Summary
Warhammer 40,000is known for its harsh, unforgiving universe. It is a galaxy where everything is lethal to the point where just survivingis a major victory. The worst tends to get brought out in everyone, and even the best of intentions become warped and twisted into doing more harm than good. The40kuniverse can get so dark, it makes other sci-fi worldslook almost utopian by comparison. You know things are bad whenAlienlooks like a vastly better universe to live in. Between constant warfare, chaos gods, hostile environments, and theseemingly endless swarm of tyranids pouring in from another galaxy, chances of survival are pretty low. Even the major dominating species in the galaxy — such as humans, aeldari, and orks — are constantly struggling to keep themselves afloat. It’s hard to imagine anyone having much of a fighting chance.
And yet, science fiction delivers. Sci-fi through the years has introduced audiences to a wide variety of aliens, including many that are unimaginably dangerous in their original contexts. Even the more optimistic franchises likeStar Trekoccasionally saw their heroes contend with some truly messed-up creatures. Some of these monsters actually have traits that might just give them a fighting chance at survival if they were to be thrown into the40kuniverse — some even possess traits that could cause some very serious problems for the setting’s inhabitants.
Doctor Who / Whoniverse
The daleks fromDoctor Whoonly understand one objective: EXTERMINATE anything and everything that is not a dalek — and sometimes kill other daleks, too. Unsurprisingly,they are accustomed to constantly being at war withsomeone. A galaxy likeWarhammer 40k’swould probably feel like business as usual to them. In fact, they wouldn’t be too far off from some of the factions that already exist in the setting. The Imperium already holds staunch anti-xeno sentiments that encourage a superiority complex at best (outright genocide at worst) — they might even relate to daleks' simplistic beliefs. And, daleks would absolutely love the webway, their experience with time travel and weird anomalies easily giving them an edge in navigating it.
While it may sound funny to imagine classicDoctor Who’s special effects in the40kuniverse, daleks have consistently been portrayed as a force to be reckoned with. A single dalek could probably cut through most Imperial guard units. Space Marines and custodes might have better odds, but even they could be overwhelmed by a sufficiently large fleet. Orks would certainly enjoy fighting them, though their efforts would likely be futile. A few daleks could probably do a lot of damage if deployed to an Aeldari craftworld. The only thing theymightstruggle against are tyranids, though it certainly wouldn’t be for lack of trying, and daleks do have the intelligence to come up with more unconventional solutions that might evade other races.
On top of all of that, the times that daleks have been neutralized or ‘completely eradicated’ inDoctor Who, they always have a nasty habit of returning via some convoluted timey wimey or pocket dimension-style methods. All things considered, daleks would be right at home inWarhammer 40k.
Krogan fromMass Effectlive for war. They came from a hostile world, even by Earth’s standards, and had to adapt to extreme pressures. Even nuking their own planet couldn’t wipe them out. They have a reputation for their hot tempers and aggressive personalities, and they reproduce so quickly that the Alliance hadto launch a sterility plague just to keep them from overpopulating the galaxy. While something similar to the genophage could theoretically be made inWarhammer 40k, its production would easily be hindered by the inability of other races to work together. That, and most factions would consider total genocide a more practical solution than wasting time and resources on forced sterilization.
However, the Krogan are pretty resilient, and their natural aggression would make them feel right at home in the40kuniverse. They would probably love the orks as a worthy opponent, maybe even an ally on occasion, but they would be ruthless against the Imperium. A typical Krogan’s strength might even be enough to win a fight against a Space Marine. And, if their performance against Reaper forces is anything to go on, Krogan would be prettygood at fighting Tyranids. They might even have a shot at defeating them — or at least making them less of a problem.
Survival would be difficult for predators, but knowing them,they would relish the challenge. In the original 1987 movie, thePredatorwas able to decimate a modern special forces unit purely for sport. If predators considered Schwarzenegger a worthy opponent, they would love some of the options available inWarhammer 40k. Space Marines would be an ideal target, and it does not seem hard to imagine a predator keeping a few skulls from them as trophies, though they’d be even more excited about the Custodes (which are about twice the size of Space Marines).
A predator would probably have a lot of fun battling against crazy ork technology or outwitting the Aeldari. Tyranids would be more difficult, but to a species that puts so much emphasis on sport hunting, that might just make a tyranid trophy all the more appealing. Predators wouldn’t become a galactic threat — they’re not trying to wipe out entire species — but due to their stealthy hit-and-run tactics, combined with their advanced weaponry, they would likely be able to carve out a deadly niche as stealth hunters, terrorizingWarhammer 40K’s greatest warriors from the shadows.
Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror masterpieceAlienwould become a major influence on a lot of later science fiction, includingWarhammer 40k. But, how well would xenomorphs fare in the world they inspired? The short answer is it would be difficult, but not impossible. Xenomorphs could easily decimate any human occupied-world, especially in large numbers. Sure, even the weakest of40k’s guns would be more than sufficient to kill one, and a well-equipped imperial guard unit might have a chance, but it’s not always that simple. After all, xenomorphs like to ambush their prey, so killing one would first require finding it. Even on successfully killing one, there is still the danger of getting splashed by its highly corrosive blood, which could easily take an attacker with it. This would make it at best evenly matched with an average Imperial guard unit, but that is in the case of asingleindividual, like in the original movie.
In a scenario closer toAliens, it would be a whole other story.A whole colony could easily overwhelm most imperial units outsidepossiblythe Space Marines or Custodes. Even then, a surprise facehugger attack could theoreticallyincapacitatea Space Marine at the very least, though it is hard to say if a chestburster could get through their genetic upgrades. And that’s just with regard to humans. There is no reason to think xenomorphs could not also infect aeldari or orks. Xenomorphs have also shown a talent for destroying robots, so even the Necrons might not be completely safe. The only thing that might be a problem for them are the Tyranids, against which their odds would probably be about equal to most other races in the galaxy.
The titular monster of John Carpenter’sThe Thingis a parasitic alien that infects and then imitates other life forms. There are different ways it can infect a host, ranging from hostile takeovers to gradually transforming the host without their knowledge. Either way, the end result is the same. The Thing completely takes over the host and then assumes their identity, producing a copy indistinguishable from the real thing without even leaving a body. This makes it extraordinarily hard to eradicate, since any effort requires a means of distinguishing who is and isn’t infected, and even then, it is still easy for a piece to break off and escape. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Thing is also intelligent. It is capable of adapting to its circumstances, learning from its mistakes, and, of course, playing its victims against each other.
The onlyremotelycomforting thing about this is it can at least be contained. It’s not easy, and the chances of surviving any effort are basically zero, but it can be done — so long asit is in a remote environment with no life forms around and sub-zero temperatures. However, the Thing would absolutelylovetheWarhammer 40,000universe. It would be easy to take advantage of a battle by infecting hosts on both sides while they are distracted fighting each other. All it would need to do to keep going is get one infected host onto a ship. Pretty much every race except Necrons would be in deep trouble. Worse still, the Thing could theoretically infect a tyranid, through which it could eventually reach a hiveship, spread out of the galaxy, and maybe even assimilate the hivemind itself.
The Flood fromHalois a parasite with a talent for causing destruction while simultaneously beingreallyhard to eradicate. This is mainly because, much like orks, it reproduces through airborne spores. It also has the advantage of being intelligent. In the context ofHalo, it has already managed to spread on a galactic scale once, and it got to a point where it was so bad that the only way to stop it was a total purging of all life using the Halo arrays. And, it also came dangerously close to doing it again on multiple occasions. In addition to easily spreading, the Flood also has the advantage of intelligence, which increases with each new host. Given enough time, it can reach a point where it not only understands its enemies, but can take advantage of existing conflicts to further its goals. For instance, being able to recognize that a temporary truce with Master Chief would prevent the arrays from being reactivated.
There would be plenty of races for the flood to choose from. The only ones who might be unaffected are the Necrons (due to their inorganic bodies) and the orks (due to a similar reproduction method). All the Flood would need to do is wait for an opportunity and then strike.Once a proto-gravemind is set up, the Flood could start to exploit existing conflicts to acquire more hosts. In its simplest form, this would mean infecting both sides of a battle and spreading through ships. But, the Flood can also play a longer game. Much like it did with Master Chief inHalo 3, the Flood could theoretically form temporary alliances to play one side against another to further its own goals or eliminate a potential threat. If it manages to infect tyranids, there is an opportunity to escape the galaxy and upgrade to a cosmic-level threat. The worst part? In this universe, there are no Halo arrays to stop it.
The series is calledDead Spacefor a reason. Turns out it’s because outside of Earth, there is a lot of dead space. The reason humans have been unsuccessful in making first contact is because the one alien life form that does exist — Necromorphs — have a habit of exploiting every civilization that has ever evolved with the ultimate goal of consuming them. At their simplest, Necromorphs are grotesque abominations made from twisting and mangling the corpses of other species, andthey can be frustrating to deal withat bestthanks to the way their bodies work. These alone would be a nightmare for any Imperial Guard. Even the orks would have difficulty with these monstrosities. But, of course, at the top is the Brethren Moons — a race of intelligent moon-sized creatures that control everything and have mastered the art of setting traps for intelligent civilizations.
There wouldn’t be a lot of war if the Brethren Moons got into the40kuniverse, mainly because they would know exactly how to prey on all the major races. After all, one cannot fight a war without resources. Throwing a few markers at all the major races would easily attract their attention — and set up what basically amounts to a galactic Trojan Horse that could take out everyone in one go, probably allowing at least four or five moons to be produced at the same time. They might even be able to pull the same trick on the tyranids and, if successful, would have a handy route out of the galaxy. The whole plot ofDead Spaceinvolves Necromorphs basically turning the Milky Way into their own personal farm. Imagine if they could run two galaxies or, even worse, start spreading on a truly cosmic scale.
