40k's Most Mysterious Marines

Fun Fact: The Nomad Predation Fleets were dispatched BEFORE the Horus Heresy so technically the Carcharodons Astra have been crusading longer than the Black Templar's Eternal Crusade.

World Eaters and Space Sharks harpooning ships: “Oh, you’re approaching me? Instead of running away, you’re coming right to me?” [boat-sized hooks pierce the hull of the other ship] “I can’t beat the crap out of you without getting closer.”

Sharks in the media: "I GONNA KILL YOU!" Sharks in real life: "I gonna do a swimm blub."

Let’s not forget that Tyberos isn’t just BIG, he Is the BIGGEST loyalist astartes. A chungus so big he either; A. Has custom made terminator armor. Or B. Has terminator armor, modified with dreadnought plate that is so old it’s basically relic wargear. Along with the two siege guantlets that he uses (possibly being modified versions of Corvus’ siege gauntlets). Let’s not also forget that most terminators cannot sprint in their armor. Tyberos CAN and DOES. For those that don’t know, the astra carcaridons, space sharks, are based on pacific islanders, they are larger than normal marines, being closer and over that 8’ mark for the astartes. Their terminators are no different, being taler than most other terminator units and much closer to the 9’ mark. Then there’s the chapter master Tyberos the Red fraggin’ Wake. Standing a full head above his terminator body guards he is either close or standing right at that glorious 10’ mark with ROGAL fraggin’ DORN. Now immagine the next time you see this HULK of an astartes, he’s got primarus upgrades, and he’s 11’.

The space sharks sound extremely terrifying but they also have good manners, which is kind of adorable in 40K standards.🐱

There is a Carcharadon vs Night Lords novel where they fight in pitch blackness hunting recruits on a prison world where a innocent psycher child who was born in there can summon ocean waves. It's one of the best examples of how the Carcharadons fight. It's so good.

Imperial backworld: “Draw for turn…” Carcharadons: “do you pay the 2?” rubbing hands together maniacally

Induced short term cardiac arrest to fuck with this guy is one of the funnies lines I’ve ever heard

My head canon is that a member of the raven guard and salamanders volunteered to lead a group of night lords and world eaters that refused to turn against the imperium during the heresy and were sent on a penitent crusade outside of the galactic edge where they were eventually forgotten. As a result of how they need to survive, their geneseed has become blended over time out of necessity

About those Ravenguard allegations. Iirc, Corax was known to really dislike how the old, terran Ravenguard fought, as they tended to rely on fear and terror tactics similar to the Night Lords. This led him to treat them a lot worse than the newer Raven Guard that were sourced from his homeworld, to the point of sending them to basically suicide missions or just sending them away to the far reaches of the galaxy. Which would line up pretty well with the Space Sharks whole gimmick

The first role-playing game in the 40k universe that I took part in was a Deathwatch game. One of my teammates was a Carcaradon Astra - specifically an assault marine. He was a nasty fellow, the kind you're glad is on your side. When he was seriously wounded, he left his chainblade, "Frenzie," in my care. The sword boosted my melee, but required will tests not to be pulled into a berserker rage. I gave it back when he returned... good sword, but better him than me to carry it. That campaign remains one of my favorite RPGs, rating up there with the very best D&D games I have played over the past 24 years.

"It's been ship of theseused to modern spec" is now one of my favourite sayings that I will quote often!

A few corrections on the the Dark Eldar breaking story. And yes they broke him. One, yes he could hear their hearts. That was the only thing he heard when they first appeared before him and identified them as Space Marines. Second before they took him to the dome room, they made him so desperate for any kind of interaction, that when they finally came to get him, he cried in joy from hearing their instructions. But not before they hosed him twice again before they came and got him. And third, it wasn't the raw warp he was worried about seeing in the dome room. He thought they were just gonna show him the sky in the void with stars and such and he scoffed it off before being showed the pure darkness. He was heard laughing, then cursing, then crying, then silence. And they still left him there for an unknown amount of time before declaring that the Dark Eldar was broken.

14:47 There's also a pair of Carcharadons books wherein the Night Lords (the antagonists) note that the Space Shark's tactics resemble their own to an unnerving degree.

Them sharks are terrifying. I'm kind of surprised you didn't speak about the Badab War. You can also see the moment where Isyander is rethinking his friendship with Koda when talking about the Street Sharks.

I love the Carcharodons. They're that perfect mix of "This is really silly, but we're going to play it straight anyway" and "This is metal as hell" which defines the best 40k stuff. Also, I want the Abhumans!

slight in cannon note: world eaters get an extra point due to the fact that they were only berzerkers due to the butchers nails. angron himself was actually a really nice guy before they were implanted and held on to the whole " i would rather go down fighting with my brothers" motif even after the fact. the carchadons are a very noble chapter despite their brazen brutality. food for thought.

Raven Guard suffer from a gene defect called the Sable Brand. This consists of cold-blooded determination to fight on with no regard for self-preservation coupled with an inability to separate the whispers of the dead from the words of the living. Carcharodons suffer from the Chill of the Void, The battle-brother withdraws even more from the company of his colleagues, taking refuge in a chill and formal demeanour,the Battle-Brother grimly executes any opponent he encounters, even if they have surrendered, possess valuable intelligence, or are not front-line combatants.The battle-brother withdraws almost entirely from interacting with others. He will not lead squads and will almost always carry out missions on his own.

The Carcharadons are my favorite Sub-faction. They have the best qualities of the Night Lords, Raven Guard, and World Eaters, with ALMOST none of the downsides + sharks.

Headcannon is that these guys are loyalist nightlords. What else could be so terrifying.