Little species poses such a great threat to the world of Warhammer 40,000 as the Orks – at least that is what scholars claim. MeinMMO explains where these strange beings actually come from and why they are so dangerous.
In Warhammer 40,000, there are plenty of dangers that threaten to destroy the world or at least wipe out humanity. The voracious Tyranids simply want to consume everything and the destructive Chaos seeks to annihilate any order.
That the world still exists is partly due to the fact that the powers are fighting among themselves. However, scholars of the Imperium of Man agree on one species: If they united, they would have large parts of the galaxy under control.
The Orks pose an enormous threat to humans, Aeldari, and pretty much everything else in the universe. The only reason they haven’t already waged war across the entire world is that they are too busy brawling with each other.
However, behind these brutal green skins lies much more than just bloodthirsty monsters who want to chop everything and everyone to pieces. Orks have quite an interesting history.
Orks even have some of their own games, like the racing game Speed Freeks:
Half beast, half fungus, full pound to the mouth
The biggest difference from all other species in Warhammer 40,000 is that Orks (or more precisely: Orkoids) are not actual individuals. Orks consist of an animal part and a fungus, both of which exist in a symbiosis with each other:
- The animal part of the Orks accounts for their behavior. They hunt in packs, are aggressive, and have a natural drive to expand. However, this part also ensures that they are trapped in a rather primitive culture.
- The fungus in the Ork, on the other hand, makes the creature significantly more resilient. The lung is overgrown with a mycelium that takes over breathing, and bones are filled with spongy fungal tissue instead of marrow.
In any case, the fungus takes on many important tasks that would be performed by organs in a human and exists in parts as sponge or liquid in the Ork. This allows Orks to survive even severe injuries – for example, you can quite easily cut off their head and attach it to another body.
As fungi, Orks spread through spores that an adult Ork emits and that sometimes lie on the ground for a long time before growing into an Ork. A world that once had Orks remains infested by them for centuries. And yes: Orks can perform photosynthesis.
Cultivating fungi to kill bots
Where exactly Orks come from is not clearly documented. However, there is a very secure theory that the species of the “Old Ones” bred a warrior race to combat the aggressive Necrons (or back then still Necrontyr).
They are essentially genetically modified, bred beings – which explains why Orks don’t need to learn anything. Depending on which animal part the fungi connect with, a different “type” of Orkoid is created – such as a Grot, Snotling, or simply an Ork.
Everything an Ork needs to be able to do is already encoded in its genes. A mechanic (or “Mekboy”) does not need to go through training. The older he gets, the more he understands simply from his genetic knowledge about technology.
In the belief of the Orks themselves, they evolved from the “Brainboyz,” a proto-species of Orks composed of super-intelligent individuals. They are said to have bred warriors and servants from which the Orks ultimately evolved.
Can you actually eat Orks? In the community, there has been a disturbingly lengthy discussion about whether Orks are suitable for human consumption. After all, they are essentially fungi. There isn’t a clear answer, as is often the case with Warhammer. However, the general consensus among fans is: probably, if you cook the Ork long enough to possibly kill off any dangerous spores.
WAAAGHrum are Orks so dangerous?
Among the Orks, there is a simple rule: The stronger has the say. Accordingly, Orks follow the one boy who is bigger and stronger or smarter than all the others. Normally, however, this is only enough to gather in clans and occasionally wage smaller wars.
However, Orks are inherently psychic beings who continuously emit psychic power: the “Gestalt” field, or simply the “Waaagh!” If there is now an Ork strong enough (a “Warboss”) to gather enough other Orks around him, he can lead a Waaagh!
This gigantic war is essentially a continuous battle that, through its psychic energy, attracts more and more Orks until the Warboss dies, there are no more enemies left, or – what is unlikely – the Orks are annihilated.
The more battles an Ork wins and the more Orks join him, the bigger he gets. Accordingly, he also attracts even more Orks. The largest known Warboss was “The Beast,” who reached nearly 10 meters in height, almost the size of an Imperial Knight.
This is exactly what makes Orks so dangerous as fighters: They live to fight, and the more they fight, the stronger they become. If a Warboss were to succeed in uniting all Orks under him, he could possibly destroy the galaxy.
Games Workshop, by the way, never tires of emphasizing how absurd the Orks are:
If you just believe hard enough, it will work – And indeed
However, the Waaagh! energy is not just a loose concept that acts on Orks like a lure. It can be directed by the Ork wizards, the “Weirdboyz,” to cast destructive spells.
This energy is said to possess the power to make ork technology possible at all. Specifically, this means: The more Orks believe that something works, the more likely it is to actually work. If you stick two bolters together, they logically become twice as strong, right?
This theory is, however, controversial and has already been partly disproven. What is often observed, however, is that the belief of the Orks in the power of certain colors actually works:
- Red is a fast color, so red-painted vehicles are correspondingly faster
- Blue brings luck
- Yellow results in larger explosions
- Green is naturally the best color
- and Purple is of course the camouflage color – or have you ever seen a purple Ork?
Especially the last point is unconfirmed, but would fit well into the absurd psychology of the Orks.
Since Orks do not reproduce in the conventional way, there are also neither men nor women among them, although they are often portrayed as more masculine and like to call themselves “Boyz”. Interestingly, it’s the same with the poster boys of Warhammer: In Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, you only see big, strong guys – Are there actually women among the Space Marines?
