YMMV / Marsh Silas

• Iron Woobie: Silas is a Badass Normal who will keep on doing his duty to Cadia and the Imperium, no matter what, but it's no understatement that his life royally sucks. In his past, his father died, his grandparents shipped him and his mother off to a awful Hive World hoping that they'd die there, and his best friend during training got executed by a Commissar right in front of him, after disobeying orders to save his life. And, throughout the events of the series, his new best friend, Inquisitor Barlocke, disappears holding off heretics so he can escape, the Whiteshields he's been mentoring are sent on a suicide mission by the regimental commander, leaving only three survivors, and the love of his life, Commissar Lilias Carsenden, also gets killed.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Despite all the evil minions of Chaos Bloody Platoon ends up fighting throughout the series, the biggest Hate Sinks are Silas' horrible grandparents. Minor nobility and elitist pricks, they hated their own son for falling in love with a commoner, preventing them from gaining power via a marriage to the daughter of a more powerful noble house. After his death, they disinherited their own grandson (Silas) and his mother, packing them off to a Hive World to die. Much later on, they show up to a victory celebration and mock their grandson for being a failure and a weakling, even though he's won a veritable Chest of Medals and is considered a Hero of the Imperium, while they're wearing dishevelled uniforms and have led very unimpressive careers.^note Helped by the fact that the Big Bad of Volume I is a relatively sympathetic Tragic Villain, and the main foes of Volume II are the Iron Warriors, poster boys for literal Industrialized Evil who make for cold and impersonal foes.

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