Fulgrim, the Phoenician, was Primarch of the Emperor's Children: the most perfect and artistic of the Emperor's sons, whose obsession with perfection let a daemon of Slaanesh into his soul, made him kill his best friend Ferrus Manus and turned him into a daemon prince of excess.
Fulgrim at a glance
| Primarch of | the III Legion |
| Legion | III: Emperor's Children |
| Homeworld | Chemos, a grey industrial world |
| Flagship | The Pride of the Emperor |
| Wargear | The Fireblade, later the daemon-haunted Laer blade |
| Allegiance | Traitor (Slaanesh) |
| Status | Daemon prince of Slaanesh |
Who is Fulgrim?
Fulgrim was the Primarch who wanted everything to be flawless. He was handsome, graceful, gifted in art, music and war, and he expected the same perfection from his Legion. That drive made the Emperor's Children magnificent, but it was also the crack Chaos used to break him. His fall is one of the most dramatic in Warhammer: from shining hero to a serpent-bodied daemon of pleasure and pain.
Chemos: the grey world
Fulgrim's capsule landed on Chemos, a dying industrial world of grey factories, poisoned skies and endless labour. The people had no time for beauty; they worked only to survive. The young Primarch was taken in by the workers. He grew quickly, rose to lead their society and turned Chemos around. Under him, factories became efficient, production soared and, for the first time in generations, the people had the time and wealth to enjoy art. Fulgrim learned that beauty and excellence could save people.
Found by the Emperor
When the Emperor arrived, Fulgrim knelt to him. He was given command of the III Legion, which was then tiny. An accident had destroyed almost all of their gene-seed, and only about two hundred warriors were left. Fulgrim threw himself into rebuilding them. As a mark of special honour, the Emperor allowed the Legion to wear his own symbol, the Imperial Aquila, and to call themselves the Emperor's Children.
The pursuit of perfection
The Emperor's Children became the Legion of excellence. Each warrior trained to master not only war but also art, music and philosophy. Fulgrim led them with style, fighting as an elegant duellist and planning campaigns like works of art. His officers included the sword-master Lucius, the commander Eidolon and the Apothecary Fabius, later known as Fabius Bile. Loyal captains such as Saul Tarvitz also served under him, and would later die trying to warn the Imperium.
Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus
Fulgrim's closest brother was Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands. They were opposites, art and iron, but they loved each other deeply. They once held a contest to forge the finest weapon. Ferrus made the Fireblade and gave it to Fulgrim; Fulgrim made the great hammer Forgebreaker and gave it to Ferrus. The two gifts were symbols of their friendship, and both would play a part in its end.
Laeran: the daemon blade
On the world of Laeran, the Emperor's Children fought an alien race devoted to sensation and perfection. In a temple of the Laer, Fulgrim took a beautiful sword. It held a daemon of Slaanesh. The daemon whispered to him, feeding his pride and his hunger for perfection. Slowly, without fully realising it, Fulgrim and his Legion began to slide into excess. A strange portrait of him, painted by an artist in his fleet, began to change in ways no one could explain.
The Horus Heresy
Corrupted by the blade, Fulgrim joined Horus. He helped purge the loyalists of his Legion at Isstvan III. He then tried to win Ferrus Manus to Horus's cause and failed. At the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V, the two brothers met in battle. Ferrus broke the Fireblade, but Fulgrim, driven by the daemon, struck off his brother's head. It was the first death of a Primarch in the Heresy, and it shattered what was left of Fulgrim's sanity.
Becoming a daemon prince
The daemon took full control of Fulgrim's body for a time, and the Primarch himself was trapped in the haunted painting. When Fulgrim fought his way back, he did it by bargaining with Slaanesh. At Iydris, during the events of the Angel Exterminatus campaign with Perturabo, he ascended to become a daemon prince of Slaanesh, with a serpentine body, many arms and terrible beauty. The Emperor's Children followed him into total excess.
After the Heresy
Fulgrim fought on Terra as a daemon prince, then fled into the Eye of Terror. Years later he struck one last great blow: he wounded Roboute Guilliman with a poisoned blade, putting the Ultramarines' Primarch into stasis for ten thousand years. Fulgrim himself now rules a daemon world in the Eye of Terror, pursuing endless sensation.
The Emperor's Children today
The Emperor's Children are a broken but deadly traitor Legion devoted to Slaanesh. They are famous for Noise Marines, who wield sonic weapons, for drugs and surgery, and for the ever-dueling Lucius the Eternal. Fabius Bile left the Legion to pursue his own twisted experiments and is one of the most infamous figures in 40K.
What kind of man was Fulgrim?
Before his fall, Fulgrim was charming, proud and generous, a perfectionist who pushed himself harder than anyone. His flaw was vanity: he needed to be the best and to be seen as the best. Slaanesh, the god of excess and perfection, turned that need into a hunger that could never be satisfied. Fulgrim is the clearest warning in Warhammer that a virtue taken too far becomes a weakness.
Fulgrim and his brothers
Fulgrim's great love was Ferrus Manus, and his great crime was killing him. He was friendly with Horus and close to Perturabo for a time, until he betrayed him at Iydris. His wounding of Guilliman still shapes the current era.
Fulgrim FAQ
Why did Fulgrim turn to Chaos?
He took a daemon-haunted sword on Laeran. The daemon of Slaanesh fed his pride and obsession with perfection.
Did Fulgrim kill Ferrus Manus?
Yes, at the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V.
Is Fulgrim a daemon prince?
Yes. He ascended as a daemon prince of Slaanesh during the Heresy.
Who wounded Guilliman?
Fulgrim, with a poisoned blade, putting Guilliman in stasis for ten thousand years.
Why is Fulgrim called the Phoenician?
It was his honour title, linked to the phoenix, a symbol of beauty and rebirth.
Books to read
- Fulgrim (Graham McNeill)
- Angel Exterminatus (Graham McNeill)
- Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix (Josh Reynolds)
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