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We're all familiar with the grim dark mood of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and the stories behind them. While there exists a good number of stories of heroism, triumph, and I dare say, hope, these can quickly become marred by the ever-growing threat that is war, death, and the presense of heretics, mutants, and xenos.

But some stories stand above others in regards to what they represent.

Enter Ollanius Pius, the man that has been the source of many debates and myths inside and out of the fandom. For those of you who don't know who this individual is, here's the link to the Lexicanum article:
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ollanius_Pius#.UqgGjohZ72Y

To summerize, he is popularly depicted as a Guardsman (though an Imperial Army Trooper would be more fitting of the time) who stood between the Emperor of Mankind and the Arch-Traitor Horus during the massive Seige of Terra aboard the battle barge The Vengeful Spirit. Though he was slain, his tremendous courage and sacrifice gave the Emperor the push to finally put down Horus and his rebellion.

While there is plenty of debate on who this mysterious man is and what his real role in the Heresy was, I feel that it's important to set aside for a moment his origins and remember what he stands for.

If thought of as a Guardsman (or Trooper, whatever), Ollanius Pius represents your every day, avarage human being who happened to be at the right place at the right time. He stands up for the mightiest human being of the time, knowing well he was doomed to begin with. But it's his act of extraordinary courage that lead to his believed sainthood.

At the risk of sounding cheesy (or if I'm already sounding so), he is an example of a small beacon of light amongst the vast darkness of the galaxy. Not very many stop to think about the small moments in which there might be just enough hope for mankind. But at the same time, these small moments can be serve as a reminder of our mortality. They can slowly become a mockery of the Dark Gods amongst the sea of dispair. It really does come down to your preferred flavor of fluff.

It's not that I'm ranting just to make this sound like a whoopie-happy moment in the fluff, but it's simply something that I feel is rarely talked about. My opinion aside, how does anyone else feel about Ollanius Pius and what he stands for? Are there any other moments or stories similar to his?

-Captain Ironblood

there is a reason they retconned him out :(

I dig Ollanius Pius. I was honked off when they cut him out, and I was even more angry when they brought him back as a 40K Highlander (the Christopher Lambert kind, not the Drookian Fenn Guard kind) because it totally misses the point of everything Ollanius represented.

^This.

He was important because he sacrificed himself. He was a martyr.

Now it is the other way around. Being killed means nothing to him, because he is immortal, eternal, indestructible. His acts against Horus mean nothing. He was back 10 minutes after that.

Lame.

I think him being an army trooper was propoganda for the masses, but he was actually an Imperial Fists Terminator. Makes perfect sence that an IF Termie would be sacrificed and that Dorn and his decendants would understand the need for it to 'have been' a human that defended the Emperor instead and accepted that story.