Are there only caucasians in the Imperium of Man?

[California DMV Gaming]

I've seen many sets of art for Warhammer 40k and played many of the Dawn of War games. However, I've never seen any other ethniticies other than caucasian individauls serve in the Imperium of Man. The Sisterhood of Battle, Space Marines, Imperial Guard, etc are all caucasian personnel. Even all of the Force Commanders shown in the Warhammer 40k games are caucasian. Are there any major figures of color in the Imperium of Man? Thanks in advance for your answers!

[Steven]

yah race has nothing really to do so much with warhammer 40,000 other then by planet, but i remember that I have seen diffrent color people on codexs. its mostly what ever people want to paint or make there armys look like they do.. space marines really I dont think have main race most of them are 1ks of years old and have had there organs and bodys minumplated with machines parts, or turned into warmachines.

if i remember right space marines are recuirted off certain world planets, and after life time of battle and proving them selfs then there bodys get altered.

no place in warhammer 40,000 have I read any where that they clone or keep orgrams going, but every thing i have read in novels and books and codexs point to replacement parts, including limbs skin so forth with machine parts. I think adpets machs are big into it disposing of human organs before they even fail or have issues with them, just for love of perfection of the machine..


really any one who is a major figure in imperium man is not young and would have at least lived 5k or 6k or millions of years like emp of imperium, at this point they are really no longer people but mostly total cold hard machines.

[tarpin]

Първоначално публикувано от Yog:

Some of you have really a strange way of thinking about what is fantasy (WH40K is futuristic fantasy).

The ideology of ethnical diversity has been implemented in WH40K: It is the T'AU empire. You know, the tolerant little dudes who seems to be escaped from whatever silly manga.
The image of ethnical diversity is represented by the T'AU and kroot, not by the Imperium of men.

The Imperium is a mix of roman empire, totalitarian regimes (third reich, soviet union), and medieval fanatism. It represent an image of humanity that is pretty clear: obsession to bring order in everything, refusal of change, doom, etc...

Having a hispanic protestant bisexual space marine chapter here, or a black mormon gay imperial guard division there, don't change anything to what the word "Imperium" means.

You understand what a fantasy universe is? F-A-N-T-A-S-Y

A fantasy universe is created from images, fantasm and stereotypes, that come to mind of it's creator. It is all about images, fantasms and stereotypes (including racial stereotypes) forming an organized universe.

A fantasy universe is not created to be a copy of real world, and it is not a political program.
Most of all, fantasy universes created by other don't have to reflect YOUR ideas about what society must be.

Yeah we get it already, in fact this is why we are having fun with this discussion. If you don't understand meta-fluffing you should play more 40k.

[Folklore]

Първоначално публикувано от DarkChaplain:

Първоначално публикувано от Nordic Brony:

Every Adeptus Astartes in the Salamanders Chapter are black and their Primarch (Vulkan) was black.

Which was a reaction to their genes when exposed to Nocturne's atmosphere.

There are a ton of different cultures and ethnic groups. Heck, there are mutants in this galaxy, so why wouldn't there be people with dark skin or somesuch? I believe one of the Remembrancers in Horus Rising, during the Great Crusade, was black. White Scars come from a mongolian-inspired world, the Thousand Sons' home planet was inspired by ancient egypt etc.

The remembracer was with euphrati keeler, who might be the first saint of the imperium. I believe she also comes up pretty important in flight of the eisenstein.

Първоначално публикувано от Ilpalazzo:

Първоначално публикувано от partemit:

Wait ... here's the answer, didn't the Emprorer design the genetics of the Primarchs from his own geneseed? If so they would be caucasian. And since the Primarchs give their geneseed to their Space Marine Chapters .. you get the idea. And besides we shouldn't even be worrying about what race a Space Marine is, they are post-human, can't breed, and effectivly immortal. They are as alien to humanity as an ork or genesteeler.

Just because the look human doesn't mean they are.

That was true in the Great Crusade/Pre Horus Heresy. In the 41st Millenia chapters recruit from many different sources. They implant the organs necessary for a person to be transformed into an Astartes. They choose who to implant based on their skills in survival and warfare; skin color is not considered at all.

Just remember the source material; the Imperium is genocidal, xenophobic, zealously religious to the point of fanaticism. Is it that much of a stretch to think there are racists in there too?

I haven't read of any gay space marines either, does that make Games Workshop homophobic?

Genes do make a big important part of the selection process still. Survival and combat skill are essential, but so is genetic match up with the chapters gene seed. With out that match up the organs will be rejected most assuredly and the acolyte will die.

Първоначално публикувано от partemit:

Първоначално публикувано от Gerorge W. Burns:

actualy there is at least 2 in the dawn of war games one of the is a lbirarian another an inquisitor!

Token Affimative Action Roles added by Relic.

Honestly, this makes the most sense:

Първоначално публикувано от Someone Familiar:

Issues of racial representation aside, the adeptus astartes and much of the imperium of man being largely caucasian may well have been a purposeful detail designed by games workshop to suggest a kind of dystopian neo-nazism - the idea being formulated during a time when aforementioned issues of racial representation weren't quite at the forefront of the european people's social agenda.

Also I think it hits their core demographic for publishing, teenage to middleage white men wanting to live out chainsaw wielding battle fantasies.

Toth was responsible for the daemon of the maledictum escaping, which is in no way minor.
It is also hinted at fairly heavly that he might have been either possed by the daemon or was it.

[DarkChaplain]

Първоначално публикувано от -(SCP)-folklore(-{K.O.E}-):

Първоначално публикувано от DarkChaplain:

Which was a reaction to their genes when exposed to Nocturne's atmosphere.

There are a ton of different cultures and ethnic groups. Heck, there are mutants in this galaxy, so why wouldn't there be people with dark skin or somesuch? I believe one of the Remembrancers in Horus Rising, during the Great Crusade, was black. White Scars come from a mongolian-inspired world, the Thousand Sons' home planet was inspired by ancient egypt etc.

The remembracer was with euphrati keeler, who might be the first saint of the imperium. I believe she also comes up pretty important in flight of the eisenstein.

She was also the one who told Sigismund of the Imperial Fists to remain on Terra with Dorn, instead of leading the Fists' strikeforce to Isstvan. His place with the Retribution Fleet was later taken by Alexis Polux, after the replacement leader's death. Meanwhile, Sigismund earned Dorn's ire when he confessed his reasons for staying behind.

Alexis Polux would be the first Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists, after the Heresy, who were aptly named after him. Sigismund would become the Emperor's Champion, and the first Chapter Master of the Black Templars. It is implied that the Templars' hate for the witch may be connected to Keeler.

[DarkChaplain]

Reading the first part of Chris Wraight's Horus Heres novel, "Scars" right now. It is about the White Scars.
This part might be interesting in regards to this discussion:

Many of the others had been taken from the Asiatic hive clusters. Haren disapproved of that. After Unity the Imperium was meant to have moved beyond racial and ethnic stereotyping, so the fact that the V Legion remained mired in the physiognomic traits of their backwater world was an irritant.

[Bastard Operator]

Commisars have a directive that deals with "racism". It's in the fluff. It also applies to ratlings and ogryn, as they are, like all Imperial servants, no longer individuals, but servants of the EMPRAH. Any man, or woman, caught wasting the resources of the EMPRAH will be summarily shot. Edicts regarding racism survived the Horus Heresy, while the ones regarding religion and its evils did not.

That said, what you regard as "races" in the modern age no longer exist in the Imperium. There are an entire slew of new "races" from a multitude of planets.

Why Games Workshop doesn't showcase them is probbaly a better question if that sort of thing puzzles you.

[Vargas78]

the god emperor is not exactly your blonde hair blue eyed aryan either but is dark complexioned with very Mediterranean characteristics

[DarkChaplain]

http://i.imgur.com/r9wnbJb.jpg

[alex_roach]

Do you think that 40,000 years in the future human race will retain the same ethnic groups it has today? Why?

[Bronson]

Първоначално публикувано от Nordiskt Lejon:

Every Adeptus Astartes in the Salamanders Chapter are black and their Primarch (Vulkan) was black.

I think White Scars may also be Mongolian-ish. But really, the emperor was white, the Primarchs are based off his geneseed. And Space Marines are based off their Primarchs gene seed. So yes, the majority could be white......BUT....There are a few things to consider. 1) Ethnicity would be probably very much dependant on SM homeworlds. 2) Geneseed may actually effect and alter the skin colour of the Space Marine during the change. 3) It really doesnt matter as almost every Space Marine wears a helmet, and you can make them what you wish. In the video game universe, Space Marines sound caucasion but one should consider that the accents and dialects we know today would not exist as the nations and states that create these specific speech tones no longer exist and havent for millenia.

[Vrakos Anthrakir]

Първоначално публикувано от Bronson:

Първоначално публикувано от Nordiskt Lejon:

Every Adeptus Astartes in the Salamanders Chapter are black and their Primarch (Vulkan) was black.

I think White Scars may also be Mongolian-ish. But really, the emperor was white, the Primarchs are based off his geneseed. And Space Marines are based off their Primarchs gene seed. So yes, the majority could be white......BUT....There are a few things to consider. 1) Ethnicity would be probably very much dependant on SM homeworlds. 2) Geneseed may actually effect and alter the skin colour of the Space Marine during the change. 3) It really doesnt matter as almost every Space Marine wears a helmet, and you can make them what you wish. In the video game universe, Space Marines sound caucasion but one should consider that the accents and dialects we know today would not exist as the nations and states that create these specific speech tones no longer exist and havent for millenia.

the emperor is from ancient mesopotamia, making him middle eastern. they sound caucasian in video games because that's just the voice actors they get, in lore each chapter's home planet have their own languages and such

there are black people (not talking about the salamanders), asian people, and middleastern people in wh40k though

[Eizo]

Don't forget the ogryns and the squats.

[Hirogen]

I hope so

[Welcome to Idiocracy 2023]

In 8th Millennium B.C. there was not a single turk or central asian barbaric steppe nomad in minor asia.
So the Emperor must be greek, armenian, aramaic or any other ethnicity which lived at the time in this area.

Btw turks are NOT caucasian. The turkish tribes are more mongolian than european just look at other pure blooded turk tribes like the uighurs.
Some turks today are mixed people or to be accurate to biologic science they are basturds.
There were no mixed turks in the 8th Millennium B.C.

Turks came from the area between persia, russia and china aka the central asian steppe.

[Vrakos Anthrakir]

Първоначално публикувано от Eizo:

Don't forget the ogryns and the squats.

the squats were wiped out, ogryns are all white