Games Workshop announced that it introduced a new female Adeptus Custodes into Warhammer 40k as part of its The Tithes animated series.
Tyrith Shiva Kyrus in The Tithes Episode 2 (2024), Games Workshop
On the official Warhammer Community website, Games Workshop revealed, “Tyrith Shiva Kyrus (the first three of a long list of honorific names earned fighting for the Emperor) has the privilege of being our first portrayal of a female Custodian Guard since the recent revelation that Custodians can be any gender.”
The company added, “This fact came as a real surprise to many, since it wasn’t something previously explored. That, in and of itself, isn’t a particularly unusual thing for Warhammer 40,000 and its lore; there are simply loads of things the Warhammer Studios have never expressly stated, whether that’s ruling them in or out.”
Adeptus Custodes via Warhammer YouTube
READ: Games Workshop Retcons Adeptus Custodes By Introducing Female Space Marines Then Lies About It
From there, Warhammer continued to justify this massive retcon and gaslight its enthusiasts and hobbyists, “Since the earliest conversations about bringing the Horus Heresy to the tabletop and Black Library fiction, the exact nature of the Custodians has been under discussion – after all, their origins and means of creation, unlike for example, the Legiones/Adeptus Astartes, are shrouded in mystery.”
“A significant advantage to this portrayal is that it helps us to address a common misconception – that the Custodes are just bigger, better Space Marines. They aren’t. Space Marines were made through industrialised ritual to be mass-produced, brute-force weapons of conquest. And even 10,000 years after their creation, draped in self-assigned glory, that’s still true of them at their core,” Games Workshop stated. “Each Custodian, on the other hand, is unique. Painstakingly made through peerless craft and arcane artifice, their physique, their psyche, their very soul, is a bespoke instrument of the Emperor they unquestioningly serve.”
Adeptus Custodes via Warhammer YouTube
“We know a lot about Space Marines, relatively speaking,” the company declared. “But there is still so much we don’t know about the Custodians, particularly in Warhammer 40,000, and their recruitment process is the least of these mysteries.”
The company then listed a number of questions, “What exactly are they up to in the 41st Millennium? What was their motive for joining the Indomitus Crusade? What do they REALLY think of Gulliman? What secret weapons do they have sequestered away in their armoury vaults on Terra? What does “loyalty” mean in a galaxy where the master you failed is silent, and you despise what his empire has become?”
Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2024), Black Library
Finally, Games Workshop declared, “We sometimes call these ‘gaps’ and they are quite intentional. They let you as collectors, players, and fans fill the spaces with your own characters, stories and narratives – making the Warhammer hobby truly yours.”
“They also allow us to revisit factions through miniatures, stories, and animations and offer something new and interesting. (Imagine how sad it would be if we ever said “And that’s it. That’s everything you’ll ever see in this army. No new models ever.” – that’d be rubbish.),” the company concluded.
Warhammer 40,000: Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2018), Games Workshop
Earlier in the blog post, Games Workshop also hinted that Tyrith will make chop liver of Space Marines in the episode. The company wrote, “Enter the Adeptus Custodes, specifically Tyrith** – a herald of the Emperor bestowed with the ultimate authority and a critical message. Ever wondered what the difference in combat prowess is between mortal, Space Marine and Custodian Guard? Well, wonder no longer… Tyrith gets into some serious action before the episode is over.”
The company added, “We also get to see the weight of a Custodian’s authority. It’s the first time in a Warhammer animation the Space Marines don’t sit at the top of the metaphorical pyramid of power. Thankfully, they’re all on the same side. Right?”
Adeptus Custodes via Warhammer YouTube
It is unlikely that more gaslighting will convince Warhammer enthusiasts that the Custodes were always female or that they can be “any gender.” The evidence to the contrary is staggering.
As noted by former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern aka Grummz, an except from the Rogue Trader rules published in 1987 makes it abundantly clear the Custodes are male and have always been male.
It states, “The Adeptus Custodes is the Emperor’s inner guard, the members of which are privileged in being permitted to serve upon the Emperor, attending to his needs, receiving and recording his directions. These men never leave Earth and only rarely leave the Imperial Palace – an endless, black hive of forbidden technology and subterranean passages delving deep within the bowels of the planet.”
Warhammer 40k is a grimdark sci-fi tabletop game that is the #1 miniature gaming IP in the world.
The Adeptus Custodes are the Emperor’s inner guard and much stronger, better in every way than space marines.
Introduced in the Rogue Trader rules in 1987 as MEN from the VERY… pic.twitter.com/oeTlARrPuf
— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024
Grummz shared excerpts from the 2017 and 2018 Adeptus Custodes Codexes as well that refer to them as the Brotherhood of Demigods and make it clear they were recruited from the sons of nobles.
One excerpt reads, “It is known that all Custodians begin their lives as the infant sons of the noble houses of Terra. It is a mark of incredible prestige to surrender one’s child to this most glorious of callings within the Imperium, and many notable clans amongst the Terran aristocracy have willingly given up almost entire generations of newborn sons to earn it.”
In the 7th and 8th edition of the official Custodes codexes, they are repeatedly referred to as the BROTHERHOOD of Demigods, recruited from the SONS of nobles.
*2017 and 2018
(Con’t) pic.twitter.com/CORWSbjYay
— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024
Nevertheless, it’s not surprising that Games Workshop would quadruple down on the female Adeptus Custodes. After they introduced one in the most recent Adeptus Custodes, the official X account claimed there were always female Custodes.
Warhammer on X
Then in a blog post the company doubled down by retconning out the fact that Custodes are recruited from the sons of nobles.
It wrote, “Potential Custodians are taken in at a very young age to better survive the rigours of their transformation – no older than late infancy – for the fundamental changes that will be wrought upon their flesh, minds and souls are tantamount to apotheosis. It is considered a great honour for those of Terran noble houses to submit a child.”
Combat Patrol: Adeptus Custodes
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All of this came in the wake of a post to X back in 2020 where Games Workshop wrote, “One of the great powers of our hobby is its ability to bring people together in common cause, to build bonds and friendships that cross divides. We believe in and support a community united by shared values of mutual kindness and respect.”
“Our fantasy settings are grim and dark, but that is not a reflection of who we are or how we feel the real world should be. We will never accept nor condone any form of prejudice, hatred or abuse in our company or in the Warhammer hobby. We will continue to diversify the cast of characters we portray through miniatures, art and storytelling so everyone can find representation and heroes they can relate to.”
Finally, it concluded, “And if you feel the same way, wherever and whoever you are, we’re glad you are part of the Warhammer community. If not, you will not be missed.”
Warhammer Community on X
Furthermore, it’s been revealed that Games Workshop is a converged company with investment firms BlackRock and Vanguard owning more than 10% of the company.
A screenshot of Games Workshop’s Shareholder Statistics
READ: Games Workshop CFO Sells Two-Thirds Of Her Shares Amid Growing Warhammer Boycott
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has made it abundantly clear he wanted to force behaviors on companies he invested in.
During an appearance at The New York Times’ DealBook back in 2017, Fink said, “You have to force behaviors. And if you don’t force behaviors whether it’s gender, or race, or, just any way you want to say, the composition of your team. You’re going to be impacted. And that’s not just recruiting, it is development as Ken said.”
When asked how he plans to force change, Fink said, “It has to be imbued in the culture of a firm. It has to be talked about. It has to be shown. Behaviors across the entire firm and entire region have to be similar. And every citizen of the firm has to understand what is acceptable behaviors and what are unacceptable behaviors.”
It’s all a conspiracy, they said. No one is trying to socially engineer corporate America, they said.
BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink: “You have to force behaviors…If [firms] don’t force behaviors, whether it’s gender or race…you’re going to be impacted.” pic.twitter.com/RDqtKOjQeM
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 5, 2023
What do you make of Games Workshop introducing this new female Adeptus Custodes and now claiming that Custodes can be any gender?
