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Commissar Caine jokes aside, who do you believe is the greatest warrior/hero in the history of the Imperium?

I'm going to toss in Malum Caedo.... not because he has the coolest name in 40k. His name is a Latin phrase that translates to "I kill evil" ("malum" means evil, and "caedo" means kill)....

But his exploits are canon now, which means that Caedo killed six greater daemons and an entire chaos incursion (His kill count is somewhere in the 40,000 range) with only a servo skull for backup.

And he's not even a Primaris Marine.

After the HH, I think Macharius has a good shout at it, as an effective human baseline leader that brought back a huge chunk of territory. Or maybe Slaydo, who had a similar experience.

I haven't kept up with the never ending gap-filling of Horus Heresy Street, but I'm sure there are quite a few similar types in there. The primarchs take most of the glory I guess, but I don't rate their exploits as much due to their massive mary-sueness. There must be some more baseline types in there as well that get the job done through reasonable competence, rather than heroic happenstance.




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Drusus seems tohave done quite well for himself, with 17m troops and the clearance of a sector.

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Angevin_Crusade

Nameless and numberless Guardsmen who make all great conquests possible. At least our commissars said so. Why shouldn't we trust them.

Kubrik Chenkov. Send in the next wave!

Arkhan Land.

Who's the most propagandized enemy of the Imperium?

I nominate them-keeping the Imperium working together (ish) through hatred.

Hard to say greatest in what context. In many ways, Macaldor earned the "hero" moniker that the Emperor gave him since he was the one who held the daemons at bay during the Siege of Terra that allowed the Emperor to be freed up and thereby confront and defeat Horus. He also provided his remaining life force and strength to give the Emperor enough energy to relay his final orders to the Primarchs and Custodians before he was entombed into the Golden Throne.

He's also the one who set up the foundations of the Imperium in terms of the Administratum, the Assassinorum, the Inquisition, the Grey Knights and a lot of the other established institutions that have lasted into 40k's timeline, so he arguably has one of the greatest and longest lasting impacts for both the founding and modern day Imperium (for better or for worse at least in terms of institutional intertia).

What definition of "hero" and rubric for "greatest" are we using?

Imperial warriors are generally some degree of bootlicking xenophobes with no objection to letting countless fellow humans suffer to keep evil men in power.

 Wyldhunt wrote:
What definition of "hero" and rubric for "greatest" are we using?

Imperial warriors are generally some degree of bootlicking xenophobes with no objection to letting countless fellow humans suffer to keep evil men in power.

I see this a lot. The fact that the Imperium hates aliens.

It seems pretty logical to hate them, when every single one is trying to murder, subjugate or eat you.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 Wyldhunt wrote:
What definition of "hero" and rubric for "greatest" are we using?

Imperial warriors are generally some degree of bootlicking xenophobes with no objection to letting countless fellow humans suffer to keep evil men in power.

I see this a lot. The fact that the Imperium hates aliens.

It seems pretty logical to hate them, when every single one is trying to murder, subjugate or eat you.

Why do you think they’re all like that?
Orks and Nids, sure-no peace with them.
But Tau? Or many other minor races that don’t have armies?

 JNAProductions wrote:

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 Wyldhunt wrote:
What definition of "hero" and rubric for "greatest" are we using?

Imperial warriors are generally some degree of bootlicking xenophobes with no objection to letting countless fellow humans suffer to keep evil men in power.

I see this a lot. The fact that the Imperium hates aliens.

It seems pretty logical to hate them, when every single one is trying to murder, subjugate or eat you.

Why do you think they’re all like that?
Orks and Nids, sure-no peace with them.
But Tau? Or many other minor races that don’t have armies?

Ok... so let's check on the Galaxy...

We have:

1. Tyranids: An extra-galactic, hive-mind-controlled species that consumes entire worlds to fuel its expansion, becoming stronger and more adaptable with each assimilation.

2. Rangda: An ancient and violent race that launched a devastating invasion during the Great Crusade, using brutal organic warships and enslaving populations with neural collars until the Emperor himself intervened.

3. Stryxis: Known for their barbarity and fear-based control, they enslave other species, maintaining their hold through torture and the threat of extermination against the slaves or their families.

4. Khrave: A powerful, ancient, and psychic xenos race that hunts the darkness and attacks planets without mercy, taking entire populations for consumption.

5. Scythians: Mysterious and hostile, these beings possess glassy skin and glowing eyes. They use crystalline technology and can transform into mobile, crystalline forms capable of bypassing enemies with surgical precision.

6. Megarachnids: An ancient, hyper-violent species that, even without its advanced technology, was able to wipe out entire Space Marine companies on their homeworld, known as Murder.

7. Yu'vath: A mysterious, destroyed race from the Calixis Sector, known for their foul xeno sorcery, strange technology, and a brutal slave empire.

8. Hrud
9. Necrons
10. Slaugth
11. Rak'Gol
10. Fra'al
12. Thyrrus
13. Loxatl
14. Laer
15. Q'orl
16. The Enslavers
17. Drukhari

I'm having trouble finding the friendly ones.

They were wiped out because they weren’t strong enough to resist the Imperium in significant ways.
Also Eldar are a faction that easily could’ve been on relatively good terms.

 JNAProductions wrote:
They were wiped out because they weren’t strong enough to resist the Imperium in significant ways.
Also Eldar are a faction that easily could’ve been on relatively good terms.

The only Xenos army that hasn't tried to manipulate or kill us outright have been the Kroot and the Blood Axes Klan of the Orks.

Heck, even the Tau want to subjugate humanity under the will of their "Ethereals."

 JNAProductions wrote:
They were wiped out because they weren’t strong enough to resist the Imperium in significant ways.
Also Eldar are a faction that easily could’ve been on relatively good terms.

Except Eldar view all other races as pawns to be moved around and used as unwitting buffer zones. They are happy to trade millions of individuals form other races to save one of their own.

However, even with that, Eldar are most often shown as being in localised alliances/ceasefires/cooperation with imperial forces. so in the context of 40k, that seems to be pretty good terms

Never trust an Eldar for exactly that reason. Oh sure, you can negotiate in relatively good faith with Craftworlders. But whilst they won’t just turn on you for a laugh? There’s always always a hidden price. Maybe you’ll pay it today. Maybe you’ll pay it tomorrow. It might be distant descendants that end up paying it.

They can at least sense the shape of possible futures, you sir cannot. And even if perhaps you can? Which one are they aiming at? Because that’s where the real skill of a Farseer comes into it.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:


The only Xenos army that hasn't tried to manipulate or kill us outright have been the Kroot and the Blood Axes Klan of the Orks.

Heck, even the Tau want to subjugate humanity under the will of their "Ethereals."

The Imperium has enacted genocide on hundreds of peaceful or minor Xenos races because of the belief in their Manifest Destiny to claim the galaxy.
It's also done it to hundreds of peaceful human enclaves that just didn't want to get dominated by them.
Just because the ones that are left are bad, doesn't make the Xenophobia justified.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Never trust an Eldar for exactly that reason. Oh sure, you can negotiate in relatively good faith with Craftworlders. But whilst they won’t just turn on you for a laugh? There’s always always a hidden price. Maybe you’ll pay it today. Maybe you’ll pay it tomorrow. It might be distant descendants that end up paying it.

They can at least sense the shape of possible futures, you sir cannot. And even if perhaps you can? Which one are they aiming at? Because that’s where the real skill of a Farseer comes into it.

I mean, humans even shoot you when you honestly tell them your intent is to kill a Chaos god. They're probably worse than orks!

You can at least trust an Ork or Smelly Hooman will betray your alliance in a pleasingly straight forward way.

The Eldar may simply be ensuring you survive this battle, so six years from now you cause the loss of an entire planet. Because that’s what the Farseer reckons needs to happen to ensure his dinner doesn’t get cold the day after.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

6. Megarachnids: An ancient, hyper-violent species that, even without its advanced technology, was able to wipe out entire Space Marine companies on their homeworld, known as Murder.

Tbf, that was a restricted reservation area specifically where the violent and murderous aliens were contained, and I will have you know the name of the planet is Spiderland, not murder. Murder is just the name the marines gave it.

The official answer from the Imperial Cult would pretty much always be Sanguinius, having been martyred personally fighting Horus alongside the Emperor.

But the real answer is obviously Alpharius.