1. DLP Flash Christmas Competition + Writing Marathon 2024!

    Competition topic: Magical New Year!

    Marathon goal? Crank out words!

    Check the marathon thread or competition thread for details.

    Dismiss Notice
  2. Hi there, Guest

    Only registered users can really experience what DLP has to offer. Many forums are only accessible if you have an account. Why don't you register?
    Dismiss Notice
  3. Introducing for your Perusing Pleasure

    New Thread Thursday
    +
    Shit Post Sunday

    READ ME
    Dismiss Notice

Harry Potter / Horus Heresy (Warhammer 40k) crossover?

Discussion in 'Fanfic Discussion' started by Silens Cursor, Jan 17, 2009.

  1. Silens Cursor

    Silens Cursor The Silencer DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2008
    Messages:
    2,219
    Location:
    The other side of reality
    Having painstakingly searched ffn.net, I have come to the depressing conclusion that there aren't any crossovers featuring Harry Potter and the Horus Heresy series of Warhammer 40,000. A damn shame, because the new Horus Heresy series is fucking amazing.

    So here's an idea: it's a well-known fact that the warp was incredibly unstable during the time of the Horus Heresy and there were ships that were lost in the warp. Now, if the astropaths and navigators were killed or seriously incapacitated, the Chaos gods could seize control of the vessel and do anything to it - even throw it back in time.

    So imagine this: a vessel from the Sons of Horus legion is lost in the immaterium and seized by Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways. The dark entity has a new scheme to dispose of the Emperor and his meddling: to send a ship back and eliminate the ancient ancestors from which he came. Said ship is damaged badly as it comes out of the warp around Earth, a planet radically different than the Terra of their time. Disturbed, considering all charts indicate that the planet below them is indeed Terra, the crew decides to investigate.

    Before the first dropship leaves, one of the few surviving astropaths attempts to send a message down to the planet to the Emperor. But Tzeentch, in his attack on the shift, anticipates this move and introduces a subtle corruption into said astropath - one that diverts the intended message to a human wizard in the United Kingdom...

    Thoughts, comments, criticisms, any other ideas? I chose the Sons of Horus legion, but there are others I'm considering as well. Does anyone think a story could be created out of this?
     
  2. Mordecai

    Mordecai Drunken Scotsman –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2005
    Messages:
    559
    Location:
    Englandshire
    High Score:
    5,725
    Depends on when you are planning on setting this. The Sons of Horus were the foremost of the Heretic Legions, so they would want to kill the Emperor.

    On top of that, whats the plot? You have a spaceship from the 30th or 31st Millenium, a time when there is only war. These marines don't know the meaning of peace. What would stop them from simply taking over the planet and forcing everyone to worship the God Emperor, or the Chaos Gods depending whether they are corrupted. All they would have to do is turn one of the continents into slag and go from there, I can't see much arguement being put up against them in a case like that.

    So basically your story would be the marines being sent back in time, taking over the planet and then...history is irrevocably changed and either the universe implodes from a paradox or the future is completely different.

    Oh and on top of that the Horus Heresy series sucks compared to the likes of the Gaunts Ghosts novels, and the various inquisition novels.
     
  3. Robo Jesus

    Robo Jesus High Inquisitor

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2007
    Messages:
    520
    The Emperor was born in something like 7000-8000 b.c.

    This therefore does not work on that fundamental fact alone.
     
  4. Silens Cursor

    Silens Cursor The Silencer DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2008
    Messages:
    2,219
    Location:
    The other side of reality
    Here's what I was thinking of the plot - the astropathic message connects with one of the strongest wizards on the planet (either Harry, Voldemort, or Dumbledore, depending on the workable timeframe). This angers the Astares commander, for to them, there is evidence of psykers on the planet, and the Emperor's decrees regarding said psykers are quite explicit - yet there are no Black Ships even built yet.

    But one must ask why the Astares would immediately take over the planet. All indicators point to this being Terra, the foundation of the Emperor's rule. They may only know war, but waging war against the home of the Emperor? At this point, I was considering having that particular segment of the legion not entirely corrupted yet (perhaps one of the companies under the command of Garviel Loken or Tarik Torgaddon), and I can see the quandary the commander would be under. At the very least, they'd want to single out the greatest 'threat' (the 'psykers') and investigate them first.

    Now consider the reaction if let's say... Dumbledore met with them. He'd be willing to talk and share information. At that point of the Grand Crusade, one of the Astares' main objectives would be to rejoin the main fleet and bring news to their primarch. Astares are far from stupid, too - if Dumbledore behaves reasonably, they don't want to massacre a planet that seems to be Terra - they already did that at Sixty-Three-Nineteen.

    Or let's even consider a meeting with Voldemort. The Dark Lord would know in a second that the Astares could be incredible allies in his war, and if he was diplomatic enough, he could angle them towards Hogwarts. And this brings up a perplexing question - could the Imperius or Avada Kedavra curse even work on a Space Marine?

    The argument against the 'instant continental slag' case is that all evidence indicates that most Space Marines would have no desire to do that. Horus Rising gave all the indications that the Luna Wolves at least tried to negotiate with renegade human planets before they attacked. Then again, that depends on the legion. If it was the World Eaters that encountered Earth, that case becomes plausible, but what about the Emperor's Children, or the Sons of Horus? I know that despite their violent tendencies, encountering a different planet where Terra was supposed to be would give them serious pause.

    I'm not sure whether I would go the paradox route or push the whole 'dual timelines' path I used in one of my other fics, in which an escaped Death Eater goes back in time to orchestrate Trelawney's death, preventing the prophecy from even happening. I'd have to think about that.

    As for the Horus Heresy book series and comparing it to the other 40k books... well, I've read a few of the other series, and I must say I never really got into the Inquisitor series, although I should probably take another look, as it's been a while. But I will say that Fulgrim, the book about the fall of the Emperor's Children, was fantastic, and most of the other books in the series were pretty damned good too.

    Thanks for the criticism, though. Any other ideas on how I coudl make this work?

    EDIT - yeah, I just ran a quick check, and you're right about the Emperor, but that, if anything, could make things interesting. How would the Emperor react if he encounters his Space Marines from millennia in the future? Furthermore, if the Emperor knew about wizards and the magical society (and as one of the most powerful psykers, he would know) on the planet and has not interfered to remove it, wouldn't that indicate something as well?
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2009
  5. Tehan

    Tehan Avatar of Khorne DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    May 22, 2007
    Messages:
    3,742
    If time travel was that simple, the Chaos Gods would be unstoppable.

    If Tzeentch sent something back in time, he'd have a damn good reason for it and plan for what it was supposed to do when it got there.

    The Emperor would have ten thousand years of experience under his belt by the time of Harry Potter. He's hardly helpless, and he wouldn't fall to the few Marines so corrupted as to attack the God-Emperor of Man, the creator and progenitor of the Space Marines.

    Oh, and wizards are essentially fairly limited psykers. Unless you're of the camp that thinks a reducto can punch through power armour and protego can stop bolter rounds, the entire wizarding world would be a non-factor in all of this.
     
  6. Robo Jesus

    Robo Jesus High Inquisitor

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2007
    Messages:
    520
    I think that the Wizarding World may be a (failed) experiment by the Emperor. They're Psykers, yes, but they are not tainted by the warp the same way other Psykers are.
     
  7. Hashasheen

    Hashasheen Half-Blood Prince

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Messages:
    3,534
    Gender:
    Male
    Predecessors to the Grey Knights then?
     
  8. headbanger22

    headbanger22 Third Year

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2007
    Messages:
    103
    Location:
    boston uk
    Have you considered using this bit of 40k fluff for a story.
    Its from this website http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page

    The Sensei background was introduced in the Realm of Chaos books, along with the Star Child.

    The Sensei are the sons or descendants of the Emperor, and are the counterparts to the Champions of the Chaos gods: the Sensei are Champions of the nascent Star Child. The Sensei are hunted down by the Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition who consider the Sensei a threat to the order of the Imperium, and possibly in league with Chaos. The Sensei are also a vital part of the Illuminati's plan to save humanity, by rejuvenating the Emperor; the Illuminati gather the Sensei and protect them from the Inquisition, preparing them for "the final war with Chaos".

    The two Realms of Chaos books reveal that the Sensei are the children of the Emperor, fathered over a millennium-long lifetime, and the avatars of the Star Child. Their becoming avatars is due to the fact that they are linked to the Emperor by blood, so therefore since the Emperor is ascending into a god known as the Star Child, they ascend as well.

    "The final war with Chaos" that the Sensei are preparing for is said to be a sham, invented by the Illuminati.

    The Inquisition has discovered that captured or killed Sensei can be rendered down to manufacture the negative psychic energy used in psycannon bolts and Psyk-out weapons. The only other source of this energy is the byproducts of the Emperor's metabolism.

    A few of the Sensei are said to rebel to Chaos, becoming the Grey Sensei, the cruelest servants of Chaos.

    As the Powers of the Warp have their own mortal champions, so too does the Star Child. The Star Child's champions are known as the Sensei. Although they do not necessarily know their true identity, they are actually descendants of the Emperor. Nor is the Emperor himself aware of his immortal descendants.

    The Sensei have inherited great power from the Emperor. They are immortal; although they can be killed, they do not age, and possess amazing powers of recovery. They are also by their nature protected from the Chaos Powers. Because they harbor none of the emotions or concepts embodied by the Chaos Powers they are largely invisible to them, and can draw on the energies of the warp to use their psychic powers without risk of attracting daemons or other malicious forces of the warp. Due to their harmonious relationship with the warp, the Sensei are invisible to psychic senses, even to those of the Emperor.

    Sensei wander throughout the galaxy. Their origins are unknown to the Inquisition, who view them as dangerous mutants and heretics. In contrast to the forces of the Imperium, Sensei are natural rebels. As well as being enemies of Chaos, Sensei are enemies of oppression. They and their followers operate as outlaw bands, and appear across the Imperium to fight against repression and injustice. In this way, they often come into conflict with the Imperium.

    The Imperium regards the Sensei as dangerous bandits and nihilists who, if not actually in league with Chaos, are weakening the Imperium's defense against Chaos. Because of their powers and militantly anti-authority natures, they are hunted down and killed by Imperial forces, which in turn forces the Sensei to operate as outlaws.

    The basic idea being that Lily was one of the sensei but was killed before it became aparant that she was immortal. Years later you have Harry who seems not to be ageing, and you could have this whole story of him trying to find out why. And you could spend a few chapters with him trying to find out why he is immortal, and then the search for his grandfather the future God Emperor of Mankind then what he did during the Golden Age and the Age of Strife and then during the Great Crusade right up to the Horus Heresy.

    One of the ideas I had would have wizards being a very rare sub-species of human rather than the precursor of the psykers. And are very rare buy the time of the Age of Strife and extinct after it.

    Thats all I have so far feel free to add to it.
     
  9. Robo Jesus

    Robo Jesus High Inquisitor

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2007
    Messages:
    520
    Very possible. They may also have been an experiment to try to create something more akin to the Eldar, but with stereotypical results (an inherently dangerous culture that implodes in on itself), but the end results (both genetic and cultural) would have been applied elsewhere (such as to the Grey Knights).
     
  10. Tehan

    Tehan Avatar of Khorne DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    May 22, 2007
    Messages:
    3,742
    The Sensei are heretics. Their lifespans are borne of mutation, not of any link to the God-Emperor himself. Were they true servants of the Imperium, they would surrender themselves to the Inquisition, in order be better put to use.

    Solid facts are few and far between in 40k fluff. That's what makes it so fun to argue about. And the Star Child theory is so very, very far from a solid fact. Besides, as a descendant of the God-Emperor, Harry would be ridiculously overpowered, and Lily would never have fallen to some weak sorcerer as she did in HP canon.

    Also, the Emperor, as the Strongest Psyker Ever, would know what's going on with his children. So he either flat-out doesn't give a shit about Harry, or he'd rock up the moment Lily was in danger and it becomes Harry raised by the motherfucking Emperor. Which is so damn fail I don't even want to think about it.

    Edit: Wizards as predecessors of the Grey Knights? Hoo boy. Grey Knights are regular psykers recruited at an extremely young age, indoctrinated in pure faith to the Emperor, then their memories are wiped and they're indoctrinated again. Then they have to go through 666 Rituals of Detestation, and then they're Grey Knights. If they fail any one of them, they're executed.

    That's why none have ever fallen to Chaos - because they inflict upon their initiates in controlled conditions more than Chaos can inflict upon them in uncontrolled conditions. Not because they're Mary Sue Unwarpable.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2009
  11. headbanger22

    headbanger22 Third Year

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2007
    Messages:
    103
    Location:
    boston uk
    Tehan can I draw your attention to this information

    The Sensei have inherited great power from the Emperor. They are immortal; although they can be killed, they do not age, and possess amazing powers of recovery.

    (ie Harry being bitten by a basilisk and not being killed instantly )

    And this -

    Due to their harmonious relationship with the warp, the Sensei are invisible to psychic senses, even to those of the Emperor.

    (So the Emperor would not as you put it " rock up the moment Lily was in danger" )

    So please read the whole post next time it will save you embarrassment
     
  12. Tehan

    Tehan Avatar of Khorne DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    May 22, 2007
    Messages:
    3,742
    Why do you hate punctuation so?

    He's been under the care of Madam Pomphrey many, many, many times, and not once has she commented on 'amazing powers of recovery'. Besides, by 40k standards, amazing would be... well, think the T-1000 from Terminator 2.

    Now I remember why I hate the Sensei fluff. This sort of Mary Sue bullshit.

    Look, if wizards were a 'very rare subspecies' of man, he'd be monitoring them closely, especially since psykers didn't start appearing until the end of the Dark Age of Technology, which is about eighteen thousand years away.

    Besides, these 'horcrux' things sound suspiciously like a deal with the Dark Gods.

    What he wouldn't be doing was throwing his own genes into the mix and then ignore the result completely.

    Seriously, did a comma rape your dog or something?


    On top of all this, the Star Child theory hasn't been mentioned since the 80's as anything more than a Tzeentch cult in disguise. The Sensei were probably just Nulls with a mutation or tech that allowed for fast healing, if they ever really existed.
     
  13. Robo Jesus

    Robo Jesus High Inquisitor

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2007
    Messages:
    520
    This is a good part of why I feel that the Wizards of the HP world had to have been an (failed) experiment by the God Emperor into creating something more along the lines of the Eldar (something able to use the warp without automatically being consumed or corrupted by it). I call it a failure however due to the non-existant nature of the HP wizards in the WH40K-verse anywhere near the time of the Horus Heresy in this sort of polt bunny.

    However, I feel that the failure had nothing to do with the Wizarding World genetically so much as had to do with them culturally.
     
  14. headbanger22

    headbanger22 Third Year

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2007
    Messages:
    103
    Location:
    boston uk
    I have been thinking about a crossover for Harry Potter and Warhammer 40000 for a long time, And the Sensei background information seemed to me The logical place to start one from.

    As to your comments about my lack of punctuation, I make no bones about the fact that I have no skill in that area. Until I joined this forum I had never been in the position to develop it.

    But this does not change the fact that you either skimmed or didn't read my first post. And then when I pointed out that you had make a mistake, You go and start nitpicking at my very bad punctuation.

    Next time if you don't like an idea maybe you could try saying:
    Oh I am not really sure about that idea for X reason.

    And to anyone interested in 40k fluff check out the website at the top of my first post.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2009
  15. Mordecai

    Mordecai Drunken Scotsman –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2005
    Messages:
    559
    Location:
    Englandshire
    High Score:
    5,725
    Take advice from one who had tried, HP and 40K are difficult to mesh well.
     
  16. Helltanz98

    Helltanz98 Professor

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2007
    Messages:
    414
    Location:
    Terac Shri
    Damnit man you beat me to it. BUt like the man says the Emperor was born circa 8000 BC in Anatolia
     
  17. Tehan

    Tehan Avatar of Khorne DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    May 22, 2007
    Messages:
    3,742
    It's not. It hasn't been mentioned in the rulebooks since third edition, where it was called the fabrication of a Tzeentch cult, and before that one splatbook in first edition. 40k is up to fifth, just so you know.

    Oh, and the novels aren't all that canonical. Just mention CS Multilaser when surrounded by 40k fans and see what happens.

    I skimmed it because if I wanted to read a wall and text from an online encyclopedia, I'd go to the online encyclopedia. Next time, use quote tags, or just link the article.

    As well as the points you had made. It seems you skimmed my post. And unlike yours, it was all my own words.

    Good gods, I thought people that nitpick punctuation instead of points raised were bad enough, but now there's someone that'll falsely accuse you of doing that instead of addressing the counterpoints.


    Moving right along.

    Erm. Have a good, long look at Slaanesh and then talk to me about Eldar being incorruptible. That, or just Commoragh.

    The Chaos Gods were still young, and Slaanesh wasn't even born yet. It could be that the Warp corrupted and destroyed the Wizarding world during the birth of Slaanesh, or the Age of Strife. Or it could be that wizardry is a more controlled, less dangerous form of psyker powers, to match the less crowded, warlike universe, a less crowded Warp, and younger gods.
     
  18. Hashasheen

    Hashasheen Half-Blood Prince

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Messages:
    3,534
    Gender:
    Male
    What about the Primarchs?
     
  19. enembee

    enembee The Nicromancer DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2008
    Messages:
    301
    Location:
    Murias
    High Score:
    2,451
    Just drop it. It's going to be terrible.
     
  20. Tehan

    Tehan Avatar of Khorne DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    May 22, 2007
    Messages:
    3,742
    Were scattered through the entire galaxy by the Ruinous Powers, and the Emperor STILL tracked them all down within a few decades.
     
Loading...