Of the most iconic tabletop war games of all time, Warhammer 40,000 is filled to the brim with unique and distinct factions for players to build armies around. Each of these factions comes with its own aesthetic identity, gameplay mechanics, and lore. For the uninitiated, Warhammer's lore is notably deep and quite over the top, with everything being some shade of deadly and over-powered.
When it is said that one of the most iconic factions in Warhammer 40,000 are Orks, one should be aware that these green-skinned brutes aren't an ordinary run of the mill group. Let's examine some of the most insane and ludicrous facts about the Orks of Warhammer 40,000.
10 Mushroom Brains
While Orks in various forms of fantasy such as in D&D are often a race with biology not too unlike that of a human, in Warhammer, things are never that simple. When it comes to the biology of Orks in Warhammer 40,000, Orks are beings made up of two distinct parts, one which is that of a living, breathing animal, and that which is fungal.
Yes, that's right, Warhammer Orks are half fungus. Therefore, when someone says that these Orks have fungus for brains, that's not an insult but a veritable fact.
9 Fungus Reproduction
As beings that are partially comprised of fungus, Orks notably produce asexually through the use of fungal spores. Many Orks tend to look quite similar to one and other, and players may note the absence of female Orks in Warhammer.
This is entirely due to their nature as asexual fungal beings whose offspring is quite akin to self-replication.
8 Fighting Above All Else
When it comes to the mentality of Orks in Warhammer, they most often only have one thing on their mind: fighting. These Orks are incredibly violent beings that when not fighting, often contemplate how they could instigate a fight or join one that has already begun.
While there are billions of Orks in the world of Warhammer, this mentality is one of the reasons they aren't a larger intergalactic threat. If Orks are not in the middle of a conflict with a different faction, they will often begin killing each other, simply for the sake of fighting.
7 Technically Immortal
Though one would never know it due to their frequent deaths in battle, Orks are technically immortal. Though their shade of green darkens as Orks age, they will never die of old age and could hypothetically live indefinitely for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
However, due to their previously mentioned compelled tendencies of violence, they often perish prematurely.
6 Magic Imagination
One of the most notably ridiculous aspects of Orks in Warhammer 40,000 is their imagination. Despite what one may think when initially looking at an Ork, they give off an incredibly powerful psychic aura.
While the majority of these Orks aren't bright enough to use it directly, or even know that it's there, this psychic aura causes anything that Orks believe to become true. If an Ork picked up an unloaded gun, but each other Ork it is battling alongside told it that the gun was loaded because they believed it was, the gun would successfully fire.
5 The Power Of Colors
Branching from their imaginative powers, Orks of Warhammer 40,000 have a very unique application of colors when painting vehicles, machines, and even themselves. Specifically, Orks believe that the colors that an object is painted provide it with corresponding characteristics.
The most hilarious part of this belief is that due to their psychic collective imagination, these colors do in fact make an impact. For example, they believe painting something black will make it tougher, they believe painting something red will make it move faster, and they believe that anything can be improved by painting it green, as green is their natural skin color.
4 Dangerous Doctors
Despite being one of the most savage factions in Warhammer, Orks do in fact have access to their own medics called "Painboys." Unfortunately for Orks, these doctors are far from the most reliable. If an Ork is injured and goes to a Painboy for assistance, there is a sizable chance that said Painboy would cause more harm than good, performing unnecessary surgeries such as giving an Ork an extra appendage.
This flavorfully translates into the gameplay, as if a Painboy attempts to heal an ally on the table and the player rolls a one, the unit they were attempting to heal takes damage instead.
3 Biggest & Strongest Hierarchy
Believe it or not, Orks are not entirely ruled by chaos; in fact, there is a hierarchy and structure to their society. However, this hierarchy is as straightforward as it is brutal. Plain and simple, the biggest and strongest Orks are in charge, while the smallest and weakest of their kind are at the bottom of the totem pole.
If another Ork wants to be in charge, they need to kill the Ork currently at the helm, proving that they are the strongest. It is for this reason that one of the most revered and respected of all of the Orks is Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, a massive and monstrous Ork, augmented with a vast array of cybernetic upgrades.
2 Ancient Allies Of The Eldar
Despite being savage brutes, the Orks' origins are actually similar to that of Warhammer's space Elves, the Eldar. Originally called the KrOrks, they were created by a group of beings of immense power called the great old ones.
Their initial purpose was to serve as warriors in the great old ones' ancient war against the Necron menace that threatened the universe.
1 GOrk & MOrk
Though first and foremost, Orks revere violence and combat above all else, they are known to worship two gods: GOrk and MOrk. While pantheons of gods often feature gods of specific concepts, Orks describe the jurisdictions of these gods as "GOrk is brutal but kunnin' and MOrk is kunnin' but brutal."
As Orks are beings able to collectively manifest their imaginations, who can argue with them?