Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters, was a gladiator-slave whose brain was ruined by the Butcher's Nails. He hated the Emperor for tearing him away from his last battle, turned traitor in the Horus Heresy and became a Daemon Prince of Khorne, the Red Angel.
Angron at a glance
| Primarch of | the XII Legion |
| Legion | XII: War Hounds, later World Eaters |
| Homeworld | Nuceria, a world of gladiator pits |
| Flagship | The Conqueror |
| Wargear | The chainaxes Gorefather and Gorechild, the Butcher's Nails implant |
| Allegiance | Traitor (Khorne) |
| Status | Daemon Prince of Khorne, returned to the material galaxy in the current era |
Who was Angron?
Angron is the most tragic of the twenty Primarchs. Every other Primarch was found as a king, a warlord or a hero. Angron was found as a broken slave, his mind ruined by a machine in his skull. He never wanted to be the Emperor's son, he never forgave his father, and in the end he gave himself entirely to the god of blood. His story is the story of what happens when a hurt man is turned into a weapon.
Origins on Nuceria
Angron's capsule fell on Nuceria, a world whose rulers loved blood sport. The young Primarch was captured and sold into the arenas as a gladiator. His owners fitted him with the Butcher's Nails, a cybernetic implant that pushes the brain into constant rage and slowly burns away every other feeling. The Nails made Angron unbeatable in the pit, but they also made peace, joy and calm almost impossible for him. Even sleep and rest became pain.
The slave revolt
Angron did not stay a slave. He led his fellow gladiators in a great revolt and broke out of the arenas. The escaped slaves fought the armies of the Nucerian nobles for months, winning battle after battle. Finally they were trapped in a mountain camp, surrounded by a huge enemy army. Angron and his brothers and sisters of the pit prepared to die together. For Angron, these gladiators were his true family.
Discovery by the Emperor
On the night before the final battle, the Emperor arrived in orbit and teleported Angron away to his flagship. Angron begged to be sent back. The Emperor refused. The next morning the gladiators died without their leader. Angron never forgave this. He saw his father as just another slave master, and the moment became the heart of his hatred for the Imperium.
The War Hounds become the World Eaters
Angron was given command of the XII Legion, the War Hounds. He did not want them. At first he refused to lead, and when his officers tried to win him over he killed many of them. The Legion's answer was to become like him: its warriors began fitting themselves with copies of the Butcher's Nails. Angron renamed them the World Eaters. The Legion became the most savage force of the Great Crusade, famous for close assault and huge casualties.
Its most famous warrior was Khârn, a captain who was close to Angron and later became Khârn the Betrayer. The Legion's fleetmaster, Lotara Sarrin, commanded the Conqueror, one of the greatest warships of the age.
The Great Crusade
The World Eaters were used where the Imperium needed slaughter. Their campaigns ended in total destruction and, more than once, in massacres of the people they were meant to bring into the Imperium. The Emperor and many of Angron's brothers grew uneasy. Roboute Guilliman openly despised his methods. The only brother who treated Angron with real warmth was Lorgar, who would later use that friendship to lead him to Chaos.
The Horus Heresy
When Horus rebelled, Angron joined him eagerly. At Isstvan III the World Eaters charged into the city ruins to hunt the loyalists of their own Legion. At the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V they were among the Legions that crushed the loyal Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard.
Angron then joined Lorgar in the Shadow Crusade against Ultramar. During the fighting on the world of Armatura, the Butcher's Nails were close to killing him. Lorgar used a sorcerous ritual to save his brother, and in doing so turned Angron into a Daemon Prince of Khorne. Angron became a winged giant of rage and fire, far beyond any mortal Primarch.
The Siege of Terra
Angron fought in the Siege of Terra, throwing his Legion at the walls of the Imperial Palace. The World Eaters died in huge numbers but broke into great sections of the defences. After Horus's death, Angron's daemonic body was banished from the material world, and the World Eaters fled with the other traitors into the Eye of Terror.
After the Heresy
In the Eye, the World Eaters stopped being a Legion. At Skalathrax, Khârn set fire to the shelters his own side needed to survive the frozen night, and the Legion tore itself apart. Since then it has fought as separate warbands of berserkers. Angron himself returned many times in the following ten thousand years. At the First War of Armageddon he led a daemon horde against the Imperium, until the Space Wolves and the Grey Knights threw him back.
The Red Angel returns
In the current era of Warhammer 40,000, Angron has returned to the material galaxy in full strength. The World Eaters gather under him again, crossing the galaxy in an unstoppable crusade of slaughter. He is a daemon now, more powerful than ever, but the hurt slave from Nuceria is still somewhere inside the monster.
Personality and brothers
Angron could be thoughtful and even kind in rare quiet moments, but the Nails let him have very few of those. He respected warriors and despised commanders who sent others to die. He hated the Emperor, mistrusted most of his brothers and loved only his lost gladiators and, in his way, Lorgar. Many fans see him as the Primarch who never had a choice.
Angron FAQ
What are the Butcher's Nails?
A brain implant from Nuceria that floods the mind with rage. Angron had them fitted as a slave, and the World Eaters copied them.
Why did Angron hate the Emperor?
The Emperor took him away the night before his gladiators' last battle, and they all died without him.
How did Angron become a Daemon Prince?
Lorgar turned him into one with a Chaos ritual during the Shadow Crusade, when the Nails were killing him.
Is Angron back in 40K?
Yes. Angron has returned and leads the World Eaters again in the current era.
Who is Khârn the Betrayer?
Angron's most famous captain, a World Eaters champion of Khorne who split the Legion at Skalathrax.
Books to read
- Betrayer (Aaron Dembski-Bowden)
- Angron: The Red Angel (Guy Haley)
- Angron: Slave of Nuceria (Ian St. Martin)
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