Konrad Curze

Overview

The tormented Primarch of the night-shrouded world Nostramo, cursed with visions of doom, who ruled through terror.

He fought with lightning claws known as Mercy and Forgiveness, and his Legion became masters of terror. During the Heresy, he fought on the traitor side but served no god, waging his own war of fear. He was assassinated by the Imperium's Callidus Temple, a death he foresaw and accepted. Konrad Curze, the Night Haunter, was primarch of the Night Lords. He grew up on Nostramo, a world of perpetual night, and became a vigilante there through terror and murder. He suffered from prophetic visions, including of his own death. His philosophy of rule by terror made him an outcast among his brothers, and after the Heresy began he ended up as a traitor in name, though not as a servant of Chaos.

Origins

He grew up alone in Nostramo's gutters and became a vigilante who killed criminals until the city obeyed out of fear.

On Nostramo, a world of perpetual night, he grew up alone among criminals and killers. He became a vigilante, killing anyone who broke the law until the planet obeyed out of fear. When the Emperor found him, Curze took command of the VIII Legion, but Nostramo descended into anarchy when he left.

Key events

1. Was found on Nostramo, where he made himself a vigilante, the Night Haunter, bringing order through terror.
2. Destroyed his own homeworld Nostramo with his fleet.
3. Joined Horus and took part in the Dropsite Massacre, then captured and tortured Vulkan.
4. Was put on trial in Imperium Secundus.
5. Knowing his death was coming, he let a Callidus assassin, M'Shen, kill him at Tsagualsa.
6. During the Thramas Crusade he waged a long shadow war against Lion El'Jonson's Dark Angels and came close to killing the Lion in single combat.

His relationship with his brothers broke down before the Heresy. Curze told Fulgrim, the brother he treated as a mentor, about the terrible things he had foreseen. Fulgrim passed the warnings on to Rogal Dorn, who was already angry about the Night Lords' conduct on Cheraut, and Dorn confronted Curze over what he saw as a slander on the Emperor's name. What happened next is disputed, but Dorn was later found unconscious and bleeding, with deep gouges torn from his torso. Curze fled before he could be brought to account.

Once the Heresy began, he stood with the conspirators. Aboard Lorgar's flagship Fidelitas Lex, Curze, Alpharius and Perturabo listened as Lorgar described the new empire that would rise from the ashes, and Night Lords First Captain Jago Sevatarion became the first to say 'Death to the False Emperor.' On Isstvan V the Night Lords landed in the second wave, among the reserve Legions that had already sworn themselves to Horus. In the short story Prince of Crows, from the Shadows of Treachery anthology, Curze admits to Sevatar that he hated his own Legion. After Isstvan III he had heard how Angron and Lorgar purged the untrustworthy elements from their Legions, and he envied the idea.

Battles & campaigns

• Nostramo: He destroyed his own homeworld with the Night Lords fleet.
• Thramas: A long campaign of hunting and ambush against Lion El'Jonson's Dark Angels.
• Tsagualsa: He waited for and accepted his assassination by the Callidus assassin M'Shen.

Personality

Nihilistic and self-loathing, convinced that he was only ever what his father made him.

He was nihilistic, believing that humanity was inherently corrupt and that fear was the only way to enforce order. His visions of doom tormented him, and he saw himself as a monster his father had created. His self-loathing drove him to self-destruction.

Weapons & Vehicles

Power FistMelee Weapon

An oversized servo-assisted armoured gauntlet sheathed in a matter-shredding energy field, capable of tearing open tank hulls and crush…

ChainswordMelee Weapon

The brutal motorised tooth-bladed sword carried by Space Marines, Imperial Guard officers and Chaos renegades, chewing through armour a…

ChainaxeMelee Weapon

The screaming, blood-drenched motorised war-axe of the World Eaters and Khorne Berzerkers, trading all defensive finesse for bone-shatt…

Bolter & Bolt RifleRanged Weapon

The signature .75-calibre rocket-propelled mass-reactive firearm of the Adeptus Astartes, firing self-propelled explosive bolts that de…

Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.

Connections

Characters (5)

• 
  The Emperor of Mankind creator · Imperium of Man

  Curze was brought from Nostramo, where he had ruled through terror as the Night Haunter.

• 
  Corax enemy · Raven Guard

  During the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V, Curze caught and taunted Corax, who escaped only by firing his flight pack.

• 
  Lion El'Jonson enemy · Dark Angels

  Curze and the Lion fought the long Thramas Crusade, and Curze broke the Lion's back in a duel.

• 
  Vulkan enemy · Salamanders

  Curze captured and tormented Vulkan after Isstvan V.

• 
  Haarken Worldclaimer student · Black Legion

  Haarken studied the Grimoire Nostramo, written by Curze.

Factions

• Night Lords primary faction

Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.

Legacy

Curze's Night Lords kept his methods of terror after his death and splintered into raiding warbands with no unifying cause beyond spreading fear. His prophetic visions and his willing death at Tsagualsa still divide his sons, who argue whether he was a madman or a judge proven right about a doomed galaxy. The Night Lords remain a Legion of terror raiders, and Curze's foresight and his acceptance of his own assassination are still debated by their survivors.

Appearances & sources

• The Horus Heresy novels Prince of Crows and The Dark King (Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Graham McNeill)
• Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter (Guy Haley)
• The Night Lords trilogy (Aaron Dembski-Bowden)