Can you recommend any good artwork of Astartes' faces?

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**SaltySeaDog**

Odd question, but I recall in a few of the HH books that regular people who see Astartes (meaning their faces) describe them as being barely human-looking, deformed, and specifically being 'vaguely equine' in appearance.

That said most of the artwork I see shows Astartes (of any era/ legion) basically looking... human. Grizzled, scarred, and maybe with a few bionics, but ostensibly and recognisably men in early middle age who have led a hard life.

Can you recommend any artwork, official or not, that you feel shows an Astartes' face a little more accurately?

**Gert**

Uh, I'm not sure they're ever described as "equine".
It also varies from not only Legion to Legion but also individual Astartes. There are those of Sanguinius' bloodline that appear angelic in appearance like a Renaissance painting while others are pale monstrosities with sharp ears and long fangs.
I think you're also downplaying it a bit. All the portraits done for the 8th Ed Marine Supplements had some downright ugly mugs on them. Heavily scarred and beaten faces that would look out of place on any other human. The healing abilities of an Astartes mean that a wound that would leave a human dead results in a nasty scar, which IMO is what makes them inhuman.

**Karak Norn Clansman**

Vintage Astartes by Thrillosopher:

Thrillosopher wrote:mechanical pencil, some shading in paint.net.

A 1st and 2nd Edition Astartes out of armor. Based on old astartes art from Rogue Trader.
Some of the first astartes looked different than the current ones. Most just looked like bulky and muscular normal people. But some of them in the old codexes had different proportions to humans, their faces were described as "horse-like" or as if they had gigantism. And in the old art and models, their hands, head, and feet were huge compared to their smaller and powerful dense bodies. They were filled with organ implants and cybernetic parts, explaining the tubes under the skin, computer wiring connected to veins, the bulging gut full of muscle and bioengineered organs, the ribs shaped more like closed blinds rather than a cage, and the knee-length arms.
These marines weren't born like this, but were teens from street gangs, juvenile felons, or tribal boys who were exceptional either physically or mentally. If they were chosen by a group of marines, and passed (or just survived) the initiate tests, then they would go through years of intensive surgery, organ transplants, implants, hormone therapy, lethal training regimens and special diets. If they survived those, and could continue despite all the pain and changes, then they would become a specimen like this. Many a marine, like this fellow, stood over 6 feet - where some other marines, and those few female marines (canon and since older editions are nullified, *still canon*), may reach even taller. But 8ft was not average. What *was* average was that all marines went thru radical brainwashing and religious indoctrination to develop extreme devotion to the Imperium, putting it before their own lives and the lives of others. (Although some marines started to think the Imperium was basically a insane fascist hell-hole and decided to defect, these "traitor marines" were then branded as anti-human scum that must die, and were hunted down by the ram-skull power armor wearing astartes nun: Sister Sin (calm down, check Rogue Trader, yes its true)

**TheChrispyOne**

The last 1 and a half minutes of the Astartes youtube vid has one take off his helm and he's pretty weather-beaten, yet still has the unmistakable look of rugged nobility. Space marine II trailer has kinda the same- but I agree with Majorkill on this: due to the auto-clotting factor in their geneseed, a LOT more marines would be pug ugly/ mass of scars with their long careers.

**Altruizine**

Gert wrote:
Uh, I'm not sure they're ever described as "equine".
It also varies from not only Legion to Legion but also individual Astartes. There are those of Sanguinius' bloodline that appear angelic in appearance like a Renaissance painting while others are pale monstrosities with sharp ears and long fangs.
I think you're also downplaying it a bit. All the portraits done for the 8th Ed Marine Supplements had some downright ugly mugs on them. Heavily scarred and beaten faces that would look out of place on any other human. The healing abilities of an Astartes mean that a wound that would leave a human dead results in a nasty scar, which IMO is what makes them inhuman.

Stop trusting your memory.

Horus Rising, chapter 2:

"Though there was no disguising his [Loken's] inhumanity, especially in this bared form. Apart from the sheer mass of him, there was the overgrown gigantism of the face, that particular characteristic of the Astartes, almost equine, plus the hard, taut shell of his ribless torso, like stretched canvas."

SaltySeaDog wrote:
Odd question, but I recall in a few of the HH books that regular people who see Astartes (meaning their faces) describe them as being barely human-looking, deformed, and specifically being 'vaguely equine' in appearance.

That said most of the artwork I see shows Astartes (of any era/ legion) basically looking... human. Grizzled, scarred, and maybe with a few bionics, but ostensibly and recognisably men in early middle age who have led a hard life.

Can you recommend any artwork, official or not, that you feel shows an Astartes' face a little more accurately?

Yeah, you can't really look to the official art on this detail, because it's almost always idealized slop attuned to the sensibilities of most Astartes Enjoyers (who are into it for boilerplate white male power fantasy wish fulfillment). The most you'll get is scarred marines (who are still handsome, rugged, or attractive underneath the superficial layer).

I have seen this piece shared and it's a pretty good take:

https://40k.gallery/black-templar-17/
Artist: Samson Goetze

Spoiler:

**ArcaneHorror**

Altruizine wrote:
Gert wrote:
Uh, I'm not sure they're ever described as "equine".
It also varies from not only Legion to Legion but also individual Astartes. There are those of Sanguinius' bloodline that appear angelic in appearance like a Renaissance painting while others are pale monstrosities with sharp ears and long fangs.
I think you're also downplaying it a bit. All the portraits done for the 8th Ed Marine Supplements had some downright ugly mugs on them. Heavily scarred and beaten faces that would look out of place on any other human. The healing abilities of an Astartes mean that a wound that would leave a human dead results in a nasty scar, which IMO is what makes them inhuman.

Stop trusting your memory.

Horus Rising, chapter 2:

"Though there was no disguising his [Loken's] inhumanity, especially in this bared form. Apart from the sheer mass of him, there was the overgrown gigantism of the face, that particular characteristic of the Astartes, almost equine, plus the hard, taut shell of his ribless torso, like stretched canvas."

SaltySeaDog wrote:
Odd question, but I recall in a few of the HH books that regular people who see Astartes (meaning their faces) describe them as being barely human-looking, deformed, and specifically being 'vaguely equine' in appearance.

That said most of the artwork I see shows Astartes (of any era/ legion) basically looking... human. Grizzled, scarred, and maybe with a few bionics, but ostensibly and recognisably men in early middle age who have led a hard life.

Can you recommend any artwork, official or not, that you feel shows an Astartes' face a little more accurately?

Yeah, you can't really look to the official art on this detail, because it's almost always idealized slop attuned to the sensibilities of most Astartes Enjoyers (who are into it for boilerplate white male power fantasy wish fulfillment). The most you'll get is scarred marines (who are still handsome, rugged, or attractive underneath the superficial layer).

I have seen this piece shared and it's a pretty good take:

https://40k.gallery/black-templar-17/
Artist: Samson Goetze

Spoiler:

I thought Space Marines had ribs, just fewer of them, and that those few were much stronger and thicker than those of regular humans.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

The description makes me think of Andre the Giant.

Andre of course suffered from Gigantism. So whilst I’d imagine Astartes would have exaggerated features, André is a decent real-world starting point.

**Olthannon**

The condition that André and others suffer from is called acromegaly. It happens later in life and the cause stems from the pituitary gland creating excess growth hormones after puberty. It is this that gives the swollen features and "equine" face. Medically it's very likely that this would occur with Space Marines and any who undergo massive growth hormone chemical alterations. Quite interesting in a way that BL focused in on this.

Although this is a Chaos Marine, this is kind of how I picture Imperial marines. Pretty horribly disfigured, clearly not truly human and to ordinary eyes, terrifying.

Another good example from one of the codices.

**Crimson**

SaltySeaDog wrote:
Odd question, but I recall in a few of the HH books that regular people who see Astartes (meaning their faces) describe them as being barely human-looking, deformed, and specifically being 'vaguely equine' in appearance.

That said most of the artwork I see shows Astartes (of any era/ legion) basically looking... human. Grizzled, scarred, and maybe with a few bionics, but ostensibly and recognisably men in early middle age who have led a hard life.

Can you recommend any artwork, official or not, that you feel shows an Astartes' face a little more accurately?

Why would you assume the art is inaccurate and not the text? There is a ton of artwork of marine faces, so if some random excerpt from one book doesn't jive with that, then I'd say the writer just made an error.

**Altruizine**

Olthannon wrote:

Another good example from one of the codices.

I see a Bruce Willis, a Steve Mcqueen, a Viggo Mortensen, a Tom Hiddleston, maybe a Mads Mikkelson, etc.

That image (which is also frequently shared and referenced) does what I described earlier -- it takes normal/attractive faces then applies the Bald, Scarred and Grimace filters.

**Altima**

Altruizine wrote:
Olthannon wrote:

Spoiler:

Another good example from one of the codices.

**BrianDavion**

Crimson wrote:
SaltySeaDog wrote:
Odd question, but I recall in a few of the HH books that regular people who see Astartes (meaning their faces) describe them as being barely human-looking, deformed, and specifically being 'vaguely equine' in appearance.

That said most of the artwork I see shows Astartes (of any era/ legion) basically looking... human. Grizzled, scarred, and maybe with a few bionics, but ostensibly and recognisably men in early middle age who have led a hard life.

Can you recommend any artwork, official or not, that you feel shows an Astartes' face a little more accurately?

Why would you assume the art is inaccurate and not the text? There is a ton of artwork of marine faces, so if some random excerpt from one book doesn't jive with that, then I'd say the writer just made an error.

yeah when they note marine faces in the heresy books they're often broad sure but not "horse like"

**Void__Dragon**

Crimson wrote:

Why would you assume the art is inaccurate and not the text? There is a ton of artwork of marine faces, so if some random excerpt from one book doesn't jive with that, then I'd say the writer just made an error.

This is the real answer. There is overwhelmingly more art and literature that doesn't depict Astartes as being facially uncanny, equine, or deformed than the opposite, so the former is the more "accurate" portrayal.

**Mr. Burning**

Maybe some of the sculpts from RT lead up to modern HIPS were not as a result of artistic and material limitation?

Maybe the squiddgy features were actually an editorial choice......

**bibotot**

Space Marines can look whatever you want. They are a hugely diverse group. Some look like humans, others are prettier, and some (mainly Space Wolves) appear beastial.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Olthannon wrote:
The condition that André and others suffer from is called acromegaly. It happens later in life and the cause stems from the pituitary gland creating excess growth hormones after puberty. It is this that gives the swollen features and "equine" face. Medically it's very likely that this would occur with Space Marines and any who undergo massive growth hormone chemical alterations. Quite interesting in a way that BL focused in on this.

Although this is a Chaos Marine, this is kind of how I picture Imperial marines. Pretty horribly disfigured, clearly not truly human and to ordinary eyes, terrifying.

Another good example from one of the codices.

This is completely wrong. Cosmetic surgeries exist. Space Marines can change their appearance to whatever they like, obviously without confusing others. Some prefer to bear their scars or look intimidating but that's a personal choice.

Space Wolves and Salamander do look very different, but that's because it's in their culture. Salamanders can bleach their skin color and Space Wolves can cut their hair and wear dentals - they just don't do it because they love their appearance to be similar to their Primarchs.

As for the artwork at the bottom, of course, they would look like that if they have spent 10 days straight fighting. Everyone would look rough in the thick of battles. But outside battles, Space Marines look what they want to look like.

**godardc**

Gert wrote:
Uh, I'm not sure they're ever described as "equine".
It also varies from not only Legion to Legion but also individual Astartes. There are those of Sanguinius' bloodline that appear angelic in appearance like a Renaissance painting while others are pale monstrosities with sharp ears and long fangs.
I think you're also downplaying it a bit. All the portraits done for the 8th Ed Marine Supplements had some downright ugly mugs on them. Heavily scarred and beaten faces that would look out of place on any other human. The healing abilities of an Astartes mean that a wound that would leave a human dead results in a nasty scar, which IMO is what makes them inhuman.

In the first books, they are described like that (probably the first trilogy)

**bibotot**

godardc wrote:
Gert wrote:
Uh, I'm not sure they're ever described as "equine".
It also varies from not only Legion to Legion but also individual Astartes. There are those of Sanguinius' bloodline that appear angelic in appearance like a Renaissance painting while others are pale monstrosities with sharp ears and long fangs.
I think you're also downplaying it a bit. All the portraits done for the 8th Ed Marine Supplements had some downright ugly mugs on them. Heavily scarred and beaten faces that would look out of place on any other human. The healing abilities of an Astartes mean that a wound that would leave a human dead results in a nasty scar, which IMO is what makes them inhuman.

In the first books, they are described like that (probably the first trilogy)

More like the author having a poor word choice. Like C.S Goto putting multilaser on everything. It was 2 decades ago. The lore is questionably relevant considering the amount of discepencies and retconning.

Don't bother and feel free to imagine what your favorite Space Marines would look like. Put your own face on him if you like.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

TheChrispyOne wrote:
The last 1 and a half minutes of the Astartes youtube vid has one take off his helm and he's pretty weather-beaten, yet still has the unmistakable look of rugged nobility. Space marine II trailer has kinda the same- but I agree with Majorkill on this: due to the auto-clotting factor in their geneseed, a LOT more marines would be pug ugly/ mass of scars with their long careers.

Or how about just go to the spa, do some surgery, and look exactly what you want to look? Space Marines are supposed to be YOU, US. The players imagine how they would look like in wielding chain swords and wearing power armor. Feel free to design your own Chapter of ugly-looking Space Marines, but don't use that as standards. My Chapters of Space Marines, I want them to look cool and badass.

**JNAProductions**

Why would an Astartes bother with surgery to look prettier?

I could see some Emperor's Children or other Slaaneshi CSM doing that, if that's their excess, but Ultramarines? Imperial Fists? Death Guard? Black Legion? Why would they care?

**Gert**

Because as much as they pretend not to be human, they're still human.
Individual Astartes can still absolutely be vain and care about personal appearance.

**JNAProductions**

Gert wrote:
Because as much as they pretend not to be human, they're still human.
Individual Astartes can still absolutely be vain and care about personal appearance.

Do Kriegers or Stormtroopers care about their appearance?

**Gert**

I'm sure some do we just don't see it commonly but that's because we don't often see POVs from Stormtroopers and Krieg Guardsmen.

Just because someone is a hardcore soldier, doesn't mean they can't appreciate beauty. Take Andrej from Helsreach for example. Steel Legion Stormtrooper who wants to marry his beautiful squadmates.

More to the point, how do you suppose Astartes fall to the embrace of Slaanesh in some instances? Lucius started his fall because he was massively bitter that Loken had ruined his perfect face. There is absolutely no reason that couldn't be replicated elsewhere.

**Olthannon**

bibotot wrote:

This is completely wrong. Cosmetic surgeries exist.

Oh aye? I'm sure they're all getting their Hy-Brasilian Butt Lifts

**Voss**

bibotot wrote:

Or how about just go to the spa, do some surgery, and look exactly what you want to look? Space Marines are supposed to be YOU, US..

Ah.... no. No, they aren't.
They're supposed to be the psycho-indoctrinated tools of the most repressive regime imaginable. The player should recognize themselves in the collateral damage.

**Karak Norn Clansman**

Voss wrote:
bibotot wrote:

Or how about just go to the spa, do some surgery, and look exactly what you want to look? Space Marines are supposed to be YOU, US..

Ah.... no. No, they aren't.
They're supposed to be the psycho-indoctrinated tools of the most repressive regime imaginable. The player should recognize themselves in the collateral damage.

Excellent point. And here we come to a fork in the road: One leads down the lore-appropriate path of ugly Imperial atrocity, the other leads down the marketable path of customer power fantasy.

But yes, Astartes looks can vary greatly, and vanity and surgery do play a part sometimes. Though cosmetic surgery may more often be about strange tribal traditions rather than looking pretty.

**Altruizine**

Recalled another good series of reference pics.

**catbarf**

Gert wrote:
Just because someone is a hardcore soldier, doesn't mean they can't appreciate beauty.

No, but being a genetically-altered, hypno-indoctrinated, recruited-from-adolescence child soldier with stunted emotional capabilities and no existence besides violence might change the equation somewhat.

**Gert**

catbarf wrote:
No, but being a genetically-altered, hypno-indoctrinated, recruited-from-adolescence child soldier with stunted emotional capabilities and no existence besides violence might change the equation somewhat.

And yet it's been shown time and time again that not all Space Marines follow that classification. The Blood Angels and their Successors often have the greatest appreciation for the arts and beauty, often as a way of suppressing the brutal nature of the Red Thirst and Black Rage.
Likewise, the Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, and many of their Successors (though not all) appreciate the fruits of civilisation such as art, poetry, and music with many brothers becoming renowned both on the battlefield and as great artists.

More to the point, Space Marines are still just as flawed as the rest of humanity. They are not unthinking automatons.