Orks

A group of Orks being led by a Warboss.

The Orks, also called Greenskins, are a savage, warlike, green-skinned race of humanoids who are spread all across the Milky Way Galaxy. They share many features with Warhammer Fantasy Orcs (and were initially called Space Orcs to distinguish them). They are seen by their enemies (pretty much everyone else in the galaxy) as savage, warlike, and crude, but they are the most successful species in the whole galaxy, outnumbering possibly every other intelligent race, even Mankind (with the very plausible exception of the Tyranids, who are split between thousands of subspecies genetically engineered for specific purposes). However, this massive population of Orks is split into hundreds of tiny empires, often warring between themselves. It has been speculated that, were the Orks ever to unite as a single racial entity, they would undoubtedly crush any opposition that would stand against this sheer tsunami of green muscle. Luckily, the Orks enjoy killing each other every bit as much as they savour shedding the blood of the galaxy's other peoples.

History

An Ork Burna Boy.

Origins

The Orks were created, more than 60 million Terran years ago as a warrior race originally called the Krork by the long-vanished reptilian alien species known as the Old Ones, whom the Orks refer to as the Brain Boyz. The Orks were created by the Brain Boyz to fight the Necrons and their C'tan masters in the great interstellar conflict called the War in Heaven over 60 million Terran years ago that shattered the galactic civilisation of the Old Ones that existed prior to the rise of the Eldar.

Orks are thus genetically engineered to be muscular, aggressive, and none too bright; their technology is maintained by a caste of Oddboyz who have genetic dispositions to be unusually skilled with maintaining and developing technology, though this skill is an unconscious one preserved through genetic memories hard-wired into the Oddboyz' DNA by the Brain Boyz millions of years ago. Indeed, the Brain Boyz were apparently able to encode information on how to build simple machinery into the genomes of the Orks; thus Mekboyz require very little training in their function, since they understand mechanical principles at a fully instinctive level.

Orks lack individual psychic power, being denied such abilities by the Old Ones. However, they do have a sort of collaborative, collective psychic ability, meaning that if enough Orks believe something is true, then it will actually become so, brought into power by their gestalt psychic ability. For example, Ork rockets painted yellow create bigger explosions, simply because the vast majority of Orks think they do. This is also why much of the Orks' seemingly ramshackle technology will do terrible damage in the hands of Orks, but will cease to function when used by other races.

Contact with the Combine and Rebellion

An Ork Rokkit Boy.

Many years later, the Orks made contact with the Empire of the Combine Race and raided their inner worlds, but wre soon driven out. This led into the Ork-Combine War in 20,000 BC of the Georgian Calender. Both forces were a match, although they were strong through different ways; the Orks were strong in numbers and brute strength while the Combine were strong while using their advanced technology. By the war's end, the Orks were enslaved as a labor force until the end of the First Multiverse War, in which inspired them to rise up and rebel against the Combine. However, despite gaining freedom, they were still unsatisfyed, seeing that their rebellino was no enough to bring the Combine into collapse.

When they sought to find a faction of their own to join, the Coalition of Independnet States, formed primarily by rebellious Chimera, welcomed the Orks with open ed arms. Soon, the the rebels and the Orks shared their hatred towards the Combine and sought to creat their own multiracial empire in order to dominate the Multiverse.

Culture

Flash Gitz raiding an enemy outpost.

Ork culture circulates around seemingly random violence, which dominates every aspect of their culture. However, to characterize it as evil, malicious, or racist is to ignore the fact that it is in their nature. Most competitive activities amongst fellow Orks end in death. In fact, most activities Orks engage in involve death. This may be a byproduct of the rather brutal 40K universe, however, and it is possible that behavioral conditioning of Orks could result in a more placid lifeform. Ork behavior is dominated by the Waaagh!, a gestalt psychic field they generate that affects the Ork psyche, as it allows Orks to instinctively recognize who is 'bigga' and therefore in charge, which also feeds into the physiological expressions of success. All Orks generate this field, and it grows stronger as the Orks enjoy themselves, generally while fighting. The Waaagh! helps give momentum (and the name) to the Orks' planet-crushing Waaagh!s. These Waaagh!s are a cross between a mass migration, holy war, looting party and pub brawl, with a bit of genocide thrown in for good measure. Millions of Orks will gather together, drawn to the power of a single dominant Ork called a Warboss, who are essentially extremely successful Ork Nobs, distinguished from most Nobs thanks to their higher level of intelligence, many qualifying as geniuses even by human standards (which is not to say that Warbosses are always intelligent; some are simply too big, too green, and too strong to be resisted), though their lack of education can often lead their enemies to assume their stupidity (which is usually the last mistake they make). Once assembled into a huge mass, consisting of hundreds of millions or even billions of Orks and their countless ramshackle vehicles and spacecraft, the Orks will set off to find an enemy to fight - any enemy. Ork Waaagh!s will sweep whole planetary systems away and destroy armies and fleets in tides of bloodlust and carnage, and only once the Orks have killed every available enemy will they start to fight amongst themselves again.

Mad Doks serve as medics for the Orkish armies.

Orks use a modified form of the English language, in which phonetic misspellings such as "kannon", "choppa", and "boyz", which are commonly utilized in lieu of standard spelling. This seeming ignorance belies the species' evolutionarily advantageous ability to adapt the existing tools of others, be they tropes or tanks, to their own unique usage.

Within the Ork belief system, "survival of the fittest" is considered the true law of the universe, meaning that the weak are to be replaced and dominated by the strong. However, they believe that it can only be practiced through strength, numbers, and marshal discipline instead of technology and intellect, making Ork society brutal and harsh for civilians.

Religion

Orks believe in two major gods - Gork, who is brutally kunnin', and Mork, who is kunninly brutal, the subtle distinction being that one hits you when you're not looking at him, and the other hits you hard when you are. There is a different mythology sometimes portrayed in which Gork and Mork are the gods of Defense and Attack. Orks can't agree which god plays which role, and debate about this topic, which often erupts into fighting (Although generally Gork is considered the more brutal by players of Warhammer 40,000, and Mork the more cunning, possibly due to their roles in gorkamorka, in which a gork was better at fighting, and a mork better at driving). The priesthood of these gods has no in-game representation, although the infamous Goff Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka claims to be receiving visions from both. Also, there has been some mention of Yellerz (the Ork version of a priest) although they are not seen in-game. In earlier versions a third god, Bork, appeared, but has since been dropped. Orks generally tend to distinguish between Gork and Mork as one being mean, and the other being meaner. Some religious divisions lie in determining who is meaner; another factor preventing Orks from being united. It is doubtful if the distinction between Gork and Mork means anything in Ork culture, as long as it allows them to bash something. Perhaps Gork and Mork are actually one god.

Economy

The Orks are a traditional economy, in which more primitive and efficient methods are used in order for them to survive. They gather all the resources and objects around them and within their borders, including scrap metal, meat, and fruit.

Orks use their teeth as currency. This is quite a natural solution to inflation and income support, as Orks go through teeth in a similar manner to sharks, replacing them quite frequently, and Ork teeth do degrade over time, so it is impossible to hoard them. This keeps prices constant, ensures all Orks have at least some access to money, and allows constant values to be placed on commodities. A toof will buy a good Squig pie and a tankard of fungus beer, while a bag of teef will buy a cheap buggy. A big flashy battlewagon could cost a warboss hundreds of teef. This system also supports aggression, as all an Ork needs to make more money is to knock teef out of another Ork's head and then collect them for himself.