Adeptus Custodes

The Custodian Guard, otherwise known as the Adeptus Custodes, or Golden Throne Guard, are the Emperor of Mankind's personal guardians in the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000.

History
There is no set date for the inception of the Adeptus Custodes, but it is known that they have been active since well prior to the Great Crusade. It was from the Emperor's first group of bodyguards that the first genetically-modified super warriors were created during the unification wars on Holy Terra after the Age of Strife. However, during that time, they were not yet known as the Adeptus Custodes.

They are the 'Dread Guardians', and the only living beings permitted to walk beside the Emperor. The Custodes were the greatest group of physiologically and psychologically enhanced troops the Emperor had ever created, ten thousand strong and the best trained, most disciplined and most vigilant watchmen in the Imperium. Now ensconced deep within the Sanctum Imperialis on Holy Terra, they watch over the corporeal body of the Emperor.

Before the Horus Heresy, a unit of Custodes used to accompany the Emperor at all times, even when he retired to his private chambers. During the Great Crusade, these great warriors always kept a contingent with the Emperor for his protection, but also traveled individually as envoys. Even in the days before the Heresy, it was a rare and blessed thing to see a member of the Adeptus Custodes, and due to the confinement of the Emperor to the Golden Throne, it has become an almost unthinkable event. Even during the Heresy, a group of Custodes joined the Emperor upon Horus's ship, the Vengeful Spirit.

Since the death of Horus and the wounds inflicted upon the Emperor, the Adeptus Custodes have taken a new, more limited role of protectors of the physical manifestation of the Emperor on Holy Terra. They also serve individually as envoys on a number of Imperial capital ships, to ensure that the Emperor's will is done.

The Adeptus Custodes were instrumental in the ending of the rule of Lord Vandire and the Age of Apostasy. It was the actions of a few members of the Adeptus Custodes, utilising secret passages known only to themselves, which caused the Sisters of Battle, then known as the Brides of the Emperor, to realise the acts of base treason perpetrated by Vandire. After their leader, Alicia Dominica, was brought before the Emperor by the Custodes she returned and executed Vandire for his Heresy.

Role and Capabilities
The similarities in form between the Adeptus Astartes and the Adeptus Custodes indicate the two groups may be related, although it has never been confirmed that members of the Adeptus Custodes undergo the rigorous genetic change in the same way as every member of the Adeptus Astartes. Like the Grey Knights they are utterly incorruptible, and are the only beings allowed into the presence of the Emperor. They have the final word on security in the Imperial Palace, and even the High Lords of Terra are subservient to them within its walls.

The martial capabilities of the Adeptus Custodes remain largely unknown. What is known is that they possess skill beyond even a 'normal' member of the Adeptus Astartes. It has been said that the Adeptus Custodes are to a Space Marine what a Space Marine is to a member of the Imperial Guard. They are similar to the Grey Knights, the militant arm of the Ordo Malleus branch of the Inquisition, in that both are elite, secret organisations with close ties to the Emperor. Custodes are unique as, unlike the Grey Knights, they have neither a Primarch nor geneseed. They are warriors that were genetically engineered by the Emperor himself. The Emperor engineered few of these warriors as the swifter method using gene-seed became more viable.

Although their numbers remain unknown, 300 Custodes guard the Emperor's chambers at all times.

The Companions
Only three hundred of the Adeptus Custodes serve as the actual personal guard of the Emperor. These are those that are privileged enough to be in the Emperor's presence as such. Each unit of Companions is led by a Centurion. It was one such Centurion that led a small group of Companions to meet Alicia Dominica, head of the Daughters of the Emperor (later Sisters of Battle) during Vandire's Reign of Blood.

Equipment
Before the Horus Heresy, the Guard was dressed in ceremonial red, but after the schism they have abandoned their armour and have adopted black to mark the "enthronement" of the Emperor. They wore only their helmet, a cloak and pants, leaving their chests bare (model number 072518/11, see picture on right).

However, recent conversion modeling done by Games Workshop staff on the official website (found here) show the Adeptus Custodes as wearing gold coloured armour. These superior warriors can be seen adorned with all manner of lightning bolt (the symbol of the Emperor prior to the Imperial Eagle), aquiline and knightly crosses. Very little is known of the equipment and capabilities of such a secretive organisation, but the visual sources (such as a diorama of the Golden Throne within the 3rd Edition Rulebook) give the impression of immensely ornate armour.

Custodians are typically seen with a Guardian Spear which, in the days before the Horus Heresy, was a combination force halberd with boltgun. A gladius is normally seen at their side and it must be noted that they have access to all the equipment of any Chapter of the Space Marines. In more recent portrayals, the Custodes have been depicted with a force halberd and a storm bolter, continuing their similarities to the Grey Knights. Players wishing to convert and play a Custodes army are encouraged to use the Grey Knight rules laid out in the codex.