This guy is the current representation of Karak the Keeper, an ancient Templar in the service of the Mistress of the Void. The Templars are a race of humanoid creatures with mechanical bodies, animated by the cold emptiness of Ilian.
He first appeared in the Paul Bonner picture on the Gamemasterīs screen of the Mutant Chronicles 1st edition role-playing game, in a picture which showed Mitch Hunter, Big Bob Watts, Valerie Duval, Maximilian Steiner, Sebastian Crenshaw and Inquisitor Nikodemus, presumably as Doomtrooper teams, storming what is obviously a Citadel of Algeroth. The Apostleīs bladed cross symbol is in evidence, and their opponents are Necromutants and Immaculate Furies, servants of Algeroth, as well as Alakhai the Cunning, the Lord of Warīs commander-in-chief on Venus.
If we do not presume Karak to be visiting a Citadel of Ilianīs chief rival for the pleasant company and a nice chat over tea, this means that the creature in the picture is someone else entirely.
If one looks up the Algeroth sourcebook, with its listing of Algerothīs minions, only one creature fits the description, and that is the Lord of War himself:
"
Few, save his Nepharites, have looked upon Algeroth and lived to tell the tale, but those who have speak of a towering figure nearly thirty feet high. His face is a mask of brass and steel within which eyes glow like pools of molten lava. (...)
His body is massive and covered with tubes and electrical cables, living Bio-technology is attached to his body, and some of it has merged with the flesh of the Apostle, forming a symbiotic relationship with the Dark Lord. (...)
Algeroth is the ultimate living weapon. His form constantly shimmers and shifts. Weapons ranging from spiked clubs to hi-tech missile launchers present themselves within his torso and then sink back in, vanishing like ripples from the surface of a pool. On the field of battle, Algerothīs form constantly mutates to meet whatever threat presents itself (...)" (Algeroth: The Apostle of War, p. 86) (1994)
"
Algeroth can manifest any weapon that he wants to within his body. (...)
Algeroth literally IS war and violence, and any weapon of any time from human history is part of the Dark Apostleīs essence from ivory clubs to intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles.Algeroth can shift size at will, appearing as anything from slightly larger than a normal man to 30 feet tall. He prefers to use the larger form, but sometimes this is impractical." (Algeroth: The Apostle of War, p. 87) (1994)
If one is doubtful that Algeroth may deign to manifest Himself to mere mortals, I may point out that He did so in the Dementia novel, destroying the renegade Nepharite Ragathol and offering Cyril Dent, Yojimbo, and Mitch Hunter to join his forces:
"
Blessed art thou, bellicose and lethal, for you stand before Algeroth, the Apostle of War, and you have pleased him."
(Also, the lighting in Bonnerīs painted citadel makes it hard to determine whether this is maybe only a statue to Algeroth or the Lord of War himself.)
His description in Dementia also fits the picture closely:
"
Even more heavily muscled than Ragathol had been, this being had cables and tubes running across his red flesh. A red-gold battle mask covered his face, or so I thought until I saw the metal begin to move and tighten like flesh. (...)
Algeroth opened his hands slowly, but as they moved apart, I saw various weapons fill them and disappear."
Later portrayals of Karak the Keeper, like the black-and-white picture in the Ilian sourcebook (which appeared after the Gamemasterīs screen and the Algeroth supplement) are based on Paul Bonnerīs figure. There are several such representations, such as the one appearing in a Warzone 1st edition supplement. (A similar creature, still readily identifiable but with the addition of barbed and hooked chains, also has been presented as a Nepharite of Ilian armed with a rotary machinegun in 2nd edition Warzone.)
Karak shares some traits with Algeroth, so the switch comes quite naturally. He is described as a Templar whose mechanical body has mutated into grotesque shapes over time by the native Templar self-repair systems. He incorporated his weapons into his body, even though there is no mention of him being able to change forms or produce weapons at will. (Iīm afraid Iīm missing my Ilian book so I cannot quote here. If anyone has it, please post the paragraph!)
It is not clear whether the description came first and someone (noting the resemblance) linked Bonnerīs painting to it, or whether someone missed the Algeroth connection, and Karakīs capabilities and background fluff were written to represent the figure.
In any case, there is little visual resemblance between the existing pictures of Templars that were around at the time of the Ilian sourcebookīs writing and the Karak / Algeroth figure. The Bonner Algeroth / Karak clearly shows bare skin in places, whereas the Templars in the MC 1st edition rulebook are completely mechanical, featuring a characteristic lamellar structure on their limbs that is completely missing on Bonnerīs figure. The helmets match only remotely, with the Templars sporting a different face mask and spikes, and Algeroth / Karak having an antler-like structure vaguely resembling a Japanese helmet kuwagata.
The issue is confused by the fact that the Templar on the back of the Ilian sourcebook (which is armed with a Vassht from the Semai armoury, incidentally), drawn by Studio Parente, does show bare skin and bulging muscles, losing both the original Templarsī monastic robes and their calm, graceful insectile creepiness in favour of aggressive barbarian appearance and dynamic pose.
This kind of Templar only remotely resembles the descriptions from the rulebook and from inside the Ilian book, of a race of quasi-robotic beings animated by Ilianīs empty spirit. However, it bears (slightly) more resemblance to the Karak figure, which is probably why the newer Templar miniatures (appearing with 2nd edition Warzone) are modeled on the "barbarian Templar" rather than the original ones. (1st edition Warzone had the original Templars, though.)
What are your thoughts?