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I've been trying to firgure out the culture of all the legions and what they're a hyperbolic version of, and so far I've gotten-

Ultramarines are Roman/Italian (goddammit that's me :< )

Iron Hands are Grecian

Death Guard are Balkan/Albanian

Blood Angels are Romanian

Space Wolves are "Nordic"

White Scars are Mongolian

Thousand Sons are Persian

Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus are Visigoths

And this is where I get stuck. I want to say Imperial Fists are American (although that may just be me no wanting to be associated with Ultramarines), Night Lords are Slavic (broad but I don't know what specific region they bear similar traits to), and Dark Angels are English, but I'm not sure. And who the hell are the Emperor's Children, Salamanders, Raven Guard, Night Lords, Word Bearers, Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, and World Eaters?

They don't all have a direct, or pure, analogy.

 Azreal13 wrote:
They don't all have a direct, or pure, analogy.

They all seem to however. Modern Dark Angels resemble Arthurian Myths of Early Britain, Night Lords actually originated from the Slavic Empire/Balkan Empire during the Great Crusade (never really known from where the culture is though), Salamanders resemble Scandinavian culture, although I don't know much about Africa so their could be an exact parallel somewhere there.

One could also make parallels about Arthurian myth and the Heresy in general, as well as various Greek/Roman deity comparisons.

World Eaters also have some of their roots in the Norse berserkers, but Angron's origin is a direct rip off of Spartacus. Raven Guard have elements of Native American in their background, one could put forward a fairly good argument for Emperor's Children to be inspired by ancient Sparta.

My point is there are some very obvious parallels, some less so, but none of the Legions really are a pure lift and drop from one culture directly, most of them muddy the waters with elements from other historical cultures or myths.

Legion "culture" varies, some are obvious, some are mixture of elements, some do not have single clear analogy. Sometimes the 'culture' can be seen only on nomenclature, sometimes with Legion/Chapter lore or iconography.

Ultramarines are obviously Roman, with maybe touch of medieval French.

Blood Angels are medieval Italian, with some Angelic and vampiric elements.

Imperial Fists are Teutonic, and those elements are even more obvious with Black Templars. However Crimson Fists have Spanish style names.

Dark Angels are complicated...their nomenclature is Angelic, and they resemble monastic or knightly order: however, their lore states they recruit amongst primitive tribesmen, and their iconography has big Native American vibe.

Space Wolves are modelled after Asgardian gods, with lycanthropic traits.

Salamanders have bit of African vibe.

Iron Hands remind me of fantasy Dwarves, with their Clans, artefacts and whatnot.

Raven Guard are kind of Goth.

I am not that familiar with Traitor Legions. Well, Thousand Sons are obviously Hellenistic.

Thousand Sons are mostly influenced by Pharaonic Egypt, Thought it was obvious but you guys keep mentioning other cultures.

 Wyzilla wrote:


Ultramarines are Roman/Italian (goddammit that's me :< )

Iron Hands are Grecian

Death Guard are Balkan/Albanian

Blood Angels are Romanian

Space Wolves are "Nordic"

White Scars are Mongolian

Thousand Sons are Persian

I would put the Ultramarines as Roman with French hints because of the way Roboute is pronounced.

Blood Angels would be Transylvanian, right?

Thousand Sons would more likely be Egyptian because of the Pyramids that featured in the Novels...

BA names tend to be more Italian, and they tend to be very ornate.

Yeah, BA imagery and iconography has a very heavy Italian Renaissance slant.

People are trying to make a Romanian/Transylvanian connection because of the vampirism, but there is no "cultural" reason to do so.

Mellow wrote:

 Wyzilla wrote:


Ultramarines are Roman/Italian (goddammit that's me :< )

Iron Hands are Grecian

Death Guard are Balkan/Albanian

Blood Angels are Romanian

Space Wolves are "Nordic"

White Scars are Mongolian

Thousand Sons are Persian

I would put the Ultramarines as Roman with French hints because of the way Roboute is pronounced.

Blood Angels would be Transylvanian, right?

Thousand Sons would more likely be Egyptian because of the Pyramids that featured in the Novels...

Many cultures have built pyramids, and the Thousand Sons were recruited initially from what was a reforged Persian Empire.

Correct on the pyramids, but 1K Sons also use a lot of other Egyptian imagery such as Scarabs, Ankhs, the Crook and Flail etc..

Plus GW often present them as blue and gold, which also has strong Egyptian connotations

I always got the vibe that the World Eaters were Thracians. A hardy, conquered people that were conquered and forces to be warrior slaves and eventually rebelled.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Correct on the pyramids, but 1K Sons also use a lot of other Egyptian imagery such as Scarabs, Ankhs, the Crook and Flail etc..

Plus GW often present them as blue and gold, which also has strong Egyptian connotations

That's why I said Hellenistic, since they were amalgam of many Middle Eastern cultures, including Egypt and Persia.

IW a bit like Napoleonic French? I don't really know that much about Napoleon but I remember hearing he was big into using artillery then sending in his infantry, which is pretty much the IW way of doing stuff.
I've always thought of the IF being like the late Roman legions, being called back from the borders to defend Rome, just like the way the IF were called back to Terra.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
IW a bit like Napoleonic French? I don't really know that much about Napoleon but I remember hearing he was big into using artillery then sending in his infantry, which is pretty much the IW way of doing stuff.
I've always thought of the IF being like the late Roman legions, being called back from the borders to defend Rome, just like the way the IF were called back to Terra.

Imho IW are more WW1 than Napoleonic with all the trenches and fortification stuff but the Deathguard does this too with their attrition warfare and the gas.

Word Bearers are obviously babylonic origin. Colchis is actually a theocratic Babylon in space, with the hints we get for the architecture and social structure.

The other traitor legions are a bit more tricky. I think the analogy between EC and Sparta is fine, but I can't find a good one for SoH/BL. The Thousand Sons generate from the early cultures in the middle east especially emphasizing the technological margin they had over the Mediterranean cultures of the same time. The references the Night Lords have are very subtle if you neglect the whole evil-Batman-thing, but I would tend to go with a Slavic touch.

DAngels are more like French than English. The questing knight is a very frankish image that was hijacked to combine with Welsh and Cornish legends to create the modern 'Arthur' mythos.

BAngels are very venecian, with elements of French nobility - that's where the Vampire connection fits in. Prior to the French Revolution, many nobles were thought to be vampires because of their pale skin, nocturnal party habits, and madness (from syphilis). Oh, and the fact that young peasant women tended to disappear when they were in a mood (Marquis de Sade, etc).

Lexicanum thinks Imperial Fists are based on Prussian Junkers:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Imperial_Fists#Culture

Backfire wrote:

 Azreal13 wrote:
Correct on the pyramids, but 1K Sons also use a lot of other Egyptian imagery such as Scarabs, Ankhs, the Crook and Flail etc..

Plus GW often present them as blue and gold, which also has strong Egyptian connotations

That's why I said Hellenistic, since they were amalgam of many Middle Eastern cultures, including Egypt and Persia.

Really?

I thought, and Google appears to agree, that was more Mediterranean/Greek than Middle Eastern.

Plus it really is the Egyptians that have the association with the strongest 1K Sons motifs, not the Persians or any other major Middle Eastern/Arabian culture.

Alpha Legion's inspiration is Janus, the two faced god of Alpha and Omega afaik, which would make them Roman, and obviously the Hydra, which is Greek.

I'd say the US, as they appear to be a somewhat rogue CIA.

The Salamanders are also Greek, they are inspired by Prometheus (Promethean Cult, fire fetish, love of humans)
The Thousand sons are clearly Egyptian, with their oversized hats and blue and gold. There is however also some Persian influence. Ahriman for example is named after the zoroastrian 'satan'
Blood Angels are Italian (the names being a dead giveaway)
Imperial Fists are Prussian (Junker mentality and all that)
White Scars are Mongolian (should not need explaining)
Space Wolves are Norse (also no explanation required)
Dark Angels are not based on any culture, they are just based on catholicism. If they really should have a culture it should be English, as they were derived from an English poem. (The Dark Angel by Lionel Johnson, which is about him fighting his sinful homosexual feelings)
Iron Hands have a clear Greek influence (names, democracy, mythology)
Raven Guard could have some native American elements, but I don't know anything about native Americans so I couldn't say.
Ultramarines have a very Roman theme to them.

No idea about the remaining ones.

Khonsu wrote:
Thousand Sons are mostly influenced by Pharaonic Egypt, Thought it was obvious but you guys keep mentioning other cultures.

Well yes that is where their models are influenced from with the whole head dress thing, but their culture is absolutely Persian to the core! Just look at their names or what they value.

The Salamanders are most directly influenced by Pacific Islanders like the Maori and the Samoans.

Not "African."

Mellow 611939 wrote:I would put the Ultramarines as Roman with French hints because of the way Roboute is pronounced.

Actually, the consensus is his name comes from Robert Gillman Jackson, the UN's "master of logistics" from the 50s through the 80s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jackson_(UN_administrator)

If you look at the original article on "The Big Four", the Ultramarines have ancient Greek and Roman roots, but are actually just "everything classical".

Here's part of the article. If I can remember where the rest of it is, I'll post the screenshots of it. I just capped this part when someone argued there wasn't a "Big Four" at GW, and that's why they've always focused on BA, DA, SW and UM.

I'd say Thousand Sons are more Mediterranean - Byzantine, even.

cincydooley wrote:The Salamanders are most directly influenced by Pacific Islanders like the Maori and the Samoans.

Could you explain that? As I see it, the clearest influence on the Salamanders were the Greek gods Prometheus and Hephaistos (Vulcan in Latin).

Vector Strike wrote:I'd say Thousand Sons are more Mediterranean - Byzantine, even.

How so? There is little Greek about them so far as I can see. Their look and 'feel' is Egyptian, their names and culture are inspired by Persia.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

cincydooley wrote:The Salamanders are most directly influenced by Pacific Islanders like the Maori and the Samoans.

Could you explain that? As I see it, the clearest influence on the Salamanders were the Greek gods Prometheus and Hephaistos (Vulcan in Latin).

Vector Strike wrote:I'd say Thousand Sons are more Mediterranean - Byzantine, even.

How so? There is little Greek about them so far as I can see. Their look and 'feel' is Egyptian, their names and culture are inspired by Persia.

You guys keep saying that, But most of their names are Egyptian not Persian(Barring Ahriman and Ohrmuzd).

 Iron_Captain wrote:

cincydooley wrote:The Salamanders are most directly influenced by Pacific Islanders like the Maori and the Samoans.

Could you explain that? As I see it, the clearest influence on the Salamanders were the Greek gods Prometheus and Hephaistos (Vulcan in Latin).

Vector Strike wrote:I'd say Thousand Sons are more Mediterranean - Byzantine, even.

How so? There is little Greek about them so far as I can see. Their look and 'feel' is Egyptian, their names and culture are inspired by Persia.

maybe not byzantine, but ptolemaic - based off ptolemy and his kingdom in egypt while greece transitioned from alexander to rome

I would say that 1kSons are Ptolemy's Egypt, and Ultras are Marcus Aurelius style Romans, what with the benevolent dictatorship and the big book 'o Wisdom that he wrote.
I kinda think that Dark Angels are less questing knights and more Dark Ages style secret society. Night Lords are based on a morality book and Blood Angels always seemed more Renaissance than vampire to me. Empy's Children seemed a mishmash of greek, roman and 17th/18th century excess (think Wilde and his ilk)

Mellow wrote:

I would put the Ultramarines as Roman with French hints because of the way Roboute is pronounced.

Thousand Sons would more likely be Egyptian because of the Pyramids that featured in the Novels...

I'm glad I sparked a debate over the Egyptian / Persian comparisons for the Thousand Sons, but to say they are Persian is ... wrong. Everything described in the Novels gives a uniquely Egyptian feel.

Same with the Ultramarines, they'll always be Romans, no matter what twist you try and point out. They built a space-roman Empire forgoodnesssake

I think the biggest mistake would be to assume it's so cleanly cut, that Thousands Sons are just Eqyptians, and that Ultramarines are just Romans. Most chapters do have some sort of central inspiration, but are very much changed, twisted and merged with other cultures and styles, and so it would be perfectly valid to call the Sons both Persian and Egyptian.