The Warhammer Fantasy setting is rife with cultural and geographical comparisons. The map of the world roughly follows that of our own planet Earth. The continents roughly line up and the main human races that an enjoyer, reader, or player of the setting should find ‘good’ are roughly based on German, British, and French culture. The greatest hero of them all, Karl Franz, runs his empire from Altdorf. While there is heresy, murder, and all out war (of course!) Europeans can be mostly flattered by the mirror that is the Warhammer Fantasy setting.
What if you come from an African, Indigenous, or Asian background though? In Lustria (located where South America is) you have lizardfolk who have descended into animalistic savagery after millennia of grandeur in their jungle temples. In Araby and the Southlands (Africa) one will find raging Orcs filled with bloodlust, or the Tomb Kings, undead pharaohs of aeons past. The Dark Lands (Middle East) are filled with Chaos Dwarves and Ogres, both monstrous abominations when compared to the humans of Altdorf’s ‘Old World’. They enslave and devour many whom they encounter. These comparisons are obviously less favourable, and deserve attention.
In what way does the history of European colonization and imperialism inform the way that fantasy worlds are created? This presentation will analyze the historical memory of colonization and the stereotypes attributed by Games Workshop to various entities in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. In doing so, the paper will: 1) Assess if attention was paid to non-European cultures in a meaningful manner; 2) Investigate if stereotypes were exploited to dehumanize non-European characters in the setting; and 3) Reveal the real-life cultural impact these depictions have had based on forums and online discussions.
Author bio
Matthew D. Harris is a PhD Candidate in the History Department at West Virginia University. His specialty is United States Diplomatic History and Latin American History. When not doing historical research he loves reading books from the Black Library or playing Total War: Warhammer.
