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First of the Primarchs: a brilliant, solitary warrior-general who led the Dark Angels through the Great Crusade and the Heresy. After Caliban's destruction he slept for ten thousand years in the Rock, and he has recently returned to a galaxy split by the Great Rift.
In the Great Crusade he carried the Lion Sword; since his return he has fought with new arms, and has discovered he can walk strange forest paths that link distant worlds. He has spent his first years back defending isolated worlds in the Imperium Nihilus. His relationship with his Dark Angels successors remains uncertain. The Lion is the gene-sire of the Dark Angels and the Unforgiven. His secretive and austere nature has shaped his Chapter's culture of hidden truths and endless hunting. In the Era Indomitus he has returned. He emerged from a long slumber and walked through a strange Warp-touched realm of forests before re-entering the galaxy, and he now leads a crusade of his own as the Lion of Caliban.
Origins
Found as a feral child in the monster-haunted forests of Caliban, he was taken in by the knightly Order and its founder Luther, with whom he cleansed the planet of beasts. When the Emperor came, the Lion took command of the I Legion, while Luther's later bitterness would split the Legion in two.
Caliban's knightly Orders hunted the Great Beasts that infested its forests, and the Lion's crusade to wipe them out made him a hero. When the Emperor arrived, the Lion took the Dark Angels to war across the stars, leaving Luther behind. Luther's resentment festered, and during the Heresy he led a rebellion on Caliban that ended in the planet's destruction.
Key events
- Was found as a feral child in the forests of Caliban by the knightly Order, raised alongside Luther, and led the crusade that wiped out Caliban's Great Beasts.
- Fought across the Heresy in the far-flung Shield Worlds campaign, and later joined Guilliman's Imperium Secundus, where the two primarchs clashed repeatedly.
- Returning to Caliban after the Siege, he found much of his Legion under Luther turned against him. The battle shattered the planet and scattered the Fallen through the Warp.
- Was said to be carried into the depths of the Rock by the Watchers in the Dark, where he slept.
- Awoke in a strange forest realm, recovered his memories on Camarth, and returned to battle in the Arks of Omen campaign, fighting alongside Blood Angels against Angron.
Battles & campaigns
- Battle for Caliban (the Fall): Returning from the Heresy, he found that Luther and many Dark Angels on Caliban had turned on him. He fought Luther to the death, and the battle tore the planet apart.
- Thramas Crusade: During the Heresy he fought a long and bitter campaign against Konrad Curze's Night Lords in the Thramas sector, and the two primarchs clashed in person.
- Return in the Era Indomitus: Emerging into a changed galaxy, he made his way back into the Imperium and swore to protect its people in the shadows of the Great Rift.
Personality
Proud, aloof and unbending, a knight driven by duty to protect humanity. His return has made him more reflective about what the Imperium has become.
He is guarded and secretive, slow to trust and quick to judge. He has a deep sense of honour and duty, and he believes in protecting the innocent. His long sleep has given him perspective, and he is now more aware of his own flaws and the cost of his silence.
Weapons & Vehicles
A master-crafted blade sheathed in a crackling molecular disruption field that parts ceramite, bone and steel with effortless lethality…
The flaming golden greatsword of the Emperor of Mankind, forged through lost science and psychic mastery, now wielded by resurrected Pr…
A volatile directed-energy rifle that hurls bolts of miniature sun-hot plasma capable of vaporising Terminator plate and tank armour—at…
A twin-barrelled, double-chambered automatic bolter wielded one-handed by Space Marine Terminators, Grey Knights and battle tank pintle…
The Dark Angels 1st Company, which fights in bone-white Terminator armour and guards the first layer of the Chapter's darkest secret.
The Dark Angels 2nd Company of bikers, speeders and gunships, the Chapter's hunting arm, whose elite Black Knights run down the Fallen.
The Space Marines' most revered battle tank and heavy transport, built from an ancient STC design and guided by a proud machine spirit.
Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Connections
Characters (6)
The Emperor of Mankind creator · Imperium of ManThe Lion was the first Primarch to be reunited with the Emperor.
Cypher hunted · The FallenCypher is one of the Fallen, the traitor Dark Angels the Lion's sons have hunted for ten millennia.
Leman Russ rival · Space WolvesThe Lion and Russ were famous rivals, feuding during the Great Crusade.
Roboute Guilliman brother · UltramarinesThe two brothers worked together during the Imperium Secundus crisis.
Konrad Curze enemy · Night LordsCurze and the Lion fought the long Thramas Crusade, and Curze broke the Lion's back in a duel.
Factions
- Dark Angels primary faction
Related units (3)
Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.
Legacy
The Lion's legacy is the secrecy of the Unforgiven: the Dark Angels' ten-thousand-year hunt for the Fallen, hidden even from much of their own Chapter. His return in the Era Indomitus has unsettled his sons, who must now face a father with his own views on their long silence. His Legion's secret, the hunt for the Fallen, comes directly from this betrayal. It has shaped the Dark Angels for ten thousand years.
Appearances & sources
- The Horus Heresy novels, including Descent of Angels, Fallen Angels, The Lion and Angels of Caliban
- Lion: Son of the Forest (Mike Brooks)
- Codex: Dark Angels (10th Edition) and Arks of Omen campaign material
Contested & retconned lore
His actions during the Heresy and his loyalty were questioned for millennia, and the exact nature of his long sleep remains mysterious.