Warhammer 40K: Who Is The Emperor? (2024)

Father, Protector of Mankind, God Emperor, The Golden God, and source of Human salvation, many are the names of the Emperor in Warhammer: 40K. This ageless, hyper-intelligent, psychically gifted, and towering giant of a man is the "god" or adopted patriarch of humans in the dark unending cataclysm that is the far future of 40K.

Entire books have been written cataloging this god-like being's impact in the Warhammer universe over the years and there's quite a lot to get through. But, we've condensed it all into a manageable, and brief, rundown. So here's everything you need to know about the Emperor in Warhammer: 40K.

Who Is The Emperor?

A gigantically tall male with raven black hair, seemingly perfect features, and supposedly millions of years old and eternally young if not at least aging extremely slowly, the Emperor has been around for a very long time. But he was not born normally, instead, this messiah being was birthed from the voluntary sacrifice of thousands of powerful Shamans on Earth thousands upon thousands of years ago during the Neolithic Period.

The massive release of psionic energy from their passing allowed the Shamans to collect their consciousness together into a gestalt being that then formed into a person. This new man retained all of their strength, wisdom, experience, and unfathomable psychic power and was almost immortal, with the end goal being to "save" humanity from the perils of the Warp and guide it into the future. Especially after the tumultuous Dark Age of Technology had left humanity scattered to the solar winds, technologically regressed, or both.

For example, when the Emperor rose to power, Earth was wreathed in constant civil war as warlords and bitter rivals with enough firepower fought it out for years over every square inch of land.

Whilst in the dark reaches of space the far-off human colonies created during humanity's Golden Era were left to fend for themselves for thousands of years. All was not good, and someone needed to fix it.

The Emperor's Rise To Power

The Earth was in turmoil and the would-be Emperor had quite the task ahead of him. But over the centuries he had managed to amass wealth, influence, and a modicum of power. Using his advanced intellect he devised designs for powerful weaponry and genetically enhanced soldiers known as Thunder Warriors.

These massive men were encased in near-impenitrable armor and wielded advanced weaponry the likes of which no human army had encountered before. The slaughter was fast, brutal, and completely one-sided in most engagements.

As the last War Lord fell, the Golden God leading the conquering forces took up the mantle of Emperor Of Mankind and united the last remnants of Earth under one banner, whether they wanted to or not.

With the Human race all now aimed as one, the Emperor began his grand plan as he turned his gaze to the black void above. He would reconnect with the far-off lost colonies and establish a grand galaxy-spanning Imperium for Humanity.

Many of these lost worlds would join the new Imperium, but many would not. Those that refused were obliterated or beaten down and kept firmly under the bootheel of the Imperium.

It was quite the undertaking, and the Emperor badly needed help in building and then maintaining this grand idea. He had plans and achieved so much, but he was just one man.

The Primarch Project

You can't talk about the Emperor without mentioning the Primarchs. Genetically engineered offspring that were originally created with the purpose of leading the grand armies of the Imperium deep into space. Where more worlds would be brought under the control of mankind, with any local alien population or "Xenos" being culled as an affront to the purity of mankind. Bit fascistic, but what can you do.

There were 18 Primarchs created in artificial wombs in a secret research bunker under the Himalayan Precinct of the Imperial Palace. However, due to the machinations of the Chaos Gods, these bottled babies were teleported randomly across the galaxy.

Each child was raised in a different world, with different peoples, climates, and extremely differing childhoods and circ*mstances thrust upon them. Some became great leaders, brutal conquerors, champions of the people, or groundbreaking architects of their adopted homeworlds and that's all most of them needed in life.

Then good old biological dad turned up and things got pretty complicated and messy. All the Primarchs were visited, one by one by the Emperor who sought to reclaim his lost offspring and bring them and their worlds back into the rather slightly too tight embrace of the Imperium. Some went willingly, others begrudgingly, and one or two were taken against their will.

Space children returned and a fractured family reunited once more, the Emperor would quickly put his children to work as the leaders of his new Space Marine Chapters. Grand armies of genetically enhanced ubermensch were the final culmination of the now-ancient Thunder Warrior research program.

The Crusades

Building a galaxy-spanning Empire of "enlightenment" wouldn't be an easy task. Grand military operations known as Crusades would be launched. Vast armadas would stab out into the inky blackness of the void to reconnect with other lost colonies and expand the Imperium's realm of influence.

It went well for a time and large swathes of space fell under the banner of the Imperium in the following centuries. Worlds would be brought into the light of the God-Emperor and in return, he would ensure the galaxy cast down every church, its stones, and its priests, with the goal of advancing past religion and into logic and science. Sadly mankind has done quite the U-Turn on that one.

The Webway Project

The Emperor was a busy boy and was always working on some grand plan. The biggest of which was the attempt at creating a connection to the Eldar Webway system.

The original idea was to use it to allow humanity to bypass the need to use the Warp for space travel, and over time this would substantially weaken the Chaotic entities in the Immaterium.

Unfortunately, it was a project that would never truly come to fruition as the Horus Heresy kicked off and the Webway Portal became a direct gateway for the forces of Chaos into the heart of the Imperial Palace. That is if it wasn’t for the noble sacrifice of Malcador The Sigilate in keeping it locked from the other side.

The Horus Heresy

Whilst the Crusades were in full swing, The Emperors projects that he had going on under his belt kept him very busy. So he was a little distracted and couldn’t quite keep an eye on his genetic super sons as closely as he should have.

If he had, the God-King would have seen that all was not well, some of his sons, mainly Horus, Lorgar, Angron, Mortarion, Conrad Kurze, Alpharius, Fulgrim, and Peturburabo decided they knew better. A massive civil war would occur between those still loyal to the Emperor and those who had signed up under the banner of Chaos.

It was a conflict that lasted a very long time, destroyed thousands of worlds, killed trillions of people, and shattered the galaxy in half with the opening of gigantic Warp Rifts. The effects of this conflict are still felt today, and worst of all, it led to the “death” of the Emperor and some of his sons. Ferrus, Horus, and Sanguinus.

Where Is He Now?

Currently, The Emperor is sitting dormant on his Golden Throne at the heart of the Imperial Palace on Terra. There he sits on his chair that’s been converted into a now ancient life-support machine that projects the Emperor's psychic will across the galaxy in the form of the Astronomicon.

A skeletal, rotting figure of a man, it’s a living death that should he succumb to, will spell the doom for the human race as Warp Travel will become almost impossible. To keep him going, Tech Priests regularly try to repair the aging Stasis Device, but unfortunately, it’s so old that the tech, knowledge, and parts have been lost to time.

For now, the Golden Throne is fed a steady supply of Psykers from the Imperium Black Fleets in order to keep it operating. These human batteries don’t last long, with 500 often being burned through in a day if not a few minutes. And worst of all, the Throne just isn’t cutting it anymore, The Emperor is slowly dying and it won’t be long until he’s gone for good.

The Future Of The Emperor

For now, the future of the Emperor is slightly up in the air as Games Workshop and its Black Library writers try to figure out what to do with him. So far everything seems to be setting him up for either dying or potentially returning in a new form.

That form is known as the Star Child, though there are conflicting theories and discussions on what that could actually be. Either the Emperor reborn, some new savior, or the birth of an Emperor-esque deity within the Immaterium itself that could fight the Chaos Gods directly. Until then, the big Golden Guy is on a time limit.

NEXT: Warhammer 40,000: Tyranids, Explained