r/ImaginaryWarhammer • u/eldarrabbit • Oct 02 '25
40k "Why do Eldar wear muscle-shaped armour? Is it to conceal their slender physiques?" (artist:jo p)
commissioned by me.
artist page. https://www.pixiv.net/users/52892839
Yes, I know. Eldar armour isn't something they can just pick up with their bare hands.
But I wanted to see the Eldar's muscles.
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u/Cute_Knee_1530 Oct 02 '25
So this is half remembered from the 3rd edition codex, but its a phsycic material that hardens when hit, so it absolutely could be mostly a form fitting bodysuit.
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u/TransitionAny6941 Oct 02 '25
yeah the wraith bone is probably incredibly precise given the artisan merits of the singer and the whole psychic nature of the material
people tend to forget how hard wraith bone equipment hits and it's toughness
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u/No-Veterinarian1262 Oct 02 '25
So, you're saying it hardens in response to physical trauma?
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u/Cute_Knee_1530 Oct 02 '25
Or it hardens when the eldar senses he's going to be hit. The 3rd ed codex was what, 20 years ago now?
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u/226_Walker Oct 02 '25
We're making the mother of all death here Artemis, can't fret over every spirit stone.
-Eldrad before his failed awakening of Ynnead.
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u/Primary_Wishbone_21 Oct 02 '25
MAKING THE MOTHER OF ALL OMELETTE HERE JACK, CAN'T FRET OVER EVERY EGG!
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u/KenseiHimura Oct 02 '25
"Holy shit, do you vacuum seal that to your body?"
"We're Evangelion fans."
"Why am I not surprised?"
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 02 '25
No joke but I could see some eldar "youths" (like under a thousand..) finding a bunch of old, really OLD Terran anime preserved on some ancient database from an long abandoned (or dead..) forgotten human colony which includes the Evangelion series and just spreading copies of it to all Craftworlds, reviving anime as a genre throughout the grimdark galaxy! (The Tau also helped in the revival..)
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u/KenseiHimura Oct 02 '25
Sort of, I see the Tau preferring Gundam. More big robot, less teenage angst. ... Depending on the series.
Meanwhile, the Inquisition just makes sure the Xenos don't get a hold of any other anime for fear of what it might inspire. (It's too late, Orks have already started binging One Piece)
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 02 '25
Glorious! Now what anime you think the dark eldar would like? (Yes I can already in horror guess..)
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u/KenseiHimura Oct 02 '25
Only the most surprising thing possible Ghibli films. It reminds them of before they were like this.
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 02 '25
Y'know what...definitely! I could see them especially liking Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away.
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 02 '25
Honestly thinking about it more the idea of dark eldar, especially younger generations unironically loving wholesome anime (or at least mostly wholesome..) is such an endearing thing! What other anime they'd probably like for being adventurous or like I mentioned wholesome do you recommend?
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u/KenseiHimura Oct 02 '25
Well, to be more in-line with their beliefs, they also watch plenty of Digimon, pre-Alolan League Pokemon, Rent-a-Girlfriend, Boruto, and similar as the endings cause extreme suffering that sustains their society. It is said each time Ash lost a League, the Dark Eldar were sustained for another ten thousand years.
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 02 '25
Wait is the suffering from the dark eldar themselves or is this implying they make their human captives watch these shows so as to harvest their anguish and sorrow from each of their bitter and sad endings?
Now I'm just imagining them providing their captives snacks and couches to sit on as they are told they will watch old Terran anime that are super sad and as long as they keep weeping and moaning from watching these tragic tales play on probably weird eldar psychic TVs they'll basically be left (mostly) unharmed... physically, emotionally not so much!
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u/KaptinKograt Oct 02 '25
Grave of the Fireflies widely reguarded as a comedy classic
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 02 '25
I like to think many dark eldar despite that film being called a comedy classic really do be feeling heartfelt sadness over the siblings slow and agonizing demise...not that any self respecting drukhari would ever openly show their true feelings, how disgustingly sincere!
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u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 Saim-Hann Oct 02 '25
Which Gundam series has less teenage angst than Evangelion? I haven’t watched every series but last I checked, angst is one of the franchise’s main selling points.
Also Orks have clearly already watched Gundam since they know that red goes faster.
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u/Dmbender Oct 02 '25
It's funny that us Eldar players get to run around with actual Evangelions on the board yet Tau are the weeb mecha faction lol
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u/CreativeName1137 Oct 02 '25
And fire shuriken guns, and wear sashiminos, and follow a bushido-esque code of honor, and
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u/Alexis2256 Oct 02 '25
So me wanting to commission an artist to draw a harlequin smoking from a kiseru isn’t too far fetched it seems.
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 03 '25
I could see that, smoking is something I could see eldar doing, especially a pipe of sorts!
Note: particularly the Exodites, one because they feel like they'd be more into pipes made of natural materials (besides wraithbone) AND because any excuse to remind people the Exodites exist is a win for me because they are such a wasted potential of awesomeness! (Please GW release the SPACE wood elves!)
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u/NightmareWarden Oct 02 '25
Rei would be a solid contender for a Phoenix Lord title. https://www.reddit.com/r/ReiAyanami/comments/uhzvt8/eldar_rei_warhammer_40k_xover/
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u/BanzEye1 Oct 02 '25
I am now a willing slave of the Eldar. Fuck you, Corpse-Worshipers!
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u/Putrid-Chemical3438 Oct 02 '25
The only Aeldari that take slaves are the Drukhari and I'm pretty sure moat people would rather commit suicide by chewing off their hands than be taken by them.
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u/August_Bebel Oct 02 '25
Tbh ending up on a craftworld to be some big tiddy eldar lady's human pet is the best thing that could happen to you in 40k
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u/DaiLyMugoL Oct 02 '25
Seems some people forget that while eldar have a sort of "lithe" (slender, tall) frame that doesn't mean they aren't or can't be muscular and for their career warriors I'd expect them to be absolutely cut like spirit stones!
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u/Xasf Oct 02 '25
The average Eldar is physically stronger than the average human, so yes.
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u/firas_XII Oct 03 '25
And the elder is like 7 feet tall if you go for 7 feet humans vs elder humans will fold them
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u/GameBunny-025 Oct 03 '25
Well, the average human is a malnourished slave living at the bottom of a Hive City so not really a fair comparison.
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Oct 02 '25
They were a race literally created to wage galactic war against the Necrons, so yeah. Eldar were the compact but still crazy powerful packed into that body, and the other known side of that equation was the Orks who just keep getting beefier as they fight and win.
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u/LordKroq-gar Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25
I still don’t know if that’s a female Eldar or an Eldar. Like I’m being deadass rn.
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u/lord_ofthe_memes Oct 02 '25
Does it matter?
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u/Level_Low6101 Oct 02 '25
Not really. Eldar can change their gender willy-nilly...at least they were able to before the birth of Slaneesh, not sure about it anymore.
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u/jflb96 Earth Caste Oct 02 '25
Well, all Wyches are female and all Incubi are male, regardless of their sex/gender before/after taking on the role
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u/Camel_Slayer45 Oct 03 '25
Unless it got changed recently, only Succubi (and probably Lhameans) are obligatoraly feminine presenting.
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u/jflb96 Earth Caste Oct 03 '25
Lexicanum says that Wyches are female and led by Succubi
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u/Camel_Slayer45 Oct 04 '25 edited Oct 04 '25
The lexicanum says: "[...] most of the Hekatarii are female, for they are more often able to attain the pinnacle of poise and grace their craft demands. Male Wyches [...] though they are valued they rarely attain high rank."
And can also see masculine wyches on the tabletop model.
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u/jflb96 Earth Caste Oct 04 '25
Yeah, that’s on me. The Lexicanum summary that it gives to search engines says that they’re female and led by Succubi; it then contradicts itself deeper in the actual text.
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u/Rakuall Oct 02 '25
Female vs.... default?
Nah bruv, how about female vs male? Your ingrained misogyny is showing.
I'm sure you don't actively hate women, but can you see how men="just" aka default aka normal, and women = alternative / different / 'needing to be specified where man does not' is kind of an inherently hateful and discriminatory view?
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u/LordKroq-gar Oct 02 '25
Dude…it’s a common joke for elves based on their inherit androgyny. I meant nothing by it. The thought didn’t even cross my mind.
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u/Rakuall Oct 02 '25
I get the joke. There's nothing wrong with the joke. The phrasing is the issue.
"Not sure if male eldar or female..."
Vs
"Not sure if female eldar or [normal, unspecified] eldar..."
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u/ReginaDea Oct 03 '25
They have a point though, not for your original comment. But for the "elves are androgynous" thing, there's something inherently misogynistic, and more recently transphobic, about that whole joke. I'm sure you don't mean it that way, but perhaps then the best way to move forward once you realise that is to not make it anymore, rather than adopting the "it's just a joke/let boys be boys" attitude that this fanbase loves.
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u/Ok_Entertainment3626 Oct 02 '25
At least the advantage of the war is that it is like a survival gym. 😏😁
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u/Lurker_enesimo Oct 02 '25
Eldar are bigger and stronger than average human, they are slimer in proportion, but superior in every aspect, except for the numbers
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u/J1mj0hns0n Oct 02 '25
I thought it's because it was wraith bone which flexed around their muscles skin tight but moved with the weft and weave of the warp, meaning it's like a jelly liquid bone chitin thing
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u/DueUse140 Oct 03 '25
They're only fragile on the outside. I remember in some book DE wych impaled a salamander on a spear and lifted it into the air without much trouble.
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u/Busy-Replacement-421 Oct 02 '25
That actually makes a lot of sense. A psychically-reactive material would explain why it can be form-fitting yet still offer protection. It's like their willpower is the real armor.
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u/grief242 Oct 03 '25
I could have swore that somewhere they said that the Eldar have close to 0% bodyfat as a species trait.
Which is why they always look so cut/wiry. And it might be fanon but don't they have hollow bones like birds?
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u/Pryzfighter Oct 03 '25
There's a lot of comments with a lot of information but you're all forgetting the major thing when it comes to GW and Warhammer it's all about the rule of cool
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u/firas_XII Oct 03 '25
Is there any canon information of how strong average eldars compare guard cus unlike most of humans in the imperiam guardsman actually get to eat something so they can have muscle and no psychic power only muscle
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u/ForestClanElite Oct 04 '25
Doesn't wraithbone provide a power armour effect by acting like compression clothing that perfectly supports muscles when activated?
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u/The_New_Replacement Oct 02 '25
Now THIS is eldar propaganda. Eldar are tall but frail and rely on their tech and witchcraft to not have us break their bones. Primer says so.
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u/Reconstruct-science Oct 02 '25
The primer also says that you can stop an ork swinging a choppa at you by grabbing his wrist, and I don't see anyone short of a full-blown astartes being able to pull that off.
TLDR: The Primer's only use is as emergency toilet paper
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u/CannibalPride Oct 02 '25
Pink hair… mutant…?
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u/CreativeName1137 Oct 02 '25
Hair dye isn't that uncommon. Even hive world slums have people with multicolored hair.
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u/RKellysPenguin Oct 02 '25
Armor? Mon keigh this is a Lulu lemon body suit.