Very tall and lithe, impossibly tall they have been described. The Games Workshop Eldar Models are just as tall as Orks and Space Marines, but we're talking Dark Heresy here!

Are they taller than 2 meters? Or still man-sized? Could they pass for a human if disguised and their faces suitably covered?

Generally, I think of them as being about as tall as a tall but slightly build human. An eldar, disguised, might pass for a tall human until it moved... when the unnatural agility would be apparent if not necessarily understood.

Essentially, they're Tolkien elves.

My instinctive guess is 170-210cm. They could pass for a human so long as they're behaving themselves and not subject to particular scrutiny.

That is, every impression I've been left with has always been tall and inhumanly thin. Their features are evidently alien when you peer at them, but when just glanced over briefly, you wouldn't necessarily think anything particularly wrong.

As an aside, we might also note that folks like, say, Void Born and Navigators are probably immensely more 'inhuman' than your average eldar.

One of the overwhelmingly alien features of the alien is simply that they move and act differently, their facial expressions, the layout of their features, their ticks and their poise etc.

Human-like, but inhuman. Not just 'graceful human elf-like'. More than that, much more.

Dan Abnett at least likes his Eldar taller than humans. Ela'Ashbel and Ulu'Kastar are described as "towering demigods", far above human height, while Slau Dha, described as a "gian" in "Legion" lifts John Grammaticus by his throat without effort.

Idaan said:

I'm inclined that way as well - the Eldar are on average taller than humans, typically close to 2m, with some of them standing taller still. The impression of height is further increased by the tall helms they affect, meaning that even a Guardian, fully-armoured, will tower over humans by a considerable margin.

This is true of a fully wargeared Eldar.

In Creatures Anathema, it outright states that Rangers can and do blend in with human society. To me that says Eldar are sufficiently within the human norm that most people will not assume they are xenos, unless they have the appropriate lore skill. Granted, close examination will reveal that they are definitely not pure human, which would raise some questions that a masquerading Eldar would probably prefer not to answer.

I think the average Imperial citizen would find Tech-Priests far more disturbing then an Eldar...

The average citizen of the Imperium is likely to find anything outside of their narrow margined norm shocking - ;0)

I would go with those who say that an Eldar is like a really tall human - a ranger acting in disguise might have to adopt a slight stoop to pass as human to the casual observer - but an undisguised Eldar would not only look alien - upswept ears, angular, cold eyes, high cheek bones, long spindly digits and an unusual pallor to the skin - but when moving, in addition to the preternatural grace of its kind would do something with its movments that would exhibit alien genetics, like throwing the whole body into an alert stance unlike humans when moving - something that would show their roots were not simian. In this respect Xisor is absolutely right - it would be so much more than one thinks.

tall end of the average human spectrum, shorter than a Space Marine. That is the way i've always seen them.

RedMike said:

I always imagine them moving cat-like, very supple and lean and energy-efficient.

Asgard4tw said:

Me, too.

Also, if you are using them in your DH campaign for the first time, keep in mind that Eldar are always described as looking superficially like tall, thin humans, but when observed closely, their movements and mannerisms, to say nothing of their psychology, make them appear even more "alien" than than Orks or Tau...

LuciusT said:

Actually, I think most Middle Earth elves are slightly shorter than humans in Tolkiens work

But from what I remember Eldar are in fact slightly taller than humans, but I can't really remember what gave me that impression.

I could have sworn there is one of those silouette size comparison charts out there, that shows human, eldar, space marine, and ork, etc.

I remember that Shadowrun had a similar graph for their four races.

Asgard4tw said:

Xenology, maybe?

The Laughing God said:

I'll have to try to dig that up to check! For the moment though, I think it's pretty safe to assume that Eldar are taller than a normal human but overshadowed by an Astartes. Hmmm... Laughing God - you are right to say cat-like grace there - a kind of surety in every movement, and an arrogance or certainty about what they do. To our eyes, an Eldar would be a beautiful creature but capable of the most hideous atrocities if pushed, carried out with an alien efficiency and lack of moral compunction. To a human in the setting of the 41st Millenium, they would be very scary I think. Their height and unnatural physique would be major reasons for this assumption.

Honn said:

Tolkien elves were typically taller on average then most humans in his works; not by more then a few inches on average. Tolkien based his elves largely on the Sidhe of Celtic mythologies, which are described as being taller then men.

Honn said:

They've also been described as being taller then men in most of the novels; though on second impressions it seems to the observers that the difference is not so great as first thought. At least, that was the impression I got from the description of a scene in one of the novels. Can't recall which it was though.

-=Brother Praetus=-

A hero if ever there was one.

I think that chart has orks wrong though. They look Squat level in size, if the Squats still existed...

Brother Praetus said:

From what I recall that is only true for the older of the elves, like Galadriel (who is as tall as normal man, so tall for a woman), and the elven heroes of old who where really large. The Middle-earth born elves are shorter. Tolkien also based his workes on norse mythology, in which elves are a lot smaller.

Velvetears, where is that image from? I seem to remember seeing at least the components of it before.

This image doesn't load for me.

Also anyone know the weight of Dark Eldar?

This image doesn't load for me.

Also anyone know the weight of Dark Eldar?

All Eldar are exactly the same race as far as I know. This includes Craftworlders, Dark Eldar, Harlequins, and Exodites, so they would all share the same average wweights,

I don't know that I can give you a number, though. I would imagine they don't weigh too much more than a human.

Also anyone know the weight of Dark Eldar?

Since they are taller but thinner than the human norm, you could probably just average those two things out and go with human weights.

Also anyone know the weight of Dark Eldar?

Since they are taller but thinner than the human norm, you could probably just average those two things out and go with human weights.

Also their diet is lighter and better balanced than your average human's. There was an art from a RT book, depicting a Rogue Trader, dealing with a Kabalite. The Dark Eldar was visibly higher but also less robust and stocky than the human.