Editing Eldar (section)

==How alien is alien?==
[[Image: Wych by miyaashina-db6s95v.jpg|thumb|right|200px|]]
[[Image: Dark eldar guard.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Due to the atrophy of their psychic powers, the Dark Eldar tend to be physically stronger.]]

:{{topquote|They were taller by far than most of the men present, and thin. Janus was reminded of the low gravity dwellers on Talus's Wheel - the thin, sickly ones too weak to move in anything like Earth-normal gee without an exo-skeleton - but when the strangers moved he put that thought aside. Not even the bulky cloaks could hide their grace. They did not so much walk as flow over to his table. Their movements had a liquid smoothness that was more cat than human, and put him in mind of a large predator. If a devilcat had taken on the shape of a man it might have moved like that. He was all but hypnotised by them as they flowed up to him. Suddenly they were just there, looming over him.|Farseer, ''William King''}}

Pretty damn alien.

Don't be fooled by their anthropomorphic appearances. Eldar may look like unnaturally tall and slender humans at first glance, but are actually entirely alien. (Look, just go with it. -GW)

* The Eldar are similar to humans in body structure: they have a torso, two arms, two legs and a head upon their shoulders. They are tall, standing around 2 meters (6-7 feet) in height with longer, leaner limbs and elegant features with penetrating, almond-shaped eyes and pointy ears. [[Macha]] the Farseer from the [[Dawn of War]] series has a canon height of 2.20 meters.
* Eldar have an entirely different natural gait from humans. Their movements radiate an inhuman elegance and an almost feline-like grace. This is evident in their fighting styles and the dexterity with which they wield their weaponry.
* Eldar senses of sight, hearing, touch and smell are many times greater then that of a human.
* Eldar are extremely long-lived; their average lifespan is over a thousand years. Eldar psykers, particularly Farseers, can live even longer. ([[Eldrad|Eldrad Ulthran]] is 10,000 years old and still going, although he is turning into living crystal) and [[Asdrubael Vect]] is older than [[Slaanesh]].
* Eldar may develop some fine lines and wrinkles as they get older, but they do not become decrepit the way humans do.
* They live at a pace and pitch of intensity many times greater than even the most exceptional humans.
* Their hearts beat almost twice as fast as a humans though half as strong each beat, their minds process thoughts and emotions with baffling speed, and their physical reactions are almost too fast for the human eye to follow.
* All Eldar can manipulate mental energies, but such raw mental power has its price. To an Eldar, all of life's experiences are available to a heightened degree: the intellectual rewards of study, the exhilaration of battle, and every imaginable pleasure or sensation. This potential for joy is paralleled by an equal capacity to feel despair, anger and even hate (which is what their War Masks are for). No creature, not even the Eldar, can taste such rich fruits in an [[Slaanesh|uncontrolled or undisciplined]] way without [[Fall of the Eldar|consequence.]]
*The Eldar experience a much wider spectrum of emotion then humans do, they can still feel mildly amused or frustrated the same way a human would but when it comes to the upper limits of what a human can feel, the Eldar emotional scale goes even further. Imagine the saddest moment of your life, the most miserable and wretched you have ever felt, then double it.
*Eldar are able to experience the world in a very different way to humans; not only are their regular senses, such as sight, smell and hearing many time stronger then humans, but they also have additional senses, much as a shark can see electric fields. The Harlequin in Throne World for example is able feel the memories of the dead forests that had been carved into the dusty furniture within the palace, and the sickness of the world itself; the Eldar in question is disgusted by how horribly the population of the world have treated their mother planet (bloody hippies).
* Eldar skulls demonstrate unusual bone texture and their teeth are outgrowths of the jawbone.
* Eldar bones are far lighter than human bones. The texture and formation suggest solidification from some form of liquid. Complex joints and 'fused' portions retain flexibility and durability (some form of organic resin). There is no marrow analogue but the internal cavities are packed with fibrous channels of unknown purpose (possibly delivery of free-moving lymph glands).
* Their ear tips are packed with nerve-endings and are [[An Eldar's Ears|erogenous zones.]]
* Their skeletal structure is densely packed with a muscle-like analogue with fibres that have a spiral structure similar to a coiled spring. These muscles surround the complex columns of intermeshed segments; the entire structure suggests enormous elasticity and tolerance to movement. This physiology supports high-speed manoeuvrability.
* These 'muscles' are tightly packed and are more effective than the muscle fibres found in humans. Although they may not bulk up in the same way as humans, they are actually physically stronger pound for pound than humans.
* They have no body fat or analogue. (It doesn't seem to stop the females from having breasts though. Guess they really are superior beings).
* According to FFG in Deathwatch: Rites of Battle, a close to 7ft tall, fully armored Eldar warrior tips the scale at about 60kg or 132.277 pounds; the same weight as a 5'7" human.
* Their ribs form fused 'wings' arching from an elasticated spine.
* They possess a flexible bony 'plate' like a second ribcage beneath the abdominal muscles.
* Their inner organs are vaguely human analogues, but they demonstrate a complexity and aesthetic 'tidiness' that is just unnatural. They have pulmonary muscles that work like a human's lungs with temperature regulators (twelve, along each internal wall) and detached lymph-glands (free moving?).
* Their digestive and renal systems are just as complex as their other organs. There is no peristalsis, chemical enzymes or digestive fluids (it is unknown how digestion takes place). Waste seems 'crystalized' and is odourless (yes, we're not making this up, they actually shit diamonds).
* Eldar conception occurs over an extended period of time and requires additional genetic material from the partner or partners at preordained stages throughout gestation (there is no chance of a baby from a one night-stand).
* The Eldar brain has multiple lobes, extreme density of cerebral matter, various unknown ganglia and central ridged organs. The fundamental structure of their brains resembles humans' but are far more complex and have additional layers of an unknown composition (stratum).
* Eldar DNA has a quintuple helix structure (instead of a human's double) and twenty chemical bases instead of humans' four. Their cellular arrangement distorts in response to examination as if rearranging their chemical code (transmission of information). They may be able to edit their genetic code in some fashion- in a similar manner to a Cephalopod editing its RNA (Ribonucleic acid); given that they don't seem to suffer from any form of cellular degradation; their genetic make up is so rock solid and stable (unchanging), it brings into question how they could possibly be able to adapt and change physically to changing environments or situations (evolution/adaptation), wouldn't they hit a genetic brick wall at a very early stage? and simply not be able to deal with all those harsh speed bumps that nature will inevitably throw their way? it could be that they can edit their genetic code when needed instead of needing to evolve their bodies over a period of time; such as adapting their bodies to deal with either bitter cold or burning heat without any trouble at all (have you ever read about an Eldar showing any form of discomfort due to extreme temperatures?; they wear the same skin tight gear whether fighting in frozen hell holes or hellish burning deserts). There were rumours that at some point the Eldar could adapt themselves to aquatic environments- although it doesn't go into detail on how this played out (maybe something similar to the [[Idoneth Deepkin]]); this may be another of those locked away abilities that are mentioned from time to time (potentially linked with one of their dead/lost gods). This could explain why the Dark Eldar are actually universally physically bigger, stronger and faster then their Craftworld kin, despite them being genetically identical (to make up for them choosing to allow their psychic abilities to atrophy).
* The Eldar enjoy lives unsullied by illness, frailty or disease.
* They appear to have complete control over their nervous systems and bodily functions (some form of passive [[Psychic Disciplines|Biomancy]]), such as consciously shutting down the nerves in damaged parts of their bodies or mentally forcing a wound to close and the blood to congeal faster to prevent bleeding out (Harlequin-The Inquistion War).
* Given time and further psychic manipulation, they can regenerate any bodily damage that they might have suffered (this includes regrowing entire lost limbs, similar to a reptile losing its tail).
*The Eldar physical condition can be heavily effected by both their mental and spiritual condition. When sad or depressed they can be seen, by observers, to physically "age", however they will quickly regain their vitality once they have pulled themselves back together; in a similar fashion, when focusing their rage and determination they can in fact grow in strength and power. When walking the path of the warrior an Eldar will develop a War Mask, allowing the Eldar to fully commit themselves without doubt or hesitation; this along with the spiritual influence of Khaine, seeing as his power is now flowing through their veins, means an Eldar warrior will be physically stronger and faster than they would be if they were walking a more civilised path; Khaine's influnce only grows stronger the closer they are to the Avatar. The Dark kin appear to physically wither the longer their souls are drained away, but quickly return to their prime upon "topping up" their tank.
*Though most Eldar do not formally develop their psychic abilities, all of them make use of telepathic and empathic communication.
*Taken as a whole, their physical makeup echoes their fall. Requiring complex chemicals to satisfy their digestive system and gene structure means they probably didn't colonize as freely across the universe as humans can; the more complex an organism is, the more time and care must go into its creation. The Eldar pay the price for their advantages, having far longer gestation periods, and requiring multiple stages of development to bring a Child into existence. It also takes them a long time (around a century or so) to finally reach physical maturity; this would go towards why the Eldar never really had a massive population (by galactic standards); when you are a nearly immortal being without any needs or wants, why the hell would you want to put yourself through dealing with a stroppy Eldar teen for forty odd years or more (human teens are bad enough)? You would think that needing to tap into psychic channels to maintain their bodies would makes them inherently vulnerable to the predations of the Warp; however, their potential origins presented in 'Wild Rider', which puts forward that the Eldar were intended to battle and contain incursions by Chaos (which to be fair they did for 60 million years or so pretty well) would explain why they are actually highly resistant (it still happens but is very rare). And when every quirk has the potential to become a mania, and every maniac can live for ten of thousands of years, the Eldar tend to just accrue [[Eldorath Starbane]]s and [[Goge Vandire]]s as a matter of course; this also works the other way around of course, and you could end up with the very opposite of the previous two mentioned (these are more of the extreme examples, but yes, it will happen at least a few time given enough time and the right circumstances).