Your guide to the burning questions about Female Space Marines, their place in the Warhammer 40k lore, and the community debate.
Updated on October 7th, 2025, by Rob Baer with new information and links to relevant content.
The Warhammer 40k universe has often stirred debates beyond just tactical gameplay. One that has gained traction over recent years is the call for gender diversity in its iconic factions: female Space Marines and the potential for male Sisters of Battle or Sisters of Silence.
One ongoing debate among the fanbase (which seems to erupt out of nowhere and is currently trending on social media as of this writing) is the call for female Space Marines and the fact that GW has now confirmed that female Adeptus Custodes have been around since the first Ten Thousand.
But how does this compare to the already established female force, the Sisters of Battle? Let’s break it all down:
Questions About Female Space Marines
Back in the 1980s, at the beginning of the Rogue Trader Era, Warhammer 40,000 featured female “Space Marines,” and they weren’t Sisters of Battle miniatures either.
As the game has grown in popularity, so has its diverse player base. Incorporating female Space Marines could reflect and respect that diversity. However, a significant portion of the player base is also angered by this possibility, and loves to point out a number of reasons why Female Space Marines doesn’t work.
Female Space Marine Miniatures: Fact, Fiction, or Future?
Maybe the biggest question for GW is whether there is market demand for them. From a commercial perspective, there is clear interest.
Many hobbyists have already converted miniatures or sourced third-party figures to represent Female Space Marines. But would the move harm the company with its existing fan base?
It might… However, introducing female Space Marines can open the door to new stories, conflicts, and narrative possibilities. Most importantly, Games Workshop may think that it can open the door to new audiences and revenue streams.
Female Space Marine Heads?
In 2025, GW dropped a new Ultramarines upgrade sprue, and suddenly everyone’s asking the same thing, “Did we just see female Space Marine heads?” The internet was in full meltdown mode, with fans debating whether it’s a Photoshop slip or a sneaky marketing tease.
Between lore tweaks about female Custodes and some oddly soft-faced sculpts, this might be the biggest “wait, what?” moment since the Space Wolves dog-helmet days.
Sisters of Battle vs. Female Space Marines
The Sisters of Battle, or Adepta Sororitas, have a unique lore steeped in faith and martyrdom and tons of female models, which starkly contrasts with the genetically engineered might of the Space Marines. Introducing Female Space Marines isn’t about replacing the Sisters but diversifying the broader Warhammer 40k universe.
The Sisters have a gothic, ecclesiastical design distinct from the utilitarian, militaristic look of the Space Marines. Female Space Marines could offer a new aesthetic direction, providing hobbyists with more options.
You may ask, “Are the Sisters of Battle the Female Counterparts of Space Marines?” Not exactly; while the Sisters are indeed a powerful female force, their lore, motivations, and aesthetic differ from that of the existing Space Marine chapters.
So “Why Not Just Expand on the Sisters of Battle Instead of Introducing Female Space Marines?”
While expanding the Sisters’ lore is crucial, the call for Female Marines revolves around diversifying an iconic and existing faction. Both actions can, in theory, coexist. However, the only way it may happen is if GW can recognize the market demand.
Should There Be Male Sisters of Battle or Sisters of Silence?
The Sisters of Battle’s origin, tied deeply to the Ecclesiarchy’s ban on “men-at-arms,” and the Sisters of Silence being a part of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, might make introducing male versions more complicated, but still elite warriors.
This would require some serious lore adaptations from GW (Vandire and the Brides of the Emperor), but they have done it in the past. While diversifying gender is one concern, the uniqueness of each faction’s role should remain intact. Male Sisters, if introduced, would need a strong narrative reason that doesn’t dilute the essence of these factions.
How Would the Lore Accommodate Male Sisters of Battle, Given Their Origins?
If Games Workshop chooses this route, they’d need to craft a compelling story, perhaps a splinter faction or a drastic change to the Warhammer 40k universe’s events. Again, though, it’s not like GW hasn’t changed the lore in the past to accommodate something they wanted.
Games Workshop Confirms Female Adeptus Custodes
On pages 14-15 of the new 10th Edition book Adeptus Custodes codex, there is a full story about a female Custodes named Calladayce. The full story is here, and this is the first codex book to discuss female Adeptus Custodes explicitly.
Since Games Workshop originally posted this, it has since confirmed that this is official and that female Custodes are now canon in Warhammer 40k.
A few years back, a GW writer also weighed in on the issue and discussed why we hadn’t seen them before from a design standpoint.
Warhammer 40k’s Female “Space Marines” Miniatures
Back in 1988, at the beginning of the Rogue Trader Era, Games Workshop posted this ad in White Dwarf 99, offering two of these minis for 5£.
Sculpted by Bob Naismith, Trish, Aly Morrison, and Mark Copplestone, these figures helped spearhead the Rogue Trader revolution, which eventually became the Warhammer 40k game we know today.
As you can see, Jayne and Gabs debuted here as “female warriors.” At this point, GW didn’t even know what a Space Marine was, so it’s hard to say if they are female Space Marines, but this is the closest you can get officially from GW!
Jayne was listed as having a Power Sword, and Gabs as having both a Power Sword and Bolter. From the sculpts, they both appear to be wearing power armor with a backpack as well.
At this point, it is impossible to determine whether the sales of these two figures contributed to the development of the Sisters of Battle miniature line in the early 1990s, but it would be interesting to think so.
Now, other companies have taken inspiration from Jayne and Gabs and made versions to fit their miniature lines.
The Female Space Marine That Fooled the Hobby
Image Credit @Kittenmeetswarhammer
You might have initially thought that Belisarius Cawl figured out a way to turn females into Primaris! In all reality, this is one hobbyist’s conversion piece photoshopped onto a page of a year-old White Dwarf. T
he model, however, is very much a real conversion, as our article debunking this hoax shows.
Image Credit @Kittenmeetswarhammer
A picture shows the model’s conversion progress.
Image Credit @Kittenmeetswarhammer
Yes, it’s that good because it fooled the entire internet for a few minutes. While this may not be an official GW miniature, it certainly provides a good foundation for female Primaris Space Marines in the future. If GW ever decides to go that way…
Ex-GW Employee On Female Space Marines in 40k
The age-old debate of female Space Marines reignites with the latest from an ex-GW employee and key insights into their release cycle.
A few years ago, a hobbyist on Twitter reposted some of the old pictures of the female Space Marines from the Adventurers line and explained his take on why they never really “took off” back in the late 1980s.
Another user posted a reply from Alan Merrett, the former head of intellectual property at Games Workshop, who was the GW design manager at the time these models were released.
He had a few interesting things to say on another forum a while back, not only about the “burning” question of “Why aren’t there any female Space Marines?” but also about GW’s release cycle in general.
Making what seems to be a good point, there were technically female Space Marine models that existed way back in the male-dominated 1980s miniatures market. However, what we found interesting about this post was that even back then, GW seemed to have a dedicated release cycle (either monthly or weekly), and they apparently ended up using everything that was sculpted, including the models in the dreaded “Drawer 101”.
He went on to say:
Weekly Releases Amid Representation
This is a lot to read through, but we underlined the areas of interest in red. Essentially, when female miniatures were first introduced into the model range (in the 1980s, to be precise), they didn’t sell as well as the male variants, and stores complained that they weren’t moving products.
Thus, GW adapted to what the community wanted and again focused on male models in the late 1980s.
Recently, the resounding demand from the community to bring back Sisters of Battle, which was a massive success for GW, proves that times have changed from the 1980s customer base 1000%.
While there still aren’t any official female Space Marine models in production by GW, we can still find ladies in power armor if that’s your style- or Female Stormcasts in Age of Sigmar. And, of course, we all know that Games Workshop generates tons of revenue off of their constant, weekly releases (with or without the dreaded “Drawer 101”)
So, Can There Be Female Space Marines?
PleasantKenobi
Yes, if Games Workshop wanted it to be so, the Warhammer 40k universe, with its millennia of lore and vast scope, can undoubtedly accommodate the inclusion of female Space Marines, especially since they confirmed female Custodes have existed “since the beginning” of the lore!
Whether it’s the inclusion of female Space Marines or considering gender shifts in traditionally female factions or units, the essence lies in the quality of the narrative and design.
They would just have to come up with some ideas for the Gene Seed to work, as currently it is keyed to male hormones, as Space Marines are genetic (technically).
Final Thoughts On Female Space Marines
In conclusion, the debate about female Space Marines in the Warhammer 40k universe has been raging for decades, and it seems like there’s no end in sight. With calls for gender diversity, potential male Sisters of Battle or Sisters of Silence, and even discussions about male versions of existing factions, the Warhammer 40k universe continues to evolve.
Regardless of where you stand on the issue, one thing’s for sure: the 40k universe is vast and full of potential for exciting new narratives and characters (especially if Games Workshop needs something new to sell).
40k’s New Female Adeptus Custodes
Where do you stand on the female Space Marines debate for Warhammer 40k?
Hello everyone, this is my very first time commenting here, so I am still figuring things out. I have been playing and collecting 40K miniatures for nearly as long as it has been around. I am, of course, a Woman and the fact that the entire setting has been a sausage party for decades has been quite distressing. The Sisters factions are a wonder to be sure, but this debate and its heated nature serves no real purpose past lore purists wanting to keep their sausage party and progressives, especially Girls like me and other Female gamers simply wishing for more diversity in the lore and the miniatures ranges. Of course, I love the idea of official Female Space Marines, Custodes and even Orks; we have been sadly under represented in this setting and in its miniatures, barring the Sisters factions and some Eldar, so why not expand, it can open the market even further and offer new stories to tell. Let us be honest; Space Marine armor is crazy bulky, so who can really tell who or what is inside without removing it entirely to see what and whom is beneath. I, like other Girls, have been modding my miniatures and telling stories with Female Space Marines since I began collecting nearly 35 years ago. To me, the miniatures are big suits of armor and helmets so I tell the story of what and whom is inside. There is no such thing as boob plates folks, that is not how actual armor, power or otherwise, works. I think that the Female Custodes are an amazing step forward and, hopefully, making Female Space Marines, that us collecters and players have been using for many years anyway, official cannon would be a wonder and welcome by a more diverse player and collecting base. As a Woman and as a long time wargamer who has been doing it anyway, I am all for Female Space Marines. Blessed Be.
I’m already sick of the female custodes bullshit. How am i to believe that women are strong enough to be warriors when in the real world they constantly complain about how words are being used?
Like so many franchises that were destroy by the girl boss theme, this one might be next.
They already have two factions so why not keep it at that? These whole inclusion bullshit the west is burning at this moment and women themselves are in denial about that because they were in the forefront promoting it.
Friend, awaken yourself to the complete falsehood of what you have posted. There have been Female warriors in many cultures for thousands of years and, yes, we can be and are strong enough to be soldiers and warriors like Space Marines. Have you ever given birth, had a period, I think not, so you have no concept of strength or pain. Hearing such hateful crap spouted about Women like me is repulsive and over a hobby of all things. Yes, things should be more diverse; more Women, more Transgender folks, more sexualities, more representation of all kinds, what are you afraid of. Either adapt or get out of the way. By the way, the west burning, as you stated, is due to your male bull crap, your wars, your persecution of Transgender folks, especially Trans-Girls like me, your hate for anything that does not meet your deffinition of gender, or sex according to your binary way of thinking. To Hell with that noise. I give GW credit for making Female Custodes and I truly hope that Female Space Marines and all the rest are next. We Women are, and always have been, Warriors, secret agents, infiltrators, assassins, Samuri, you name it, we have done it; simply because you do not like these facts, or us apparently, does not make these facts less true. Please grow up and look out of your tiny box. I am a Woman, a Transsexual Woman at that and I play wargames with Female miniatures all of the time; whether I needed to mod them or buy them direct, these are facts for me and so many other Girls, so like it or not, we are here and more of us are coming. Move out of the way or get run over; go become extinct with the rest of the dinosaurs please and take your patriarchal garbage with you.
Ofcouse there can be female Spacemariens. Think of this. The first batch af sons are missing two chapters. You cannot take Only one cromoson to make a Man. All unborn are female to start. So. The Empire did have a Daugther that came to bee the start of one chapter. And there are one other cahpter were the first are bi-sexuel.
I had a stroke trying to read this.
Okay, first thing first, no, there can’t be female space marines, Games Workshop said that female Adepetus Custodes (not space marines) have always existed, which is also false as in the lore the Emperor refers to the Custodians as men. When it comes to space marines (aka the Adepetus Astartes), a geneseed is implanted into them (a vital part of an Astartes), and these were specifically made for men, as well as most of the other implants that they received during years of surgery. (Fun fact: they had to stay awake for these surgeries so that they could confirm that said implants work, especially for ones that involved the marines mental.) The old female space marine models that are shown are, I’m pretty sure, from Rouge Trader and it’s lore is only very loosely connected to modern Warhammer lore. I also don’t think that if GW would make female space marines canon and introduce minis depicting them, that it would increase their revenue, as shown in the backlash that GW received when announcing that female Custodians were canon, since most people who are into Warhammer 40k care about the lore aswell, like myself. Same thing goes for the “Brothers of Battle”, whereas I don’t know as much lore about the SoB as much as Astartes, I still think that they’re metal as hell the way they are and I don’t think that GW should start tampering with their lore (or just 40k lore overall), just to bring more diversity into an already diverse franchise. I only intend this comment to be an explanation and not anything stupefying, I fully support people who want to kitbash/3D print female space marines, Brothers of Battle, etc. so please accept this image of a dreadnought chilling 🙂
With respect friend, I disagree. A bit of a fun fact, the word Astartes, coming from the name Astarte, is actually an ancient Goddess of love, sex, passion and war, so the very name opens up the door for Female Space Marines. I do not care much for the 40K lore anyway and am not a purist, so changing the entire setting up to include more diversity in its factions, Female Space Marines Etc, is just fine with me. Many Girls like me play, and have done so for decades, creating our own lore and stories for our chosen factions to fit our liking, so making things official in cannon is simply something that makes sense. If a person buys the minis, the lore, or lack there of, is their own to do with as they see fit; having the diversity of miniatures to make things easier to represent the diversity of the player base, and to make it easier to have miniatures that we all wish to play with, represented without serious need for modding would be a blessing and a step forward that I hope GW does end up taking. The Female Custodes are quite cool and I like what this shoes for the future. I think that, in the end, this is just a game, a hobby, and getting bent up too much over it is not wise. If you like the lore, than keep it, if you do not, than toss it in the trash. Having existing, official, lore more diverse and inclusive can prove more welcoming to Girls Like me and other folks who play and collect. The existing lore can, and has, been changed in the past to accomidate what GW wanted to do, so changing things again to allow for Female Space Marines and so forth should not be a big deal. If you are a purist and like things as they are, than I can respect that, I simply do not agree with you. If some of those earliest minis were indeed there to represent Female Space Marines, or prototypes there of, seeing this old lore from back in the old days brought forth and expanded upon to make it all official would be quite cool. Another idea is this; if you like the lore the way it is, than keep it, but introduce Female Space Marine Chapters or even Legions, so that what you like does not needs be changed at all. A Dark Angels successor for example could be a Female Chapter without needing to change up the Dark Angels already existing lore or Chapters that are current, just add other Chapters that are Female, or even mixed Sex and Gender. The two missing Legions could be written in as Female Space Marine Legions and be given their own Lore that does not interfere with that of the other Legions. There is a way to keep what you like and simply add diversity to it without having to change much of anything if you think about it. Slaaneshi Chaos Marines tend to entirely, or partially, change their Genders anyway, through mutation, modification or gifts from Slaanesh Themself; there are many smart people in the setting that can use eldritch science, gene alchemy, or what have you, to bring forth Female Space Marines and other such diverse elements. Simply adding lore to whatever is already there, just like with the Female Custodes, will not require an entire setting change, just some additions to what is already there to add much needed diverse elements. I think that there ways to have what we all want here; these are just some simple ideas of what can be done to make it happen. Blessed Be