Abaddon the Despoiler

Overview

Abaddon the Despoiler, once Ezekyle Abaddon, is Horus's former First Captain and now Warmaster of the Black Legion. He has led thirteen Black Crusades against the Imperium. Unlike many Chaos champions, he refuses to bow to any single god, and he intends to succeed where his gene-father failed.

He wears the Talon of Horus, his father's lightning claw, and carries Drach'nyen, a daemon blade of terrible power. He is the most powerful mortal champion of Chaos Undivided. For ten thousand years he has driven the Long War forward, gathering the scattered Traitor Legions into the Black Legion and turning their bitterness into a shared purpose. Abaddon began as First Captain of the Luna Wolves, later the Sons of Horus, and led the Justaerin Terminators. Some sources whisper that he was a clone-son of Horus himself; this is rumour, not settled fact. After the Siege of Terra he carried his father's body from the Vengeful Spirit, took the Talon of Horus, and later led his scattered Legion into the Eye of Terror. He has since launched thirteen Black Crusades against the Imperium. The thirteenth broke Cadia and opened the Great Rift.

Origins

He was the greatest warrior of the Luna Wolves, later renamed the Sons of Horus. As First Captain he led the elite Justaerin and stood among Horus's closest advisers in the Mournival.

He was raised on Cthonia, a mined-out world whose gangs bred hard, ruthless fighters. Rumours that he was cloned from Horus's own genetic material have long circulated, but they remain unproven. After Horus fell on Terra, Abaddon led the retreat into the Eye of Terror, then rejected his father's legacy, shaved his topknot and renamed the Sons of Horus the Black Legion.

Key events

1. Backed Horus without reservation throughout the Heresy and fought in the Siege of Terra.
2. Retrieved Horus's body after the Warmaster's death, and later destroyed it so no one could exploit it. He also destroyed a clone of Horus made by Fabius Bile.
3. Reforged the shattered Sons of Horus and other renegades into the Black Legion during the Legion Wars in the Eye of Terror.
4. Claimed the daemon sword Drach'nyen and the Talon of Horus.
5. Seized two Blackstone Fortresses during the Gothic War.
6. Launched the 13th Black Crusade and destroyed the fortress world of Cadia, opening the way for the Great Rift.

Battles & campaigns

• Siege of Terra: He fought for Horus as First Captain and recovered the Warmaster's body after his death.
• Destruction of the Horus clones: He destroyed Horus's body and every clone and renamed his warriors the Black Legion.
• Canticle City, Harmony: He took vengeance on the Emperor's Children and left the city a firestorm of ash.
• The 13th Black Crusade: Cadia fell, and the Great Rift opened in its wake.

Personality

Proud, patient and relentless, a strategist who uses the gods without wishing to be their slave.

He despises weakness, including the weakness that he believes made Horus the gods' puppet. He is capable of terrible patience, spending centuries on campaigns that seem to fail but quietly advance a larger design. His followers both fear and revere him, and he rewards loyalty with plunder and purpose rather than affection.

Weapons & Vehicles

Drach'nyenRelic Weapon

The Echo of the First Murder—an ancient, bound Daemon greatsword wielded by Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler that rends reality and woun…

Power FistMelee Weapon

An oversized servo-assisted armoured gauntlet sheathed in a matter-shredding energy field, capable of tearing open tank hulls and crush…

Storm BolterRanged Weapon

A twin-barrelled, double-chambered automatic bolter wielded one-handed by Space Marine Terminators, Grey Knights and battle tank pintle…

The Black SwordRelic Weapon

The sacred two-handed obsidian greatsword of Sigismund and the Black Templars' Emperor's Champions, forged to slay the greatest champio…

Chaos TerminatorsElites · Unit

Traitor veterans in ancient, warp-twisted Tactical Dreadnought Armour who serve as their lord's brutal enforcers and take first pick of…

HelbrutesHeavy Support · Unit

Chaos Dreadnoughts whose entombed pilots have been driven insane, combining tank-like firepower with psychopathic fury.

DefilersHeavy Support · Unit

Six-legged crab-like Chaos Daemon Engines forged on Xana II for Abaddon's First Black Crusade, housing bound Daemons that bombard and d…

Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.

Connections

Characters (15)

• 
  Belisarius Cawl enemy · Adeptus Mechanicus

  Cawl tried to save Cadia's pylons from Abaddon.

• 
  Ciaphas Cain enemy · Astra Militarum

  Cain was recalled to service, over 200 years old, during the 13th Black Crusade.

• 
  Katarinya Greyfax enemy · The Inquisition

  Greyfax attacked Abaddon psychically to save Celestine on Cadia.

• 
  Saint Celestine enemy · Adepta Sororitas

  Celestine opposed Abaddon at Cadia.

• 
  Torquemada Coteaz enemy · The Inquisition

  Coteaz received the Aeldari warning about Abaddon's Arks of Omen.

• 
  Ursarkar E. Creed enemy · Astra Militarum

  Creed led the defence of Cadia against Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade.

• 
  Sigismund killed by · Black Templars

  Sigismund died fighting Abaddon at the First Battle of Cadia.

• 
  Be'lakor shadow · Chaos Daemons

  Be'lakor is said to have watched over Abaddon for centuries, as he did earlier would-be champions.

• 
  Haarken Worldclaimer commander · Black Legion

  Haarken is Abaddon's Herald.

• 
  Horus Lupercal commander · Black Legion

  Abaddon was Horus's First Captain, and later rejected his legacy to found the Black Legion.

• 
  Huron Blackheart bargain · Red Corsairs

  Huron raided the Imperium alongside the 13th Black Crusade in exchange for one of Abaddon's two Blackstone Fortresses.

• 
  Khârn the Betrayer uneasy ally · World Eaters

  Abaddon has used Kharn's bloodlust more than once to lure him into his armies.

• 
  Lucius the Eternal Black Crusade · Emperor's Children

  Lucius led Emperor's Children against Belisar during the 13th Black Crusade.

• 
  Eldrad Ulthran enemy · Craftworld Aeldari

  Eldrad has opposed Abaddon's crusades for centuries.

• 
  Maugan Ra enemy · Craftworld Aeldari

  Maugan Ra fought against the 13th Black Crusade.

Factions

• Black Legion primary faction

Related units (4)

Chaos Space MarinesChaos TerminatorsRaptorsDefilers

Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.

Legacy

Abaddon is the Warmaster of Chaos who succeeded where Horus failed. He broke Cadia, opened the Great Rift and changed the shape of the galaxy. He rejects worship of any single god, and his Black Legion is the most feared of all traitor forces. He is the Imperium's greatest living enemy. The Black Legion is Abaddon's creation, forged in the ashes of a burned father.

Appearances & sources

• Codex: Chaos Space Marines (several editions)
• The Talon of Horus and Black Legion (Aaron Dembski-Bowden)
• The Gathering Storm I: Fall of Cadia