Magnus the Red
Magnus the Red is a male character who features in Warhammer 40,000.
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Biography
Magnus the Red was one of the genetically engineered Primarchs that had been created by the Emperor of Mankind with the express purpose of leading his armies of the Adeptus Astartes during the Great Crusade to unify the galaxy under the Imperium of Man.
As an infant, his pod was dropped onto the remote colony world of Prospero. Magnus was unique among his brothers as he was entirely aware of his own birth and development with him remembering his infancy completely. He also regularly communed with the Emperor via telepathy before their official reunion. Magnus was incredibly fortunate to land on Prospero, as anywhere else his psychic nature would have made him an outcast, shunned and hunted. Prospero was a world of outcast human psykers, making him nothing special in the eyes of the colonists. They had chosen Prospero for its remoteness from Terra. When Magnus fell from the skies, it was like a portentous comet. His pod landed in the central plaza of all the places on the planet. Mentored by the fame psyker-scholar Amon, he became a ward of the scholars and quickly gained their powers, surpassing them in many ways. Magnus soon even eclipsed Amon in power. Magnus mastered every psychic training program and soon surpassed the greatest adepts of the commune. By that time he had so much control of his psychic powers, he was by far the greatest person on the planet. One day, Magnus performed something to change the world forever. Instead of channeling Warp energy from the Warp to the Materium universe, he looked into the Warp, going from the student to absolute master instantly. Magnus became the hero of Prospero when he led a campaign to purge the Psychneuein from Prospero, who for centuries had wreaked havoc on the planets population. With the threat removed, Magnus rebuilt many of Prospero's cities, most notably Tizca, which became renowned for its beauty and splendor. The chief scholars of Prospero that survived the war with the Psycheuein became the founders of the Cults of the Thousand Sons.
With such a mind in the Warp, it was not long until the Emperor noticed him. When his fleet arrived and the Emperor stepped foot upon the planet, he and Magnus immediately embraced and conversed as if the two had known each other for years; as indeed they may have done, in the mind if not in the flesh. Magnus puts his discovery by the Emperor in 840.M30. This may be in conflict with other sources which state that the Thousand Sons were not fighting the Crusade until at least 900.M30, since even for a monumental task like fixing the Flesh-Change, 60 years is a long time for a primarch to spend on one project. Magnus may be dating his discovery as his first psychic contact with the Emperor, which would reduce the discrepancy. The Thousand Sons Magnus inherited were rife with psychic mutations, being based on Magnus's genes. He took them in as his own and began training them in the ways of the psyker. Individuals from within the Imperium who were fearful of these rampant mutations began to voice their opinions openly, but Magnus silenced them. Magnus and the Emperor formed a seemingly close bond, reaching into the Warp together. However despite the warnings of his Father to beware the horrors of the Empyrean, Magnus lost his right eye in a failed bargain with Tzeentch to save his legions sons from mutation. The bargain cost Magnus his eye, but for a time the mutations did go into remission. Magnus fought bravely and successfully during the Great Crusade and became close to Horus Lupercal, Lorgar, and Jaghatai Khan, but he was always a wild and impetuous commander. Due to his early brush with Chaos during his abduction, Magnus had an inherent affinity for the Warp and the secrets within its fabric. Throughout the Crusade he came into contact with long isolated cultures where psychics had been allowed to flourish. Although warned by the Emperor to shun such matters, Magnus began to gather arcane lore from across the galaxy. From this material he compiled the monumental tome of sorcery that would come to be called the Book of Magnus.
A pre-eminent psyker, possibly the greatest that ever existed other than the Emperor, Magnus had grown to become the leader of the psyker commune that was Prospero. Even before he had met the Emperor he had amassed a great library of texts and lore. During the Great Crusade, Magnus accompanied the Emperor to Colchis with two squads of Thousand Sons legionnaires to meet Lorgar, another primarch, and bid him accompany them on their mission, after a lengthy celebration with the populace.
Of sorcery, many had not noticed when Magnus began its practice but at least two of Magnus' brothers had their concerns; Mortarion who knew of the cost of sorcery personally, and Leman Russ who thought Magnus' ways were dishonourable to say the least. As critics in the Imperial Court gained voice, the Emperor decreed that a debate on the subject on Nikaea should be held between the greatest proponents on each side. The Emperor himself would be the arbiter, sat upon a throne above the dais overlooking the debate. Witch Hunters, Space Marines and even a Primarch, Magnus, took part in the debate itself. Although he was charismatic and persuasive not even Magnus could guess the Emperor's decision. The suggestion was put forward by a contingent of Marine Librarians that psykers and their powers were to be allowed but not sorcery, and was considered a fine compromise, but still no-one could second guess the Emperor. Without allowing any rebuttals the Emperor ruled that the Edicts of Nikaea would be the policy regarding psychic mutations, and in them disallowed sorcery. The ensuing argument between the great Primarch and the Emperor was short but raging and when the Emperor bade Magnus to forgo incantations and sorcery, Magnus bowed and agreed to follow the will his father. Despite the decree, Magnus did not stop researching the dark arts. Looking into the warp, Magnus saw great calamity in the shape of Horus and the ensuing civil war that would erupt across the Imperium. Horus had been wounded on Davin and was recuperating in the Serpent's Lodge; Erebus of the Word Bearers was attempting to turn Horus against the Emperor. The trio encountered one another within the warp, but Magnus' warning was disregarded by a furious Horus. Instead of direct intervention, the success of which nearly impossible, Magnus attempted to warn the Emperor with a sorcerous message.
During this time it was at Russ' insistence and Magnus' damned sorcerous message that condemned him within the eyes of the Emperor. Rather than believe Horus was the traitor, he came to the conclusion that Magnus was the tainted one. With that realisation he sent the Wolves of Russ to place Magnus in their custody and bring him to Terra. Horus, who had now been corrupted, contacted Russ and informed of the full extent of Magnus' dabbling in sorcery: now there would be no compromise. In the ensuing, bloody battle on Prospero and in the capital of Tizca, the City of Light, Magnus and Russ met. Having moved from his ebony throne, and in command of great eldritch powers, Magnus first moved through the legion of the Space Wolves, slaying all who came near and killing even the oldest and staunchest of Long Fangs with his gaze alone. Soon Russ charged in to meet his foe on the battlefield, rushing from the melee he was in to stop Magnus. In mere moments of joining battle Russ and Magnus had traded blows that would shatter tanks. In one blow Magnus splintered Russ' breastplate. During the titanic clash, Magnus picked Leman up and as he did so, Leman kicked Magnus in the eye. Russ lifted the wounded Magnus with a grunt and broke Magnus' back upon his knee. Before the deathblow could be struck to the gravely wounded primarch, Magnus gasped a word of power and sank into the ground.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Magnus himself was a giant of a man, standing far taller than even his brother primarchs. His hair was a livid red, as was his complexion. Often described as cyclopean, many sources state he had a great eye within the centre of his forehead whilst others show him as having a normal left eye and a massive scar moving laterally across what would have been his right eye with no central one. He came to be known by a number of titles including the Crimson King, the Sorcerer-King, Cyclopean Magnus and as the Red Cyclops.
Obviously visual sources are far more reliable but written texts cannot be discounted. Although a strong man, said to be at least as strong as Leman Russ, he spent his energies on research and reading arcane lore. He believed his intellect could master any discipline and his maxim, above all others, was 'Knowledge is power'. Other primarchs were of abnormal appearance, such as the angelic Sanguinius or the feral Russ, so Magnus never felt out of place and was never commented on about his appearance.
Powers and abilities
It was said that he was unique amongst his brother Primarchs that he was entirely aware of his own birth and development with him remembering his infancy completely.
Such was his telepathic prowess that he regularly communed with the Emperor through telepathy before the two ever met face-to-face.
As a Primarch, he was created to serve as the general of the XV Legion of the original twenty Space Marine Legions which came to be renamed as the Thousand Sons.
Notes
- Magnus the Red was created by Games Workshop and featured in the setting of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Appearances
- Warhammer 40,000:
External Links
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