Changes

===Early Life===

[[Image:HorusSaturnine.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A younger Horus Lupercal{{Fn|21}}]]

When Horus was scattered, his pod landed on the world of [[Cthonia]], a planet close to the [[Sol System]]. He was discovered by the Cthonian gang overlord [[Khageddon]], and given the "no-name" of '''Nergüi'''. Growing up for a time under Khageddon's gang, Nergüi engaged in the perpetual gang warfare beneath Cthonia's surface that dominated the world. However his life changed dramatically when he came upon the pod he had arrived to Cthonia on, now being excavated by the [[Mechanicum]]. Nergüi engaged in battle with the [[Tech-Priest]]s, killing one and recovering its weapon before running back to Khageddon. Khageddon scolded Nergüi for his recklessness, saying those he killed would chase them back to their tribal lair. Khageddon refused to give Nergüi his "kill-name" over the incident, much to the young ganger's anger. However just as Khageddon predicted, Mechanicum adepts arrived at their tribal hold and began to dig through ffrom the surface. With the chamber collapsing around them and most of the gang dying, Khageddon instructed Nergüi to slay him to earn his kill-name. After Nergüi performed the act, he suddenly gained buried memories of the [[Galaxy]], technology, and himself. Even his body began to swell, seemingly awakened by a trigger. When the Tech-Priests finally arrived into the chamber a Primarch stood before him: Nergüi proclaimed himself Horus.{{Fn|22}}

According to Horus himself, after his discovery he was brought from Cthonia to Terra alongside several of his elderly comrades from the gang world. He landed upon Terra to much fanfare, kneeling before the Emperor and taking an oath to serve him dutifully.{{Fn|20a}} This account however is sometimes disputed, with others claiming Horus returned to [[Terra]] itself.{{Fn|14}} Because of this early discovery, Horus grew to be the most powerful among the Primarchs as he had grown up from a child to an adult at the side of the Emperor. For a thirty years he was the only Primarch to have been discovered. Friendship between the Emperor and Horus grew rapidly and the Emperor eventually trusted him enough to give him command of the entire force of the Imperium. The Emperor had saved Horus's life at the [[Siege of Reillis]] as they fought back to back. At another battle, Horus repaid this debt when he hacked the arm off a frenzied [[Ork]] as it tried to choke the life out of the Emperor on the planet of [[Gorro]].{{Fn|5}}

===The Great Crusade===

===The Betrayal===

Unknown to Horus, his brother [[Lorgar]], along with his entire legion of [[Word Bearers]], had secretly fallen to [[Chaos]] and conspired to make Horus the Ruinous Powers' champion against the Emperor. For many years before acting openly, the Word Bearers usurped loyalist hold on their Legions by establishing [[Warrior Lodge]]s.{{Fn|11}} The full conspiracy finally manifested during a mission on the [[Feral World]] [[Davin]]; Horus was wounded [[Battle of Davin's Moon|in battle]] by a blade of [[Nurgle]] wielded by the Chaos-corrupted [[Eugen Temba]]. He fell unconscious and under the advice of Word Bearers First Chaplain [[Erebus]] the natives of the world helped to heal him. However, unknown to the desperate [[Mournival]], the healers and Erebus himself had all long since become corrupted by Chaos and were orchestrating the entire series of events. Having his dying body moved to the [[Serpent Lodge]], Horus was soon subjected to an ancient Chaos ritual by the Davin priests, while Erebus entered his mind disguised as the deceased [[Hastur Sejanus]]. This image of Sejanus showed Horus horrifying visions of the future, where the Emperor ruled as a god and had discarded the Primarchs once they had outlived their usefulness. Erebus also told Horus that the [[Gods of Chaos]] were peaceful beings with little interest in the [[Materium]], and it was the Emperor that was intent on destroying their realm on his quest for godhood. Most disturbing for Horus, he was told that the Emperor had used the powers of the [[Warp]] to create the Primarchs. Horus was shown a vision of the past where all the Primarchs, himself included, were scattered across the Galaxy into a warp vortex. The scattering of the Primarchs, despite being orchestrated by Chaos instead of the Emperor, seemingly confirmed to Horus that the Emperor had used foul Warp-magics in his sons' creations. Horus saw the Emperor, who had banned any research into the Warp, as a hypocrite.{{Fn|2a}}

===Heresy===

====Burning the Galaxy====

Horus moved, along with several other secretly traitor legions, to [[Isstvan III]], seemingly in order to suppress a rebellion and reinstate Imperial control. Once he arrived however, he sent down specially selected troops from all four of the legions with him, sending down all those he knew would never join him in open rebellion. Once they were on the planet he proceeded to [[virus bomb]] the entire world and killed billions of inhabitants in seconds, along with hundreds of space marines, and a ground war eliminated the remainder{{Fn|3}}. The psychic shock wave from this event was said to be louder than the [[Astronomican]]. Horus then redeployed his forces to [[Isstvan V]] where he was met by seven Space Marine legions sent to bring him to Terra to face an inquest into his actions on Isstvan III. Four of these seven legions proceeded to rebel against the Emperor. It now became obvious that Horus had massive power as he hunted down the three legions that had stayed loyal. Only a few [[Space Marines]] managed to escape his forces and make it back to Terra, and among those killed was [[Ferrus Manus]], Primarch of the [[Iron Hands]].{{Fn|4}} Eventually Horus would mount the skull of Ferrus Manus in his throne room, where he began talking to it in private and lamenting that he must rely on psychotic generals and daemons instead of true, effective strategists like Ferrus had been.{{Fn|13}} As Horus' rebellion spread, he claimed a personal fiefdom in the northern Imperium dubbed the [[Dark Empire]].{{Fn|25}}

Following a failed assassination attempt by [[Shadrak Meduson]] after the [[Battle of Dwell]], Horus regained a lost memory that the Emperor had erased, that of the Emperor's unlocking of dark powers on [[Molech]]. Horus [[Battle of Molech|invaded]] the planet hoping to gain the same abilities as his father. Horus eventually managed to enter the gate, and after an unspecified but extremely long period of time exited the Warp with his powers greatly increased. While time in the [[Materium]] had only been mere moments, Horus had been within the Warp for so long he had visibly aged. Inside the Warp for what seemed like an eternity, Horus had won a thousand kingdoms, amassed billions of Daemonic followers, and defied Gods. Eventually Horus forcibly acquired the same power the Emperor had gotten, but with his own force of will and without deception like his Father had. However he had refused a place within the Warp, choosing instead to reenter the Materium with his new power to make war on the Emperor. Aboard the ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]'', Horus then survives an infiltration by the [[Knights-Errant]] led by his former [[Mournival]] adviser [[Garviel Loken]]. The attempt failed and Horus killed [[Iacton Qruze]] before the Knights-Errant escaped.{{Fn|12a}}

Now with the powers of a god and maintaining his previously youthful appearance with his new-found abilities{{Fn|12b}}, Horus then set a course to fight his way through the Imperium in an attempt to reach Terra and, ultimately, to kill the Emperor and place himself on the throne. However at the [[Battle of Trisolian|Trisolian]], he was confronted by Leman Russ and his [[Space Wolves]], who had tracked the ''Vengeful Spirit'' thanks to runes planted by the Knights-Errant during the Battle of Molech. Russ and a large force of Space Wolves were able to board the ''Venegeful Spirit'', and the two Primarch's came face to face. Russ was disgusted by what had become of his brother. Nonetheless Horus pleaded with Russ to join him and help in his quest to overthrow the [[Emperor]] and expose his lies. Surprising none, Russ rejected Horus and the two engaged in a titanic battle. Despite Horus' sorcerous powers, Russ was protected thanks to the Spear of Russ he wielded. It thus came down to a battle of sheer power, one Horus was dominating despite Russ' speed. Horus caught Russ upon his [[Talon of Horus|Talon]], but Russ broke free of his armor and impaled flesh to plunge the Spear of Russ into the Warmaster's side. However Russ hesitated at the final second to deliver the killing blow, and instead only partially pierced Horus' side. The wound was still devastating, and more importantly the power of the Spear cleansed Horus of the corruption that had befallen him since Molech. For the first time in the battle, Russ saw Horus Lupercal before him, not a creature of [[Chaos]].{{Fn|17a}}

Horus remained isolated aboard the ''Vengeful Spirit'' until the final stages of the Siege, where apparently he began to prepare for his landing to kill the Emperor personally. Horus issued his first direct command not given through Argonis in weeks when he ordered Traitor forces to capture the [[Eternity Gate]].{{Fn|27a}} Horus then psychically ordered Angron to find and kill Sanguinius, an act apparently more out of desperation than anything else.{{Fn|27b}}

====The Death====

Soon enough, the Emperor took the bait and He alongside [[Rogal Dorn]], [[Sanguinius]], [[Constantin Valdor]], and their elite forces all teleported to the ''Vengeful Spirit''. It was then that Horus sprung his trap, using his sorcerous connection to his flagship to scatter the loyalists throughout the vessel. He took control of many of the Emperor's own Custodes, forcing them to attack their own liegelord as the Emperor reluctantly struck them down.{{Fn|28d}} Rogal Dorn was trapped in an endless desert of madness for what seemed to him to be centuries.{{Fn|28e}} Horus revealed his true power and mental strength, which had apparently been concealing in order to lure his father to him.{{Fn|28f}} According to [[Actae]], Horus was preparing to be elevated to a fifth [[Chaos God]], using humanity just as [[Slaanesh]] had used the [[Eldar]]. All across Terra, his followers chanted the name of the soon-ascendant [[Dark King]]{{Fn|28g}} (though apparently this in fact referred to the Emperor).{{Fn|}}

Swelling with the powers of Chaos, the fully awakened Horus drove the crew of the ''Vengeful Spirit'' mad with his mere presence including hardened Space Marines such as his equerry [[Kenor Argonis]].{{Fn|29a}} He broke down the barriers of space and time between the surface of Terra and his flagship, causing the two locations to overlap with one another and for time itself to be paused at this single monumental moment, with even the [[Inevitable City]] manifesting in his honor.{{Fn|29b}} Still preparing to face his father, Horus deliberately let [[Sanguinius]] reach him within the heavily mutated [[Lupercal's Court]]. Planning to turn Sanguinius to Chaos so that they may confront their father together, Horus was genuinely disappointed when his brother refused his offer to join him in ascendency.{{Fn|29c}}

Instead, the already heavily injured Sanguinius attacked Horus with all his might, displaying ferocious combat ability. Horus still held back his true power, engaging in a purely martial battle with Sanguinius in hopes of breaking him down so he may accept the powers of the Warp. However Sanguinius fought so stubbornly and viciously that Horus grew frustrated and even took several wounds.{{Fn|29d}} In the end, Horus was forced to change his plans when he detected that the Emperor was incoming towards his location. Horus finally decided to kill Sanguinius and unleashed his full power, reaching into the 8th dimension to grab Sanguinius and slam him to the ground mid-flight. Horus proceeded to batter his brother with ''[[Worldbreaker]]'' and impaled him several times with his [[Talon of Horus|Talon]] before the skull of [[Ferrus Manus]]. Horus let out a disappointed sigh as his brother died and his body was strung up by Daemons.{{Fn|29e}}

==Sources==

{{Cite}}

**{{Endn|2a}}: Chapters 12–17

**{{Endn|2b}}: Chapter 10

**{{Endn|2c}}: Chapter 21

*{{Endn|7}}: [[Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness]] (1988), pp. 243, 263, 268

*{{Endn|8}}: [http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=de%7Cen&u=http://wh40k.lexicanum.de/wiki/Horus&prev=/language_tools Translation of the German Horus article]

**{{Endn|9a}}: Interior

*{{Endn|10}}: [http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/The_Horus_Heresy/HORUS_HERESY_CHARACTER_SERIES/HORUS_THE_WARMASTER_PRIMARCH_OF_THE_SONS_OF_HORUS.html Forge World] ''(last accessed 28 May 2015)''

**{{Endn|12a}}: Chapter 25

**{{Endn|12b}}: Chapter 23

*{{Endn|13}}: [[Warmaster (Audio Book)]]

*{{Endn|15}}: [[The Talon of Horus (Novel)]]

*{{Endn|16}}: [[The Wolf of Ash and Fire (Short Story)]]

*17: [[Wolfsbane (Novel)]]

*{{Endn|21}}: [[Saturnine (Novel)]] artwork

**{{Endn|21a}}: Part 1 Chapter 6

*{{Endn|23}}: [[Alpharius: Head of the Hydra (Novel)]] - ''The Discovery''

*{{Endn|24}}: [[Mortis (Novel)]] - Chapters 6-8

**{{Endn|29c}}: 7:xliii

**{{Endn|29d}}: 8:v

{{Primarchs}}

[[Category:Characters (Horus Heresy)]]

[[Category:Characters (Sons of Horus)]]

[[de:Horus]]

[[fr:Horus]]