  |
This article's content is marked as Mature Sanguinius contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature articles are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Sanguinius. It should have been him. He has the vision and strength to carry us to victory, and the wisdom to rule once victory is won. For all his aloof coolness, he alone has the Emperor's soul in his blood. Each of us carries part of our father within us, whether it is his hunger for battle, his psychic talent or his determination to succeed. Sanguinius holds it all. It should have been his... | „ |
| ~ Horus after being conferred the title "Warmaster." |
Lord Sanguinius, also known as the Great Angel and the Brightest One, was a major protagonist in the grimdark science fantasy franchise Warhammer 40,000.
Sanguinius was one of the twenty Primarchs created by the Emperor of Mankind to serve as the commanders of His Space Marine Legions. He was the Primarch of the Blood Angels Legion and bore a unique mutation that gave him a pair of angel-like wings. Known as the "Brightest One," Sanguinius was considered the noblest of the Emperor's Primarch sons. He was famously and tragically slain in battle by his own traitorous brother Horus, during the galaxy-spanning civil war known as the "Horus Heresy," giving his life for the Imperium. He would go down in history as one of the greatest and most beloved heroes the Imperium ever knew.
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Primarch Physiology: Sanguinius was one of the twenty "Primarchs," genetically-engineered superhumans created by the Emperor of Mankind to serve as his greatest enforcers. The Emperor Himself, as well as the considerably powerful Perpetual Erda, provided their genetic material as the basis for the Primarchs. Though the process through which the Primarchs were created remains largely unknown, it was speculated that the Emperor made use of knowledge and/or power drawn from the Immaterium. Whatever the case, once created, Sanguinius and the other Primarchs were far superior to regular humans in every way. The Primarchs were far larger in stature than an average human, and achieved mental and physical maturity at an accelerated rate in comparison to regular human children. Each of them possessed traits of the Emperor Himself, and were considered akin to demigods by their lessers. There were few beings in the galaxy that could rival a Primarch in any aspect, whether it were martial power and prowess, intellect, or even creative pursuits like art.
- Longevity: Unlike regular humans, who typically lived for less than a hundred years, the natural lifespans of Primarchs such as Sanguinius were far longer. Primarchs were known to live for over ten millennia while only visibly aging a little, implying that they could potentially live for many tens of thousands of years before dying of age-related complications.
- Superhuman Durability
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Strength: As a Primarch, Sanguinius possessed an immense level of physical strength that far exceeded that of most other lifeforms.
- Wings: Since at least the time of his arrival on Baal as an infant, Sanguinius had a pair of large, beautiful, white angel-like wings sprouting from his back. Whether the wings were a product of the Emperor's experiments or a mutation developed as a result of exposure to the eradiated atmosphere of Secundus was unclear. Regardless of their origin, the wings could support Sanguinius's weight, allowing him to fly above the ground as naturally as a bird. Sanguinius was the only Primarch to possess the natural gift of flight, earning him equal parts awe and envy from his brothers. The wings were a useful tool to Sanguinius, who could achieve exceptionally high flying speeds and use the aerial mobility and extra limbs afforded to him by his wings to his advantage in combat.
Abilities[]
- Multilingualism: Sanguinius was able to fluently speak Aenokhian, the language of the People of the Pure Blood, and Low Gothic, the official common language of the Imperium of Man.
Equipment[]
- Blade Encarmine: One of the Great Angel's two most favored melee weapons was the "Blade Encarmine," a large ornate power sword. A power sword was a type of power weaponry, which, upon activation, made use of an inbuilt power cell to coat its blade in a field of energy that disrupted solid matter it came into contact with. As a result, Encarmine could more affectively cleave through armor and other solid materials. It could also supposedly only be wielded by someone with a similar genetic code to Sanguinius, meaning only the Primarch and the Blood Angels could use the weapon.
- Infernus: Sanguinius's personal firearm was a large pistol named "Infernus." It fired a type of ammunition that was able to do serious damage to both Space Marines and vehicles.
- Moonsilver Blade: When the Blade Encarmine was unavailable, Sanguinius was known to make use of a large backup sword called "Moonsilver." The weapon was granted to Sanguinius by his brother Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, and was highly affective against Daemons. The Moonsilver Blade was built from the same material as the frame of the Phalanx, a gargantuan mobile fortress monastery that served as the base of operations for the Imperial Fists.
- Spear of Telesto: The second of the Brightest One's two most favored melee weapons was the "Spear of Telesto," a large ornate spear. The haft of the spear was sculpted to depict Sanguinius himself as a hooded angel of blood, and a purity seal handwritten by the Emperor himself was affixed just below it. The weapon's blade was shaped like an elongated tear with a hollow in the center, representing the single drop of blood Sanguinius shed upon his declaration of fealty to the Emperor. The Spear of Telesto was capable of projecting concentrated beams of destructive energy that vaporized anyone who didn't have the Primarch of the Blood Angel's genetic code.
Quotes[]
Quotes About Sanguinius[]
| “ | Sanguinius is loyal to our father out of perfect love and perfect nobility, and if that were all, he would still be the best of us. But he is also loyal out of perfect fear. He fears the reason he has wings. He fears what they might represent. He fears something went wrong during his creation and he fears the effects this may have upon his own gene-sons. The insecurity that binds Sanguinius to the Emperor, perhaps more so than any other of our father's sons, is born of the belief that he has the most to prove. It is a bitter irony, because he is the one with the least. | „ |
| ~ The writings of the Primarch Lorgar Aurellian. |
| “ | Sanguinius. It should have been him. He has the vision and strength to carry us to victory, and the wisdom to rule once victory is won. For all his aloof coolness, he alone has the Emperor's soul in his blood. Each of us carries part of our father within us, whether it is his hunger for battle, his psychic talent or his determination to succeed. Sanguinius holds it all. It should have been his... | „ |
| ~ Horus after being conferred the title "Warmaster." |
Quotes By Sanguinius[]
| “ | Sanguinius: My people revere me as their god. That brings them a measure of peace. No doubt to you and your sky-sailing kind, we are nothing but primitives. Roaches in this poisoned desert. But I reward their faith in me. I am their servant. I am mercy when my people need it most, and I am death to their enemies. Emperor: That does not make you a god, my son. Sanguinius: I never said I was a god. I said my people believe me to be one. |
„ |
| ~ Sanguinius explaining the importance of faith to the Pure Blood to his father. |
| “ | You have told me your names and I have read the records of your deeds. I know you, and I know how my father's Imperium – our Imperium – looks upon you. You have served with loyalty and been paid in gratitude and spite, both in equal measure. You have been given difficult tasks, only to find yourselves mistrusted for achieving them in the ways you believed best. I will not say you were wrong to act as you have acted, nor will I blame those that have come to fear you. That is the past, and this is our chance to step back from the edge of extinction. My first command is to bring you together once more. We will fight together as one bloodline. As of this moment, you are a broken Legion no longer. Swear me no oaths, make me no promises. Do not offer me your allegiance purely because my blood runs in your veins. In fact, do not offer me your allegiance at all. Not until you believe me worthy of it. Instead, let me offer you my allegiance. Take my oath, here and now. I am Sanguinius, son of the Emperor, primarch of the Ninth Legion, and I make you this promise – I will stand with you in glory or die alongside you in shame. I come to you tonight not to enforce my ways upon all of you, but to learn your ways. This Legion is not mine, it is not a possession to be manipulated purely by my will. This Legion is ours. And though you are my sons, fated to answer to me, I am your primarch, and I will answer to you. Each one of you is a bloodied veteran of the Great Crusade. And I, too, have fought the Imperium’s war, learning of our empire at my brother Horus' side. But I am as new to my title as I am to the war we fight. In time, I will come to lead you. But for now? I ask you only to let me fight by your side. If you refuse me, I will leave with no grudge. I will break my pact with the Emperor and return to Baalfora. I will leave you to survive as you’ve survived thus far. But if you accept my offer... then let us learn, together, what our Legion will be. Let us write that story as a united bloodline. | „ |
| ~ The Angel's first speech to his Legion, the Revenant Legion. |
| “ | The Emperor has charged us to take this world. He wants Teghar Pentaurus. He wants it compliant before the turn of the solar month. I have seen the plans. I've seen the Imperial Army communications pleading for the presence of the Luna Wolves here, the formal requests that my brother's pristine sons remain to bring about the compliance the Ninth Legion cannot be trusted to achieve. The Emperor wants this world, and the Luna Wolves would love to be the ones to give it to Him. It's my belief that we don’t need our esteemed cousins, though. I believe we can take this planet without their aid, and in doing so we will write the first chapter of our Legion's true story. What say you, warriors of the Ninth Legion? What say you, to our noble ambassadors from the Sixteenth? | „ |
| ~ Sanguinius's first request to his Legion. |
| “ | I do not want to be here. I do not want this present, and I want the future that follows even less. We stand against our own brothers and sisters, with our backs to the Eternity Gate, and this is not a battle we can win. If you have ever wondered how you will die, now you know. If you have ever wondered where your body will lie, now you know. You will be killed on the last wall between hope and horror. Your body will lie here, unburied, staring up at a poisoned sky. Once the Sanctum falls, Terra falls with it. And I tell you – we cannot hold this wall. You can see it yourselves – they are too many, we are too few. We may last a week, if we do the impossible. More likely we will all be dead in three days. Perhaps my words surprise you. Or frighten you. But I will not lie. Not to you, not to you who have come through two hundred days of dread only to find yourselves here. I have looked into your faces and seen what this war has cost all of you. I have followed the flow of battles that each of you have survived, to stand here on the final battlement. I see everything you have endured, those stories written in the light of your eyes. Now the Warmaster offers you the lie of life, promising a mercy his forces are incapable of showing, if we will abandon this last wall. And it falls to me, here and now, to tell you to stand against him one more time. To give everything you have, even your lives, if it will hold this rampart for another day, another hour, another second. That is what the moment demands of me, is it not? That I beg you to make one last sacrifice? No. No. I will not ask it of you. You have already given everything. You have already done everything asked of you a hundred times and more. You have suffered through a war of unimaginable darkness, one that has demanded more from you than any soldier in the history of our species has been forced to give. The fact you still live, that you still fight… I cannot conceive of the courage and resilience it requires for you to face this dawn and look to the horizon with a rifle in your hands. Where Horus has offered only lies, I will offer you truth. Those of you that wish to run… Run. Leave this place. Not in shame at a duty undone, not in surrender to the traitor’s forces, but with honour. Go with my gratitude, for you have already given everything asked of you. What right do I – does anyone – have to demand more? From you, who have endured harrowing beyond account, horror beyond measure? If you wish to fall back into the Sanctum Imperialis and spend the last hours of life with your children, then do so. Know that you go not only with my blessing, but with my envy. If you wish to leave the wall and take your chances in the wasteland before the battle begins, then – in the Emperor’s name – you have earned the right to try. Go swiftly, and carry with you the pride that you have already given a hero’s share in a war that none of us wanted but were forced to fight. And if you wish for the truth, I will give it to you gladly, for you have earned that, too. It shames me to admit, but I would abandon this wall if I could. The primarch in me, the supposed demigod half of my heart, craves life with a ferocity that shames me. If I bowed to that instinct, I would take to the sky and never look back. But I cannot. I am half-human. And the human in me demands that I stay. There are legends about me, I hear them whispered among you every day, that I know the moment of my own death. The stories say this gives me courage, that I feel no fear because I know I cannot yet be slain. Here is the truth of that tale. That prophesied death is coming. Today. Tonight. Tomorrow. I know not the When or the How, only that I feel fate’s breath on the back of my neck. I do not remain here out of immortality’s courage. I remain here because, if I am to die, I choose this death. I choose to die with my back to the last door. I choose to give my life to buy another hour, or a minute, or even a single second of grace to those who cannot be here fighting with me. I choose to die here because I do not believe I have yet given all I can. Someone must stand and fight, and if I have but one choice left, I will make it now. I will stand. I will fight. I will hold this wall, knowing that the Thirteenth Legion makes for Terra with all speed, and if they cannot bring salvation, they will bring retribution. Whether I am alone or whether a hundred thousand of you are by my side, when the Warmaster’s horde descends upon this wall, they will find me waiting for them with a blade in hand. Not because I can win, but because it is right. I do not know what delusion grips those out there, who were once our brothers and sisters. But I know it is right to oppose them. I have spoken enough. You need hear no more of my fears and confessions. All that remains is for me to ask… Will you run? | „ |
| ~ Sanguinius addressing the Imperial defenders of the Eternity Gate during the Siege of Terra. |
| “ | Manus. | „ |
| ~ The final word of Sanguinius, upon seeing his brother's skull. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The model of Sanguinius released for the Warhammer: Horus Heresy wargame was visually reminiscent of "St. Michael the Archangel Defeating Satan," an altarpiece painting created by seventeenth century Italian painter Guido Reni. The painting depicted Michael, the chief archangel in service to God, crushing Satan underfoot.
