39 Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Easter Eggs And Secrets You Might Have Missed

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 might be all about gory third-person action, but the game does have lots of small details throughout it related to both the original Space Marine game and the Warhammer 40,000 universe as a whole. Some of these details might have gone under the radar in all of the chaos, but we found 20 hidden details throughout. Some of these tie to the bigger universe, while others are just cool small details that Saber Interactive sprinkled throughout the game. Note: Some small spoilers are ahead.

Update:

Since the game launched, we've discovered even more Easter eggs scattered throughout the game, and we've updated this post with our new findings. If you've already read through this list, you can jump ahead to the 21st slide for all the new content. From the existence of a precious liquid to the squishiest of cultists, here's a closer look at some of Space Marine 2's best nods to the galaxy of Warhammer 40K.

During the opening mission, where Titus is still a member of Deathwatch, he is armed with a familiar-looking Chainsword. As our side-by-side image shows, it is in-fact the same model of Chainsword and likely the same sword. After the opening mission you will be given the more modern Chainsword, which is found throughout most of Space Marine 2, but Titus' old weapon can be found mounted in his room on the Battle Barge later in the campaign.

In Titus' quarters you can also find his Pauldron from Deathwatch on display, as well. These are typically worn on the left shoulder while an Ultramarine is in Deathwatch, and moved to their right arm when they leave to return to their normal chapter. Titus has instead chosen to put his on display in his room and wear a more subtle Pauldron instead. While the one he wears still gives a nod to his time in Deathwatch, it's less personal, suggesting Titus has some mixed feelings about his time there.

It was shown in the announcement trailer for Space Marine 2 that the Cadians have purple eyes. This coloring is a result of Cadia being in close proximity to the Eye of Terror, which causes anyone from there to have purple eyes. While it's difficult to notice just playing through Space Marine 2, if you open up photo mode and get up close to the Cadian models, you will see that they all do have purple eyes in-game, which is a nice touch.

The Astra Militarum armored vehicles and tanks have some distinct, red and white paint on them. These are inspired by British tanks in World War I, where the British began to paint their tanks in order to help them recognize friendly vehicles after Germany began to use captured British tanks. There are Imperial Guard codexes that attribute the in-game reason to representing company markings, but considering how similar the forces of Chaos look to the Astra Militarum already, the paint could be serving multiple purposes.

Chairon has a bolt chained around his pauldron, which is an award called The Marksman Honour. The golden case of the bolt shell is said to be one of the spent bolt cases from the weapon of the Ultramarines’ Primarch Roboute Guilliman. These are awarded to Space Marines who have either performed an incredible feat in marksmanship or have exceptional accuracy with ranged weapons. What really makes this award interesting is that Chairon's weapon of choice in Space Marine 2 is a Bolt Rifle without a scope, meaning he either traded in his ranged-weapon after earning that award, or he's just that good with a Bolt Rifle.

Another small touch that might go unnoticed during the chaos of Space Marine 2 is the exhaust fumes coming off certain weapons, like the Chainsword. This comes from the promethium burning inside to power the weapon. Promethium is Warhammer 40,000's version of gasoline and fuels many of the engine powered machines. This exhaust also can come from power packs, although that is heat exhausted as power packs are fueled by miniature fusion reactors.

Fun fact: the Tyranid Termagants in Space Marine 2 use a biological weapon called a Fleshborer. The weapon housers a brood nest, where borer beetles lay eggs which are used as ammunition once hatched. Not only is the concept of a weapon firing angry biting beetles at you horrifying, but it also means that the weapon they are using is alive, with its own eyeball visible on the weapon.

A highly requested feature for Space Marine 2 was the option to always have your helmet on during the campaign for a more immersive experience. If you immediately threw this option on, you may not have noticed that the character's voices are modulated as if they are speaking through the helmet's Vox. This changes, depending on if they are wearing helmets or not, so it may not have stuck out if you chose to keep those helmets on at all times.

If you hold up on the D-pad, you can issue pings and commands, but there are also some voice lines in here that you can activate as well. That includes a nice little reference in "the Codex is a guide" line, but Gadriel also makes a small reference when the squad plans to launch from their ship using a jump pack.

Space Marine 2 is a messy game, in a literal sense. Cutting through hordes of Xenos and Heretics will likely leave your armor coated in the remains of your enemies, but you don't have to leave it that way. There are various water sources throughout the campaign and a quick walkthrough any of these will wash your armor right up, although it's not going to stay that way for long.

Another small detail that might go unnoticed outside of the photo mode is that Titus typically closes one of his eyes while aiming. This is done regardless of if a weapon is scoped or just has iron sights, but it's typically done to improve accuracy. While it's not totally clear if Titus actually needs to do this considering all of the sensors, targeting devices, and heightened senses he has as a Space Marine, but surely it couldn't hurt his accuracy either.

The Aquila is one of the most common symbols in all of Warhammer 40,000 and it certainly makes plenty of appearances in Space Marine 2 as well. The twin-headed eagle is the simplest of the Imperium of Man. The sacred symbol can be found all over the place, with the more detailed versions found on the Battle Barge. On that version you can see that the left eagle has eyes, while the right one is blind folded. The blind folded side represents mankind looking to its past mistakes, while the one with sight looks towards a better future. The sign can also be made using your hands, a gesture that members of the Astra Militarum can be seen doing occasionally.

While the normal foot soldiers in the Astra Militarum are considered to be cannon fodder, that doesn't mean that you can't save a few lives while on the battlefield. For example, in the instance shown in the above image, that soldier typically gets gunned down here, but if you take out the enemy or stun them before they get the shot off, he lives. There are a few places where you fight alongside these soldiers and you can save them if you focus on it, although many of them still won't make it through this in one piece.

In the mission "Servant of the Machine," as you approach the temple, you can see multiple busts of armor in the arena. These busts show an old variant of Space Marine power armor called the Mark III Iron Armor, which comes from the Great Crusade period, which occurred during the 30th and 31st millennium. This occurred prior to the Horus Heresy, so it was a period where Space Marine legions mostly got along.

The details also match up with the paintings that adorn the walls of the Temple of Thassean, which depict Space Marines battling to unify the galaxy during the Great Crusade. The artwork is reminiscent of art from multiple books from the Horus Heresy series, including an artwork titled Abakhol by Sam Wood, featured in the Visions of Heresy book.

Throughout Space Marine 2 you can find numerical scribblings in various places, left by the Adeptus Mechanicus. We have not deciphered all of them, and a few seem like they could be gibberish, but the one shown above reads "each one a sacred shrine." Makes sense considering the high regard the Admech holds for machinery and technology. While we didn't figure out all of these codes, others might fare better.

When fighting the Thousand Sons or navigating through warp touched areas, you likely noticed all of the purple particles floating in the air. Using photo mode you can see that these are actually runes, part of the Chaos language called "The Dark Tongue."

This language originated in Warhammer fantasy, appearing as early as the 90s. The Tzeench variant of the runes appears in Age of Sigmar Battletome: Disciples of Tzeench. We have been able to decipher the runes here to see if there is a hidden message.

Relating back to the Cadian purple eyes, there is a campaign scene where some Thousand Sons heretics pretend to be part of the Astra Militarum in cutscene. It's a small detail that might go overlooked, but the soldier talking directly to Titus clearly doesn't have purple eyes, giving away that he isn't really a member of the Cadian regiment. While it's revealed during that cutscene that they are traitors, it's a nice touch that might let you figure it out before the characters do. This also means that these are soldiers who stole uniforms as opposed to actual Cadians that defected.

While we know that Titus is relatively old to how normal humans age, it is revealed that Chairon is actually very old. He may have been born over 10,000 years prior to the events of Space Marine 2.

Chairon remarks that he was a boy on Calth when the Word Bearers attacked. This references the Battle of Calth, which took place in the 31st millennium during the beginning of the Horus Heresy. If Chairon was there, he must be 10,000 years old, which lines up with another piece of lore. The Primarius marines were created shortly after this time and were kept in stasis for 10,000 years, awakening just before the 42nd millennium. This means that not only is Chairon real old, but that memory is likely much fresher in his memory than the time gap might suggest.

A quote from Isador Akios appears on a loading screen. It reads, "An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded."

While the quote itself isn't that interesting, Akios inclusion is. He appeared as a Blood Raven librarian that appeared in the original Dawn of War, which was released by Relic in 2004. Relic also made the original Space Marine game from 2011. While it's a nice nod to the original developers, Akios is a traitor in the lore, so having his quote appear does feel a bit odd.

Captain Sevastus Acheran can be seen on the Battle Barge's bridge, giving you and the other Ultramarines orders. But his appearance is clearly modeled after a physical Warhammer model, the unnamed Primaris Captain in Phobos Armor. This model doesn't share the same name as Sevastus, but the resemblance is far too similar for it to be coincidence.

Acheran also notably has a Scottish accent, which matches his name as well. For anyone unfamiliar, Ach is a Scottish exclamation, meaning surprise, frustration, or even excitement in some cases. This Scottish exclamation being a key part of his name combined with the Scottish accent feels intentional.

Eagle-eyed players may have noticed a statue of Sanguinius at the temple of Thassean.

Sanguinius is the primarch of the Blood Angels, one of the original First Founding Space Marine Legions. His statue above the temple is actually based on the forge world character series miniature, the one that wields the Spear of Telesto and has thrust into a giant daemon.There is also more Blood Angels iconography scattered around the area, including winged blood droplets, and blood chalices.

We don't have all the information on the origin of this temple, but it was obviously very important to the history of the 9th Legion.

During one scene a cultist in disguise detonates a bomb and kills the Ultramarine Varellus. Upon returning to the Battle Barge, you can walk by his quarters where a dedication has been laid for him, and his battle brothers are sharing stories about the brave sergeant.

This is a nice nod to the wider 40K galaxy with the mention of the Tau, but also a humbling dedication to a Space Marine we knew all too briefly, showcasing the bond of kinship and brotherhood that Astartes share.

Have you ever been told off for cursing? How about being told off for cursing by a giant, armored super-soldier? While walking by some members of the Astra Militarum, one of the troopers utters “Emperor's teeth!” taking the good name of the Emperor in vain, which is overheard by the squad, resulting in some admonishment by his brothers.

You may have been too busy blowing apart the human cultists working alongside the Thousand Sons to notice their suite of weaponry, but they are actually using both heretical las-rifles, as well as auto-guns.

The las-rifles are similar to the ones used by Astra Militarum allies, but auto-guns operate more like modern-day firearms, firing a solid round. You can actually tell what you're being shot at by the muzzle flash, as there are visually distinct tracer rounds and laser bolts. Not that it matters much, as the best that they can do is scratch the paint of powerful Astartes armor.

One weapon that is a little more threatening is the heretic “long-las”. This is basically the sniper rifle version of the las-rifle, using specialized ammunition known as “hot shot”, and packing a bigger punch than your average las-gun.

If you zoom in on one of these heretical sharpshooters you can actually see that their weapon model is different from the average trooper, with their sniper rifle being much longer and fitted with an optic scope.

Taking a look at the Ultramarine's Thunderhawk, you can see there is text adorning the front of the craft, that reads:

“To a Space Marine, the boltgun is far more than a weapon. It is an instrument of Mankind's divinity, the bringer of death to his foes, whose howling blast is a prayer to the gods of battle.”

This is a quote from the Ultramarines Primach Roboute Guilliman, as found in the Apocrypha of Skaros, the oldest known surviving copy of the Codex Astartes. It turns out this Thunderhawk may actually be the very same one Titus rode into battle during the prologue of the original Space Marine, as they both share the same name, The Lance of Jove.

During the mission, Voidsong, a blocked door is forced open by a Chimera armored transport crashing its way through it. Something the gunner was obviously warned of, as, to ensure the vehicle's turret-mounted multi-laser isn't damaged, they turn the barrel 180 degrees away from the door.

After all, you have to look after your weaponry if you want them to look after you.

While exploring the Battle Barge between campaign missions, you can sometimes hear tech-priests speaking in Binaric--also called the Lingua Technis. This is a language known only to the Adeptus Mechanicus, consisting of bursts of static emitted from the cybernetic implants of tech-priests. This makes them capable of transmitting much more information in a shorter amount of time when compared to standard language.

In one example of this, two tech-priests start talking smack about a servitor, using their binaric language to ensure no one overhears their gossip.

When reloading a bolt rifle, if you pause at the right time you can see that ejected magazines are actually modeled as empty, while fresh ones have visible bolt rounds inside. Although there is no way that 25-bolt rounds are fitting in that magazine, there must be some Mechanicus magic going on.

Firearms such as the Stalker Bolt rifle and the Bolt sniper rifle will also have inscriptions written in High Gothic that are visible in the scope. High Gothic is often represented as a bastardized form of Latin, but if you translate this text you get some poetic messages.

“Death to me is art,” a reference that likely refers to the Space Marine pledge of their craft being death.

You may have noticed that the Tzaangors--the Tzeenctch-serving savage beastmen--have many avian features. This is a common visual element for those worshiping Tzeentch, but what you might not have known is that the unmutated human followers also have their own physical dedications. Some of them have altered their gas-masks and hoods to appear as though they have a beak.

When tearing off the helmets of Thousand Sons marines, you may wonder why, instead of gore, they spew forth streams of magic and powder

That's because the Rubric marines you fight are actually made from dust, thanks to a magic spell that went awry 10,000 years prior. It's a wonderful visual realization of this piece of Warhammer 40,000 lore, although not everyone is a fan of this as you can catch two Ultramarines discussing their frustration that their archenemies don't have a physical form.

After all, fighting suits full of dust instead of fragile flesh just doesn't hit the same.

If you keep an eye on Thousand Sons sorcerers, you can spot them reforming the discarded piles of dust and armor back into Rubric Marines. This is something that has occurred in the Warhammer 40K lore, but it is a tricky ritual to accomplish as it involves fetching a soul from the warp and rebinding it to the armor. The sorcerers in Space Marine 2 don't seem to be having an issue with cobbling their marines back together.

Waging war against hordes of Tyranids is a tiring affair, but luckily, workers and soldiers are provided with plenty of coffee or caffeine supplements to keep their energy levels up. Or recaff, as it's called in Warhammer 40K.

In Warhammer 40K, Astra Militarum Commissars are responsible for troop morale and loyalty. This is a job that is taken extremely seriously, as it is not uncommon for them to execute wavering soldiers or inept officers, regardless of rank. If you're caught retreating by a Commisar, the last thing you feel is likely a laser blast in your back. And yet, at the beginning of the Machnius Divinitus campaign, as the Astra Militarum battles to hold off Tyranid waves using tanks and emplaced weapons, you can see a commissar yell “Hold the line!” and then cheese it, running from the battle.

It is extremely rare for a Commissar to show their back to the enemy, as their role requires them to be on the frontlines. You could say he's off to deliver a message, but he could command any trooper to be a messenger, and there are radios in those Leman Russ tanks. Unless he's Ciaphas Cain himself, he's going to have some explaining to do.

If you jump pack onto one of the platforms on the Battle Barge, you can find two servitors standing over the body of a deceased tech priest. Servitors are cybernetic fusions of mind-wiped humans and machines, their purpose largely being for manual labor or simple tasks. Becoming a servitor is a harsh, but common punishment for criminals, traitors, and cowards.

It appears as though the tech priest in charge of these servitors has perished, and without their commands, it's likely these servitors will simply stand in place--forever--or at least until they are found, rot away, or run out of fuel.

Speaking of manual labor, another individual you can see across the Battle Barge is a chapter serf, wielding a simple wooden broom. A chapter serf is basically a servant to the space marine chapter to whom they serve.

It’s their job to perform the tasks that support the smooth running of a chapter's vessel or fortress. They can operate machinery, support logistics, act as messengers, or simply sweep the floor.

I just hope that this guy isn't the only one with a broom, otherwise he's not going to finish sweeping in this lifetime.

Such is the weight, bulk, and strength of a space marine, that they don't even need to fire a gun or swing a chainsword to dispatch lesser foes. Every punch or kick from an Astartes is a weapon of mass destruction, and you can see this across the campaign when coming up against human cultists. You can simply sprint right through them, turning these heretics into a fine paste under your boots.

One of the more harrowing details that really drives home the Grimdark nature of Warhammer 40K is that prior to meeting the Astropath, you can see Psykers throughout the hall formed into an Astropathic Choir.

These are used to amplify the psychic strength of an Astropath, essentially using their psychic powers to boost a telepathic signal. You can see a few signs of corruption appear here, and the falling objects around you are the bodies of burnt-out Psykers. Due to the stress of interacting with the Warp, their minds, souls, and bodies have all been broken by the stresses of the Immaterium.

To end on a more humorous note though, it may come as a surprise that a space marine's fortress isn't the safest place to work. If you look into the launch bay, you might see tech priests working away on a gunship, and when you return from a mission you'll see that one of them has had an unfortunate accident.

Hopefully, OSHA doesn't still exist in the Grimdark far future…