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.

So I’ve seen a few threads discussing the worst primarch, and all the flaws and bad things about the primarchs, so I think it is time for some primarch positivity
Who is everyones favourite primarch, and for what reasons?

Also if this thread has already been done please do not hesitate to correct me

most of my views of the various primarchs are based on their portrayals in the HH series rather than modern 40k lore.

My favourites are:

Sanguinius - Our golden angel - deep love for his sons, noble and self sacrificing if a little prone to mopping about it.

Vulkan - Just seems a nice guy.

Dorn - I didnt expect to like him but he comes arcoss as actually pretty cool and very badass when he needs to be.


From the traitor side I quite like the nighthaunter and found Pertarabo unexpectantly pretty interesting.

Also based on the HH series, I quite like Jaghatai Khan, and I like Alpharius/Omegon.

Angron.

My favourite tragedy in 40k. Born a weapon, made a slave, brutalised for his humanity, never given a chance to be anything else, and just when he's about to be free, sold into eternal slavery by a brother who claimed to love him.

Loyalists - lion el Johnson as the dark angels are cool and he is the best warrior of all the primarchs

Traitors - Alpharius/Omegon one of the most creative aspects of the whole primarch story is the 2 bodies 1 soul thing and the whole secrecy. Plus their style or warfare is so different from the other chapters and so at odds with what you would expect from astartes

Lorgar and Dorn are probably my two favourites. Lorgar is a pretty interesting character, highly flawed and probably tempermentally totally unsuited to being a Primarch, but ultimately he's the most influential Primarch of all.

Dorn is kinda the "perfect" loyalist Primarch, and he does everything right and even has good reasons for what he does, and thinks really seriously about it all. But in the end, he fails at everything he tries to do and is beaten down to breaking point by the collapse of the Great Crusade era Imperium into stagnation.

Probably biased, since my Loyalists are Crimson Fists, and my Traitors are Word Bearers.

I'd say ferrus Manus, seems to me like that typical harsh, but good person down below.

Traitor side I like curze a lot, Lorgar has got to be first

Being a weirdo who always used narrative to play I like models who I like the story of so for me, I prefer Lorgar and a tie between Sanguinius and Jaghatai.
Lorgar as I enjoyed the way his story changed from worshipping the Emperor to being the one to lead other Primarchs to join Chaos.
For the loyalists what's not to like about the Great Angel? As for the Warhawk, a great warrior with a real sense of humour.

It's always been Guilliman for me, since 2nd ed. Seemed the most rational of the lot, and he had a focus on logistics that appeals to me.

But I hate that Primarchs are coming back now, and I dislike his model.

I mean obviously it's Fulgrim, there's seventeen male power archetypes, two no-shows, and a tragic Renaissance subtextual queer girl autobiography, the only thing missing is a catgirl BFF/secret crush. But setting aside anyone who ticks so many boxes it's basically cheating, I've always been quite fond of Rogal Dorn. I'm not up to speed on all the current lore (I still kind of dwell in the Rogue Trader-to-Third era and treat any updates as just unreliable narrators at work) but he's always struck me as kind of '*looks at world* "god dammit... Alright let's get to work"' and I respect that.

 Insectum7 wrote:
It's always been Guilliman for me, since 2nd ed. Seemed the most rational of the lot, and he had a focus on logistics that appeals to me.

But I hate that Primarchs are coming back now, and I dislike his model.

Oh, yeah. I really dislike everything about the modern conception of Primarchs, right down to them being giant sized. And definitely think they should mostly be in the deep past or lost to the madness of the Warp and not walking around the 40K setting like they are, yuck.

But they're a cool idea and in the Heresy they have their place.

An anti-social, sulker somewhat on the spectrum? How could I like anyone but the Lion, like me for real.

 Da Boss wrote:

 Insectum7 wrote:
It's always been Guilliman for me, since 2nd ed. Seemed the most rational of the lot, and he had a focus on logistics that appeals to me.

But I hate that Primarchs are coming back now, and I dislike his model.

Oh, yeah. I really dislike everything about the modern conception of Primarchs, right down to them being giant sized. And definitely think they should mostly be in the deep past or lost to the madness of the Warp and not walking around the 40K setting like they are, yuck.

But they're a cool idea and in the Heresy they have their place.

I almost bought the HH Guilliman model when it came out . . . Then I saw how big it was and lost interest.

Same with the current Abaddon model. I've got my 2nd ed Abby and he looks great with his 2nd ed Terminator cohort, and that's where I'll stay on that!

Favorite: The Lion, Sanguinuis, and Jaghatai Khan.

I have some problems with many of the Traitor Primarchs turning on the Emperor for stupid reasons. It's going to influence my perception of them a lot. My least favorite Primarchs are Curze (what a complete dumbass), Fulgrim (who started out strong but then character assassination kicked in), and Mortarion (way too many daddy issues).

Got a few I like, but I'll second I hate the being literal giants and being individually tough as tanks etc.

Alpharius/Omegon - I just like the sneaky aspects of them and their focus on sabotage and stealth. Bonus points as in if memory serves they are about normal space marine sized.

Guilliman - However boring Space Taxes are, getting them done and organized is how you actually succeed in the long term. I'm a sucker for the logistical mastermind archetype and he kind of falls straight into it.

Fulgrim - Snakeboy sexy. That is all.

Runnerups would probably be Dorn and Perturabo - though with them we get to the point of memes taking things over a bit for me as I just think of one as stoic and having a great beard and the other as a petty manchild who is so edgy he is liable to cut himself on it.

In no particular order: Alpharius/Omegon, Russ & Dorn.

Loyalist: Jaghatai. He comes across as relatively reasonable and level-headed compared to other primarchs, and his longing for a simple existence makes him relatively relatable. All while having a cool prim world aesthetic. He's like Russ but more open-minded and chill.

Traitors: Toss up between Magnus and the twins. Any story featuring the twins is going to involve the sort of sneaky tricksy nonsense I'm a sucker for; it's fun to see marines coming up with unconventional solutions rather than just boltering everything in their path. But ultimately, GW's desire to leave everything ambiguous with the twins means that they don't get to have as much character as they otherwise would. What personality we see from them is fun, but at the end of the day we don't really know what drives them, what actually happened to them, etc.

Magnus has his unflattering moments, but those kind of serve to round out his character. He starts the HH novels as being a proponent for nurturing humanity's psychic development (which is pretty cool to think about in its own right), and his decision at the end of Fury of Magnus was actually a really cool moment that made him even more likable.

Basically, Magnus is prone to being so far up his wizard hat that he can become sort of boringly unknowable. But any time we catch a glimpse of his interests and motivations beyond "vague cosmic magic nonsense," those motivations tend to be pretty compelling. And you get all of that on top of the tragedies of his legion, his appreciation for the preservation and collection of lore, and the unconventional tactics opened up by the use of psychic powers.

Loyalist: Corax
Traitors: Curze

 Daia T'Nara wrote:
I mean obviously it's Fulgrim, there's seventeen male power archetypes, two no-shows, and a tragic Renaissance subtextual queer girl autobiography, the only thing missing is a catgirl BFF/secret crush. But setting aside anyone who ticks so many boxes it's basically cheating, I've always been quite fond of Rogal Dorn. I'm not up to speed on all the current lore (I still kind of dwell in the Rogue Trader-to-Third era and treat any updates as just unreliable narrators at work) but he's always struck me as kind of '*looks at world* "god dammit... Alright let's get to work"' and I respect that.

I came to this thread to give my thoughts but looks like we share exactly the same opinions when it comes to Primarchs! You've summarised the appeal for both Fulgrim & Dorn quite well so thanks for saving me the trouble

 Hobbit wrote:
So I’ve seen a few threads discussing the worst primarch, and all the flaws and bad things about the primarchs, so I think it is time for some primarch positivity
Who is everyones favourite primarch, and for what reasons?

Also if this thread has already been done please do not hesitate to correct me

I don't know about favorite primarch, but I have favorite moments for primarchs:

When Russ and Angron go to town, Russ trying to prove a point then having to retreat because the point couldn't be made.

When Gulliman has an inner monologue - often when diagnosing his own failure/shortcoming

What I'd LIKE to see are a few short stories or vignettes about the returned Primarchs and their "Numer One Son" i.e. their First Captain from back then and how they fit together today for the fallen Primarchs, or The newly returned Loyalists and their current Chapter Master(s). Too many of the Chaos Legions just rinse and repeat the HH/Oedipal trope. Son Falls, Dad Falls, Son tries to replace Dad. Lets get some variety there. Son Falls, Dad Falls, Dad THINKS Son is trying to replace him. Son Falls, Dad Falls, They Fall Out. They at least fake grudging respect and work together well. Add in some Lion/Azrael (and potentially other Unforgiven) and Guilliman/Calgar meetings where they actually spend (more) time with each other (than Hey You're doing fine, but I'm not going to communicate it very well so you're going to feel inadequate but I won't really realize it). Let Azrael and the Lion have a knock down drag out debate on The Fallen. Have Calgar come up with a better plan than Gulliman. Mostly have them get some sort of conflict and work it out in a way that tells us how all these upheavals are going to shake out in the new Imperium. Of course, included in that would also be a Gulliman/Lion meeting as they figure out how they're going to coexist.

Breton wrote:

 Hobbit wrote:
So I’ve seen a few threads discussing the worst primarch, and all the flaws and bad things about the primarchs, so I think it is time for some primarch positivity
Who is everyones favourite primarch, and for what reasons?

Also if this thread has already been done please do not hesitate to correct me

I don't know about favorite primarch, but I have favorite moments for primarchs:

When Russ and Angron go to town, Russ trying to prove a point then having to retreat because the point couldn't be made.

When Gulliman has an inner monologue - often when diagnosing his own failure/shortcoming

What I'd LIKE to see are a few short stories or vignettes about the returned Primarchs and their "Numer One Son" i.e. their First Captain from back then and how they fit together today for the fallen Primarchs, or The newly returned Loyalists and their current Chapter Master(s). Too many of the Chaos Legions just rinse and repeat the HH/Oedipal trope. Son Falls, Dad Falls, Son tries to replace Dad. Lets get some variety there. Son Falls, Dad Falls, Dad THINKS Son is trying to replace him. Son Falls, Dad Falls, They Fall Out. They at least fake grudging respect and work together well. Add in some Lion/Azrael (and potentially other Unforgiven) and Guilliman/Calgar meetings where they actually spend (more) time with each other (than Hey You're doing fine, but I'm not going to communicate it very well so you're going to feel inadequate but I won't really realize it). Let Azrael and the Lion have a knock down drag out debate on The Fallen. Have Calgar come up with a better plan than Gulliman. Mostly have them get some sort of conflict and work it out in a way that tells us how all these upheavals are going to shake out in the new Imperium. Of course, included in that would also be a Gulliman/Lion meeting as they figure out how they're going to coexist.

Some of those are there for the traitor primarchs- Ahriman is literally banished from the Thousand Sons and Typhus and Mortarion have a very frosty relationship.

 Haighus wrote:

Breton wrote:

 Hobbit wrote:
So I’ve seen a few threads discussing the worst primarch, and all the flaws and bad things about the primarchs, so I think it is time for some primarch positivity
Who is everyones favourite primarch, and for what reasons?

Also if this thread has already been done please do not hesitate to correct me

I don't know about favorite primarch, but I have favorite moments for primarchs:

When Russ and Angron go to town, Russ trying to prove a point then having to retreat because the point couldn't be made.

When Gulliman has an inner monologue - often when diagnosing his own failure/shortcoming

What I'd LIKE to see are a few short stories or vignettes about the returned Primarchs and their "Numer One Son" i.e. their First Captain from back then and how they fit together today for the fallen Primarchs, or The newly returned Loyalists and their current Chapter Master(s). Too many of the Chaos Legions just rinse and repeat the HH/Oedipal trope. Son Falls, Dad Falls, Son tries to replace Dad. Lets get some variety there. Son Falls, Dad Falls, Dad THINKS Son is trying to replace him. Son Falls, Dad Falls, They Fall Out. They at least fake grudging respect and work together well. Add in some Lion/Azrael (and potentially other Unforgiven) and Guilliman/Calgar meetings where they actually spend (more) time with each other (than Hey You're doing fine, but I'm not going to communicate it very well so you're going to feel inadequate but I won't really realize it). Let Azrael and the Lion have a knock down drag out debate on The Fallen. Have Calgar come up with a better plan than Gulliman. Mostly have them get some sort of conflict and work it out in a way that tells us how all these upheavals are going to shake out in the new Imperium. Of course, included in that would also be a Gulliman/Lion meeting as they figure out how they're going to coexist.

Some of those are there for the traitor primarchs- Ahriman is literally banished from the Thousand Sons and Typhus and Mortarion have a very frosty relationship.

That was a lot of my point - Many of the Traitor Legions got a rehashed Imperium-writ-large fluff treatment. The "Father gets betrayed by his first son" thing. They went to that well a little too often. Its time to update/retcon that into something with a little variety. A little Prodigal Son Returns and so on. Now that the Primarchs are returning - And hopefully ALL the Primarchs (Or something Primarch Adjacent like Mystic Rage Coalescing into Sanguining, or Vulkan's final creation the Ferrus Mannus Dread) not just the main few - Its going to upset the heirarchy of the universe. Use that to rewrite some of the fluff - especially the Heretic fluff desperately in need of Variety - plus advancing the universe without changing anything strategically. And for me, that means adding another Loyalist Primarch so they're even. 3 Chaos Primarchs can't take over the Imperium by having two of them tie up Gulliman and Johnson while the third takes down Terra not being an option because of internecine squabbling between the 3 is pretty weak plot armor.

Considering the selfish attitudes and outright hate between some of the traitor primarchs I've always found it reasonable that they couldn't reach an agreement anyway.

I've always found it more strange that abbaddon would take over as overlord of chaos and not one of said primarchs, on the contrary.

But loyalist primarchs are good as a thing of the past to me, I never wanted them to return and it was one of the main reason I didn't follow along too much with lore from end of 7th to this day. To much imperial resurgence from it, and it took away this sense of long lost fame and demi gods that Humanity would like to return so much, adding to the decline and despair of the imperium.

40k before the fall of cadia is home!

I think the traitor primarchs feel above long term goals, they just want to exist and do their thing what ever that might be. They were part of a master plan with a long term goal and when they turned on it they realised how ridiculous it is in the grand context of time. All things have a beginning and an end. Pappa nurgle knows all things turn to dust.

But Abbadon has tried turn his back on the ideas of both the loyalist and traitor primarchs and has some idea of what he wants to do which I think is destroy everything. Chaos. No doubt he knows that once he has destroyed the imperium of man that chaos will turn in on itself as that is its nature.

Vulkan. Even with everything that happened to him he was always the most honourable and caring about those under him.

 Corennus wrote:
Vulkan. Even with everything that happened to him he was always the most honourable and caring about those under him.

At least one of: I'd hate to do a list trying to rank Gulliman, Sanguinius, Vulkan, Russ etc. on their humanity.

The Lion for me.

He’s ruthless without being cruel. And his Legion get all the best toys to play with, due to nobody else being trusted with them.

In certain respects, he’s everything a Primarch was meant to be. Not a leader of men, but a leader of warriors not there to win popularity contests.

I've always found the hatred for the Primarchs being taller than Space Marines so charming and goofy. You can really tell who would rather be playing historicals but can't find a player group large enough to do so with opinions like that.

Anyway, among loyalists Guilliman is the only Primarch who isn't functionally ideologically interchangeable with the rest of them. In any way that matters you could swap the personalities of all of them and it'd be the same. I expect this is also true of the Khan but I've not read much about him so can't really comment.

The traitors are much more interesting because they're actually allowed to be ideologically different from one another. Among them Magnus has historically been my favorite but I also like Lorgar and Perturabo.

 Void__Dragon wrote:
I've always found the hatred for the Primarchs being taller than Space Marines so charming and goofy. You can really tell who would rather be playing historicals but can't find a player group large enough to do so with opinions like that.

Anyway, among loyalists Guilliman is the only Primarch who isn't functionally ideologically interchangeable with the rest of them. In any way that matters you could swap the personalities of all of them and it'd be the same. I expect this is also true of the Khan but I've not read much about him so can't really comment.

The traitors are much more interesting because they're actually allowed to be ideologically different from one another. Among them Magnus has historically been my favorite but I also like Lorgar and Perturabo.

I don't hate that they're larger, but I do enjoy the RetCon problems created by the change - one of the most famous being Calgar weilding the Gauntlets of Ultramar previous worn by Gulliman or Azrael being able to also wear the helmet of a 10 foot tall demi-god.

Breton wrote:

 Void__Dragon wrote:
I've always found the hatred for the Primarchs being taller than Space Marines so charming and goofy. You can really tell who would rather be playing historicals but can't find a player group large enough to do so with opinions like that.

Anyway, among loyalists Guilliman is the only Primarch who isn't functionally ideologically interchangeable with the rest of them. In any way that matters you could swap the personalities of all of them and it'd be the same. I expect this is also true of the Khan but I've not read much about him so can't really comment.

The traitors are much more interesting because they're actually allowed to be ideologically different from one another. Among them Magnus has historically been my favorite but I also like Lorgar and Perturabo.

I don't hate that they're larger, but I do enjoy the RetCon problems created by the change - one of the most famous being Calgar weilding the Gauntlets of Ultramar previous worn by Gulliman or Azrael being able to also wear the helmet of a 10 foot tall demi-god.

It would be hilarious if those Primarchs came back and were like "What? I never wore those! Where did you find these bits of shoddy workmanship?"

In 10000 years, can easily imagine such items were misattributed to Primarchs.