The memetic influences that went into the development of Warhammer 40,000 extend across multiple media, in the decades leading up to Rogue Trader’s publication in 1987. Broadly speaking, those sources of influence include:
- Science Fiction
- MilSciFi
- “Dying Earth”
- Dune
- Movies & TV
- Star Wars
- Blake’s Seven
- Space: 1999
- Starlost
- Music
- NWOBHM
- Comics
- 2000AD
- Judge Dredd
- Heavy Metal
- Alien Legion
- Tabletop Games
- Roleplaying
- D&D
- Judge Dredd
- Stormbringer
- Wargaming
- Laserburn
- Roleplaying
We’ll get into each in turn over the coming weeks…