Warhammer 40,000

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war!

Warhammer 40,000, also referred to as Warhammer 40k, or sometimes just 40k is a continuum based on the popular tabletop game released by Games Workshop.

The game was originally a rather blatant futuristic expy of the Warhammer series by the same company (as evidenced by most of its races being describable as "X in Space"), but has since grown into its own canon with a dark and gritty feel.

Setting
The game is based on the premise that in the 41st/42nd millennium (hence the 40,000), humanity has spread out across the stars- and promptly come under attack on all sides (including from itself).

Humanity is technically ruled by the God-Emperor of Mankind; however, he is almost dead and only sustained by the great Golden Throne in which he is interred, unable to move or speak. In practice the Imperium is ruled by the Senatorum Imperialis, the twelve High Lords of Terra, and functions as a religious state.

Most of the Imperium is dystopian- hence the "grim darkness of the far future". The Empire is so massive and sprawling that it includes countless different worlds of all types, ranging from Neolithic jungle death worlds, like Catachaen, to polluted hive worlds, like Armageddon.

The Adeptus Mechanicus, the Tech-Priests of Mars, are the engineers and technicians of the Imperium, and create most of the Imperium's more advanced machinery and weaponry, among other things, despite the fact that their understanding of the technology they use is limited at best, with much of their procedure based on ritual and religious dogma rather than genuine engineering or mechanical skill. The Imperium was originally formed by the re-uniting of the Tech-Adepts of Mars and the Emperor, before his ascension to Godhood. The alliance was dictated by their own religious doctrines in which the Emperor occupies a messianic position of authority.

The Adeptus Mechanicus believe that all knowledge already exists and that humanity only found it. They also see technology as a sort of life form, preaching that the Imperium's machines possess a sort of spirit known as "machine spirit" which only serves humanity. Most ordinary humans don't understand technology at all.

The Imperium is surrounded by alien species, and is also under continual attack from the forces of Chaos.

The Imperium of Man
The Imperium's defence forces consist of:


 * the Imperial Guard, hundreds of billions of conscripts who hold the line against the Imperium's enemies largely with their bodies alone
 * the Imperial Navy, which navigates the Warp and keeps the connections between the countless worlds relatively safe
 * the Adeptus Astartes, a.k.a. the Space Marines, who are the power-armored special troops of the Imperium
 * the Adeptus Custodes, the Emperor's bodyguard
 * the Adeptus Arbites, the police force of the Imperium
 * the Adepta Sororitas, female warriors of the Imperial Cult
 * the Inquisition, a large internal force that consists of three branches, and is devoted to keeping the Imperium "clean". These are:
 * the Ordo Xenos, which "handles" alien entities like the Tau
 * the Ordo Hereticus, which deals with heresy against the Emperor and the Imperium in general (a surprisingly broad field)
 * the Ordo Malleus, which handles demonic forces like the Warp and the Chaos which has spawned from it.

The Rest
The enemies of the Imperium include:


 * The renegade forces of Chaos (Crazy mutants and traitors worshiping the Ruinous Powers)
 * Eldar (The remnants of an ancient elf-like race; directly created the Chaos God Slaanesh; sometimes allies of the Imperium, but usually one is manipulating the other in this case, and the alliance is always a tenuous one)
 * The Dark Eldar (Eldar who constantly commit acts of depravity in order to prevent the Chaos God Slaanesh from eating their souls, namely by taking the souls of those they kill)
 * The Tyranid Hive Fleets (Giant, heavily armoured insects. Devour entire planets, including the atmosphere.)
 * Orks (Big, green, and nasty. The most numerous species in the galaxy by far; the only reason they haven't banded together and easily crushed all opposition is the fact that they tend to spend more time fighting each other. Literally an entire species of biological weapons, as they were created specifically by the Old Ones to fight against the Necrons)
 * The Tau Empire ("Space commies"; blue skinned aliens with very powerful technology, probably the closest thing to "good guys" in the entire setting, and even they're evil to some extent; like the Eldar, they are sometimes allies of the Imperium, and aside from the Damocles and Nimbosa crusades there is usually a truce of sorts between the two empires)
 * The Necrons (creepy robots which can't be killed, and want to kill everything, down to the last bacteria; used to be an incredibly short-lived race called the Necrontyr, but gave their souls and bodies to the C'tan star gods in exchange for immortality, they are now no more than slaves to said star gods)

To be a man in this continuum is to be one of countless trillions, and probably very dead. Or worse.

Agents from the Warhammer 40k continuum

 * Agent Rose Marcone
 * Agent Mkellin
 * Agent Zodfang Gobrunt
 * Agent Uriel Thane
 * Agent Chliever