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You all probably realize the blatant similarity between Tau and Eldar to some major cultures in Asia. Here is my interpretation of it:

Tau:
- The "caste" system resembles that in India, which is still prevalent even today. Marriage and breeding between members of different caste is considered unorthodox.

- Tau's hairstyle with the long braid reminds me of the hairstyle sported by Chinese (mainly nobles) in feudal time. That higher ranking Tau have more decorations on their braid might be a reference to this. Though the hairstyle is more common for men in the case of China, both male and female Tau adopt this the same.

- Many Tau's artwork feature them wielding Chinese-looking swords (though they never use these in combat).

- Farsight = Guan Yu. Both are heroic figures featured in red.

- Tau vs White Scars = Chinese vs Mongolians.

- Tau's armor and battlesuits look quite similar to Asian mech, especially those in China and Japan. Gundam, anyone?

- In the video games Fire Warriors and Dark Crusade, the Tau have (rather stereotypical) Indian accent.

- Greater Good philosophy resembles Confucian, focusing on collectivism and establishment of social order. It also bears some similarities to, you know it, Chinese Communism.

- The Tau believe other races will willingly adopt the Greater Good just as the Chinese believe all proletariat in the world would rise up and establish Communism worldwide.


Eldar:

- The Eldar's symbol of Order is the Double Fish. This icon is worn by Asurmen.

- The names of the Phoenix's Lords have Indian feeling in them. Asurmen, Karandras, Maugan Ra.

- Shuriken weapons.

- Eldar Ninja.

- Path of the Warrior = Way of the Samurai.

- Khaela Mensha Khaine = Kali. The term "avatar" come from "avatara", an Indian work describing the manifestation of a God in the mortal realm.

- Eldar Seers resemble prophets and sorcerers in Middle East.

Anyone has anything to add?

I always thought the Tau in Dark Crusade sounded more stereotypical Japanese than Indian.

Khaine could be a reference to the biblical Cain as well.
Khaine murdered a mortal, just as Cain murdered his brother.

How about Eldar worshipping their ancestors and honoring dead ancestors in hopes that their spirits would rise up and assist them in battle? In many asian cultures ancestor worship is very common.

But now the Eldar call them Wraiths and have wraithbone to capture the spirits and channel their energy.

bibotot wrote:
- In the video games Fire Warriors and Dark Crusade, the Tau have (rather stereotypical) Indian accent.

Nobody in India speaks like that. The accent is more a (bad) imitation of Japanese accents.

 Sir Arun wrote:

bibotot wrote:
- In the video games Fire Warriors and Dark Crusade, the Tau have (rather stereotypical) Indian accent.

Nobody in India speaks like that. The accent is more a (bad) imitation of Japanese accents.

Yeah, the Tau as a whole seem to be more Japanese inspired. Pop-culture inspired too. They are the ones with the fancy mechs after all.

I'd say the Indian stuff comes from the Caste system and the Blue-skinned ethereal that are reminiscent of the Avatar from Hindu.

To be 100% correct, the Tau caste system was lifted from Aldous Huxley's classic sci-fi novel Brave New World, to the point of having castes that were socially and genetically engineered to be physically and mentally ideal for specific jobs, and an overarching leadership caste which controlled the lowers castes through propaganda and social conditioning.

But Huxley took his inspiration for those castes from the Indians.

The physical aesthetic of the models is obviously Japanese, and was designed to create an army that appealed to kids who liked sci-fi Japanese cartoons. But 40K is pretty good about not ever being 100% single-source derivative, so there are other Eastern cultural cues sprinkled in too.

I thought the Tau Empire was based on the Japanese Wll era "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere".

They even call their invasions "Spheres of expansion". They also seem to stress unity, equality and working toward a greater goal, and while in some cases they do deliver, it is most often them reaping the reward at the expense of their new subjects.

Also I thought the Tau Empire's conflict with the Imperium drew inspiration from the Russian Empires conflicts with the Japanese Empire. That is a young dynamic empire (Tau) fighting a far older, crumbling, empire for territory (Imperium).

 TheDraconicLord wrote:

 Sir Arun wrote:

bibotot wrote:
- In the video games Fire Warriors and Dark Crusade, the Tau have (rather stereotypical) Indian accent.

Nobody in India speaks like that. The accent is more a (bad) imitation of Japanese accents.

Yeah, the Tau as a whole seem to be more Japanese inspired. Pop-culture inspired too. They are the ones with the fancy mechs after all.

Are you sure? They sound like (and look like, too) those dudes from the Trade Federation in Star Wars.

bibotot wrote:

- In the video games Fire Warriors and Dark Crusade, the Tau have (rather stereotypical) Indian accent.

I'm actually quite shocked that a Brit count make such an egregious error. The Tau are generic ORIENTAL. I don't know about Dark Crusade (which did use the same accent) but Fire Warrior's Tau voice cast were entirely Anglo-Chinese (including Burt Kwouk!).

The Imperial Answer wrote:
Also I thought the Tau Empire's conflict with the Imperium drew inspiration from the Russian Empires conflicts with the Japanese Empire. That is a young dynamic empire (Tau) fighting a far older, crumbling, empire for territory (Imperium).

Ha! I quite like that comparison. Damocles campaign can indeed be compared to the Japanese-Russian War

bibotot wrote:

 TheDraconicLord wrote:

 Sir Arun wrote:

bibotot wrote:
- In the video games Fire Warriors and Dark Crusade, the Tau have (rather stereotypical) Indian accent.

Nobody in India speaks like that. The accent is more a (bad) imitation of Japanese accents.

Yeah, the Tau as a whole seem to be more Japanese inspired. Pop-culture inspired too. They are the ones with the fancy mechs after all.

Are you sure? They sound like (and look like, too) those dudes from the Trade Federation in Star Wars.

Who were widely taken (in some spheres) as a bad asian racial slur.

Tau are American, not Asian.

SGTPozy wrote:
Tau are American, not Asian.

No, that's Catachan Guard (who are basically every 80s American Action Hero trope in an army) you're thinking of.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

SGTPozy wrote:
Tau are American, not Asian.

No, that's Catachan Guard (who are basically every 80s American Action Hero trope in an army) you're thinking of.

I quite enjoyed Peregrine's take on it:

 Peregrine wrote:

 Tod wrote:
Most people might put Tau under Communist nations?

No, Tau are the US. Lots of hypocrisy about "everyone is equal" in their rigid caste system, a foreign policy centered around "bringing freedom" to anyone who has territory or resources they want, and a military that relies on advanced technology over sheer numbers. The IG are the communists with their mass hordes and battles of attrition. They even have commissars, troops riding around in Soviet APCs, etc.

I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

Initially at least. High tech elite armies can crush any lesser military opposition, but diplomats still have to try to make the people see the light. Rumours might suggest Tau exterminate uncooperative populations but that would go over about as well as if the US did so after crushing a third-world dictator's 1970s Soviet tech army.

But nothing in 40K is one thing only. The writers have just picked anything they thought sounded cool from history, novels, movies, you name it. Then they put it on Planet X.

Tau are very clearly based on Japanese and Chinese sources. For example, the armour design takes visual elements from traditional Japanese and Chinese armour. This was explicit in the original designer's notes which are no longer available from GW.

Ideas about caste are found in many historical cultures and reflect common types of social stratification. In feudal Europe for example there were basically three castes, the priesthood, the military class and the peasantry.

Well, the priesthood, the nobility, and the peasantry, but yes.

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

What the feth are you talking about? As if the US does not achieve things?

Anyway, the overall theme of the Tau is the US, especially in the 19th century where they were expanding like mad. But the Asian aspect is discussed in this thread.

bibotot wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

What the feth are you talking about? As if the US does not achieve things?

Anyway, the overall theme of the Tau is the US, especially in the 19th century where they were expanding like mad. But the Asian aspect is discussed in this thread.

If "expanding like mad" is supposed to be a trait of the Tau, it would mean they would also be like The British Empire, French Empire and every other Colonial-Imperialistic domain of the 19th century. Not just America.

bibotot wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

What the feth are you talking about? As if the US does not achieve things?

Anyway, the overall theme of the Tau is the US, especially in the 19th century where they were expanding like mad. But the Asian aspect is discussed in this thread.

No the THEME is asian. Their METHODS could be argued to similar to US.

Their Methods are 21st century-ish modern combat..I.e. no swords..chainsaws..and loony CC stuff..except for farsight..but he is silly.

If you paint them in camo patterns you would be amazed at how reasonable they can look...(shameless plug for my gallery.)

But yes the Tau fight the most like we do now...in 40k that is.

As to racial methods..I keep them in the alien race bracket..and try not to human culture matrix them...
No commies..capitalist..facists..or what not..they are Tau..little blue dudes in a galaxy of war..doing blue dude stuff...for blue dude reasons.

.

For an explanation of why the Tau resemble the US, look at the Tau Negative Qualities Thread (it's rather detailed hence why I don't want to retype it).

bibotot wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

What the feth are you talking about? As if the US does not achieve things?

Anyway, the overall theme of the Tau is the US, especially in the 19th century where they were expanding like mad. But the Asian aspect is discussed in this thread.

I was just saying I don't think as highly of the current US government and it's ability to accomplish things vs the Tau one.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

bibotot wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

What the feth are you talking about? As if the US does not achieve things?

Anyway, the overall theme of the Tau is the US, especially in the 19th century where they were expanding like mad. But the Asian aspect is discussed in this thread.

I was just saying I don't think as highly of the current US government and it's ability to accomplish things vs the Tau one.

Ohhhh dear.....



But on the note of the Eldar having Indian influences, I'd like to point out the Brahmastra from the Hindu Mythology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmastra

These sound similiar to the Eldar's Blackstone Fortresses. Also like the Brahmastra, the Black-Stone fortresses are utterly devastating and were crafted by the hand of a powerful god.

Weird, I always thought of the Eldar as being Welsh, considering a majority of the names and much of the folklore they are derived from are pretty much, well... Welsh.

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

Don't cut yourself on all that edge.

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
I disagree with Tau being the US. For one, they actually seem to accomplish things.

Don't cut yourself on all that edge.

Being dissatisfied with one's government is not "edge".

But this is getting off topic so I'll drop it there.

The Tau clearly reflects eastern asian cultures, for many of the reasons listed above.

The Caste system is not taken from India's, but is instead a direct reflection of Miyamato Musashi's Book of the Five Rings (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Void), with the Book of the Void being replaced with Ethereal (which is an obvious similarity itself).

The quick expansion of the Tau is not related to the U.S expansion in the west, but of Japanese Imperialism.