Horus (Warhammer 40,000)
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Horus (also Lupercal) was one of the twenty Space Marine Primarchs, and of them, held the title First Primarch and Warmaster, in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus Legion, the favoured son of the Emperor of Mankind, and the galaxy's greatest traitor.
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[edit] Early life
Created by the Emperor in gene-laboratories deep below the Himalayas, Horus, along with his brothers, the Primarchs, were scattered across the galaxy by an accident of unknown cause. The capsule carrying the infant Horus came to rest on the Hive World of Cthonia, the primary planet of a system within a reasonable slower-than-light distance of Holy Terra.
As such, he was the first of the Primarchs to be rediscovered by the Emperor, and for many years was the only son of the ruler of Mankind. There was said to be a great affinity between them; the Emperor spent much of his time with Horus, instructing the latter in all aspects of culture and warfare. The Emperor quickly granted command of the Luna Wolves Legion to Horus, and with these warriors at their backs, began to forge the Imperium of Man.
[edit] The Great Crusade
For thirty years, Horus and the Emperor fought together, saving each other's lives on several occasions. However, the discovery of a second Primarch was inevitable, and while the Emperor left to meet another of his sons, Horus was left in command of the Great Crusade. While happy that he would soon meet one of his brothers, Horus swore to himself that he would always remain the Emperor's favoured child.
As the Great Crusade pushed outward, and more Primarchs were discovered, the Emperor's time became divided, pulled in more and more directions. Horus was often placed in overall strategic command of the Crusade, a position in which he proved his skill time and time again. He quickly won the approval and support of the other Space Marine Legions, along with their leaders.
One of the skills that made Horus such a great general and leader, above his warrior skills and ability to strategise, was that he possessed an innate understanding of psychology; able to read men so as to promote their strengths or exploit their weaknesses. This allowed him to find a non-military solution to several campaigns, using his skills of negotiation and the threat of unstoppable force to bring world leaders into the Imperium without bloodshed. Horus always ensured that he followed any local customs, believing that he would lessen the hostile reaction of opponents who wished to parley.
His understanding of the human mind allowed Horus to find the best within his fellow Primarchs, allowing him to deploy the various Legions into battlefield roles that they were best suited to. He quickly learned of the skills belonging to the White Scars and Night Lords for rapid strikes, while the Imperial Fists and Iron Warriors would be at the forefront of sieges. Horus was said to wield the Space Marine Legions, and later the human soldiers of the Imperial Army, as a lesser general would position individual squads to perform to their advantages. He was also responsible for promoting competitive rivalries between certain Legions, rivalries that would overflow into outright hatred when the Great Crusade took a turn for the worse.
Horus has often credited the relative success of his Warmastery to the counsel of the Mournival, an informal body consisting of four chosen captains. Among the captains who were elevated to the Mournival were Ezekyle Abaddon, the First Captain, whose name would be cursed ten millennia later as Abaddon the Despoiler; Tarik Torgaddon of Second Company, who was known as a joker; Horus Aximand of Fifth Company, often called "Little Horus" because of his uncanny resemblance to the Warmaster; and lastly, Garviel Loken of Tenth Company, who was elevated to the post after the death of 4th Company's Captain Hastur Sejanus in battle for a world known as Sixty-Three Nineteen (the nineteenth world brought to compliance by the 63rd Expedition, Horus' personal battlefleet).
[edit] The Corruption
Shortly after Horus' Legion declared victory in the Ullanor Crusade against the Orks, the Emperor declared that this was the greatest victory yet for his Imperium. Amongst the awards and accolades he promised the Luna Wolves Legion, if Horus wished to, he could rename them the "Sons of Horus" in honour of their leader, who in turn would be promoted to the rank of Warmaster, Supreme Commander of the Imperium's millions-strong armies. He declined to change the name to begin with, not wanting his Legion to be seen as superior to the rest. He did eventually change the name, after an incident where negotiations with a newfound human world of the interex erupted into fierce violence, and Horus began to feel the full weight of his position. Horus believed that by naming the Legion after himself, he would solidify his role as Warmaster and his Legion's role as his right hand. This also brought him closer to the Emperor who he had been attempting to personify and proxy, who had the Imperial Fists and Emperor's Children legions named after him.
Despite the honours bestowed on him and his Legion, it was said that Horus was not content. The wording of the Emperor's declaration, claiming Horus's victories as entirely his own, chafed. Although this was the usual rhetoric for such announcements, Horus saw that while the Emperor remained comfortable in his palace on Terra pursuing something only he knew, Horus was out in the field of battle, winning the Emperor's Imperium for him. It seemed that a deep-rooted resentment had finally been brought to the surface.
Before he could return to Terra to officially claim his new title, Horus and his 63rd Expedition was called to the world of Davin, which had been the eighth world they had brought to compliance. Erebus, First Chaplain of the Word Bearers Legion, had the audacity to make this "summons", and informed Horus that the planetary governor of Davin, one Eugan Temba, had betrayed the Imperium and claimed Horus to be the lackey of a "fallen god". Infuriated and against all better judgment, the Warmaster led his Legion to Davin's moon, where Temba's flagship, the Glory of Terra, had crashlanded. The moon, which should have been similar to Davin itself in terms of climate, was a boggy forest of dead and dying trees. It, like Temba and his men, had been touched by the hand of "Nurgh-leth"...the Chaos God Nurgle, Lord of Decay. Entering into the Glory of Terra and confronting the bloated, diseased form of Temba, Horus was grievously wounded by Temba's weapon - the sword that was stolen from the interex, sparking the bloody conflict - before finally killing the traitor governor.
With the apothecaries unable to help him, the warrior lodge of the Sons of Horus, encouraged by Erebus (who, like his primarch Lorgar, had already long since turned to Chaos), decided to take Horus to Davin, to the Lodge of the Serpent, and allow the Davinite priests to attempt to "heal" him. The spirits conjured by Erebus and the Davinite priests tried to feed Horus' deep-rooted resentment of the Emperor. His "brother", Magnus the Red of the Thousand Sons, attempted to use sorcery to reach Horus and convince him to stay true to the Emperor...but by then, it was too late.
[edit] The Horus Heresy
The first sign the Emperor accepted of Horus's turning was when he used virus-bombs to 'pacify' Istvaan III, killing all loyalist elements of the Chaos legions to "defeat" one man and his tiny heretical faction, but this was an excuse to kill all loyalist elements of the legions. Horus encouraged his allies in the warp to vent their fury, scrambling warp communications and making travel difficult. The Emperor on Terra working on his project in the Imperial Dungeons was absent as, halfway across the galaxy, Horus was denouncing his father, claiming him unworthy of the battles that had been fought in his name. Horus declared that he would replace the Emperor as the head of Mankind. In the Emperor's absence, Rogal Dorn assumed command. He was able to contact seven Legions of Space Marines and ordered them to investigate the cause of the Istvaan incident, and engage if necessary.
Of the seven Legions sent to Istvaan V, four were already on the side of Horus. Their true allegiance had been kept secret, and Horus ordered the daemons to relax their turmoil to allow the loyalist troops swift passage to confront him. Between them and the three Legions already on planet, they almost completely annihilated the loyal Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard Legions. Ferrus Mannus, primarch of the Iron Hands and overall commander of the loyalists, faced Fulgrim and was slain by his former mentor. Corax, primarch of the Raven Guard, was near-fatally wounded, and Vulkan, primarch of the Salamanders, was missing, presumed dead. Horus had just declared civil war on the galaxy, beginning a series of events that would still bear his name ten thousand years later.
In total eight Legions turned traitor, though they were soon joined by the Thousand Sons who felt themselves betrayed by the Emperor, along with the regiments of the Imperial Army and space-fleets which were under their control. They began to lay waste to the Imperium and the Horus Heresy came close to shattering the Imperium as brother fought brother across thousands of worlds.
Horus took his army to Terra and began what would become a fifty-five day long Siege of the Emperor's Palace. On the fifty-fifth day, Horus learned that the Ultramarines, Space Wolves and Dark Angel Legions were en route to reinforce the defenders.
Horus assessed the disastrous news. The entire invasion had been planned to overwhelm Terra before reinforcements could arrive. Even without reinforcement, the Emperor's men would need weeks to break completely. Horus realised that his gamble had failed. Horus, frustrated into rashness, gave the fatal order: that the shields protecting his battle barge be dropped. The Emperor, accompanied by an elite bodyguard, immediately teleported aboard. Their force was scattered throughout the Chaos-warped starship, and Horus easily defeated several Imperial Fists veterans before fighting Sanguinius, the angel-Primarch of the Blood Angels. Sanguinius, already wounded, was no match for Horus and was strangled by the Warmaster. Finally, the Emperor found his way to Horus's command room, and engaged him in a titanic duel.
The Emperor held back for most of the battle, remembering Horus as his beloved son and not wishing to believe that he had turned so utterly to Chaos. This allowed Horus to grievously wound the Emperor. After slashing the Emperor's throat, blinding him in one eye and breaking his back, Horus was interrupted. A lone Adeptus Custodes entered the chamber. Horus allowed him a full view of his master, before killing the Custodes with a psyker attack. In that instant, the Emperor realised how far Horus had fallen. He gathered his full strength and delivered a massive psychic blow that fatally wounded Horus. The Chaos Gods who had possesed Horus's body were seized with fear and fled. Knowing that he would not be around to stop Horus a second time, the Emperor killed him with his last ounce of strength.
Accounts of the actual battle vary but all confirm that the end of the duel resulted in Horus' death, and the fatal wounding of the Emperor. Knowing instantly that their leader had been slain, the forces that had declared their loyalty to Horus splintered and fled, their daemonic allies dissolved into the warp. Pursued by Imperial forces, those Traitor Marines that did not retreat into the warpstorm known as the Eye of Terror were slaughtered in cold blood by their loyal brothers. The Sons of Horus did likewise, but under the direction of Horus's first captain, Ezekyle Abaddon who led the counter-attack on Horus's battle barge to retrieve the Warmaster's body.
[edit] After Death
The tale of Horus does not end with his death. His body was enshrined on the daemon-world the Sons of Horus claimed for their own within the Eye of Terror. He resided there for several hundred years, before the body was stolen and cloned by Fabius Bile and the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion.
Abaddon led an assault on the fortress. He believed the worship of his Legion's dead Primarch trapped the Sons, and was chaining them to the failures of the past. The Legion formally severed the link with their past by slaying all of the clones, and the corpse whose cells had birthed them. Abaddon announced himself as their new Warmaster, and ordered that his legion be renamed 'The Black Legion'.
[edit] Inspiration
The story of Horus and the Emperor has similarities to many religious and mythical stories.
For instance, Horus bears many similar characteristics to Lucifer. Once one of the most favoured angels of God (favoured Primarchs of the Emperor), he fell from grace as his supreme self-confidence turned into arrogance. He then led many angels (the Traitor Legions) to fight against God (the Emperor) in a war in Heaven (the Horus Heresy). Unlike Lucifer, Horus defeated Sanguinius (whereas Lucifer was cast down by Archangel Michael) and moved on to fight with the Emperor himself.
On the other hand, Horus is also portrayed as resembling Jesus. The Son of God (favoured Primarch of the Emperor), he proclaimed the New Covenant (to Chaos) and led many men (the Traitor Legions) to overthrow the Old Covenant (the Empire of Man) and worship him. Following his death he rose again (the cloning under Fabius Bile). This is especially clear in background concerning the Horusian Inquisitors, who regard Horus as a potential saviour who fell.
Other similarities can be seen with the Arthurian myths, where Mordred has a similar role to Horus. Mordred is the son of the King, who commands half his forces (in Warhammer 40,000 the Emperor returns to Terra and Horus fights on; in Arthurian legend Mordred guards Camelot whilst Arthur goes on campaign). The hunger for power overwhelms Mordred, and he claims the whole of the kingdom (Imperium) for himself. In the final climatic fight at the Battle of Camlann (the Horus Heresy) Arthur slays Mordred but is mortally wounded, and then Arthur experiences his apotheosis by going to Avalon (much like the Emperor slays Horus and then goes into the Golden Throne).
The fit of Horus into these patterns can be seen as a side-effect of the fact that he fits into the Tragic Cycle of hubris as well as the Monomyth Heroic Cycle suggested by Joseph Campbell. Horus has an unnatural origin born of a god (genetically modified by The Emperor), portents & perils at his birth (the scattering of the Primarchs), then he is refound and given aid (by the Emperor), crosses the threshold into darkness (leaves his homeworld for space). He has distant wandering and the road of trials (the Great Crusade), but sadly he falls to the temptress (Chaos). This leads him to meet gods, become divine, and receive the ultimate boon (the Chaos gods place their powers into him). He goes into a magical flight (the Warp) back to his father, crosses the threshold, and then has the final trial and violent death (fighting the Emperor). Finally comes the resurrection (the cloning).
[edit] Quotations
- Tell a conquered man he has a new master, and he'll shrug. Tell him his new master wants a fifth of his annual income, and he'll go and find his pitchfork.
-Referring to increasing demands by civilian administrators to impliment the Imperial tithe
- I can take care of my enemies in a fight. But my so-called allies, my damned allies, they're the ones who keep me walking the floors at night.
-Shortly after being wounded on Davin, paraphrasing a quotation attributed to Warren G. Harding
- Let the galaxy burn!
-Giving the order to ignite the gasses caused by the virus bombing of Istvaan III
[edit] References
- Chambers, Andy (2004). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Space Marines, 4th Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-526-0.
- Games Workshop Design Staff (2002). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-322-5.
- Abnett, Dan (2006). Horus Rising. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-294-X.
- McNeill, Graham (2006). False Gods. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-370-9.
- Counter, Ben (2006). Galaxy in Flames. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-393-8.
