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Chaos Portal World Eaters

Khârn the Betrayer weilding Gorechild⁷

Khârn, also known as Khârn the Betrayer, was originally a member of the World Eaters Space Marine Legion.

Overview

Khârn before the Horus Heresy

Khârn is the greatest of all the Champions of Khorne, second only to the Daemon Prince Angron in power. He wields a chainaxe known as Gorechild⁵ (which, along with its twin Gorefather, was wielded by Angron himself during the Horus Heresy⁴), rimmed with the teeth of a Mica Dragon. He is the avatar of Khorne, embodying that god's indiscriminate rage and bloodlust.

Like his Legionary compatriots, his brain was re-wired after the coming of Angron to the legion. His composure on meeting and gaining his primarch's respect opposed so violently in the man he became⁶, so that he finds joy only in killing the enemy. His love of killing is so great that he has actually had a kill counter installed in the lens of his helmet.

Before the Horus Heresy, Khârn was captain of the 8th Assault Company of the World Eaters Legion, and also served as the personal equerry to Angron - something of a "cool head" to his Primarch's bloody rages (which is somewhat surprising, given the World Eaters' practice of essentially lobotomizing their warriors). Despite this, Khârn was known even before the Heresy as a brilliant but unstable warrior.

During the infighting on Isstvan III, Khârn was believed killed in action while fighting Garviel Loken of the Luna Wolves, a loyalist determined to stop Horus from attacking Terra by holding his former legion. Khârn engaged in close combat with Loken, only to be thrown against the dozer blades of a nearby vehicle, impaling his chest. It was believed that the blow was fatal, but this has been proven wrong.

Kharn was dispatched to Prospero to find out the fate of the Thousand Sons, while there he interrogated a Thousand Son who planted the idea of self-loathing in him that would lead to his complete fall to the power of Khorne.

During the Heresy and the culminating siege of the Imperial Palace, he was at the forefront of every assault. At the Heresy's defeat, Khârn already lay dead upon a mound of corpses at the walls of the Inner Palace. His fellow World Eaters carried his corpse away with them as they fought their way back to their ships. Once on board they discovered that by some dark miracle Khârn still lived.⁵ Whether Khorne himself breathed life back into the berserker's body or whether the relentless clamour of battle revived his blood lusting spirit remains a mystery, but since the Heresy Khârn has survived the bloodiest battles to the current age and never came so close to death again.

At the Battle of Skalathrax, Khârn became both legendary and infamous amongst his legion. He slew in a berserk rage Emperor's Children and World Eaters alike, earning him the title The Betrayer, and shattering his Legion into the individual war bands it now consists of. From then on, he has become the unstoppable and bloody avatar of Khorne.⁵

Afterwards he hunted the Eye of Terror, slaughtering any worthy enough to be killed in Khorne's name. During the Thirteenth Black Crusade his wrath was unleashed upon the Imperium as Khârn alongside a few of the most insane of Khorne's berserkers turned on the Emperor's warriors flocking to the defence of Cadia.

Weapons and Abilities

Kharn is one of the most deadly yet unstable close combat fighters in the galaxy, he is just as likely to attack his own allies in a berserk fury as he is the enemy. Armed with a Plasma Pistol and his ancient Chainaxe Gorechild, he is able to tear through armour, flesh and bone with ease. To emphasise that he is truly favoured by Khorne, he is subject to the Blessing of the Blood God, as a result he is immune to the effects of psychic powers.⁵

Images

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  Miniature

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  Kharn Post-Heresy

Sources

• ¹:White Dwarf 201
• ²:GamesWorkshop - Chaos Space Marines: Khârn the Betrayer
• ³:Galaxy in Flames, (Horus Heresy Series) by Ben Counter
• ⁴: Battle for the Abyss, (Horus Heresy Series) by Ben Counter, p. 266
• ⁵:Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition) page 48 - 49
• ⁶:After Desh'ea (Short Story) by Matthew Farrer, pp. 219 - 241 (as published in Tales of Heresy (Anthology))
• ⁷: Black Library 26/01/2012