🌙This Life is a Gambit

Kor'O Vior’la Fejel'tsang'eo AKA Admiral Silvershark

🐾☀️

Kor’El T’au’n Ghurxul’hui AKA Captain Nightingale

It is insane to me that even now in the year 2026 if you watch a vid about T'au on youtube and scroll down to the comments they are just filled of endless hate for the faction.

I do not think there is any single faction in the setting the fandom has ever so collectively hated and shat upon. It is just bizarre to me.

The fact the the complaints about them are always along the lines of 'they win too much' or 'they have too much plot armour' in a setting where Space Marines, Custodes and Primarchs exist defies my understanding.

What sort of cognitive dissonance must exist to look at 40k's lore and conclude that the T'au are the faction with the most plot armour?! How does one even rationalize something like that?!

I thought overtime the hate would reduce because the T'au certainly are a faction which sells well by all indications, but the T'au still seem to be the most widely hated faction in the setting by far.

You know the difference between Imperium fans and Drukhari fans? The latter fully admit how fucked up their faction is and vibe with them especially because of it. The vocal Imperial fanboys often just point to the setting and say "but everyone is stupid evil that is the setting!".

Except not everyone is stupid grimdark evil. The T'au would be the hypercompetent oppressive evil empire in most other settings, but here they are just a rational actor showcasing by existing how fucked up the Imperium is in contrast. It makes them look bad.

Worse: it makes them look stupid.

And that happens in addition to the T'au being a threat to humanity's main-charater role in the setting, which also seems to trigger in some fans a reaction that can only be suspected to be rooted in a "fear of emasculisation".

It just absolutely boggles my mind to imagine somehow being so blind as to not realize the hypocrisy of complaining about T'au plot armour when you like Space Marines or Custodes.

I shouldn't be surprised, humans have an endless talent for cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy, but it still just surprises me it has endured so long.

I think you hit on something there which is very interesting which is the fact that most of this outrage comes from male players of the Imperium factions (usually Space Marines) and so that concept of 'emasculation' is an interesting one, thanks for bringing it up to me, it is something I will definitely have a think about because that is a good point.

I do think your point about the Imperium/Drukhari is also a great way of explaining it because as fans of outright villainous factions like Orks, Tyranids and such I don't ever try to pretend my faction is behaving morally, but for much of the Imperium fan's supporters a core pillar of their support is predicated on their argument that 'actually everything the Imperium does is necessary!'

Games Workshop and Black Library do not help by very obviously trying to code the T'au as being 'vaguely Asian' in their work.

HOLY CRAP AM I TIRED OF IT.

Along with the CONSTANT need to make every Aeldari character in the setting some pathetic love-crazed fangirl/fanboy for whatever Imperium character they maybe talked to ONCE the fact that T'au art so overwhelmingly for some reason is always 'Here is this T'au BIMBO she's just got huge tits and ass and wears nothing,' is incredibly aggravating.

Ryo-Ohki, modeled in blender, with a background painted in csp