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The article applies René Girard’s mimetic theory to the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The author argues that the setting’s mythological architecture is structured by the logic of the scapegoat mechanism at every level of its cosmology. The analysis considers Girard’s Violence and the Sacred (1972) and Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (1978) offering …
Why does Warhammer 40k evoke an aesthetic experience of overwhelming immensity unlike that of most contemporary speculative worlds? Existing scholarship has frequently interpreted the setting through the lenses of dystopia, political and religious symbolism, yet less attention has been paid to the formal aesthetic mechanisms through which its universe produces experiences of awe, excess, and …
The Warhammer: 40,000 universe evokes imagery of human remains nearly everywhere one looks. Skulls alone can figuratively adorn ceramite armor as emblems, or literally find themselves impaled atop spikes as trophies, amassed as part of Khorne’s Skull Throne, or used as robotic skull-servos. Human remains are so ubiquitous that it inverts the question of “what …
Computer scientists have used various techniques to explore the strategy spaces of deterministic games like chess and checkers. Less work has been done to find techniques that can explore strategies in tabletop wargames like Warhammer: The Horus Heresy, which mix the spatial movement of chess and checkers with random outcomes.
The Imperium of Man routinely lobotomises and augments criminals and heretics to create “servitors” who then serve as soldiers, labourers, and even computers. For the Imperium, this is an enhancement and a repurposing of supposed ‘undesirables’ into helpful tools. This talk engages with the figure of the servitor in Warhammer 40,000, and explores how it …
This presentation draws on an ongoing research project exploring how Warhammer 40,000 fosters community, creativity, and social connection within contemporary gaming culture. Conducted during a research fellowship at the University of Groningen, the project combines participant observation at local Warhammer groups with analysis of online fandom discourse to examine how hobby practices create belonging across …
The founding ruler of the Tibetan Empire, Songtsen Gampo (d. 650), is widely described within Tibetan historiography as an incarnation of Avalokiteśvara, the patron bodhisattva of Tibet. Thus made man, Avalokiteśvara is depicted as working for the benefit of the Tibetan people and the propagation of Buddhism through mundane and miraculous means.
Games Workshop repeatedly asserts that Warhammer 40,000 is satire, and the setting uses grimdark exaggeration to critique the real world. Many works of satire, especially those in the Juvenalian mode often employed by 40K, view the laying bare of social ills and hidden assumptions to be the ultimate goal. This lines up with Mikhail Bakhtin’s …
The Universes Beyond Necron Dynasties deck for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering and its Commander game format, which is sometimes played with a role-playing component, depicts the Necrons of the grimdark future. What does it mean to be Necron? What narratives and themes are invoked in Necron-centric books and by the Necron characters …
The principle that Right Individual + Proper Place = Lasting Effect manifests powerfully within Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe, particularly through Dan Abnett’s Inquisition narratives. This analysis examines strategic talent placement through the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, revealing how placement decisions determine whether organizations combat corruption or succumb to it.
“Hmph, dem oomies tink deys fasta then us ladz. Well they sure as Gork aint got Burftog’s Mega Orktane Go Juice and dere wagons don’t even got a red paint job…Lets krump ‘em for tryin!” – Burftog, Evil Sunz Mekboy.
During Early Modern Europe, amputees, whether they lose a part of them through war or everyday life, made up a non-negligible size of the population and having prosthesis was an important social distinction marker through multiple aspects, such as material, aesthetic or even the way they are made… This social marker is also one that …
Mental health has been named as one of the largest challenges worldwide. One-eighth of the world’s population are affected by a mental illness alerting health services around the globe to search for way to tackle a rising problem. Most mental health services are overworked and can’t cope with the increased demand. Therefore, the world-health organization …
“We were deceived. All of us.” – Horus Lupercal This accusation, echoed throughout the Horus Heresy, signals more than betrayal or disillusionment; it reveals a structural contradiction embedded within the pre-Heresy Imperium. The Great Crusade imposed absolute commitment upon its Primarchs and Legions—unrelenting violence, unwavering endurance, and total sacrifice—yet denied the emotional, interpretive, and symbolic …
Drawing on existentialist theory and ethics (Sartre 2004, Beauvoir 2015) and theories on emotional responses to fiction (Hatley 2017, Hamby/Jones 2022), the paper explores the concept of honor (Sessions 2010, Olsthoorn 2016) as depicted in Warhammer 40k lore and argues that 40k’s appeal as a Grimdark setting derives from the assuredness with which it asserts …