Vulkan

Overview

The gentle giant of Nocturne, a master forgesmith whose compassion for ordinary people defines the Salamanders. A perpetual who could return from death, he survived horrors at the hands of Konrad Curze.

He was a master smith whose hand-crafted weapons and artefacts are among the finest ever made, and nine of them, hidden across the galaxy, form the Salamanders' sacred quest. At Isstvan V, he survived the Dropsite Massacre but was cut off. Curze later captured him and tried again and again to kill him, failing every time. Vulkan was the primarch of the Salamanders, a smith, healer and protector of ordinary people. He was unusually humane among his brothers. He survived the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V, the Night Haunter's captivity and repeated deaths, which his perpetual nature allowed him to return from. He finally gave his life to protect the Emperor during the Siege, using his last strength to seal a breach in the Webway.

Origins

He grew up on the volcanic death world Nocturne, raised by a blacksmith, and proved himself to the Emperor in a contest of strength and mercy.

On Nocturne, he was taken in by the smith N'bel, and he learned the forge alongside the people of a world constantly struck by volcanoes, earthquakes and slaver raids by Dark Eldar. He took command of the XVIII Legion, which had been small and nearly broken before him, and shaped it in his image.

His Legion was fighting a desperate battle when he joined it. The XVIII, under Lord Commander Cassian Vaughn, was holding a cluster of colonies near the Taras Division against Ork raiders. Most other Legions were committed to the Eastern Fringe or against the Rangda incursion, so the XVIII was the only one that could respond. Vulkan chose to value his Terran veterans and incorporated the old heraldry into the new Legion's colours. In the Great Crusade the Salamanders served with the 154th Expeditionary Fleet, alongside Imperial Army regiments from the death world Phaeria, and fought on Caldera, which its people called Ibsen, and Kharaatan, with Curze's Night Lords and the Legio Ignis.

Key events

1. Was found on the volcanic world Nocturne, where he protected its settlements from slaving raiders.
2. Met the Emperor in a contest of strength and skill on Nocturne before accepting command of the Salamanders.
3. Survived the Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre, where his Legion was devastated.
4. Was captured and repeatedly killed by Curze, but revived each time thanks to his perpetual nature.
5. Took part in the defence of Terra.
6. Vanished after the Heresy, leaving his Nine Artefacts to be found by his sons.
7. Survived to the end of the Heresy as one of the most humane Primarchs, valued by his sons for his compassion.

The Horus Heresy fiction fills in the rest. On the slopes of the drop site, Angron's Devourers fought the Firedrakes to a stalemate, and a few squads of Rampagers charged three times their number of Salamanders. Angron himself bellowed Vulkan's name across the battlefield. In Nick Kyme's Deathfire, after the Primarch's apparent death, sixty-seven survivors formed the Pyre and swore to bring his body home to Nocturne through the Ruinstorm. The ship Charybdis sacrificed itself so that the last twenty, including Artellus Numeon, could take his casket to the surface. Curze, trapped aboard the Dark Angels flagship after the Thramas Crusade, later reached Macragge to finish him off, and the fight drew in Guilliman, the Lion and John Grammaticus. Of the nine artefacts in the Tome of Fire, five have been found: the Spear of Vulkan, Kesare's Mantle and the Gauntlet of the Forge, carried by He'stan, and the Chalice of Fire and Eye of Vulkan on Prometheus. The Engine of Woes, Obsidian Chariot, Unbound Flame and Song of Entropy are still missing.

Battles & campaigns

• Isstvan V Drop Site Massacre: He fought on even as the Salamanders were slaughtered, and he was eventually lost and presumed dead.
• Captivity under Curze: His brother Konrad Curze held him prisoner and tortured him, but he endured and later returned to the loyalist cause.
• The Webway and the Siege of Terra: He became a guardian of the Emperor's Webway project, and in the end he died there protecting the Throne.

Personality

Kind, humble and protective of the weak, yet unstoppable when roused.

He believed that strength existed to protect the weak, and he refused to sacrifice civilians for tactical advantage. He was humble about his own power, preferring the forge to the throne. His ordeal at Curze's hands tested but did not break his compassion.

Weapons & Vehicles

Thunder HammerMelee Weapon

A massive warhammer whose head releases a deafening concussive shockwave and disruption blast on impact, shattering Terminator plate an…

Flamer & Heavy FlamerRanged Weapon

A volatile liquid-promethium projector that floods bunkers, trenches and xenos swarms in clinging, self-oxidising gouts of cleansing ch…

Meltagun & Multi-MeltaRanged Weapon

A short-ranged thermal sub-molecular agitation weapon that flash-melts battle tank armour, bunker doors and heavy walkers into bubbling…

Power FistMelee Weapon

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

Drop PodTransport Vehicle

An armoured orbital-insertion capsule fired like a shell from a Space Marine Strike Cruiser, slamming into the heart of the enemy battl…

TerminatorsElites · Unit

First Company veterans in Tactical Dreadnought Armour, the heaviest personal protection a Space Marine can wear.

Land RaiderVehicles · Unit

The Space Marines' most revered battle tank and heavy transport, built from an ancient STC design and guided by a proud machine spirit.

Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.

Connections

Characters (4)

• 
  The Emperor of Mankind creator · Imperium of Man

  Vulkan was found on Nocturne, where he defeated the Emperor in a contest of skill.

• 
  Ferrus Manus brother · Iron Hands

  The two primarchs fought side by side at Isstvan V.

• 
  Vulkan He'stan gene-father · Salamanders

  He'stan seeks the artefacts Vulkan left for his sons.

• 
  Konrad Curze enemy · Night Lords

  Curze captured and tormented Vulkan after Isstvan V.

Factions

• Salamanders primary faction

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

Legacy

Vulkan left the Salamanders a creed of protecting ordinary people and the quest for his Nine Artefacts, which sustains them still. His perpetual nature fuels the belief that he may not be truly dead. Salamanders remember him through their Promethean Cult, their protection of civilians and their legends of the Tome of Fire. Many believe Vulkan will one day return to them.

Appearances & sources

• Vulkan Lives, Deathfire and The Unburnt King (Nick Kyme)
• The Horus Heresy novels Promethean Sun and Fulgrim
• Salamanders background in Codex: Space Marines