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{{quote|[[Famed in Story|For every hero commemorated]], [[Little Hero Big War|a thousand martyrs die]] [[Due to Thethe Dead|unmourned and unremembered]]. |'''[[Imperial Guard]] Proverb'''}}
 
 
The ''Imperial Guard'' is the [[Redshirt Army|collective military of normal humans]] and the military backbone of the Imperium in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]''. It has been said that if the [[Space Marines]] are the tip of the Imperium's spear, the Guard are the rest of the spearhead, the shaft and ''the man holding it''. While often the designated victim in works featuring other forces, the Guard appears to have [[Badass Army|considerable success]] in the 41st millennium, as well as having a considerable favor with the fans.
 
Besides the popular [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]] and [[Ciaphas Cain]] series, they feature in ''Fifteen Hours'', ''Death World'' and ''Rebel Winter'' (collected in the ''Imperial Guard'' omnibus), Steven Lyon's ''Ice Guard'', Aaron Dembski-Bowden's ''Cadian Blood'', Steve Parker's ''Gunheads'', ''Desert Raiders'', and Henry Zhou's ''Flesh and Iron'', just to name a few. They also commonly appear in other ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' works, such as Henry Zhou's ''The Emperor's Mercy'', [[Graham McNeill]]'s ''Storm of Iron'', and ''[[The Last Chancers]]'' series. And in third quarter 2012, the guard will get their own game in the 40K roleplaying series: ''[[Only War]]''.
 
Not to be confused with [[Praetorian Guard]],<ref> (which is coincidentally also the name of Imperial Guard regiments from the planet Praetoria)</ref> which is the trope of imperial/elite guards as a whole.
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* [[Badass Army]]: Most regiments that last more than one theatre. And some that don't, too.
* [[Badass Normal]]: Guardsmen as depicted especially in the 5th edition.
* [[Base Onon Wheels|Base On Tracks]]: Leviathan Command Vehicles and Capitol Imperialis.
* [[Battle in Thethe Center of Thethe Mind]]: Mental battles with psykers/daemons or the simple mind scrubbing that war manages to do, usually to characters that have been in field longer than their psyches can handle.
** A Tanith trooper, in the first few pages of First and Only, flips out and begins to shoot at vermin in his own trench. He is dealt with accordingly.
* [[Boxed Crook]]: Penal legions, but [[Gas Mask Mooks|Savlar Chem Dogs]] especially. Criminals imprisoned in a [[Death World|toxic world]], sent to fight in the poisonous undersides of hive cities.
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* [[Demi Human]]: The Ratlings, Ogryns and, in older editions, Beastmen. Technically these examples are 'stable' mutations, much like the Navis Nobilite.
* [[Drill Tank]]: The Hades Breach Drill, used by the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Drop Ship]]: Mentioned in the fluff (often in [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]]) but yet to recieve a dedicated model representation. Until then the Arvus Lighter and Valkyries are many players substitutes.
* [[Due to Thethe Dead]]: The Black Bell of Terra is said to ring whenever a true hero of the Imperium is martyred. It is, of course, tolling constantly.
* [[Elite Mooks]]: Stormtroopers (Inquisitorial or otherwise), veteran squads and pretty much any carapace armoured guardsman.
* [[Elites Are More Glamorous]]: The Cadians in general and the Kasrkin, oh boy the Kasrkin.
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* [[Empathic Weapon]]: Weapon's used by psykers.
* [[Evil Is Deathly Cold]]: Side-effect of Psyker powers, anyone?
* [[Field Promotion]]: Happens in [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]] a fair bit, due to attrition.
* [[General Failure]]: The inexperienced/impatient/incompetant generals often are, although Cadian Generals are suprisingly skilled General Rippers.
* [[General Ripper]]: Case in point Captain Kubrick Chenkov. Has expended the lives of millions of Valhallans in the name of victory.
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* [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]]: Bolt weapons (reserved for officers, usually), Ogryn Ripper Guns and most vehicle mounted weaponry.
** Averted by the [[Space Navy|Imperial Navy]] where weapons such as the Nova Cannon and lance batteries far outshine their kinetic counterparts.
* [[Base Onon Wheels|Land Battleship]]: Super heavy tanks and other vehicles such as the massive Capitol Imperialis, the huge Leviathan Command Vehicle and the staggering Ordinatus.
* [[The Men First]]: Most good commanders have this attitude. Commissars - not so much.
** It is noted as unusual, in universe, that Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and Commissar Cain are (relatively) humane commissars. In some cases the attitude is looked down upon by peers and superiors alike.
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* [[Mounted Combat]]: Attilans and some Kriegers.
* [[Mutants]]: Plenty of these in the Imperium of Man, plenty enough to be used as cannon-fodder or low grade troops. For more stable mutants look further up to [[Demi Human]].
* [[Rank Up]]: Tona Criid, Ceglan Varl or Flyn Meryn in [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]] for example.
* [[Rare Vehicles]]: Super-heavy class vehicles and Titans, but not quite so much a heavy emphasis on rarity in later editions.
* [[Redshirt Army]]: A highly capable one, usually (at least in 5th edition).
* [[Shoot the Fuel Tank]]: A distinct problem that Hellhounds used to have, what with the rear compartment housing some or all the fuel for its weapon and the sheer variety of weapons that can ignite fuel on contact.
* [[Space Romans]]: Many unique Guard units are [[Recycled in Space|modelled after]] various [[Real Life|real]] armies from different countries and time periods: Valhallans are [[Reds Withwith Rockets]], Steel Legionnaires are [[Nazis With Gnarly Weapons]], Tallarn Desert Raiders are [[Warriors Of Desert Winds]], and so on.
* [[Superpowered Mooks]]: The Death Guard in Cadian Blood.
* [[Tanks, But No Tanks]]: In actuality most [[Imperial Guard]] vehicles aren't tanks. But who cares? It's only a game.
* [[Tank Goodness]]: The [[Imperial Guard]] takes this trope [[Up to Eleven]], starting with the humble [[Awesome Personnel Carrier|Chimera IFV]], the [[Kill It Withwith Fire|Hellhound Flame Tank]], and the ever-reliable Leman Russ Main Battle Tank, all the way up to the massive superheavy Baneblade. Just check out what [http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/ Forgeworld] cranks out. They had tanks coming out of every orifice for a year or two before slowing down again.
* [[Tarot Motifs]]: The Emperors Tarot?
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: The [[Imperial Guard]] has been [[Flanderized]] as full of [[General Ripper]] type leaders who do nothing but human wave attacks against enemies, but recently, a number of novel series, particularly the [[Ciaphas Cain]] series and [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]] series, have portrayed the Guard has a highly trained and sophisticated modern fighting force combining mechanized warfare, air support, and artillery strikes. Nevertheless, considering all the horrible stuff out there in the 40k universe, it's not always enough.
** The newest codex definitely made them a more powerful force able to compete with the [[Badass Abnormal|Badass Abnormals]]' beefed up codexes following 5th edition's release.
* [[Urban Warfare]]: A common setting for the Imperial Guard, especially on (ex)Imperial worlds.
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