Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I was wondering if any character has ever become corrupted by chaos, and then later renounced chaos and then returned to the light of the emperor?
or has anyone from any race ever done that sort of thing?

Sorry I feel I might have worded that kind of poorly.

Thank you!

Only very rarely, at great cost, and at the sufferance of an Inquisitor who requires the individual for their own purposes.

There are examples in some of the Dark Heresy supplements of penitent or mind-wiped characters who may have suffered the touch of Chaos and are now in service to an Inquisitor following a horrible process of purification and excrutiation. Such individuals are rarely what you'd call stable, and there's no guarantee that the Inquisitor isn't a radical with their own definition of what "the light of the Emperor" means.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Penitent

Note that this only applies to "mundane" heretics, unremarkable amongst the servants of chaos. Those that attained some form of proficiency and fame in serving chaos, or simply score lucky, usually get a mark of their chaos god, making their servitude to chaos final and irredeemable.

If you wanna get picky, technically most of the primarch at least wish they could go back or have realized they screwed up.

Fulgrim most notably fully realized that "ohhhhh....I'm the bad guy ain't I..." only right after he gave ferrus a close shave. He even looked around and realized how wrong we was and kinda checked out. So if you wanna count that as, going to chaos and coming back, there you go.

It's not so much a question of if people have turned back from chaos, but rather which ones that did, actually lived/did not go insane.

The Soul Drinkers did kind of? It's been a long while since I read the books but my basic memory of it is: Tzeentch tricks them into the worship of Chaos, but they still think they worship the Emperor, so the Imperium is hunting them, but they do fight for the people of the Imperium, then they realise they fethed up and the few that are left walk into the warp to fight Chaos.

I need to re-read those books, its been too long.

Maybe Cypher.

 Fentlegen wrote:
The Soul Drinkers did kind of? It's been a long while since I read the books but my basic memory of it is: Tzeentch tricks them into the worship of Chaos, but they still think they worship the Emperor, so the Imperium is hunting them, but they do fight for the people of the Imperium, then they realise they fethed up and the few that are left walk into the warp to fight Chaos.

I need to re-read those books, its been too long.

Yeah the last few.
Many die bravely to fight chaos before that at regain at least some kind of honour and wipe abit of there shame.
They get a pretty rough time, more than is normal for 40k!

Yes

In the Grey knights book by ADB the ordo malleus inquisitor that the Grey knights work with has a former heretic in her retinue.

There was a short story years ago about an Ultramarine who is fighting alongside Sisters of Battle and gets tempted into serving Nurgle. The Sister who fought alongside him and witnessed his fall to Chaos swore that she would end him. Years later they cross paths again, in battle of course, and the corrupted Marine gets whipped. After some dialogue, he repents and returns to his Greater Daemon master, the same one that corrupted him. Unbeknownst to the Greater Daemon, the Sister had placed a sizeable bomb inside of the compliant, yet corrupted Marines' hollowed out chest cavity. Then Boom. Greater Daemon banished! Marine possibly redeemed.

I think it was in The Dark Imperium anthology.

In the old fluff there were characters called Illuminati. These had been possessed by daemons but had then exorcised the daemon (either on their own or with help). Those lucky enough to survive the process were immune to future corruption/possession.

 emptyhat wrote:
Maybe Cypher.

Cypher was never a traitor.

.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 emptyhat wrote:
Maybe Cypher.

Cypher was never a traitor.

Cypher was always a traitor

Also, wasn't there some General in Gaunts Ghosts who defected from the Blood Pact

Mudrat wrote:

Also, wasn't there some General in Gaunts Ghosts who defected from the Blood Pact

He was a coward that got arrested by Gaunt.. then captured by Chaos forces.. but lost his memory on who he actually was.. but still knew he was a General and hated Gaunt and had information on Guard tatics and such

But he was never truly a willing traitor

 nels1031 wrote:
There was a short story years ago about an Ultramarine who is fighting alongside Sisters of Battle and gets tempted into serving Nurgle. The Sister who fought alongside him and witnessed his fall to Chaos swore that she would end him. Years later they cross paths again, in battle of course, and the corrupted Marine gets whipped. After some dialogue, he repents and returns to his Greater Daemon master, the same one that corrupted him. Unbeknownst to the Greater Daemon, the Sister had placed a sizeable bomb inside of the compliant, yet corrupted Marines' hollowed out chest cavity. Then Boom. Greater Daemon banished! Marine possibly redeemed.

I think it was in The Dark Imperium anthology.

Beat me too it. Love that story; probably my favourite piece of 40K fluff.

Originally printed in Inferno, but I think it was reprinted later (likely in said anthology).

Black shields in the Deathwatch are potentially ex-traitors.
Some are dishonored marines from loyal chapters, but rarely, one is an actual repentant traitor come home to the Emporer's grace.

Two.
Ragnar Blackmane and Bran Redmaw.
Both turned into Khorne worshippers and offered up huge amounts of blood to the blood god, even drank some themselves to make sure it was good vintage - then went back to being goodie two shoes by "Sheer force of will"...well, Ragnar did. Bran...well, The Curs'd Lord still has his time of the month - every time he goes into combat.

Ardaric Vaanes-former Ravenguard, served the Tyrant of Badab, then Honsou, repented and died in service to the Imperium.

He's in a few stories.

Honsou died on phalanx I thought trying to destroy it.

 Leth wrote:
Honsou died on phalanx I thought trying to destroy it.

I think Farseer Anath'lan meant that Ardaric Vaanes served Huron Blackheart, then Honsou, before repenting and dying for the Imperium.

So Huron and Honsou were his bosses before Ardaric redeemed himself, not that Honsou repented/died for the Imperium.

Not sure if it counts but there's been a bunch of guardsmen in the penal legions who went heretic and then fought for the Emperor. One example is from let the galaxy burn where a Commissar rounds up a bunch of slaves in commoragath and one is a penal legion ex heretic. Another is in Schaffers last chancers where ex heretics frequently apear and often soon die for the Emperor.

Where Space marines are concerned there's the cases of the lamentors (most awesome Space marines there is IMO. seriously look them up, they're very... Unique) and the Mantis warriors. Both chapters followed Huron in his rebellion and both repented and saw the errors of their ways. Iirc both where sent on pentient crusades to atone for their sins and have most likely died off by now.

There's also the fallen of the dark angels. They aren't allowed to die untill they repent and see the light of the Emperor, before being executed.

As others have mentioned pentient engines, flaggelants, sisters repentina and servitors are often the final stop for a heretic that sees the light of the Emperor.

Heretics maybe. You can use your silverware wrong and be branded a heretic.

'turned to chaos' no. Someone who conciously decided to worship the chaos gods, do their work and revel in their gifts. No they are irredeemable as far as the IoM is concerned.

Most of the Dark Angels, unless they are still secretly heretics

 dantower wrote:
Black shields in the Deathwatch are potentially ex-traitors.
Some are dishonored marines from loyal chapters, but rarely, one is an actual repentant traitor come home to the Emporer's grace.

Heratics. Not full on chaos worshippers.
There's a big difference, a heratic may in right circumstances die for emperor, a Traitor has no such chance.

If rumors are to be believed, the Alpha Legion may soon settle the debate once and for all.

Ravingbantha wrote:
If rumors are to be believed, the Alpha Legion may soon settle the debate once and for all.

This thread is about those who actually joined chaos and went back. Not those who fooled everyone else into thinking that's what happened.

Well the Alpha Legion did join chaos though. They threw in their lot with Horus, betrayed the loyalist at the Drop Site Massacre, almost wiped out the Space Wolves, were the sole traitors at the Battle of Pluto and have been bleeding the Imperium for 10K years.
They have joined the forces of chaos. They may still harbour secret loyalties to the Emperor, and may still have an agenda - but they definitely have joined the forces of chaos throughout all this.

Also since there's no canon fluff on any Alpha Legion members defecting back to Imperium, so far we basically still no nothing of their intentions.

I say the Soul Drinkers are probably the biggest redeemed groups in the Imperium right now.