Warhammer 40k Forum and Wargaming Forums banner

Is the Emperor good or Evil?

21K views 89 replies 61 participants last post by  Uilleam 
#1 ·
Although it is pretty self evident that there are no 'good guys' in 40k, iI was wondering how the emperor is aligned in fluff terms, in the book legion one of the characters described him as a 'bloodthirsty bastard'. so, generally, how could his 'alignment' be best described.
 
#2 ·
The ends justify the means. That's the Emperors philosophy.

So while he causes the death of thousands every day, to quell trouble, it's for the good of the Imperium.

Obviously, it depends on your view point.

You're a soldier in the Imperial Guard, fighting wars against a physical foe. The last thing you need is Chaos coming up, and biting you in the backside, so several guard regiments are assigned to keeping order, along with the Arbites. These are particularly brutal, and to stop heresy and defection, they are allowed to order the death penalty. This is all well and good if that one man preaches against the Emperor, and begins to turn the world against the Emperor, making a crusade which can cause trouble for untold millions. Killing him is the best way, and it is seen as a good decision to make.

However, try saying that to the dictators/Preachers family.



 
#3 ·
It's best summed up by one of my OTHER favorite Science Fiction universes-

"It’s my estimation that every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of a son of a bitch or another."
 
#5 ·
If I remember rightly the guy that called the Emperor a bloodthirsty bastard was working for the Cabal and not exactly human, so his view might be a little coloured possibly, but it does seem an accurate assessment to me. He would be good if you are on his side and were never killed or treated badly in his name, and he would be evil for everyone else. Other than that there is no overall moral standpoint to compare him to, everyone in 40k is a bit of a git really.
 
#6 ·
maybe he doesn't have a choice hear me out, but I always took him to be a sometimes fair and just guy but has flaws like everyone else.......in 40k the universe is in constant war and the forces of chaos are on the march. In truths terms civilians can, do and always will die in war. It's inevitable, but very sad too. Back in the ancient times whole cities would be put to the sword.....good thing that doesn't happend in todays time....
 
#7 ·
The Emperors philosopy and thoughts are really bad, as these foughts have brought the Imperium and the Galaxy to a slowly decaying death. Right now the Emperor is quite a bastard killing thousands of humans a day. if he didnt make a mistake way before than 40k would have been like hippie land
 
#8 ·
I thought he was a good guy, he didn't force people to worship him, he chose to convert people into his civilisation rather than wipe them out. From what people have said on these forums, I've gathered the opinion that he was a good person as much as any conquerer can be.
 
#9 ·
Apologies if this is offensive to anyone nothing offensive is intended but imagine we are germany and the other races are Jewish,

Lot's see the emperor as hitler and the other races being killed off are jews.


People can say why compare him to hitler? Because the emperor isn't a good guy either.

I beleive thats the best explenation possible.
 
#18 ·
:biggrin: Godwins law, well done sir.

Alas, comparing the big E with Hitler, and his great crusade with the invasion of Europe and subsequent masacre of almost 10,000,000 innocent men women and children isn't quit accurate.
The Emporer saught to use his armies to bring pockets of humanity back into the fold of the Imperium. When discovered they would be offered a chance to to join the Imperium, known as "complicance" or they could be anhilated by the combined might of the Legions and the Imperial Navy, Ironically also called "Compliance". From what I was taught, I don't remember the Jews being given much of a choice.
We also know that the Emporer wasn't a massive fan of wholesale slaughter from "Flight of the Eisenstiend"; when describing Virus bombs he mentions they are a weapon so vile "Even the Emporer is loathed to use them".

As for aliens, well, its the Emporers galaxy, get out or die. As a human, ive got a slight bias towards the Men and women of the 31st millenium. The 41st, not quite like what the Emporer invisioned id bet.

If you want to compare the Imperium of the Great Crusade with anything, id say personally it would be closer to go with the Roman Empire. But then they didn't offer much of a chance for peacful surrender either.
 
#39 ·
As a chaos player i agree :so_happy:

Although it is all a matter of point of view.

Yes he does go around killing people which makes him sort of evil but when you think of it in a logical way hes only doing as all other races in the galaxy want to kill each and dominate the other if he was to kill them then the normal people would live in peace.

I think hes a good guy.
 
#12 ·
good or evil, he still isnt the evilist so could be one of the goodest.

but on god terms he has to be the goodest as the pantheon is total evil, star gods are sort of the same, gork and mork probably arent evil but cant be called good, eldar pantheon are abit inbetween (KMK was a right bastard) and seeing as tau dont seem to worship gods and neither do the tyranids i think the emperor is the defacto winner.
 
#17 ·
Squeek the guy in Legion was human at one time and when he was human he met the Emperor and thats when he decided he was a bloodthirsty bastard so that is from his "human" point of view. He thought this because he is a powerful psyker and was briefly able to see into the emperors mind.
 
#20 ·
The emperor is Good for humans, Lawful Neutral to certain minor side races, and Lawful evil to major races that openly oppose the imperium

He is all about unifying humanity for the upcoming war which I am sure he forsees, unfortunately he doesn't see why it happens, and he falls prey to horus. He believes that a divided humanity will perish, and a unified humanity will survive.
 
#24 ·
I wouldn't say the Big E hated, im sure it wasn't war on a personal level, but as the man he was; the one chosen by the shamen of old Terra to unite and lead humanity against the evils of an uncaring unvierse he was bound to encounter some pit traps along the way. I always got the impression that the Emporer got on well with Eldrad on a personal level, alas thier differing view points put them at odds often. Nither come off as bloodthirsy, crude or prone to cruelty for crueltys sake.
Psykers are an odd one, but the judgements at the council of Nikea could well have been a safe gaurd against the machinations of the warp. Unchecked psykers make perfect pawns for the deamons of the immaterium, a risk not worth taking even with the ever growing philosiphy of the Imperial Truth so prevailent at the time.

We as people of the 21st Centurys are educated and conditioned, for the most, to be compasionate and caring for our fellow man, and accepting of other cultures. Unfortunatly the Galaxy of the 41st Millenium cannot be shared, and greed leads to war, even if its a war of our imaginations. As a human, and the Master of Mankind, the Emporer did what he had to do to bring humanitys destiny to fruition. His major floor was what made him so loved by his people; His humainty. He was a perfect example of this, warts and all, as the saying goes.
 
#25 ·
emporer is very evil basicly his big idea join me or die
1st guy says 'no' (emporer shoots him)
2nd guy 'only on one condition'(emporer shoots him)
3rd guy tries to run shot before he gets out the room

but despite that hes good as everything he dose the good of humanity he killed around 90% of the population of terra in the unification wars but that was so he had a platform from which to launch the great crusade.

also i'm not sure every alien encountered were killed out of spite i'm sure i read somwhere the inquisitions digital weapons are made by some alien race just as long as they could be usefull slaves for the emporer and mankind

also he did not want to be thought of as a god he actually punished the primach logar for saying the emporer is a god and i'm sure everyone knows were that led he was also against the cult that hailed him as a god
 
#77 ·
only after allowing him to continue his worship for 200 odd years i think the emperor is a cold hearted tyrant, do as i say and all is well, go against what i say then pay the price, sounds a bit like old roman emperors or 20th century dictaterates.
he has the interests of humanity at the forefront of histhoughts but billions of humans in the IG get killed in his name, Arbites execute those who speak against his name and the corpse on the throne still eats all the psykers souls but that is the 41M and i suppose you have to be pragmatic if you don't want to loose to the dark gods....even so he is just as bad imho
 
#27 ·
I'm not sure if you can say good or evil, because he's not really ruling now is he.

He started out all nice with his agressive recruitment of the old tribesmen, which may seem crude, but then again if we want to unit humans now this would be the only way too!

And then, when he was just getting started horus came to beat him up and he was put into the yellow coffin to guild the emperium through the stars.

The High lord rule now, not the emperor. Most of them will be powerhungry phycomaniacs who of course want more power.
The emperors worship wasn't installed untill after his death, so you can't confict him for this. During the crusade any religion was outlawed by the emperor anyway.

I don't think the emperium is evil, it's afraid, and scared people do scared things to survive.
 
#28 ·
i think the thing that people get twisted is that they think of the emperor as being the same as jesus. that being all good and compassionate and never doing the slightest thing wrong. like someone else said he has the same humanity as everyone else and we know that humans have the capacity for good and have a evil side at the same time.
i think with the creation of another chaos god, the xenos being a very real threat to the existence of mankind and seeing a very big possiblity that humans would just become a widespread slave race the emperor had to take drastic measures to ensure not only the the prosperity of mankind but the survival and with so many variables the big plan was bound to slip up somewhere along the lines.

unless what has transpired was the emperors plan all along.......
 
#30 ·
I love how the chaos players say he's evil because he shoots people for not joining him. The xenos players say he's evil because he doesn't let other races live. The imperial players say he was good because he allowed humanity to flourish. Funny. That's some interesting (but expected) viewpoints. I don't see him as good or evil. I think he was humanity's champion. That's all.
 
#34 · (Edited)
I say he's good because I am a human, not because I play marines:grin:

Also, S-M, I think the Emporer is a tad more important to the Imperium of Man than just a Mascot for the Inqisition. Hes the Psychic becon that guides thier warfleets, and a figure of inspiration and comfort to the teeming masses and ever advancing legions. Now perhaps he is at his most powerful. He is an idea, and Ideas Mr Creedy, are bullet proof.
Perhaps incaserated on the golden throne he is more able to guide and protect that he ever was during his years on the battlefield.
 
#31 · (Edited)
the emperor is merely a brilliant psyker and a harsh conquorer who accepts none but his own race. there is no straight good and evil, he made some mistakes and now he is on a golden toilet living as a generator and a fuse box, however its clear he no longer has any say in the imperium, he is just the mascot for the inquisition, i say the real question is "is the inquisition good or evil" (or at least "WAS the emperor good or evil") and the answer is, that they are in the middle, they do good and evil things, depending on who's side your on.

*steps off soap box*
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top