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throughout the years there has been debates about what the primarchs look like, all with different physical characteristics explained, but now with Forge World/Black Library I assume these are the final authorities on what they look like

for example there has been debate if Sanguinius has blond hair or black hair, he has been described with black hair, yet the artwork of him in the Official Black Library books has him with blonde hair


There used to be concepts of Russ having red hair


[img]
http://pre07.deviantart.net/b533/th/pre/i/2010/348/7/d/primarch_leman_russ_by_calavera666-d34l0xn.jpg[/img]

But Forgeworld/Black Library show him with blond hair


[img]
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/0/00/Prospero-burns.jpg[/img]






although he doesn't have the pony tail in the last two images, one can assume he had longer hair and cut it possibly (he still has the braids in all 4 pics)

this applies to other characters as well

Holy smokes man, you've been churning out threads non-stop. I understand the enthusiasm and curiosity that the 40K universe can inspire, but have you tried to look through repositories like lexicanum first? Some of your threads are a bit inane and often quickly answered if you looked them up normally. Just a suggestion, given how many questions you seem to have.

Also, I think it's fair to say that the more recent publications are indicators of what they look like, don't forget that 40K spans over two decades so somethings are going to be retconned.

Is Forge world and Black library property of GW?

If answer is yes, then they are the official source as far we are concerned until they contradict themselves again in the future because reasons!

 Grimskul wrote:
Holy smokes man, you've been churning out threads non-stop. I understand the enthusiasm and curiosity that the 40K universe can inspire, but have you tried to look through repositories like lexicanum first? Some of your threads are a bit inane and often quickly answered if you looked them up normally. Just a suggestion, given how many questions you seem to have.

Also, I think it's fair to say that the more recent publications are indicators of what they look like, don't forget that 40K spans over two decades so somethings are going to be retconned.

ok I might take a few days break from making threads then

LightKing wrote:

 Grimskul wrote:
Holy smokes man, you've been churning out threads non-stop. I understand the enthusiasm and curiosity that the 40K universe can inspire, but have you tried to look through repositories like lexicanum first? Some of your threads are a bit inane and often quickly answered if you looked them up normally. Just a suggestion, given how many questions you seem to have.

Also, I think it's fair to say that the more recent publications are indicators of what they look like, don't forget that 40K spans over two decades so somethings are going to be retconned.

ok I might take a few days break from making threads then

Don't feel you have to-just do a bit of research BEFORE making a thread. If you can't find the answer after, at a minimum, 10 minutes of Googling, then post a thread.

 JNAProductions wrote:

LightKing wrote:

 Grimskul wrote:
Holy smokes man, you've been churning out threads non-stop. I understand the enthusiasm and curiosity that the 40K universe can inspire, but have you tried to look through repositories like lexicanum first? Some of your threads are a bit inane and often quickly answered if you looked them up normally. Just a suggestion, given how many questions you seem to have.

Also, I think it's fair to say that the more recent publications are indicators of what they look like, don't forget that 40K spans over two decades so somethings are going to be retconned.

ok I might take a few days break from making threads then

Don't feel you have to-just do a bit of research BEFORE making a thread. If you can't find the answer after, at a minimum, 10 minutes of Googling, then post a thread.

well I just want to know if Black Library supercedes if anything is in conflict with previous codexes and literature on the heresy

LightKing wrote:

 JNAProductions wrote:

LightKing wrote:

 Grimskul wrote:
Holy smokes man, you've been churning out threads non-stop. I understand the enthusiasm and curiosity that the 40K universe can inspire, but have you tried to look through repositories like lexicanum first? Some of your threads are a bit inane and often quickly answered if you looked them up normally. Just a suggestion, given how many questions you seem to have.

Also, I think it's fair to say that the more recent publications are indicators of what they look like, don't forget that 40K spans over two decades so somethings are going to be retconned.

ok I might take a few days break from making threads then

Don't feel you have to-just do a bit of research BEFORE making a thread. If you can't find the answer after, at a minimum, 10 minutes of Googling, then post a thread.

well I just want to know if Black Library supercedes if anything is in conflict with previous codexes and literature on the heresy

That's for your threads in general, not specifically this one

That picture of Russ with red hair was featured in Horus Heresy: Collected Visions.

...which was a Black Library publication!

 Lord Damocles wrote:
That picture of Russ with red hair was featured in Horus Heresy: Collected Visions.

...which was a Black Library publication!

Dun, dun, dun!

But seriously, what GW do is allow their authors, illistrators, modelors to do whatever they want with a character if they aren't important. But as soon as that character does become important and they want to make some money out of them they will do lots of 'research' to find out what would look/read the best so that customers are more likely to buy it.

With Russ and Sanguinius, back when they were first drawn/written about, the Horus Heresy was a distant event and GW was too focussed on fleshing out the current fluff to care about what people wrote of 30k fluff. But then they realised they could ring money out of the 30k era, so FW started writing/drawing and modeling all the Horus Heresy stuff. They kept in the general jist of the HH but they altered whatever they thought would look better.

 mrhappyface wrote:
With Russ and Sanguinius, back when they were first drawn/written about, the Horus Heresy was a distant event and GW was too focussed on fleshing out the current fluff to care about what people wrote of 30k fluff. But then they realised they could ring money out of the 30k era, so FW started writing/drawing and modeling all the Horus Heresy stuff. They kept in the general jist of the HH but they altered whatever they thought would look better.

1) There's really no evidence that Sanguinius having black hair is in any way a canon conflict (he's in mourning in Horus Rising)
2) The Horus Heresy gouging series was already in full swing when Collected Visions was released (and it's not like there hadn't been depictions of Russ before then), so it's unlikely that GW simply didn't care about it.


With any universe in which you have multiple contributing authors/artists, you're bound to get slightly different interpretations of characters cropping up. Just look at all of the varying depictions of something as 'simple' and well defined as power armour.

EDIT: Even between the three pictures of blondie Russ, the other details differ!

 Lord Damocles wrote:

 mrhappyface wrote:
With Russ and Sanguinius, back when they were first drawn/written about, the Horus Heresy was a distant event and GW was too focussed on fleshing out the current fluff to care about what people wrote of 30k fluff. But then they realised they could ring money out of the 30k era, so FW started writing/drawing and modeling all the Horus Heresy stuff. They kept in the general jist of the HH but they altered whatever they thought would look better.

1) There's really no evidence that Sanguinius having black hair is in any way a canon conflict (he's in mourning in Horus Rising)
2) The Horus Heresy gouging series was already in full swing when Collected Visions was released (and it's not like there hadn't been depictions of Russ before then), so it's unlikely that GW simply didn't care about it.


With any universe in which you have multiple contributing authors/artists, you're bound to get slightly different interpretations of characters cropping up. Just look at all of the varying depictions of something as 'simple' and well defined as power armour.

EDIT: Even between the three pictures of blondie Russ, the other details differ!

So whats Canon Russ...blonde hair or red hair?

Strawberry blonde but since that sounds like a girl's hair dye people don't want to upset Russ by mentioning it.
Alternatively Ginger, but that would make him a souless sentient and an enemy of the Mechanicus/Skitarii...

Like pretty much everthing in 40k, any source on the appearance of the Primarchs is always going to be contradicting some other source. BL authors do not communicate with each other (or read each other's work) and just write whatever they like. That is how we ended up with a setting that is bursting with inconsistencies. Just go with the source that you like best, there is no true canon in 40k.

Personally I prefer Russ as a blondie and Sanguinius as dark-haired.

To answer your general question, there is NO final authority on how a character appears, acts, or is.

Every aspect of fluff is told from subjective sources, and subject to the bias of the observer(s). Contradictions in fluff are contradictions in interpretation of the universe, not contradictions in the underlying reality thereof.

That explanation would not be mutually exclusive with the fact that writers, illustrators, and the like don't always do their homework.

To answer your specific question on Russ and his hair color, two explanations come to mind - one based on the fluff, and the other based on the meta of the WH40k universe:

Fluff: Leman Russ is and has always been a blonde. However, his penchant for getting up close and personal with his enemies often results in his hair being drenched (repeatedly and often) in blood, and so his hair will often appear red as a result.

Meta: Leman Russ has always been depicted as a norse warrior of unparalleled aggression, with unparalleled (within the Space Wolves) strength and in many ways seen as the closest thing to a Son as the Allfather has (within the Space Wolves). Both of those traits parallel the Norse god Thor, who had red hair in the real-life mythology.

With Marvel's Thor "Aryan Wet Dream" Odinson becoming a stronger and better known character in pop culture, a parallel change in Leman's appearahce might have made more sense...

Alternatively, it's inconsistent because most writers don't give a rat's ass.

As far as Sanguinius goes, I'm torn, I'm about to paint up a 'not40K' resin figure for a Space Hulk 'Storming Horus's Battlebarge' scenario.
Black hair would contrast nicely with the brilliant gold of his Armour, but blonde would fit better with the 'violent beauty' of the Angel of Baal
Ohhhh, first-world problems!

John

LightKing wrote:

 JNAProductions wrote:

LightKing wrote:

 Grimskul wrote:
Holy smokes man, you've been churning out threads non-stop. I understand the enthusiasm and curiosity that the 40K universe can inspire, but have you tried to look through repositories like lexicanum first? Some of your threads are a bit inane and often quickly answered if you looked them up normally. Just a suggestion, given how many questions you seem to have.

Also, I think it's fair to say that the more recent publications are indicators of what they look like, don't forget that 40K spans over two decades so somethings are going to be retconned.

ok I might take a few days break from making threads then

Don't feel you have to-just do a bit of research BEFORE making a thread. If you can't find the answer after, at a minimum, 10 minutes of Googling, then post a thread.

well I just want to know if Black Library supercedes if anything is in conflict with previous codexes and literature on the heresy

GW has no official canon policy, so neither BL nor FW nor anything published directly by GW supersedes anything else from the others. It's all myths, lies, half-truths, rumors and propaganda.

His hair is red in its natural state, but turns blonde when you kill his best friend and blow up Namek.

Primarchs are allowed to dye their hair guys.

I'm more worried about Magnus's skin. I really can't stand the bright red interpretation. Fortunately Magnus can change his appearance at will.

It's likely, given the artistic impressions they were trying to create with the Primarchs and how they wanted to create a contrast between Magnus (the red) and Russ, that they considered bleaching his fiery mane to a more contrasting color stance than the rival brother who's legion he would break.

Once upon a time there we only a few images of Primarchs (non-daemon). Angron, Sanguinius, Horus and Russ. There were also a few descriptions in Index Astartes.

Based on earlier descriptions I spent my college years designing them. Then the Heresy art books came out and destroyed all my efforts.



This was my Magnus before he became a goofy pokemon.

Mortarion was described as tall and thin.


Angron was depicted by Wayne England but I tried my hand at a demonic version.



Dorn... Kinda looks like Dwayne Johnson.


Perturabo


Horus


And Russ, looking a little older than BL imagined him.


And a tiny little Logar concept.