gorkamorka ork bloodcolour?

[nils]

hi
like in the topik wath is an orks bloodcouler?
i have one doc.  he has a hand in a pocket(not one of his!) and i like to paint
blood sucking throu the pocket,but is it red ore green ore black???

[Chico]

Back when Gorkamorka was released GW Canon was that Ork Blood is green dew to algae in their bloodstream, GW since then have changed their Canon to make Ork Blood red to show better effect when painting. The Cain books have the Ork blood as almost black, so any of these 3 would look right.

[Vermis]

Back when Gorkamorka was released GW Canon was that Ork Blood is green dew to algae in their bloodstream

Was that because of the establishment of orks as fungal life forms, or was the fungus angle tacked on later?

Regardless, on one hand, never mind that as a kingdom fungi is more closely related to animalia than plantae.

On the other hand, if (IIRC) the green algae is a symbiotic organism, I've got to assume it's green for it's chlorophyll and there for it's subsequent photosynthetic processes. (Trapping energy from light and converting it to food energy - sugars) As in some species of jellyfish and other, even less complicated organisms. That'd be a decent enough handwave for green skin; but I can't think of a straightforward excuse why the algae would then crowd the circulatory system, enough to turn blood green, well away from the light. It'd be like human blood turned black because the pigment it's full of is melanin instead of haemoglobin - it's just not in the right place to do it's job.
I'd say a better reason for ork blood being green - or even blue - is because the metal in it's oxygen-carrying pigment is copper rather than iron. (Or, and I only just discovered this myself, too much bile) But then it's less efficient for oxygen transport*, which might not suit highly energetic and motile orks in the middle of a waaagh.

In other words, I say go for red.

*Except, apparently, in very cold, low-O₂-pressure environments. Like... a space hulk? Could be mildly interesting if orks (or krork) were engineered with a backup haemocyanin production system to keep them ticking over in low-oxygen or even temporary vacuum conditions onboard spacecraft. But I dunno if it'd have much impact on tabletop minis, 'cos I imagine any orks in that situation would've switched back to haemoglobin well in time for a scrap.

This post has been brought to you by your friendly neighbourhood biology pedant.

[Chico]

That was a rather informative post . Actually Orks growing from Fungus was more or less included from the middle/late era of the RT days onwards which then was used too help to explain Wild Mobz (Feral Orks) when the fungus spores grew away from Ork Camps.

Heh also slightly off topic but a funny semi-related subject:

The Brain Boyz were originally Snotlings. They ate Brain Fungus which made them highly intelligent. However, being Snotlings, they were physically inept.

Thus the Brain Boyz created the Orks from Fungus, who did all the fighting and hard manual work. However, the Orks began to wonder why they were obeying these smaller, weaker ones, and so tried to eat the Brain Fungus for themselves.

Alas, it had no effect on them, and the Snotling race was helpless to watch as the Orks consumed every past piece of Brain Fungus. Without it, the Snotlings lost their mental faculties, and de-evolved.

[nils]

thank you 2
i will use red
i allways like biologylessons
who is cain?

[Chico]

who is cain?

The Ciaphas Cain series is a collection of science fiction novels set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. They centre on the eponymous character, an Imperial Commissar of the Imperial Guard and his varied and colourful career.

[Diakon]

Ciaphas Cain is basically Blackadder in the 40k Universe. Complete with his own equivalent of Baldrick. A really enjoyable read actually.

[nils]

ok
thanks

[Vermis]

Ciaphas Cain is basically Blackadder in the 40k Universe.

I thought he was Flashman?

(Don't ask me, though. Never read Flashman.)

[Diakon]

I thought he was Flashman?

(Don't ask me, though. Never read Flashman.)

Don't know Flashman but the style of the Cain books reminded me quite strongly of Blackadder. Maybe it's just me.