Tor Garadon in his Mark X Gravis Power Armour, captain of the Imperial Fists 3rd Company, during the Era Indomitus.
Tor Garadon is a captain of the Imperial Fists Chapter and the longest-serving commander of the Imperial Fists 3rd Company, the "Sentinels of Terra".
He is an unstoppable warrior in whom the lessons of the Primarch Rogal Dorn have been distilled to their most punishing form. Tested on a thousand worlds, he is a master of the battlefield, and an unyielding bulwark against those who would oppose Mankind.
Quick Answers
What makes Tor Garadon a master of the battlefield?
How did Tor Garadon become captain of the Imperial Fists 3rd Company?
What are the key traits of Tor Garadon's leadership style?
Why is Tor Garadon considered an unyielding bulwark?
How does Tor Garadon embody the lessons of Primarch Rogal Dorn?
History[]
Garadon was recruited to the Imperial Fists from the orbitals of Callisto, a moon of Jupiter. His wealthy family were only too glad to see him depart. Fate had cursed the young Garadon with a straightforward and stubborn nature, ill-matched to the glittering societal circles his kin frequented.
During his first solar decade of service, Garadon earned commendation after commendation. Despite his deeds, Garadon never sought promotion, nor was it ever offered to him. Yet his silence concealed a sharp mind, if one little given to revealing itself except when absolutely necessary. The first time this truly came to the fore was during the Nosfer Planetstrike, when the 3rd Company was stranded behind the Necron force's lines.
Chapter Command had no contact with the 3rd Company for nearly two Nosferan weeks, until sixty battered battle-brothers appeared out of the sulphur mists and provided vital support in the battle against Majestor Zangeneb's Canoptek hosts. Brother Garadon submitted only the tersest of reports, but other survivors spoke of how he had taken command upon Captain Opara's death.
Then-Sergeant Tor Garadon during the Invasion of Taladorn.
When Captain Julius Vogen took command of the 3rd Company, he judged there to be more to Garadon than others had allowed themselves to see, and took it upon himself to unlock the potential of his junior battle-brother. By the time Garadon had earned a position in the hallowed 1st Company, he and Vogen shared an unbreakable friendship; one which would later see the younger Space Marine return to the Sentinels of Terra without hesitation to serve as a Veteran sergeant.
Vogen and much of the 3rd Company perished during First Captain Darnath Lysander's disastrous assault on Taladorn. That any survived at all was to Garadon's credit, for he defied Lysander's orders and requested assistance from other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. The aftermath saw a change in fortunes for Lysander and Garadon, who had both come to dislike one another intensely; Lysander was angered by what he saw as the sergeant's presumption, while Garadon fumed at Lysander's obvious arrogance.
Nonetheless, the wisdom of then-Chapter Master Vladimir Pugh saw them bound together in the Crusade of Thunder. A demoted Lysander became the 3rd Company's new captain, with Garadon as his senior Veteran sergeant. Garadon at this time cultivated alliances and ties with many famous Space Marines such as Cato Sicarius of the Ultramarines, Colvane Brasch of the Invaders, Erasmus Tycho of the Blood Angels, and Draco of the Black Templars.
At that time, a desire to restore the 3rd Company was the only goal Lysander and Garadon shared. But in being forced to work together, each gradually came to see the other's strengths. Garadon at last glimpsed beneath Lysander's hauteur to recognise the driven and penitent hero he truly was.
For his part, Lysander came to rely ever more on Garadon's knack for improvised warfare and unflagging determination. Though it would be an exaggeration to say that the two became friends, a warrior's bond was nonetheless forged. More often than not, Lysander ceded command of the company's battleline squads to his Veteran sergeant while he himself led the 3rd Company's assault elements against the foe. By the time Lysander was at last permitted to reclaim command of the 1st Company, Garadon was unanimously acclaimed the new captain of the 3rd Company, having proved himself beyond doubt on the battlefields of Taladorn, Drashin and the Magor Rift.
For nearly three solar decades, Garadon led the Sentinels of Terra to victory after victory, forging a new legend for a company that had once teetered on the edge of destruction. In those years, he was ever Lysander's most trusted comrade, and to see the 1st and 3rd Companies fighting as one was no rare sight. But Garadon had learned more than leadership from the elder captain -- he had learned humility also, and the terrible price levied by unchecked pride.
Captain Tor Garadon of the Imperial Fists 3rd Company in his Mark X Gravis battle-plate after becoming a Primaris Marine during the Era Indomitus.
After the Siege of Hydra Cordatus in the final years of the 41st Millennium, the 3rd Company was slain to a man. Many veterans of the Crusade of Thunder arrived to be transferred into the rebuilt formation under the command of Garadon. Garadon remained on the Phalanx to rebuild the company while Lysander and Vorn Hagan left with 5 companies on an Imperial Crusade. However, the Iron Warriors Warsmith Shon'tu assaulted the Phalanx in its vulnerable state, leaving Garadon and only a small force of Imperial Fists to defend the vessel.
Ultimately, Garadon's warriors were saved by the intervention of the Legion of the Damned. Garadon then ordered the Phalanx to Cadia and fought alongside its Imperial defenders against Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade. The Phalanx succeeded in an attack aided by a Space Wolves boarding assault on the Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity that led to its deactivation, though the unpowered fortress was later used as an artificial meteor by Abaddon to end the defiance of Cadia. Garadon led the Imperial Fists and other Imperial survivors of the Fall of Cadia back to Terra in the wake of the 13th Black Crusade.
Since the Era Indomitus began, Tor Garadon has crossed the Rubicon Primaris and become a Primaris Space Marine. Alongside Darnath Lysander he is now one of the last surviving Imperial Fists from before the formation of the Great Rift.
During the Indomitus Crusade, Garadon nearly came to blows with the Iron Hands' Master of the Forge Malkaan Feirros at the Battle of Xalladin.
Wargear[]
- Mark X Gravis Power Armour with signum array
- Spartean (Relic Bolt Pistol) - The Spartean is a relic Bolt Pistol of the Imperial Fists. Since its forging in the 35th Millennium, it has slain enemies of Mankind in the hands of hundreds of warriors. Every wielder has said the same of the weapon; if their eye is true, the Spartean's shot will be too, regardless of what obstacles are in the way. Tor Garadon wielded this weapon before crossing the Rubicon Primaris and becoming a Primaris Marine.
- Armour-mounted Grav-Gun
- Hand of Defiance (Relic Power Fist)
Sources[]
- Codex Supplement: Imperial Fists (8th Edition), pp. 32, 52
- Codex Supplement: Raven Guard (8th Edition), pg. 34
- Codex: Space Marines (10th Edition), pg. 130
- Sentinels of Terra - A Codex: Space Marines Supplement (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), "The 3rd Company's Triumphs," "Relics of the 3rd Company," "Tor Garadon - 3rd Company Sergeant"
- Warhammer Community - Pre-Order Today Imperial Fists, Salamanders and More! (Image)