Do Space Marines Die of Old Age?

[eldargal]

Isn't Luthor in stasis? Guilliman certainly is, time isn't flowing for him at all, or very slowly if you believe the self-healing claims.

[apahllo]

Chaos Marines are an entirely different kettle of fish, though. Between the fact that time moves at a different rate in The Eye, and they've been mutated by Chaos, and they live on "Daemon worlds" most of the time, their life expectancy has only so much to do with the fact that they're Astartes.

I also suspect that there may be a difference between Astartes who were created around 30k and those from around 40k, by which time the geneseed has degraded significantly -- consider the number of organs that most chapters no longer have.

I still think that the comment about non-combat positions filled by Marines of advanced years shows that, even if they can't die of old age (though I think they can), they do become old and physically weaker. Consider also the fact that veterans' faces in the art look older.

I guess the chaos have a little help and the warp does warp time.

^eldargirl, I don't think Luther is in stasis, just jail. Still rambling about the forgiveness el Jonson will bring when he wakes up.

[gcsmith]

According to the Emperors Children HH book, can't remember it's name. The marines of that era were immortal. I guess the horus heresy and the years after lost a lot of the pure tech so they don't have the full pure transformation to marine.

[Chris*ta]

According to the Emperors Children HH book, can't remember it's name. The marines of that era were immortal. I guess the horus heresy and the years after lost a lot of the pure tech so they don't have the full pure transformation to marine.

Do you have a quote there? It'd be good to have some concrete info.

[Daemonette666]

In one of the non horus heresy novels, An iron warriors or salamanders one I think, there is a isolated iron warriors outpost and a space marine chapter possibly salamanders or one of the other loyalist legions from Istvan V go there to find the wreckage of an old cruiser that crash landed there. Orks, well hundreds of thousands of orks attack from small moon looking space hulks, and in the end they find a 10,000 year old space marine who is almost rusted into his chair with weak limbs, and on the verge of death after guarding the armour stored in the cruiser. His progenoid glands were useless and could not be used, and they mercifully killed him after determining that they could not get him out without killing him, or something like that.

It has been a while since I read the novel, so details are sketchy. But i do remember he was on the verge of death, and looked like a weakened space marine with grey hair, and age lines.

[Hunter]

Chaos Marines are an entirely different kettle of fish, though. Between the fact that time moves at a different rate in The Eye, and they've been mutated by Chaos, and they live on "Daemon worlds" most of the time, their life expectancy has only so much to do with the fact that they're Astartes.

I also suspect that there may be a difference between Astartes who were created around 30k and those from around 40k, by which time the geneseed has degraded significantly -- consider the number of organs that most chapters no longer have.

I still think that the comment about non-combat positions filled by Marines of advanced years shows that, even if they can't die of old age (though I think they can), they do become old and physically weaker. Consider also the fact that veterans' faces in the art look older.

that could be a combination of injury sustained over the millennium "put your dang helmet back on " and psychological trauma "what has been see ,cannot be unseen"

[Hunter]

could be from the lack of sustenance and hygiene that he was in such poor condiction when he was found.

[dark messenger]

Well, I'm not sure about these super long lived marines you guys speak of... I've always thought Dante was the oldest canon marine?
As for the immortality question - yes.
Marines are functionally immortal, they don't die merely continue on, although their effectiveness in combat seems to drop past their 4th or 5th century nowadays except in rare cases it seems.
The original founding marines were probably as the Emperor intended - immortal, unendingly tough and the perfect shock troops. 10,000 years on I reckon the Mechs struggle to keep the process going as well as He did.

I do however think without all that training and the genhancing chemicals swimming in their blood, they'd probably only live maybe twice as long as a human. Their size, metabolism and enhanced physiques would shorten their otherwise augmented lifespan.

[Absolon]

I guess the chaos have a little help and the warp does warp time.

^eldargirl, I don't think Luther is in stasis, just jail. Still rambling about the forgiveness el Jonson will bring when he wakes up.

Luther is in stasis. It is tradition that the SGM brings him out after he takes office and tries to get Luther to repent. Other times Luther is brought out and used as a kind of oracle

[Alpha Omega Protocol]

Aren't you guys forgetting the Fallen? Those dark angels that betrayed the lion? They are still alive or the Dark Angels chapter would've stop going after them already...