One word:
Sanguinius
Or really any Space Marine from Space Wolves , because they're friking AWESOME.

gotta be samus

Any Salamanders Space Marine. Seriously, they're so rad when a marine from another chapter acts up in their presence, the Sallie smacks the other one around.

Duke Nukeum

/thread.

Sergeant Johnson.

Oo-rah!

Gabriel Angelos.

Devoted to duty... no sympathy for the heretic!

N-Sef:
.....either him or Dante (from the Blood Angels)- that Inferno gun kick some serious behind.

I'm backing Lord Commander Dante. Outside of those entombed in a Dreeadnoughts sarcophogus, he is the longest serving loyalist Space Marine. He has served the Emperor for over 1000 years, hell survivng that long in the crapsack world of 40k is an achievment unto itself.

But not only that, as far as records recount, Lord Dante has never been defeated when he has commanded the battle, and is often seen leading his men from the front of the battle.

I'd say Captain Lysander of the Imperial Fists First Company comes a close second, surviving getting lost in the warp, captivity and torture at the hands of the Iron Warriors and escaping from the traitors very homeworld in the Eye of Terror to return to his chapter, and subsequently cleared of taint of Chaos to rejoin his battle brothers.

I'd almost say that 's more badarse the Dante, but Dante has fought, survived, and achieved victory for over a thousand years, whereas Lysander is older only by technicality. Under normal circumstances Dante would have outlasted Lysander. Besides, I'm a staunch Blood Angel, so nyeh.

Its been said and i agree, the DOOM MARINE

HE IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE MOST AWSOME, because he was basically the first and the archotype for the genre

honorable mentions go to Duke Nuke'm and Master Chief

The delta squad

Well, yeah, it'd have to be one from the Warhammer 40.000 realm if you ask me.

I agree with the Emperor not counting since he created the Space Marines but is not directly a part of their organisation, he stands above them; commanding everything in the Imperium.

Someone also said that Primarchs don't count. But the way I see it they were the first marines (and became the template for the rest). So taking that in mind I'm off to rank the Primarchs. Nasty business. According to fluff Horus was the smartest and Russ (Space Wolves) was the strongest. But there's one tale I find very intruiging.

Magnus (Thousand Sons and my pick) figured out Horus plan (thus essentially outsmarting him) and tried to warn the Emperor from half a galaxy away. Magnus had been reprimanded for his use of sorcery before but decided this threat was too dire and used it anyway to get the message across. The Emperor disregarded his warning and instead became infuriated by his son's use of sorcery and ordered Russ and his entire chapter of Space Wolves in to eliminate the Thousand Sons (the second smallest of the space marine chapters, only Vulkan's Salamanders numbered less). Magnus was praying his warning had come in time and was caught in a surprise attack by the Space Wolves, decimating his already small chapter. Russ even came at him in personal combat and (here's the kicker) neither was able to best the other. After days of duelling with the Great Wolf Magnus decided that he'd best withdraw from his homeworld to preserve what small part of his chapter remained. He then fled into the warp, (knowing his father would never forgive him he knew it was his only way out) and managed to resist the horrors and temptations of Chaos for a couple hundred years before his marines eventually succumbed to the power of Tzeentch. Magnus himself however still sits in contemplation of his past sins in the middle of a demon-world. He's been unheard of since, neither in favour of Chaos nor the Imperium.

So he managed to stand up against Russ and Horus on their respective strong points and then went on to resist the power of chaos while sitting inside its realm? I vote Magnus the Red, the one-eyed primarch of the Thousand Sons.

If you want to discount Primarchs I'd say it would have to be Lion El Johnson's Lieutenant Luther (the guy who betrayed him). He is the only marine who could stand toe to toe with a primarch.

Marcus ...no wait...The Cole Train. 'nuff said.

Gonna have to go with Samus, marine or not...

Pffft, them W40k Space Marines are pussies with their admantium armour and high tech boltguns and advanced training and genetic engineering. The Stormtroopers are the real marines of the Imperium, doing the same things that a Space Marine would do but armed with nothing more than a rapid firing flashlight and reinforced carboard armour.
They are marines as well because they are usually deployed from Imperial Navy ships.

The greatest Marine, in terms of video-games at least, is Gabriel Angelos. Why?

Onmi:
technically not a 'Marine' persay but.
COMMISSAR CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!

Seconded and thread won! CAIN FTW!

Kwatsu:

Ultrajoe:

Genjutsushi:
So, No. Ripley is not a Space Marine.... but is harder than all of them!

People keep saying this. And while i understand the theory behind it i really cannot see how a woman dumped into a shit-hole of a situation is more impressive than the 40K marines, who have chainsaw-swords. The sentiment is nice, but there's character and then there's marine-ness.

So... riding a cargo powerloader and beating a twelve-foot alien to death with it isn't 'marine' enough for you?

When she drops into enemy territory and beats her way out of a Tyranid (Like Alien, but not a pussy) swarm with her fists, we can talk.

Ultrajoe:

Kwatsu:

Ultrajoe:

Genjutsushi:
So, No. Ripley is not a Space Marine.... but is harder than all of them!

People keep saying this. And while i understand the theory behind it i really cannot see how a woman dumped into a shit-hole of a situation is more impressive than the 40K marines, who have chainsaw-swords. The sentiment is nice, but there's character and then there's marine-ness.

So... riding a cargo powerloader and beating a twelve-foot alien to death with it isn't 'marine' enough for you?

When she drops into enemy territory and beats her way out of a Tyranid (Like Alien, but not a pussy) swarm with her fists, we can talk.

Did Ripley kill a Patriach with a Chainsword? No? I didn't think so.

Let us end this Ripley business once and for all.

Ripley is Human for most of the Alien Series, save for Alien 4 when she's technically a Human-Xenomorph hybrid.

Whilst 'Human', she achieved the following;

Defeated a 'Warrior' alien (though not fast enough to stop it eating the entire crew). Had help from a decompressing airlock.
Defeated a couple of 'Warriors' via Pulse Rifle and Flamer, along with the odd Face-Hugger. Not in itself a god-like feat, given half the cast of the film achieved similar or better (Hicks got a Shotgun kill!).
Defeated a Queen with a Power Loader. Again, had to use the airlock.
Blew up a Dog Alien with molten lead and sprinklers. Had a bunch of rapists to help her.

Let's be honest here; Ripley's exploits don't come ANYWHERE close to what some Marines get up to. A 40K Terminator goes into a Space Hulk filled with Genestealers (Xenomorph equivalents) with only four of his friends as support, and stomps them all. Then he goes and finds the next Space Hulk, and does it again.

Hell, DOOMGuy has chalked up one bastard huge body-count that makes Ripley look like a drunken TA volunteer! He's fought his way across Phobos, Deimos, Earth, Mars and Hell (at least twice). He's killed untold thousands of Hell's minions, he's killed Satan (the Icon of Sin), and he did it ALL ALONE! That's just in the first two games. Let's be fair; Ripley is awesome, but he's horribly outclassed.

Wargamer:
.

Let's be honest here; Ripley's exploits don't come ANYWHERE close to what some Marines get up to. A 40K Terminator goes into a Space Hulk filled with Genestealers (Xenomorph equivalents) with only four of his friends as support, and stomps them all. Then he goes and finds the next Space Hulk, and does it again.

Yes but she's an untrained, unarmoured human. Space Maines in the 40k sense are raised from birth to be ultimate badasses. They have their physiology drastically altered to the point wherein they are barely human. Then they have incredibly powerful weapons and armour.

And the last few times I've played Space Hulk (the board game) the Terminators don't normally survive the mission, at least not all of them.

Give Ripley a 3+ armour save on 2d6 (how old am I?) and a gun with three rapid fire dice and we'll see who's badass. Of course I think xenomorphs probably have rending for what its worth.

rossatdi:

Wargamer:
.

Let's be honest here; Ripley's exploits don't come ANYWHERE close to what some Marines get up to. A 40K Terminator goes into a Space Hulk filled with Genestealers (Xenomorph equivalents) with only four of his friends as support, and stomps them all. Then he goes and finds the next Space Hulk, and does it again.

Yes but she's an untrained, unarmoured human. Space Maines in the 40k sense are raised from birth to be ultimate badasses. They have their physiology drastically altered to the point wherein they are barely human. Then they have incredibly powerful weapons and armour.

And the last few times I've played Space Hulk (the board game) the Terminators don't normally survive the mission, at least not all of them.

Give Ripley a 3+ armour save on 2d6 (how old am I?) and a gun with three rapid fire dice and we'll see who's badass. Of course I think xenomorphs probably have rending for what its worth.

Allow me to break this down.

rossatdi:
ultimate badasses.

You see, circumstance doesn't change the fact that the Space Marines are the Ultimate Princes of the Universe.

Ultrajoe:

Allow me to break this down.

rossatdi:
ultimate badasses.

You see, circumstance doesn't change the fact that the Space Marines are the Ultimate Princes of the Universe.

True enough, and as a Dark Angels and Burnished Angels (my own chapter) player I heartily agree. But we're picking the great single 'space marine' and I think based on comparative accomplishments Ripley's a damn fine choice.

After all, who is more awesome. The Terminator squad that butchers some genestealers or the Imperial Guard Lt who knocks out a Hive Tyrant?

Of course the entire 1st Company of the Ultramarines might deserve a joint award for fending of an entire Hive fleet with something like a 1,000 men. (Or is it 10,000? I can't remember my marine chapter size breakdowns. Is it 10 companies of 1,000 or 10 companies of 10,000?)

The whole problem with Ripley is she isn't a Space Marine. The MINIMUM criteria for a Space Marine is "You must be a Marine (a soldier that fights on board, or deploys from, a ship) and your Ship must travel through Space".

Hudsen, Hicks, Bishop, Apoc, Vasquez et al are all Space Marines. Riply is not; she is not part of the Colonial Marine Corps, and ergo not a Space Marine.

DOOMGuy was not Super-Human in any way, so by simple level of accomplishment he knocks Ripley for six.

Wargamer:
The whole problem with Ripley is she isn't a Space Marine. The MINIMUM criteria for a Space Marine is "You must be a Marine (a soldier that fights on board, or deploys from, a ship) and your Ship must travel through Space".

Hudsen, Hicks, Bishop, Apoc, Vasquez et al are all Space Marines. Riply is not; she is not part of the Colonial Marine Corps, and ergo not a Space Marine.

DOOMGuy was not Super-Human in any way, so by simple level of accomplishment he knocks Ripley for six.

She's more marine in spirit than many of the marines on here. Plus, she's awesome.

pretty much any marine from The Adeptus Astra

rossatdi:
Of course the entire 1st Company of the Ultramarines might deserve a joint award for fending of an entire Hive fleet with something like a 1,000 men. (Or is it 10,000? I can't remember my marine chapter size breakdowns. Is it 10 companies of 1,000 or 10 companies of 10,000?)

10 companies of 100, Ross.

100 space marines. Held back a hive fleet. A chapter, a force that can end or defend a planet, is 1000 men.

Where is your god now?

Ultrajoe:

rossatdi:
Of course the entire 1st Company of the Ultramarines might deserve a joint award for fending of an entire Hive fleet with something like a 1,000 men. (Or is it 10,000? I can't remember my marine chapter size breakdowns. Is it 10 companies of 1,000 or 10 companies of 10,000?)

10 companies of 100, Ross.

100 space marines. Held back a hive fleet. A chapter, a force that can end or defend a planet, is 1000 men.

Where is your god now?

Sorry, flunked Modern Imperial Military Organisation 101. I always loved the division between fluff marines: one man armies, and gameplay marines: about equivalent to 4 guardsmen.

I started with Dark Angels, moved onto Guardsmen and came back to marines through a traitor chapter that don't realise they're doomed ... yet. Now of course I'm lapsed-GW. Cost, time and social disorders associated with the hobby drove me out.

Gordon Freeman eats marines.

DeusFps:
Gordon Freeman eats marines.

Ciaphas Cain feeds Gordan Freeman his chainsword then.

if you have to ask, then probably not.

and i say Quake-guy. he had more awesome weapons than any of them

*

Tsuki Tanaka:
ME

Nah, j/k.

Does Samus Aran count?

if you have to ask then probably not

TUROK

*hides*

Id say the Primarchs would give any of these guys (Doom Guy, Freeman, Master Chief) a run for theyre money. :P

vid20:
Duke Nukeum

/thread.

duke wasn't really a marine, he was just a muscle bound trigger happy psycho