# Leman Russ' canon hair color?



## Delta1 (Apr 5, 2009)

Just a strange detail thats been nagging at me for the last couple days. canonically what is leman russ' actual hair color? red like in adrian smith's depiction in the collected visions? or blonde like on the cover of prospero burns?


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

I'd go with blonde seeing as how he pretty much is a viking.


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## cegorach (Nov 29, 2010)

Delta1 said:


> Just a strange detail thats been nagging at me for the last couple days. canonically what is leman russ' actual hair color? red like in adrian smith's depiction in the collected visions? or blonde like on the cover of prospero burns?


Is that him on the cover of Prospero burns? 
By some astounding coincidence just started reading it so I have it right here, he seems a little short to be Russ, barely a head hight above the humans behind him in the golden plate. (I think they are sisters of silence, but could be wrong) Also they are a few feet behind him, so depth perception is working against him in this way.

I mean it may well be him, I don't know, but I just don't think it is.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

It is him. He is the shortest Primarch.

He is essentially your typical dwarf in the bar laughing at everything and fearing nothing fantasy character based on the vikings.

But I agree he should be a lot wider as he is depicted in the fluff but I suppose it would make him look fat/comical if they went too far.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

A Thousand Sons says "a resin-stiffened mane of molten copper". Prospero Burns doesn't seem to make any reference to his hair colour


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## Delta1 (Apr 5, 2009)

Angel of Blood said:


> A Thousand Sons says "a resin-stiffened mane of molten copper". Prospero Burns doesn't seem to make any reference to his hair colour


best answer so far, with fluff to back it up. anyone else find conflicting evidence found in the fluff?

how do i rep you?


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

hes blonde


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Delta1 said:


> best answer so far, with fluff to back it up. anyone else find conflicting evidence found in the fluff?
> 
> how do i rep you?


A cover wasn't enough?


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## Delta1 (Apr 5, 2009)

Malus Darkblade said:


> A cover wasn't enough?


no because he was also depicted in the collected visions as having red hair. i didnt know which one was canon. general consensus seems to be leaning towards blonde so far though.


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## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

Well, the covers are artists' interpretations and not 100% accurate. I would, however, go with some form of blond.

I thought Angron was the shortest primarch? He does seem to have a touch of Napolean complex.


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## Fallen (Oct 7, 2008)

i believe that the old GW model photo on their site had him blond...


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## doofyoofy (Mar 8, 2011)

Just would liek to point out that I believe Alpharius or Omegon to be the shortest Primarch. All of the Primarchs are said to be noticeably larger and instantly recognizable, however, in Legion it states that they had an especaiily large Captain of the Alpha legion as a double for Alpharius which means he would be shorter as none of the other legions have space marines that can even be described as close to their primarchs height. Before anyone points to Horus and Little Horus a) He has little in his nickname making him smaller. lol b) it states that he resembles Horus in features, not height, at least not enough to act as a body double, even though little Horus is also described as being larger that the average space marine.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I would take written fluff over a book art any day of the week. The artists very often take imo large liberties when making the covers. I mean just look at Flight of the Eisenstien, Great Unclean One, Imperial Fists fighting with who appears to be Decius. So yeah, its written as red specifically in Thousand Sons, i'm gonna stick with red.


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## Delta1 (Apr 5, 2009)

Angel of Blood said:


> I would take written fluff over a book art any day of the week. The artists very often take imo large liberties when making the covers. I mean just look at Flight of the Eisenstien, Great Unclean One, Imperial Fists fighting with who appears to be Decius. So yeah, its written as red specifically in Thousand Sons, i'm gonna stick with red.



good point. thanks for the info angel.


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## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

I think that fluff needs to stay in its swim lane. Fluff is meant to explain the game's rules and add filler backgrounds to inspire army paint schemes and iconography. It is descriptive, not proscriptive. Hobbyists shouldn't have to be told what color to paint a character's hair by some old crusty author who probably doesn't even play Warhammer 40k.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I don't agree with that at all. I don't play tabletop and a vast majority of black library readers and 40k fans don't either. I couldn't give a flying fuck about the table top. Fluff is not meant for the reasons you said, maybe way back when 40k started, now? Not a chance. Gaunts Ghosts, Eisenhorn/Ravenor, The Heresy series, the Night Lords, etc etc don't exist for the table, they have no relation to the table top.


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Yes fluff is, and always should be distinct from the tabletop. Related to this is why it's always a bad idea to bring in game mechanics when discussing the fluff. (eg- 'lasguns have no ap they suck' which as we know is patently wrong). 

Written fluff should always have a greater weight that images, which rely on artist's interpretation much more than the written word. Look at all the different depiction of the primarchs for example, or all the different way's power armour and space marines are drawn. Which one is right? I'd go for the written one.


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## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

Angel of Blood said:


> I don't agree with that at all. I don't play tabletop and a vast majority of black library readers and 40k fans don't either. I couldn't give a flying fuck about the table top. Fluff is not meant for the reasons you said, maybe way back when 40k started, now? Not a chance. Gaunts Ghosts, Eisenhorn/Ravenor, The Heresy series, the Night Lords, etc etc don't exist for the table, they have no relation to the table top.


Why is it called "Fluff" then, smart guy?


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Again like i said, at the start of 40k way back when, it may have been just 'fluff', but it is clearly an entirely different and seperate part now but has retained the nickname.


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

where is all this shite about Russ or Angron being the shortest primarch coming from? 

could people at least try to cite a few sources before spouting whatever nonsense pops up in their heads?

According to Legion, Alpharius should be the shortest primarch. He's the size of a large space marine (space marine height doesn't vary as much as "mortal" height, but it still varies).

However, when Horus and Alpharius first meet, Horus instantly recognizes Alpharius as a primarch, in part because of Alpharius' size (Index Astartes)


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## Dînadan (Mar 7, 2009)

MontytheMighty said:


> where is all this shite about Russ or Angron being the shortest primarch coming from?
> 
> could people at least try to cite a few sources before spouting whatever nonsense pops up in their heads?


The Angron comment is based on recently released artwork of the cover of one of the upcomming HH books - in it Agron looks like a red goblin compared to the other primarchs.

The Russ comment is based on the fact that he's the only primarch with an offical mini, which is the same hight (perhaps even smaller due to scale creep) as a regular marine mini. combine this with the fact that all other primarchs are refered to as larger than regular marines and you get the concept that Russ was a midgit.


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

Dînadan said:


> The Angron comment is based on recently released artwork of the cover of one of the upcomming HH books - in it Agron looks like a red goblin compared to the other primarchs.


right, but in that piece of art, he's in the back and leaning down against the railing, he's also next to Magnus the Giant...but I see how some people are capable of such assumptions


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

On Russ' hair: Prospero Burns, page 319- _'The Wolf King's hair was long. Thick plaits of it hung down across his chest plate, weighted at the tips by polished stones. The rest was lacquered into a spiked mane. Hawser had heard many stories about the Wolf King from the men of Tra. They had all described his hair as red, or the colour of rust, or of molten copper. Hawser wasn't so sure. To him, the Wolf King's mane looked like bright blond hair stained in blood.'_

So, basically that shade of red-blond that depends on the light as to if it looks more red or more blond.

On Russ' height/size: Prospero Burns, page 317- _'Hawser was mesmerized by the primarch's size. Every physical dimension exceeded that of an Astartes. It was like meeting a god. It was as though one of the great and perfectly proportioned statues of classical antiquity, one scaled fifty or seventy-five per cent bigger than human standard, had come to life.'_

That would put Russ at about 9-10 feet tall if the average 'human standard' in 40k is considered to be 6 ft tall (give or take a bit). Even being one of the 'shorter' primarchs, that still put him looking down at any human by a fair degree.


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## MEQinc (Dec 12, 2010)

MontytheMighty said:


> According to Legion, Alpharius should be the shortest primarch. He's the size of a large space marine (space marine height doesn't vary as much as "mortal" height, but it still varies).
> 
> However, when Horus and Alpharius first meet, Horus instantly recognizes Alpharius as a primarch, in part because of Alpharius' size (Index Astartes)


Well given that a Space Marine is 7-8 feet and Alpharius is still slightly taller than that he would stand out quite a bit from conventional humans. 

Russ is noted as being around 9 feet tall, which isn't huge for a Primarch and probably puts him in the running for smallest.

Angron's height is never mentioned. Given the picture we have of him he appears to be roughly average for a Primarch, possibly slightly on the small side.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

MEQinc said:


> Angron's height is never mentioned. Given the picture we have of him he appears to be roughly average for a Primarch, possibly slightly on the small side.


Actually, p.61 of _Galaxy in Flames_



> Angron was huge, easily as tall as the Warmaster, but also massively broad, with wide hulking shoulders like some enormous beast of burden.


So yeah, Angron is definitely NOT one of the smaller primarchs.


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## Delta1 (Apr 5, 2009)

MontytheMighty said:


> right, but in that piece of art, he's in the back and leaning down against the railing, he's also next to Magnus the Giant...but I see how some people are capable of such assumptions


can you provide a link to this art?


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## MEQinc (Dec 12, 2010)

Delta1 said:


> can you provide a link to this art?


There's a thread about it here: http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=98757

also provides discussion of Angron's height.


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## NoSoulJoel (Nov 8, 2021)

Malus Darkblade said:


> It is him. He is the shortest Primarch.
> 
> He is essentially your typical dwarf in the bar laughing at everything and fearing nothing fantasy character based on the vikings.
> 
> But I agree he should be a lot wider as he is depicted in the fluff but I suppose it would make him look fat/comical if they went too far.


Alpharius is the shortest but Leman isn't the tallest Primarch


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