Few characters from Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy saga inspire fan art like the primarchs, as fan artists strive to put their own stylistic spin on the family of emotionally imbalanced demigods. Pennsylvanian 40k fan Actaeon113 has given the sons of the Emperor a brand new look by imagining how they might have been depicted by a 1930s animation studio.
“I have been a fan of the cartoons made by the Fleischer Brothers, Walt Disney, and Tex Avery ever since I was a kid”, Actaeon says. Inspired by a YouTube video of Jacksepticeye playing through Cuphead, he was itching to try making something in the 1930s style himself. Drawing on his love of Warhammer 40k lore, he first created Erebus, the one man treachery engine responsible for Horus Heresy civil war.
Actaeon “absolutely loved every second of it”, which is the most positive thing we’ve heard anyone say in relation to Erebus. “From there it was just an obvious choice to start drawing all of the primarchs”, he adds. You can find more of his work on his BlueSky account.
Actaeon says the 1930s cartoon style is “happy, bouncy, but also has a slightly disturbing feel at times”. “Everything in the world feels alive and sentient”, he explains, “even something as simple as a stove being able to suddenly move to interact with the characters”. We’re sure the 40k chaos powers would approve.
Actaeon says that characters in these cartoons are drawn in ways that represent “their personality and traits through physical representation and facial expression”. The style also aims to keep “the line work simple and easy to reproduce frame after frame of animation”. It’s an interesting set of constraints to apply to the primarchs, who exaggerate all the characteristics of the Space Marine Legions to extremes, but are normally depicted with highly detailed, highly rendered artwork.
For Perturabo, primarch of the Iron Warriors, Actaeon “wanted to convey his curmudgeonly demeanor as well as the walking siege tank aesthetic of his armor and fighting style”, the surface level of his personality, as well as his thwarted “desire to build things rather than tear them down, a main source of his frustration in the Heresy”.
Of course, realising that bundle of contradictions in a cartoon required some stripping back. “I depicted him in riveted metal armor and shaking his fist while he stands next to his lovingly crafted sand castle”, Actaeon explains. “The helmet that he is wearing was based off of the bucket of a steam shovel from the 1933 Mickey Mouse short Building a Building”, he adds, “the grouchy, sharp toothed expression just fit perfectly for Perturabo’s demeanor”.
Angron, and a lot of the top-heavy primarchs, “took inspiration from Bluto from the old Popeye cartoons”. It’s a good character fit: “Bluto is a strong, gruff, and quick to anger bully of a character, and the way he was drawn reflects that”. A perfect match for the insanely furious primarch of the World Eaters.
For his take on Rogal Dorn, primarch of the Imperial Fists, Acteon “wanted to lean into his no-nonsense demeanor and focused on a 1940s US Army General aesthetic”. He found pictures of the US War Department seal from old film reels “and transformed the eagle into an aquila” to really emphasise the look.
Actaeon wanted to portray Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines as “a pompous Roman senator, without sacrificing his martial prowess”. He got “a top heavy muscular build, but posed very stiffly”. Actaeon says he was inspired “by Yosemite Sam’s outfit in ‘Roman Legion Hare’ as well as Sam the Sheep Dog from the Loony Tunes” – we can see a lot of the Romans from the French comic Asterix the Gaul in there, too.
Actaeon’s design for Magnus the Red of the Thousand Sons aimed to “convey his focus on the powers of sorcery over martial strength”. He “gave him a short, simple body, but took inspiration from the Sorcerer from Disney’s Fantasia” to create this physically unimposing character.
For Leman Russ of the Space Wolves, Actaeon took inspiration from the Asterix comics, which were valuable for him “learning how to draw more elaborate facial hair”. He says that Russ’ two wolf companions, Freki and Geri, are probably the drawings he’s happiest with. “They were heavily inspired by the Disney Big Bad Wolf who was featured in multiple shorts”, he says, “I just love how happy they turned out”.
Actaeon wanted Fulgrim of the Emperor’s Children to “stand out from the rest due to the nature of the primarch and his patron god” Slaanesh, prince of excess. So his Fulgrim “was heavily inspired by the design of Betty Boop as well as the Archie comics”.
Jaghatai Khan of the White Scars was a challenge. “Old cartoon designs did not depict other ethnicities in a respectful fashion”, Actaeon says, “relying on racist tropes and stereotypes in their designs”. While he didn’t want to incorporate this, he also didn’t want “to whitewash the primarch, as the Khan’s 10th century Mongolian aesthetic is pivotal to the character – erasing that would also be disrespectful”.
He’s satisfied that he’s been able to “blend the 10th century Mongolian aesthetic with the biker gang look” to create something suitable. “I had particular fun with his motorcycle”, he adds, “which I gave a bit of life to by turning its headlight into an expressive eye”.
Konrad Curze, the insane primarch of the Night Lords, “was a blast to draw”. Actaeon “based him off of the evil spider from Fleischer’s 1936 short ‘Cobweb Hotel’. “He’s evil looking, scheming, but a stickler for the rules”, Actaeon says, “especially when it comes to only taking one piece of Halloween candy”.
The castle in the background “was based off of the old He-Man castle”, he adds, “because if any Primarch would live in a giant skull castle, it would be the Night Haunter”.
Actaeon’s design for Mortarion of the Death Guard leans into “both his Grim Reaper aesthetic as well as his dour personality”. He “watched a bunch of old Disney and Fleischer shorts dealing with death or grim looking villains and designed him off of those character designs”.
Despite the seriousness, Actaeon couldn’t resist giving the Lord of Death some Nurglings as companions: “the fun loving little scamps really lent themselves well to a Loony Tunes style makeover.
Actaeon plans to finish drawing the remaining primarchs. “There are also a lot of named characters from 30k and 40k that I can draw in the same style”, he adds – we’re eager to see him tackle a wider variety of Warhammer 40k factions. He even plans to use the designs to make short comic strips with the help of his wife – we can’t wait!
For another creative mashup between Warhammer 40k and a totally different art style, check out this article about fan created Monster Hunter monsters in the style of Warhammer 40k.
Source: Wargamer
