Primarch

The Primarchs were the twenty cloned sons of the Emperor, born leaders of his Space Marine legions. They were bred to be nearly perfect: larger, stronger, faster, and smarter than normal humans. Their genetic material was also used to form the basis of the legions they would command.

However, the forces of Chaos somehow spirited the children away, scattering them across the galaxy. All but two were discovered on remote worlds, where they had quickly grown to adulthood, and often held leadership of their adoptive worlds. When the Emperor found them, he gave them leadership of the Space Marine legions created from their individual genetic material.

Following the Great Crusade, Warmaster Horus fell to Chaos, and he convinced eight of his fellow Primarchs to rebel against the Emperor and follow him. In the Horus Heresy, brother fought brother as the Primarchs led their legions against their former comrades; Horus himself fought Sanguinius and the Emperor, killing Sanguinius, but dying at the hand of the Emperor. The Traitor Legions fled to the Eye of Terror.

Today, all the Primarchs are either dammed, lost or dead. As mentioned before, Sanguinius died at the hands of Horus, who in turn later died at the hands of the Emperor. Ferrus Manus of the iron hands died on Istvaan V at the start of the heresy. Over the next thousand years, the other remaining loyalist primarchs died or disappeared one by one. Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels returned to his homeworld to find it in ruins and the Dark Angel space marines he had left rebelled to chaos. He led a strike force of his own space marines against the traitors on the surface and he fought with a burning hate for his lost sons. He was lost amongst the inferno as the world was blasted apart by both a warp storm and a bombardment from his ships in orbit. Whether he stills lives is unknown. Jaghatai Khan of the White Scars disappeared through a Dark Eldar warp portal whilst he was pursuing them after a raid on the White Scar homeworld. Rumours abound that he fights on still, lost in the twisting paths of the Eldar webway, but after nine thousand years it seems unlikely. Leman Russ of the Space Wovles is the only primarch whose disappearance appears to be voluntary. The Space Wolves hold a legend that say Russ went on a quest to find a means to cure the Emperor but the truth is likely to be far more sinister. Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists died fighting on a traitor cruiser alongside a company of his sons. He was one of the last Primarchs to die. Today, all that remains of him is a single gauntlet fist that is housed in the holiest shrine of the Imperial Fists chapter. Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines met his end against his own brother Fulgrim. Today, his body lies at the heart of the temple of correction, maintained in a stasis field to perserve it. He is the only primarch to die whose body has been found by his sons and it said to be an awe-inspiring experience to see such a holy sight, the bleeding wounds of his death still vividly visible upon his neck. It is little known how Vulkan of the Salamanders died. As far as it is known, he vanished into thin air as mysteriously as Leman Russ. Corax of the Raven Guard's end was tainted by guilt and shame. In order to rebuild the strength of his sons from the destruction of Istvaan V, Corax accelerated the growth of the geneseed organs, producing more of them but also deteriorating them rapidly, causing many to become hulking monsters. Riddled with guilt over what he had done, Corax locked himself away within his sanctum, the Raven's Tower, for a year. On the anniversary date of his self-imposed exile, he left his tower, haggard and gaunt, and took a small shuttlecraft. It was last monitored as setting a course for the Eye of Terror, the realm of the Chaos gods.

Of all the Primarchs, only the dammed Primarchs of Chaos live today, although to say that they truly live is a gross misstatement since their bodies, minds and souls now exist exclusively within the power of Chaos.