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Found this on Wikipedia, and it reminded me how GW with often use lots of names/abilities/ideas from ancient Mythology. Post back if you've found anything similar, and try to source it, unlike GW. I'll start with a trip back to Babalonian/Mesopotamian temples...

Read Dune, recognize absolutely everything that gets pilfered by GW.

Thanks
any examples?

None worth mentioning, actually. All the similarities between the two are general enough writing tropes in the first place, that their occurrence doesn't really warrant a mention.

Portugal Jones wrote:None worth mentioning, actually. All the similarities between the two are general enough writing tropes in the first place, that their occurrence doesn't really warrant a mention.

Well, the God-Emperor is a constant. A lot of 40k nomenclature came from Dune, like glowglobes, lasguns, and so on. The writing style of a lot of BL authors has a bit in common with Herbert's writing as well, albeit nowhere near as good. Also, it has a lot of science-fantasy elements that carry over into 40k. Basically 40k started as a bunch of British guys who read Dune, Judge Dredd, Starship Troopers and The Lord of the Rings and put them together into a game.

Tolkein stole virtually everything in his works from ancient mythology. Blaming GW for doing the same is childish.
Virtually everything is derived from works that came before it, it's called "culture".

Well, the God-Emperor is a constant. A lot of 40k nomenclature came from Dune, like glowglobes, lasguns, and so on. The writing style of a lot of BL authors has a bit in common with Herbert's writing as well, albeit nowhere near as good. Also, it has a lot of science-fantasy elements that carry over into 40k. Basically 40k started as a bunch of British guys who read Dune, Judge Dredd, Starship Troopers and The Lord of the Rings and put them together into a game.

And don't forget Nemesis the Warlock (comic)... Xeno and mutant-hating Terminators, crazed cults, psykers, church organ-shaped barrage weapons, titans, space battles, a human theocratic empire, Inquisitors and wathever else you may like!

Tolkein did not steal anything
He was very open about his source material.

I understand your point but there is a subtle difference between my borrowing from mythology, and from borrowing from a contemporary literary source.
Am sure we are all aware how blase GW are about anyone borrowing their imagery, and are they are in no way infantile about it.

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Tolkein did not steal anything
He was very open about his source material.

I understand your point but there is a subtle difference between my borrowing from mythology, and from borrowing from a contemporary literary source.
Am sure we are all aware how blase GW are about anyone borrowing their imagery, and are they are in no way infantile about it.

Well sure, but only "specific" things are copyrighted.
Want to create a race of genetically-engineered superhumans who battle the enemies of mankind? That's fine.
Want to call the leader of a chapter of these genetetically engineered super-humans Roboute Guilliman? Now you'll get into trouble.
And just because something IS copied, doesn't mean it's bad. Just look at Lead Balloon, which, as Stewart Lee put it, "resembles Curb Your Enthusiasm to the point where you'd think someone would have been sued". But it's still funny as hell.

It isn't apparently about what is copyrighted
The current legal action and other recent actions by GW are about iconography and tropes from ancient times as though they are the property of GW

Want to use a pointy arrow, Roman numerals?
The point is that Tokein brought a lot of the fantasy imagery into popular awareness, like orcs for example.

As for Robert William that would be plagarism. No one is denying that. There are plenty of other examples as stated above where GW have liberally borrowed from contemporary interpretaions of fantasy and sci fi
Accusing Tolkein of theft to justify GW's appropriation of imagery is a bit misguided imho.

Urien_Rakarth wrote:Thanks
any examples?

http://web.archive.org/web/20071125132841/http://ca.geocities.com/crazy40kguy/namesandhomages.html

40k is quite the nice hodgepodge of all elements of Science Fiction/Fantasy/Space Opera. Strongly borrowing from Tolkein, Herbert, Asimov, Heinlein, and many other authors, while also bringing in elements of history, mythology, and various religions. The took elements of all these things and combined them together into the great mix that we call 40k. As a setting, it is really one of the ultimate expressions of western science fiction/fantasy culture

All our art is about inspiration.

Forget your child tales, your religions metaphors and most speeches hold, all *stolen*.

Its not theft if its public domain!

Good writers borrow. Great writers steal.

BAAL- Babylonian god of fertility

Whoh! sorry, you don't get what I mean. What I meant to say is not having another go at GW for theft, but mearly to find out if anyone else had noticed any interesting similarities between 40k fiction and mythology/other fiction. Just thought some people might be interested, thats all.

Here's one for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahriman

Joey wrote:Tolkein stole virtually everything in his works from ancient mythology. Blaming GW for doing the same is childish.
Virtually everything is derived from works that came before it, it's called "culture".

If by "stole" you mean used as a starting point to craft an enduring and vast world with a history spread over thousands of years, filled with languages that he invented himself and peoples that he extrapollated from basic historical forms and turned into entire nations with their own histories, lineages and traditions as well as formulating an overarching creator deity, pantheon, stucture of being and mythological theme to tie it all together, then yes...Tolkien stole it all.

I never thought the OP was having a go at GW for doing this, just seemed amused by the fact that they never admit to the fact that they sometimes use historical sources for the basis of their creations.

I remember that they did in the past though, there was an article in GW in which the writer discussed using history as a fertile source of inspiration for projects that gamers might be working on themselves and noted that GW did the same and they weren't likely to run out of ideas so long as they had what he described as a massive number of reference books that they regularly used for just that purpose.

All stories are derived from archetypal themes, Joseph Cambell discussed this at length in his seminal "The Hero with a Thousand Faces":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces