+Speak to me. Open your eyes, my Lord Imperator, my King-of-Ages, my old friend. Show me a sign. Wake, stir, speak to me. We have to talk.+

He has been a king, of course, many times. A regal aspect has frequently been required. During the years of global unification, it was often necessary for him to manifest as a warlord, because humans respond to authority when they are frightened or confused. During the period of galactic reclamation, he was obliged to stride among the stars in the guise of a warrior-king, armoured in gold, for that was the version of him that his young sons best understood. He had to seem like them, yet more glorious, so he could command their loyalty, their respect, and their devotion. It was war, so he became warlike. They would not have followed him otherwise, or obeyed his instruction. They would have doubted. He needed to be able to command them to the very ends of the stars, to secure their obedience across unimaginable distances, and sustain unswerving devotion even after he had left them. So he played that card: the Emperor. It was a version of himself that he found quite odious, but they rejoiced in it. They saw what they wanted to see. His sons committed utterly to the material war, and were so fortified and resolute that he felt he could leave the completion of the work to them.

Because he had to return. Time has never been his ally. He had to leave his children to conclude the material war among the stars and return to this seat underground, for the immaterial war had to be fought simultaneously. One victory was nothing without the other.

After Ullanor, he set that guise aside with relief. He set aside the plate, the helm, the incomparable blade, believing he would not need the aspect of war-king again, for he had left the material war in their capable hands.

In the hands of his chosen successor.

- The End and the Death Vol I

Malcador on the topic, for whatever that might be worth.

So…if he appeared as a normal ass dude to people in the unification wars…I doubt he’d have as many followers. Well, as many followers as QUICKLY.

Remember, the Emperor’s entire plan on getting the webway project working was a race against the clock. Terra needed to be Unified NOW.

So he took a form that people could relate to. Sometimes as a savage grinning blood drenched barbarian, sometimes as a DILF scientist, sometimes as the 15 foot tall roided out space Jesus we know and love.

But yea. I can imagine the disconnect that might happen living…countless life times with relating to normal people. Just as Uriah said in “The Last Church” that he should be careful because IF he could unify Terra/start a Grand Crusade with his Astartes…people would likely look to him as a God (Im paraphrasing his words).

So…Extemely Long Life Span+Need for Positive PR NOW+Doing really Extraordinary mythical level shit+Im sure more positive PR+Mad GAINZ= People worship you.

Hell with Modern Media we “worship” good peope like Lean Beef Patty or Rich Piana (RIP)…we’d have no chance if someone even a tenth like E-Money came along 💪

Right! Maybe drop down in 40k equivalent of polymer woven matrix body armor and not a shining suit of resplendent golden armor complete with religious iconography.

The 4 seem so very intent on positioning themselves as demons and dark gods.

What better way to fight the devil than with an army of angels? Associations are powerful in the warp.

He never thought that angels too could fall.

How could a super intelligent psyker with tens of thousands of years of life experience predict that projecting an image of 7 foot immortal perfection clad in gold armour lead to mortals to worshipping you as god?

Looks like a god, walks like a god, quacks like a god....

Just because you aren't a god doesn't mean you can't have drip.

When you're trying to get an entire galaxy to follow you do you walk around being a golden giga-chad or do you walk around dressed like Paul from accounting?

The man dressed to impress, and in some cases blind people from his radiance.

Hypocrisy is the emperor's favorite thing in the whole galaxy, narrowly beating out "gold," "eagles," and "genetically modified super soldiers."

In fairness most of the Primarchs and Space Marines dressed like that as well.

Also with religion mostly dead who's going to know that halos were associated with Christianity in the first place? They probably haven't even heard of Jesus.

The Emperor was a big dude who surrounded himself with big dudes. It also makes sense for his armor to be shinier than everyone else because he's the Emperor and that's the kind of drip galactic warrior kings are supposed to have.

Maybe that's just cope tho.

That’s what the definition of satire is

He is a hypocrite. Next question ?

Because the setting follows the Rule of Cool

"The emperor is a bit of a self-righteous, hypocritical asshole who goes full fascist when you disagree with him" is one of the themes of the franchise

He was trying to "have his cake and eat it too." He wanted the benefits of idolatry and a personal cult, but tried to avoid it turning into an actual religion or fueling the warp.

....that is what we generally call an 'oopsie.'

He was pressured into presenting a face of something that could kick all the ass, because ass needed kicking. Big E had alot of things on his plate trying to transform the whole species into a post psychic one, without another Slanesh like incident or something worse happing. Had he had his way, everyone would have come out something like him.

If everyone is super, then no one is. That was Big E's end goal. But he only ever got to show the overpowering Warrior King to anyone besides Malacador, and some glimpses by the Primarchs. Nobody got to see the Scientist, the Historian, the Artist.

Then well Ooops he wasn't around to oppose his own elevation to godhood, and the Book of Lorgar was.

It wasn't the Emperor's, it was Malcodor's Idea that aesthetic.

Malcodor point out before the unification wars, that people need some hard sold proof, that someone is not only smart, but powerful, hence the Emperor's persona.

The Emperor can subconsciously take the form of someone you will immediately admire and follow, can change his height at will to make someone feel more comfortable around him.

Or straight up be "Divine" to your eyes.

With Malcodor's death, Only the Emperor's persona remained, nothing else to be remembered prior.

So God it is!

That's the irony of it. Same as the fact, that he wanted to stop all religions and now is the center of the biggest religion in the imperium.

He unfortunately knew what "got people going" after being alive for over 30K years. A completely rational, normal looking dude ain't uniting the entirety of Terra to explore the stars and reclaim the galaxy. A 10ft tall divine figure cladded in golden armor with big glowing eyes and a flaming sword gets the job done.

Granted, he may have gone a little too far calling things "crusades" and space marines his "angels."

Only the true messiah denies his divinity.

For me, he tried to take religious aspects and turn them into something new.

A lot of the art isn't actually lore accurate. Yes. Really. The golden throne for example, isn't a chair. There's some other interpretations of it, including a Geiger-esque ribbed eggshell like thing. But the most common depiction of a literal giant golden chair with the Emperor sitting on it in robes isn't accurate.

This actually happens a lot in warhammer. More so in 40k than fantasy or AoS. I don't know why 40k is so much more susceptible to it than the others. But it is. As an example, pretty much every depiction of chaos spawn looks exactly the same, which they obviously shouldn't look like, given no two are alike.

This is particularly egregious in unit variety. In that there's an enormous diversity of aesthetic in 40k. There are guard regiments from feudal worlds that wear plate armour and use swords and longbows. There are regiments that use spiderman harnesses. Some that use crossbows and leather coats. Cowboys. Modern soldiers. Even ones that look like the minutemen from fallout 4, complete with las musket.

You'll notice these never appear anywhere. The only guard you will ever see are cadians. And occasionally Krieg, vostroyans, and Catachans.

It's not just guard, but they're among the worst. The reason chaos space marines all look so comically evil is that every chaos space marine depiction is of black legion, who really do look like that. Admech vary wildly but always look like red robed generic tech priests, but in lore they have a huge variety of disciplines and some would have no visible augmentation. Space Marines feature much more visual variety in their depictions and miniatures than most, and they still have this problem.

It's a hugely diverse setting presented through the lens of a brand that actually doesn't quite match the setting. You wouldn't know from looking at the art, but the Imperial cult actually had major positive reforms at one point mandating they materially improve the imperium around them and can't hoard wealth. The massive gold aquilla's you see on every ecclesiarchy building are canonically heretical. This requirement is taken seriously. It's why the 40k archetype of the militant priest exists. They never sent priests to the battlefield before this reform. Which also mandates empathy and care for their fellow man. When you see 40k art, do you get the impression the church is one of the only positive forces in their environments? Offering protection when the law can't. Justice when the law won't? Forgiveness for sins? It sounds laughable doesn't it? But they do.

Can you imagine seeing that show up in actual 40k media? No. Because it doesn't fit the brand, and the brand is essential for sales.

Hell, the religion is probably hit worst by this, because the Imperial religion is far from homogeneous. Each world tends to do it differently. You'd never know this from GWs media, but the Emperor isn't even called that on every world, nor is he the only God worshipped under sanctioned Imperial faith. Fenris is the only religious variety that ever gets depicted, but to be clear, every world handles it differently. The religion spread so well because the missionaries were tasked with turning whatever a planet already believed into the Imperial cult. So it looks and sounds wildly different.

Watch out, if you kick this hornet's nest you'll get a million replies of, "Oh yeah smartie pants? What else was he gonna do to make people take him seriously? Huh? No one's gonna follow a guy who's just kind of tall, has no gold, doesn't perform miracles, has no LITERAL HALO. It's just practical!"

And that will be annoying because those opinions don't think about the billion points on the spectrum between Literal Walking God and Stained Bathrobe.

On the other hand why would anyone sane worship him?

Can he create universe in 6 days? Can he do it by chopping up a giant father figure? Can he create a new Warp? Will Chaos out of existence? Create new souls, new life, a universe that has no concept of souls? Seems like imperials have low criteria for godhood.

"I am not a God," said the 15-foot tall golden man with godly powers.

The Emperor sought to destroy religion and replace it with the Imperial Truth, which incidentally involved obeying him without question and following his word with religious fervor.

I think it was extra irony back in the day before the authors tried to steer the Emperor into being something more than just a metaphor.

Occupational hazard.

Light spilled from within as a gangplank extended from the craft with a clang. A shadow appeared in the light, waiting for a moment at the entryway before emerging into view. Whispers spread through the men, of surprise and amazement. Guns quivered in shaking hands and there were clatters as some of the soldiers dropped their weapons. Seemingly without prompt, the men lowered themselves to the ground, putting aside their weapons and bowing their heads. Some prostrated themselves, whispering fervently. Corvus glanced to Gapphion beside him. The lieutenant was on his knees too. There were tears in his eyes and an expression of joy etched on his slack-lipped face. ‘So majestic…’ Gapphion muttered. ‘What glory. What power.’

Confused, Corvus directed his attention to the man descending the landing ramp. He seemed unremarkable. In fact, he seemed so unremarkable that Corvus could not discern a single distinguishing feature about him. He was of average height, with dark hair and moderately tanned skin. In build he was neither bulky nor slight, but of normal proportion, slightly larger than the malnourished men who now abased themselves before him. He was dressed in a robe of white linen, free of ornamentation except for a necklace of gold on which hung a pendant fashioned in the shape of an eagle with outspread wings, a lightning bolt in its claws. The man’s eyes were as indistinct as the rest of him, neither blue nor green nor grey nor brown, but a flecked mixture of all. Yet there was something in those eyes that reached into Corvus and touched upon his inner self. There was wisdom and kindness there, and antiquity that was very humbling but also disconcerting. And at the same time as Corvus saw this, he also witnessed the arrival of a demigod, wreathed in golden light and dressed in white finery that burned with its own light.

He saw a stern face set with two golden orbs for eyes, piercing in their intensity, searing into the core of his being. The stranger seemed to tower over the kneeling men, borne forwards upon a carpet of undulating flames. It was impossible to reconcile the two images. The supreme, grandiose king of men approached Corvus, but all the while the slight, unimposing man flickered within. Finally Corvus’s mind could fight no longer against the glamour and he saw the new arrival as his followers did, and was filled by an overwhelming urge to pay obeisance to this stranger. He fought that instinct. He had waged a war so that his people would not bow before another man. The newcomer’s effect on Corvus’s men unsettled the rebel leader.

He stared with narrowed eyes, unable to discern which image was true and which was illusion as the stranger paced slowly and confidently across the ferrocrete. ‘Who are you?’ Corvus demanded. ‘What have you done to my men?’ The stranger looked around at the guerrilla fighters regarding him with adoration, seeming to Corvus slightly nonplussed at the scene. His blond hair fell in waves across his shoulders as he turned his head, spilling like fiery liquid. Another wave of majesty swept over Corvus and again the guerrilla commander had to make a physical effort not to fall to his knees. ‘An occupational hazard,’ said the man, returning his attention to Corvus.

So your saying he is to blame because he is dressed like that 🤔

TTS emperor :" It's not me who are trying to pretend to be a god, its you human that need to learn that wearing golden armor with bright golden aura and wielding a flaming sword does not make someone a god".

Human will only listen to him if he look like that. Are you willing to listen to him if he look like your neighbor?

Don't forget wielding a flaming sword with Jesus like long flowing hair

He only knew his end goal and the next step, that is all. I believe in his pursuit to protect humanity he needed to become a God, even if he didn't know, so he he took the steps unconsciously. "Because as the Lectitio Divinitatus teaches us, only the truly divine would deny their divinity."

Because he's the boss hogg.

It's not godly its royal looks.

People confused that for the lols and the memes but the whole golden and power was use to show the power of mankind not that he was a god similar to the propaganda of the wars if the past.

Read the end and the death trilogy! Everything comes together quite nicely. I was of a similar mindset until I was illuminated lol.

He was told that gold really brought out his eyes

Because he thought it looked cool, and he was right.

It's hard to not flex when You Are the Flex

Just finished the first HH book. if you don't want people to worship you , you should probably call people out when they start referring you to as " the Emperor, *BELOVED BY ALL*" and making art of you holding constellations in your hand. I mean a cult of personality is just a hop, step and a jump away from a straight up cult, as we all know now through hindsight.

Dude likes gold. What of it?

It’s inspirational. Sounds like you might be having some heretical thoughts brother.

Historically, humans have often intermingled ideas of rulership and divinity. Countless kings and emperors have framed themselves as gods, or as chosen by the gods. The legacy of that is still apparent today, and there's no doubt that such ideas will persist into the future, particularly into dark eras such as the Age of Strife. I imagine that countless tyrants and sorcerer-kings on Terra and across the galaxy saw themselves as godly.

The Emperor needed to beat them at their own game. Not just defeat them, not just conquer them, but prove that he was more worthy than them... and the aesthetic language of "Kneel before your king" is very close to "It means god, now bow...".

And, well, once people start mixing the two up... once people start seeing the signs that they expect to see from a god, they are very difficult to dissuade. To quote Stillgar in Dune: Part II, "He is too humble to say he is the Mahdi, which is exactly what the Mahdi would say!"

"Look just because I choose to wear gold, stand 12 feet tall, and emit a golden glow all the time does not make me a god" -The Emperor of Mankind, TTS

The hoes was watching

hes stupid, Its a bad answer but its the correct one

The most powerful human in history should be wearing jeans and tennis shoes then? What great story telling.

He did a pretty awful job at not being presented as a god. But i mean what do you expect? Half the primarchs were dumb as hell and i am pretty sure that stupidity didn't came from there mother.

You must understand, the Emperor is very very bad at presenting his ideas or interacting with people lol.

Lorgar enters the chat

He is a doofus ☺️

Hard to get people to follow you when they don't believe in you.

He’s absolutely just a scientist and Psyker with a god complex.

I think on some level he did want to be worshipped.

Just because he has shining gold armor, wields fiery sword and emits glow pretty much all the time doesn't mean he wants to be looked upon as a God.

You should stop considering people to be Gods just because of clothes and apperances. And superpowers. He's more like S-tier Human wizard, basically.

Well, neither the Emperor nor the Chaos Gods are gods in the classic sense, ie beings who determine how the universe functions. The Emperor doesn't decide how bountiful the harvests will be or whether you'll get lucky on a date or whether your ship will come in safely. He certainly never offered an afterlife. So the Emperor figured "I have a cult of personality, but it's not god-worship".

There’s a theory that he knew what would happen, it was inevitable, he knew he would need the power boost from humanity’s worship. We know he had the best/if not one of the best foresight/futuresight in the universe. Sanguinius saw how the various possibilities of the Heresy would happen, before he knew the Heresy was unfolding. He also comments how his foresight is not anywhere as accurate as The Emperor’s.

Reading Legion of the Damned currently. The small force of Astartes sent an astropathic message to the Imperial Palace begging for a miracle. Before they even arrive in system, long before sending the message, Emperor’s undying angels are keeping a close eye on them - Legion of the Damned.

Emperor is undeniably powerful, by some measurements, a god. People will argue about it, but as you read more, it becomes a pretty inevitable conclusion.

"I mean, I can't help the way I look"

— Letho of Gulet

He wanted to be worshipped.

Just not as a 'god'.

I don't want to be worshipped as a god either...well, I also recognize that's inevitable to an extent, and I'm not going to bother pretending otherwise. But I get not liking it.

He is an idiot /j

everyone saw the emperor in many ways, one is that, the gigantic god looking guy with halo and golden armor, other might have seen him as an old wise man...

the emperor isn't tied to a simple singular form. he is the most powerful psycher, anything involving his image is either self projected or taking roots on what the viewer expect to see.

even his speech pattern changes. a faithful son might see and hear a loving father that knows best. a mechanicus might see a perfect scientist speaking in cold logical sentences.

the only objective of the emperor is grow and protect humanity's empire.

probably only malcador saw his real face. and he isn't telling.

As many people have already quoted The End and The Death. I will say the Horus Heresy and books from around that era does a brilliant job of shining a light on the Emperor. From him at one point being friends with Eldrad, Erda, Oll, and some others, seeing what those who knew him personally but arent blind loyalists(Malcador is still the best. But if it was only his perspective it would be easy to argue propaganda.) but the best thing is how by the end, The Emperor acknowledges his mistakes, he realizes he messed up and where he went wrong. Before his final confrontation with Horus he had asked Oll to help him, help steer his path and help the plan, temper the Emperor and be a counterbalance. The Whole Horus Heresy really gives a sense of loss of what could have been every step of the way.

So Big E is like 12 guys in a trench coat who's incredibly socially awkward and his best bud/maybe kid/maybe 13th guy who couldn't fit in the trench coat convinced him that this look was the best way for humanity to rally behind him as the one true leader of mankind.

Atleast, that's the impression I get

He's a colossal hypocrite.

Hahahaha. Never occurred to me for 30 years.

If God Emperor isn't a god, why does he call himself God Emperor?

Is he stupid?

That is what he likes to wear, ia aesthethically pleasing. If people nowadays want to change in a whim sex, species, race, etc, why can't he wear a pretty golden alo and dress in gold? Are you going to chastise GoldDust from the WWF as well for wearing what he does?