The Primarchs of Warhammer 40k

What a Primarch is

A Primarch is a demigod in all but name. Each stands far taller than a Space Marine, thinks faster than a whole staff of generals and can fight armies on his own. The Emperor designed each one with different strengths. One was a master of siege warfare, another a brilliant administrator, another a psyker of terrifying power.

The Emperor used their genetic material to make the Space Marines. Every Space Marine carries implants grown from his Primarch's genes, which is why Chapters inherit their founder's strengths and flaws. Blood Angels inherit Sanguinius's nobility and his curse. Space Wolves inherit Leman Russ's ferocity.

Scattered and found

Before the Primarchs could grow up on Terra, the Chaos Gods snatched the infants and flung them across the galaxy. Each landed on a different world and grew up there. Some were raised by kings, some by gangs, some by no one at all. Their upbringing shaped them. Angron was enslaved as a gladiator. Konrad Curze grew up alone on a world of permanent night. Guilliman was adopted by a wise ruler.

The Emperor found them one by one during the Great Crusade. Horus was the first. When the Emperor named Horus Warmaster, it set off the jealousies and resentments that led to the Horus Heresy.

All 20 Primarchs at a glance

Legion numbers come from the order the Legions were founded, not the order the Primarchs were found.

The loyal sons

Roboute Guilliman is the big one for the current setting. He was poisoned by Fulgrim and held in stasis for ten thousand years before being revived at the end of M41. He now runs the Imperium. Read more in our Guilliman guide.

Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels spent most of the same ten thousand years in a deep, wounded sleep. He woke in the 42nd millennium and now fights his own campaign in Imperium Nihilus, the dark half of the Imperium. He doesn't serve under Guilliman. As of the 11th edition launch in mid-2026 the two brothers still hadn't met in the story, though the Lion has sent word that he wants to talk.

Sanguinius and Ferrus Manus both died in the Heresy. Sanguinius fell to Horus on the Warmaster's flagship. Ferrus was beheaded by Fulgrim at Isstvan V.

The rest simply vanished in the centuries after the war. Rogal Dorn was lost in battle, and the Imperial Fists keep his hand as their holiest relic. Sources disagree on what else was recovered. Leman Russ left on a mysterious quest and his Space Wolves still wait for him. Jaghatai Khan chased Drukhari raiders into the webway. Corvus Corax went into the Eye of Terror to hunt traitors. Vulkan left his Legion, resurfaced thousands of years later during the War of the Beast and was last seen at Ullanor, where he blew up the Ork warlord's war machine and apparently died with it. The Salamanders believe he'll come back.

The traitor sons

Four traitors became daemon princes bound to a single god. Angron serves Khorne, Mortarion serves Nurgle, Magnus serves Tzeentch and Fulgrim serves Slaanesh. Our Chaos Gods guide covers what each god stands for. Perturabo and Lorgar also became daemon princes. Lorgar gave up leading his Legion and withdrew into the warp.

Horus died at the Siege of Terra. Konrad Curze of the Night Lords knew his death was coming and let an Imperial assassin kill him. Alpharius Omegon of the Alpha Legion is really two identical Primarchs. Accounts say Rogal Dorn killed one of them at Pluto during the Siege of Terra, and another story has Guilliman killing one later, but with twins who love disguises, nobody can be sure.

The missing two

The second and eleventh Primarchs, and their Legions, were deliberately wiped from Imperial records. Nobody in the setting knows who they were or what they did. Games Workshop has kept it that way for decades. Any theory you see online is fan speculation.

The gap is a deliberate piece of storytelling. It tells you something about the Imperium: it's willing to wipe out the memory of two of the Emperor's own sons, and nobody inside the setting is allowed to ask why. A few books hint that a handful of characters know more, but none has spelled it out.

Where to read about the Primarchs

If one Primarch grabs you, Black Library has a short novel series called The Primarchs, with one book focused on each of several brothers in their Great Crusade days. They're a good middle ground between this overview and the full Horus Heresy series, which runs to more than fifty books.

For the big picture, start with how the Emperor made them in our Emperor guide, then read the Heresy explainer to see why they split. A common beginner question is which Primarch is "the strongest". The books dodge a straight answer on purpose. Each was made for a different job, and their fights usually turn on character as much as raw power.