[Ardias26]

Since malleus inquisitors basically dedicate themselves to fighting daemons and warp monsters, and since the warp is known to 'change' you somewhat on contact.
Couldnt it be reasonable to assume that most malleus inquisitors inevitably develop some form of mutation in their careers, an extra finger here, another eye there. It would rly be an occupational hazard.
Bearing this in mind, how could the inquisition realistically abhor mutation when in all likelyhood they will wake up one morning with one themselves!!

 

[normtheunsavoury]

Any Inquisitor showing any sign of mutation would be shot on sight, burned, the ashes blasted out into space then shot to bits by the biggest gun the Inquisition could lay their hands on!
I suppose it could and probably does happen, the Inquisitors themselves would use prayer and stuff like that to guard against it I suppose.

 

[King Gary]

Who's gonna go up to an inquisitor and say "You look funny"?

 

[Barnster]

Many Inquisitors have been corrupted by chaos, they are then hunted down like the traitorous scum they are. Then their corpses are blasted into the heart of a star.

To accept chaos as inevitable is to tred the path of damnation

 

[normtheunsavoury]

Who's gonna go up to an inquisitor and say "You look funny"?

Another higher ranking Inquisitor, with a bigger gun.

 

[nocturnalK]

is not the inquisition a split entity?, If i remember right from the Demonhunters codex 1 side would of killed you onsite and the other side thought that the best way to defeat chaos was to become chaos.. hence the use of demon hosts by the second side

 

[Baron Spikey]

I believe it was Eisenhorn or Ravenor who said that inevitably every Inquisitor becomes an irredemable Radical, it's a matter of the good they can do before they walk the path of damnation.

 

[Warlock in Training]

I believe it was Eisenhorn or Ravenor who said that inevitably every Inquisitor becomes an irredemable Radical, it's a matter of the good they can do before they walk the path of damnation.

That about sums it up. Die a Hero or live long enough to see yourself the villian.

 

[Bakunin]

is not the inquisition a split entity?, If i remember right from the Demonhunters codex 1 side would of killed you onsite and the other side thought that the best way to defeat chaos was to become chaos.. hence the use of demon hosts by the second side

The inquisition is massively split. There are loads of different factions and differing opinions. It also is full of internal politics and secret alliances as well as differind definitions of what is a heretic.

The use of chaos varys as well. Some won't have anything to do with it. Others study it in a 'know your enemy' kind of way, while some actuall use Daemon weapons and Daemon hosts against chaos, argueing that the warp is dangerous, but neutral with the way it is used being the problem.

 

[Bakunin]

That about sums it up. Die a Hero or live long enough to see yourself the villian.

Not really.

It is not through fighting chaos, but through the use of chaos that corrupts. Tracking down a cult that is lead by a someone posessed by a daemon does not mean you will grow horns and be corrupted. Takeing the cults manuscripts and useing it to summon daemons, even in the service of the Emperor, might lead to a few extra bits growing. Not every Ordo Mallleus inquisitor carrys on to the second stage.

 

[Azezel]

I believe it was Eisenhorn or Ravenor who said that inevitably every Inquisitor becomes an irredemable Radical, it's a matter of the good they can do before they walk the path of damnation.

I read that as Eisenhorn trying to justify himself to himself. He knew that what he was doing was dead wrong, but, hey, everyone does it, right?

Well, no, they don't. There are puritans and radicals and a lot more in between but only the most radical go off the deep end like Eisenhorn.

 

[shaantitus]

Quixos went off the deep end. Eisenhorn is on his way but is not there yet, he still works for the benefit of the imperium but he is definetely radical. There are others more radical han he. I would consider Osma and heldane both to be worse than Eisenhorn.

 

[Arbite]

I believe it was Eisenhorn or Ravenor who said that inevitably every Inquisitor becomes an irredemable Radical, it's a matter of the good they can do before they walk the path of damnation.

That was Ravenor to Eisenhorn.

 

[Belthazor Aurellius]

I think it depends on the experiences of the Inquisitor. Yes, there are puritans, but as someone else said, with the very generic Caesar/Batman quote "Either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"... It all boils down to experience. The inexperienced Inquisitor can say "Chaos is EVIL, the warp is EVIL, anyone using either to further their own agenda, or even the Emperor's is EVIL"... but, the problem is, the Imperium is rife with contradictions. The Astronomican uses the Warp, Librarians and navigators, and even sanctioned psykers can be used to fight Chaos (though the last one gets shot by commissars quite frequently, like Kenny from South Park).

Add to this, studying Chaos begins with studying the signs of it. Eventually, an Inquisitor will deign the need to study the people who use Chaos. Find out what makes them tick. Much like a detective who has to get inside the mind of the criminal in order to comprehend his motives, which will point to where he will strike next. And with enough experience with the humans summoning these daemons, the Inquisitor will need to study the daemons to understand what makes them tick. Eventually, this study goes outside the bounds of reading studies already performed to reading heretical grimoires of excommunicated Inquisitors, where the book must be procured through a long and difficult process, and the Inquisitor will need a very damn good reason for it.

Eventually, the accumulated knowledge will tempt the Inquisitor to actually commune with a daemon, to learn a morsel of knowledge pertaining to an upcoming Chaos subversion. He/she will begin with a daemon whose true name is known, confirmed and verified throughout several forbidden as well as official texts. Then, with confidence growing, the subsequent summonings will increase in what kind of daemon is summoned.

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, some might say. However, I say, as much as I just laid out all that, it is also highly likely that such a chain of corruption could be staved off for a few hundred years, and that the Inquisitor in question might only have gotten to the part where he/she is reading about what the daemon he/she just fought was, how it was summoned and what its true name is... before said Inquisitor dies in battle, or from old age.

At any rate. The taint of Chaos doesn't get everyone. It's why Horus fell, but Rogal Dorn didn't. It's why half the Inquisition works for Chaos unwittingly, and the other doesn't. I won't say it's a surefire bet that every Inquisitor will be corrupted, but I will say that given enough time, everybody's survival rate drops to zero.

 

[Doelago]

Well said, and well posted! + rep

 

[Smokes]

In a way Omsa and Heldane were worse than Eisenhorn towards the end. Eisenhorn didn't have much of a choice in some regards and then again it's a part of the job description. They walk in the dark places and eventually that darkness will stay with them. There is a picture in one of the DH sourcebooks that shows an Inquisitor early in his career. He looks like some visage of the Emperor with golden light streaming around him and beautiful ornate armor. A couple of years later in his career he looks like a CSM. Heretical icons and daemonic wards are all over his armor / face. Why? Probably because they serve a purpose but all Inquisitors cross that line eventually.

Would you consider Tyrus a puritan? He's a blind fool that has murdered millions and half the time they weren't even heretics. Just the average Imperial citizen. I'm not talking about Inquisitors being nice. Every inquisitor is different and Emperor knows there are millions of them. (What drew me to the Inquisition was the amount of personalities, methods and styles.) I'm talking about them crossing the line. Look at Xanthus, Lichtenstein, Eisenhorn, . I'm sure at one point they were the epitome of Puritanism (At least Eisenhorn was.) but once you've worn the rosette for a few years you realize that the universe isn't white and black.

Considering the Ordo Malleus are the ones fighting the horrors from the ratio of radicals to puritans is different than the Hereticus, Xenos, Sicarius, Sepulturum, Chronos, etc but I would say fighting Chaos with Chaos is probably the only way to win. Xanthism and Oblationism both seek the same thing which is to defeat Chaos. The Xanthites are typically arrogant idiots (Carl Thonius I'm looking at you) who really think they can defeat the enemy and remain pure. But Oblationists sacrifice themselves and cross the line willingly in order to defeat the warp. Both are radical but it's all about the Inquisition's philosophy of does the end justify the means?

The puritans are often just as narrow-minded and foolish. Do you honestly think that you can be an Inquisitor without crossing the line or becoming corrupted? You can't. Even the ones like Tyrus and that Witch-Hunter in the second Eisenhorn book are just as radical as the Xanthus's and Nephtys's of the universe. Radicalism is just a way of saying unorthodox. Half the time someone being labeled a heretic is just a pissing contest between children given way too much power and authority. I don't see radicalism as some kind of evil, heretical, blasphemy which deserves death. It's just a way of saying that they use means that are different from the norm. Yes sometimes it can get pretty messed up and they do heretical stuff but the "line" isn't some giant bright red line in the world of gray.

I forget what Osma and Heldane were trying to accomplish but donkey face was definitely a heretic. They were both trying to capture Cherubael and use it to their own means. Of course you can't kill Eisenhorn because he is the epitome of awesomeness. But for being such a tried and true, good vs. evil, puritan Daemonhunter Osma should have destroyed Cherbuael. He was going to use it much like Eisenhorn. So thus they are both radicals. Heretics? No. Because it all goes back to that does the end justify the means philosophy. Seemed like some kind of epic rivalry instead of some kind of witch-hunt. But donkey face, Heldane, is a different story. I haven't read the Gaunt's Ghost novels where he is involved but from the tidbits I've found seems like he's pretty much as heretical as you can get. Even he at one point was a puritan and his master, Voke, was even more puritan than Eisenhorn. Even until the end old Commodus died a puritan.

Quixos though is a different story. He wanted to save the Imperium from the warp and close the eye. But he is definitely a heretic. As with Heldane I'm sure from their viewpoint it all seemed like the right thing. But in reality it's completely different. At one point wasn't he one of the shining stars of the Ordo Malleus? He was one of the most zealous and brilliant daemonhunters around but he fell much harder, faster and farther than anyone I've seen. I wish they would write more about the Inquisition and even come out with a Quixos omnibus.

 

[Barnster]

The tools of chaos always work towards their own ends. It is better to kill innocents than let the guilty live.

The taint of chaos is irredeemable other than by sword and fire, if you start to see the universe in shades of grey you don't have the morale fibre to be an inquisitor.

The only question I have is why doesn't the imperium subject inquisitors to the same purity tests as the grey knights, surely that would solve the problem.

 

[Baron Spikey]

Maybe because the purity tests of the Grey Knights strip away personality and anything other than a blind obedience to a credo (Alaric is an abnormality, his curiosity is undesirable in a Grey Knight). That's okay for a soldier but not for an individual who must constantly use his initiative and inquisitive mind, Inquisitors are trained to question everything- the polar opposite of the Ordo Malleus Militant Chamber.

 

[Smokes]

The tools of chaos always work towards their own ends. It is better to kill innocents than let the guilty live.

The taint of chaos is irredeemable other than by sword and fire, if you start to see the universe in shades of grey you don't have the morale fibre to be an inquisitor.

The only question I have is why doesn't the imperium subject inquisitors to the same purity tests as the grey knights, surely that would solve the problem.

So basically you are saying that the majority of the Inquisitors don't have the moral fiber to be what they are. That makes perfect sense. The Imperium isn't as pure as they think they are and not everyone is a Grey Knight. If the Emperor were to come back today he would end up purging the majority of mankind. You cannot eradicate Chaos because it was, essentially, created and is fueled by our emotions.

With that kind of monodominant attitude how do you expect the Imperium to survive without psykers? We know the kinds of problems they can cause. Not everyone Astartes and Inquisitor is a Grey Knight nor will it ever be like that. Again it's all about whether or not the end justifies the means. What if Quixos were successful? What about Thorianism? What if the Emperor were to talk again? Oh wait that's right. The Grey Knights have one purpose and that is to destroy the daemon. The universe is a lot more complicated for someone who isn't a giant, bio-engineered, brainwashed zealot in purity sealed armor. All Inquisitors want to do the same thing and that is to protect mankind against the myriad of enemies that threaten it. They just do it differently.

 

[Barnster]

So basically you are saying that the majority of the Inquisitors don't have the moral fiber to be what they are.

Bingo

The inquisition was founded to maintain the purity of mankind, to sustain the emperors vision of a eutopian human galaxy. But instead they have devolved into a hugely split vigilanty organisation, whos members are more concerned with pursuing personal vendettas for personal gains. Sure there are a few exceptions but even "pure" people like Coteaz and Fydor are power hungry egotists.

Essentially the inquisition (even the emperor) forgot that humanity is all individualistic, and self centred. Pure Darwinistic evolutionary psychology.