Hail Astartes the Emperor's Finest!

I would like to start a thread and encourage discussion about the Primarchs in more particular who they represented in history. As we know the Emperor has walked amongst man before his appearance during the Age of Strife which means he would have witnessed some of history most decorated and skilled commanders in the world. The theory goes that the Emperor could have collected their genetic information and used it to create the Primarchs reincarnating history's greatest.

So who do you think your respective Primarch represents and why?



Ave Imperator

Well, the obvious comparison which can be made is Spartacus and Angron. Both were taken and forced into slavery against their will, both remained in the arenas learning their skills at war until eventually breaking free and leading their warriors in a single massive revolt. That said, I would argue that, as with many of the primarchs who turned against the Emperor, this is one done with a much darker twist. Due to the Butcher's Nails, Angron's own growing madness and the Emperor's own foolhardy actions in beaming him away from the world rather than finding some way to assist him or even forge some kind of connection between them.

Jaghatai Khan is equally quite obvious, both in name and history given his world and fate of the empire he formed there.

Fulgrim is a harder one to pin down, but given his overall aesthetic, drives and the gradual unity he formed between the isolated factory cities of Chemos, he probably aligns closer to Alexander the Great. An inspired military genius who drove his men to great lengths, led from the front and ultimately was a deft hand at managing negotiations between certain political groups as needed. That and the whole decadence which followed him taking up a certain sword does help to solidify this further.

As with Guilliman, given his Roman upbringings and surroundings, it's likely he could be compared with some figures during the Second Punic War. Possibly Hannibal given his tactics and abilities, but more likely Quintus Fabius Maximus. Maximus, in a time where the Roman legions had suffered defeat after defeat thanks to charging in and playing into Hannibal's hands, was one of the few who seemed to display serious tactical genius, patience and waiting out the enemy as needed. He knew how to engage an enemy and how to gradually force them down at every turn, and it took his removal for Rome to actually suffer its big defeat, the one Hannibal is famous for.

Those are just personal opinions of course though, and there are others which could be more easily named as well.

I don't think many are port overs from history. Some, as Kilbo said, are quite obvious; Khan and Angron are quite clear, especially Khan. I think only Warhammer's Luthor Huss is a more direct port from real world history than Khan, but I digress.

But then you have Corax who is literally based on Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem The Raven. Night Haunter is unquestionably based on a novel called Heart of Darkness and its film adaptation, Apocalypse Now.

And then you have Sanguinius who always reminded me of Saint Michael, which is obviously biblical, but that's just my interpretation. I've always pictured Saint Michael as having long blonde hair.

I think that the Night Ravens are based on several different places but most obviously on the Pict's, and on early eastern Native Americans. The hit and fade tactics, fighting at night and in deep terain while avoiding being drawn into actual pitched battle until you've already won points to those groups very fiercely.

Leman Russ is based off of several Scandinavian heroes. But i think most particularly off of Eric the Red, one of the most famous blood thirsty and savage vikings in history. To the point that even other Viking Raiders were put off by him. However while his tactics are based there i think his personality is more closely related to a more modern Scandinavian hero named Peter Tordenskjold. He was a naval officer famous for his tactical brilliance but there are also tales of him drinking with his men and genuinely caring for their well being.

How about we change the title a little bit to ancient (myth)heroes of Terra. Thirty thousand years in the future, it's not exactly easy to tell which historical figures are true or not.

This is my list:

Jaghatai Khan = Genghis Khan. Obviously.

Perturabo = Daedalus. A figure of Greek myth and I sort of think of him when I think Perturabo, besides Perturabo has like his own labyrinth... just like Daedalus.

Lion El'Jonson = King Arthur. (Don't judge me) They are both knights, they are both rulers, they are both betrayed and in the end they both had to fight their own son (But for the Lion it's his father, but Luther received the geneseed, he became a son of the Lion..... What?!). And - to this day - they are both missing, gone, and is believed that one they will return.

Besides from what's been said, I can't really think of anymore.
This would've been more interesting if it was comparing the Primarchs to Greek Gods, or any Gods from any ancient myth.

Didnt happen. Luther was to old for this. Just like Kor Phaeron, he only received genetic modifications. Without geneseed.

I've never seen any parallels between Curze and Heart of Darkness.

Written by Joseph Conrad featuring a mysterious man named Kurtz. Furthermore, 40k Curze is killed by a Callidus named M'Shen. Kurtz's killer in Apocalypse Now is played by...Martin Sheen.

Lorgar is an obvious representation of every Prophet ever.

Why? Because he knows the Truth, and will lead us all to enlightenment.

So the Night Haunter isn't based on the novella. He's based on things related to it like the author, an adaptation, and the title. I guess the title would make him based on it.

I guess I should have said that I never saw any parallels between Curze and more in-depth stuff in the book. I see where you're going though. It's one of my favorite books so I think I like Curze even more now.