Ultramarines

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"I am steel! I am doom! I march for Macragge! And I shall know no fear!!"

An animated Warhammer 40,000 movie, released in 2010 by Codex Pictures, written by Dan Abnett and featuring the voices of Terrence Stamp, Sean Pertwee, and John Hurt.

The remote planet Mithron is home to an Imperial shrine, guarded since time immemorial by a hundred Space Marines of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Now, however, the planet has gone silent, save for a single emergency beacon broadcasting a request for aid. The nearest battle-worthy force able to respond is the Second Company of the Ultramarines Chapter, and because they are busy with their own obligations (described in more detail in the prequel comic), the only forces that can be spared are a single Captain named Severus and the newly-minted Marines of Ultima Squad -- including a young recruit named Proteus, who is a bit rough around the edges, but eager to prove himself on the battlefield. It now falls to Ultima Squad to solve the mystery of what happened to Mithron, without getting killed in the process.

Compare and contrast with Damnatus, the other (fanmade) 40K movie. Not to be confused with the novel series of the same name, set in the same universe.

Tropes used in Ultramarines include:

Proteus: The Emperor protects.
Pythol: Having a loaded bolter never hurt either.

  • Dead Person Impersonation: The daemon "borrows" Captain Severus's identity and face after killing him.
  • Drop the Hammer: The warhammer in the reclusiam has been used to slay "alien beasts and daemons alike." At the climax of the film, Proteus adds another daemon to its kill-tally.
  • Dwindling Party: By the time the film ends, two characters out of an original twelve make it out alive.
  • Glory Seeker: All the new Marines of Ultima Squad, really, but especially Proteus. Only rejecting it prevents him from becoming a daemonhost in a moment of weakness.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: A lot of the people killed by the daemon get these, including Severus and Pythol. Notably counterbalanced by all the gory non-discretion shots.
  • Guns Akimbo: One unnamed member of the Black Legion.
  • Honor Before Reason: Severus will complete the mission, dammit. Proteus, even more so.
  • Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Every Black Legionnaire is a proud graduate, despite no longer being Imperial Stormtroopers. Then again, they wanted Ultima to get the relic off-planet.
    • Ultima squad too, but this is actually something of a case of Reality Is Unrealistic. Depending on environmental and situational factors, for every casualty inflicted a Real Life military force can expect to lay out one to three thousand rounds, most of which is suppression or covering fire (which the Marines yell for at least once or twice) which is basic spray-and-pray to just get the enemy to keep their heads down.
  • Ironic Echo: "Yield to me."
    • "Everything has a purpose."
  • Marked Bullet: "Kill the Heretic".
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The most sacred artifact in the strike cruiser's reliquary? A warhammer.
    • The stained glass of the Reclusiam is a perfect rendition of the art on the front of the Battle for Macragge starter set.
  • New Meat: Brother Proteus.
  • "No Respect" Guy: Apothecary Pythol. He catches crap from everyone, even Captain Severus.
  • Rated "M" for Manly
  • Recycled Script: The story of the movie bears a couple of similarities to Gordon Rennie's old Bloodquest graphic novel: it has a squad of Space Marines (including a young recruit named Proteus) going on a dangerous mission involving a sacred artifact and losing their Captain to daemonic possession. At least this Proteus doesn't fall to Chaos.
  • Running Gag: "The Emperor protects...but it doesn't hurt to have [insert useful, common-sense piece of battlefield kit here] either."
  • Only Sane Man: If Pythol had been in command, ten less Space Marines would be dead and Macragge would have never been in danger.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: A fair number of them.
    • Pythol is clearly the oldest of the Marines, and is also the most cautious, the least interested in glory, and the most cynical about their chances.
    • Brother Nidon of the Imperial Fists is the one in charge of protecting the shrine's relic. The task has clearly taken its toll on his emotional state, and seeing 98 of his Battle Brothers get slaughtered can't have helped matters. Turns out he's no heretic, though.
    • According to the prequel comic, Sergeant Crastor also qualifies, being the Sole Survivor of the original Ultima Squad. We don't really see enough of him in the movie for this characterization to shine through, though.
  • The Smurfette Principle: There is literally one female character in the entire story, and she doesn't even show up in the film itself, only in the prequel comic. Justified in that this is a story entirely about Space Marines, and Space Marines are a One-Gender Race.
  • Space Is Noisy
  • Space Marines
  • Spring Loaded Corpse
  • The Squad
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: When upgrading to a chainsword.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Proteus. As the daemon points out, it only got as far as it did with Proteus's help.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: So... are they just going to leave the Land Speeder there? Aren't those things expensive? And what happened to Nidon after he was knocked unconscious during the final battle?
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