Warhammer 40K fans create high fashion fan art with the Warp Gala
01.04.2024 - 21:53
/ polygon.com
The universe of Warhammer 40,000 is filled with brutality, viciousness, and endless war. But while there are plenty of terrible tragedies to mull on, there are still bright points — fantastic spectacles and fraternal bonds. Some fans have started to explore an alternate universe that highlights the more fun and light-hearted dynamics of Warhammer 40,000, while combining them with high fashion. Welcome to the Warp Gala, a red carpet event that takes place in this alternate history.
In the world of 40K, the current galaxy is in a fraught place. The Imperium of Man, the last bastion of humanity, controls a million, million worlds… give or take. The Imperium is a deeply religious and superstitious state, barely able to maintain its vast territory. The Imperium is also defined by the Horus Heresy, a civil war that took place 10,000 years ago. While the current denizens of the galaxy don’t know much about that history, its aftershocks still influence major parts of their current day lives. They commit to worship of the God-Emperor of Mankind, and his sons — demigod generals known as Primarchs.
“I was always fascinated by the themes of fraternity and brotherhood reflected in the Primarchs, however minor they appear within the setting,” said Sarah, the artist who created the fiction behind the Warp Gala, speaking to Polygon on social media. “I find that those merits keep them grounded in an era that knows only war.”
Sarah, who posts her art under the handle Mixuen, has re-imagined the Horus Heresy, which split the Primarchs in half in a war so epic it merited a 64-book series from the Black Library, into an alternate setting called the Hollywood Heresy.
I'm many months overdue but am happy to announce <a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/warpgala40k?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#warpgala40k
!
I want everyone to join in on the fun of the Hollywood Heresy AU, so some art moots and I have banded together to create a red carpet themed collab campaign «Warp Gala»!
Instructions on how to join in next twt pic.twitter.com/Bb1JzoVPWO
“My initial intention for the Hollywood Heresy was simply for the fun of making an entire alternate universe: a film or drama production made by a close-knit community of actors and crew members with a common passion of turning the Horus Heresy series [into something] for the big screen.”
So, Sarah and other fans have cast fictional actors to play the Primarchs in a TV adaptation. The guy who plays Sanguinius, for instance, has some of the same noble qualities — but his character does also divert from the source material in interesting ways. The Primarchs and their interpersonal dynamics are one of the most important parts of the Horus Heresy series, and those dynamics still play a big part