A question that has been debated for nearly as long as Warhammer 40K has existed. The answer isn’t clear, but I think it’s fair to say that most fans are content with them being nine or ten foot behemoths. In this article, I will take the classic image of a Marine from the late Jes Goodwin as my precedent and argue that, based on what we know from published background material, they are indeed such.
During the genetic transformation that turns a human into a space marine, they’re implanted with various new organs. These organs are designed to encourage the body to grow bigger and stronger than normal. They also have the effect of making them more physically capable and able to recover faster from injury. This is one of the primary reasons that Marines seem so much larger than their human counterparts.
They’re also incredibly powerful for their size. They can perform feats that would kill a regular human within seconds, such as lifting the hull of an enemy vehicle or tearing it apart with a single blow from their power armour.
It should be noted that, although they are biologically modified, a space marine starts out as a normal sized human and is only transformed at a very young age. This is why they have a very distinctive appearance and are so easily identifiable in the field of battle. As a result, they’re very easy to pick out of a crowd of other soldiers and can be easily distinguished from the Imperial Guard or Eldar models in a game.
