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Biologically engineered Demi-Gods made by a god-king to help rule the vast brutal universe ofWarhammer: 40K. The Primarchs are giants amongst men that come with their own equally massive issues; these test tube babies turned uber mensch have had quite the impact on the wider galaxy.
They’re an interesting bunch that is unique on the surface level and absolutely fascinating when you start to dig into their backstory as they’re all different, with some having absolutely heart-wrenching arcs that have evolved over the years — and a huge showdown between them set for sometime in the future. For those interested in these large lads, here’s every Primarch and where they are now.
Updated May 24, 2025 By Matthew Mckeown:The 41st Millennium is a particularly tumultuous time. The forces of Chaos have split the galaxy in two, the Necrons are awakening en masse and the Tyranids are pushing deeper into Imperial space. Despite the best efforts of the new Primaris Space Marines and the reawakened Loyalist Primarchs, more worlds are burning than ever before.
The lore in Warhammer 40,000 is constantly evolving as the best and brightest of the Black Library continue to churn out some great books and background fluff. If you’re not up to date on the latest developments or are still stuck working your way through the massive Horus Hersey series, then here’s an update on every Primarch in Warhammer 40K and where they are now.
Who Are The Primarchs?
Created in a Gene Lab beneath the Himalayan Precinctof the Imperial Palace, the Primarchs were created as part of the Emperor of Mankind’s “Primarch Project”. A program that sought to create a series of loyal leaders for the Emperor’s armies across the Imperium.
There aretechnically 20, or 21 if you count the twins as separate people,but two are missing. It’s never fully addressed what happened to them other than thatthey were purged, supposedly by the Space Wolves on the orders of The Emperor. Thenall record of them was expunged from Imperial Recordsprior to the Horus Heresy for an unknown reason.
There areconflicting reports as to whythroughout various Black Library books, short stories, and popular fan theories. However, the majority of sources point to these missing brothers and their Astartes Legionsoverstepping the marksomehow.
But it’s doubtful we’ll ever learn what really happened tothe second and eleventh sonsof the Emperor. But, there are18 Primarchs that were recoveredafter the Chaos Godssent their incubation capsules deep into spaceto be raised on random worlds throughout the Universe.
Every Primarch
The Primarchs are quite the mixed bag of emotional instability,daddy issues, misguided ideals, and overallbad parenting, but they still managed to do quite a lot. Each of theirorigins and upbringings are uniqueand it heavily impacted the type of people thesedemi-godsmatured into.
There are entire libraries that could be filled with the nuances and history of each Primarch alone. But we’ll keep things brief so you may get a general gist of who they are, where they came from, andwhere they are now after all the brotherly love implodedbecause of the Horus Heresy.
It’s also worth mentioning before we go into this bag of cats that thearrival of dear old Space Dad did a lot to damagethese boys. In most cases, he turned up, declared he was Emperor of The Galaxy,proved he was better at everything than they were, and then left them to their own devices andfeeling very insecure.
Orignored their developmental problemsbecause he was too busy, or in Angron’s case, justabducted him in the middle of a battleagainst his will, leaving his comrades of decades behind to die. So it wasn’t the smoothest family reunion.
AsRobute Guillamanonce said: “My father is many things,but he is not infallible."
Leman Russ
The Wolf King, the Great Wolf, andthe Primarch of the Space Wolves, these are the many names of Leman Russ. Known for his fierce temperament, being a peerless warrior,hating sorcery and Psykers, and doggedly loyal to his Father, there’s a reason Leman Russ is often referred to asthe Emperor’s Attack Dog and Executioner.
Leman Russ began his life on theice-covered Death World of Fenris. There he was initiallyraised by wolvesbefore being discovered by the resident humans. Over time he wouldrise within their ranks from humble Viking-esque warrior to great King. Then the Emperor would arrive to reclaim his son afterbesting him in a series of challenges. Such as who can eat the most, drink the most, and of course, trial by combat.
Russ was then given the control of the Space Wolves,warriors drawn from his Fenrisian homeworld. The newly formed Chapter would then be sent wherever the Emperor needed them,often against other Primarchs that were overstepping the line. He even had aseries of Battle Tanks named after him, most notably the commonly seenLeman Russ Battle Tank, which is still regularly used in various regions of the Imperium.
Where Are They Now?
No one really knows what happened to Leman Russ. Two centuries after the Emperor was entombed within the Golden Throne after the end of the Horus Heresy,Russ just disappeared.
Where he went is up for debate. Some say hewent into the Eye of Terror in search of his brother Lion El’Johnson, others that he’s captured somewhere by the forces of Chaos. Though rumors persist that he mayreturn one day to lead the Space Wolvesback to glory.
Ferrus Manus
Known as The Gorgon, Ferrus Manus was a master weaponsmith,Primarch of the Iron Hands Space Marine Chapter, and is known for making a number of weapons for his brother Primarchs and other Astartes Legions. A looming figure,his hands are covered in a silver necrodermis layerafter he killed a Necron machine known as theSilver Wyrm Asirnothin an ancient tomb on his homeworld of Medusa after his capsule crash-landed into it.
There he would grow to become agreat warrior amongst the nomadic barbaric clansof this Feral Planet. He taught his people andelevated them technologically and societally, and when the Emperor arrived,Manus went willinglyand quickly as he helped his father create a legion sourced from his homeworld of fierce warriors.
Manus was murdered by his brotherand close friend Fulgrim. During a dual atop a peak in the middle of theDrop Site Massacre event on Istvan V. In a titanic duel that shook the ground, the two fought to the death, sadly Fulgrim’s demonic blade proved to be stronger andManus was decapitated.
The Iron Hands still remain, butthey now lead themselvesand seek to end their Chapter’s rocky history of splicing themselves with Cybernetic parts. Anobsession that had rotted the Legion from within for centuriesand one Manus had desperately sought to end, despite him and his fancy silver arms being the unintentional cause of it.
Vulkan
Next up we have Vulkan. Unique amongst a cadre of already interesting chaps,Vulkan is special because he is a Perpetual. A being that canregenerate its cellular structure infinitelyfrom the smallest of sources.Completely unkillable, he is basically immortal.
A grey-skinned, red-eyed giant, Vulkan is an imposing yet surprisingly sympathetic and caring individual. Raised on the volcanic and geographically unstableDeath World of Nocturne by a local Blacksmithafter his capsule plowed into his home. There he grew to become a legendary champion, much like his brothers in their own worlds.
He slew great beasts, dragons, and evenDark Aeldari pirates who tried to raid the worldon more than one occasion before he was recovered by the Emperor. Who himself did his usual trick ofappearing as a mysterious caped strangerwho challenged Vulkan to compete against him inimpossible trialsin return for his loyalty. Though Vulkan won all of them, he wassaved by the Emperor in the final trialand thus forfeited the victory out of respect.
The Emperor was aware of Vulkan’s regenerative abilities at the time, so the act of saving him was essentially a bit ofmoral manipulation.
For most of Vulkan’s tenure, he wasthe Primarch of the Salamanders Space Marine Legion. He sided with the loyalists during the Dropsite Massacre and wascaptured and tortured by his brother Primarchs, mainly Curze. He would escape and return to leading the Salamanders before eventually being assassinated with a tube of Fulgurite.
However, after being buried, he would be found much later,alive and still clutching the Fulguriteburied in his chest. What happened after is up for debate as Vulkan seemingly disappeared. There are rumors of his return, but for now all Salamanders know one thing:Vulkan lives.
Rogal Dorn
The Primarch of the Imperial Fists and known asone of the greatest heroes in the Imperiumto have ever lived. Rogal Dorn is a zealous and stoic figure who believed there was no greater goal than the unification of humanity under the Emperor’s Banner. Implacably loyal, thisUltimate Daddy’s Boyspent most of his adult life next to his father’s side throughout countless crusades.
He began his life onthe ice world of Inwit. A barren iceball with a nomadic people that were known for their natural ability to survive harsh conditions, perfect material for future Imperial Fist Space Marines.
Dorn wouldrise to become the Emperor of his world, pushing his planet’s inhabitants into space withgreat void-faring fleets. Whereupon he wouldencounter the True Emperor and would swear his fealtyto his biological Father, no contingencies, just immediate acceptance. A rarity in this fractured family.
Dorn is currently dead. Though he would manage tokill his brother Alphariusduring the Horus Heresy, he wasn’t able to help during Horus and the Emperor’s final showdown, a fact that haunted him andfilled him with unending guilt. He fell into a deep depression and though he would attempt to regain some sanity through visions brought about byself-harming with a Pain Glove, he was never the same.
The last time Dorn was seen alive was at thehead of an attack against a Chaos Despoiler Class Flagshipknown as the Sword of Sacrilege decades after the civil war.None survivedand all the found of Dorn was hisbadly damaged hand. Which is also kept as a skeletal relic at the heart of the Imperial Fists Fortress Monastery.
There are some conflicting rumors that Dorn is still alive somewhere, butthis is mostly wishful thinking.
Roboute Guilliman
The Primarch of the legendary Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman is a superior tactician,author of most of the Codex Astartes, and the currentLord Commander of the Imperium of Man. Considered a Paragon amongst men, he holds a lot of respect and awe for his achievements.
He was found by the Emperor in theworld of Macragge. A pleasant climate planet ruled by Warlords that Guilliman would be raised by and theneventually lead as their King. When the Emperor arrived to reclaim his lost offspring, Guilliman went willingly with his Father and eventually turned his adopted homeworld intothe home of the Ultramarine Legions.
Guilliman iscurrently alive and activein the 41st Century. He’s leading crusades against theencroaching hordes of Tyrannidsand the reawakening of countlessslumbering Necron Tomb Worlds. The galaxy is aflame once more, but at least Guilliman and his Ultramarines are standing in the way.
But before all that hespent centuries in stasisfrom injuries he sustained after a poison demon blade wasstabbed into his neck by his brother Fulgrimafter he had become a Daemon Prince of Chaos. But Guilliman was able to be revived through the machinations ofBelisarius Cawl.
Cawl then introduced him to thePrimaris Space Marineshe had been developing as well as countless types of new tech, toys, and armor for these new marines that Guilliman found waiting for him. The perfect start to bringing some order to the coming chaos as the galaxy was once again ablaze and thedarkness was on Humantiy’s doorstep.
Guilliman seems togrow despondent about his taskevery day.
On the topic ofGuilliman’s run of being Warmaster for the human race, he’s not having a particularly pleasant time. After waking up and starting to sort out thenew Primaris recruits with Belisarius Cawl, Guilliman found himself suddenly fighting inthe Plague Wars. A conflict that saw the Death Guard, led by his fallen brother Mortarioninfest a number of Ultramarine-held worlds.
It was a brutal war thatclimaxed in a spectacular momentthat saw Guilliman possessed by a being, potentially The Emperor or acreature created from the amalgamation of souls that resides on the Golden Throne of Terra. Though it lasted very briefly, the being gave him the power tobanish the incoming hordes of Demons, substantially tilting the conflict in the Ultramarine’s favor and scaring the absolute hell out of a now-banished Mortarion.
Mortarion’s banishment involved him beingviolently sucked back into the Mansion of Nurgle. Whilst the Grandfather himselfwatched with a dark fury from a windowas his favored champion failed, again.
Whilst the event was triumphant for the Ultramarines and humanity as a whole, itshook Guilliman to his coreand only festered more doubts about his efforts. He became gravely concerned about the meddling of whatever being now dwells on the Holy Throne andthe concept and impact of Gods and Godhood in the universe.
He’s terrified of becoming a god, his Father returning as something much darker and the overreach of the ecclesiarchy. There’s also the potentialunforeseen detrimental religious impacthis “god-possession” is going to have going forward in the already rife zealotry of the current Imperium. It’s a lot of big things to have on his mind and despitenumerous debates with Belisarius Cawl’s pet A.I.s, Guilliman’s mind is terribly worried.
A fun fact about Belisarius Cawls A.I.’s is thatone of them is a 100 percent digital copy of Guilliman. A fact thatGuilliman knows and allows to a small degreeas it helps him get a fresh perspective on his thoughts from someone who knows him best, himself.
Sanguinus
The angel-wingedPrimarch of the Blood Angels, Sanguinus was a rarity amongst his brothers as he was a genetically superior human with a mutation,angel wings. Normally mutants are culled in the modern Imperium, butSanguinus was an exception. He was a herald of great portents to people of the desert planet of Baal Secundus where he grew up and eventually wasworshipped as a godor Great Angel by its tribes.
Sanguinus was another of the Emperor’s sons who began following his father almost immediately, with no tricks, no challenges, justinstant acceptance, and fealty. The best of the planet’s warriors were accepted into the ranks of a new legion led by Sanguinus and the rest is history.
Unfortunately,Sanguinus is dead. He was killed by Horus, the one Primarch that he had a close almost inseparable bond with, on the bridge of his flagship at the climax of the Horus Heresy.
Hisdeath is echoed forevermore in a black ragethat would affect his sires in the Blood Angels for generations, with the only way of ending the rampage usually beingthe euthanizing of the affected Marine.
Lion El’Johnson
Known throughout the Imperium as The Lion, El’Johnson wasthe Primarch of the Dark Angelsand spent his youth on the dense forest world of Caliban. A planet that wasfilled with exotic and mutated great beastsbecause of its relatively close proximity to the warping effects of the Eye of Terror.
Afeudal knight world, it resembled something out of Arthurian legend and it was here that El’Johnson thrived as a wild man for many years, though most of what he got up to as a youth is unknown. Eventually, he would be discovered andraised as a warrior by a group of noble knights known as The Order. Over time he would rally the people of the forest world to cleanse it of its monsters, becoming the regent in a few decades until the arrival of the Emperor.
El’Johnson swore his fealty to his father without issue, but over time jealousy and resentment spread from within the Dark Angels as theirPrimarch brought changes the old knights were not fond of. Plus, the amount of glory and attention that El’Johnson was garnering was shadowing the efforts of other Dark Angels, such as Luther,El’Johnson’s adoptive father, mentor, and best friend.
Lion El’Johnson wasbetrayed by his fellow Dark Angel Lutherwho, along with a large cadre of his brother marines that would later be called ‘The Fallen’, were swayed by Chaos. The resulting battle between the twodestroyed the Dark Angel homeworld of Calibanand mortally wounded El’Johnson, who was considered by many to havedied in the conflict.
But, the Dark Angels are known for their secrecy, and in a dark hidden vault theirPrimarch lay dormant, suspended in stasis within The Rock, the last remaining chunk of Caliban and Fortress of the Dark Angels. From thereLion El’Johnson would return once moreto aid his brother Guilliman in restoring order to the Imperium.
What details we know of El Johnson’s adventures after his awakening are pretty interesting. Through a newly gained mystical ability, he was able togather banished “Fallen Angels” from his old legions into a group known as The Risen. It was in this realm he alsogathered his legendary armamentssuch as the Power Sword “Fealty” and to protect himself, “The Emperors Shield”.
After recovering these relics andmeeting with Dante from the Blood Angels, Lion El Johnson has been aiding his brother Guilliman in his efforts to keep Chaos at bay. More recently his focus has been on Vashtor and Abbadon’s efforts to recover, rebuild, and usea mysterious dark device known as “The Key”.
After recovering from his mortal wound, Lion El Johnson, like hiswarp-sensitive brethrenawakened a new ability known as theForest Walk. Whereby he couldteleport anywhere in the Universeby crossing through a dimension known asMirror Caliban.
Jaghatai Khan
Known as the Great Khan, The Warhawk and The Khagan, Jaghatai Khan wasthe Primarch of the White Scars Space Marine Legion. He spent his youth growing up onChogoris, a planet in the Segmentum Pacificus.A savage world of horse nomadsakin to the ancient Mongols of Earth.
A medieval world of soaring mountains and clear seas, it was a planet of burgeoning Empires and savage warlords that the Great Khan wouldrise to rule after decades of global conquest. Six months after his worldwide campaign ended, The Emperor arrived.
What happened next is up for debate, but the main two arguments are thatthe Khan submitted willingly or he negotiated his fealtyas he saw only two options: submit and give his loyalty, or refuse and die. After that, like the others, he joined his Father in his grand crusades across the galaxy.
Unlike the other Loyalist Primarchs who either died or disappeared almost immediately after the Civil War,Khan was still kicking around a full 70 years after the Horus Heresy. Then like some of his other brothers,he just went missing.
He was last seenflying into a large Warp Gateto access the Drukhari par of the Eldar Webway. The purpose was topursue a powerful Drukhari Kabalthat had attacked his homeworld. Like the others, there are rumors persisting that potentiallyone day he could return.
