I was thinking about what the best way to describe the inquisition.  The Imperial Guard are the army, the Adeptus Arbites are the police.  We have the Church and the vast Bureaucracy.  Would it be best to describe the Inquisition as a large security aparatus similar to the CIA or KGB?  Huge budget, the authority to do what ever they want.  Working with unsavory characters from time to time.  Doing anything necessary to preserve the Imperium.  Uncovering and starting conspiracies.  Fighting a shadow war.  Having a militant arm (similar to the teams that work for the CIA in real life). 

Enforcers: Police

Arbites: mixture of FBI and Special Forces

Inquisition: Gestapo

The Inquisition would be best compared to the large security apparatus that was known as the… Inquisition.

bogi_khaosa said:

Holy crap!

http://youtu.be/a1Y73sPHKxw

=P

PS: joke aside, bogi_khaosa es completelly right. The 40K Inquisition is based on the catholic Inquisition, so there is no need to compare it to the police or anything else.

Like this?

The best comparason is the Holy Inquisition during the Rennassiance: the brutal enforcement arm of the Catholic Church, the official state religion for most of Europe at the time. -But it seems like you are looking for a more modern analogy, so I will side with Dok Martin and say the Gestapo- or maybe the Gestapo as they would have become if the Nazis had won WWII.

If you want to get technical, the 40K Inquisition is based on a British pop culture image of the real Inquisition, like the Middle Ages that influences the Middle Ages in Space ethos isn't the real Middle Ages, but the Middle Ages as imagined in British pop culture.

I don't think any actual organization has ever had the power that the 40K inquisition does, but if you want to look for a modern analogy, the best is I think the NKVD mixed in with some of the Gestapo.

Ah, the grimdark future, where Beria can be an inspiration for a heroic character 

I tend to liken the Adeptus Arbites to the NKVD actually Bogi, if only because they are so public about what they do. I quite like Dok's breakdown, the impression I get is that the Gestapo was more secretive and feared for that lack of visibility whereas the NKVD was a very visible political army, much like the SS (although employed differently).

But then that's all history I suppose.  Most of what I know about the NKVD comes from Antony Beavor's excellent books 'Stalingrad' and 'Berlin'. I gues we are all informed differently by the sources we have used.  I also imagine, like with the Arbites and the 40k Inquisition there was lots of cross over and blurred boundaries of jurisdiction.

But as has been said, the best fit for the 40k is the historical Inquisition.  Especially the Ordo Hereticus (with a good dose of Gestapo: gotta love the cliche black leather trenchcoats)

 I think a better modern comparison would be something like the Illuminati, if they actually existed. Near mythical enforcing agents who have eyes and ears everywhere and know no mercy. Gestapo is also good though.

You're right; Gestapo is better.

They would not look like the CIA, Mossad or KGB because those organisations are mostly concerned with keeping an eyeto threats from other Nations. They are strictly looking at their own population.

The Inquisition is an organisation everybody knows about but not many will ever see an agent in the flesh. They are secretive and apperantly omnipresent. They are like the Stassi, Big Brother from the novel 1984 or even Men in Black without Will Smith and laughable aliens.

None, really. The Inquisition - despite some superficial similarities - isn't like any real world organisation. In the RW all such groups had strict hierarchies and rules. The Inquisition doesn't. Every Inquisitor is a law unto himself. Each is very much an individual. This is a point which is stressed in the fluff - every Inquisitor is unique. One might come across as a gestapo agent, another as a Catholic Inquisitor, another as a KGB agent - but most don't really draw upon any one source other than weird.

Yeah, no real-world secret service has ever had this level of power.

bogi_khaosa said:

KGB, CIA, Nazi SS, Spanish inquisition; My answer would be all of the above dependent on the inquisitor in question. The Ordos do serve the function of an intelligence agency similar to the KGB and/or GRU. They also serve an internal policing force similar to Secret service or ATF. They do this with all the enthusiasm of a Spanish Inquisitor or Gestapo agent. Their Independence is required for the Vast swathes they must cover and their Zeal is due to the immense threat they face. If one reads either Eisenhorn or Ravenor we find out that inquisitors do in fact have a "Code of conduct" of sorts and they can be sanctioned or even executed for violating it! Much like modern intelligence agencies that code is fairly loosely defined in order to allow Inquisitors to perform their function. In short, Inquisitors are there to GET SHIT DONE!!! They are not the last line of defence they are the first! It is their duty to anticipate, Investigate and Thwart various threats to the Imperium before the Mighty Space Marines or Imperial guard even realise they exist. It is only when they fail that the Military arms must be called in to defend the realms of the God-Emperor!

The men-in-black, but where the memory wiping device is a bolt round to the head. It's super effective.

Radwraith said:

Not exactly. Technically no Inquisitor ranks above any other. Even the title of Lord Inquisitor grants no formal authority over other Inquisitors. And there is no Inquisition-wide code of conduct.

In practice, of course, Inquisitors need to respect each other. The only check on an Inquisitor's power is the will of another Inquisitor, so reputation is important. And any Inquisitor can order the execution of another - it's just that the degree to which that order will be followed really depends on the status of each Inquisitor in the eyes of others. Lord Inquisitors are essentially the first amongst equals, Inquisitors who are so highly respected that their word holds special weight amongs local Inquisitors. Yet even they have no right to order another Inquisitor to do something.

This ambiguity leads to different arrangements across the Imperium. In some sectors there are unofficial local codes of conduct and unofficial hierarchies of power, especially in ones with lots of Inquisitors. In others there are no rules. Even in sectors with such codes in place there may be no effective way of enforcing them, as no Inquisitor commands enough respect to make rulings that anyone will listen to. In the Eisenhorn novels the Lord Inquisitor (and by extension those Inquisitors who work at his behest) has enough respect that his word is effectively law. Anyone opposing him has to go up against the entire local Inquisition. Of course, if you piss off your local fellow Inquisitors you can always move to another sector. Unless your enemies are willing to follow you (or have friends locally) you can set up shop and continue business as usual.