabling them to fight on whilst horrifically injured and even for a short while after being technically dead.
It is most fortunate for the Orks that they can withstand such brutal physical punishment, since their Painboyz operate on a generally nineteenth-century (ca. 800-900.M2) level of surgical knowledge; unlike Humans, though, Orks are quite capable of being beheaded, having the head sewn onto a different body, and surviving the experience to fight again.
It is believed by some who study these brutes, albeit from afar, that this goes some way to explaining the greenskins' ultra-violent sense of humour. As pain and fear mean little to them, they are highly curious and amused by the reactions of their weaker foes as they hack them apart, the screams of terror contrasting with a deep throaty rumbling that, on occasion, could be mistaken for laughter from the Orks and their snickering brethren.
The greenskin regenerative process itself is so powerful that an Ork who has been hacked to bits can simply be stitched back together, bewildered but ready to fight once more. Nothing but the most grievous wounds will put an Ork down for long, and burning them to ash is reputed to be the only way to make absolutely sure that they are gone for good.
A typical Ork stands around the same height as an average Human male, though he would be much taller were he to stand up straight instead of being hunched over, as is his normal stance, and his frame is extremely muscular and solid. An Ork's arms are long and heavily thewed, knuckles almost scraping the floor as he lopes around, and his gnarled hands end in taloned fingers capable of tearing an enemy's throat out with ease.
The skin of an Ork is green and leather-tough, and his body is dotted with scars, scabs, pockmarks and parasites. His skull is extremely thick, able to absorb impacts that would cave in a Human head.
His heavy brow shades blood-red eyes, afire with the need to kill. Jagged fangs jut from a heavy jaw that would not look out of place upon a far larger predator, and when an Ork speaks, it is in a slow, gruff tone thick with saliva and guttural curses. His words are sparse, brutal and straight to the point.
A particularly favored ingredient in their diet are Squigs, short for "squiggly beasts"; a variety of symbiotic Orkoid races about the size of a Terran house cat but legless.
These include the "Eatin Squig", a limbless blob which feeds on fungus, the "Growler Squig", a legged variety used as a sheepdog for Gretchin (in the Third and Fourth Editions of Warhammer 40,000 referred to as a "Squighound" and available as an item of wargear), the "Attack Squig" a powerfully voracious little beast available as an item of wargear, and the "Face-eater Squig", a ferociously toothed variety used both as a weapon and for entries in face-eating contests. (The Ork and the Squig both open their mouths and bite, in a parody of a kiss. If the Ork eats the Squig, he wins. If he keels over backwards, he loses.)
There is also a larger sub-species of Squig, called a "Squiggoth" that ranges in size from about that of an elephant to a 60-plus-foot monstrosity capable of stomping buildings into rubble. Squiggoths are used as pack animals and in combat as the carriers of mobile fortresses.
Orks grow all through their lives; the effect is particularly notable in successful Orks. As the Ork survives combats and wins trophies, the respect of other Orks will produce in him an effect somewhat similar to adolescence in the Human male: He puts on muscle, becomes more aggressive and assertive, and generally throws his weight around.
If he wins the ensuing challenges to single combat, he may become a Nob, a leader or chieftain of Orks, noticeably larger and tougher than the average greenskin. Once he begins to grow, an Ork will generally keep getting bigger and stronger until he is beaten by a bigger or more cunning Ork.
Warbosses and warlords, the rulers of continents and entire Orkoid empires, respectively, are very large Orks indeed. Flash Gitz however are a special elite type of Ork typically armed with Big Shootas. Flash Gitz are obsessed with polishing their guns and these Orks are much larger than an average Ork. They are likely Nobz who have gathered into a group based on common interests.
Ork physiology is actually the complex interweaving of two symbiotic organisms that have been genetically linked by the greenskins' original creators: one strain is comparable to a terrestrial animal and the other to an algae or fungus living within the former's bloodstream and skin.
An Ork's animal cells carry the genetic information of only the individual's Orkoid subspecies. But the fungoid component of their physiology possesses the genetic information that defines all the different varieties of Orkoid, as well as the different Oddboyz, and it helps to heal wounds by providing greater biochemical energy supplies drawn from some form of biosynthesis when necessary.
Ork biology lends itself well to combat: they are extraordinarily strong and tough and are naturally good fighters, always looking for a scrap.
There are two theories relating to why Orks have this unique, hybrid fungal/animal physiology. The first is that they were adapted by their masters, who were in fact the present-day Snotlings, a dimunitive alien race that soared to intelligence upon eating a particular species of mushroom, spread across the galaxy with the help of their less intelligent Ork slaves, and were then deemed stupid again when the Orks consumed all traces of the mushroom which only grew on their home planet.
The more modern Imperial theory of Ork origins holds that they are the Krork, created as a warrior species by the Old Ones (referred to in Ork legend as the "Brain Boyz") in their wars against the Necrontyr and the C'tan.
The fact that an entire ecosystem can be constructed of Orkoids, and their complete war-readiness from birth, suggests that this is the more likely of the two Ork origin theories.
In early forms of this theory developed by the Imperial Magi Biologis, the Brain Boyz were actually an Orkoid subspecies, along with the Orks and the Gretchin, but they are now believed by most Imperial experts to be the reptilian Old Ones who also created other psychic species like the Aeldari and the Jokaero during the ancient War in Heaven.
The Brain Boyz apparently became extinct or simply disappeared from the galaxy for unknown reasons during the course of the War in Heaven. This theory holds that before they passed on, they genetically-engineered the Orks' DNA to include a "techno-gene".
This gene develops in Orks as they grow, influencing their minds and releasing genetically encoded knowledge; in a similar way that a Human baby will reflexively hold its breath under water or a horse can walk half an hour after being born, an Ork's techno-gene gives it information on how to fight, operate weapons, and speak the Ork language.
Ork Oddboy specialists, such as Mekboyz and Painboyz, are the mechanics and surgeons of Ork society, and receive their knowledge through these techno-genes. This theory of Ork origins holds that this was a deliberate measure to ensure that the Orkoid race would survive in an incredibly hostile universe.
— Genetor Aurelius Thoze, Adeptus Mechanicus Xenobiologist
Orks are green-skinned and red-blooded, a side effect of their symbiotic physiological and genetic relationship with fungi. Orkoid physique itself is so robust that it can withstand tremendous punishment.
Orks feel surprisingly little pain, even from the most grievous of wounds, enabling them to fight on whilst horrifically injured and even for a short while after being technically dead.
It is most fortunate for the Orks that they can withstand such brutal physical punishment, since their Painboyz operate on a generally nineteenth-century (ca. 800-900.M2) level of surgical knowledge; unlike Humans, though, Orks are quite capable of being beheaded, having the head sewn onto a different body, and surviving the experience to fight again.
It is believed by some who study these brutes, albeit from afar, that this goes some way to explaining the greenskins' ultra-violent sense of humour. As pain and fear mean little to them, they are highly curious and amused by the reactions of their weaker foes as they hack them apart, the screams of terror contrasting with a deep throaty rumbling that, on occasion, could be mistaken for laughter from the Orks and their snickering brethren.
The greenskin regenerative process itself is so powerful that an Ork who has been hacked to bits can simply be stitched back together, bewildered but ready to fight once more. Nothing but the most grievous wounds will put an Ork down for long, and burning them to ash is reputed to be the only way to make absolutely sure that they are gone for good.
A typical Ork stands around the same height as an average Human male, though he would be much taller were he to stand up straight instead of being hunched over, as is his normal stance, and his frame is extremely muscular and solid. An Ork's arms are long and heavily thewed, knuckles almost scraping the floor as he lopes around, and his gnarled hands end in taloned fingers capable of tearing an enemy's throat out with ease.
The skin of an Ork is green and leather-tough, and his body is dotted with scars, scabs, pockmarks and parasites. His skull is extremely thick, able to absorb impacts that would cave in a Human head.
His heavy brow shades blood-red eyes, afire with the need to kill. Jagged fangs jut from a heavy jaw that would not look out of place upon a far larger predator, and when an Ork speaks, it is in a slow, gruff tone thick with saliva and guttural curses. His words are sparse, brutal and straight to the point.
A particularly favored ingredient in their diet are Squigs, short for "squiggly beasts"; a variety of symbiotic Orkoid races about the size of a Terran house cat but legless.
These include the "Eatin Squig", a limbless blob which feeds on fungus, the "Growler Squig", a legged variety used as a sheepdog for Gretchin (in the Third and Fourth Editions of Warhammer 40,000 referred to as a "Squighound" and available as an item of wargear), the "Attack Squig" a powerfully voracious little beast available as an item of wargear, and the "Face-eater Squig", a ferociously toothed variety used both as a weapon and for entries in face-eating contests. (The Ork and the Squig both open their mouths and bite, in a parody of a kiss. If the Ork eats the Squig, he wins. If he keels over backwards, he loses.)
There is also a larger sub-species of Squig, called a "Squiggoth" that ranges in size from about that of an elephant to a 60-plus-foot monstrosity capable of stomping buildings into rubble. Squiggoths are used as pack animals and in combat as the carriers of mobile fortresses.
Orks grow all through their lives; the effect is particularly notable in successful Orks. As the Ork survives combats and wins trophies, the respect of other Orks will produce in him an effect somewhat similar to adolescence in the Human male: He puts on muscle, becomes more aggressive and assertive, and generally throws his weight around.
If he wins the ensuing challenges to single combat, he may become a Nob, a leader or chieftain of Orks, noticeably larger and tougher than the average greenskin. Once he begins to grow, an Ork will generally keep getting bigger and stronger until he is beaten by a bigger or more cunning Ork.
Warbosses and warlords, the rulers of continents and entire Orkoid empires, respectively, are very large Orks indeed. Flash Gitz however are a special elite type of Ork typically armed with Big Shootas. Flash Gitz are obsessed with polishing their guns and these Orks are much larger than an average Ork. They are likely Nobz who have gathered into a group based on common interests.
Ork physiology is actually the complex interweaving of two symbiotic organisms that have been genetically linked by the greenskins' original creators: one strain is comparable to a terrestrial animal and the other to an algae or fungus living within the former's bloodstream and skin.
An Ork's animal cells carry the genetic information of only the individual's Orkoid subspecies. But the fungoid component of their physiology possesses the genetic information that defines all the different varieties of Orkoid, as well as the different Oddboyz, and it helps to heal wounds by providing greater biochemical energy supplies drawn from some form of biosynthesis when necessary.
Ork biology lends itself well to combat: they are extraordinarily strong and tough and are naturally good fighters, always looking for a scrap.
There are two theories relating to why Orks have this unique, hybrid fungal/animal physiology. The first is that they were adapted by their masters, who were in fact the present-day Snotlings, a dimunitive alien race that soared to intelligence upon eating a particular species of mushroom, spread across the galaxy with the help of their less intelligent Ork slaves, and were then deemed stupid again when the Orks consumed all traces of the mushroom which only grew on their home planet.
The more modern Imperial theory of Ork origins holds that they are the Krork, created as a warrior species by the Old Ones (referred to in Ork legend as the "Brain Boyz") in their wars against the Necrontyr and the C'tan.
The fact that an entire ecosystem can be constructed of Orkoids, and their complete war-readiness from birth, suggests that this is the more likely of the two Ork origin theories.
In early forms of this theory developed by the Imperial Magi Biologis, the Brain Boyz were actually an Orkoid subspecies, along with the Orks and the Gretchin, but they are now believed by most Imperial experts to be the reptilian Old Ones who also created other psychic species like the Aeldari and the Jokaero during the ancient War in Heaven.
The Brain Boyz apparently became extinct or simply disappeared from the galaxy for unknown reasons during the course of the War in Heaven. This theory holds that before they passed on, they genetically-engineered the Orks' DNA to include a "techno-gene".
This gene develops in Orks as they grow, influencing their minds and releasing genetically encoded knowledge; in a similar way that a Human baby will reflexively hold its breath under water or a horse can walk half an hour after being born, an Ork's techno-gene gives it information on how to fight, operate weapons, and speak the Ork language.
Ork Oddboy specialists, such as Mekboyz and Painboyz, are the mechanics and surgeons of Ork society, and receive their knowledge through these techno-genes. This theory of Ork origins holds that this was a deliberate measure to ensure that the Orkoid race would survive in an incredibly hostile universe.
Genetics and Reproduction
Orks have not only survived, they have prospered and are more numerous than even the myriad trillions of individuals who comprise Humanity across the galaxy. This is due in part to how Imperial scholars now believe that they reproduce: Orks release fungal spores, which grow into a plant-like womb underground that nourishes the bodies of the various Orkoid species.
This is the entire basis of the Orkoid ecosystem, producing first Squigs, then Snotlings who cultivate the Squigs and the fungus they feed on, then Gretchin to build the greenskin settlements, and finally the Orks themselves.
This means the Orks, wherever they go, will have an abundance of food, slaves and other resources, a moving Orkoid ecosystem that supports them as they unleash their WAAAGH!s
This also makes it extremely difficult to rid a planet of Orks, even if the initial invasion is defeated. Orks release spores throughout their lives, but release them massively at the moment of death.
Without a nearby population of Orks, the alien fungus will eventually start the Orkoid life cycle anew. Decades after weathering an Ork WAAAGH!, settlements on a planet can find themselves faced with an unexpected attack from Feral Ork tribes coming out of the wilderness.
The only way to effectively remove all of the Orks once they are on a planet is through a planetary Exterminatus action.
This is the entire basis of the Orkoid ecosystem, producing first Squigs, then Snotlings who cultivate the Squigs and the fungus they feed on, then Gretchin to build the greenskin settlements, and finally the Orks themselves.
This means the Orks, wherever they go, will have an abundance of food, slaves and other resources, a moving Orkoid ecosystem that supports them as they unleash their WAAAGH!s
This also makes it extremely difficult to rid a planet of Orks, even if the initial invasion is defeated. Orks release spores throughout their lives, but release them massively at the moment of death.
Without a nearby population of Orks, the alien fungus will eventually start the Orkoid life cycle anew. Decades after weathering an Ork WAAAGH!, settlements on a planet can find themselves faced with an unexpected attack from Feral Ork tribes coming out of the wilderness.
The only way to effectively remove all of the Orks once they are on a planet is through a planetary Exterminatus action.
Scientific Name
Xenos Extremis
Geographic Distribution
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