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Besides the Space Marine fighting brethren, there are many non-combat personnel, fully part of the Chapter but generally not involved directly in combat. These include the Chapter's [[Chapter Serf|hereditary slaves]], [[Astropath]]s, [[Navigator]]s, etc.{{Cite This}}

A Chapter cult is a body of beliefs and practices integral to every single Space Marine Chapter, each being unique and specific to the chapter and can often wildly vary between each other.{{fn|20}}{{fn|21}}{{fn|22a}} Indeed, two successor chapters spawned from the same chapter during the very same founding might, after several centuries, present with radically divergent religious practices.{{fn|22a}} Broadly speaking though, every chapter cult in general venerates the Emperor, their Primarch (if known), as well as their own heroes{{fn|23b}} and will typically emphasize martial virtues such as honour, strength, and comradeship.{{fn|20}}

Conflict has always existed between the Adeptus Astartes and the [[Ecclesiarchy| Adeptus Ministorum]], going back all the way to the very start of the [[Imperial Creed]] on Terra. Though rivalry is ever present between and among all the factions within the [[Adeptus Terra]], this friction goes to an even deeper level. Space Marines can rightfully be called the "Sons of the Emperor" - they are the Emperor's direct creation, carrying his blood, as well as being undying loyal defenders of humanity, the Imperium, and the Emperor's honour. Despite all this, conflict arises in that they do not adhere to the Imperial Creed nor (typically) worship the Emperor as a divine god as preached by the Ecclesiarchy, instead venerating him as a gifted, powerful man. Indeed, given the wide variation of chapter cults some chapter cult practices are very barbaric - many including blood sacrifices - and some traditions could easily be considered [[Heresy| heretical]]{{Fn|21}} in comparison to the orderly masses of the Ecclesiarchy. Added to this, the sheer differences between baseline humans and these genetically engineered monstrous giants capable of spitting acid or crushing men's skulls, are enough for some consider them as separate race entirely.{{Fn|21}}{{Fn|29}} Staunch puritans of the Ecclesiarchy preach the adage "suffer not the mutant to live", and in the Imperium the purity of the human form is lauded as much as all other species are reviled. {{Fn|24}}

*During '''Months of Shame''' the [[Space Wolves]] fought the [[Ordo Malleus]] and [[Grey Knights]] who sought to purge the survivors and veterans of the [[First War for Armageddon]]

While most chapters do not venerate the Emperor as a divine being or a god, there are a handful of chapters which do. Such beliefs are thought of as "fanatical" by chapters with more conventional generation of the Emperor as a man, with such beliefs as being more appropriate for the "deluded masses" they were sworn to protect.{{fn|28}}