Fluffiness: Hygiene in the 41st Millenium

[Necron2.0]

And now, in the category of "Thinking WAY too much about this," it recently occurred to me, when you consider the totality of human history, the importance of bathing has waxed and waned depending on cultural attitudes and views.

Somehow I'm just not see bathing being all that important in the Imperium of Man. I certainly do not see any of the tech-priests doing showers or taking a dip. Neither do I see them using the more ancient method of scraping. Scraping was something the Romans used to do, whereby a slave would slather their master down with olive oil and then use a tool (a scraper) to scrape it all off - along with the dirt and dead skin. Since scraping requires oil, and oil is sacred and only for use with machines, I imagine the priesthood would consider it borderline blasphemous. So, bottom line, I’m guessing that Imperial society, just like Victorian society during the industrial revolution, would be quite (shall we say) aromatic.

What are your thoughts?

Of course, this has no real application during the game, except maybe as fodder for taunting.

[Unzuul the Lascivious]

I'm guessing it'd be roughly the same as it is now. Those who can, do so, be it with water, oils or sonic shower style things. Oil is only sacred once it has been consecrated. I'd imagine the poor not to, Nurgle I'm guessing don't bathe much - in fact I wouldn't think many Chaos aligned combatants bother with all that. Orks? Nah, smelly. Eldar and Dark Eldar OBVIOUSLY bath (Dark Eldar probably in the tears of their captives), and I'd say there are probably field wash facilities for Guard. Some Astartes might not bother that much, but I see them using the oils and scraping technique (although they have thralls for that). And man alive, do I ever want to be in the Sisters of Battle shower room!!!

[Sister Rosette Soulknyt]

Except in times of war on the battlefield, i would say the SoB would be one of the cleanist. Astartes well they would shower, they dont wear their armour all the time, they wear robes when on their ships, not training or killing things.
So:
Tau well probably use sonic shower, can't see the watercast sharing sacred water.
Sisters of Battle, as Astartes, would shower and ritually cleanse before, after battle and at any convent.
Imperial Gaurd not on the front line would have HAB Blocks for group showers (think Starship Troopers).
Orks, showers/baths what are they???
CHaos, well they love their own smell, Nurgle more so, Slaanesh well does blood bath count?
Eldar, to danty not the bath/shower, serious clean freaks here.
Dark Eldar, well they would bathe, clean and make slaves wash them.
Necons, good oil bath only for them (think C-3PO) lol.
Mechanicus, well sonic shower followed by good oils.
Nidz....does sludge count??

[DrLove42]

Have a sudden horrific image of 4 Orks in a Hottub...

[Whoop!]

hey Dr. love is that a regular hot tub or a hot tub Time Machine?

[fuzzbuket]

Have a sudden horrific image of 4 Orks in a Hottub...

4 orKS 1 guardsman

sorry just had to say it ;)

[Demonus]

sonic showers!

[Kawauso]

Except in times of war on the battlefield, i would say the SoB would be one of the cleanist. Astartes well they would shower, they dont wear their armour all the time, they wear robes when on their ships, not training or killing things.
So:
Tau well probably use sonic shower, can't see the watercast sharing sacred water.
Sisters of Battle, as Astartes, would shower and ritually cleanse before, after battle and at any convent.
Imperial Gaurd not on the front line would have HAB Blocks for group showers (think Starship Troopers).
Orks, showers/baths what are they???
CHaos, well they love their own smell, Nurgle more so, Slaanesh well does blood bath count?
Eldar, to danty not the bath/shower, serious clean freaks here.
Dark Eldar, well they would bathe, clean and make slaves wash them.
Necons, good oil bath only for them (think C-3PO) lol.
Mechanicus, well sonic shower followed by good oils.
Nidz....does sludge count??

I've never thought about it before, but now I can't get the idea of a Hormagaunt bathing like a cat/fly (preening its scything talons and rubbing them over its head/carapace) out of my head.

On another note, of course I'm sure most societies in 40k bathe. The Imperium in particular - I'm sure they follow the adage of 'cleanliness is next to holiness'. Of course you're not going to see Guardsmen or Space Marines bathing/showering on the front lines, where 95% of our exposure to the 40k universe takes place, but after a grueling battle/campaign I'm sure there would be nothing like a long hot soak. :P

[Xas]

as every (human) societe you could think of is represented on at least one planet in the empire of mankind I think their hygiene attitudes would be numorous and depending on location and (financial) background.

I wouldnt share the believe that chaos people would by defoult not wash. The borderline (or postline) insane cultist would shurely not but many (and the more dangerous part) of chaos worshippers are actually very civilised (and inhere positions of power).

Saying all chaos-worshippers have bad hygiene is as wrong as saying for instance all christians (insert any modern day religion you fancy) have bad hygiene. Its not part of the religion at all!

I'd even go so far and say that there would be many nurgle worshippers who clean themselfes propperly (remember that the thing that lures people about nurgle is that he is also quite able at HEALING illnes or at least make the symptoms go away. Just remember horus' revival! Nurgle in all his greatness would prolly be the one most modern-time people would fall for with his "eternal life" campagn with slaneshs "party" attitude beeing strong 2nd!)

[HsojVvad]

I don't think the question is, do they shower in the 40K universe, BUT do the players themselves shower?

[Necron2.0]

I don't think the question is, do they shower in the 40K universe, BUT do the players themselves shower?

Well, yes. There is that. At the places where I game the answer for the majority is a definite, resounding "Hell no!"

However, I've read that a lot of the Astartes recruit from death worlds, where the inhabitants are primitive in the extreme. The I-Guard recruit from hive worlds, where people are crammed together like ants, life is cheap and resources (to the common man) are scarce. As for sonic showers, given the general superstition that surrounds all technology, would they really waste the blessings of the Machine God on such a blasphemously trivial concern such as cleansing corrupt flesh?

My take on the hygiene of human society would be that the Adepta Sororitas would probably bathe regularly as part of ritual cleansing, but wouldn't voluntarily do so outside of such rituals, and probably wouldn't really recognize any need for it. Black Templars might bathe for the same reason as the sisterhood. Most other Astartes wouldn't bathe to any great degree, and the Wolves wouldn't bathe at all. The social elites would probably bathe in observance of ancient custom. Commoners probably wouldn't ever bathe, and because of that neither would I-guard units. Of course servitors wouldn't wash themselves, and probably wouldn't be washed by anything else. Finally, almost by definition Chaos wouldn't bathe.

As for the Xenos, of course the Craftworld Eldar would be the most hygienic, although certain elements of their Dark cousins might not be. As a race with a keen working knowledge of technology and science, the Tau would certainly bathe in some form. Orks wouldn't bath - they are fungus ... they don't need to. Similarly the Necrons wouldn't wash, but would no doubt routinely be picked clean of dirt by scarabs swarming over them as they hibernated.

[Fantomex]

Isn't there some mention of sonic showering or similar in Mechanicus? I can't remember..

Though I am certain that in Fulgrim you have Ferrus Manus being oiled and scraped all over with knives by his attendants, which makes sense, I mean, if you're a primarch, why not be a badass?

[eldargal]

Thats how the Romans cleansed themselves, actually. Its not particularly badass, especially if you consider male body hair grooming sissy, because it gets rid of it all.:rolleyes:

I would imagine the Imperium is actually quite keen on hygiene in its populace, given that diseasels empower Nurgle.

[Necron2.0]

I would imagine the Imperium is actually quite keen on hygiene in its populace, given that diseasels wmpower Nurgle.

Ah ... yes. Point taken. True fear of demonic possession would probably serve as an excellent motivator. :)

[HsojVvad]

Ah ... yes. Point taken. True fear of demonic possession would probably serve as an excellent motivator. :)

Now how do we get gamers motivated to shower? :P I guess I have been lucky as of late, since I haven't had this problem not that I have no GW stores to do to.

[eldargal]

We took the 'stick' approach of banning malodorous players from entry, most being local it was a small matter of popping back home and having a shower. We never did form a 'carrot' approach though, the only suggestions being showers with certain female members and this was vetoed very quickly and the suggestee glared at quite strongly.

Back on topic, I could imagine the Imperium having 'sanitation squads' going around forcibly washing the unwashed masses with disinfectant and whatnot to try and prevent outbreaks of Nurglesque fun.

'You there, halt!'
'Is there a problem officer'
'By the Almighty God-Emperor, you will place your hands above your head and be silent!'
'I dun nuffink wrong!'
'What do you think sergeant, a bit of goats milk soap for that acne and perhaps a medicated shampoo for the scalp?'

[dannyat2460]

In the "Enforcer" Book Calpurnia an adeptus arbite has shower facilities in her void shielded house (that in the book says it is for a more middle class citicen than a high ranking arbite), also there is mention of showers for the other arbites in the "Wall" (police station) so as long as they have time to shower the facilities are there.

As for the Adeptus Mechanicus they probebly would use sacred oils to bathe in as there more machine than human now anyway some even upto 95%

[Necron2.0]

Regarding 40k literature, I've somewhat discounted that, as those are written by modern day homo sapiens who know next to nothing of war. I'm more interested in the reality of a society perpetually at war. The historical reality is that in societies constantly on a war footing, bathing has always been something of a luxury. Accounts from WWII indicate soldiers and civilians rarely bathed. Even in the USA, far from any battlefield, soap was a black market item. Of course, bathing was completely unheard of in the middle ages (and oddly enough, during the Victorian age of the Industrial Revolution). Even during the age of enlightenment, when people were just beginning to understand the causes of disease, bathing more than once a month was considered excessive.

Of course, as has been mentioned, when you've got a demon of filth breathing down your neck, a desire to be clean might be more prevalent. ;)

[Kawauso]

As much as the tagline "In the grimdark blahblah... there is only war" gets thrown around in the game, it's not a literal truth about the setting. :P It's hyperbole.

Yes, humanity (and the myriad xeno races and everyone else) are constantly under the threat of destruction from some force or other...But there is not literally war 24/7 for everybody. Seriously. There are entire planets that haven't seen conflict in hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, most likely. And IG and Astartes have downtime between conflicts/campaigns. They would have to.

Hell, even Khorne berserkers from the World Eaters do not fight 24/7. There's no way. Even if it were possible, they would run out of things to fight eventually. And besides that, it can take weeks or months in the 40k universe to travel between systems. Though I won't hazard a guess as to their bathing habits. :)

[Fantomex]

Eldargal, oh yeah, I've always liked reading up on the Romans, though probably their scrapers and that wouldn't quite compare to huge blades used to scrape off a giant superhuman..
I'd have assumed that some primarchs would literally have no ned to wash, I'd expect Magnus to psychically keep dirt away from himself at all times!
Although, what with ritual and symbolism in the Astartes, I'd reckon that many would have certain washing or oiling or scraping sequences..

Necron 2.0, I see what you mean there, though I'd assume that for the most part, a great majority of imperial citizens would live in basic living conditions, without terrible squalor and hardship, but not in any particular luxury..

I'd say a lot of planets would just pay the imperial tithe and get on with their lives. Plenty of worlds would likely not see any war for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

When you think about it, even if 10,000 imperial planets were at war at once, that leaves 990,000+ not at war. Sure, lots of it will be crap, but when you divide worlds into types, get rid of hiveworlds, forgeworlds, etc, there will be plenty laid out like Earth, crowded, but not entirely awful..

[Fellend]

Though I'd assume that everyone except maybe nurglists, tyranids and necrons cleans themselves in some form or another I know that in Brotherhood of the snake it is mentioned that space marines (iron snakes at least) clean themselves in baths and then in sacred oils. (They even have to shave!)
In gaunts ghosts they also mention basic hygiene and in space wolves as well (though I do think it's while he's still a scout, i'd assume that they continue with it)

So in short, most likely people clean themselves, if nothing else because it feels nice and it protects against the myriad of diseases out there

[Vaddok Sek]

went over some of my BL collection and found some references to shower blocks in various guard novels like Last Chancers, The old codex talks about atillans who don't bath as they believe it will offend the water spirits (I assume water is precious commodity on atilla) much to the chagrin of thier fellow guardsmen.

In Gunheads the Mechanicus officials take a soak in an oil jacuzzi, and so do the marines as part of post combat cleansing as in Grey Knights,

Not sure about sisters maybe thier faith prevents them from getting dirty and enables them to go into combat wearing stark white armour.

Eldar are just too skilled to get dirty.

DE, Slannesh worshippers, and Khorne berzerkers bath only in the blood of thier enemies.

Nurgle guys bathe in the blood and pretty much everything else.

Tzeentch dudes just change it off.

Orkz dinkz dat bathin' iz fur pansy 'umie gitz. Cuz a good Boss az' a stink what 'nounces iz presence lik a bullhorn so'z e' can let iz boyz noz' ez der.

Tau bathe for the greater good of the collective olfactory glands

Necrons go to the carwash (probably have discounted visits in thier company benefits package).

[Denzark]

In a couple of the old Inquisition war Ian Watson books, Mehlindi the assassin uses a sonic shower post training session.

I seem to remember Marines with a certain implant (mucranoid according to lexicanum) secrete an oil that helps protect them in vacuum extremes - so wouldn't have thought they would wash it off, seems a waste of time.

It also quotes 3rd ed codex marines as a source for Marine daily ritual, and there is no time set aside for washing in the 20 hour day.