Let's talk about one of the stranger influences on Warhammer 40K.
It's no secret that Warhammer, in all its incarnations, drew a lot of inspiration from pop culture during its foundational years. Many of the core ideas in the setting(s) can be traced to one or more influential works. Indeed we've looked at this subject before. If we were to talk about the Imperium and the Emperor of Mankind most people would point directly to Frank Herbert's Dune as being the inspiration. In large part, they'd clearly be correct, as the Imperium draws much for Herbert's works. But one central aspect of the Imperium seems to come from a less serious, if no less popular work, Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. Let's take a look.
The Quote
Adams' work of course is filled with many endlessly quoted portions and has been hugely influential. The book was first published in 1979, some seven years before the release of Rogue Trader and so was well known by the time Warhammer was made. One passage in particular however seems very relevant to 40K and the Imperium:
“The hereditary Emperor is nearly dead and has been for many centuries. In the last moments of his dying coma he...
