Horus Heresy
The Horus Heresy is a war that features in Warhammer 40,000.
Contents |
History
The Horus Heresy was a devastating civil war that afflicted the Imperium of Man in early M31. By the 30th Millennium, the Emperor of Mankind who was the founder and head of state of the newly constituted Imperium of Man, had become a major proponent of order in the Milky Way galaxy, and one of the most formidable enemies of Chaos, its forces, and the various hostile aliens that inhabit the galaxy. In the past, mankind had colonized the stars and had reached an intellectual and technological golden age. However, after being exhausted by a large scale rebellion by artificial intelligences, and when warp storms cut off interstellar travel, humanity's previous civilization collapsed and left its colonies vulnerable to attacks by daemons and aliens during what is known as the Age of Strife. After consolidating his rule on Terra (Earth) and genetically engineering Legions of superhuman warriors the Space Marines, he embarked, in late–M30, on a Great Crusade once the warp storms receded. The objective was to reunite the millions of human space colonies scattered throughout the galaxy under the Imperium's banner. The Imperium proclaimed an Imperial Truth of science and reason, and against religion and superstition – by extension, weakening the influence of Chaos on the human race and its evolution. Promoting the notions of Order and Truth from a strictly human perspective as put forth by the Emperor, the Imperium had declared the Milky Way the exclusive, rightful domain of Humankind; it maintained that ruling the galaxy was the species' "Manifest Destiny".
While the Emperor was the Supreme Commander of the Crusade's many Expeditions, the Space Marine Legions and the rest of the Imperial military forces were eventually led by his genetically engineered progeny, a group of twenty Primarchs, who were in every aspect even mightier than Space Marines, as well as their progenitors.
Though the Heresy was ignited by the product of a conspiracy by the forces of Chaos, there were precipitating factors that helped push many of the Legio Astartes towards rebellion. The first was the Emperor's return to and seclusion on Terra, working on a secret project that he refused to share with any of his Primarchs, including his most favored son Horus, whom he had named Warmaster. This apparent abandonment of the Great Crusade, for something he would not even share with his sons bred mistrust, resentment, and disappointment towards the Emperor amongst many of the Primarchs.
Another contributing factor was the formation of an administrative body known as the Council of Terra. Many of the Primarchs viewed these human bureaucrats as usurping their rightful place as rulers of the Imperium they had fought so hard to create. Worse still, the Primarchs were denied a place on the Council and the notion of an Imperium dominated by human bureaucrats, not the sons of the Emperor and their Astartes Legions, became a cause of concern for many of the Primarchs.
In addition, the Emperor's disciplining of Lorgar and the Word Bearers was a contributing factor to the Heresy and the event which set it directly into motion. After Lorgar and the entire Legion were publicly humiliated, scolded, and forced to kneel in front of the Emperor for spreading their belief that the ruler of mankind was a divine being, the pious Word Bearers felt betrayed and desperately sought any power in the universe to worship. This eventually led Lorgar and his Legionaries to the Eye of Terror, where they pledged themselves to the forces of Chaos and began to conspire against the Emperor. Thus the Word Bearers had secretly become the first Chaos Space Marines. Secretly planning to make war on the Emperor, the Word Bearers quietly established Warrior Lodges with their Chaplains throughout the rest of the Astartes Legions. Though harmless at first glance, many of these lodges would become hotbeds of support for Horus' rebellion in the war to come.
According to First Lord of the Imperium Malcador the Sigillite, the Heresy's causes may have been deliberately put into motion by both himself and the Emperor. According to Malcador, both deliberately agitated the Primarchs and turned them against one another, with the resulting war purging certain unmanageable Primarchs and their respective Space Marine Legions just as they had the earlier Thunder Warriors. This would lead humanity, not bio-engineered superhumans, as the rulers of the galaxy. However, the Ruinious Powers intervened before their plan could be fully formulated, leading to disaster in the Horus Heresy. This account may be either a partial or total lie, as Malcador himself seems to keep its validity ambiguous.
Overview
In appearance, the Horus Heresy was a galactic conflict fought all across the Milky Way galaxy between the Loyalists and Traitor forces. In time, it also came to be referred to as the Age of Darkness.
Combatants
- Emperor :
- Malcador :
- Horus Lupercal :
- Lion El'Jonson :
- Sanguinius :
- Rogal Dorn :
Notes
- The Horus Heresy was created by Games Workshop where it featured in the setting of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
In other media
Video games
Appearances
- Warhammer 40,000:
External Link
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