Of all humans , only a handful of Inquisitors have ever entered the confines of the Black Library, and then only in the company of Harlequins and under the closest supervision. None have ever described their experiences in this mystical realm. These Inquisitors share a common bond with the Harlequins, for both are sworn enemies of Chaos and understand only too well the nature of the threat that faces the Aeldari and Humanity.
Recently, during the recent 13th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler in M41, the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion was able to penetrate the Webway and forcibly enter the Black Library, attempting to gain access to the arcane lore hidden within as part of his quest to better understand the very nature of Chaos itself.
However, a massive force of Harlequins and Aeldari warriors were able to drive the Chaos Sorcerer back. The Harlequins travel in groups called "masques," large ensembles that perform and fight together, echoing the gatherings of Cegorach's devotees in ancient days. Each masque is formed around a number of Troupes and joined by the likes of Shadowseers and Death Jesters.
Each member of the masque is a player in the grand performance. Each performs a part, taking up the role of some character from the mythic cycle. Thus, one might be the Dawnsinger, another the Blinded Princess. Some roles are reserved for specific members of the masque -- for only a Death Jester may play the role of Death. The most ominous role of all is that of the Solitaire, the most sinister and abhorrent, yet also most fascinating and alluring, troubadour within the host -- for the Solitaire alone may take on the role of She Who Thirsts, Slaanesh, the great and hated enemy of all the Aeldari.
The Harlequin lifestyle is very like the life of a roaming mime or troubadour of Old Earth's medieval times. They wander the Webway and occasionally appear at Aeldari settlements: on a Craftworld, on Commorragh, an Exodite Maiden World , or even, rarely, a human world in the Imperium of Man.
They perform frenetic, acrobatic dances for the spectators there which are also called Masques. Their artistic works portray the Fall , the legendary decline that destroyed the Aeldari Empire , the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh , and many other tales from the long history and ancient mythology of the Aeldari people. Troupes of Harlequins usually only treat with other Aeldari the night before a particularly auspicious battle.
They emerge unbidden from hidden portals, staging dazzling performances that tell of the legends of the Aeldari race. The Harlequins' masque is spellbinding; such extremes of emotion are reached in these stunning displays that a troupe can hold an audience of Drukhari completely in thrall as surely as any gladiatorial bloodbath.
In these pageants, each Harlequin plays the role of one of the figures from Aeldari legend, acting out stylised versions of Aeldari mythic cycles. When presenting their stories upon the stages of the Dark City, a Harlequin troupe's performance will always culminate with the tale of the Fall. This is a story of particular significance to the oldest Archons and Haemonculi , many of whom find Act One gratifyingly familiar.
Of all the parts of the mythic cycle performed by the Harlequin masques, the most renowned is the Dance without End. It is, however, far from the only tale performed by these enigmatic troubadours -- there is the Cripple and the Dragon, the Blades of Vaul, Isha's Tears, and many others. Each Harlequin in a masque assumes the persona of one of the characters from one of these epic tales at all times, and thus can be recognised by those Aeldari who know the tales.
In the tale of the Blades of Vaul, for instance, Vaul is moved by sympathy for Isha and Kurnous, who are imprisoned by Khaine, agreeing to forge swords for his brother to set them free. Vaul failed to make all the blades, however, and in his wrath Khaine attacked his uncle. The culmination of this pageant is the dazzling duel between the gods, played out by Harlequins of unparalleled skill. Since the Fall, the Harlequins have pursued their trickster god's veiled agenda.
Though their own records are hidden deep within the Black Library, the deeds of the Laughing God's servants are laced throughout the histories of their kin. The masques' appearances are the stuff of legends, and have become ever more frequent as the end of the 41st Millennium approaches:. Most of the Aeldari live with the bitter knowledge that their gods are gone, having abandoned them or been destroyed in the Fall.
Almost unique among their kind, the Harlequins know that Cegorach survived the Fall, and even now plans for the salvation of the Aeldari species. With every passing Terran year more Aeldari are drawn towards the way of the Harlequins, erasing their past identity and taking up the mask and motley of the Laughing God. A masque is an army and a company of dramatic players both.
It has no formal leaders, being instead a collective of like-minded devotees of Cegorach. All know their duties through their familiarity with the traditional roles of the characters they have adopted. No Harlequin rules their fellows for long, for all possess an equal voice. A Harlequin masque unleashed upon the battlefield is a thing of boundless fury and mind-boggling precision, the ultimate melding of cold, alien wrath and preternatural agility.
It is a spectacle of destruction as beautiful as it is murderous, as Troupes of warriors leap and bound through the enemy, slaughtering the foe even as Skyweavers cut off lines of retreat, herding the enemy onto the waiting guns of the Voidweavers and Death Jesters.
A masque possesses a synergy unmatched in almost any other fighting formation, an instinctive bond grown between the Harlequins as they travel and perform together and unleashed on the battlefield in times of war and strife. The organisation of a Harlequin masque is unusual by the standards of the most of the forces fighting in the Dark Millennium -- after all, it is formed from multiple bands of dancers, mimes and other dramatic performers. The organisational strictures of a masque hail from ancient days, when Cegorach's devotees were theatrical performers first and foremost.
Since the Fall, a place has traditionally been reserved in a masque's structure should a Solitaire lend their considerable abilities to a cause, but they are otherwise unchanged, centred around three distinct Troupes: the Light, the Dark, and the Twilight. Each contains a different cast of characters, grouped by outlook and symbolism. The Light, for example, is especially associated with swift action, the heroic protagonist, the sky and the day. By comparison, the Dark represents villainous antagonists, violent endings, and the night, while the Twilight is transitory, like the Webway or the fateful journey, comprising characters that bestride multiple or shifting worlds.
This structure ensures that each member is aware their fellows' roles, upon both stage and battlefield. This mutual understanding allows Harlequin masques to fight with near-prescient efficiency. Without the need for orders, each warrior knows both his own and his comrades' duties, as well as who will require support and who can provide it.
Indeed, despite the lack of a formal military chain of command, masques are capable of acting with far greater synchronicity and discipline than most standing armies. In battle, a masque seems less a group of individuals, and more a single, perfectly coordinated entity. Further enhancing this incredible efficiency is the fact that each of a masque's mythic plays has its battlefield counterpart, known by the Aeldari as its saedath.
Essentially a strategic battle plan with an allegorical edge, these inform target priority, overall strategy, and whether the conflict should be led by the Light, Dark, or Twilight. The appropriate saedath will be chosen based upon a range of factors; in some cases, masques specialise in certain mythic cycles, and will rely upon these to the exclusion of all else.
In others, the ritual significance of the foe, the battlefield, or even such factors as time of day or quality of light will inform this decision. Whatever the choice, each saedath is an intricate and brilliantly conceived strategy. While Harlequin masques tend to follow a time-honoured structure, established by the followers of Cegorach in ages past, each also has a distinct identity that reaches from their performances and onto the battlefield.
For instance, the Masque of the Leaping Stars go to war heralded by the same kaleidoscopic displays that accompany their performances, while the Mourning Mist advance in ghostly silence, as ominous as the shadow of Ynnead from Aeldari legend.
This adherence to tradition and connection to their ancient legends strengthens the masques in battle. Every tactic they implement is a counterpart to the mythic plays, known as a saedath, a battlefield plan with an allegorical edge.
These inform the masque's tactics and which Troupes will take the lead. Each Harlequin knows these saedaths on such an intricate level they are able to enact these strategies with flawless precision. The organisation of a Harlequin masque is almost as old as time, a deeply-engrained aspect of Aeldari culture that, while subject to small differences from one masque to the next, has otherwise remained fundamentally unchanged for thousands of Terran years. The heart of each masque is the cadre of three Troupes, each of which is led by a Troupe Master.
Appended to the three Troupes are the Skyweavers and Voidweavers. A full Masque will feature two squadrons of Skyweaver Jetbikes and one of Voidweavers. Masques also usually include at least one Shadowseer and Death Jester , and it is common for one of each to fight alongside each of the three Troupes and, on rare occasions, a masque may also be joined by a Solitaire.
This final Player is not bound to the masque, and will serve with it only as long as his own agenda and that of the masque are aligned. A Harlequin Troupe stands triumphant over some unfortunate Orks.
Harlequin Players perform with breathtaking skill, whether their stage is a wraithbone and glass amphitheatre bathed in crystalline light, or the firelit hell of the battlefield. They tumble, sprint and leap, every squeeze of the trigger and slash of a blade bringing death to the enemy. No Aeldari is born a Harlequin, and all manner of strange tales persist concerning how this metamorphosis occurs.
Some are supposedly drawn from amid bustling crowds, beckoned into the shadows by a masked figure only they can see. Others simply vanish from their personal chambers on a Craftworld, their precious Spirit Stone discarded in their wake.
To become a Harlequin means erasing all that has come before, be it friends, family, path or purpose. However it happens, once an Aeldari becomes a Harlequin every aspect of their old identity is erased.
These roles -- each known by a ritual character name such as the Webway Witch, the Sun Prince, or Shaimesh the Poisoner -- inform every aspect of the Harlequin's personality from that moment on. The difference between these three Troupes to a non-Aeldari observer would be hard to distinguish by visual clues alone.
Save for a rune badge that is either a prism, heart or four-sided star, there is little else to distinguish them from each other. The true difference between them is how the Players act. Harlequins from Light Troupes embody the heroic aspects of the Aeldari and typically play such heroes in their grand displays.
They launch brave charges, fight with boldness and hurl themselves into the fray like heroes of myth. Dark Troupes, on the other hand, appear sinister and vindictive in their actions and the ways in which they finish off their enemies seem cruel, flamboyant and often very violent.
The Twilight Troupes are the strangest, their actions dictated apparently by some unknown motive. They appear capricious or obsessive, and their actions are hard to read, until the moment their true genius is unveiled. A peculiarity that sets the Harlequins apart from their Craftworld and Exodite kin is that they do not bear Spirit Stones. Normally, when an Aeldari dies, their unprotected soul is devoured by Slaanesh in the Warp unless it is preserved inside one of these mysterious gems and joined with an Exodite World Spirit or Craftworld Infinity Circuit.
Yet the Harlequins alone possess a secret that allows them to escape Slaanesh's jaws, and it is not one they seem willing to share. To other intelligent species, the Harlequins' appearance seems to defy any form of squad identification or uniformity. This is exactly how the warriors of the Laughing God would have it; confusion is, after all, a tool of war. To them, however, each Player is identifiable as belonging to one of three Troupe divisions within a masque: Light, Dark and Twilight, and each player in the Troupe will wear the markings of that Troupe.
These icons are largely standard across the masques, with Light Troupes wearing a prism, Dark a four-sided star and Twilight a heart. Each Troupe is led by a Troupe Master, who wears the master rune, an ornate version of the same basic device worn by his Troupe, often hollowed out and bordered by curved arcs. All Players commonly display their Troupe rune upon a knee, thigh or shoulder plate. Each warrior wears their masque's colours, and honoured Players may also display their masque's rune.
An Aeldari Harlequin Solitaire. A formation of Skyweavers of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow. A Starweaver of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow. A Voidweaver of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow.
The Harlequins are highly accomplished warriors and each Player, as their warriors are called, can be considered almost a one-man army in melee combat.
Harlequin weapons fire is invariably lurid and spectacular in its effect, drawing upon the ancient technologies of the Aeldari to achieve impressively lethal results. Searing beams of polychromatic light, howling storms of shuriken blades, and billowing clouds of shimmering, hallucinogenic gas herald the Harlequins' explosive arrival onto the stage of war:.
These artefacts are items of incredible rarity, ancient treasures that are carefully maintained and stored within the Black Library:. Warhammer 40k Wiki Explore. Imperium of Man. Adepta Sororitas Important Links.
Drukhari Kabals Drukhari Important Links. Harlequin Important Links. T'au Empire Important Links. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? View source. History Talk 2. War must needs be theatrical. A Harlequin Troupe Master The Laughing God is the only authority that the Harlequins recognise, and their every deed is thought to be in furtherance of his own inscrutable agenda.
It is not worn in its basic form, but often echoed in diamond patterns across the masque. A Harlequin Solitaire. A Harlequin Shadowseer. A Harlequin Death Jester. Harlequin Skyweavers. Harlequin Voidweavers gather in fighting formation.
A Harlequin Troupe Master of the Dark. A Harlequin Troupe Master of the Light. A Harlequin Troupe Master of the Twilight. A Harlequin Solitaire displaying his typical markings. The Rune of the Solitaire is a dread omen, often left seared into the flesh of his victims' foreheads to sow superstitious fear among the enemy ranks. A Harlequin Shadowseer 's garb incorporates a version of their masque's colours and rune, while occasionally displaying the device of whichever Troupe they most often fight alongside.
The Shadowseer rune is a simplified version of that borne by other Eldar psykers. Its lack of framing lines represents the power of unconstrained illusion. The Rune of the Death Jester has long been synonymous with ill-fortune and unexpected bereavement.
Death Jesters incorporate their masque's colours and often the rune of their favoured Troupe, as well as the Rune of the Death Jester. The mysterious Harlequin warrior Motley. A Harlequin attacking a Chaos Space Marine. Various Harlequin Players agaith , or "false faces". A marathag , also known as a "face of death.
A Shadowseer's Mask -- Most Harlequin masks project whatever appearance the wearer wishes, yet a Shadowseer's mask shows only a twisted reflection of those who stare into its depths. Solitaire's Mask -- cruel and unsettling, this mask reflects the exaggerated androgynous features of Slaanesh in all their daemonic grandeur. A Death Jester 's Rictus Mask, which projects an aura of death in the general vicinity of the wearer.
As some already know, there were 4 color schemes for the Harlequin. To make the cars, 4 complete Golfs were painted a single color, and body parts were swapped.
From what I understand and again, this is just from what I've read over the years 4 Harlequin Golfs were produced as a color concept for auto shows in ' The public seemed to think the concept was interesting so VW went ahead and produced 60 more to be distributed among dealers in ' Response was luke warm, but people seemed to like them.
So another were produced and distributed in the US and Canada. That's what I gather. I have reason to believe that the one I own one that was in that first 64, as my VIN ends with According to another Harlequin owner, the production run VIN's ended in numbers to in a letter he received from VW , then mine was produced 20, cars before that run.
This is the first support for my theory that I own an early one that I have received! I've started this page, where I will post the information I have gathered from VW and other Harlequin owners, including VIN's, production dates, color scheme, and steering wheel type.
Perhaps over time we can piece together the information we all desire I remember downloading pictures of a Harlequin and reading a press release directly on VW's site. It was around the same time they introduced the TREK package in ' It would be great to find an archived copy of that web page and press release. If I only knew I would end up with one If anyone has any info, let me know.
The letter is from Robert Schoof, VW customer relations. Here's a copy of his letter:. Here's his letter.
Here's a copy:. Click the pic below to see the article big file. With the submission of Scott Guptill's Harlequin, it now appears I have gathered the three different Harlequin production periods mentioned earlier in this page. Using the production numbers assumed from the letters posted above, and what I've gathered, there were three production periods. I can not be one hundred percent certain, but the evidence points to this:.
Date Number of Cars Produced Possible Range of Last 6 of VIN sequence December, 4 March, 60 June, Note the range for the 4 car run and the 60 car run are larger than 4 and 60 respectively, as I used the actual cars that have been gathered on this site to calculate possible VIN ranges that would definitely encompass the number of Harlequins which were produced in each run.
If you have a car that fits in either of these ranges but is not a Harlequin, let me know so I can recalculate the bounds for the ranges. Switching from gasoline-powered cars to electric ones like the Volkswagen ID. The series was spurred by a Reddit thread with over comments from EV-curious posters, about things like whether or not you need to ch.
Her dreams finally came true in when her husband, Jessie, gifted her with a one-of-a-kind present for her 40th birthday: a tie-dye, flower themed Volkswagen Beetle. Gifting the tie-dye Beetle, which sports hearts and roses in it. In Bristol, Tennessee, a car-loving father-daughter duo are working on a special project. George Linke grew up around car racing and tinkering on vehicles with his family.
During the pandemic, Juliana, 7, expressed interest in helping her dad with home projects from painting to building a backyard deck.
Keen on feeding her curiosity, Linke allowed her to watch, learn and participate where she could. Eager to give her more hands-on experience, Linke got an idea to start a new project together. Keep up with the latest from VW.
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