We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

What Are The Warhammer 40k Primarchs?

The Primarchs are superhumans created by the Emperor of Man using his own DNA and other genetic code including, at least in some cases, non-human DNA. In addition to science, however, the Primarchs were created using some of his psychic powers driven by the Warp. The Emperor referred to the Primarchs as his sons, which can be interpreted both figuratively and literally (as they are from his genes).

The Primarchs were intended to be not only great warriors–they are far more strong and tough than humans–but they were also bred to be smarter and wiser: they were intended to be generals and statesmen who would lead mankind.

As children, the Chaos powers stole the Primarchs and scattered them throughout the galaxy, using a Warp rift underneath the Emperor’s palace (in the Himalayan Mountains of Terra).

The Emperor used what remained of the genes of each Primarch and created the Space Marines, so each of the 20 original Space Marine Legions has some of the genetic material of the Primarchs (including, therefore, some of the Emperor’s own DNA). The Space Marines were created for the purpose of retrieving the Primarchs in what is known as The Great Crusade.

Each of the Primarchs was eventually found, and each one had gained traits associated with the world where they had been lost. The Primarchs were superhuman, but they were still flawed, and some were more corrupted than others. (In one case, cybernetics were used to enhance a Primarch while he was lost.)

Who Are the 20 Warhammer 40k Primarchs?

I Lion El’Jonson, Primarch of the Dark Angels

Special Wargear: Leonine Panoply, Lion Helm, Lion Sword

Best Known For: Battling Luther for the souls of the Dark Angels

Current Status: In stasis aboard a Dark Angels ship.

 

Lion El’Jonson is best known for what happened in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. Upon returning to his homeworld, Caliban, he found that part of the Dark Angels had turned traitor under the leadership of Luther. The Dark Angels under Lion El’Jonson’s direction would battle with the traitors, known as the Fallen Angels or simply as The Fallen, and would ultimately destroy the entire planet of Caliban.

It is for this reason that the Dark Angels have a tendency to be thought of as partially disloyal. No one aside from the chapter knows the secret of what happened to Caliban.

Luther used a psychic attack to kill Lion El’Jonson, but immediately had an awakening and knew he had been wrong to do so. But he and The Fallen were sucked into the Warp. Luther still lives, having gone mad. Meanwhile, Lion El’Jonson is thought by nearly everyone to be dead but sleeps in stasis. It is thought that, of all the Primarchs, Lion El’Jonson would be the most likely to make a reappearance.

II Unknown

III Fulgrim, Emperor’s Children

Special Weapons: Silver Blade of Laer, Fireblade

Best Known For: Being corrupted by the daemonblade of Laer and giving into Slaanesh

Current Status: Daemon prince of Slaanesh

Fulgrim was scattered to the poor world of Chemos, but quickly grew to be important and influential–by the age of 15 he was not merely a laborer in the endless factories, but an executive making technological improvements until Chemos became an incredibly efficient and productive world.

Upon being returned to Terra, Fulgrim became intensely close friends with his brother Ferrus Manus, and they were known as the Phoenician and the Gorgon. Together they forged weapons, Fulgrim made a warhammer called Forgebreaker, with an ebony shaft and a head that resembled an eagle and bestowed it on Ferrus Manus. Ferrus Manus made Fireblade, and bestowed it on Fulgrim.

But it would be another weapon which would be his undoing. In conquering a world during The Great Crusade, he claimed a silver sword that was, unbeknownst to him, a Daemonblade of Slaanesh. Once he began wielding it, it whispered to him and he began to turn to Chaos. Shortly thereafter, Fulgrim’s arrogance and corruption got to him and he turned against Ferrus Manus. And ultimately he would side with Horus in the Horus Heresy. He beheaded Ferrus Manus himself.

In the 41st Millennium, Fulgrim is a four-armed, reptilian Daemon Prince of Slaanesh using the Blade of the Laer. The Emperor’s Children, being disciples of Slaanesh, are always in the pursuit of pleasure and excess.

 

IV Perturabo, Primarch of the Iron Warriors

Special Wargear: Forgebreaker Thunder Hammer, The Logos power armor

Best Known For: Was efficient and brutal to the point of homicidal and genocidal

Current Status: Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided

Perturabo was scattered to Olympia where he learned technology and engineering, he was called The Lord of Iron. And it wasn’t just because of his knowledge of metalworking and mechanics, but also because of his iron will–he was cold and unrelenting, never a friend to anyone.

He went on The Great Crusade with this unrelenting and unfeeling resolve. He had no ideology other than simply following orders, so when he claimed worlds he didn’t do it for the good of the Emperor–he did it in the way that was most effective–even if that was to beat the planets into submission. By the time that Horus sought out Perturabo’s help, Perturabo and his Iron Warriors were already homicidal and genocidal world killers. And it began with the slaughter of his own homeworld, Olympia.

When the Emperor called on Perturabo to fight against Horus, Perturabo’s Iron Warriors betrayed the Imperium at the Drop Site Massacre: three loyalist chapters (the Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard) were seeking protection from Space Marines who they thought were their brothers (the Iron Warriors, Night Lords, Word Bearers, and Alpha Legion), the traitors turned on them and nearly wiped them out completelely.

In the 41st Millennium he dwels on the daemon world of Medrengard, a Fortress World. He carries Forgebreaker, the warhammer made by Fulgrim, which was bestowed to Perturabo after the Drop Site Massacre.

V Jaghatai Khan, Primarch of the White Scars

Special Wargear: White Tiger Dao, Wildfire Panoply

Best Known For: Tribal, “The Khan of Khans”, faced Mortarion in single combat

Current Status: Pursued Drukhari into the Warp and has been missing for 9000 years.

Jaghatai Khan was scattered by the Warp to planet known to its inhabitants as Chogoris, a Imperium planet with a pike-and-shot level of technology. Jaghati became the greatest warrior in his tribe, and in twenty years of fighting and uniting tribes, he conquered the whole of Chogoris.

When reunited with the Emperor and becoming leader of the White Scars, the Legion was known for being tribalistic, taking after “the Khan of Khans”, their leader. They attacked with speed, hitting hard and fast where the enemy was weak, and while they were often thought of as wild butchers, they were actually more honorable and strategic than that.

Of all the other Primarchs, Jaghatai Khan was closest to Horus Lupercal and Magnus the Red. He and Horus shared battlefield philosophy of rapid assault, and he and Magnus were close because they were both misunderstood outsiders. However, when the Horus Heresy came, there was never a shred out doubt in Jaghatai’s mind that he would support the Emperor and fight against his traitor brethren. He was a man of strict honor and would not betray.

In the events of the Heresy, Jaghati Khan faced Mortarion one-on-one, Primarch to Primarch. After the most wearying fight that Khan had ever faced, and one blow away from finishing it, Mortarion was sucked away into the Warp. And as the Heresy came to a close the White Scars pursued the Traitor Legions into the Eye of Terror.

After the Heresy came to a close, Jaghatai’s ire turned toward the Drukhari, who had raided his homeworled and seized slaves. Khan pursued the Drukhari to… no one knows where. It is believed that he is still alive somewhere in the Webway and will one day return.

VI Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves

Special Weapons: Mjalnar Forstblade also known as Sword of Balenight

Best Known For: Wild and unpredictable, attacked at least three Primarchs in one-on-one combat

Current Status: Missing. Entered the Eye of Terror to chase Magnus the Red

Scattered to the ice world of Fenris, Leman Russ was literally raised by wolves before being brought into the king’s household and being trained as a warrior. It was said that in battle he could defeat entire armies and rip oak trees from the ground with his bare hands. When the king died, he named Leman Russ as his successor.

When found, the Emperor himself entered King Leman Russ’s halls and proclaimed himself Emperor of Man, but Leman Russ wouldn’t pay homage. Instead he challenged the Emperor to three tests: eating, drinking, and combat. Russ won the first two, but the Emperor defeated Russ in battle and Russ swore allegiance to him.

The Space Wolves became the Emperor’s exterminators and even during The Great Crusade, before the Horus Heresy, Leman Russ engaged other Primarchs in one-on-one combat: first, Angron, and then later Magnus the Red. During the Horus Heresy, the Emperor again sent Russ after Magnus, and they fought until Russ nearly killed his enemy and Magnus disappeared using sorcery.

Later, Russ went directly after Horus and came face-to-face with him in battle. Leman Russ became wounded and was nearly killed when he was rescued by hundreds of swarming Space Marines. Russ was unconscious for a long time, until after the Heresy had ended.

Post-heresy, Russ was enraged to find the Emperor entombed on the Golden Throne. He was upset with Robute Guilliman, the new Lord Commander of the Imperium, and refused to followed the Codex Astartes. Ultimately, Russ went after Magnus into the Eye of Terror along with a small retinue. He was never heard from again, and the Space Wolves will occasionally go on The Great Hunt to search for him. There are rumors that Magnus knows the location of Leman Russ, but has never divulged it.

VII Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists

Special Wargear: Storm’s Teeth chainsword, Voice of Terra bolter

Best Known For: Defending the Sol System during the Horus Heresy

Current Status: Missing and presumed dead. Severed hand is preserved in stasis.

Scattered to the ice planet of Inwit, very little is known about Rogal Dorn’s early life except that he was adopted into the House of Dorn where he was taught tactics and survival. Eventually he became leader of the entire planet before being found by the Emperor.

Rogal Dorn was intensely loyal to the Emperor, believed to be one of the most loyal Primarchs of all. With a mind for both siege warfare and defense, Rogal Dorn accompanied the Emperor to Terra when the Emperor set about creating the planet’s fortresses, particularly the Imperial Palace.

Dorn clashed with Perturabo over the the two’s accomplishments as masters of the seige. He also fought with Konrad Curze because Rogal Dorn became aware of Curze’s vision of the Horus Heresy.

When the Emperor left the Great Crusade to return to Terra and work on his special project, the Webway, he ordered the Imperial Fists to join him and set up defense of the planet. But before Rogal Dorn could return, Horus’s betrayal was realized. Initially, Rogal Dorn was named the Lord Commander of the Imperium before that title was transferred to Robute Guiiliman.

By the time that Horus reached the Sol System, Rogal Dorn was ready and waiting with a five-tiered defense. As each tier was slowly beaten down, Dorn retreated until he remained on Terra for the final battle. In one-on-one battle he defeated Kharn the Betrayer easily. He tried to goad Perturabo into combat, but the traitor Primarch would not engage.

Dorn joined Sanguinius and the Emperor in the final attack on Horus and the Vengeful Spirit. When Sanguinius was killed and the Emperor mortally wounded, Dorn brought their bodies back to Terra.

In the 41st Millennium, Rogal Dorn is missing and assumed to be dead after a battle against a Chaos fleet in which he was gravely outnumbered. His severed hand was recovered and is kept in stasis by the Imperial Fists.

8. Konrad Curze, Night lords

Special Wargear: Mercy and Forgiveness, Lightning Claws

Best Known For: Being “The Night Haunter,” a ruthless vigilante

Current Status: Killed by a Callidus Assassin

Scattered to the hellish world of Nostramo, he was not taken in by anyone but raised himself from a child. With strong psychic visions, Konrad Curze was constantly bombarded with visions of death. He began killing as a vigilante, trying to right perceived wrongs, but eventually became a murderer who hunted down anyone he thought could be guilty and killed them, known to the people of Nostramo as The Night Haunter.

Eventually gaining favor of the nobles who he had not killed, he became the leader of the world, but even as ruler he maintained his murderous rampage as Night Haunter. When the Emperor arrived, along with Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus, Rogal Dorn, and Lorgar, he had a vision of all of their deaths, so horrifying he tried to claw his own eyes out. The Emperor commanded him to be at peace.

Konrad Curze learned about the Space Marines from Fulgrim, and confided in Fulgrim his visions of the Horus Heresy and Fulgrim’s death. But Curze was eventually given command of the Night Lords. He encouraged his marines to decorate their armor with anything that would inspire fear–to mold them all into Night Haunters like himself. The Night Lords themselves were so corrupted that Konrad Curze hated his own legion.

Still, the Night Haunter and his Night Lords drew ever closer to the whisperings of Chaos, and when the Horus Heresy began Curze pledged loyalty to Horus. The Night Lords were there to betray at the Drop Site Massacre.

Later, Konrad Curze would confront Sanguinius and tell him of the visions of both their deaths. Sanguinius said that he would remain faithful. Curze offered Sanguinius a chance to kill him, but Sanguinius refused. However, during the siege of Terra, Sanguinius had Konrad Curze locked in stasis, and jettisoned him into the void of space.

Curze was eventually killed by a Callidus Assassin. Curze knew it would happen down to the exact time, and had a vision–after the Emperor was on the Golden Throne–in which he conversed with the Emperor who told him that life was not predestined but that Curze had chosen his path.

IX Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels

Special Wargear: Blade Encarmine, Spear of Telesto

Best Known For: Being charismatic and loved by all; being killed by Horus

Current Status: Dead.

Scattered to the world Baal, Sanguinius was a great warrior even before being found by a people known as the “People of the Pure Blood”. Sanguinius had a pair of feathered wings on his back, like an angel, but it is unknown how he came by these wings–whether it was because of his homeworld or because of the genetic engineering of the Emperor.

One of the most beloved Primarchs, he was charismatic, amiable, and loyal. When the Emperor arrived, Sanguinius recognized him from a vision (much like Konrad Curze). Sanguinius immediately pledged allegiance to the Emperor, and was granted leadership of the ninth Space Marine Legion, which became known as the Blood Angels.

During the Great Crusade, Sanguinius and Horus became close friends, closer than any other Primarchs. It was Sanguinius who convinced Horus to change the name of his Legion from the Luna Wolves to the Sons of Horus. When Horus became Warmaster, Sanguinius acted as a counselor to him. And though Horus knew of the genetic flaw in the Blood Angels, he kept Sanguinius’s secret from the Emperor.

At the start of the Horus Heresy, Horus plotted Sanguinius’s death to be first, because he knew for certain that Sanguinius would never betray the Emperor and he had to be destroyed. So Horus sent him into an ambush. However, the Red Thirst overtook the Blood Angels and they went into a frenzy destroying the Chaos forces waiting for them. Sanguinius swore vengeance on Horus.

Sanguinius and the Blood Angels returned to Terra, though Sanguinius knew that he was giving into the Black Rage, and he had visions of his own death.

In the Battle of Terra, Sanguinius’s presence and his reputation as both fiercely loyal and an almost-literal angel boosted the defenders’ morale. He organized the final defense of the Imperial Palace and held the Eternity Gate alone fighting against a Greater Daemon.

When the Emperor transported to the Vengeful Spirit, he took Sanguinius with him, but they were separated. Sanguinius found Horus first and tried to convince him to repent. Horus struck down Sanguinius, killing him.

X Ferrus Manus, Iron Hands

Special Wargear: Forgebreaker warhammer, Medusan Carapace armor

Best Known For: Friends with Fulgrim, The Phoenician and The Gordon

Current Status: Beheaded by Fulgrim at the Drop Site Massacre

Scattered to the planet Medusa, as a youth–before meeting any other beings–he accidentally let loose a giant bio-mechanical worm creature, and he swore that he would track it down and destroy it. He spent his early years living alone and was known as a myth to the inhabitants of the planet as The Hunter. Though he eventually met with the humans on the planet, he never joined with them and remained a persevering hunter. The last of his conquests was the Great Silver Wyrm Asirnoth, which Ferrus Manus had to thrust into magma to destroy. The metal from the creature fused to his hands.

Upon rejoining with the Emperor, Ferrus Manus became fast friends with Fulgrim, and the two were known as the Phoenician (Fulgrim) and The Gorgon (Ferrus Manus). Ferrus Manus was one of the four Primarchs Guilliman referred to as “the Dauntless Few” (along with Rogal Dorn, Sanguinius, and Leman Russ).

At the Horus Heresy, Fulgrim tried to get Ferrus Manus to betray, and the two fought. Ferrus destroyed Fulgrim’s blade, but Fulgrim escaped, leaving his own warhammer, Forgebreaker, behind.

However, at Isstvan V, the two fought again, the Iron Hands against the Emperor’s Children, and Fulgrim killed Ferrus Manus, beheading him with the daemon weapon that had corrupted him. Fulgrim brought Ferrus’s head to Horus.

XI Unknown

XII Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters

Special Wargear: Gorechild and Gorefather, twin chain axes

Best Known For: Being brutal, giving into Khorne

Current Status: Daemon prince of Khorne

Scattered to the brutal world of Nuceria, he fought as a gladiator and was surgically implanted with cybernetics known as Butcher’s Nails. The Nails are embedded in the skull, with long cables trailing from them which amplify anger and rage. Angron grew more powerful and led a slave revolt against the more civilized parts of Nuceria, but just as he was about to attack the Emperor arrived.

Angron was the first and only Primarch who refused the Emperor when offered command of Space Marines and a place as Primarch. The Emperor teleported Angron against his will up to the Emperor’s ship. Still resisting, the Emperor sent Angron to be with his Space Marine Legion, then known as the War Hounds. Only one Marine on board could speak to the Primarch, Captain Kharn (who would eventually become Kharn the Betrayer). Angron renamed the Legion to be the World Eaters.

Angron set tasks for the World Eaters: to conquer worlds in 31 hours–one Nucerian day–and when they repeatedly failed to do so he would literally decimate the Space Marines (kill every tenth man).

Just prior to the Horus Heresy, the Emperor sent Horus to restrain Angron, but it was too late because Horus was already turned toward Chaos. Initially he refused Horus’s calls to join him and instead Angron and the World Eaters went on a killing spree across the galaxy, devoting himself to the Chaos God Khorne, but eventually returned to Terra where he was determined to kill the Emperor himself and was enraged when Horus gave that order to the Death Guard instead.

Through a series of events Angron was launched from a ship above Terra, falling like a meteor toward the planet. When he landed he killed friend and foe alike. But despite the many things he destroyed and the thousands he killed, he couldn’t penetrate the Emperor’s Palace. When Horus was killed and the traitor legions fled, Angron retreated to the Eye of Terror, servant of Khorne.

XIII Robute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines

Special Wargear: Hand of Dominion power gauntlet, Gladius Incandor sword

Best Known For: Becoming Lord Commander of the Imperium

Current Status: Lord Commander of the Imperium, reborn after 10,000 years in stasis

Scattered to the world Macragge, Guilliman was found by noblemen. Immediately upon finding him, miracles began to occur, including visions, strange signs, and one of the leaders of Macragge dreamed of the Emperor. They gave Guilliman the name Robute, which means “Great One”.

Robute learned, led armies, and eventually came to rule and civilize Macragge. Rather than taking Guilliman from Macragge, the Emperor was so impressed with Guilliman’s leadership of the world that he transplanted the Ultramarines to Macragge as their new homeworld and forward base.

Next to Horus and the Luna Wolves, Guilliman was second-most successful in The Great Crusade. When Horus was named Warmaster, Guilliman supported him and became a trusted advisor.

At the beginning of the Horus Heresy, Horus tricked Guilliman by sending him to a far off sector of space while executing his plan. Guilliman was attacked by Lorgar and the Word Bearers, bringing a daemon in to split Guilliman’s ship and make him fight in the vacuum of space without a helmet. But he succeeded, and was able to regroup with the Blood Angels and Sanguinius.

However, because they were cut off from the Imperium by a Ruinstorm created by the Word Bearers, Guilliman wrongly believed that the Emperor had been defeated and that the Imperium had fallen. He started a second empire, the Imperium Secundus, but he refused to declare himself Emperor. Ultimately, however, they were able to breach the Ruinstorm and head to Terra.

Arriving at the final moments of the Siege of Terra, Guilliman and the Ultramarines’ presence forced Horus’s hand, and he allowed the Emperor to face him one-on-one, thus ending Horus’s life as well as the war. With the Ultramarines left as the largest legion remaining, Guilliman was named Lord Commander of the Imperium.

As Lord Commander of the Imperium, Guilliman gave two orders to the Tech-priest Belisarius Cawl: to resurrect him if he should fall, and to create the next generation of Space Marines.

Guilliman did fall. He was wounded fighting the Emperor’s Children. Fulgrim, now a huge multi-limbed daemon, stabbed Guilliman in the neck. Guilliman was placed in stasis and remained there for 10,000 years.

However, Belisarius Cawl remained true to his word and in the 41st Millennium Guilliman was roused from stasis, more powerful than ever. Guilliman returned to Terra and stood before the Golden Throne and had an unclear vision in which he possibly conversed with the Emperor, who told Guilliman that he was the last hope for mankind.

XIV Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard

Special Wargear: Manreaper Silvence, a battle scythe

Best Known For: Succumbed to Nurgle’s plague; first legion to land in Siege of Terra

Current Status: Daemon prince of Nurgle

Scattered to Barbarus, Mortarion landed in the center of a dead battlefield, surrounded by bodies and the air choked with poisonous gas. He was taken in by the greatest warloard and learned the art of war, but escaped to the lowest of people and became their leader, and then sought to destroy the great warlord. But, as he got there he doscovered that the Emperor had just done the job for him.

Once in charge of the Death Guard, Mortarion became very close to both Horus and Konrad Curze, to the point where Guilliman began to suspect that his loyalty didn’t lay with the Emperor. At the same time, Mortarion was critical of the Emperor’s decision to make Horus the Warmaster and return to Terra, leaving the Great Crusade.

Mortarion always hated the Warp and magic, including a dislike of Magnus’s sorcery, and this dislike is the tool used by Horus to gain Mortarion’s allegiance in the Horus Heresy. When he learned of the Emperor’s use of the Warp to create the Primarchs, Mortarion began to distrust him.

In the Heresy, Mortarion and the Death Guard betrayed the loyalists in the Drop Site Massacre. Mortarion also, to his own disgust, learned of his own latent psychic abilities, and began to master them. In battle he fought one-on-one against Jaghatai Khan, but it was a stalemate and Mortarion left the White Scars to purge the systems around Prospero.

As the Death Guard fleet headed to Terra, Typhon (now Typhus) led to their contact with the Destroyer Plague, a disease created by Nurgle that takes the form of flies that lay their eggs in every orifice of the body, which gestate in a person until they burst open and infect someone else. The Death Guard succumbed and then, too, did Mortarion. Mortarion attempted to kill Typhus twice for his betrayal, but the captain came back to life both times, and soon Mortarion reveled in his knowledge that he was stronger and tougher than ever. He pledged loyalty to Nurgle.

Mortarion led the Death Guard as the first-landed Legion in the Seige of Terra, but they never breached the Imperial Palace. When Horus was killed, Mortarion retreated to the Eye of Terror and became a Daemon Prince of Nurgle.

XV Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons

Special Wargear: Blade of Ahn-Nunurta, Psyfire Serpenta

Best Known For: The Emperor showed him a vision during the Siege of Terra; Sorcery

Current Status: Daemon prince of Tzeentch

Scattered to Prospero, Magnus was different from the other Primarchs in that he knew who and what he was, and he communicated psychically with the Emperor. Prospero was a planet of psykers, and he learned more about this power as he grew. But he went against the ways he was taught and instead of channeling the Warp energy into the Materium universe, he looked directly into the Warp and became a master of it. Because of this mastery, he became the hero and leader of Prospero.

After being united with the Thousand Sons, who, having his genes, also had psychic traits, Magnus trained his Space Marines to use this magic. But eventually the Emperor ruled that psychic powers should only be used by navigators and astropaths, which drove a rift between thw two. Still, Magnus saw in vision the Heresy and didn’t approve. He tried to talk Horus out of it and failed, then tried to warn the Emperor via the Warp, but couldn’t breach the Emperor’s defenses. A force in the Warp offered Magnus more power and he accepted, tearing a hole open in the Imperial Palace and send in all manner of daemons. It became known as Magnus’ Folly.

The Emperor sent the Space Wolves and Leman Russ, who acted as the Emperor’s executioners, to retrieve the Thousand Sons on Prospero. In what became known as The Burning of Prospero, Leman Russ burned the great libraries and archives to the ground. Magnus fought Russ one-on-one, but before Russ could win, Magnus escaped into the Warp. Magnus’ physical body had been destroyed and he was made up entirely as part of the Warp.

In the Siege on Terra, Magnus penetrated the Imperial Dungeon and saw a vision of what would have happened if the Heresy never took place, and in this future it was Magnus sitting on the Golden Throne controlling the webway. However, the Emperor had cursed the Thousand Sons, something that Magnus could not forgive, and he turned away. He fought Vulkan, but gave himself fully to the Warp and escaped.

XVI Horus Lupercal, Primarch of the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus

Special Wargear: Worldbreaker power maul

Best Known For: Instigating the Horus Heresy

Current Status: Killed by the Emperor. Body was taken by Abaddon and cloned by Fabius Bile, but Abaddon killed the clone.

Scattered to Cthonia, a planet not far from Terra, he was adopted by a gang. But upon his first true kill (of the gang leader) he had all his memories brought back to him about who he was. Tech-priests brougt him back to Terra, and he became the first Primarch found. Because of this he became the most powerful Primarch and worked alongside the Emperor for 30 years, beginning the Great Crusade.

Horus proved himself to be a brilliant tactician. When the Emperor would leave to reunite with the other 19 Primarchs, he would leave Horus in charge, preparing him to be Warmaster. However, Horus’s elevation to the rank of Warmaster would anger other Primarchs including Angron, Perturabo, and Konrad Curze. He also used his power as Warmaster to put the Primarchs against each other in competition to prove themselves.

The seeds of heresy were planted when the Emperor seemingly abandoned the Great Crusade and left Horus in charge while he left to go back to Terra–without telling Horus the reason he was leaving (to work on the Webway Project).

Unknown to Horus, Lorgar and the Word Bearers had fallen to Chaos and plotted to make Horus a Chaos Champion. This came to fruition when Horus was wounded by a Nurgle blade, and he sought healing from the Word Bearers’ Chaplain Erebus. Erebus did a Chaos ritual and showed Horus a vision of an Imperium where the Emperor was worshipped as a god and the Imperium was totalitarian and brutal. He also saw the truth that the Emperor, who had banned the use of psykers, was a psychic himself and therefore a hypocrite.

Horus began his heresy by virus bombing the planet of Isstvan III, killing billions. Seven space marine legions were sent to intercept him and they met at Isstvan V, but four of the legions betrayed the Emperor and joined Horus in the Drop Site Massacre. He then set a course for Terra. He first met the Space Wolves at the Battle of Molech where he fought Leman Russ. Russ hesitated to kill Horus, but did land a devastating blow from his spear (the Spear of Russ).

Horus arrived in the Sol System through a Warp rift above Luna, aboard his flagship the Vengeful Spirit. The Seige of Terra became prolonged and there was a threat of more legions coming to the Emperor’s aid, which forced Horus’ hand. He dropped the shields of his shipped, drawing the Emperor to come aboard himself. Horus first met and killed Sanguinius. Then, standing above the body of the dead Primarch, he faced the Emperor.

The Emperor and Horus fought powerfully, with the Emperor holding back and not wanting to actually kill his son, which allowed Horus the chance to severely wound the Emperor. One Custode entered the room and Horus killed him with a glance, which convinced the Emperor of what must be done. The distraction of the Custodian was enough to give the Emperor a chance for a killing blow of psychic energy straight through Horus’ heart. Horus regained his senses, free from Chaos, for just a moment and realized what he had done, but it was too late.

After Horus’ death, his body was claimed by Abaddon and brought back to the Eye of Terror. Fabius Bile made at least one clone of Horus, but Abaddon killed the clone.

XVII Lorgar Aurelian, Primarch of the Word Bearers

Special Wargear: The Illuminarum

Best Known For: Being the first Primarch to fall to Chaos; Creating the Riftstorm that blocked Guilliman from returning to Terra

Current Status: Became a daemon prince. Meditated for thousands of years. Rumored to be returning with a large force of Word Bearers.

Scattered to the planet Colchis, Lorgar was found by an exiled Priest of the Covenant. Lorgar was not treated well, but followed in the priest’s footsteps and became a preacher, then Archpriest, then named “Bearer of the Word.” But Lorgar had enemies who branded him a heretic, especially because of visions he had. There were battles caled the Schism Wars, and Lorgar led an army–always as a preacher, giving a mighty sermon to the capital city, and they opened the gates to him.

When the Emperor, along with Magnus the Red and two squads of Thousand Sons arrived on the planet Lorgar recognized them from his visions. Lorgar reorganized the Covenant’s doctrine to worship the Emperor, though the Emperor did not approve. Lorgar took command of the 17th Legion of Space Marines, then called the Imperial Heralds, and renamed them the Word Bearers.

During The Great Crusade, Lorgar preached the Emperor’s divinity, building cathedrals and seeking out heretics. Their progress in the crusade was slow, but they conquered through indoctrination so the worlds they controlled were completely submissive. But the Emperor was not happy with the religious beliefs of the Word Bearers, and he sent the Ultramarines to destry one of Lorgar’s world-building projects on Monarchia. The Emperor, flanked by Guilliman, forced Lorgar to kneel before him, humiliating him.

It was because of this that Lorgar was the first of all the Primarchs to fall to Chaos–43 years before the Horus Heresy. When Lorgar saw that Horus was falling, Lorgar quickly aligned himself with them. They betrayed the Space Marines during the Drop Site Massacre.

Later on, after an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Ultramarines. They failed at this, but Lorgar eventually gained the power to summon a massive Riftstorm which cut off the Ultramarines from Terra, leaving the UItramarines to thinking that the Imperium had fallen.

But Lorgar had lost faith in Horus, believing him too weak to accomplish the goal of destroying the Imperium. He committed to killing Horus and becoming Warmaster himself. Lorgar went into the Warp in search of Fulgrim, who was by now a daemon prince of Slaanesh. Through ritual, Lorgar learns Fulgrim’s true name and gains power over him, to use him as a tool to destroy Horus.

But Lorgar’s rebellion was not to be. Horus met Lorgar and attacked him. Horus beat him bloody and demanded that Lorgar take up his weapon on fight, but Lorgar refused. The control of the Word Bearers fell to Lorgar’s Dark Apostle Zardu Lyak, who served Horus. Lorgar left for places unknown, promising that Horus was doomed to failure.

Lorgar eventually ascended to become a daemon prince, and stays in a hermitage on the daemon world of Sciarus, meditating for thousands of years. In the 41st Millennium it was rumored that he had returned, leading a huge Word Bearers force.

XVIII Vulkan, Primarch of the Salamanders

Special Wargear: Dawnbringer the Thunder Hammer, The Furnace’s Heart Plasma Pistol

Best Known For: Surviving and resurrecting from Konrad Curze’s multiple attempts to execute him

Current Status: Presumed dead, but the Salamanders believe he can be reborn if he can collect the Artefacts of Vulkan

Vulkan was scattered to the planet Nocturne and was taken in by a blacksmith. Nocturne was frequently raided by Drukhari, and in Vulkan’s fourth year on the planet he refused to hide but stood alone to face the raiding force. He killed more than a hundred Drukhari, and inspired the townsfolk to take up arms and fight back.

The Emperor arrived in secret and challenged the now powerful hero to a series of tests. Vulkan accepted. The tests grew harder and harder and always the stranger equaled Vulkan. In a final test of bravery, Vulkan killed a massive salamander Fire Drake, but fell into the mouth of a volcano. For hours he hung from the edge, one hand on the mountain and one holding his prize, the salamander. Finally, the stranger appear. He threw his own salamander into the lava to save Vulcan and the two walked back to town together. It was then that the Emperor and Vulcan were reunited.

Vulkan was reluctant to take on the legion of Space Marines, but when he did he named them the Salamanders. During the Great Crusade he had many confrontations with the Aeldari and Drukhari, some of which haunted him with guilt and some of which caused him to destroy whole worlds.

In the Horus Heresy, Vulkan was with Ferrus Manus and Corax at the Drop Site Massacre. The majority of the Salamanders were killed with nuclear weapons fired by the Iron Warriors. Surrounded, he fought what he thought was his last battle, but instead he was taken captive by Konrad Curze. Curze first thought to turn him, which failed, then tried to execute him in increasingly over-the-top methods including decapitation, shooting him with a bolter at close range and throwing him into the vacuum of space. But each time Vulkan would regenerate. In one last combat, Vulkan was given his hammer, Dawnbringer, but the hammer gave Vulkan power to teleport and he escaped.

Having been severely wounded over a continued crusade to destroy him, he returned to Terra. He made his way through a long and arduous journey through the Webway and emerged at the front of the Imperial Palace. Vulkan met with Rogal Dorn, and then brought before the Emperor himself. The Emperor revealed that Vulkan’s purpose was to work on the Talisman of Seven Hammers, a weapon with devastating powers that would destroy Terra if Horus was able to succeed.

Finally, as the Siege of Terra ended, Magnus the Red appeared in the throne room, and Vulkan beat him off while Magnus had a co-vision with the Emperor. Magnus refused to join the Emperor, however, and Vulkan fought him to the point of death when Magnus escaped into the Warp.

After the Heresy, Vulcan was the only Primarch to resist the Second Founding, and this was because the forces of his Salamanders had been brought so low that he couldn’t afford to split. There have been no successors to the Salamanders. Vulkan then left the Salamanders, vowing–as Leman Russ had–that he would eventually return.

1500 years later appeared at the War of the Beast where he singlehandedly defended a planet from an Ork invasion. After the attack he returned to Terra and took command of the Imperium–but made sure everyone knew his return was temporary. He led a crusade to slay The Beast, and ultimately engaged the Warboss one-on-one. During the battle, Vulkan gained massive strength as they plummeted into a power generator and used that strength to destroy the generator and the beast, Doomtremor.

Vulkan is presumed dead, but the Salamanders still search for him, believing he will return after finding the nine Artefacts of Vulkan.

XIX Corvus Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guard

Special Wargear: The Sable Armour and the Korvadine Pinions

Best Known For: Being nearly wiped out and needing to rebuild–but built a mutant force

Current Status: Went into the Eye of Terror. Status unknown.

Scattered to the planet Lycaeus, a moon of Kiavahr. A Foge World, slaves worked the mines and factories. Educated as a rebel and seen by the other slaves as a special hero–dubbed “the Deliverer”–Corax began organizing a revolt, gathering weapons, training the slaves, and began launching guerilla attacks. When fully ready they launched an all-out assault and conquered the entire moon. When Kiavahr’s defense forces mobilized, Corax was ready and sent five atomic charges to Kiavahr’s cities. The loss of the Forge World’s manufacturing and mining caused the trade guilds to collapse, and so did the government of the planet.

The Emperor arrived on the day of Deliverance an bestowed on him leadership of the Raven Guard. As a condition, the Adeptus Mechanicus stepped in to rebuild Kiavahr’s infrastructure and restore order.

Corax’s strategies were those of guerilla warfare and sabotage, especially covert operations and lightning strikes. Corax trusted his own warriors from his own planet more than the Terran-born Raven Guard, as he saw them too much like the terroristic Night Lords. He began to send the Terran forces away on long-lost missions and replace them with his own trusted men. Often compared to Konrad Curze, Corax retained his humanity.

During the Horus Heresy, the Raven Guard were among the Space Marine Legions to be ambushed and nearly exterminated. In close combat, Corax almost defeated Lorgar, but Konrad Curze intervened to save the traitor.

Seeking inspiration on how he could remain in the civil war with such a depleted force, he beseeched the Emperor in his dreams, and the Emperor responded by giving Corax a vision about the creation of the Primarchs and the exact place where the experiments were carried out. Corax retrieved the genes and, back on his homeworld, instructed his apothecaries to implant them in new recruits to create super soldiers. 500 new Space Marines were ready within weeks.

But the Alpha Legion had infiltrated the Raven Guard and tainted the genome. It caused the creation of Space Marines with daeomon blood. But while the sabotage caused mutations such as fangs, scales, and tails, they remained faithful to Corax and he led them on guerilla missions against the Alpha Legion.

By the time he was able to truly rebuild his army, the Horus Heresy was over. Corax split his forces into the monsters and the regular Space Marines, and then, after a year of seeking repentance, entered the Eye of Terror with the words “never more.”

We know some of what happened in the Eye of Terror. Corax himself became more of a creature than a man, but he executed revenge on the Word Bearers’ Daemon World. He battled Lorgar, but Lorgar escaped, and Corax vowed revenge.

XX Alpahrius-Omegon, Primarch of the Alpha Legion

Special Wargear: The Pythian Scales

Best Known For: Being a pair of twins, and always scheming

Current Status: Believed to be dead. Sightings have been rumored.

Little is known about Alpharius’s origins aside what some Inquisitors have been able to deduce–and even the Inquistor was manipulated and corrupted by Alpharius, so his stories are suspect.

The biggest secret about Alpharius is that he has a twin, Omegon. They are both Primarch of the Legion, and it’s not clear if the Emperor knew the truth about this. During the Horus Heresy it is not clear if they acted together, or if one was more corrupted than the other (and which was which).

The Alpha Legion are known for their schemes, treachery, and intricate plans (including the corruption of the Raven Guard).

Alpharius claims that he was not the last Primarch to be found, but the first. He gives a long story of his exploits and training, but even he concedes that his story is a lie.

Before the Horus Heresy, there is some indication that Alpharius had contact with a Xenos race known as the Cabal which gave him visions of the civil war. It is believed that the Cabal convinced Alpharius that the only way to defeat Chaos was for Horus to win, and therefore Alpharius joined the traitors as a scheming way to halt the spread of Chaos.

In the Battle of Pluto, Alpharius fought against Rogal Dorn, with Alpharius trying to convince Dorn that Alpharius was trying to fight against Chaos, but Dorn wouldn’t believe him. It looked as though Alpharius was about to win, but Dorn pinned him, cut off both his hands, and then ran his chainsword through Alpharius’ skull.

Omegon stepped into Alpharius’ place and pretended to be him for the remainder of the Heresy. There were rumored sightings of Alpharius during the Seige of Terra, but it’s unclear what really happened.

After the Heresy, Alpharius-Omegon met Guilliman in one-on-one combat and Alpharius-Omegon was killed. It’s not clear at all who was who in which instance, with many Ultramarines believing Alpharius is still alive, but neither Alpharius nor Omegon have been confirmed to be seen since.