Monday 1 August 2016

Video Game Character of the Month - August 2016 - Titus - Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Video Game Character of the Month
August 2016
Titus
Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine


Overview:
I, Titus, am the Captain of the Ultramarines 2nd Company. I am a one-man army. I am one of humanity's finest. I am a lean-green killer machine. I AM WAR! And... I still only have one game... How can I only have one game? Do you not know of my deeds? Do you not... Hmm? An award you say? Fine, I shall place it next to my Purity Seals so that the galaxy will learn that I am worth more than one game. That shall placate my wrath... for now.
And now for a little bit of info on Titus (while I convince the nice Inquisitors, who have just shown up, of my purity and unwavering loyalty to the God-Emperor of Humankind (I've personally been more of an Ork man myself but I don't see the need to mention that here - do you?)):

He is a Captain of the Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter
He is the Captain of the Ultramarines 2nd Company (although this is only in Space Marine's parallel version of the Warhammer 40k universe as the Ultramarines 2nd Company Captain should actually be Cato Sicarius)
His closest battle-brother is the old veteran, Sidonus, whom Titus turns to as a sounding board 
He is 7'2" tall
He weighs 750lb 
He was born on the world of Tarentus
He is 175 years old
He has fought for the Imperiaum of Man for more than 150 Terran (Earth) years
He is a highly decorated Space Marine who is a veteran of several major campaigns waged across the galaxy 
He used to have quite a large temper, which he struggled to contain in his early days as an Astartes
He once survived the death of his entire squad at the hands of a Chaos Sorcerer and later killed this infernal creature
Titus replaced the Ultramarines 2nd Company's Captain, Trajan, his mentor, once he had fallen in battle (killed by an Eldar during a routine mission gone wrong)
Titus was at his former mentor's side when he fell, and still feels the weight of responsibility laid on him when taking over command
He appears to have a slight immunity to Chaos and the powers of the Warp
He is an unusual Ultramarine in that he believed that the Codex Astartes was an excellent set of guidelines but should not be followed to the letter
He also believed that how a Space Marine chose to live out the directives contained within would determine whether they were worthy of the title 'Astartes' or not
Over the course of his many years, Titus has wielded almost every piece of wargear in the Space Marine's arsenal
He is very interested in how aliens think and act - mainly so that he can work out how best to kill them and prevent himself and his battle-brothers from being killed
He has been taken in for interrogation by Inquisitor Thrax, after being reported, due to his deviations from the Codex as well as his psychic resistance, by his Battle-Brother Leandros
He was, apparently, meant to then go rogue and then return to the Imperium to have a new Chapter built around him, over the course of two more games, but, alas, the Ruinous Powers got to THQ first, bankrupting them and shutting the franchise down

Origin of Titus:
The character of Titus came about from the Space Marine development team wanting to create a superhuman Space Marine who rather than coming across as 'unsympathetic, uncaring, even callous' would also be human enough for the player to be able to relate to them, while still retaining the 'superhuman' aspect that makes Titus a Space Marine. Therefore, Titus was made to have a deep love of humanity, in all its forms, rather than just being an autonomous weapon to be ordered about by the powers that be. He also argues with the establishment that created him, questioning the Codex Astartes (the doctrine of the Space Marine Chapter, created by Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, after the events of the Horus Heresy). As I have already mentioned, from a lore point of view, his origins include him being born on the world of Tarentus, 175 years before the events of the game. He later began to fight for the Space Marines just over 150 years before the events of the game. Later on, he witnesses the demise of Captain Trajan, at the hands of an Eldar during a botched routine mission, and takes over the leadership of the Ultramarines 2nd Company from him. Even further down the line, Titus loses his entire squad to a Chaos Sorceror and, after throwing himself at the corrupted creature, is discovered to have some form of Chaos Resistance which cannot be explained by the Chapter's apothecaries and has caused his purity and devotion to his chapter to be questioned (something that Titus greatly resents). 

Evolution of Titus:
However, the Captain's greatest test was to come when he and his company of Ultramarines were sent to the Adeptujs Mechanicus Forge World of Graia in the Segmentum Tempestus to stop an Ork WAAAGH! of one million Orks led by Warboss Grimskull. This is the premise of the game and over the course of the mission, Titus lands on a Kill Krooza, kills many Orks, including a Warboss, comes into contact with the mysterious Power Source and the Psychic Scourge, meets with the only surviving officer of the Imperial Guard's 203rd Cadian Shock Troops Regiment, 2nd Lieutenant Mira, battles the forces of Chaos, including a Daemon Prince Ascendant, loses a battle-brother (RIP Sidonus), is betrayed by another battle-brother (damn you Leandros!) and, finally, is taken away for interrogation by the Inquisition. He also tries out many different types of Space Marine wargear and weapons as well gaining a few extra Purity Seals and Iron Halos. Finally, Titus would have gone rouge, abandoning the Imperium completely, whilst still, presumably, fighting for humanity before, eventually, returning back to the Imperium to take control of a new Chapter built specifically around him.

Games:
Space Marine: released (North America) on September 6, 2011/(Europe) on September 9, 2011 on PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360

Well, that's all on Titus as I'm afraid that I've just been called in by the Inquisition for my apparent Greenskin loyalty (to which I say, as any good Ork Boy would- WAAAGH). But, as always, if you have spotted any mistakes that I have made or have a suggestion for a future character to win the prestigious Video Game Character of the Month, then please don't hesitate to comment!

Goodbye for now, Harry

Sources:
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Titus_(Space_Marine)
http://www.beastsofwar.com/warhammer-40k/happened-space-marines-captain-titus/
http://spacemarine.wikia.com/wiki/Captain_Titus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000:_Space_Marine
Prima Official Game Guide for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine   

No comments:

Post a Comment