The Ordo Hereticus is the branch of the Inquisition that turns its guns inward. Its job is finding and destroying the enemies of Mankind who live inside the Imperium: traitors, mutants, rogue psykers and heretics.
What the ordo hereticus actually does
Where the Ordo Xenos watches alien threats and the Ordo Malleus watches daemons, the Ordo Hereticus watches people. Its Inquisitors hunt witches, mutants, heretics, traitors and unsanctioned psykers, which makes them the most feared members of the Inquisition.
That focus on Mankind itself is why an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor arriving on a world causes dread. Nobody knows who’s in the crosshairs until the investigation lands. The order is the largest of the Inquisition’s Ordos, because internal treachery is everywhere.
Born from the Age of Apostasy
The Ordo Hereticus is the youngest of the three major orders. It was founded in M36, after the Age of Apostasy tore the Imperium apart, a crisis on a scale it hadn’t seen since the Horus Heresy.
Goge Vandire’s reign and the chaos that followed, including the Plague of Unbelief, showed how badly a single powerful figure inside the Ecclesiarchy could hurt the Imperium. The new order was created partly as a leash on the Ecclesiarchy, making sure nobody like Vandire could ever rise that far again.
Watching the Ecclesiarchy
That original watchdog role never went away. The Ordo Hereticus monitors Wars of Faith to check they’re still serving the objectives the Ecclesiarch set, and it keeps an eye on Frateris Militia to confirm they stay within the Decree Passive.
Inquisitors also check that priests of the Imperial Cult are preaching true to the Emperor’s will, and they police the wealth and territory senior clergy accumulate. The Ecclesiarchy has its own internal regulators, but the Inquisition still oversees every organisation in the Imperium, including that one.
Sisters of Battle and the fire approach
The Ordo Hereticus leans on the Adepta Sororitas, the Sisters of Battle, as its main military arm. The two have worked side by side since the order’s founding, and after the Great Rift opened they were dispatched together across both Imperium Sanctus and Imperium Nihilus to check on stricken worlds during the Indomitus Crusade.
Many Hereticus Inquisitors favour fire as the answer to witchery, and flamers show up often in their retinues. It’s more than a stylistic choice. Burning a witch is, to them, a cleansing.
- Founded: M36, after the Age of Apostasy
- Parent body: the Inquisition
- Nickname: Witch Hunters
- Main military ally: the Sisters of Battle
- Leader: no single head, represented by an Inquisitorial Representative
Key facts
- The Ordo Hereticus is one of the three major Inquisition orders, commonly called the Witch Hunters.
- It was founded in M36 in response to the Age of Apostasy and the Plague of Unbelief.
- Its mission is hunting internal threats: heretics, mutants, witches, traitors and rogue psykers.
- It was created partly to keep the Ecclesiarchy in check after Goge Vandire’s rise.
- The Sisters of Battle serve as its main military force.
- It’s the largest of the Inquisition’s Ordos thanks to its huge jurisdiction.
FAQ
What’s the difference between the Ordo Hereticus and the other Inquisition orders?
The Ordo Xenos deals with aliens and the Ordo Malleus with daemons. The Ordo Hereticus deals with threats from inside humanity: heresy, mutation, treason and rogue psykers.
Why is the Ordo Hereticus the largest order?
Its jurisdiction covers almost every internal threat to the Imperium, from cults to unsanctioned psykers to corrupt clergy, so it has far more work to go around than the other two major orders.
Who leads the Ordo Hereticus?
Nobody, really. It has no single grandmaster. Its interests are represented at the wider Inquisition level by an Inquisitorial Representative.