Apothecary
From Lexicanum
Apothecaries are Space Marines with special medical training. Their role in battle is to recover the Chapter's gene-seed from killed Marines and to tend to the wounded. Outside of combat, Apothecaries are responsible for monitoring recruits and neophytes for mutation or flaws in their gene-seed organs and implants.1
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Overview
The Apothecary's role is to serve as a field medic and bio-researcher. Along with being highly trained in medicine, they are among the elite warriors in the chapter.
Apothecaries are greatly honoured within the Chapter, as they are responsible for maintaining the purity of its gene-seed. If its gene-seed were to become mutated, it could well bring the Chapter's extinction or its fall to Chaos. The Apothecaries are charged with maintaining the health and genetic purity of the Space Marines. Their skills and equipment, when combined with the added organs and resilience of a Space Marine, allow an Apothecary to perform battle surgery with a good chance of success.
Not all wounded Marines can be saved; some are beyond even the Apothecary's skills. In this case, it is the Apothecary's responsibility to administer "the Emperor's Peace" - euthanasia - to those warriors who deserve it. The Apothecary's medi-pack (known as a Narthecium) includes a special humane killer for this task, called a carnifex - a solid spring-loaded piston of metal. This is applied to the sufferer's temple, its powerful spring hurling the piston through the Marine's brain and killing him instantly4.
It is also the Apothecary's duty to harvest from the bodies' of fallen Marines the two implanted Progenoid glands, allowing for the gene-seed material to be cultivated and re-implanted in a Neophyte.
Marines rarely go into battle without an Apothecary being available, as every Marine is a valuable resource and to lose any of their gene-seed would be a blow to the Chapter.
Each Company in a Chapter has an attached Apothecary that accompanies them into battle. Additional Apothecaries staff the Apothecarion, although they rarely take to the field, instead acting as bio-researchers and occupying themselves in taking part in the training of Neophytes and potential new Apothecaries.2
Heraldry
The insignia of the Apothecaries is the prime helix, rendered in bright red. The symbol represents the sacred code of the Chapter's gene-seed. The helix symbol is often adorned with additional iconography such as wings and skulls.
The Apothecaries of most Chapters wear white power armor, with the left shoulder plate retaining the Chapter colors along with the Chapter symbol. The right shoulder armor displays the prime helix. Some less traditional Chapters use different schemes.
Images
 A Dark Angels Apothecary |
 An Ultramarines Apothecary |
Sources
- 1:*Games Workshop Apothecary Figurine (accessed 2007.06.11)
- 2:Insignium Astartes
- 3:Codex: Space Marines
- 4:White Dwarf 102
See also
| Command | Master • Captain • Master of Sanctity • Reclusiarch • Epistolary • Codicier • Command Squad • Apothecary • Company Standard Bearer • Company Champion |
|---|---|
| Standard | Tactical • Assault • Devastator • Scout • Veteran • Tyrannic War Veterans • Honour Guard |
| Terminators | Terminator Squad • Terminator Assault Squad • Terminator Command Squad |
