Warhammer 40K Introduces Female Custodes

Video Games

It looks like Warhammer 40K was next on the identity politics checklist. The popular tabletop game will now have female members of a group called the Custodians. I’ve never played Warhammer 40K, so you’ll have to bear with me a little, but the Warhammer 40K Fandom Wiki defines the Custodians like this:

“A Custodian is a member of the Adeptus Custodes, the valiant transhuman bodyguard and praetorians of the Emperor of Mankind, which is based in the Imperial Palace complex on Terra.

The Adeptus Custodes are the Emperor’s vengeance made manifest. They defend the Master of Mankind with singular determination and breathtaking skill, and whether their vigil requires them to stand immovable before the gates of the Imperial Palace or storm into battle on a distant alien world, they do their duty without a moment’s hesitation.”

The new Codex – which is “a rules supplement containing information concerning a particular army, environment, or worldwide campaign,” according to Wikipedia – for the Adeptus Custodes introduces the idea of female Custodes. This is being met with pushback from fans who say the Custodes have always been exclusively men. But when fans bring this up on X, the official Warhammer account responds by saying that “there have always been female Custodes”:

In regards to female Custodians, there have always been female Custodians, since the first of the Ten Thousand were created.

— Warhammer Official (@warhammer) April 14, 2024

Since the first of the Ten Thousand were created, there have always been female Custodians.

— Warhammer Official (@warhammer) April 14, 2024

Is that true? Not according to Grummz, the account of former Blizzard producer Mark Kern, who posted evidence of just the opposite and shone a light on the likely reason for the change:

Warhammer 40k is retconning lore for wokeness. @warhammer Custodians is blowing up in the community.

"Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia."

One look at their major shareholders tell you why.

ESG operates indirectly, but Blackrock and Vanguard operate directly when… pic.twitter.com/yyH1mOaXRi

— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024

Games Workshop @warhammer LIES about CUSTODES and RETCONS LORE, gender FLIPPING them in the new 10th edition codex for woke points (and possibly to prep for larger changes ahead…aka rumored female Space Marines).

I'll PROVE it in this thread. (con't)🧵 https://t.co/tKcrpwmFE0 pic.twitter.com/Pniv16obIr

— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024

The next appearance of the Custodes in their trademark gold armor appeared in the Horus Heresy trading card game in 2003.

I searched EVERY Custodes card and found ZERO female artwork.

(Con't) pic.twitter.com/ozW2sOv4Fj

— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024

ALL the artwork of Custodes have been MALE in these Codexes.

The lore is very clear about this. Custodes are a BROTHERHOOD, and SONS of Nobles. All the artwork confirms this.

(con't) pic.twitter.com/NYcJuj5B8q

— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024

By now, we all KNOW the reason for this.

They are re-writing the CORE LORE of Warhammer 40k in order to pander for ESG and DEI MASTERS who collectively own nearly a QUARTER of their stock! 22.6%!

(con't) pic.twitter.com/nbhTQW3ocd

— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024

Instead of introducing NEW LORE, they seek to destroy and retcon the OLD LORE, even lying to your face to pretend it was ALWAYS that way when it never was!

They could have brought back the Sisters of Silence to the palace to fight alongside the Custodes. But instead they REWRITE…

— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024

If you’ve never heard of them, BlackRock and Vanguard are two huge companies that buy stakes in other companies, particularly entertainment ones (like Disney, for example), and force DEI into them in exchange for money to offset the potential losses in revenue because, as we’ve seen, most people hate this stuff. I’ve never heard of Baillie Gifford, the number-one investor in Games Workshop, the company that makes Warhammer 40K, but apparently they do the same thing and are based in Europe (which makes sense, since Games Workshop is a British company). There’s a video of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink talking about forcing change on people that’s downright terrifying.

They’ve also got backup from games journalists, who are publishing articles with titles like “Please Shut Up About 40K’s Female Custodes,” just in case you’ve forgotten how much they despise the people they’re supposed to be informing and entertaining. They’re getting ahead of this by insulting Warhammer 40K players because that’s what they do now. And the official Warhammer 40K X account is blocking anyone who complains, according to former followers:

Community managers at @warhammer have started blocking X accounts mocking or questioning the retcon of 40k Custodes.

Games Workshop trying to put out the fire they started when they tweeted that Custodes have always had females. pic.twitter.com/IWMmCk8P4s

— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024

Oof

Warhammer Official really just blocking everyone https://t.co/SWZppfp3sy

— Magos Explorator Raymundo (@RaymundoTheIII) April 15, 2024

Welp, 16 years in the hobby and multiple armies, and this is how @warhammer treats you for voicing opposition to a bad decision. #warhammer pic.twitter.com/dwmozd4jFs

— Prophet of the Grand Duchy (@TheAlephNull) April 15, 2024

It’ll be interesting to see where this goes from here. Again, I don’t play Warhammer 40K, so I don’t have a dog in this particular fight, but it does appear to be more of the same that every other franchise, story, game, and anything else that was once fun is experiencing, with longtime fans being told to suck an egg when they voice their displeasure. I don’t know the Warhammer player demographics, but I would venture a guess it heavily skews male, which means they’re shunning people who spend money on their game for people who, by and large, don’t. Will the BlackRock and Vanguard cash make up for their lost customers? We’ll find out soon.

Oh, and if you had any doubt as to how much they value their fans, Warhammer/Games Workshop issued this statement a few years ago:

How long and how much decreased revenue will it take for “You will not be missed” to become “Hey, where’re you going?”