# How powerful can an inquisitor be?



## Engindeer (Dec 1, 2010)

Something I've speculated a great deal about for a while...

At times it seems like some inquisitors can single handedly take on almost any foe, but then again, they aren't as tough as spacemarines, as it is just as cumbersome for inquisitors to wear power armor (or terminator armor) as the rest of the power armor wearing humans.

I wonder how much you can buff a regular individual with augmentations without making them look inhuman (i.e. Adeptus Mechanicus

Are really powerful inquisitors, really only powerful psykers?


----------



## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

Well, the only time I really recall Inquisitors being exceptionally powerful (outside of being psykers) is against daemons. Usually when they fight daemons they have a whole bunch of little tricks that a normal space marine force wouldn't have. Pentagram wards, specially designed anti-daemon weapons, charms, ect.

That could explain the difference in fighting ability.


----------



## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

I would say there's a lot of augmentation, even without Astartes implants, that you can do to the body. Look at the non-Space Marine 'Space Marines'; Luther and Kor Phaeron. Both of whom were too old to recieve the implants but were given some level of augmentation and still stand head and shoulders above unaugmented humans. 

This seems borne out further with the example of Lord Hector Rex. He had augmentations and is a massive individual, much more physically powerful than a normal man. In the Soul Drinkers series there was an Inquisitor, again very imposing being very tall and strong, wearing power armour. He reminisced that while he didn't have the implants and advantages of a Space Marine he was superior to normal men and his operations whilst agonising, were worth it for the intimidation factor. 

So evidently yes, there are ways for Inquisitors with suitable pull, who know the right people or organisations to become physically superior. It's going to differ on a case by case basis of course, given the different levels of influence and methods of each individual Inquisitor. 

Also bear in mind the enhancements done to Imperial Assasins, who are if anything even more deadly than Astartes, and who again lack the Space Marine implants. Though their training no doubt plays a large role in this.


----------



## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

As in all things in 40k fluff, it depends on who's writing him.

But when you can have whole planets incinerated with a word, how much physical power do you need?


----------



## spanner94ezekiel (Jan 6, 2011)

Also, it should be considered that not all Inquisitors are of the same Ordo. For example, an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor may not need to be as augmented as an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor. And then on top of that you have to consider whether they're Radical or Puritan. Radical's have all sorts of fancy wargear to help them out, while a Puritan may have to rely on their physique more.

But as Gal said, who needs physical prowess when you can declare exterminatus.


----------



## Baltar (Aug 16, 2008)

I played a lot of Inquisitor for a time, and it varies so greatly. It is true that an inquisitor, in general, will almost always have their arse handed to them on a plate within a very short space of time when pitted against a space marine - even with an entourage.

But that means pretty much nothing. A space marine is completely useless in that setting except when killing everything that moves. If your intent is not to literally make a space marine appear and then for everything else to die immediately, then a space marine is completely useless to you and you're not going to get very far at all. An inquisitor is just a completely different type of character that isn't there purely as a killing machine.

Aside from that, anyone who ever played with any official rules for assassins in Inquisitor (eversor assassin especially) will know that they are another level above the disparity still: An eversor was so ridiculously capable of chopping up everything that walks (even space marines) that it wasn't eligible as a PC.

It's versatility and character that made the inquisitor really useful. They could be exceptionally hard, be tough to kill, have loads of awesome equipment, and have an array of good psychic powers - and yet still manage not to suffer any particularly onerous personality defects that would prevent them from investigation, enforcing their authority, or otherwise continuing with their endeavours. A space marine on the other hand wouldn't get you anywhere. You can't just walk into a bar and blend in. You can't just mingle with noble born aristocrats in order to infiltrate some sort of cult. ALL you can do with it is step out, kill all moving things, and then praise the emperor for a bit. They really are useless.


----------



## Engindeer (Dec 1, 2010)

Of course it relies on who's writing the story.. I don't like that answer as it's the answer to ALL ambiguous fluff questions.

Luther and Kor Phaeron are good examples, but they were upgraded 10.000 years ago, while the Emperor was still alive - while geneseed was still understood fully..

How long can an average human live if he gets augmentations in 40k? I know that some of the warmasters (macharius, slaydo) easily lived beyond their hundreds


----------



## Lost&Damned (Mar 25, 2012)

He stood within an occularium, alone but for the monitors lining the walls, which were so numerous and dense that they reminded me of scales along a reptile’s hide. Each screen displayed a view from the command deck of one of the fleet’s ships, letting him see through the eyes of his servo-skulls.
He smiled when I entered, and blanked the screens with a vague wave of his hand. A psyker, then. Formidable, surely. As powerful as myself or Malchadiel? Unlikely.
+Don’t be so certain.+ He smiled again as he sent the words
and:

I guarded my thoughts tighter, closer, behind a wall of concentration. There are certain deceptions to learn, a wealth of simple exercises that can shield one’s thoughts when willpower alone will not suffice. I focused part of my attention counting the beats of my heart, and trying to count his at the same time.
‘Very nicely done.’ He smiled again. ‘Now all I hear are the numbers accruing in your mind. A child’s trick, but a timeless one. I’ve used it myself often enough.’
‘Why didn’t you force Jarl Grimnar to heed your commands? You’re powerful enough to do it through psychic imprint alone.

a discussion between a very powerful grey knight (psychically, and perhaps an even more psychically powerful inquisitor)


----------



## Engindeer (Dec 1, 2010)

LOL untill I read your reference I was like "What's he on about??" :laugh:

A very good example... I'd reckon that there must be individuals in the Ordo Malleus, who is on par if not better than your average* grey knight.

Perhaps the best of the inquisitor lords?

It's also true that inquisitors have different specialities. I'm even lead to believe that a Crimson Fist would fare just as good as a Grey Knight if the opponent is an ork, so there you have it:smoke:


----------



## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Engindeer said:


> Luther and Kor Phaeron are good examples, but they were upgraded 10.000 years ago, while the Emperor was still alive - while geneseed was still understood fully..
> 
> How long can an average human live if he gets augmentations in 40k? I know that some of the warmasters (macharius, slaydo) easily lived beyond their hundreds


As i said earlier, Inqusitor Lord Hector Rex and the one from the Soul Drinkers show humans can become very physically powerful, even without Space Marine augmentations. 

As to life spans, wealthy individuals or those with access to the right stuff can live for centuries. There's juvant treatments, bionic replacements, sheer psychic will power and who knows what else. There are some Magos's of the Mechancius who can extend their lives for millenia, though their minds decay.


----------



## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

Engindeer said:


> Of course it relies on who's writing the story.. I don't like that answer as it's the answer to ALL ambiguous fluff questions.


It doesn't make it any less true though.
Which is why I generally don't get too much into the fluff because there are very few objective answers. Everything is both subjective and mutable. The background is always changing, being retconned, expanded and extrapolated


----------



## Engindeer (Dec 1, 2010)

True

It's just that I find the speculation so great. It's best when it's backed up by (mostly) relevant literary references, but any form of speculation is really what makes the fluff so popular.

Sure a lot of the questions asked are unanswerable per se, or have been asked for the thousandth time, but anyone willing to throw in their 2 cents about any question is a good poster in my book.

Excuse my rant, but you were pointing out the obvious


----------

