Dark Angels (Warhammer 40,000)

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Dark Angels
Primarch	Lion El'Jonson
Chapter Master	Supreme Grand Master Azrael
Battlecry	Repent! For tomorrow you die!
Colours	Dark Green White (Deathwing) Black (original colours, Ravenwing)
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The Dark Angels are a military faction in the Science Fantasy game and setting of Warhammer 40,000. In the Warhammer 40,000 backstory, the Dark Angels are considered among the most sinister and secretive of the loyalist Space Marine Chapters. Though they claim complete allegiance and service to the Emperor of Man, their actions and secret goals at times seem at odds with that professed loyalty, as the Dark Angels strive ever to atone for a secret crime committed long ago in the time of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Lion El'Jonson 1.2 The Great Crusade 1.3 The Great Betrayal 1.4 After the Horus Heresy 2 Organization 2.1 Headquarters 2.2 Recruitment 2.3 Combat Doctrine 2.4 Battlecry 2.5 Appearance 3 Notable Members 4 Successor Chapters 5 Background Information 5.1 Conspiracy Theories 6 Dark Angels as an Army 7 Bibliography 8 References

[edit] History

[edit] Lion El'Jonson

The incubator pod containing the infant Primarch landed on the Death World of Caliban, a planet of immense forests inhabited by beasts mutated by the touch of Chaos. He managed to survive in the forests alone, living as a wild man far from civilization.

Caliban was home to several knightly orders created to defend the people from the great beasts. One such organization was known simply as "the Order", made up of commoners and nobles alike (whereas the other knightly orders were assembled purely from the nobility). A group from the Order found the feral Primarch in the forests. While the knights seemed inclined to kill him, one man, a knight named Luther, stayed their hands and decided to take the Primarch in. He named him Lion El'Jonson, which means "the Lion, Son of the Forest".

Jonson was taken to the Order's fortress monastery and taught human ways, learning to speak relatively quickly and becoming a fierce warrior in the Order's ranks - though of his time living alone in Caliban's forests, he said nothing. With Luther at his side, Jonson called for a campaign to exterminate the great beasts of Caliban, a time-consuming process that took nearly a decade. The word of their successes brought an influx of new recruits into the Order as the campaign progressed. Any knightly order that did not follow Jonson's lead was destroyed down to the last man. After the last of the beasts fell, Jonson was named Supreme Grand Master of the Order and ruler of all Caliban, and the world entered a golden age of peace and prosperity.

Shortly after the success of the campaign, the Emperor and his scouts along with the primarch Magnus the Red, arrived on Caliban. Jonson automatically saw the connection between him and the Master of Mankind, and swore his fealty. The Emperor granted Jonson command of the First Space Marine Legion, known as the Dark Angels.

[edit] The Great Crusade

Twenty legions of Space Marines were created by the Emperor during the Great Crusade to join and lead the Emperor's quest to unite all of humanity under the aegis of the Imperium of Man. The Dark Angels Legion was the very first of those original "First Founding" legions to be created at the beginning of the Great Crusade, and so were originally under the command of the Emperor himself.

Once the Emperor discovered Lion El'Jonson on Caliban, however, the Primarch took command of the legion created from his genetic stock, the Dark Angels Legion, and was granted command of the Fourth Expeditionary Fleet in orbit around the planet Sarosh, formerly commanded by a White Scar. The Saroshi - ruled by a bureaucracy - had recently expressed their interest in becoming part of the Imperium, and the Imperials were eager to allow them in, believing that these people seemed to have the same secular beliefs as they did. But the Saroshi (without mentioning it to the Imperial expedition) secretly worshipped entities in the warp they called the Melachim, and saw the anti-religious stance of the Imperium as evil. The lord high exacter, the leader of the Saroshi bureaucracy, denounced Jonson and the Emperor to his face, and Jonson responded by ramming his sword through him. The Saroshi had also brought a nuclear device aboard their shuttle, intending to assassinate the fleet's entire command structure, including Jonson; however, Luther and another Dark Angel named Zahariel managed to eject the shuttle into space, causing only minor damage to the flagship. After this incident, Luther and several others were sent back to Caliban to oversee the recruitment of new Space Marines into the Legion.

Another incident occurred during the pacification of Dulan that began the millennia-long rivalry with the Space Wolves. The planetary governor, Durath, had denounced Space Wolf Primarch Leman Russ as "the Emperor's lap-dog" and swore to feed his heart to his pet Grox. Russ, enraged, swore to kill Durath himself and demanded the satisfaction of leading the assault. Jonson, however, had meticulously planned the attack and was not about to let his brother's hot-headedness foil his plans. Jonson led the assault, leaving Russ to watch helplessly as the Lion killed Durath. After the battle, Russ stormed into the fortress and struck Jonson across the room. A brawl ensued that lasted a full day and night, the two combatants being said to be equally matched: while Russ was slightly stronger, the Lion was slightly quicker. Russ gaining the upper hand eventually ceased and started laughing, realizing how foolish their fight was. Jonson, however, still angry at what he considered the treachery of Russ's first punch, knocked the laughing Space Wolf out cold with one final blow. By the time Russ regained consciousness, the Dark Angels had departed for new fields of battle in the Crusade. It has since been customary for selected champions from both chapters to engage in a non-lethal duel whenever they meet so that honour may be satisfied. Ragnar Blackmane is the latest marine to add his name to the list of champions. Other than the unforgiven, the Space Wolves are the only chapter the Dark Angles will field alongside.

[edit] The Great Betrayal

The Dark Angels had been posted to the Eastern Fringe when word reached them of Horus's treachery. It is known that Horus ordered the Night Lords legion to intercept them, but without success. As the Dark Angels were in transit to Terra alongside the Space Wolves legion, so too were the Ultramarines legion, who had also thwarted Horus's efforts to keep them from Terra. They arrived too late; Horus had been defeated and the Emperor grievously wounded. Grief-stricken, Jonson returned to Caliban. Upon their arrival in orbit, they were fired upon from the surface. Pulling back the fleet, Jonson tried to find out what had happened, and discovered that Luther - who had become embittered by what he perceived as Jonson taking all the glory - had poisoned the minds of the Space Marine garrison and the new recruits. Believing Luther to be tainted by Chaos, an infuriated Jonson ordered the planet be bombarded from orbit, destroying the planet's defenses.

Jonson led his forces to the surface and assaulted the Order's fortress-monastery, where he confronted Luther in single combat. Luther, given strength by the power of the Chaos Gods, was evenly matched with the enraged Primarch. The battle between the two leveled the monastery as the planet was coming apart around them, the bombardment taking a heavy toll on the surface. Jonson managed to wound Luther, but could not bring himself to kill the man who had been his brother and mentor. Luther lashed out with a powerful psychic attack that mortally wounded the Primarch. As he saw what he had done, Luther felt a veil lift from his eyes, and the Chaos Gods - seeing that once again their chosen champion had failed - lashed out with the powers of the warp. The Fallen Dark Angels were scattered throughout space and time, and Caliban tore itself apart. The only portion of the planet remaining intact was the rock on which stood the monastery in which Luther and the Lion had duelled. The Dark Angels entered the shattered monastery and captured the broken Luther; of Jonson himself, however, there was no sign.

In the novel Angels of Darkness by Gav Thorpe, a Fallen Angel named Astelan tells a different version of these events. According to Astelan, Lion el'Jonson was late in arriving to the defence of Terra not due to being too far away, but because he was waiting to see whether Horus or the Emperor won. Astelan, believing that those who were with Jonson would not forgive them for turning on their brothers ordered the defensive batteries to fire. This is perhaps forshadowed at the end of the novel Descent of Angels, from the Horus Heresy series. The difference between the Dark Angels' view of the fall of Caliban and that of the Fallen Angel Astelan is considered to be due to Astelan's warped, literally, perception of the events, but the novel suggests that some aspects might be true after all.

[edit] After the Horus Heresy

With their Primarch missing and their brothers having betrayed them, the Dark Angels swore to redeem themselves in the eyes of the Emperor and force the Fallen to repent. To this day, the Dark Angels and their Successor Chapters call themselves the Unforgiven, and wage a war of repentance to wipe this secret stain from the honour of the Chapter.

[edit] Organization

The organization of the Dark Angels differs from the Codex Astartes in the higher ranks, along with the layout of the First and Second Companies.

The First Company is known as the Deathwing, veterans who only take to the field of battle in bone-white(Ash-white per story but then the Deathwing look too much like White Scars) Terminator Armour. This armour was originally black, but was repainted white to honour the valour of a group of 30 Terminators, who single-handedly halted a Genestealer invasion of Plain's World, one of the Dark Angels main recruiting worlds. The Deathwing is unique in that it has enough of the rare and precious Terminator suits to equip the entire company, in excess of 100 complete sets of armour.

The second company is the Ravenwing. The members of the Ravenwing are chosen not only for their skill at fast assaults on bike and landspeeder but also for their resilience to the heretical rantings of members of the fallen. The Ravenwing wear jet-black armour and specialise in lightning fast assaults. All but highest members of the inner circle are oblivious to the true purpose of the Ravenwing, to hunt down and capture every last member of the fallen as only with the blood of the Fallen can the Dark Angels' sins be washed away.

[edit] Headquarters

The ruins of Caliban are located in the Cadian sector, to the galactic north of the Eye of Terror. Prior to the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the planet of Caliban was covered with lush forests, inhabited by creatures warped by Chaos. The humans of the planet were a proud, martial people, forced to live in great stone monasteries.

The Dark Angels rebuilt their fortress monastery on the asteroid that had borne the original fortress, drilling deep into the bedrock and rebuilding the ruins. The new fortress is known officially as The Tower of Angels, but is more commonly referred to as The Rock. The Rock has been equipped with warp engines, enabling faster-than-light transit through the Immaterium.

The warrens beneath The Rock are where the Dark Angels bring their fallen brethren to be redeemed by their Interrogator-Chaplains. It is believed by the Inquisition to hold many other secrets. Only when a Dark Angel reaches the rank of Company Master does he truly learn all the secrets of the Dark Angels, but one secret is known only to the Supreme Grand Master, the lord of the Chapter: Luther is not only still alive, but imprisoned within the deepest cavern of The Rock. He is incurably insane, and has thwarted the attempts of every Supreme Grand Master to make him repent to date. Luther simply rants and raves that he has no need of confession or repentance, for one day Lion El'Jonson will return and forgive him for his sins.

There is one more secret known only to the God-Emperor himself. After his wounding at the hands of Luther, Lion El'Jonson was carried away by the Watchers in the Dark and lies entombed, unconscious but still alive, in a sealed, unreachable chamber directly in the centre of the Rock. It is believed that he will return for the final battle with the Traitor Legions as when the fallen angel cypher stabs the Emperor, Lion will return. It is also said by Luther that that day is close and the Lion draws near.

[edit] Recruitment

As the Dark Angels have no home world to speak of (since the destruction of Caliban), they draw their recruits from a variety of planets, mainly with a pre-industrial level of technology. Representatives of the Dark Angels visit each recruiting world once within a normal human's lifetime, and take the strongest juveniles from the population. Each recruit is thoroughly screened, and from the moment he is accepted into the Chapter as a Space Marine, his past becomes irrelevant. Once the recruit is accepted he will undergo the normal rites to become a Space Marine. However, should he fail, his mind will be wiped clean and his body converted into that of a servitor, mindless automations that carry out the labourous tasks of the Chapter.

After the Heresy, the Dark Angels recruited from a single planet (known as Plains World). Sometime before the 41st Millennium a group of returning Deathwing found that their planet had been overrun fifty years earlier by Genestealers, with only a few un-tainted humans remaining. The Terminators, whose duty and honor required the extermination of the genestealers, prepared themselves for battle. The odds of their success was nearly non-existent. And so, the Terminators engaged in their native death ritual. Instead of anointing their skin with white ash, they anointed their armor. The Terminators cleansed the world and rescued the enslaved populace, and in honor of those few Terminators, their armor was ever after white. The Dark Angels leadership, the inner circle, recognised the folly of relying upon one planet for manpower and so diversified their recruiting grounds (these events were chronicled in the short story Deathwing, which first appeared in the Space Hulk supplement of the same name).

[edit] Combat Doctrine

The Dark Angels follow the standard doctrine of the Codex Astartes, but their dogged resistance against overwhelming odds is legendary. The Dark Angels will stubbornly stand their ground in combat, refusing to give ground to the enemy, even if tactically beneficial to do so.

The primary driving force of the Chapter is the hunt and capture of "The Fallen". Only by forcing every single one to repent do the Dark Angels believe they can restore their honour. If a member of "The Fallen", or someone who may know of the location of one, is present on the battlefield, the Dark Angels will ignore their objective and do all in their power to capture this individual. Everything else is second to the capture of a Fallen Angel, including any human life. It is not unknown for Dark Angels to fire upon friendly targets in order to prevent them from discovering the secret of the Fallen. Those friendly units that survive are often taken to The Rock to be turned into Servitors, to silence them forever.

The Dark Angels are also notoriously intolerant of non-humans and mutants, even those considered benevolent by the Imperium of Man. They are also highly mistrustful of the Imperial Inquisition, and will refuse to fight alongside any force that incorporates members of the Inquisition, or non-human soldiers except in the most dire of circumstances. This is due to the fact that they do not want the Inquisition investigating the Chapter.

[edit] Battlecry

"Repent! For tomorrow you die!"

[edit] Appearance

The symbol of the Chapter is a winged sword. Variants of this symbol exist for the Deathwing and Ravenwing, the former depicting the winged sword as broken, the latter a sword held by a single wing and raven's claw. The tenth Company, the Scouts, uses the Dark Angel Sword but without the wing device, to symbolise the fact that the Scout Company comprises Chapter recruits and trainees, who have yet to "earn their wings".

Prior to the Horus Heresy, the power armour of the Dark Angels Legion was jet-black. After the Heresy, the bulk of the Chapter began to appear in dark green armour, while the First and Second Companies' armour remained black. The Deathwing later changed their armour to bone-white.

[edit] Notable Members

• Supreme Grand Master Azrael - The Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels Chapter and the unofficial commander of all the Unforgiven Chapters during the 41st millennium.

• Cypher - The most feared member of the Fallen whose true name is unknown. Wherever this phantasm of a man goes, other Fallen are not far behind. This name comes from ancient Caliban, where it was commonly known as Lord Cypher, a man who would renounce his name and become the keeper of the Order's traditions and ceremonies.
• Master Belial - Master of the Deathwing^[1]
• Master Sammael - Master of the Ravenwing, rides a jetbike ^[1]

• Master Gideon - Ex master of the Ravenwing, crushed to death by a titan.
• Master Ezekiel - Grand Master of Librarians - Keeper of the Book of Salvation. This ancient tome contains the names of the Fallen that the Dark Angels have captured
• Master Sapphon - Present Grand Master of Chaplains. He received the post neither due to age nor ability as an interrogator (Asmodai is his superior in both these things), but for his vast leadership skills.
• Interrogator-Chaplain Asmodai - Oldest and most successful living Interrogator-Chaplain within the chapter today. Bearer of the fabled Blades of Reason. His rules were updated for the new Dark Angel Codex.

• Interrogator-Chaplain Molochia - Greatest of the Dark Angels' Interrogator-Chaplains. Died after over 300 years' service to the Chapter, with 12 Black Pearls on his rosarius. To this day, no other Interrogator-Chaplain has emulated this achievement.
• Brother Bethor - Bearer of the Sacred Standard. (The Dark Angels have three Sacred Standards, namely the Standards of Fortitude, Retribution and Devastation.)
• Scout Sergeant Namaan - Legendary Sergeant who died, halting the Ork advance during the Piscina IV campaign.
• Anaziel - Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels in the 37th Millennium. Requested the creation of the Disciples of Caliban chapter
• Chaplain Boreas - Chaplain of the 3rd Company during the Battle of Piscina IV
• Master Ezekiel - leader of the Deathwing recruiting party which discovered the Genestealer infection of their homeworld. Realizing that they faced a potential suicide mission, the Marines reverted to their tribal names, and painted their armour death-white. Ezekiel became the warrior Cloudrunner once again, and fought along side Weasel-Fierce, Bloody Moon, and the Librarian Lucius, known as Two Heads Talking.
• Master Gabriel - Ex Master of the Deathwing. Was sent to find Captain Ezekiel and his men as they did not return from Totem. On finding Ezekiel the lone survivor, Gabriel discovered the fate of his brothers. Gabriel returned to his chapter and started the new Deathwing using his own badge, a broken sword mixed with the wings of the chapter badge, and kept the white in respect of his brothers. He was killed on the Space Hulk Charnel Shrine.
• Chapter commander Merir Astelan - Ordered planetary defenses on Caliban to fire on Lion El'Jonsons fleet after they returned from the Horus Heresy.

[edit] Successor Chapters

After the Horus Heresy, the Dark Angels founded at least three chapters to track the Fallen, the known ones being the Angels of Absolution, the Angels of Redemption and the Angels of Vengeance. These successor chapters share in the secret of the Fallen, and collectively the Dark Angels and their successors refer to themselves as "The Unforgiven".

In addition several other chapters have since been created using the Dark Angels gene-seed. These successor chapters were introduced in the fourth edition Dark Angels codex released in 2007. The new chapters introduced were Guardians of the Covenant, the Consecrators and the Disciples of Caliban. The Disciples of Caliban are unusual in that Chapter Master Anaziel specifically requested their creation, the only known instance of a Chapter Master to make such a request, much less have it granted. The Consecrators are notorious for using lovingly preserved technology from the time of Lion El'Jonson himself, as such they bear a striking resemblance to the Dark Angels of pre-heresy days.^[1]

Curiously, although Dark Angel gene-seed is every bit as pure and fully functional as that of the Ultramarines chapter, the seed of the Lion has rarely been used since the Horus Heresy.

[edit] Background Information

Prior to the novel Descent of Angels, the background of the Dark Angels, both in Games Workshop material and within the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe was shrouded in mystery. Aspects of the Chapter's fall to Chaos bear similarities to the legends of King Arthur, in particular Arthur's/El'Jonson's eventual defeat, and Gawain's/Luther's fall from grace.

Also, the name of their Primarch, Lion El'Jonson, is inspired by the English poet Lionel Johnson, the author of "The Dark Angel". Originally the name was spelt Lyyn Elgonsen (Rogue Trader p.138); presumably to obscure the reference.

[edit] Conspiracy Theories

Games Workshop has in recent years restricted the information about the Dark Angels to emphasize the mystery surrounding the chapter. The fate of Lion El'Jonson had been purposefully left out of all texts since the early 1990s, and only re-emerged in the 2001 "Index Astartes" article published in White Dwarf Magazine. While the Inner Circle know of Luther's stasis cell, there is another chamber at the very heart of the Rock that is unknown to all but the Watchers in the Dark and the Emperor himself. This secret chamber contains the sleeping form of Lion 'El Jonson. Similarly, information regarding the Chaos Space Marines character Cypher, rumoured to be foremost of the Fallen, is kept vague to further fuel players' imaginations.

The novel Angels of Darkness (Thorpe, 2003), written by Games Workshop staff member and codex writer Gav Thorpe, provides an alternative account of the events that split the Chapter, and the primarchs' influence over their space marines. Despite the layers of learning and civilisation 'El Jonson acquired in later life, the time he spent in the forest marked him permanently, and he remained a brooding, paranoid, and secretive man. Jonson's experience taught him that exposure invited predators, that darkness was as welcoming as it was dangerous. Intrigue, half-truths, and suspicion became second nature to each new Dark Angel. Jonson mistrusted the Terran Dark Angels above all others. While these men formed a minority within the chapter, Jonson spent by far more time leading them than the Caliban Dark Angels. Jonson also systematically removed control from each chapter commander and held his Legion's reigns tightly. Each chapter posted to a warzone was shadowed by a younger chapter in secret to report on its men to the primarch.

As the Heresy erupted, the Dark Angels were operating on the Eastern Fringe. In the interim, warp storms cut Caliban off from reliable astrotelepathy, so that only garbled accounts of current events reached the planet. Some were true, some were half-true, some were outright fabrications. In their desperation, the elder Dark Angels tried to leave Caliban and confront Horus. They were prevented by their younger brethren in a battle that grounded the marines' vessels and despoiled Caliban. When the Lion returned, his fleet was fired on for fear that he had sided with Horus, and that the victors' version of the uprising had already damned them in Jonson's eyes. Jonson immediately ordered a full-scale bombardment, and the destruction of Caliban soon followed.

The canonicity of the novel is hotly debated. Although the Fallen character (Astelan) is a first hand witness to events, it is unclear which of his claims are true, which are deliberate misinformation, and which are bias. The author, Gav Thorpe, has stated in an interview on Dysartes^[2] that the book is not an objective look at the events on Caliban, but a character study of one of the "Fallen".

[edit] Dark Angels as an Army

In early March 2007, the Dark Angels codex for the fourth edition of Warhammer 40,000 was released. Unlike the previous edition of the codex, this was a stand-alone sourcebook that did not require players to have a copy of Codex: Space Marines. This most recent 88-page codex contains extensive in-game history, new rules and special characters for the army. New additions (and re-additions) to this edition of the codex were the special characters Sammael and Belial, the Masters of the Ravenwing and Deathwing companies of the Dark Angels respectively.

Some changes in the codex included a throwback to the rules system during the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. In that edition, Space Marine squads were taken in fixed numbers of either five or ten marines. The fourth edition of the Dark Angels' codex applied this limitation to all of their infantry squads, with the exception of the Dark Angels Company Veterans, a new unit introduced in the codex. Another change from the previous edition and also the normal Space Marine codex is the inclusion of Scout Marines as an Elites choice instead of a Troops choice. This change was also added to the latest Blood Angels codex.^[1]

The Deathwing and Ravenwing also have been changed. No longer are Deathwing limited to Terminator-only armies. They now have more choices than just the Dreadnought and Land Raider. Ravenwing, likewise, also have more options than before. Sammael, the Master of Ravenwing, also has the ability to take to the skies in either a Land Speeder or a unique Jetbike (the former is as strong as a Land Raider in Armour while the latter is as strong as a Devastator in range combat). Deathwing armies also now have access to Terminator Apothecaries and Company Banners. However, due to restricted squad size, Deathwing Terminators are severely limited (even with Belial the total count of terminators can never go beyond 47, just below half of a full company of Space Marines). Also, the Ravenwing have lost the Skilled Rider and Jink abilities. Instead, they all come equipped with Teleport Homers automatically.

An advantage from a wargamer's point of view is that Successor Chapters can be painted and named as liked. Some examples are given in the Codex but players can devise their own colour scheme. So there is no longer any need to paint terminators bone white. The Codex does suggest that these successor chapters would have dark, brooding colours. There are also Dark Angels specific box sets and characters.

[edit] Bibliography

• Johnson, Jervis; and Hoare, Andy (2007). Codex: Dark Angels, 4th, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-807-3. 
• Johnson, Jervis (1999). Codex: Dark Angels, 3rd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-67-0. 
• Priestley, Rick; and Johnson, Jervis (1996). Codex: Angels of Death, 2nd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-872372-96-1. 
• "Index Astartes – Dark Angels" (March 2001). White Dwarf 255. ISSN 0265-8712. 
• Thorpe, Gavin (2003). Angels of Darkness. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84416-102-1. 
• Scanlon, Mitchel (2007). Descent of Angels. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-508-7. 

[edit] References

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