Primarch Sanguinius holding off the armies of Chaos by himself during the Siege of Terra
The Primarchs were the twenty genetically-engineered "sons" of the Emperor of Man. The Emperor used his own DNA in their creation, and they were designed to be gods among men; immortal giants with superhuman physique and intelligence, towering above the Space Marines as they do over mortal men. They were also incredibly charismatic, as their main role was to be generals and leaders of the Imperial military.
The Primarchs were created in a secret facility in the Himalayan Mountains under the tightest security. However, the forces of Chaos somehow managed to spirit the infants away just prior to their maturation. They were scattered on different worlds across the galaxy, beyond the Emperor's reach. The Emperor then used samples of Primarch DNA to create the Space Marines. The genetic material of a single Primarch was used to found a single Space Marine Legion, twenty in total. With the Space Marine Legions, the Emperor set out to reclaim the Primarchs as well as human colonies lost during the Age of Strife. This war of unification was known as the Great Crusade.
One by one the Primarchs were found and united with their Legions, performing great deeds and becoming legends of the Imperium. This golden age ended with the Horus Heresy, when nine turned traitors and attempted to place Primarch Horus on the Imperial throne. The Imperium prevailed, but all loyalist Primarchs are since either slain, disappeared or incapacitated. Of the traitor Primarchs, some were killed but most remain Daemon Princes in the realm of Chaos.
The Primarchs and their Legions[]
| Legion № | Name | Primarch | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Dark Angels | Lion El'Jonson | Loyalist, incapacitated during Horus Heresy. Now revived and in the Imperium Nihilus. |
| II | Unknown | Unknown | Records lost or destroyed. |
| III | Emperor's Children | Fulgrim | Traitor, Daemon Prince. Killed Ferrus Manus and mortally wounded Roboute Guilliman. |
| IV | Iron Warriors | Perturabo | Traitor, Daemon Prince. |
| V | White Scars | Jaghatai Khan | Loyalist, disappeared after the Heresy. |
| VI | Space Wolves | Leman Russ | Loyalist, nearly killed Magnus. Disappeared into the Eye of Terror after the Heresy. |
| VII | Imperial Fists | Rogal Dorn | Loyalist, missing after the Black Crusade. Only his hand was found. |
| VIII | Night Lords | Konrad Curze | Traitor, killed by a Callidus Temple assassin after the Siege of Terra. |
| IX | Blood Angels | Sanguinius | Loyalist, killed by Horus during the Siege of Terra. |
| X | Iron Hands | Ferrus Manus | Loyalist, killed by Fulgrim. |
| XI | Unknown | Unknown | Records lost or destroyed. |
| XII | World Eaters | Angron | Traitor, Daemon Prince. |
| XIII | Ultramarines | Roboute Guilliman | Loyalist, Alive. Mortally wounded by Fulgrim after the Heresy. Held in stasis. Now alive and Imperial Regent. |
| XIV | Death Guard | Mortarion | Traitor, Daemon Prince. |
| XV | Thousand Sons | Magnus the Red | Traitor, nearly killed by Leman Russ, now Daemon Prince. |
| XVI | Sons of Horus | Horus | Traitor, slain by the Emperor. |
| XVII | Word Bearers | Lorgar | Traitor, Daemon Prince. |
| XVIII | Salamanders | Vulkan | Loyalist, disappeared after the Heresy. |
| XIX | Raven Guard | Corax | Loyalist, disappeared into the Eye of Terror after the Heresy. |
| XX | Alpha Legion | Alpharius Omegon | Traitor, one twin possibly killed by Roboute Guilliman after the Siege of Terra. |
Trivia[]
The order of Primarch rediscovery follows the patterns of Dante's Inferno and Paradiso, for the Traitors and Loyalists respectively, as do many of their personalities and the concepts they symbolise or emobody. Rick Priestley, one of the major sources for their creation, was heavily into both Dante and Milton at the time, and many of the themes involved in their works were utilised. How relevant the two missing Legions are to the other book in the series (Purgatorio, dealing two kinds of souls in Purgatory; ex-communicates and late-redemptionionists) is a matter of conjecture.