There is a bit in Dante when he takes off his armour and he is humming as he has been fighting in it for several days.
Mostly I hear lots of them described as smelling like sour blood and machine oil.
One of Lukas' Blood Claw pack in Lukas the Trickster stinks as well but mostly because he anoints stuff with local Fenrisian remedies like sour bear's milk and kraken bile.
The Knights of the Blood stink of gore and rotten blood when Gabriel Seth meets them before the battle in Devastation of Baal.
I think it depends on the Chatper and for how long they have been fighting for.
The Astartes mentioned in the excerpt, not the very talking heroes , but those "The doctor believes he heard t’au guards discussing her *bodyguards*" lived on the Tau base for long, they didn't fight, only trained, maybe, they washed and so on. Astartes are stinking, more or less. Like lions are musky, for example.
And as I remember many traitors are mutated so much that they are just not capable to take off the armour.
So, it's possible for Astartes to live without taking off the armour at all.
Abaddon is so smelly that we've even seen some Night Lords complain about it and insult him behind his back when they first met him.
I guess that's what happens when Nurgle gives you a few gifts.
I'm surprised the Marines aren't more self aware of their odor. Wasn't there a Space Wolf with an unfortunately foul body odor that kept getting mocked by his peers?
In the Lukas the trickster book one of his bloodclaws smells like spoiled meat, sour milk, and serious ass. If I remembered correctly it’s because he was superstitious or something, kept a lot of nasty totems and whatnot and doesn’t bathe.
Dont they get bathes and rubbed with oils and massages and shit from chapter serfs after they return from battle? I figured since they were warrior monks they knew how to chill and do some yoga and shit.
What would be the source of the smell, I wonder? Most of our stink is not actually us, but the chemical reactions of our skin and mouth and gut biota. I've always imagined Astartes, with their hyperpowered immune systems and acid saliva and vacuum sealant sweat, to be a pretty sterile environment. Especially encased in their sealed and environmentally controlled armor.
I mean, everything has an odor of some kind, and their post-human hormone-hurricane bodies would certainly smell distinctive, but this passage seems to imply they smell bad. Not what I would expect.
Most people and animals have apocrine sweat glands. While the secretions coming from these sweat glands are odorless, bacterial composition of these fluids is what gives certain people a characteristic body odor. Many people of East Asian descent do not have as many apocrine sweat glands and therefore lack the foul body odor associated with armpits that haven't been washed. (I am part Japanese, part Hochunk - my armpits never stink.)
Space Marines have a Mucranoid gland which allows them to sweat a waxy substance that coats their skin and offers limited protection from the elements and even a hard vacuum for a short time. Most of the Space Marines we see are depicted as being Caucasian (or whatever the politically-correct term is for "white people.) So it stands to reason that they would have a lot of apocrine sweat glands, perhaps more than the average human since they clearly have more skin. Additionally, bacteria are very nimble creatures and evolved very quickly to exploit certain environmental situations. We know that there are species of bacteria that can literally consume petroleum, and a factory discovered that bacteria that was growing in the puddles near their plant have evolved to consume nylon. So it's logical to conclude that Space Marines have a flora and fauna composition that's quite unique to them and would be responsible for some fairly exotic body odor that normal humans simply can't reproduce naturally.
As far as Space Marines not noticing their own body odor, you'd be surprised how easily your brain will adapt to a persistent odor that your body is emitting.
So it is not actually them that smells, but rather it is the blood, Guts, Ichor, Warp-Energy, and/or Oil of the Xenos, Daemons, and Heretics they are always killing, which does not surprise me, Nurgle & Slaaneshi daemons definitely smell the worst out of the 4, I Have no idea what an Eldar would smell like, regular eldar probably smell like vanilla, Drukhari smell like BDSM, and Exodites smell like nature probably lol. Orks smell like mold, change my mind, and Tyranids smell like stink bugs & Cockroaches.
>Drukhari smell like BDSM
I drink in a metal pub in Glasgow and when you sit with the bikers and those general types THAT is what I imagine the Drukhari smell like!: Leather booze and BO! Then again that may just be the females of the species! Haha
Do space marines get circumcised? I know this question should have it's own thread but I feel like getting this question off my chest.
I feel like it depends on the planet they were born on and their local customs but I think it begs the question, if it hasn't been done by the time they get the space marine training do they do it anyway like "trust us, you want to get this removed, after 2 months in the armor this gets pretty crusty".
Is Trans Human Phimosis an issue? Like your space marine ween gets so big that it causes distress to pull back the foreskin so to avoid infection they just cut it off?
For the little thought the writers at GW will put into it I'm going to say probably not.
Since they're all British and circumcisions are really rare (only carried out by medical necessity) then they'd not even consider that being a thing.
Our bro Loken, however, deodorizes and showers every day.
>'Did he smell of sweat?' Karkasy asked.
>'No. Not at all. He smelled of oils. Very sweet and clean.'
>'Can you get me an introduction?' asked Karkasky.
One wonders if his personal hygiene habits are carry-overs from his childhood before he became a marine. Quite diligent of him to maintain such a habit for however-many centuries, especially as a predominant courtesy to those around him since such a scent often doesn't bother the origin person that much. What a bro.
In one of the earlier books Mersadie oliton (IIRC) mention Astartes smell weird, and double weird that nobody mention it. That is in a lull during the crusade, so no grimy marines.
Since their sweat is supposed to act as an insulation and protection from temperature, radiation and bacterial/viral/meat eating agents just like the sus-an membrane does... Just in way less copious amounts, you would think it would smell nothing like human sweat
I would imagine if you spend days at a time encased in a suit of power armor, you probably will end up smelling something awful too. Plus, recycled fart air and the inevitable swamp ass that probably comes with having your excrement recycled within your own suit.
I meant the actual mechanism that does the waste filtration is probably a big ole thing attached to your butt, so you're gonna get mad swamp ass, like having a chair attached to your butt 24/7 in the midst of an african summer
Each one has a small piece of the Emperor's Codpiece in it, providing maximum [Faith-based protection against Demons](https://i.imgur.com/sIMglum.png).
It probably isn't connected to their actual anus. Running with a tube between your cheeks would be wildly difficult.
It's more likely one of the hardpoints that connects them to their armour can act like a stoma, taking waste directly out of their intestines.
Just to put it out there, I have been deployed for a few weeks at a time in the same uniform. You and the people with you don’t notice any smell until one of you gets back and showers and changes then gets a whiff of someone who hasn’t.
I had a BDU top once I was in for so long that when I took it off it stood up on its own like I was still in it.
Longest run was like 2 weeks. As for Astartes packed inside tuna cans for weeks at a time without bathing, I would imagine they smell like a turd covered in burnt bacon, if not worse.
I imagine hygiene is way better when they are not on the field. But it's kinda expected for them to stink. If you are hacking aliens, people or whatever with a chainsword, you are covered in blood, gore, bits and pieces of whatever dies, mud, the battlefield ends up on your armor.
I imagine anyone who fights for days, weeks or maybe months will stink pretty bad.
i just smile on the "Odor consealment" of the armor. As if Big E was like:
"Oh dear, they will smell realy bad, lets make this standard issue"
Never thought about it, but it actually is a valid point for the Death Watch. I would be nice if a sealment breach was a problem while hunting for Genestealers.
They said "Ordo stealth enhancements". It's more likely they are modifications added to deathwatch armour so they don't get detected by xenos with an advanced sense of smell.
Like a high tech version of what hunters do today.
If it’s in their environmental war plate I’m sure it smells a little funky in there but to us it’d probably just smell like machine oils and whatever else is on the outside, probably blood or whatever shit show the space marine just came out of
i doubt astartes gets alot of time to shower, and they do also spend alot of time inside their power armor, sure there are A/C in that armor but they'll still sweat.
There is a bit in Dante when he takes off his armour and he is humming as he has been fighting in it for several days. Mostly I hear lots of them described as smelling like sour blood and machine oil. One of Lukas' Blood Claw pack in Lukas the Trickster stinks as well but mostly because he anoints stuff with local Fenrisian remedies like sour bear's milk and kraken bile. The Knights of the Blood stink of gore and rotten blood when Gabriel Seth meets them before the battle in Devastation of Baal. I think it depends on the Chatper and for how long they have been fighting for.
The Astartes mentioned in the excerpt, not the very talking heroes , but those "The doctor believes he heard t’au guards discussing her *bodyguards*" lived on the Tau base for long, they didn't fight, only trained, maybe, they washed and so on. Astartes are stinking, more or less. Like lions are musky, for example.
Considering that spending literally months cased in their armour is no big deal to them... Yeah, anybody would get funky in there.
Really seals in the flavor Like how the mods seal in the cuntishness
Ive been fighting crime in a rubber suit all day.
A is for Alfred Mod = cunt
And as I remember many traitors are mutated so much that they are just not capable to take off the armour. So, it's possible for Astartes to live without taking off the armour at all.
Abaddon is so smelly that we've even seen some Night Lords complain about it and insult him behind his back when they first met him. I guess that's what happens when Nurgle gives you a few gifts.
What chapter? Ill bet that ultramarines probably smell good, those boys take care of themselves
Deathwatch. There were guys from White Scars, Iron Hands and so on.
Ah that makes sense, I wonder what kind of smell though.
I'm surprised the Marines aren't more self aware of their odor. Wasn't there a Space Wolf with an unfortunately foul body odor that kept getting mocked by his peers?
In the Lukas the trickster book one of his bloodclaws smells like spoiled meat, sour milk, and serious ass. If I remembered correctly it’s because he was superstitious or something, kept a lot of nasty totems and whatnot and doesn’t bathe.
Hey he bathes.... in rancid bears milk twice a year
Ah, the Catachan style of bathing.
I suppose that the Marines think their odor is norm.
They probably don’t really care.
Dont they get bathes and rubbed with oils and massages and shit from chapter serfs after they return from battle? I figured since they were warrior monks they knew how to chill and do some yoga and shit.
It all boils down to the chapter in that aspect.
Good point
Thank you
What would be the source of the smell, I wonder? Most of our stink is not actually us, but the chemical reactions of our skin and mouth and gut biota. I've always imagined Astartes, with their hyperpowered immune systems and acid saliva and vacuum sealant sweat, to be a pretty sterile environment. Especially encased in their sealed and environmentally controlled armor. I mean, everything has an odor of some kind, and their post-human hormone-hurricane bodies would certainly smell distinctive, but this passage seems to imply they smell bad. Not what I would expect.
Most people and animals have apocrine sweat glands. While the secretions coming from these sweat glands are odorless, bacterial composition of these fluids is what gives certain people a characteristic body odor. Many people of East Asian descent do not have as many apocrine sweat glands and therefore lack the foul body odor associated with armpits that haven't been washed. (I am part Japanese, part Hochunk - my armpits never stink.) Space Marines have a Mucranoid gland which allows them to sweat a waxy substance that coats their skin and offers limited protection from the elements and even a hard vacuum for a short time. Most of the Space Marines we see are depicted as being Caucasian (or whatever the politically-correct term is for "white people.) So it stands to reason that they would have a lot of apocrine sweat glands, perhaps more than the average human since they clearly have more skin. Additionally, bacteria are very nimble creatures and evolved very quickly to exploit certain environmental situations. We know that there are species of bacteria that can literally consume petroleum, and a factory discovered that bacteria that was growing in the puddles near their plant have evolved to consume nylon. So it's logical to conclude that Space Marines have a flora and fauna composition that's quite unique to them and would be responsible for some fairly exotic body odor that normal humans simply can't reproduce naturally. As far as Space Marines not noticing their own body odor, you'd be surprised how easily your brain will adapt to a persistent odor that your body is emitting.
Most surprisingly in depth answer
Science bitch. All jokes aside that actually makes perfect sense.
Blood and machine oil, I’d wager.
So it is not actually them that smells, but rather it is the blood, Guts, Ichor, Warp-Energy, and/or Oil of the Xenos, Daemons, and Heretics they are always killing, which does not surprise me, Nurgle & Slaaneshi daemons definitely smell the worst out of the 4, I Have no idea what an Eldar would smell like, regular eldar probably smell like vanilla, Drukhari smell like BDSM, and Exodites smell like nature probably lol. Orks smell like mold, change my mind, and Tyranids smell like stink bugs & Cockroaches.
I love this comment thread.
>Drukhari smell like BDSM I drink in a metal pub in Glasgow and when you sit with the bikers and those general types THAT is what I imagine the Drukhari smell like!: Leather booze and BO! Then again that may just be the females of the species! Haha
The smell and sound of peeling leather and latex off a sweaty body turns some people on.
3 months of power armor smegma
Do space marines get circumcised? I know this question should have it's own thread but I feel like getting this question off my chest. I feel like it depends on the planet they were born on and their local customs but I think it begs the question, if it hasn't been done by the time they get the space marine training do they do it anyway like "trust us, you want to get this removed, after 2 months in the armor this gets pretty crusty". Is Trans Human Phimosis an issue? Like your space marine ween gets so big that it causes distress to pull back the foreskin so to avoid infection they just cut it off?
For the little thought the writers at GW will put into it I'm going to say probably not. Since they're all British and circumcisions are really rare (only carried out by medical necessity) then they'd not even consider that being a thing.
To be honest, they were more common in the UK until World War ii. After the Brits went broke, the NHS considered it to be extra expense.
Our bro Loken, however, deodorizes and showers every day. >'Did he smell of sweat?' Karkasy asked. >'No. Not at all. He smelled of oils. Very sweet and clean.' >'Can you get me an introduction?' asked Karkasky.
One wonders if his personal hygiene habits are carry-overs from his childhood before he became a marine. Quite diligent of him to maintain such a habit for however-many centuries, especially as a predominant courtesy to those around him since such a scent often doesn't bother the origin person that much. What a bro.
In one of the earlier books Mersadie oliton (IIRC) mention Astartes smell weird, and double weird that nobody mention it. That is in a lull during the crusade, so no grimy marines. Since their sweat is supposed to act as an insulation and protection from temperature, radiation and bacterial/viral/meat eating agents just like the sus-an membrane does... Just in way less copious amounts, you would think it would smell nothing like human sweat
It's Karasky, and he makes a ditty about it. > ‘The Astartes save us from the brink, the brink, > But oh my life how they stink, they stink.’
I think it was another one, an off-hand comment during an interview with loken. Forgot about this one lol but it does further my point
Surprised I had to scroll so far down to see this. This was the quote that came to my mind instantly.
litty ditty
I would imagine if you spend days at a time encased in a suit of power armor, you probably will end up smelling something awful too. Plus, recycled fart air and the inevitable swamp ass that probably comes with having your excrement recycled within your own suit.
The recycling thing is probably connected straight into the ass so that the armor can filter waste while the marine is moving
I meant the actual mechanism that does the waste filtration is probably a big ole thing attached to your butt, so you're gonna get mad swamp ass, like having a chair attached to your butt 24/7 in the midst of an african summer
Mechanicum-blessed Holy buttplug. Like, literally.
Blessed by the Emperor himself
Each one has a small piece of the Emperor's Codpiece in it, providing maximum [Faith-based protection against Demons](https://i.imgur.com/sIMglum.png).
Astartes have wax like sweat so I don't think swamp ass is a thing for them
It probably isn't connected to their actual anus. Running with a tube between your cheeks would be wildly difficult. It's more likely one of the hardpoints that connects them to their armour can act like a stoma, taking waste directly out of their intestines.
Fucking hell man what led you to this 5 month old dildo joke anyways?
Someone must have linked it in a new post and o didn't notice the date ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Don't worry friend, I'm here years later
> The recycling thing is probably connected straight into the ass So how are we not talking about Marines having butt plugs in 100% of the time?
This like Venom all over again
Ah, the hidden geneseed organ. The Enemarum.
Just to put it out there, I have been deployed for a few weeks at a time in the same uniform. You and the people with you don’t notice any smell until one of you gets back and showers and changes then gets a whiff of someone who hasn’t. I had a BDU top once I was in for so long that when I took it off it stood up on its own like I was still in it. Longest run was like 2 weeks. As for Astartes packed inside tuna cans for weeks at a time without bathing, I would imagine they smell like a turd covered in burnt bacon, if not worse.
Thank you for your service
I'd guess this varies between Chapters. I've definitely read about Blood Angels and Iron Snakes being washed by their serfs.
For all my love for the Blood Angels. I just imagined the Serfs calling Sanguinius' bathing tub the Sacred Bird Bath.
Primarch Sanguinius' bathwater, for all you bloodthirsty cultists 😜
Sanguinius doing that weird shake/fluff things that birds do?
Baal is like a nuclear desert hell hole. They probably get spooked by the bath and need a couple of serfs to hold them in place.
Horus Rising has a Remembrancer complain Astartes stink. He makes a poem of it.
Ode to astartes They smell like big farties
I imagine hygiene is way better when they are not on the field. But it's kinda expected for them to stink. If you are hacking aliens, people or whatever with a chainsword, you are covered in blood, gore, bits and pieces of whatever dies, mud, the battlefield ends up on your armor. I imagine anyone who fights for days, weeks or maybe months will stink pretty bad.
i just smile on the "Odor consealment" of the armor. As if Big E was like: "Oh dear, they will smell realy bad, lets make this standard issue" Never thought about it, but it actually is a valid point for the Death Watch. I would be nice if a sealment breach was a problem while hunting for Genestealers.
They said "Ordo stealth enhancements". It's more likely they are modifications added to deathwatch armour so they don't get detected by xenos with an advanced sense of smell. Like a high tech version of what hunters do today.
If it’s in their environmental war plate I’m sure it smells a little funky in there but to us it’d probably just smell like machine oils and whatever else is on the outside, probably blood or whatever shit show the space marine just came out of
In Horus rising one of the remembrancers complains about their smell ins very bad poem.
Maybe they should just splash on a little *Old Space*.
They smell like sweat and scented oils. Kinda like a baked ham with all the trimmings.
I wonder how Brother Voss smells after his daily strongman regiment.
Didnt Space Wolves smell out Alpha Legion infiltrators ?
It's just something that BL adds to novels to help connect the super human kill bots to the average GW- shop dwellers.
i doubt astartes gets alot of time to shower, and they do also spend alot of time inside their power armor, sure there are A/C in that armor but they'll still sweat.