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I'm slowly reading my way through the Horus Heresy books and Fulgrim has just killed

Ferrus Manus

As far as I know this is the first primarch to have been killed (with the possible exception for the missing two who I'd love to hear about in the answer).

By the 40th Millennium as far as I know only Roboute Guilliman, Mortarion, Magnus, and Fulgrim are "alive".

Who (or what) has been the biggest Primarch killer in the 40K universe?

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2 Answers 2

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Chaos

No one being has slain more than a single Primarch, but every Primarch death can be attributed directly or indirectly to the forces of Chaos.

For sure, we only know of 4 dead Primarchs.

Rogal Dorn is supposed to be dead too, but we don't know for sure. And if he is really dead, he died during the very first Black Crusade battling the forces of Chaos.

Everyone else is accounted for or missing.


There's an excellent entry on the Lexicanum that gathers together (what looks like) every mention of the Lost Primarchs and their legions. Definitely worth a read if anyone is interested.

During the events of Prospero Burns, it's suggested that Leman Russ could be responsible for the deaths of both of the II and XI Primarchs:

In a conversation near the end of the novel, Leman Russ discussed the coming destruction of the Thousand Sons Legion. When asked if he was concerned over the fact that Space Marines were fighting other Space Marines, he commented that this was not the first time the Wolves had been called on to perform this task. This might be a reference to the possible destruction of the Legion II and/or XI.

But as is usual for The Black Library, it's left purposely ambiguous.

However, Leman Russ could be referring to when he and his Legion battled the World Eaters during the Great Crusade, or when he fought against Lion 'el Johnson and the Dark Angels.

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    Also worth mentioning that Leman Russ might have had a hand in killing one or both of the lost primarchs, but it is all speculation. warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Lost_Primarchs
    – Servitor
    Jun 12, 2018 at 13:55
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    Makes me wonder if Magnus, Vulkan, and/or Roboute count as having been killed... even if it'd didn't stick
    – Liath
    Jun 12, 2018 at 15:17
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    @Liath that's a good point, important characters have a habit of dying and returning and dying again in 40K... and returning and dying and returning and dying a couple more times. In Fantasy too for that matter. Just seems to be the hip thing to do! :D
    – Daft
    Jun 12, 2018 at 16:11
  • +1. Why do you attribute Konrad Kurze's death to Chaos?
    – Taladris
    Jun 13, 2018 at 6:48
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    Alpharius has been declared dead in at least 3 different occurrences: he was supposed to be killed by Robute Guilman, assassinated by Space Wolves and killed by Dorn. And yet in "Pariah" we have a guy, who sends possessed Space Marine running when he said "I am Alpharius".
    – Yasskier
    Jun 13, 2018 at 22:52
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Arguably Fulgrim has canonically come the closest to killing multiple Primarchs directly. Since he definitively killed Ferus Manus and he put Guilliman in a near fatal coma for 10 thousand years.

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    Hi, welcome to SF&F. The question, however, was about kills, not partial kills or primarchs who came back because they weren't actually killed.
    – DavidW
    Mar 15, 2023 at 14:48

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