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Angron

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Targetdrone.gif This article is about the Primarch of the World Eaters; for the Anthology, see Angron (Anthology).
Targetdrone.gif The Red Angel redirects here. For the Daemon Prince, see Red Angel.
Angron

Angron (also known as the Red Angel[5] and originally as Angronius of Nuceria, Lord of the Red Sand[19]) is the Primarch of the World Eaters. He was raised on the brutal world of Nuceria, fighting as a gladiator slave and having his aggression enhanced by surgical implants known as the Butcher's Nails. The only Primarch taken into service of the Emperor against his will, he fell to Chaos during the Horus Heresy, afterwards becoming a Daemon Prince of Khorne. Savage and in a state of constant rage, he was nonetheless renowned for his battle-prowess and alongside Leman Russ and Vulkan was considered one of the most physically powerful Primarchs. The Chaos emissary to Lorgar called him the Fighter.[18]

Biography

Pre-Heresy

The Primarch Angron[8a]

During the Scattering, Angron was thrown to the Civilised World of Nuceria, far from Terra. He plummeted into the icy mountains of that planet, and not long after a slaver found him, and a scene of carnage. Surrounding the wounded young Primarch were the corpses of numerous Xenos. Imperial scholars would later theorise that they were Eldar who had foreseen the great bloodshed that Angron would cause and had tried unsuccessfully to stop him. After being enslaved and nursed back to health, Angron was brought to the planet's capital[1] called Desh’ea.[2] There, he was modified with the psycho-surgery known as the Butcher's Nails[8] and forced into the techno-gladiatorial arenas, where he proved to be undefeatable and a fan-favorite. Several times he tried to lead his fellow gladiators in revolt and failed each time. Finally, he succeeded and after butchering his way through the crowd he led his rag-tag army into the mountains of the planet, where he lived for several years. The civilized cities sent armies to destroy Angron, but none were able to oust the Primarch and met the same demise. Nonetheless, the issue was never in doubt, his forces had little to eat in the barren mountains and were exhausted from the constant battling[Needs Citation].

His fate seemed sealed when seven well-equipped armies surrounded Angron and his starving forces. In desperation, Angron fed his trusted comrades his own blood to keep them alive. Just as the battle was about to begin, the Emperor of Mankind's Fleet arrived in orbit over the planet. The Emperor teleported directly to Angron's point of deployment with a few trusted Adeptus Custodes. The Emperor promised Angron a legion made in his image, limitless power, and lifetimes spent perfecting the Art of Conquest. But, to his surprise, Angron refused. He chose instead to die amongst his comrades while fighting his oppressors. Reluctantly, the Emperor returned to his flagship above. Yet just as the battle was about to begin, the Emperor teleported Angron against his will back up to the fleet. He could only watch in anguish as those he regarded as his brothers and comrades were quickly annihilated. In a rage, Angron killed one of the members Custodes which surrounded him but was forced into a state of submission by the Emperor's psychic might. Angron angrily asked why the Emperor not intervene to save his comrades upon Nuceria's surface, but the Emperor dismissed the question as lacking vision. He was the Emperor and had his eyes set upon the Galaxy, not a single tyrant battling a slave revolt. The Emperor expressed hope that Angron in time would learn to understand what he had done. Angron stated to the Emperor that he was meant to die upon Nuceria, and now but a ghost remains. The Emperor replied that a ghost would suffice for what he had planned for him.[23]

Angron[15]

Before Angron could reply he was teleported to a nearby vessel of the XII Legion, the War Hounds.[23] Angron initially refused to have anything to do with his Legion, and when several Captains tried to talk to him, he brutally killed them, as they had been ordered by the Emperor to not raise a hand against Angron. The dead included the acting Legion commander, Gheer. Eventually, Captain Khârn of the 8th Assault Company managed to form a rapport with Angron, talking about the rituals of Angron's gladiators and the traditions of the War Hounds. Now convinced of their worthiness, Angron took full control over his legion, which he renamed the World Eaters, saying they would form new traditions together.[2] During the course of the Great Crusade, he reaped many victories, although some criticized the extreme and bloodthirsty tactics he used to ensure the destruction of his opponents.[Needs Citation]

At some point following the rediscovery of Angron, Arkhan Land was brought to a secret laboratory hidden in a dormant volcano in tundra location on Terra to aid in the Emperor's investigation of Angron's crude augmetics as the primarch lay unconscious. Land had previous experience with the device taking over Angron's body, having see it when investigating the Hexarchion Vaults before he ordered them sealed do to the threat the items within presented to the Machine Cult. He told the Emperor that it was called a cruciamen, but the versions he saw were more crude. The Emperor explained that the implants were not his doing and that he believed they led to the Angron's instability. He also explained that they were recreated to remove the ability to enjoy anything but anger. When asked if the Emperor could remove it, he admitted he could, but the tendrils were deep in Angron's head and spine and he was missing his limbic lobe and insular cortex. The Butcher's Nails therefore replaced part of Angron's brain, allowing him to live.[19]

The Night of the Wolf

The Emperor himself criticized Angron for the changes he made to his recruits. Like all other gladiators on his homeworld, Angron had received special nerve-implants known as the Butcher's Nails which tremendously heightened his aggressiveness, but also had the side effect of uncontrollable rages outside of battle. Angron ordered his Techmarines to duplicate the technology and that all recruits undergo the process that would turn them into aggressive and fearless warriors. Despite the obvious advantages, the Emperor was displeased, and ordered him to stop. Angron paid him no heed and continued the unsavory practice secretly[Needs Citation].

This led to the World Eaters being criticized for their general bloodlust and barbarity by their fellow Legionnaires. They were known for blood rituals when not in combat, and competed with each other for the number of enemy heads they could take in battle. Eventually the Emperor dispatched the Space Wolves and Leman Russ to Malkoya to deal with Angron and demand an end to both the Butcher's Nail surgeries and massacres carried out by the World Eaters. A tense standoff between the Wolves and World Eaters resulted with all-out warfare, eventually breaking out in a brief but bloody battle. Angron engaged Russ in single combat, defeating Russ but allowing himself to become encircled by Russ' bodyguards in the process. Angron failed to understand that his bloodlust and disregard for both his life and his legionnaires had allowed him to become encircled. Disappointed that his brother had not learned this lesson, Russ ordered a retreat. Angron saw this as a victory, for while he would have fallen had Russ gave the order to open fire, he had bested the Wolf and the World Eaters suffered fewer casualties than their enemies.[11]

Horus Heresy

The Red Angel and his Legion.[Needs Citation]
File:AngronHH.jpg
Angron after his transformation on Nuceria

After this debacle, the Emperor dispatched Horus to bring Angron back in line - a fatal error, as Horus was already corrupted by the forces of Chaos. A master psychologist, he told Angron exactly what he wanted to hear: that the Emperor was a weakling, devoid of honour and that there was a place for him in a new order, along with revenge against the brother Primarchs that had criticized his legion. Angron needed no further convincing, throwing his legion on Horus' side when the Horus Heresy broke out[Needs Citation].

During the Heresy Angron would team up in the Shadow Crusade with Lorgar and his Word Bearers to strike at Ultramar in conjunction with the traitor offensive at the Battle of Calth. Angron, seeing Lorgar as a weakling, refused to cooperate with him and frequently wasted time sacking and butchering strategically worthless targets. The tensions between the two Primarch's boiled over to a near battle, which was only interrupted by a Dark Eldar attempt to assassinate Angron himself. After the two Primarch's worked together against the Dark Eldar, they put their feud aside.[8]

However, Lorgar, recognizing Angron's instability and hidden sorrow over his forced departure from Nuceria, recommended that Angron return to his adopted homeworld to find a sense of closure as well as possibly overcome the Butcher's Nails, which were slowly killing him. When the two Primarchs arrived, however, they discovered that the slave-lords of Nuceria had massacred Angron's comrades and told the population that he had fled during their last stand. Infuriated, Angron ordered that the World Eaters and Word Bearers purge Nuceria of its population.[11] During the battle against Imperial forces, Angron saved Lorgar by stopping a Warhound Titans foot with his bare hands before it could stomp on his brother.[11] Later the Ultramarines led by Guilliman arrived, determined to exact vengeance on the traitors for the Battle of Calth. Angron went on to duel Guilliman himself during the battle, defeating the Primarch in a furious rage. But while Guilliman managed to escape thanks to an intervention by nearby Ultramarines, this was precisely what Lorgar had wanted and the Word Bearers Primarch began a Khornate ritual. Using Angron's rage as a conduit, Lorgar channeled the power of Khorne and surged the Red Angel with the powers of Chaos. Angron was transformed into a hulking, even more bloodthirsty, avatar of violence and rage that had overcome the debilitating effects of the Butcher's Nails. For his new form, he was given a massive Black Runesword forged by the Dark Mechanicum. The first words that the newly ascendant Angron spoke where his desire for Kharn to massacre slaves in the lower decks of the Conqueror and build him a skull throne.[11]

Angron and his World Eaters went on to mindlessly rampage throughout the Galaxy, ignoring Horus' calls to muster at Ullanor in preparation for the drive on Terra. Perturabo himself was eventually sent with orders to bring Angron to Ullanor at all costs. Upon the world of Deluge, the Iron Warriors arrived to find the population butchered and stacked into mountains of corpses. After withstanding an assault by crazed World Eaters and Khornate Daemons, the sky opened up and Angron himself entered the carnage. Perturabo and Angron engaged in a brutal battle, with the Daemon having the clear edge in power and speed. However despite taking many wounds Perturabo endured and goaded Angron, declaring that he was born a slave and now was a slave to Darkness for all eternity. By using the Iron Warriors, Iron Circle, and Volk to out-maneuver and bombard the World Eaters, Angron was bested as an Ultramarines fleet appeared in orbit over Deluge. Angron laughed and declared that they were all now going to die, but Perturabo reminded the Daemon Primarch that he had seen his warriors butchered while he had done nothing once before. This moved Angron enough to act, and after creating a Warp Storm the Iron Warriors and World Eaters fleets were able to escape the Ultramarines and move to Ullanor, where they accompanied Horus for the muster.[21] Angron subsequently appeared in the climax of the Solar War. As a massive Warp Rift opened up over Luna which allowed the primary traitor strikeforce to assail Terra itself, Angron was seen perched aboard one of the battlements of the Conqueror.[24]

Later, Angron took part in the Battle of Terra, causing destruction wherever he appeared and famously issuing Horus' terms of surrender to Sanguinius as he stood atop the Imperial Palace's walls. Unsurprisingly, the Blood Angels' primarch refused.[13] Eventually, Horus was slain by the Emperor and the traitors were forced to flee Terra in defeat.

Already savage and brutal, the World Eaters quickly found a new master in the form of the Blood God Khorne, eternally demanding sacrifice and skulls. Angron led his legion into their worship and oversaw his Legion's retreat into the Eye of Terror.[1]

Post-Heresy

Angron, Daemon Prince of Khorne[12]

The Dominion of Fire

During the middle of the 38th millennium, Angron and fifty thousand Khorne Berzerkers slaughtered their way through Imperial space for over two centuries. This incident became known as the Dominion of Fire. The wars and rebellions the forces of Khorne sparked ravaged over seventy sectors. In the end it took four Space Marine chapters, two Titan legions and more than thirty Imperial Guard regiments to retake what the Imperium had lost. Ninety percent of the area has since been recovered by the forces of Mankind.[3]

The First War for Armageddon

Main article: First War for Armageddon

In 444.M41, Angron invaded the Imperial hive world Armageddon. He led four World Eaters companies and a daemonic host against the local defenders and their Space Wolves allies. Angron's forces ravaged the planet, but he was continually forced to slow his advance to erect monuments to Khorne in order to sustain his Daemonic form in the Materium. In the end, however, he was defeated when he was confronted by a force of 109 Grey Knights. Angron and his escort of twelve Bloodthirsters, the Cruor Praetoria, initially decimated the Grey Knights sent before him until a newer recruit and extraordinarily powerful Psyker, Hyperion, managed to first snap, then break the Black Blade at the height of the struggle. Now at a disadvantage, Angron was banished back to the Warp by Brother-Captain Taremar Aurellian in a battle that only thirteen Grey Knights survived.[9]

Current Status

After the formation of the Great Rift, the Salamanders prevented an attempt to summon Angron upon Armageddon.[20]

Description and Abilities

Kharn, Captain of the 8th Assault Company of the War Hounds, was struck by his primarch's visage when he first saw it:

Wiry, copper-red hair curled away from a high brow, pale eyes sat deep behind cheekbones that angled down like axe-strokes to an aquiline nose and a broad, thin-lipped mouth.

It was the face of a general to follow unto death, the face of a teacher at whose feet the wise would fight to sit, the face of a king made for the adoration of worlds: the face of a primarch.

And rage made it the face of a beast. Rage pulsed and distorted the features like a tumour breaking out from the skull beneath. It made the eyes into yellow, empty pits, debased the proud lines of brow and jaw, peeled the lips back from the teeth.[2]

According to the custom of the gladiators he was raised among, Angron cut scars into his torso after each of his battles, in a continuing length known as the Triumph Rope. For every victory, the scar would be left to heal normally, while for every defeat the warrior would work some dirt into the wound and cause the scar to turn black. Angron was the only gladiator in his world's history without any black scars.[2]

Corax believed that no other Primarch could have bested Angron in single combat save for Horus and perhaps Sanguinius[4]. Leman Russ was often considered his equal[Needs Citation]; Rogal Dorn, on the other hand, believed that he could defeat Angron easily, and feared him much less as an adversary than he did Horus.[14]

Wargear

During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, Angron wielded the twin Chain Axes Gorechild and Gorefather. Before these twin weapons, he wielded the primitive Chainaxe Widowmaker, which was broken in battle against Leman Russ during the Night of the Wolf. To replace it, Angron took up the massive axe Brazentooth, which was eventually given to the Word Bearers as a sign of their alliance.[17] For protection, Angron wore a massive suit of Power Armour designed from his Nucerian gladiatorial armor known as the Armour of Mars. Angron also wielded the Plasma Pistol Spite Furnace.[16]

Upon becoming a Daemon Prince, Angron abandoned most of his mortal weaponry, taking up the Daemon Weapon known as the Black Blade.

Quotes

"What would you know of struggle, Perfect Son? When have you fought against the mutilation of your mind? When have you had to do anything more than tally compliances and polish your armour?" [...] "The people of your world named you Great One. The people of mine called me Slave. Which one of us landed on a paradise of civilization to be raised by a foster father, Roboute? Which one of us was given armies to lead after training in the halls of the Macraggian high-riders? Which one of us inherited a strong, cultured kingdom? And which one of us had to rise up against a kingdom with nothing but a horde of starving slaves? Which one of us was a child enslaved on a world of monsters, with his brain cut up by carving knives? Listen to your blue-clad wretches yelling of courage and honour, courage and honour, courage and honour. Do you even know the meaning of those words? Courage is fighting the kingdom which enslaves you, no matter that their armies outnumber yours by ten-thousand to one. You know nothing of courage. Honour is resisting a tyrant when all others suckle and grow fat on the hypocrisy he feeds them. You know nothing of honour."

Angron addressing Roboute Guilliman during the Shadow Crusade.[11a]

Images

  • Models

  • Epic Scale Angron miniature[6]

  • Angron during the Horus Heresy[10]

Notes

In the original lore as established in Index Astartes, Angron became a Daemon Prince after the Horus Heresy. However as of the novel Betrayer, he seems to reach this state during the Heresy itself on Nuceria.

Related Articles

Etymology

Angron's likely derives from the word angry.[22]

Sources

The Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions
Loyalists Traitors

Lion El'Jonson • Jaghatai Khan • Leman Russ •
Rogal Dorn • Sanguinius • Ferrus Manus •
Roboute Guilliman • Vulkan • Corvus Corax

Fulgrim • Perturabo • Konrad Curze •
Angron • Mortarion • Magnus •
Horus • Lorgar • Alpharius

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