# Did pre-Heresy Dark Angels ever wear green armour?



## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

I've seen quite a bit of artwork depicting green pre-Heresy DA or the Lion wearing green? Are these just oversights? Pre-Heresy DA are all black, no?


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## vipertaja (Mar 20, 2010)

I'm personally a bit confused with some pre heresy art showing green(ish) armour. 

Cypher is also depicted as having green armour, though since his "name" is actually the rank/title of Lord Cypher maybe he has green armour...or just painted it at some point?

Indeed the Dark Angels are supposed to have had black armour until after the heresy. They painted it green after the incident with the Fallen Angels. I think it was because of the event, but I'm not feeling 100% sure.

Thus a Fallen Angel ought to have black armour, unless he has modified it after going renegade.


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## HOGGLORD (Jan 25, 2012)

I think that some of the knights of The Order, pre-Imperial forces on Caliban, wore green armour, though I'm not 100% sure either...


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Dark Angels wore black before and during the heresy, and changed to green after the heresy,apart from ravenwing who stayed black and the deathwing who painted there armour bone white in honour of there lost comrades who took down a stealer cult, though this was changed later to be a legend told to marines who dont know about the fallen, or changing fluff because it didnt fit with the bigger picture 40k we have now.
So any depiction of green pre heresy is wrong, but just because the armour in the picture is preheresy does not mean its depicting a preheresy moment as older armour is still in use post heresy.


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## spanner94ezekiel (Jan 6, 2011)

I think you'll find that most of this artwork with the Lion in green is fanart, so shouldn't be treated as canon, just like fanfics. However, I do find it odd that Cypher wears green armour, despite being a pre-Heresy Dark Angel.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

spanner94ezekiel said:


> I think you'll find that most of this artwork with the Lion in green is fanart, so shouldn't be treated as canon, just like fanfics. However, I do find it odd that Cypher wears green armour, despite being a pre-Heresy Dark Angel.


Maybe hes in disguise


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the picture posted above is of Lion El Jonson and a loyal DA (a pre-Heresy depiction obviously)...which is a bit weird to say the least. The Lion's armour should definitely be black, yes?

I'm pretty sure the picture is in Collected Visions


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

That's just green trim though, there are clearly black armour parts in that picture. Besides the primarch may have had more than one suit of armour. As to Cypher's wearing of green (I assume you mean post heresy) it may have been done to spite the Dark Angels. 

As far as canon goes though the Dark Angels still had Black armour pre heresy. This is shown in Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

MontytheMighty said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the picture posted above is of Lion El Jonson and a loyal DA (a pre-Heresy depiction obviously)...which is a bit weird to say the least. The Lion's armour should definitely be black, yes?
> 
> I'm pretty sure the picture is in Collected Visions


well its hard to say, besides Christ is often depicted as a very pale European looking dude and we know he definitely wasn't, havent seen that picture before so i cant say whos in it and when it was set, but yes pre and during the heresy Dark angels looked like the ravenwing, all black with white numbers and chapter symbols and to be honest they were technically black post heresy, GW reinvented them later on in green. They were all running around in black terminator armour until Deathwing was released for space hulk and bill king wrote the short story about the squad going to battle and not expecting to return, they were also considered to be quite native american back in the day, which is still hinted at by the feathers but they also had names like "running bear" and " bloated eagle" and such.
So the fluff changes so i assume so can the colour scheme, Ultramarines have changed loads of times, but because they remained blue nobody mentions it, same with space wolves who were grey , then baby blue, blood angels went from almost terracotta to florescent red to a blood red and now are orangey red. But i suppose the DA are the only one with a back story to the colour change so it becomes more relevant.


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## vipertaja (Mar 20, 2010)

bitsandkits said:


> So the fluff changes so i assume so can the colour scheme, Ultramarines have changed loads of times, but because they remained blue nobody mentions it, same with space wolves who were grey , then baby blue, blood angels went from almost terracotta to florescent red to a blood red and now are orangey red. But i suppose the DA are the only one with a back story to the colour change so it becomes more relevant.


Don't forget the radical change of colours for the Salamanders, from a salamanderlike camoesque black and yellow pattern in rogue trader to just green.

EDIT: False information on my part. Apparently Salamanders were originally green, but had an alternate colour scheme shown later.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

vipertaja said:


> Don't forget the radical change of colours for the Salamanders, from a salamanderlike camoesque black and yellow pattern in rogue trader to just green.
> 
> EDIT: False information on my part. Apparently Salamanders were originally green, but had an alternate colour scheme shown later.


yes they had the same markings as there animal name sake the Fire Salamander, which i guess is why they also get the fire motif too.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

The Dark Angels have proven to provide the most confusion in terms of their colour scheme. As others have said, the First Legion's armour was black until after the Caliban incident IIRC. I don't see why authors and artists seem to struggle to comprehend this.


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## TyphoidLmJ (May 20, 2012)

The original fluff for Cypher said "Glimpses of the Dark Green power armour under his robes leaves no doubt as to his origin." So GW just mucked up the continuity, and ignored what they had previously written.. Not so strange really.


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## CE5511 (Apr 16, 2011)

I find it funny how the black templars codex says cypher has black armor (pg 20) and the dark angels codex says he has green. I understand the dark angels codex was printed a year after, but I really think its just the whole of GW cant get their stories straight, not just with cypher, or the dark angels colors, but on everything!


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## nevynxxx (Dec 27, 2011)

CE5511 said:


> but I really think its just the whole of GW cant get their stories straight, not just with cypher, or the dark angels colors, but on everything!


I go the other way. All of the contradictions in the fluff I think are on purpose. They go to emphasise the fractured, suspicious nature of the Imperium. Where even the space marine chapters no longer trust each other; don't remember or even get told the full story of their own history let alone those of other legions.....


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