Primarch

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The Primarchs were the twenty genetically-engineered "sons" of the Emperor. The Emperor used his own DNA in their creation, and they were designed to be far superior to the average human: immensely larger, stronger, hardier, faster, and smarter. They were also incredibly charismatic, as their main role was to be generals and leaders of the Imperial military.

Creation of the Primarchs

They were created in a secret underground laboratory on Luna under tightest security. However, somehow the forces of Chaos managed to spirit them away just prior to their maturation and it is speculated that they also managed to tamper with the infant Primarchs. These were scattered across the galaxy, beyond the Emperor's reach, and all of them landed on different worlds. The Emperor could sense that the Primarchs were alive, but was unable to reach them. Therefore he used their previously collected DNA samples to create the Space Marines. The genetic material of each one of them was used to found a single Space Marine Legion, twenty in total.

Their homeworlds and their infancy would influence and mould them to a large extent. There they quickly grew to adulthood and often rose to power, ruling, leading, and helping the inhabitants. As the Emperor found them, he was generally pleased by their actions, and quickly gave them the leadership of their respective legion.

The first Primarch to be found was Horus, who became the Emperor's favourite. Most Primarchs somehow recognized the Emperor on sight, and immediately pledged their allegiance on the spot. A few, (Leman Russ, Ferrus Manus and Vulkan) only followed Him after being bested in contests. Angron refused, and was abducted from his homeworld, something he never really accepted. The last to be found was Alpharius.

At the end of the Great Crusade Warmaster Horus fell to Chaos, and eight of his fellow Primarchs followed him into the Horus Heresy against the Emperor, resulting in a full-scale civil war. Each Primarch chose his side, loyalists against traitors, leading their legions against their former comrades.


legion number name homeworld name of the legion allegiance current status
I Lion El'Jonson Caliban Dark Angels loyal alive, asleep within the Rock
II Deleted from Imperial records, authorisation unknown
III Fulgrim Chemos Emperor's Children traitor Daemon Prince
IV Perturabo Olympia Iron Warriors traitor Daemon Prince, ruler of Medrengard
V Jaghatai Khan Mundus Planus White Scars loyal disappeared into the Webway
VI Leman Russ Fenris Space Wolves loyal disappeared into the Eye of Terror
VII Rogal Dorn unknown Imperial Fists loyal died boarding a Chaos cruiser, his hand was the only thing recovered
VIII Konrad Curze/Night Haunter Nostramo Night Lords traitor dead, assassinated by Callidus assassin M´Shen
IX Sanguinius Baal Blood Angels loyal dead, slain by Horus
X Ferrus Manus Medusa Iron Hands loyal dead, slain by Fulgrim and his head offered to Horus
XI Deleted from Imperial records, authorisation unknown
XII Angron unknown World Eaters traitor Daemon Prince
XIII Roboute Guilliman Macragge Ultramarines loyal dead, slain by Fulgrim, rumoured to be healing in stasis
XIV Mortarion Barbarus Death Guard traitor Daemon Prince, ruler of the Plague Planet
XV Magnus the Red Prospero Thousand Sons traitor Daemon Prince, ruler of the Planet of Sorcerers
XVI Horus Cthonia Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus traitor dead, slain by the Emperor
XVII Lorgar Colchis Word Bearers traitor Daemon Prince, ruler of Sicarus
XVIII Vulkan Nocturne Salamanders loyal disappeared
XIX Corax Deliverance Raven Guard loyal disappeared, last seen heading for the Eye of Terror
XX Alpharius unknown Alpha Legion traitor dead, slain by Roboute Guilliman.


Fate of the Primarchs

Traitors

  • Warmaster Horus was killed by the Emperor of Mankind, and his soul was obliterated. His corpse was completely destroyed by Abaddon the Despoiler, who also took over his place as overall leader of the Chaos Space Marines.
  • Magnus the Red rose to the rank of Daemon Prince of Tzeentch.
  • Angron rose to the rank of of Daemon prince of Khorne.
  • Mortarion rose the rank of Daemon Prince of Nurgle.
  • Fulgrim rose to the rank of Daemon Prince of Slaanesh.
  • Lorgar rose to the rank of Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided.
  • Perturabo rose to the rank of Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided.
  • Conrad Kurze, aka Night Haunter, was assassinated by Callidus assassin M'Shen. He allowed her infiltration, apparently wanting to die.
  • Alpharius was killed by Roboute Guilliman, but the source which reported his death may have been manipulated.8.

Loyalists

  • Ferrus Manus died at the Drop Site massacre at the start of the Horus Heresy, and Fulgrim presented his head to Horus.
  • Sanguinius was slain by Horus after refusing to join him.
  • Lion El'Jonson returned to his homeworld of Caliban only to discover that his friend and second-in command Luther and the Dark Angel garrison had turned against him2. He led a strike force of his own loyal Dark Angels against the traitors. He disapeared amongst the inferno as the world was blasted apart by a Warp Storm and a bombardment from his ships in orbit. He sleeps deep within the Rock, the biggest piece of Caliban and current homebase of the Dark Angels1,2. Only the Emperor and the Watchers of the Dark know of this secret.
  • Jaghatai Khan disappeared as he was pursuing Dark Eldar into a webway portal after they had managed to raid Mundus Planus. Rumours abound that he fights there still, lost in the twisting paths of the Webway. After nine thousand years it seems highly unlikely, but not impossible.
  • Leman Russ disappeared in the Eye of Terror. The Space Wolves hold a legend that says Russ went on a quest to find a means to cure the Emperor. His final words before his disapperance is that he would return for the Wolftime.
  • Rogal Dorn boarded a Chaos cruiser during a Black Crusade alongside a company of his sons and died fighting. He was one of the last Primarchs to die. Today, all that remains of him are the bones of his hand that are housed in the holiest shrine of the Imperial Fists chapter. Another theory states that he now commands the Adeptus Custodes.
  • Roboute Guilliman was struck down with an envenomed blade by his former brother Fulgrim. His body is perfectly preserved in a stasis field at the heart of the Temple of Correction3. It is rumored that he is alive and that his wounds are slowly healing, something normally impossible in a stasis field. The truth of this rumor is unknown.
  • Vulkan disappeared. The position of Chapter Master, filled by the Captain of the First Company, is considered to be a regency as the Salamanders believe that Vulkan will one day return and lead them on a great crusade against Chaos.
  • Corax was racked by guilt and shame. In order to rebuild quickly the strength of his legion from the Dropsite massacre on Isstvan V, Corax accelerated the growth of the gene-seed organs, producing more Space Marines, but this process also deteriorated the Gene-seed, causing many to become hulking monsters. Riddled with guilt over what he had done, Corax administered euthanasia to all of them and then locked himself away within his sanctum, the Raven's Tower. Exactly one year later he left his tower, haggard and gaunt, and took a small shuttle craft with the words Never more. It was last monitored setting a course for the Eye of Terror.

The two unknown Primarchs

Nothing is known about the names, homeworlds, story, and the ultimate fate of the two unknown Primarchs and their respective legions. The short-story Hell in a bottle by Simon Jowet mentions a Primarch Rubineck4. This passage is widely considered non-canon however and a Primarch Rubineck is not mentioned anywhere else. Some authors seem to occasionally confuse the Chapter Masters with the Primarchs5 and Rubineck was most likely such a case.

Currently, all that is known for sure about this issue is that:

  • All twenty Primarchs survived their abduction and were found and raised on human worlds by human parents.6
    • However this statement is clearly contradicted by the childhood of Konrad Curze, who survived utterly alone. The childhood of two other Primarchs, namely Lion El'Jonson who also survived his early years completely alone until being found by Luther, and Leman Russ who was adopted by a Fenrisian she-wolf until Thengir king of Russ took him in, can be argued not to fulfil the statement raised by human parents.
  • All twenty legions took part in the Great Crusade and every legion was led by its own Primarch.7
  • Of the twenty Primarchs only nine of the loyal ones survived the Horus Heresy, the others were either killed or fled to the Eye of Terror.6
    • Known to be dead were Sanguinius and Ferrus Manus. The known loyalist survivors are Lion El'Jonson, Leman Russ, Jagathai Khan, Rogal Dorn, Roboute Guilliman, Vulkan, and Corax; only seven! This leads to the conclusion that the two unknown ones were also loyalists. However this reasoning hasn't been confirmed, or denied, by any known official source.

Horus' visions of the scattering of the Primarchs

As Horus lay in coma inside the Davinite temple after being wounded by Eugen Temba, Erebus gave him visions that showed him events from various points in time. In one of these experiences, Horus finds himself in the room where he was created, and looks down upon the genetor-tanks. At one point he stops before tank XI and reflects upon the "untapped glories that lay within, knowing they would never come to pass".9 This refers to one of the unknown Primarchs. Later on, Horus' anger takes control and he smashes his fist upon the tank containing the infant Primarch, cracking and damaging the containment. Shortly after, a vortex swoops up all the genetor-tanks and scatters them across the galaxy.

The truth of these visions is unclear, and it should be noted that the whole experience was orchestrated for Horus by the Chaos powers.

It should also be noted that all twenty stasis chambers survived free fall onto a planet from space, suggesting that Horus' damaging of one of the chambers in reality is extremely unlikely.

sources and references

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