From Reddit threads to painting tables, 40k fans are divided over GW’s decision to remove “Men” from a classic motto.
Games Workshop just stirred the pot, this time with a subtle edit in White Dwarf 515 that has people talking. The legendary “And They Shall Know No Fear” quote, the one etched in every Space Marine fan’s brain since forever, has quietly dropped the word “men” and the “Mankind” from The Emperor.
Yup, 40k fans are split as GW removes “Men” from the classic Space Marine quote. Here is the latest.
Breaking Down the “And They Shall Know No Fear” Change
Updated on February 6th, 2025, by Rob Baer with the latest.
- White Dwarf 515 quietly edited the classic “And They Shall Know No Fear” quote, and the community noticed.
- “Emperor of Mankind” became “Emperor of Humanity”, and the line “These men who give themselves to me” got cut.
- One weird word swap: “steely” was changed to “steel”, and fans say the new version reads clunkier.
- Fans are split on why: corporate-safe wording, or just a sloppy edit.
- Spiciest theory: possible AI-assisted cleanup that made the quote more generic, which would also explain the awkward rhythm.
Original saying, from the 3rd Edition Rulebook
New quote from White Dwarf 515.
Here’s what’s new with “And They Shall Know No Fear”:
- The Emperor is now called “the Emperor of Humanity” instead of “the Emperor of Mankind.”
- The line “These men who give themselves to me” has been cut.
- “Steely” was changed to “steel.”
Yep, “These men who give themselves to me” is gone. And to make things stranger, “steel sinew” got swapped to “steely sinew,” which somehow breaks both the rhythm and the poetry of the passage.
The original quote definitely had a satisfying beat, pairing lines by syllable count. Removing that middle line doesn’t just tweak the tone; it messes with the flow (as someone picked up on Reddit). The pattern of 8-syllable couplets is gone now.
It’s like cutting a riff out of a Metallica song and pretending no one would notice.
Lore or Logic: What is Games Workshop Doing Here?
Quote from Horus Heresy Book I: Betrayal.
Now, there are a few theories flying around about all this… The most popular view is that Games Workshop was future-proofing the lore for female Space Marines, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
That aligns neatly with the recent Custodes lore adjustments, the “Terminus Decree” retcon, and, let’s be honest, those suspiciously feminine new Space Marine head sculpts.
Still, “humanity” feels like a corporate-safe swap; less about gender, more about modern readability. The irony? “Humanity” sounds less personal. The original line spoke of individuals who give themselves to the Emperor.
The new version reads more like an HR memo. It’s also interesting to note that this was the penultimate issue of White Dwarf that outgoing editor Lyle Lowery handled, but it’s unclear if he is responsible for this obvious adjustment to the lore.
Was This the AI’s Doing?
The recently dropped Terminus Decree used em dashes, which usually indicates AI use.
There’s a spicy theory making rounds that this might be the unintentional work of AI-assisted writing. Given that GW is letting machines handle more WHC articles and even some lore, it’s not wild to think a small phrasing tweak could’ve slipped through unnoticed by the White Dwarf team.
AI does like to make things more generic and gender-agnostic, so maybe it just took the line out and no one picked up the change. Especially with steel going to steely, it might have made another change to help the flow.
If so, this would explain the oddly mechanical rhythm of the updated version.
What This Could Mean for 40k 11th Edition
Lore changes rarely happen in isolation. With the next edition of Warhammer 40k arriving soon, it’s entirely possible this tweak foreshadows a broader refresh of how mankind (err, humanity) is portrayed in the Imperium.
Could this be a one-off edit that accidentally sparked a lore war? Not sure, but one thing’s clear: this tiny text tweak has reignited a massive debate about how far GW should go when modernizing a setting built on grimdark tradition.
Final Thoughts on Female Space Marines and the “Emperor of Humanity”
In Warhammer 40k, words are lore, and lore is sacred. Changing “men” might seem minor to an outsider, but to hobby veterans, it’s rewriting one of the fundamental pillars of 40k. The pacing, the weight, the tone; all part of what made that quote iconic. Losing that line feels like dropping a verse from the Imperial Creed.
And let’s be honest, the community has long memories. Between the Custodes tweaks, the Terminus Decree rewrite, and the ongoing rumors about Space Marines going co-ed, this just adds another purity seal to the theory that 11th Edition is bringing major narrative shifts.
Call it progress, call it heresy; either way, this edit feels clunky. The original poem wasn’t just flavor text; it was the Emperor’s creed, perfectly balanced between myth and menace.
If GW was preparing for female Space Marines, it looks like they ended up calling it off, but perhaps this was soemthing to just test the waters about how the fans would react?
Fans can adapt to change (slowly for some), but not when it feels like someone swapped their boltgun for a water pistol mid-battle.
See the Latest on Female Space Marines
I’m not split. Good change. At the end of the day, it’s a long-running sci-fantasy universe where the rules are made up by the writers, not by characters in the universe.
To be completely honest with everything going on England and them being on the brink of civil war I am not surprised. Though I hope they just drop a new fraction that is coed and somehow loyal to the Primarch Roboute. With everything related to the rules and stuff breaking down in some tournements (which is why I won’t bother going to a tournement Btw) I do believe they might be using way too much AI. A lot of companies have been delving too deep when its not viable to do so. You still need a human eye and hands to do said thing.