So what was the purpose for each Primarch?

So what was the purpose for each Primarch?
Some are obvious, Like Magnusand Russ, but what about the Primarchs with more obscure purposes like Sanguinius and the Khan?

Sanguinius, from a writing perspective, was created solely so he could be slain by Horus in the giant metaphor for the Fall of Lucifer and the Passion of the Christ that was the Horus Heresy. As he was perfect, only he could truly save humanity (by giving the Emperor enough time to rally).

The Khan is to represent the wild spirit of some warrior cultures, answering only to their own personal code of honor. The Khan embodies the fundamentally different mindset of the Eastern Cultures (primarily Mongolia and China) and their approach to warfare compared to the Western ones that all the other Primarchs show. (This is a gross oversimplification, but largely correct).

>Sanguinus
> obscure

Wut?

Obscure purposes, not obscure Primarchs.
That'd only fit for Alpharius and maybe Mortarion, if anything.

>Sanguinius

Emergency Emperor/Figurehead. Undermined by the Blood Angel geneseed flaw.

>The Khan

Nostalgia.

>Alpharius
If the recent fluff about Al is anything to go by, then he was likely meant to be some manner of black ops guy, in line with the original Alphas' alleged job.

Of course, since Chaos fucked with the primarch distribution method, it's impossible to say what the original intentions for each primarch were, or which ones actually reached the worlds the Emperor intended. It's made even more confusing by the fact that Russ may not have been intended to be a teamkilling dick--some authors/characters argue that the Wolves just chose the role and marketed themselves as such.

That's actually what's confusing me in the novels.
Some say the Primarchs were all made for a purpose, and others say they aren't.
But even if their planets or heritage went against what the Emperor planned for them, if the planned something, then he would've surely put that plan into their genes or something so they'd end up becoming what he wanted, anyways.
He wouldn't have given Magnus with such immense psychic power without a reason or spliced Russ with Canine DNA for the lulz. And meanwhile you can't make heads or tails out of some Primarchs, like Mortarion, Angron and especially Lorgar.

Well for one thing they were probably never really intended to have individual specialities because there'd be no way to get one to where he was needed unless he happened to be in the right expedition fleet.

As for their specialities...remember a lot of them are self assigned. Angron was never intended to be a bloodfrothing RIP AND TEAR murder machine, he got an implant that makes that happen. Pre him rejoining his legion they were nothing like that. Russ declared himself the Emperors executioner, no one else called him that until he made it his thing.

Lionel Jonson: Lead the Emperor's armies in his absence (possible along with Horus and Rowboat)

Lorgar: The great orator, whose role was to maintain the morale of the imperium and put into writing for public consumption the ideals of the Imperial Truth. Also tasked building up low-end worlds to high modern standards.

Rowboat: The emperor's governor, responsible for setting up and maintaining the economic and legislative infrastructure of the majority of the Imperium.

Vulkan: Looking out for the average imperial citizen, ensuring that once the Great Crusade came to a close that the Emperor and his sons wouldn't overlook the little guys.

Fulgrim: Designated fuckboi.

Rogal Dorn: Tasked with maintaining vigilant defense even in times of peace and fortifying key worlds in the event of rebellions, xenos incursions, ect.

Pertuabo: In charge of the public works of the Imperium, closely collaborating with Lorgar and Girlyman to maintain the infrastructure of the Imperium.


As far as I can see Angron and Kurze were hopelessly fucked and have no clear purpose.

Corvus Corax: Inquisitors before inquisitors were a thing, think a secret police designed to root out tyranny and injustice throughout the Imperium.

There's no purpose. That would require there to be some actually competent writing in 40K, and that's never going to happen.

It's possible that it was a mix of a lot of things. Maybe the Emperor wanted a nature-nurture mix, where some primarchs would be designed with a purpose from the beginning and some would find their purpose through their upbringing. Maybe he made Russ just for giggles. Maybe Angron did have a purpose but Nuceria completely fucked it up.

It's mentioned in Angels of Caliban that the purposes of each Primarch only made sense to the Emperor himself. That's BL's new handwave of "fuck if we know what the difference between Ferrus and Perturabo was".

How many other things are they going to handwave or retcon?
Next thing we know is that Alpharius is actually a heretic if they keep going like that.

meh it's pulp fiction for an over the top grimdark sci-fi universe. The writing isn't that bad. Considering how 90% of what makes 40k is over the top, unnecessary and absurd, the writers do a pretty good job of stringing up fluff to explain it.

Ferrus Manus was made to represent the Human side of the Admech-Imperium alliance.

Kurze would've most likely handled legal matters, that would make the best use of hist justice fetish and his ability of complete neutrality.
Angron would most likely be the figure head of the armed forces. He strived for and inspired a sense of brotherhood.

Sanguinius and Horus probably would have been the right and left-hand men, respectively. They both had a talent for diplomacy and were probably the two best fighters of the lot.

I think it's safe to say whatever purpose Angron had will never been known. The nails killed whoever the Emperor might have intended him to be.

>I think it's safe to say whatever purpose Angron had will never been known.

Same as the Angron we know and love, the War Hounds were always meant to be the legion made of butchers and killers sent to exterminate entire planets with their hands. Angron and his legion would just be more stable and less angry at the Emperor.

True, but I think the World Eaters would have been much more "noble" about it, and Angron would be far more of a Warrior-King rather than the monster he turned out to be.

I'm pretty sure Angron with his sanity intact would be absolutely terrifying.

Magnus was supposed to sit on the Golden Throne

Some legions were always meant to be monsters, Curze and his Night Lords were always meant to go hunting civilians and instilling fear and the War Hounds were always meant to be the bloody butchers of the legions.

>Kurze

Inquisitor of Primarchs. His talents and especially his gift for Primarch-based foresight indicate that he was meant to watch his brothers for corruption and prevent it before it even happened.

Instead he was abandoned on a slum-world and only encountered his ability when he was too jaded to even try and change things.

>Angron

Deterrence. Angron was built to be utterly savage and loyal. He was meant to be the Emperor's reprimand against traitors. All that shit Russ says about himself.

Instead, Angron was lobotomized and gave his loyalty to the army he raised on Nuceria rather than the Emperor. The Emperor assumed his genetic programming would take over as soon as Angron met him, but the Butchers Nails fucked it up. That's why the Emperor seemingly acted like a complete retard when he met Angron.

Alright then, I'm following yoy so far. If Angron was in fact meant to be the emporers means of keeping the others on line, what was Russ's intended function. I'm not disagreeing with you or trying to call you out, I'm honestly curious to hear your interpretation. What was he for?

...well that makes sense actually, make ubber psycher to maintain the astronomicon so you won't have to.

and maintain / protect the webway

Ah I forgot about Kurze's foresight.
Alright I give it to you, that's clever.

Wait what? If Big E finished making the webway then why would he still need Magnus to maintain the throne?

Angron was likely meant to be always meant to be a a loyal soldier in the new order.

Kurze was primed to be the cold but fair head judge of the imperium but happened to land on a ghetto world.

I have a hard time making the difference between Horus, Pertubo and Guillaume but I guess it doesnt hurt to have a few administrators.

Why does Mortarion exist?

Yeah all right that makes perfect sense. Speaking of Magnus, my current theory is that grey knights are actually a thousand sons successor chapter. Thoughts?

Honestly I'm not sure about Russ. He seemed to dislike the role he'd been given, and he didn't want his Legion to isolate itself from the others with the Wolf shit.

Maybe they were just meant to be a pair, or at least have a similar purpose, and that's why the Emperor thought Russ could reign Angron in.

The throne always needed someone to man it, it just wasnt supposed to fuck over the person using it.

>Speaking of Magnus, my current theory is that grey knights are actually a thousand sons successor chapter. Thoughts?
uhhhh,grey knights origins are pretty obvious dude

>Why does Mortarion exist?

Some projects seem like a good idea at first, but don't pan out like you thought.

Sooo is it just that what I've come up with is obvious and everyone has known forever (I admit to being a newfag) or am I just obviously wrong?

To fuck wolves, and get drunk.
But all jokes aside, maybe as forerunners? The wolves were durable, and coming from Fenris they might've been more ideal to explore and take more worlds for colonization?

"Malcador found twelve worthy champions; four were lords and administrators, and eight were Space Marines from both loyalist and traitor legions. These included survivors of the Eisenstein incident, Nathaniel Garro and Amendera Kendel. During the founding of the organisation others would join them including Tylos Rubio, Macer Varren and Garviel Loken.[19] [20] [21] Many of the Space Marines that joined the cause hailed from Legions that had turned traitor, though they themselves had remained loyal to the Emperor. Once they had been gathered, the Emperor surveyed the chosen recruits and granted both his approval and consent to proceed with the project. So the recruits split ways to go off towards separate tasks; the four lords ventured off to lay the framework of the Inquisition, whilst the Space Marines and Malcador travelled to Saturn's moon of Titan."
-Lexicanum article on the Grey Knights.

I like to think the Emperor had intended pairs/triumvirates that worked together and subordinate to himself to run the Imperium.

Magnus+Sanguinus would be the psyker powehouses, maintaining and running the webway and Astronomican.

Fulgrim+Guilliman+Lograr obviously would have been statesmen, running the Imperium itself and governing whole quadrants.

Dorn+Pertarabo would have been the city builders and engineers, pretty simple.

Ferrus Manus could have been in that group but I believe he was really meant to break down the walls of the Mechanicus cult and integrate them fully into the Imperium.

Curze+Mortarion would have been the grim arbiters of the galaxy, sentencing whole sectors and upholding Imperial law.

Corrax+Alpharius/Omegon would have been the founders of the Imperiums intelligence network and special forces. The Inquisition, so to speak.

Angron+Russ+Khan would have been trailblazers and attack dogs. Colonize worlds, stamp out rebellion, and kill Xenos like the Emperor was going to ban the practice.

Horus would be the Emperor in Waiting, I think. I can't see a world in which he wouldn't be the Emperor's advisor and favorite.

I actually really like this idea of the wolves being used as advanced pioneers. I imagine that had the HH not happened, great companies would be on stand-by incase some explorator fleets "first contact" situation goes south.

While I like to think many are fairly clear many others are not.

Magnus was clearly meant to sit on the Golden Throne until the Webway project was complete and Mankind could take it over. After that he would most likely become the chief researcher and defense against the Warp as one of the few to know about the danger. As despite the Emperors plan to starve Chaos there would still be needed some kind of defense against it.

Sanguine seems like the face of the Imperium. Handling diplomacy both outside and inside of the Nation.

Lograr working together with him all the while he spreads the Emperors propaganda tn ensure the loyalty of his subjects.

Perturabo, Ferrus Manus and Vulkan where to be the inventors and craftsmen. Advancing mankinds understanding of technology.

Fulgrim on the other hand would work to ensure efficiency of resources and recycling. Making sure his brothers are not to wasteful with mankinds resources. All the while the more obvious task of refining the culture of the Imperium falls to him.

Curze is the Arbites. The Judge. Law is his domain.

Corrax and Alpaharius, is as stated by many, the secret police. Working alongside Curze.

Girlyman is obviously the Governor. Economics, administration and applying the technology of his brothers making to the Imperium as a whole.

Dorn is the defender. Keeping outside threats out of the Imperium and defending the insides of it.

Horus is the vice president. He guides his brothers to work together in an efficient matter and deals with threats outside of the Imperium.

Angron, Russs, Khan and Mortarion I am unsure about

Going by what he did at his home world he could perhaps work with Horus outside of the Imperium in softening up outside threats by creating guerrilla cells or the like but I am really not sure about that.

Angron could very well by the Emperors enforcer but the implants makes that hard to know.

Russ is russ and Khan... Well fuck Khan

I feel like Khan was supposed to be the "Excuse me commissar" guy. It sounds weird, but his whole personality seems designed around him being different but the same. He's supposed to question the way other people do things and question the motivations they do them with.

Sanguinius is to be pretty.

Khan is the guy who takes his legion of fast and independent warriors and skirts along the outer edge of the galaxy, taking out threats that the Imperium has not even heard about yet. The Wolves, Dark Angels and World Eaters would operate more in Imperial Space proper.

I believe in the Scars books, were it not for the heresy Khan was planning on leaving anyways.

I suspect his legion would be the ones to first encounter the Tyranid threat in an alt wh40k

You can see Russ' purpose in the decisions he makes after his mental breakdown after the Burning of Prospero and being abandoned by Jaghatai to the Alpha Legion. He doesn't want to be the Emperors executioner anymore or see his brothers die or watch his sons destroy everything. He wants to help the Imperium and by the 40th millenium the Space Wolves are lauded heroes, Logan Grimnar is a beloved saint, and the Chapter is a champion of human freedom and liberty while staying in tune with their wild side. His Legion would have been the watchdogs over the distant colonies of the Imperium providing the inhabitants of primitive, isolated, and brutal regions with the protection against mother nature and despots that they would have needed.

It's never really stated for sure. Some of the primarchs believe that they were made with very certain purposes in mind, but I'm guessing they probably weren't. They were meant to lead the legions of mankind against whatever might come. That's it. But because they are human things are never that simple, not to mention how they each seemed to inherit certain traits from the Emperor. Just like any other human they began to develop certain strengths and weaknesses, but their overall purpose was the same. Russ had to (probably) kill two of his brothers, but I doubt he was made with that in mind. He's a fucking dog- he'd do anything the Emperor told him to do, no matter what.

Biaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaach

They were all CONQUERING legion's demigods first and foremost. To retake the whole galaxy for humanity and then get kinda discarted, only Girlyman criticized him for the shit of a father he was. Russ was designed to be the executioner of renegade legions (in the case any went astray lol) it is openly acknowledged again and again, and so Alpha-Omega CIA-like secret ops task. Vulkan and the salamanders had a specific task too, although it is not mentioned, their bro-tier attitude leads to think it was to be the post-Crusade role model for the marines. That aside, Sanginius was the perfect child (a purpose in itself), Horus the mmmmh.. maybe?? WARMASTER? Girlyman the accountant, Magnus sit in the Golden Trone, and that is it. The rest had different personalities, and traits and histories because that happens when you look at more than 1 person. Also they reflect an aspect of his papa.

I like this.

Am I the only one who sees Khan as a rapid response team? Yeah we have people monitoring various specific threats but you can't prepare for everything. Sooner or later a warpstorm is gonna pop up out of fucking nowhere and shit out demons and xenos who even knows what. It's Khan's job to be there when it happens to do the best he can until the specialists arrive

I really wish we could get something, even just a short story about Kurze and Angron meeting each other. We know he hung out with Lorgar and Fulgrim which we also know nothing about.

Khan didn't like the Imperium, he was supposed to always be outside it constantly expanding the realm of man. If not for the HH he would eventually be out in the Void chilling with the Silent King and kicking bug ass.

>Why does Mortarion exist?

The armies that show up to chop everything into little pieces with chain axes can't be everywhere at once and don't really complement the imperial army. It'd make a lot of sense to have a legion that specializes in wars of attrition to help the army dig in until the heavy hitters show up. It's a thankless job, but important

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