"To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods."
Warhammer40k is a science fiction, dystopian universe with elements of Cthulhu-like horror intertwined in it.
Several alien empires come closer, day by day, to overrunning the defenses of mankind and consuming, enslaving, or destroying them once and for all.
However, the Orks cannot be said to be part of those encroaching upon humanity's domain and wiping it out once and for all simply because of the fact that they squabble amongst themselves far too often to pose a serious or as serious of a threat as the other alien races. And more importantly, it isn't on their agenda. They don't specifically have the Imperium in their sights.
In addition, in my opinion, their happy, carefree and go-lucky attitude to things doesn't really fit well with the bit at the very top.
Moving on, what role do the Orks really serve nowadays? Warhammer40k has changed tremendously since its inception and I doubt the people behind the franchise back then thought it would be as successful or that it would become so grimdark with humanity's doom at the hands of aliens and primordial monsters lurking in the dark becoming a major selling point.
The Orks speak a form of Cockney English, they build titans that look like garbage cans, their guns are painted various colors because such a practice is believed to make their weapons more effective (which arguably it does given their psychic status), and there are many other examples.
They have no goals or fears like the other races such as: Eldar/surviving until Ynnead, Dark Eldar/Slaanesh, Necrons/closing the warp and restoring their dominance, Tyranids/sustaining their hunger, Tau/bringing their way of life to all and becoming a major power, etc. In a way they are the total embodiment of Chaos in that their movements and personalities are fickle and ever changing and they just do things for the sake of doing them.
So are they needed anymore? Surely another menace could replace them if they were to suddenly go the way of the Squats. Or do we truly need some form of comic relief in the series to balance people's humors?
Warhammer40k is a science fiction, dystopian universe with elements of Cthulhu-like horror intertwined in it.
Several alien empires come closer, day by day, to overrunning the defenses of mankind and consuming, enslaving, or destroying them once and for all.
However, the Orks cannot be said to be part of those encroaching upon humanity's domain and wiping it out once and for all simply because of the fact that they squabble amongst themselves far too often to pose a serious or as serious of a threat as the other alien races. And more importantly, it isn't on their agenda. They don't specifically have the Imperium in their sights.
In addition, in my opinion, their happy, carefree and go-lucky attitude to things doesn't really fit well with the bit at the very top.
Moving on, what role do the Orks really serve nowadays? Warhammer40k has changed tremendously since its inception and I doubt the people behind the franchise back then thought it would be as successful or that it would become so grimdark with humanity's doom at the hands of aliens and primordial monsters lurking in the dark becoming a major selling point.
The Orks speak a form of Cockney English, they build titans that look like garbage cans, their guns are painted various colors because such a practice is believed to make their weapons more effective (which arguably it does given their psychic status), and there are many other examples.
They have no goals or fears like the other races such as: Eldar/surviving until Ynnead, Dark Eldar/Slaanesh, Necrons/closing the warp and restoring their dominance, Tyranids/sustaining their hunger, Tau/bringing their way of life to all and becoming a major power, etc. In a way they are the total embodiment of Chaos in that their movements and personalities are fickle and ever changing and they just do things for the sake of doing them.
So are they needed anymore? Surely another menace could replace them if they were to suddenly go the way of the Squats. Or do we truly need some form of comic relief in the series to balance people's humors?