"They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear."
"You have been called upon to serve, you will be trained... and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies."
— Dr. Catherine Halsey, Halo: The Fall of Reach
Do you wanna be a hero in the sky?
Do you wanna be a hero in the sky?
High adventure, higher pay, join the Space Marines today
And you'll get to be a hero in the sky.
Do you wanna be a hero in the sky?
High adventure, higher pay, join the Space Marines today
And you'll get to be a hero in the sky.
— Julia Ecklar and Anne Prather, "Space Hero" (which later turns into a comic deconstruction of this trope)
All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in Bed? Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the Corps!
— Sergeant Al Apone, Aliens
From the pits of Aldebaran IX
To the webs of Sigma Grex
We will make a better man of you
Irregardless of your sex.
Though the Klingons kick sand in your face,
You will know you're worth your beans
When you come and sell your soul to us
In the Outer Space Marines.
To the webs of Sigma Grex
We will make a better man of you
Irregardless of your sex.
Though the Klingons kick sand in your face,
You will know you're worth your beans
When you come and sell your soul to us
In the Outer Space Marines.
— The Outer Space Marines
We're Space Marines! We're glorious
We're steadfast, brave and true!
So don't you dirtbags mess with us,
Or this is what we'll do:
We'll nick your dogs,
We'll nuke your schools,
We'll stretch you on a rack!
We'll borrow all your garden tools
And never give them back!
We are the bold marines of space
We wade through gore and grue
And if we do not like your face
Then this is what we'll do:
We'll sneer and spit and call you names
Tip napalm down your shirt
Your vest will be consumed by flames
And that will really hurt.
We're steadfast, brave and true!
So don't you dirtbags mess with us,
Or this is what we'll do:
We'll nick your dogs,
We'll nuke your schools,
We'll stretch you on a rack!
We'll borrow all your garden tools
And never give them back!
We are the bold marines of space
We wade through gore and grue
And if we do not like your face
Then this is what we'll do:
We'll sneer and spit and call you names
Tip napalm down your shirt
Your vest will be consumed by flames
And that will really hurt.
— Space Marine anthem, DR and Quinch Get Drafted
Ace Levy: Sir, I don't understand. Who needs a knife in a nuke fight anyway? All you gotta do is push a button, sir.
Career Sergeant Zim: Cease fire. Put your hand on that wall trooper. [Ace pauses] PUT YOUR HAND ON THAT WALL!
[Zim throws a knife and hits Ace's hand, pinning it to the wall]
Career Sergeant Zim: The enemy can not push a button... if you disable his hand. Medic!
Career Sergeant Zim: Cease fire. Put your hand on that wall trooper. [Ace pauses] PUT YOUR HAND ON THAT WALL!
[Zim throws a knife and hits Ace's hand, pinning it to the wall]
Career Sergeant Zim: The enemy can not push a button... if you disable his hand. Medic!
"Every marine, a rifleman! Every rifleman is zero g trained!"
— Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Mass Effect
Then, as soon as the intrinsic velocities could possibly be matched, board and storm! With Dronvire of Rigel Four in the lead, closely followed by Costigan, Northprop, Kinnison the Younger, and a platoon of armed and armored Space Marines!
"In space, no one can hear you scream, unless it's the battle cry of a United States Marine!"
"The only way to hold a piece of ground, on this world or any other world, is a man with a rifle."
— General Nelson Bradford, For All Mankind
