Today’s lore is all about a Marine that you don’t want to stand beside even if you are on his team. Let’s learn a little about Kharn The Betrayer!
Kharn is one of the most feared of all the Marines of Chaos. He finds joy only in combat and untamed fits of brutality. Let’s find out more about this enemy of the Imperium!
Via: Lexicanum
During the Great Crusade, Khârn was a Space Marine of the War Hounds Legion, eventually rising to become Captain of the Eighth Assault Company.
When the War Hounds’ primarch, Angron, was found, the entire Legion rejoiced, but their elation turned to horror when their progenitor rejected them and disavowed any interest in joining the Emperor‘s forces. After forcibly teleporting the primarch aboard their Battle Barge, as the Emperor had ordered, the War Hounds were forced to keep him imprisoned in a cargo hold, where he killed every Marine officer who attempted to treat with him. While the rest of the battle-barge’s command staff hovered in indecision, Khârn – the next ranking officer – was the only one who volunteered to try next.
Angron attacked Khârn as soon as he entered, and came dangerously close to killing him, but Khârn kept his composure, in such contrast to the previous officers that Angron was reluctantly impressed. Khârn swore to Angron that his refusal to fight back was not cowardice, but rather the complete awe and obedience which all of the War Hounds held for their primarch. He also managed to convince Angron that, if Angron was hungry for war, then the entire Legion was at his command, and the Crusade offered a whole galaxy worth of enemies to slaughter.
Khârn succeeded where the other Captains had failed, and led his primarch to the bridge of the ship to assume command of his Legion.
Crusade with the World Eaters
During the Crusade, Khârn served as Angron’s equerry, often acting as a voice of reason that cooled his primarch’s bloody rages (a surprising contrast with the person Khârn was destined to become). Like the other World Eaters, he underwent extensive surgery, increasing his aggression such that he now finds joy only in killing the enemy. His love of killing is so great that he has actually had a kill counter installed in the lens of his helmet. This kill counter was made from arcane technology and was a gift from the Warmaster Horus himself.
Shortly before the Battle of Isstvan III, Khârn had gained a reputation as a brilliant, but unstable warrior. Encountering him aboard the Vengeful Spirit, Nathaniel Garro reflected that some of the rumors surrounding the World Eater involved atrocities that even the most battle-hardened Death Guards found hard to stomach. Through his dueling matches and joint campaigning with other Astartes, Kharn established friendships with Argel Tal, Garviel Loken, Sigismund, and Nassir Amit.
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