Are marines immortal?

[Cadaver Junkie]

Originally Posted by DJinni

it all depends on the fluff you look at the dark angels fluff says that the inner circle are the most loyal and experienced under the emperor's vassels because they were the marines who were alive during the heresy. so the dreadnought of that chapter would be the oldest of the old.

Just politely curious - from where would you be referencing this statement? I've never heard that any of the dark angels from the time of the heresy are still around (apart from Luther, and the fallen, and maybe Cypher whoever he is, and The Lion who is in stasis. Ok there's a few, but no loyalists bar the primarch and he's pretty much mostly dead anyway).

[mpdscott]

I can't remember which book it's in, but there's a short story based around a marine (during the Heresy) being blown into space. His Sus-An kicks in, and he floats along for 10,000 years until the "present". When he wakes up, he's in the Eye, and landing on a Chaos World that looks like a flower. The Chaos Marine who rules the world convinces him that the Emperor lost, and the whole galaxy is now like that world. Blah blah blah. Marine finds out the truth and kills the Chaos Marine, and dies not long after fighting against beasties of some sort.
But what this illustrates is, that if a Marine does not die in combat, it is entirely possible for them to live a VERY VERY long time...but that's not likely to happen.

[AlbinoAlien]

it's true scott that they can live along time, but in the story your referencing, that marine is traveling through the warp, where time really has no meaning.

[CaptainSarathai]

I don't believe that marines are immortal- i think that their brains would eventually be their downfall. We have the machinery to replace body parts and organs, we have pills and cocktails and drugs known as Rejuvenats that keep you young. Yarrick is a regular old human, but he's over 100years old, and he's a crazy old man who's walked hundreds of battlefields and been severely battered. Same goes for Inq. Eisenhorne- very old, not a marine.

The admech are the oldest typically. They make use of the Rejuvanats and have the best access to the mechanical replacements. In one book, it says that the problem is that their brains slowly deteriorate, and they slip into mysticism and paranoia, and what was once just routine becomes a case of obsessive compulsive disorder.

Marines on the other hand already have an incredibly high rate of attrition through combat. Gaurdsmen are the same- they never retire, and 100% of them die in the ranks. Marines are likely similar, except it may take several centuries for a marine to die in the ranks.
If you notice, as marines age, they become more experienced, and rather than preserving their veterans, the chapters toss their vets into the hardest fiercest fighting, where a normal marine would be slain instantly, but a veteran has a somewhat better chance of accomplishing the mission. This I feel, is reflective of their psyche- the worst way a marine could die would be of old age. They're warriors, and a martial culture. Nobody wants to die peacefully, old and feeble in a bed. They want to be cut down in their prime, as a legend and a hero, not as a burden who needs his diaper changed after chapter feasts.
The oldest marines, if they survive, likely become Dreadnoughts, or embark on some wild crusade from which there is no return. The rest all die in combat. Even a chapter-master will name a successor and then go fight the biggest, baddest opponent he can track down.

[omegoku]

The Guard does not have a 100% fatality rate.
Not everyone dies in combat.
It is Imperial decree that a crusading regiment is gifted with a planet to make their own should they prove their valiour and survive long enough. Not everyone will take the offer of potential peace but many soldiers do and start their own worlds in the Emperors name.

As for Space Marines, I think physically they are immortal. There bodies will get tougher and tougher but the hypnotherapy and constant warfare probably slowly damages their minds.
Space Marines generally have a child like or dog like loyalty to their cause and inevitably will find that dying for it is easy to do

[Sgtsinner]

in the book: "Horus Rising" from Dan Abnett it says the following:

"To all intents and purposes, and by every measurements known to the gene-scientists and gerontologists, the Astartes, like the primarchs, were immortals. Age would not wither them,nor bring them down. They would live forever..."

a little further:

"Yes, they might live forever, but they would never get the chance. *blablabla* They had been born immortal only to die in war."

guess that answers your question

[omegoku]

that is debatable as it
1. is Black Library and as such, not necessarily 100% accurate. (G. S. Goto is a well known fluff ignorer, Dan Abnett has been known to take small liberties)
2. They only measured it as best they could, there is no record of an Astartes living more than a few hundred years.
3. That very same book has a Marine character called 'The Unheard' who is an old Marine who seems to be past his prime and no longer takes a very active part in operations.
4. The science used to create and maintain Marines has long since been lost to superstition and misunderstanding. The Marines of 40k are weaker genetically than their 30k brothers, but are more strictly trained and indoctrinated (to avoid another Heresy). It is likely that even if the 30k marines were immortal, the 40k ones are just very long lived.

[muzzyman1981]

Well I don't know if you are counting those in Dreadnoughts as I wish to remind you that Bjorn the Fellhanded was one of Leman Russ' Wolf Guard before the Primarch left the Wolves and Bjorn is still kicking butt to this day (although not as much as he would like I'm sure =P).

As for those not within one of the Dreadnoughts, I would have to say that yes they are technically mortal...they just age at so slow a pace than normal humans that they are effectively immortal (I would say the amount of Space Marines who have died of age complications can be counted on two hands over the course of the age of the Imperium). Remember a Space Marine sees more battlegrounds than a IG battalion (this is of course my opinion and not "fact", also this is not a slight against the IG as they do as best they can).

[Visitor Q]

Marine aren't immortal. They age and die like normal humans. Their life expectancy is simply a lot longer.

If you check out the Space Marine Codex it talks about the Chapters HQ. This is made up of the Senior Officwrs Administrative Staff Support Staff etc etc.

Anyway the Codex says these positions are filled by experienced Marines whoese extreme age makes them no longer battle worthy.

This obviously suggests Marines can occasionaly die of old age.

In terms of the Horus Heresy I get the impression the marines were more powerful...more like copies of their various Primarchs. Just note 'Legion' and 'Horus Rising' for how the marines seem to be more identical to their Primarch. So perhaps they were immortal originally.

[muzzyman1981]

Actually the posts of "Masters of" are not given to Space Marines who are no longer able to go into battle due to age....if I remember correctly "Masters of" titles are given mainly to Company Captains who go into battle as much or more than their subordinates. Same thing applies to the Chapter Master, he doesn't go into battle as often as the rest of the Chapter but that is due to his added responsibilities of running a Chapter of Space Marines, not due to his age (remember the Ultramarines Chapter Master Calgar has to run pretty much an entire space sector that is Ultramar so he can't go running off to a war without due consideration as to who runs the sector in his place as obviously he isn't going to be handling the politics of running Ultramar while he is commanding his men in the field).