there are no wolves on fenris

[The Last Lamenter]

They keep dropping this phrase all over the universe like it's hugely significant, but I'm missing something here, why do they keep saying it and why is it important? Someone help me. It's like in the text they'll be having a deep conversation that's rife with poetry and myth, then there'll be a lull in the conversation and Someone will say,"there are no wolves on fenris..." And it's like we as readers are supposed to be dropping our jaws in reverent aghast at this bombshell revelation.

[DWest]

The implication is, Fenrisian Wolves are technically deeply devolved Abhumans; the Canis Helix was developed by the first wave of settlers to Fenris in order to engineer the people to survive on the icy death world. Which means, first off, that the Space Wolves aren't space vikings, they're Astartes who recruit from an already-established population of space vikings. Moreover, their Apothecarion never removed the Canis, but rather worked around it, which is why you get the "Wulfen", who are Space Wolves who have semi-devolved as part of their augmentation. Even worse, Thunderwolves are implied to be Wulfen who went all the way feral.

As for the larger implications, it casts the Space Wolves in a bad light, basically making them out to be hypocrites; they punish other forces for deviating from the Imperial Creed, while they themselves are highly deviant. But, this is a trait already present in the Wolves, just look at their unbending hatred of psykers while at the same time making great use of Rune Priests, who are okay because they draw upon the "Wyrd of Fenris", which if that isn't the Warp, then it implies something even worse, that the very rock of Fenris is tainted by Chaos, the same way Caliban was.

On a related note, I wonder if the GW design team will read their own notes, with the new Helfrost stuff; if Rune Priests really do draw on some power innate to their homeworld, then it would make much more sense for Helfrost guns to be basically Psycannons charged with a very specific type of energy, but they'll probably end up being lasers fired through magic ice crystals or similar shenanigans.

[Megad00mer]

The implication is, Fenrisian Wolves are technically deeply devolved Abhumans; the Canis Helix was developed by the first wave of settlers to Fenris in order to engineer the people to survive on the icy death world. Which means, first off, that the Space Wolves aren't space vikings, they're Astartes who recruit from an already-established population of space vikings. Moreover, their Apothecarion never removed the Canis, but rather worked around it, which is why you get the "Wulfen", who are Space Wolves who have semi-devolved as part of their augmentation. Even worse, Thunderwolves are implied to be Wulfen who went all the way feral.

This is what I took away from it as well but it does beg the question, was it just coincidence that the "Wolf-Like" Primarch landed on the world where the population already contained "Wolf-Like" genetics? Seems very convenient since the Primarchs supposedly landed on their homeworlds by chance. In one of the Horus Heresy novels, it's even implied that Leman Russ had canine DNA in him.

Did some force then purposely send him to Fenris, or was it just a million to one coincidence?

[DWest]

Did some force then purposely send him to Fenris, or was it just a million to one coincidence?

Well, aside from the obvious answer of "yes, the Chaos Gods stole all 20 Primarchs and chucked them at planets", you're most likely on to something. The easiest example, of course, is Magnus the Red, who landed on a planet infested with psychic parasites, where his talents with the Warp would be the most useful. Going a bit further, I wonder if the reason some of the loyalists didn't turn was because two or more of the Ruinous Powers were competing over them, and thus neither one influenced the target sufficiently to turn him. Consider Guilliman- in Ultramar he has a society that glorifies martial superiority almost enough to be Khornate, and values faultless perfection almost enough to be Slanneshi, but since Khorne and Slannesh are opposed, did they end up cancelling each other out?

[Mr.Pickelz]

It should also be noted, that Leman's origins involve being raised by wolves. Now whether that is some cool story to help his reputation, or he was raised by Wulfen abhumans remains a mystery. However, Leman Russ clearly has/had genetic stability problems; Rune Priests tap into an ancient power that is inherent to Fenris; The humans who settled Fenris as part of the golden age of exploration had used the Canis Helix as a way of survivability. The Terran legion is hinted at not containing the genetic deviancy as those who are raised on Fenris and recruited into the 6th Legion. IE, the operation and conversion into Space Marines activates and manipulates the Canis Helix in such a fashion as to cause physical underlying mutation. This can be seen in the elongated fangs, the extra body hair, the attitude/social culture, etc.... This mutation often brings them into argument/war with the Inquistion and Ecclesiarchy, as such mutation is attributed to chaos influence.
To the Space Wolves however, this Geneticly empowering "upgrade", from human to space marine, isn't tolerated in certain individuals, thus they become Wulfen (aka werewolf looking fellows) Some individual's mutation however, ends up going the extra length and turns a human into a super wolf, known as Fenrisian Wolves (aka, the Fast Attack unit choice). When Magnus the Red spoke those words,"There are no Wolves on Fenris..." he basically told that all the wolves that are attributed to Fenris are actually people with genetic issues, and if you can put two and two together, the biggest wolves are indeed "fallen" Space Marines (aka, Thunderwolf mounts, "Space Marines riding Space Marines"). This dark secret has shaped the Space Wolf legion/chapter and one reason the Wolf Brothers successor chapter of the Space Wolves was deemed Exterminatus. Thus leaving the Space Wolf Legion (which was already one of the smaller legions) no successor chapters. This leads to the Space Wolves having the potential to utilize the strength of an Astartes Legion, which in conjunction with the genetic deviancy, brings the Space Wolves into discord/distrust/dislike/etc... with certain Imperial organizations.

So basically, We as readers/players already knew that the Space Wolves are allowed to exist while giving the finger to the rules and the people enforcing them. Now however, Magnus the Red dropped this big secret in stating that the Space Wolves have even more, and bigger, issues than anyone previously knew about. (players/readers and/or non-Space Wolf forces)

Something to note is that, the 13th Company, the black stone, the forgotten. Show a high quantity of mutation (werewolf units) after being ordered by Leman Russ to chase the Thousand Sons around the Eye of Terror. Which the 13th company has managed to survive at until the 13th Black Crusade. They even took part in the World wide Campaign and if you can find the Eye of Terror codex, you will find the 13th company's rules inside. If you read Ragnar's books by William King and Lee something-or-another, Ragnar meets the 13th company and requires their help to achieve his goal. it is noted there as well, that the 13th Company showcases the best-case scenario for someone who falls victim to the Wulfen issue.

[daboarder]

This is what I took away from it as well but it does beg the question, was it just coincidence that the "Wolf-Like" Primarch landed on the world where the population already contained "Wolf-Like" genetics? Seems very convenient since the Primarchs supposedly landed on their homeworlds by chance. In one of the Horus Heresy novels, it's even implied that Leman Russ had canine DNA in him.

Did some force then purposely send him to Fenris, or was it just a million to one coincidence?

Probably not, there is no coincidence or random in chaos.

[This Dave]

This is what I took away from it as well but it does beg the question, was it just coincidence that the "Wolf-Like" Primarch landed on the world where the population already contained "Wolf-Like" genetics? Seems very convenient since the Primarchs supposedly landed on their homeworlds by chance. In one of the Horus Heresy novels, it's even implied that Leman Russ had canine DNA in him.

Did some force then purposely send him to Fenris, or was it just a million to one coincidence?

This is just a personal theory so do with it what you will. When the Chaos Gods stole the Primarchs they were still in their gestation tubes and weren't fully "cooked" yet. So when these tubes landed on the various planets they finished infusing the Primarchs with the local DNA. This is why all of them seem to be precisely suited to the planet they landed on. Russ is wolf-like, Magnus became a powerful Psyker, Guilliman became a space Roman, Cruze became Batman, etc.

If this is indeed the case it makes total sense why the Chaos Gods wanted them away from the Emperor. Can you imagine if all 20 of them took on His aspects?

[John Bower]

The implication is, Fenrisian Wolves are technically deeply devolved Abhumans; the Canis Helix was developed by the first wave of settlers to Fenris in order to engineer the people to survive on the icy death world. Which means, first off, that the Space Wolves aren't space vikings, they're Astartes who recruit from an already-established population of space vikings. Moreover, their Apothecarion never removed the Canis, but rather worked around it, which is why you get the "Wulfen", who are Space Wolves who have semi-devolved as part of their augmentation. Even worse, Thunderwolves are implied to be Wulfen who went all the way feral.

As for the larger implications, it casts the Space Wolves in a bad light, basically making them out to be hypocrites; they punish other forces for deviating from the Imperial Creed, while they themselves are highly deviant. But, this is a trait already present in the Wolves, just look at their unbending hatred of psykers while at the same time making great use of Rune Priests, who are okay because they draw upon the "Wyrd of Fenris", which if that isn't the Warp, then it implies something even worse, that the very rock of Fenris is tainted by Chaos, the same way Caliban was.

On a related note, I wonder if the GW design team will read their own notes, with the new Helfrost stuff; if Rune Priests really do draw on some power innate to their homeworld, then it would make much more sense for Helfrost guns to be basically Psycannons charged with a very specific type of energy, but they'll probably end up being lasers fired through magic ice crystals or similar shenanigans.

Why do I get the feeling you'd seen something from WD when you say that? It's too accurate; so either you got a sneaky look or..... Wiiiiitch.... Burn the heretic.... !!!

[DWest]

Well, stand up the stake, I suppose; I haven't seen the WD yet, it was just a guesstimate based on "this would fit with already-established constructs in the world, and be cool (no pun intended)".

[Dlatrex]

This is just a personal theory so do with it what you will. When the Chaos Gods stole the Primarchs they were still in their gestation tubes and weren't fully "cooked" yet. So when these tubes landed on the various planets they finished infusing the Primarchs with the local DNA. This is why all of them seem to be precisely suited to the planet they landed on. Russ is wolf-like, Magnus became a powerful Psyker, Guilliman became a space Roman, Cruze became Batman, etc.

If this is indeed the case it makes total sense why the Chaos Gods wanted them away from the Emperor. Can you imagine if all 20 of them took on His aspects?

While a nice theory, that would seem to explain the result, I think at least within the HH novels there is enough evidence to contradict this etiology for the idiosyncrasies of each of the Primarchs. A good example would be the discussion of the Primarch Project in deliverance lost, which talks about how the source that the Emperor uses selectively turns on and off expressions from the Ur genetic sample, when it is distilled down to an individual Primarch. I believe they even use Russ's DNA as an example. =)