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CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Rippy wrote:
Genestealer Cult generations etc, I think that is mostly unique. Yes I get that the genestealer themselves are sort of based on Alien, but other than that I think unique.

Pretty sure Genestealer cults are inspired by Shadow over Innsmouth (entire town of fish people descended from humans who mated with fish monsters, and they worship a fish god) with a bit of bolshevik (a lot of their ranks are composed of the working class, who rise up against the Imperial nobility)

there are also kind if infiltration bugs that control the mind of their victims in Starship Troopers

Nerak wrote:Think maybe the Eldar and their path system is the most original stuff?

Japanese culture mixed with Chinese flavour

Don’t forget the earwigs in Wrath of Khan

 kodos wrote:

Nerak wrote:Think maybe the Eldar and their path system is the most original stuff?

Japanese culture mixed with Chinese flavour

I would say Eldar are at their core Vulcans.

Read this quote from Memory Alpha and tell me you dont see the similarities

Memory Alpha wrote:
The Vulcans were once an extremely violent and emotional people (even by Earth standards) who waged almost constant warfare on one another. Paranoia and homicidal rage were common. They believed in a variety of gods, such as war, peace, and death. As their level of technology increased, the Vulcans eventually reached a point where their violent nature threatened the extinction of their own species. In an effort to avoid this fate, a Vulcan named Surak developed a new philosophy, thereby igniting the Time of Awakening. Surak maintained that the root cause of all the problems on Vulcan lay in the uncontrolled outpouring of the people's emotions. His followers swore to live their lives by an ethical system devised by Surak and based purely on logical principles. Emotions were to be controlled and repressed.

Memory Alpha wrote:
The Vulcans were once an extremely violent and emotional people (even by Earth standards) who waged almost constant warfare on one another. Paranoia and homicidal rage were common. They believed in a variety of gods, such as war, peace, and death. As their level of technology increased, the Vulcans eventually reached a point where their violent nature threatened the extinction of their own species. In an effort to avoid this fate, a Vulcan named Surak developed a new philosophy, thereby igniting the Time of Awakening. Surak maintained that the root cause of all the problems on Vulcan lay in the uncontrolled outpouring of the people's emotions. His followers swore to live their lives by an ethical system devised by Surak and based purely on logical principles. Emotions were to be controlled and repressed.

 kodos wrote:

Nerak wrote:Think maybe the Eldar and their path system is the most original stuff?

Japanese culture mixed with Chinese flavour

Thank you! Remember after all these years since the original concept sketches (Godwin?) appeared in White Dwarf during the RT era (yes, aspects are that old) telling people how very strongly they're inspired by things like Shaolin warriors and Zen philosophy. Like most things 40k, the uniqueness isn't the raw materials but the interesting combinatorials performed.
Tolkien Elves with a dash of Jewish diaspora experience mushed with some Eastern civilization is what makes it interesting. Pretty much all of 40k is such a pastiche (yes, even GSC)

Tolkien Elves with a dash of Jewish diaspora experience mushed with some Eastern civilization is what makes it interesting. Pretty much all of 40k is such a pastiche (yes, even GSC)

I mean, Shadows over Innsmouth much?

So let's talk about the Kroot. In particular, their "you are what you eat" aspect.

Some people through history believed in similar ideas, like how eating someone's heart would give you their strength or courage. Some primitive tribes would eat their dead to keep their spirit alive. Of course, that concept has been used in fiction for ages (maybe more than it's ever been practiced in real life, even).

Now 40k's Kroot take that pretty far, what with their own DNA changing based on their lunch. To the point where a Kroot eating nothing but chicken will eventually become more like a chicken than a Kroot. Do you know of any other works of fiction that come close to this? I'm sure there must be some mutant in X-Men who can do that, because whatever weird quirk you can think of, X-Men has probably done it at some point, but are there any examples that aren't too obscure?

Dune get referenced a lot but the idea of a human Galactic civilization, that falls like Rome into a bunch techno-barbarian worlds, and the concept of a Techo-priesthood to maintain lost technological knowledge comes from Isaac Asimov's Foundations series.

 kodos wrote:

CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Rippy wrote:
Genestealer Cult generations etc, I think that is mostly unique. Yes I get that the genestealer themselves are sort of based on Alien, but other than that I think unique.

Pretty sure Genestealer cults are inspired by Shadow over Innsmouth (entire town of fish people descended from humans who mated with fish monsters, and they worship a fish god) with a bit of bolshevik (a lot of their ranks are composed of the working class, who rise up against the Imperial nobility)

there are also kind if infiltration bugs that control the mind of their victims in Starship Troopers

Nerak wrote:Think maybe the Eldar and their path system is the most original stuff?

Japanese culture mixed with Chinese flavour

And Celtic (the names, and the court of the young king) and Hindu (avatars) influence too.