Could You Call Exterminatus On a Living Planet?

[ObsidianJones]

For those who are not in the know, Extreminatus is when you basically destroy a planet's ability to sustain life, thereby killing every living thing on the planet.

Exterminatus

"Some may question your right to destroy ten billion people. Those who understand know that you have no right to let them live." — Exterminatus Extremis Exterminatus is the name in High Gothic of an action ordered by the highest authorities of the Imperium of Man to destroy an entire planetary...

warhammer40k.fandom.com

I'm not going to give you the bad of the scenario. I'm just going to tell you there are at least 5 billion sentient humanoid creatures with a situation that is getting out of control. It is the worst case scenario in your mind, whatever that is.

For fear of it spreading, for a Mercy Kill, to just be done with the whole thing... Could you destroy an entire planet?

 

[Chimpzy]

Could I? I'm thinking of it right now! Show those heretics!

Real answer tho, no. Just no.

 

[Baffle]

If everyone there is unhappy and I can make it quick, I guess.

 

[Shadyside]

It's all up to God, bro.

 

[SupahEwok]

The point of 40k is machismo taken to ludicrous, insane degrees, such that wiping out full planets to kill a threat is considered a relatively common thing. In terms of such a setting, of course. Outside of it, of course not. There will be so much sunk cost in terraforming a planet and cultivating a population of billions that destroying it outright will probably never be a cost-effectivr move no matter how dire the threat.

Incidentally, I think Mass Effect has a very similar rule, that planets capable of harboring life are limited in the galaxy and therefore rendering one inhabitable is one of the worst offenses of their civilization.

 

[ObsidianJones]

The point of 40k is machismo taken to ludicrous, insane degrees, such that wiping out full planets to kill a threat is considered a relatively common thing. In terms of such a setting, of course. Outside of it, of course not. There will be so much sunk cost in terraforming a planet and cultivating a population of billions that destroying it outright will probably never be a cost-effectivr move no matter how dire the threat.

Incidentally, I think Mass Effect has a very similar rule, that planets capable of harboring life are limited in the galaxy and therefore rendering one inhabitable is one of the worst offenses of their civilization.

I hear you, and I don't even know if I can take a single life.

But as I said before, one of the scenarios that makes me the most freaked out is the Necromorphs and the Markers. That's Endgame Material there. Having a Brother Moon appear because I'm too much of a wimp isn't something I think I can live with.

In fact, destroying a planet isn't something I can live with either. I think I wouldn't survive either decision.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

You're giving an incredibly vague set of rules for this. I feel like you should set down more aspects of what this terrible thing is because just telling us to imagine the worst means there's no question because all of us could just imagine "If this planet isn't glassed then the entire universe will implode, killing everything for all time. But if we destroy it then it is guaranteed to not happen." Like... why wouldn't you do that?

You need to be more specific with your scenario before this can really go anywhere.

The point of 40k is machismo taken to ludicrous, insane degrees, such that wiping out full planets to kill a threat is considered a relatively common thing. In terms of such a setting, of course. Outside of it, of course not. There will be so much sunk cost in terraforming a planet and cultivating a population of billions that destroying it outright will probably never be a cost-effectivr move no matter how dire the threat.

Incidentally, I think Mass Effect has a very similar rule, that planets capable of harboring life are limited in the galaxy and therefore rendering one inhabitable is one of the worst offenses of their civilization.

I mean... just reading from the wiki link itself, it says right at the start that destroying an entire planet is only done in the most extreme of circumstances, such that it is rarely done.

 

[Worgen]

Probably, but so could everyone on this thread no matter how much they say they couldn't. Killing an individual infront of you is hard, killing a planet is just a number that is too great for the human mind to really wrap around. Especially if you aren't seeing them and its just a number and you have a higher up telling you to do it. Probably over 98% of humanity would do it. Its even easier if its 40k rules since the empire probably doesn't want to waste planetary productivity unless there is some kinda horrible invasion so you could easily push the button to defend the rest of the empire from whatever horrible shit is going on.

 

[09philj]

If you've got a planet that's already been overrun by a threat that can then spread from the planet to a population beyond it, blowing it up would be an obviously prudent thing to do. More of a moral grey area would be something like the destruction of Vavatch in Iain Banks's novel Consider Phlebas, where his protagonist civilisation mostly evacuates and then annihilates a large neutral ringworld in order to prevent it being taken by their enemies, with some people who refused to leave still on it.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Are you asking this hypothetically, or?

I'd go with "yes", because in 40k fluff Exterminatus is used when the planet is totally doomed anyway, and you want to stop it spreading to less doomed planets.

OTOH, if I was sitting there with my finger on the button, I'd probably prefer someone else to push it.

 

[Gordon_4]

I think it would depend on my mood. For example, the one I’m in right now, you should keep me away from that button because boy is anger and spite a fatal concoction.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

If we talking within universe, if it were orks, nah why would you bring out an exterminatus? Orks are probably the most preferable means of apocalypse in the galaxy. If it was Chaos shenanigans or tyranids, maybe I would consider it more.

But yeah, no way I could personally do it. Unless the situation isn't that I'm sitting at my computer lazily eating chips, but that I just spent the last 10 years fighting a losing battle against a parasitic alien race and now said aliens are clawing at the door and I have about 5 seconds to decide whether or not to press the button. I probably wouldn't be thinking straight, just pure adrenaline.

I mean... just reading from the wiki link itself, it says right at the start that destroying an entire planet is only done in the most extreme of circumstances, such that it is rarely done.

Well yes, but the point of 40K is that the galaxy is so huge and insane, "extreme circumstances" are a dime a dozen and "rarely" means a lot less when you're considering a few billion planets over a few thousand years.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

If we talking within universe, if it were orks, nah why would you bring out an exterminatus? Orks are probably the most preferable means of apocalypse in the galaxy. If it was Chaos shenanigans or tyranids, maybe I would consider it more.

But yeah, no way I could personally do it. Unless the situation isn't that I'm sitting at my computer lazily eating chips, but that I just spent the last 10 years fighting a losing battle against a parasitic alien race and now said aliens are clawing at the door and I have about 5 seconds to decide whether or not to press the button. I probably wouldn't be thinking straight, just pure adrenaline.


Well yes, but the point of 40K is that the galaxy is so huge and insane, "extreme circumstances" are a dime a dozen and "rarely" means a lot less when you're considering a few billion planets over a few thousand years.

Fair enough.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Sure, worst case scenario like Specter said is such that everything else is threatened most likely the world itself included. So lose that world or lose everything including that world is kind of a no brainer

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

If it's a Worst Case Scenario basically anything can be justified.

The threshold for Worst Case Scenario is what's different from person to person.

 

[Trunkage]

Ah, Exterminatus. The 40K version of Sodom and Gomorrah

It’s real easy to do this if you just imagine everyone as evil. Even the children. See Genesis for notes on how to do genocides.

Also, apparently giving up your daughters to rape is a WAY better response than letting it happen to your visitors. Lot is abhorrent... and apparently holy enough to be saved

 

[happyninja42]

For those who are not in the know, Extreminatus is when you basically destroy a planet's ability to sustain life, thereby killing every living thing on the planet.

Exterminatus

"Some may question your right to destroy ten billion people. Those who understand know that you have no right to let them live." — Exterminatus Extremis Exterminatus is the name in High Gothic of an action ordered by the highest authorities of the Imperium of Man to destroy an entire planetary...

warhammer40k.fandom.com

I'm not going to give you the bad of the scenario. I'm just going to tell you there are at least 5 billion sentient humanoid creatures with a situation that is getting out of control. It is the worst case scenario in your mind, whatever that is.

For fear of it spreading, for a Mercy Kill, to just be done with the whole thing... Could you destroy an entire planet?

No, I probably wouldn't do it. I mean I'm assuming in this incredibly bare bones hypothetical that all other avenues of possible resolution have been fully investigated and found lacking, because otherwise, it's just a dick move to say "fuck it, purge it all."

I mean if you stood me in front of the button and said "push this, and 5 billion sentients will die." regardless of the reason, I probably would refuse. It's not like it's my magical finger that can alone, push the button, so I would probably not be able to. Just not sure I could stomach 5 billion deaths on my conscience, regardless of the "bigger picture."