All 18 Primarchs of Warhammer 40k — Complete Guide

The Primarchs are the twenty genetically-engineered superhuman sons of the Emperor of Mankind. Created in a secret laboratory beneath the Himalayas during the Unification Wars, each Primarch was designed to be a peerless warrior, general, and leader. They were scattered across the galaxy by the Chaos Gods as infants and raised on distant worlds, each developing unique abilities shaped by their homeworld.

When the Emperor launched the Great Crusade to reunite humanity, he found each Primarch and gave them command of a Space Marine Legion created from their own gene-seed. But the galaxy’s greatest tragedy — the Horus Heresy — would see fully half of them turn traitor. This guide covers all 18 known Primarchs, their legions, allegiances, and current fates.

The Loyalist Primarchs

Nine Primarchs remained loyal to the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. Their sacrifice held the Imperium together, though many paid a terrible price.

Lion El’Jonson — The First

The Primarch of the Dark Angels was raised on the death world of Caliban, fighting monstrous Great Beasts from childhood. A peerless tactician and swordsman, the Lion is one of the few Primarchs who could match Horus in combat ability. He spent much of the Heresy fighting on multiple fronts, arriving at Terra too late for the final siege. After a civil war with his own lieutenant Luther, the Lion was placed into a hidden slumber within the Rock. In the current setting, he has returned — the first loyalist Primarch besides Guilliman to re-emerge in the 41st Millennium.

Jaghatai Khan — The Warhawk

Primarch of the White Scars, Jaghatai Khan was raised on the plains of Mundus Planus (Chogoris). A lover of speed, freedom, and the open steppe, the Khan forged his legion into lightning-fast cavalry. During the Heresy, he fought fiercely for the Emperor despite being courted by both sides. After the Heresy, he pursued the Dark Eldar into the Webway and has never been seen since. The White Scars believe he will return when they need him most.

Leman Russ — The Wolf King

The feral Primarch of the Space Wolves was raised by giant wolves on the ice world of Fenris. Russ was the Emperor’s executioner — the Primarch sent to discipline or destroy his brothers. He famously fought Magnus the Red and burned Prospero. After the Heresy, Russ departed on a mysterious quest into the Eye of Terror, leaving behind only his armor. His sons await his return for the Wolftime — the final battle.

Rogal Dorn — The Praetorian

Primarch of the Imperial Fists, Dorn was the Emperor’s most stalwart defender. He fortified the Imperial Palace for the Siege of Terra and held the walls against the traitor onslaught. After the Heresy, Dorn was supposedly slain during a Black Crusade, but only his severed hand was ever recovered, preserved as a holy relic. Some believe he may yet live.

Sanguinius — The Angel

The most beloved Primarch, Sanguinius of the Blood Angels possessed magnificent white wings and was prophesied to die at the hands of Horus. Despite knowing his fate, he confronted Horus aboard his flagship during the Siege of Terra to buy the Emperor time. Horus killed him, but Sanguinius’s sacrifice created the weakness the Emperor exploited to destroy Horus. His death cursed his sons with the Black Rage — a psychic echo of his final moments that drives Blood Angels into madness.

Ferrus Manus — The Gorgon

Primarch of the Iron Hands, Ferrus Manus had living metal hands from plunging his fists into the body of a great silver wyrm on Medusa. He was the first Primarch to die in the Heresy, beheaded by his closest brother Fulgrim at the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V. His death shaped the Iron Hands’ obsession with replacing weak flesh with machine.

Roboute Guilliman — The Avenging Son

Primarch of the Ultramarines and author of the Codex Astartes, Guilliman is the most administratively gifted Primarch. He built the Ultramar empire into a beacon of civilization. Mortally wounded by Fulgrim after the Heresy, he was placed in stasis for ten thousand years until being resurrected by Belisarius Cawl and the Ynnari. Now serving as Lord Commander of the Imperium, Guilliman is the only fully active loyalist Primarch leading humanity through its darkest hour.

Vulkan — The Lord of Drakes

Primarch of the Salamanders, Vulkan was raised on the volcanic death world of Nocturne. Known for his compassion and his incredible strength — the physically strongest Primarch — Vulkan is also a Perpetual, meaning he cannot truly die. He has been killed and resurrected multiple times. After the Heresy, he vanished, though his artifacts remain scattered across the galaxy as challenges for his sons.

Corvus Corax — The Ravenlord

Primarch of the Raven Guard, Corax was raised as a slave in the mines of Lycaeus (Deliverance). A master of stealth, guerrilla warfare, and infiltration, Corax barely survived the Drop Site Massacre. After the Heresy, wracked with guilt over his failed attempts to rebuild his legion using experimental gene-tech, he departed into the Eye of Terror with a single word: “Nevermore.” He now stalks the Warp as a being of living shadow, hunting the servants of Chaos.

The Traitor Primarchs

Nine Primarchs turned against the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. Most now serve as Daemon Princes of the Chaos Gods, having been elevated to immortal daemonhood.

Fulgrim — The Phoenician

Primarch of the Emperor’s Children, Fulgrim was once the embodiment of perfection and martial excellence. His fall came through a Slaaneshi daemon blade found on the world of Laeran, which slowly corrupted him into pursuing ever more extreme sensations. He killed his closest brother Ferrus Manus at Isstvan V and ascended to become a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, now ruling a pleasure world within the Eye of Terror.

Perturabo — The Lord of Iron

Primarch of the Iron Warriors, Perturabo was a master of siege warfare and a bitter, resentful genius who felt perpetually underappreciated. His rivalry with Rogal Dorn fueled much of his resentment. He turned traitor partly out of spite and partly from genuine grievance at how the Emperor used him as a blunt instrument. He ascended to Daemon Princehood by sacrificing his own loyal warriors, and now broods in his daemon world of Medrengard.

Konrad Curze — The Night Haunter

Primarch of the Night Lords, Curze grew up on the lawless hive world of Nostramo, where he became a murderous vigilante who imposed order through sheer terror. Haunted by prophetic visions of his own death, Curze was arguably insane — debating whether justice and fear were the same thing. After the Heresy, he allowed himself to be assassinated by the Callidus Assassin M’Shen, believing his death would prove his father wrong. He is one of the few traitor Primarchs who is confirmed dead.

Angron — The Red Angel

Primarch of the World Eaters, Angron is perhaps the most tragic Primarch. Implanted with the Butcher’s Nails — cortical implants that amplified aggression and pain — Angron was a gladiator-slave on Nuceria. The Emperor teleported him away from his final battle alongside his fellow slaves, leaving them to die. Angron never forgave this. The Nails slowly destroyed his mind, and he became the first Primarch elevated to Daemon Prince during the Heresy, transformed into a monstrous avatar of Khorne.

Mortarion — The Death Lord

Primarch of the Death Guard, Mortarion was raised on the toxic world of Barbarus by a cruel necromancer overlord. He hated psykers and sorcery — an irony, as he would eventually become a Daemon Prince of Nurgle. During the Heresy, his entire legion was becalmed in the Warp and ravaged by the Destroyer Plague. To save his sons, Mortarion accepted Nurgle’s embrace. He now rules the Plague Planet and has invaded realspace multiple times, including the devastating War of the Plague in Ultramar.

Magnus the Red — The Crimson King

Primarch of the Thousand Sons, Magnus was the most psychically powerful Primarch, a towering red-skinned cyclops devoted to knowledge. Despite his loyalty, his attempt to warn the Emperor of Horus’s treachery — using forbidden sorcery — shattered the Emperor’s secret Webway project. Leman Russ was sent to bring him to account, and the resulting destruction of Prospero drove Magnus into Tzeentch’s arms. As a Daemon Prince, he led an invasion of Fenris and continues to scheme from the Planet of the Sorcerers.

Horus Lupercal — The Warmaster

Once the Emperor’s most favored son, Horus was the first Primarch found and the one granted the title of Warmaster — supreme commander of all Imperial forces. Corrupted by Chaos through the machinations of Erebus and the Warrior Lodges, Horus launched the galaxy’s most devastating civil war. He slew Sanguinius and mortally wounded the Emperor before being destroyed — body and soul — by the Emperor’s full psychic might aboard his flagship, the Vengeful Spirit.

Lorgar Aurelian — The Bearer of the Word

Primarch of the Word Bearers, Lorgar was the most devout of the Emperor’s sons, building vast religions in the Emperor’s name. When the Emperor destroyed his perfect city of Monarchia and humiliated him for worshipping him as a god, Lorgar’s faith shattered — and he found new gods in the Warp. He became the first Primarch to embrace Chaos and orchestrated much of the Horus Heresy from behind the scenes. He ascended to Daemon Princehood and spent millennia in meditation before recently stirring once more.

Alpharius & Omegon — The Twin Serpents

The twin Primarchs of the Alpha Legion, Alpharius and Omegon are the most enigmatic of all. The last found (or were they?), they operated through deception, misdirection, and layers of identity. Alpharius was slain by Rogal Dorn, but Omegon’s fate is unknown. Whether the Alpha Legion truly serves Chaos, the Emperor, or only itself remains one of Warhammer 40k’s greatest mysteries.

The Lost Primarchs — Legions II and XI

Two Primarchs — and their legions — have been completely expunged from Imperial records. Designated only as the Second and the Eleventh, virtually nothing is known about them. The other Primarchs were made to swear oaths of silence about their fates, and even Horus and the traitors will not speak of them.

What is known:

• They existed and were found during the Great Crusade
• Something terrible happened involving at least one of them
• Their legions’ gene-seed may have been absorbed into the Ultramarines, explaining that legion’s unusually large numbers
• The Emperor himself ordered the records destroyed — a decree that even the traitor Primarchs respected
• Games Workshop has intentionally kept them mysterious, allowing players to create their own homebrew legions

Primarch Power Rankings

While subjective, the Primarchs can be roughly ranked in combat ability based on lore feats:

1. Horus (empowered by all four Chaos Gods) — defeated Sanguinius and nearly killed the Emperor
2. Sanguinius — widely considered the greatest warrior among the Primarchs; wounded a Chaos-empowered Horus
3. Lion El’Jonson — fought Leman Russ to a standstill and has shown incredible feats since his return
4. Leman Russ — the Emperor’s executioner, defeated Magnus, fought the Lion to a draw
5. Angron — raw combat ability diminished by the Nails destroying his tactical mind, but nearly unstoppable in a frenzy
6. Vulkan — physically the strongest Primarch and a Perpetual
7. Magnus the Red — the most powerful psyker among the Primarchs, capable of reality-warping feats
8. Rogal Dorn — slew Alpharius in single combat, a fortress of a fighter
9. Guilliman — a capable warrior, though he would admit several brothers exceeded him in pure combat
10. Fulgrim — supreme swordsman, defeated Ferrus Manus (with daemonic aid)

Primarchs in the Current Setting (10th Edition and Beyond)

As of the current Warhammer 40k timeline:

• Guilliman leads the Imperium, struggling against threats on all fronts
• The Lion has returned and operates independently, hunting Chaos with his Fallen-hunting retinue
• Angron was banished after the Arks of Omen campaign but will return
• Magnus continues to plot from the Planet of the Sorcerers
• Mortarion wages plague wars across the galaxy
• Multiple other Primarchs are rumored to be returning in future editions — with Fulgrim and Leman Russ being the most commonly speculated

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Primarchs are there?

There are 20 Primarchs in total — 18 known and 2 lost (the II and XI legions). Of the 18 known, 9 remained loyal and 9 turned traitor.

Which Primarchs are still alive?

Guilliman and the Lion are confirmed alive and active. Several traitor Primarchs exist as Daemon Princes (Angron, Magnus, Mortarion, Fulgrim, Perturabo, Lorgar). Khan, Russ, Vulkan, Corax, and Omegon are missing but possibly alive.

Who is the strongest Primarch?

In pure combat, Sanguinius and Horus are generally considered the strongest. Vulkan is the physically strongest. Magnus is the most powerful psyker. It depends on how you define “strongest.”

Will more Primarchs return?

Almost certainly. Games Workshop has been gradually bringing back Primarchs — Guilliman returned in 2017 and the Lion in 2023. Fulgrim, Leman Russ, Jaghatai Khan, and the daemon Primarchs are all candidates for future releases.

Who killed the most Primarchs?

Horus killed Sanguinius. Fulgrim killed Ferrus Manus. Rogal Dorn killed Alpharius. Konrad Curze allowed himself to be killed. The Emperor destroyed Horus. No single Primarch killed more than one brother.

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