I was bored so I thought I'd make a post I've been sitting on for quite some time, namely an overview, analysis, and eventual fate of each of the Primarch's parental figures.
Lion El'Jonson = No real parental figure for his youth, grew up alone in the jungle. An adolescent Lion was later found and fostered by Luther in newer lore and he seemed pretty nice to him. However once the Emperor arrived the two started becoming a gradual falling out, which began with Luther's resentment towards the Lion usurping his status and culminated in the Zaramund campaign where the Lion behaved like a complete ass and banished Luther back to Caliban. Much like Kor Phaeron, Luther was too old to fully become a space marine when the Emperor arrived and this further fueled an inferiority complex. Of course we all know how things eventually worked out with Luther, and the still-babbling heretic was held in the confines of The Rock for 10,000 years until only escaping recently with the help of The Fallen.
Fulgrim = Not much is said by his parental figures. He was raised by the worker-tribes of Chemos, foremost among them Corrin and Tullea. The two killed the third who found baby Fulgrim, Sullax, after he wanted the child put to death. They obviously had an emphasis on perfectionism given how Fulgrim turned out, but I've never seen him talk about them or what became of them. Ultimately Fulgrim's pre-imperial backstory is one of the least fleshed out alongside sanguinius and horus.
Jaghatai Khan = Found by the warlord Ong Khan, who viewed him as a gift from the gods. Jaghatai and Ong's relationship mirrors Genghis Khan's relationship with his real father, brutal and stern but their sons still respected them immensely. When Ong was killed by a rival tribe, Jaghatai embarked on a war of vengeance that eventually saw him unify all of Chogoris.
Perturabo = Here is an interesting case. In the original lore, Perturabo's adoptive father Dammekos (a local Warlord-King) was powerhungry, brutal, and merely trying to use Perturabo for his own ends. Perturabo quasi-deposed him when the Emperor arrived. In the newer lore established by the Perturabo: Lord of Olympia novel the portrayal of Dammekos is much more sympathetic. While still a brutal tyrant and seeking to use Perturabo to his own advantage, he seems genuinely fond of him and regretful that Perturabo never really accepts that he's one of them. Here it is Perturabo, not Dammekos, who is constantly pushing the two apart and refusing some measure of love due to his bitterness.
When the Emperor arrives Dammekos continues to rule Olympia as Governor and keeps things together. When he dies of old age all of Olympia rose up in revolt, and Perturabo does seem to have some love for him when he visits his grave. Of course the old Dammekos still shines, as it is stated that he drowned one of Perturabo's adoptive brothers in a vat of wine when he tried to overthrow him.
Konrad Curze = The only Primarch to grow up completely alone from birth to rediscovery. He didn't even have a late-foster father like Lion. And this lack of parental supervision certainly shows.
Rogal Dorn = Adopted by the Patriarch of the House of Dorn. A loving father by all accounts, Dorn still holds onto the fur pelt that his father gave him. While Dorn is unquestionably loyal to the Emperor and knows he is his biological sire, he still emotionally views his dad on Inwit as his true father. What became of him is not ultimately known, but he probably died of old age.
Leman Russ = Raised by the she-wolf alongside his pup-brothers Freki and Geri. She certainly instilled savagery in Leman Russ, and was killed when they came across a pack of Fenrisian hunters. Of course there are no wolves on fenris, so it can be said that Russ' adoptive mother and brothers were infact devolved humans or the like. After the death of momma wolf he was discovered and raised by the king of the Russ Tribe of Fenris, Thengir. Thengir civilized Russ to Fenrisian standards, something that was only possible due to his primarch intellect.
This mixture of feral savagery and civilization would go on define Russ for the rest of his existence. Thengir died of old age, and Russ went about unifying Fenris after his death. As for his wolf brothers, Russ kept Freki and Geri around with him for the duration of his life. Originally the two seemed to have died on Prospero, but in recent books they are shown to still be alive even after Russ failed to kill Horus on the Vengeful Spirit.
Sanguinius = One of the least developed Primarch backstories alongside Fulgrim. It is said he was raised by a tribe of impoverished humans on Baal Secundus known as The Blood. The Blood were ultimately saved by sanguinius when he liberated the planet from mutant hordes and seemed to have set the original pool of Blood Angels recruits.
Ferrus Manus = Much like The Lion he grew up alone in the harsh barrens of Medusa, living amongst his crashed pod and becoming a local legend. He finally came down from the mountains and unified the clans of Medusa by slaying the local metal-wyrm-thing that was terrorizing everybody. His personality certainly reflects his harsh upbringing, but like Horus it is hinted in the novel Ferrus Manus: The Gorgon of Medusa that he was rediscovered by the Emperor fairly young into his life which may have prevented him from going full Curze.
Angron = His first memory was fighting off Eldar assassins and his life was certainly one as tragedy. He was essentially raised by his fellow gladiator slaves on Nuceria who he grew very close to obviously. Butcher's Nails aside, I think had they all not been allowed to die by the Emperor Angron could have turned out differently.
Roboute Guilliman = Raised by Konor, the Co-Consul of Macragge and a Julius Caesar parallel. Konor seemed like a cold and expecting father, but ultimately a positive one who taught Guilliman statecraft, civility, reason, and concern for the common person. Guilliman certainly seems to hold a great degree of respect for him so this demonstrates a positive relationship. Konor was ultimately assassinated by political rivals, something Guilliman still angst's over privately.
Meanwhile Konor's councilor Tarasha Euten was essentially Guilliman's "mother" and raised him when Konor was out on business. Euten later became adviser to Guilliman and survived all the way into the Heresy, with the Primarch even crying in her lap in private movements of weakness. She still held enormous emotional value to Guilliman, to the point where Curze thought he could rape him mentally by killing her. What ultimately becomes of Euten isn't known but she likely will die of old age some point after the Heresy. Overall, Guilliman had the most balanced and healthy childhood of the Primarch's.
Mortarion = Of those actually raised by a parental figure, Morty probably drew the shortest straw. It's unclear what his father, the Warlord of Barbarus, actually was. Some say a mutant, some say a Demon, some say a xenos. Whatever he was he was terrifying, sadistic, and monstrous. He brutally raised and abused Mortarion, but still taught him the art of war. His abuse and brutality towards everyone around him ultimately caused Mortarion to flee his clutches to the lowlands of Barbarus and organize a revolt. Due to the toxicity of Barbarus' highlands Mortarion's revolt essentially failed, and he was about to be slain by his adoptive father. Despite seeming stronger than a fullgrown Primarch, the warlord was easily slain in a single strike by the Emperor when he arrived on Barbarus. But his use of psychic powers and warpcraft ultimately made Mortarion incredibly prejudiced towards such practices and the trauma of being raised by such a creature made Mortarion into a cold and ruthless individual.
Magnus = Magnus is a complicated case. While discovered and raised primarily by Amon on Prospero, he was of such intellect that he was aware of his own development and identity before even being born. Magnus states that even before he arrived on Prospero, he was already engaging in psychic conversations with the Emperor and this continued during his whole childhood. While Amon became something of a foster father to Magnus, the relationship quickly developed into that of master and student due to the Primarch's supreme intellect and power. Despite the arrival of the Emperor Amon remained fanatically loyal to Magnus and became his equerry and captain of the 9th Fellowship. When Magnus was shattered after the Burning of Prospero, Amon endured every hardship to try and recover the shards including aging by thousands of years prematurely due to Warp time fuckery.
To not soil Magnus' lofty ideals and hands, Amon often took it upon himself to do the Legion's dirty work and maintained a vast network of spies and assassins. After the Heresy and Ahriman's rubric Magnus secluded himself in his tower, leaving his former captains to squabble amongst themselves for a time. Amon and Ahriman both formed rival warbands and battled one another, with Ahriman eventually reducing Amon to dust and taking his armor as a prize.
Horus = Horus' background is deliberately kept vague by the writers, but it seems pretty certain for at least a time he lived on Cthonia as a sort of gang member. Who he interacted with during this time is unknown, and due to early discovery was for all purposes raised by the Emperor. Horus became unique among the Primarch's to be the only one personally raised by their true father, and this elevated him to Warmaster above all else in all likelihood. Of course, a lot can be said on what a shitty dad the Emperor was. He may not of been a daemon-spawn of slavemaster, but he was still apathetic, manipulative, and kept too much from Horus. And we all know how this father-son relationship ultimately ended.
Lorgar = Originally discovered by a tribe of outcasts on Colchis. After spending a few days with them they were discovered by Kor Phaeron's crew and he immediately became infatuated with the boy and had the tribe put to death. After that Kor Phaeron became Lorgar's often-abusive foster father. Much of their relationship is explored in the Lorgar: Bearer of the Word novel and shows Lorgar always as fanatically loyal and caring towards Kor Phaeron despite little affection and much abuse being returned his way. Lorgar quickly memorized everything Kor Phaeron taught him and hung on his every word. This bizarre codependency culminated when a crew mutiny was launched against Kor Phaeron after he ordered Lorgar whipped. As the mutineers were about to execute Kor Phaeron, Lorgar saved him and slaughtered them all. After that, Kor Phaeron began treating Lorgar with far more respect and seems to have genuinely become fond of him as well. Lorgar protected Kor Phaeron again from one an assassination attempt by one of his other councilors and always favored him in every dispute despite his unlikable and callous nature.
When the Emperor arrived, Kor Phaeron became First Captain and an later an early devotee of Chaos. We all know about him so I won't say anymore, save that in Bearer of the Word Kor Phaeron is secretly afraid that Lorgar has been manipulating and using him the entire time instead of the other way around. Whether this is the case or not is left ambiguous in typical Black Library fashion.
Vulkan = Raised by the humble blackmsith N'Bel on Nocturne. A Papa Kent (from Superman) type of figure, N'Bel taught Vulkan the value of hardwork, craftmanship, humility, and empathy. It is implied in Vulkan Lives that Vulkan was capable of great savagery, and if raised by someone other than N'Bel may have turned out much differently. As of the Heresy N'Bel is still alive and still just a humble blacksmith on Nocturne, and Vulkan wishes to see him again one day (but I doubt he will given the events of the Novel Old Earth).
Corax = He was raised collectively by the slaves of Deliverance, but seems closest to Nasturi Ephrenia who was the first one to find him as a child. Not much is known of her, save that as of the Heresy she is still alive and commander of the Raven Guard Battle Barge Avenger. She is also a councilor to Corax and one of the few that can talk down to him.
Alpharius/Omegon = I'll doubt we'll ever get a straight answer here wtf these guys were up to in their youth or who they interacted with, so it's useless to speculate. Knowing Alpharius they were raised by someone who turned out to be Alpharius.
Submitted February 07, 2019 at 06:54AM by JIDF-Shill http://bit.ly/2TACWZr
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