Who is Angron in Warhammer 40k? Games Workshop’s grim dark far future has many tales of characters’ downfall – but none are as tragic as the rage-filled fall of Angron. The World Eaters primarch has become synonymous with blood and battle – but it never had to be this way. From the Horus Heresy to the 41st millennium, Angron’s story embodies 40k’s tragic streak – so come with us on a gore-soaked tale of anguish and fury, as we explore who Angron is and how he came to be the terrible angel of death he is today.
If you’ve read our complete guide to the Warhammer 40k primarchs, you’ll know at least half of them fell to the ruinous powers – a.k.a. the 40k chaos gods – and their traitor legions survived down the millennia to fight among the modern Warhammer 40k factions.
But Angron, the Red Angel, has the saddest fall of all – because he had perhaps the least choice in the matter. Betrayed on all sides and alone with a terrible curse, Angron didn’t fall so much as he was pushed into the dark, grasping hands of Chaos. With the daemon primarch and his World Eaters legion now fully reintegrated into the 40k miniature wargame, it’s high time you knew his full, heart-wrenching story.
Angron’s origins
When the Primarchs were scattered throughout the galaxy, many landed on planets that tested them – but none were abused as Angron was. His adoptive home, the supposedly ‘civilised’ planet of Nuceria, enslaved him as soon as he was discovered. Forced to fight in brutal gladiatorial battles, Angron swiftly proved to be a skilled and savage warrior, but also a reluctant one.
The slave masters had a solution for that. Similar to performing a lobotomy, a psycho-surgical implant was hammered into the young Primarch’s head. This implant, known as the Butcher’s Nails, amplified Angron’s anger and rage, causing considerable pain when he wasn’t fighting and killing. Under the influence of the nails he slaughtered his father-figure and mentor, the gladiator Oenomaus, under the approving eyes of his slavers.
This terrible act forced Angron into action. Breaking out of the slave-pits, he inspired a full-blown slave rebellion, forming an army that fled into the mountains to wage a desperate war against the Nucerian slavers. Though they defeated every force sent against them, there was little to eat in the frozen heights and continued fighting began to take its toll on the rebels.
Finally, seven armies were sent to put down Angron’s rebellion once and for all. Surrounded, out of food, and beyond exhausted, the slaves prepared for death. Then, reprieve arrived – in a twisted form. The Emperor of Mankind’s fleet had slid into orbit, the Emperor himself teleporting down to the battlefield to speak with his missing son.
Angron was offered his own legion, power amongst the stars, and a lifetime of conquest in the name of the Imperium of Man. But, uniquely amongst all the Primarchs, he refused. Demanding to be left alone to die with his fellow freed gladiators, he turned down the Emperor in defiance.
The Emperor was not so easily thwarted, however. Just as the battle was to begin Angron was teleported away, leaving his brothers-in-arms to die without their leader. Filled with incalculable rage, Angron was subdued by his gene-father’s limitless psychic will for a brief meeting, before being whisked away again to meet his own Space Marine legion, the War Hounds.
Angron in the Horus Heresy
Angron had no interest in being a leader or father to a Space Marine legion. Isolating himself, he slew all who approached him, and only a warrior known as Khârn (later called Khârn the Betrayer) was able to break through to him. Forming a small bond with the distraught Primarch, Khârn finally brought Angron to the bridge of the War Hounds’ battle barge, where he reluctantly took control over the legion.
Though Angron led them in battle, there was no real link between the newly renamed World Eaters and their Primarch. Looking to emulate him, they retro-engineered the Butcher’s Nails and hammered implants into their own heads, becoming a legion obsessed with slaughter.
The World Eaters also took on many of the other trappings of Angron’s cruel Nucerian upbringing: they fought in gladiatorial combat; they committed to bring planets to compliance within 31 hours – the length of a Nucerian day; and they inflicted decimation on themselves when punished.
When the Horus Heresy reared its head, Angron was one of the first to join his brothers in rebellion; the furious Primarch held no love for masters of any kind and he saw the Emperor of Mankind as yet another slaver.
Throughout the many battles that followed, it slowly became clear, both to the World Eaters and the other Primarchs, that the Butcher’s Nails were killing Angron. This led Lorgar, primarch of the Word Bearers, to attempt to save his life – or as Angron came to see it, damn him forever.
Through blood sacrifice and terrible magics, Angron was transformed into a Daemon Prince of Khorne. Born into a new crimson form with wings that blot out the sun, Angron the Primarch died that day, becoming an avatar of blood and death and taking up a cursed black sword in the name of the blood god.
Angron, Daemon Prince
In the ten millennia since his transformation Angron has continued to battle endlessly in the name of his patron god. Though he has been defeated, Angron always returns at the head of colossal legions of World Eaters Berzerkers or fiery Khorne daemons.
During the 38th Millennium Angron led fifty thousand Berzerkers on a rampage through Imperial space that lasted over two centuries. Seventy sectors were brutalised by this unholy crusade, known as the Dominion of Fire. In the end it took four Space Marine chapters, two of the Warhammer 40k Titan legions, and over thirty Astra Militarum regiments to retake what was lost.
Later, on a planet known as Armageddon, Angron appeared again to wreak destruction on the Space Wolves and their allies. Only through the work of one hundred Grey Knights was it possible to banish Angron back to the Immaterium, with only thirteen of the secretive, psychic Knights of Titan surviving the encounter.
As of January 2023, Angron has returned to the Warhammer 40k storyline – and the tabletop game – in all his furious, bloodthirsty glory, with a superb, gigantic centerpiece model and a standalone model range and Warhammer 40k codex rulebook for his World Eaters legion. His latest tale of mindless revenge, bloodshed, and skull-gathering is only just beginning.
That’s it for our guide to the twelfth primarch for now. If you want to dive deeper into 40k lore, check out our reader’s guide to the best Warhammer 40k books and series to try – or our recommendations for the best Warhammer 40k games on PC and console.
Alternatively, if you want to commiserate with us about how Angron did nothing wrong, you are most welcome to join the Warhammer 40k discussion in our growing Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
