Apothecary
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]
He that may fight, heal him. He that may fight no more, give him peace. He that is dead, take from him the Chapter's due. While his geneseed returns to the Chapter, a Space Marine cannot die. Without death, pain loses its relevance.
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Heraldry
- 3 Chapter Variations
- 4 Primaris Apothecaries
- 5 Notable Apothecaries
- 5.1 Angels Sanguine
- 5.2 Blood Angels
- 5.3 Blood Ravens
- 5.4 Crimson Fists
- 5.5 Dark Angels
- 5.6 Death Guard
- 5.7 Emperor's Children
- 5.8 Executioners
- 5.9 Imperial Fists
- 5.10 Iron Hands
- 5.11 Iron Snakes
- 5.12 Iron Warriors
- 5.13 Night Lords
- 5.14 Raven Guard
- 5.15 Red Corsairs
- 5.16 Red Scorpions
- 5.17 Salamanders
- 5.18 Silver Skulls
- 5.19 Sons of Horus
- 5.20 Ultramarines
- 5.21 Word Bearers
- 5.22 World Eaters
- 6 Images
- 7 Sources
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.[Needs Citation]
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.[Needs Citation]
Apothecaries are well Trained in genetic enhancement and bionic augmentation. They are trained in advanced surgery and grafting of bionics. When a Space Marine is grievously wounded in battle and survives, he will usually end up on an Apothecary’s table. This is usually to restore shattered limbs or function to damaged organs. The Apothecarion usually keeps a store of the battle-brother’s genetic material within gene-banks just for this very purpose. From this Bio-Seed replacement lungs, livers and hearts can be grown. They even can grow great sheets of new skin for when a battle-brother’s own has been burnt or flayed away. They have no way however, of restoring missing limbs. When a battle-brother is maimed in this way , Apothecaries will work with the Chapter’s Techmarines to craft a cybernetic replacement. They are often created specifically for the battle-brother. The augmentations are then sutured into the muscles and screwed into bone. The Apothecary will then weave nerve endings with monofilament receptor wires so that the limb might respond to the Space Marine’s neural impulses. This is usually a painstaking process. Eyes, organs, arms and legs can all be restored with bionics. This usually grants a battle-brother little loss of function. They are sometimes even a improvement over the original. After the battle-brother dies, Apothecaries reclaim their bionic limbs and or blood drenched organs. They are then passed down from one generation to the next. Sometimes in battle the Apothecary is forced to repair a battle-brother far from the advanced technologies and sanctified tools of the Apothecarion. This Kind of battlefield surgery is cruder and quicker. Bionic will be scavenged from the dead, and chemical stimulants are substituted for true healing. Stitched meat and fused muscle is then hidden under the ceramite plates of power armour, and the Space Marine is sent back into battle.[18]
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 instantly.[3]
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.[Needs Citation]
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.[16] The symbol represents the sacred code of the Chapter's gene-seed.[Needs Citation] The helix symbol is often adorned with additional iconography such as wings and skulls.[16]
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.[Needs Citation]
Chapter Variations
- The Blood Angels Apothecaries bear the honourary title Sanguinary Priest. In addition to their roles as medics and overseeing the induction of new recruits, the Sanguinary Priests share a role with the Angels' Chaplains in watching over their battle-brothers' spiritual well-being, guarding against the influence of the Red Thirst and the Black Rage.[4]
- The Wolf Priests of the Space Wolves combine the roles of Apothecary and Chaplain within their Great Companies. They also prefer not to use Codex medical equipment but instead use healing potions and balms, the knowledge passed down through the generations.[5]
Primaris Apothecaries
The new generation of Primaris Space Marines also utilize Apothecaries. Unlike their standard cousins, they are known to wield Reductor Pistols or Absolvor Bolt Pistols.[17]
Primaris Apothecaries may also become a specialist known as a Helix Adept which are assigned to Vanguard Space Marine squads.[19]
Notable Apothecaries
Angels Sanguine
Blood Angels
Blood Ravens
Crimson Fists
Dark Angels
Death Guard
Emperor's Children
Executioners
Imperial Fists
Iron Hands
Iron Snakes
Iron Warriors
Night Lords
Raven Guard
Red Corsairs
Red Scorpions
Salamanders
Silver Skulls
Sons of Horus
Ultramarines
Word Bearers
World Eaters
Images
A Dark Angels Apothecary
[Needs Citation]An Ultramarines Apothecary
[Needs Citation]A Blood Ravens Apothecary from Dawn of War 2
- PrimusMedicae.jpg
A Heresy-era Primus Medicae in Terminator Armour
Sources
- 1: Games Workshop Apothecary Figurine (accessed 2007.06.11)
- 2: Insignium Astartes, [Needs Citation]
- 3: White Dwarf 102 (UK), [Needs Citation]
- 4: Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition), pgs. 11, 48
- 5: White Dwarf 266 (UK), [Needs Citation]
- 6: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
- 7: Brothers of the Snake (Novel) by Dan Abnett, [Needs Citation]
- 8: Ultramarines - A Warhammer 40,000 Movie, written by Dan Abnett
- 9: Nightbringer (Novel) by Graham McNeill, [Needs Citation]
- 10: The Chapter's Due (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- 11: Salamander (Novel) by Nick Kyme, Chapter One, Part I, pg. 16
- 12: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising
- 13: Deathwatch: The Jericho Reach, pgs. 140–141
- 14: Index Astartes: Apothecaries, Space Marine Apothecaries
- 15: Imperial Armour Volume Two - Second Edition: War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes, pg. 13
- 16: Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces of the Inquisition, pg. 18
- 17: Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition) pg. 155
- 18: Index Astartes: Volume I (Background Book)
- 19: Warhammer Community