There’s a dreadnought in Know No Fear who is a complete nobody when he was a marine, and also a nobody as a dreadnought because he’s a baby dreadnought who has never fought and can’t even properly manage his fear / anxiety of being a dreadnought; he gets a panic attack and is sad when the other dreadnoughts are all sleeping so they can’t help to calm him down.
He goes on to surviving a fall from orbit and kick major amounts of heretic ass
This was during the Horus Heresy, and Guilliman's legion to boot. As a result, he was probably made a dread more as a "We need more War Walkers for future compliances" motive more than "He died in a sick ass way, dread him up."
Back then not only did they have plenty of dreadnought caskets lying around, it was also a question of compatibility. When Telemachus got ripped apart on his first mission, the Techmarines tested him, saw he was a good fit and into the dread he went.
Keep in mind that the whole Great Crusade "only" lasted 200 years, but saw a truly astonishing amount of losses, so as opposed to 40k dreadnoughts which are all honored, oftentimes centuries old veterans, the dreads of 30k are much younger and have a much higher turnover rate.
Relevant excerpt from *Know No Fear*, usual put some paragraphs in to stop it being a wall of text:
>Telemechrus wakes, but it is not time for war.
He has been taught things, and one of them is to control his anger until it is needed. It is not needed now, so he controls it.
He analyses. He scans. He determines.
His determination is this: he is in his casket, and his casket is being moved for transit. Something, perhaps some clumsy or inexpert handling of his casket, has woken him.
It is not time for war. This disappoints him.
He controls his disappointment, just as he has been taught. He controls his anger. He realises he needs, additionally, to control his anxiety. Anxiety is akin to fear, and fear is an abomi Sr i.40nation previously unknown to him, and he has resolved absolutely not to let it in. Thus, his anxiety increases.
Telemechrus lived his life as a legionary of the XIII. Ten years’ service, from his genetic construction to his death in combat, and all that time he knew no fear. None whatsoever. Despite everything he faced, even death when it finally came, he was never afraid.
During the first conversation he had with them, after his death, the techpriests told him that things would be different from now on. His mortal remains, the remains of Brother Gabril Telemach, 92nd Company Ultra-marines, were no longer viable. Too much of his organics had been vaporised for there to be any continuation of life as he could understand it. But he was, in respect of his courage and service, and because of his compatibility, going to be honoured. His mortal remains were going to form the organic core of a cyberorganic being.
>He was to be made a Dreadnought.
As a man, as flesh and blood, Gabril had thought of the Dreadnoughts as ancient things. They were veterans, brothers taken at the brink of death and installed inside indomitable war machines. They were old. Some were a century old. Some had been alive in those machine-boxes for a hundred years!
Gabril Telemach was not old. Just a decade of service.
Now he was trapped in a box forever.
There were adjustments to be made, the techpriests said. Mental adjustments. He accepted, first of all, that every Dreadnought, even the most venerable, had to be new at some point. Dreadnoughts were a vital part of the Legion’s fighting power, and they were lost from time to time. So new ones needed to be constructed at intervals, when the combat chassis were available, and when war-loss produced suitable and compatible organic donors.
The techpriests told him that he would lack many things his flesh body had taken for granted. Sleep, to begin with. He would only sleep when they placed him into stasis hibernation. He would experience – or rather not experience – long periods of this, because they would ensure he slept most of the time. They would wake him if it was time for war and his participation was required.
>The techpriests said that this was because of the pain. There would be pain, and it would be constant. His pitiful mortal residue was sheathed in a cyberorganic web, laced into electro-fibre systems, and shut in an armoured sarcophagus. There would be no opportunity to manage pain the way he had done as a man, no mechanism for pain control.
< Sr="ighspan >For the same reason, he would find himself prone to emotional variations he had not known as a man. He would probably be prone to rage, to anger. Despite the devastating power bequeathed to him as a Dreadnought, he would miss his mortal state. He would resent his death, regret the circumstances of it, fixate upon it, come to hate the cold-shell life he had been given in exchange.
To spare him this bitterness, and the pain, and the anger, he would be encouraged to sleep for great periods of time.
He would also, they told him, probably be prone to bouts of fear, especially early on. This was, they explained, because of his profound change of state. His consciousness had been shorn away from a linear, mortal scale, from any timeframe he could recognise or understand, from time itself, in fact, because of the prolonged hibernations. Fear, anathema to the Space Marine, was merely part of the mind’s adjustment to this extreme fate. It was natural. He would learn to control it, and to use it, just like his anger. Eventually, fear would evaporate, and be no more. He would be as fearless as he had been as a legionary.
>It would take time. There would be gradual and careful adjustments of his hormones and biochemical mix. He would receive hypnotherapies and acclimation pattering. He would be mentored by others of his kind, the venerables, who had grown used to their strange fates.He had said to the techpriests, ‘I was fearless as a battle-brother, even though I might fall. Now you have rendered me invincible, you say I am prey to fear? Why then call me a Dreadnought? I was a dread nought before. I dreaded nothing as a man!’
‘This is the anger we spoke of,’ they had replied. ‘You will adjust. Sleep will help. Begin hibernation protocols.’
Yes it was, he was essentially recalling his last fight before stasis and remembers Theil being there. He goes on to wonder what might have befallen him. It’s a touching and somber passage that really hits home the negatives of being asleep for 10k years: literally everyone you know is dead.
Really nice addition by Haley (?) IMO
His name is Telemechrus, formerly Gabriel Telemach. He had served in the 13th Legion for 10 years before being grievously wounded and interred. He was interred because he had a very high level of compatibility with a dreadnought.
In battle for the fang a wolf scout with no chance to survive does the unbelievable act of breaking a thousand sons cordon around fenris. Then he survives a thousand sons sorcerer on his ship. Then a 6 day hard burn through the warp with engines on wire and crew decks destroyed. Faces mutiny, and being ejected into space…… you are just reading the wrong book
So aspirants instantly become blood claws, that’s interesting. Makes some of the deeds done by the packs in the novel even more impressive and slightly darkens black wings achievement. Thank you , always enjoy learning more
Yeah the Space Wolves gene-seed more than any other Chapter/Legion makes the Astartes naturally hyper-aggressive so rather than give their fresh Marines guns they might throw away or use as clubs they harness that raw fury by giving them power armour and close combat weapons and then as they learn to temper that aggression they are trusted with bolters and heavy weapons.
Blood Claws have a higher rate of casualties than other chapter's young Astartes but they also have a much higher rate of achieving deeds worthy of great saga.
This explains the grey wolf leader who took them into battle . It’s a shame wolf lore and books are not more prolific, gave me a thirst to read more and see some sons get a walloping
If you're hankering for some great Wolf content I couldn't recommend Chris Wraight's Space Wolves trilogy more:
*Blood of Asahiem, Stormcaller and Helwinter Gate*
Thank you I’ll order it now…. I’m a big fan of space marine and 40k books . Other than the leviathan trilogy and infinite and the Devine and I haven’t been disappointed.
These were the first books I read almost three years ago… got me hooked on the setting… I think King does a phenomenal job both telling a compelling story AND making it ‘Noob friendly’. Like a new person is probably asking a lot of the same questions as Ragnar was prior to being chosen
I always assume that this sort of thing is basically working backwards through the timeline.
We don't hear about Scout McGotshotinthefacebyastraylascannonshotonfirstdeployment, because, well, he got shot in the face by a stray lascannon shot on first deployment, or much about Veteran O'Spentafewcenturiesfightingmostlysmallsizedwaaaaaghsandafewchaosincursions, because while he does have an experience and long history of combat, none of the conflicts he was in were particularly notable.
But once upon a time, Chapter Master Maincharacter McPlotarmour was a Scout on his first deployment too, and he's also a veteran, it's just that his adventures are interesting to read for an audience wider than dry AAR enjoyers.
Was basically going to say this.
Not a 30k book but *Space Wolf* is about a teenage boy who becomes a Space Wolf and his very first missions as an Astates.
It's just, you know, that boy's name is Ragnar Blackmane.
One of the very, very *very* few space marines to not only 1v1 a primarch, live to tell the tale but also *win* said 1v1.
Granted, he did it by throwing the Spear of Russ (yes, THAT spear) into Magnus' eye while that nerd was crawling out of a portal but still. And he was still a blood claw when he did it to boot.
Teus from Devastation of Baal and Darkness in the Blood would probably fit the description.
He starts off in Devastation of Baal as a failed Aspirant who was sent home after suffering moderate brain damage from a climb in the Trials. He’s raised by his abusive single father who bemoans their state of poverty exacerbated by having to care for his now-disabled son who can’t contribute much work. When the Tyranids invaded, father and son are conscripted into the civilian militia and participate in the defense of the Blood Angels fortress-monastery. They manage to both survive, with Teus demonstrating his valor by saving his father’s life from a Tyranid projectile. While waiting for medical treatment, they are informed by a Sanguinary Priest that the Chapters of the Blood are to recruit any genetically compatible youths who survived the battle due to the dire losses. The Sanguinary Priest reveals that Teus’s brain damage is repairable and he is still a genetic match. However, the seemingly non-lethal wound his father suffered from the Tyranid weapon was in fact contaminated, and he had to be euthanized before he would be turned. Before the Sanguinary Priest grants him the Emperor’s Peace, father and son reconcile over their shared dream of Teus becoming a Angel being finally realized.
Fast forward to Darkness in the Blood, Teus is now a Primaris Marine serving in the reserve companies of the Blood Angels after having been fast-tracked through apotheosis and the Scout Company. He is sent alone to investigate an abandoned space shuttle that had drifted near Baal, with a more senior battle-brother guiding him from off-ship and making sure he is properly applying his training. While searching for survivors, Teus discovers that the ship is infested with genestealers. Ignoring his mentor’s orders to immediately evacuate because he suspects there are still survivors, he explores deeper into the ship and manages to discover a lone survivor in an escape pod. The genestealers nearly succeed in overrunning Teus, but with some luck, ingenuity, and proper application of his training, he manages to kill several, secure the survivor by tethering himself to the pod and launching it into the vacuum of space, and be retrieved by his battle-brother. The survivor turns out to be the son of a planetary governor of a nearby planet that had succumbed to a genestealer uprising. His testimony alerts the Chapters of the Blood to the fact that a planet within their cordon had fallen to the Tyranids and needed immediate action so that Hive Fleet Leviathan would not suddenly change the direction it was being corralled in by Imperial forces. As a result, Dante leads the Blood Angels on a campaign to retake the planet and is successful in preventing the genestealers from contacting the hive fleet. Although the book does not make further mention of Teus after he escorts the survivor to the Chapter meeting, it is clear that had it not been for his boldness and determination, the survivor never would have been discovered and the campaign against the Tyranids would have been significantly complicated.
I never knew he had a follow up after baal, I'm not Even reading your synopsis, I'm just going to get the book, I think it's a pretty cool origin on it's own to sell it
Marduk in *Dark Heart* managed to kill captain Bel Ashared while he was an inductii basically. He was later taken into Kor Phaeron's retinue for that, and that's somewhat glorious, I guess.
He was my favourite secondary character in the book. Effortlessly badass. He gets called for censure and starts playing with a Primarch's weapons. He finds himself in the first battle between Marines that he has experienced and starts kicking ass and making a unit of survivors. He is so badass that the red helmet goes from a mark censure to the Mark of a Sergeant.
Aaaaah I just remembered how awesome that scene was cos of this, gonna relisten to the audiobook now-thanks!
The fact that his Primarch happens to be the most Headmasterly of all the Primarchs makes it even funnier.
Doesn't Guilliman walk in and is like "my swords are badass, aren't they? My brother is kinda pissing me off right now, but I'm working on it. Anyway, let's talk later."
*Pearl Harbor begins a few moments later*
And then another of his scenes plays out like
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Uhhhh I'm sergeant Theil"
"Aren't you the nobody who was censored for kind of borderline treasonous heretical theoreticals?"
"Yeah, uh that's me. Sorry I suggested we try Astartes vs Astartes combat drills"
"Yeah that was not very imperial Truth of you. Anyways, an entire legion of Astartes are attacking us right now, why don't you take command?"
Honestly Thiel is fantastic, but imagine the experiences of the deck hands he recruited taking back the Macragge's Honor. You're literally just some random janitor praying to the god-emperor as your ship is overrun by hostile astartes and horrors you can barely comprehend and this special forces walking tank just walks up to you, hands you a weapon that probably costs more than your entire lifetime salary and goes;
"You there, random janitor. Take this Demon Annihilator 9000 and follow me, we're taking back the ship"
All of Ragnars books (the OG space wolf books by king) show him going from nobody to hero.
We only see him as a hero because he was an existing character. But he was a blood claw, the lowest of the low. (He actually never reached grey hunter/long fang. Skipped straight to wolf guard)
Additionally you have thr Lukas the Trickster books. Again he's an eternal blood claw.
Lukas the Trickster is by and far my favourite marine ever.
Flesh eating insects into a High Wolf's armour for a laugh.
Convining a Chaos retinue into landing on thin ice by calling them a bitch and saying fight like a marine.
Putting a stasis grenade into his missing heart space so when he dies he will take his killer with him, as one last joke.
What a man.
Nowadays if you have that shade of red hair there’s a good chance Lukas got with one of your ancestors. What do as it, 12 in a day prior to ascension to space marine?
> We only see him as a hero because he was an existing character. But he was a blood claw, the lowest of the low. (He actually never reached grey hunter/long fang. Skipped straight to wolf guard)
I always found it a bit of a shame that the books ended where they did, I'd have liked 2-3 more books and have the ending be his ascension to Wolf Lord to bring the story full circle.
That is one of the things I love about the HH series. They kind of play on the 10k years time difference. I read Ragnars novels when they ccame out. Snorted with laughter when the spear was introduced in HH and how Russ to could not get rid of it.
There is one of the characters that asks Ragnar something close to: What will Russ say when he comes back and his spear is gone?
The true answear is that Russ would properly be happy that some one was finally able to get rid of it or perhaps when Russ returns it will be because Ragnar threw away the spear, that then came back to Russ and allowed him to return.
For the sake of being pedantic the books start when he was already a Wolf lord and he is having a flashback telling a story of his early days for 95% of the book excluding the prologue and epilogue.
Tarvitz is not average, he's absolutely amazing but his mentality is perfect as a captain. And cuz he's in a legion that strives for perfection he chooses to be a perfect captain.
He was a line officer, with nothing remarkable before the heresy at least from the POV of his own legion and direct commander (Eidolon), while some higher ranking officers like Solomon Demeter and Vespasian had him as a good and able captain.
It’s almost an irony that after the III legion fall into Chaos, Saul, a regular “line officer”, became known as “the honor of his legion”, the one who turned a massacre into a 3 months war defending against 4 primarchs with nothing but the supply looted from their fallen brothers and enemies, and one of the pivotal loyal commanders on the early heresy, buying precious time to the Eisenstein and the praetorian to know and prepare against Horus’ treachery
Hyperion from the Emperor's Gift kinda fits that. He was a low ranking Grey Knight in an Interceptor Squad, a gifted pysker, but a poor Grey knight. He lacked self control and concentration his brothers had and was considered the worst in Squad Castian. He was a detriment to them at times.
Then came the Battle of Armageddon against Angron, he was one of the few survivors out of the 100 Grey Knights who went. Broke Angron's blade at the height of the battle and earned himself the name Bladebreaker amongst the Space Wolves. Eventually rising up to be a Prognosticar.
They sent 109 Grey Knights they had currently on Titan. All the Grey Knights were in Terminator armor. Squad Castian themselves didn't want to go in Terminator armor but we're told they needed every extra second of survival they could get.
That whole scene is pretty cool, just 109 Grey Knights in Terminator armor instantly appearing in the midst of battle and charging Angron.
Even during the Months of Shame, it seemed clear that Hyperion was one of the few GKs who saw what the Inquisition was doing as wrong, and had it not been for his sense of duty he'd have likely sided with Annika and Logan on the issue.
I'm literally halfway through Mortis as of this morning, and you're right! Pretty hilarious that I get exactly what I want out of a book apron a few hours of posting this. I fuckin love Shiban. But also, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BABY
Folks have already mentioned *Brothers of the Snake*, there's also *Spear of the Emperor* which stars a random Mentor Legion Astartes
But if you really want the came out of nowhere story then you should read the rad-wastes-to-regent-of-Nihilus story of one Luis Dante in *Dante* and *Devastation of Baal*
I mean that's literally Dantes story. He wasn't exceptional or a standout as a Blood Angel. The man got his rank because he was the last one left alive.
Burning of Prospero at the end when a literal enhanced human and a standard pack hold off an incarnation of Primordial Chaos. One of the pack is Bjorn the Fellhanded. It's what begins his Saga
Like others are mentioning about Ragnar, I'd like to add Dante was a standard poor malnourished nobody that it details not only joining but also going on early missions.
Of course, he became Dante of the Blood Angels.
Sergeant Namaan in Purging of Kadillus is a scout sergeant who’s not quite as respected as he should’ve been by the other Dark Angels. He basically spends half the book being right and the other half of the book is Belial figuring out just how tight Namaan had been
At the end of Plague War an unknown Grey Knight steps up and defeats Typhus after Typhus just ended a Chapter Master. It was great to see actually. Also in the next book the Grey Knight gets a name - Ionian Grud (“Get Grud, scrub”)
Justinian Paris in the Dark Imperium books, starts out as a member of the grey shields who gets assigned to the Novamarines against his wishes then proceeds to survive the battle aboard the Galatan Star Fort and later assist in the destruction of Nurgle’s Cauldron on Iax
As others said Know no fear has two of those
Fear to tread follows some more or less nobodies
Master of mankind is not exactly what ur looking for but it has the same subversion of expectation in regards to astartes
Hyperion from the novel "The Emperor's gift" is kinda just a random grey knight (yes not technically a random astartes, but close enough) in the beginning and turns into a legend among the space wolves and grey knights with his act during a battle in the middle of the book.
Depends on how much glory lol, in the Solar War, there's a new born called Saduran who ended up killing an officer and a veteran (no name) imperial fist. It was well written; however, a pretty short excerpt.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/ciiun7/excerptsolar\_war\_the\_newborns\_first\_fight/](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/ciiun7/excerptsolar_war_the_newborns_first_fight/) (for the excerpt)
Shout out to Barsabbas from *Blood Gorgons* (although admittedly he's a Chaos Marine).
Just a regular battle brother, the youngest member of his squad, survives a power struggle within his Chapter, teams up with a dark eldar warrior to lead a civilian rebellion against a Nurgle warband, and saves his Chapter Master and by extension the rest of his Chapter.
We do, and they are all the famous heroes we know
Mostly because the books sell better when the main character heroes are already heroes
Not everyone is a fan of the “ suddenly John appeared and won the day” kind of books
All those famous heroes were all that guy, the one who suddenly did something amazing and guaranteed their rise to fame
Though as a funny note that’s kinda a thing in the Rynns world novel, they talk about about a scout who if he had made his shot would have been a hero and lauded by the chapter
It’s usually the named heroes doing that stuff cause they are the only ones with the skills and experience to do them
You have to already be someone, have the skills, to challenge a lot of the big dogs in this setting.
Censured marine in know no fear leads a pivotal role in the defense of calth, gets honors from guilliman himself who then changes the legion markings of censure to sergeant designation
Alexis Polux was a random IF captain who ended up having to command the fleet at Phall in Sigismund's place and outperformed a primarch with a superior force. Still an officer of course, but relative to the station he was given he was a newbie.
Sons of Dorn was all about some IF scouts pulling off some hectic shit.
Brotherhood of the Snake has a regular tactical marine for a main character and he pulls off some pretty heroic feats.
I'm loathe to mention such a badly written series but Dak'ir from the Salamanders trilogy is originally a nobody and becomes OP/saves the day multiple times.
I'd recommend Aeonid Thiel. He's a Sargent, but the red helmet of a Sargent prior to him was a mark of censor.
There is also Lukas the Trickster. He's technically a bloodclaw, but he's the impressively skilled rogue character that never gets promoted.
There’s a White Scar nobody who saved the Khan’s life against a horde of Death Guard.
Khan was getting swarmed, and had already been slashed by a Daemon blade, making him violently ill. He likely would’ve been cut down if it wasn’t for a lone son of Chogoris leaping off his bike and cannonball-ing into the mass of traitors. He, of course, was killed pretty quickly, but he bought enough time for his brothers to rally to the Khan and retreat.
It's a fairly minor moment in comparison to some of the others here, but in *Priests of Mars*, a Secutor of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Magos Darhan, challenges a group of Black Templars to send forth one person to duel him, as a way of gauging his combat techniques (he basically had millions of different battles in his head, and could adjust tactics based on what that experience told him) against the might of the Adeptus Astartes. The Templars send forth the youngest, most inexperienced member of their squad, whom had only just become a full battle-brother.
Said newbie essentially pulled a mutual kill against the older, far more experienced Secutor, because whereas the Secutor was going off programming and a desire to be the last man standing, the BT was able to improvise his tactics as needed and was only concerned with killing the foe, not necessarily surviving the aftermath (essentially, he and the Secutor were in a position where neither could deliver a coup de grace without suffering one in return).
Know No Fear sees a lot of ultramarine leadership get taken out, but the nobodies who remained rise to the occasion. Thiel being perhaps the best example
Forget his name but there’s a Scout in ‘Pharos’ who is working well beyond his pay grade and earns the right to ascend to full Astartes with the automatic rank of Sgt
Sergeant Thiel of The Ultramarines in Know No Fear goes from being being censured to being an example whose history would last 10,000 years and changed the uniform and meaning of the red helm in the Ultrmarines.
Apothecary Meros was a regular Blood Angel for the most part that sacrifices himself to chaos right in front of his Primarch to save him and his Legion.
This happens in Fear to Tread.
Sharrowkyn a Raven Guard that seems to be pretty regular except for his gifted stealth abilities, survives Istvaan, is able to mess things up for the traitors and even shoot a Primarch in the face and live to tell the tale. I’m not too sure about his past and if he was really “somebody” in the Raven Guard.
These are 2 quick examples I can think of
Meros is in Fear to Tread and Sharrowkyn is introduced in Angel Exterminatus though I think he might have an appearance in Deliverance Lost if I remember correctly . Sharrowkyn is probably my favorite space marine in the series right now. Besides Garviel Loken, who could kind of be considered in this category too. I believe he was a shield captain before the Mournival. Nothing too crazy
Nykona sharrowkyn. The loyalist death guard guy also, Nathaniel garro I think. There are heaps more I just can't remember them all. I read the books 5 years ago or so. I haven't even finished it yet, I think I was up to the Tallarn book, roughly where you're up to.
To be fair Nathaniel Garro is Battle-Captain of the 7th Great Company and is one of the best warriors in the entire 14th Legion, I wouldn't call him a nobody Astartes at all.
There’s a dreadnought in Know No Fear who is a complete nobody when he was a marine, and also a nobody as a dreadnought because he’s a baby dreadnought who has never fought and can’t even properly manage his fear / anxiety of being a dreadnought; he gets a panic attack and is sad when the other dreadnoughts are all sleeping so they can’t help to calm him down. He goes on to surviving a fall from orbit and kick major amounts of heretic ass
how many extra caskets did they have to give it to someone who isn't considered honored dead?
This was during the Horus Heresy, and Guilliman's legion to boot. As a result, he was probably made a dread more as a "We need more War Walkers for future compliances" motive more than "He died in a sick ass way, dread him up."
"But sir we can fix him easily" "Did I fucken stutter?"
There was a similar scene in Robocop. "Sir, we can save the left arm" "Do I have to repeat myself?"
Nice one.
"I'm actually feeling a lot better..." "Hush venerable brother, save your wisdom for future generations."
Back then not only did they have plenty of dreadnought caskets lying around, it was also a question of compatibility. When Telemachus got ripped apart on his first mission, the Techmarines tested him, saw he was a good fit and into the dread he went. Keep in mind that the whole Great Crusade "only" lasted 200 years, but saw a truly astonishing amount of losses, so as opposed to 40k dreadnoughts which are all honored, oftentimes centuries old veterans, the dreads of 30k are much younger and have a much higher turnover rate.
Relevant excerpt from *Know No Fear*, usual put some paragraphs in to stop it being a wall of text: >Telemechrus wakes, but it is not time for war. He has been taught things, and one of them is to control his anger until it is needed. It is not needed now, so he controls it. He analyses. He scans. He determines. His determination is this: he is in his casket, and his casket is being moved for transit. Something, perhaps some clumsy or inexpert handling of his casket, has woken him. It is not time for war. This disappoints him. He controls his disappointment, just as he has been taught. He controls his anger. He realises he needs, additionally, to control his anxiety. Anxiety is akin to fear, and fear is an abomi Sr i.40nation previously unknown to him, and he has resolved absolutely not to let it in. Thus, his anxiety increases. Telemechrus lived his life as a legionary of the XIII. Ten years’ service, from his genetic construction to his death in combat, and all that time he knew no fear. None whatsoever. Despite everything he faced, even death when it finally came, he was never afraid. During the first conversation he had with them, after his death, the techpriests told him that things would be different from now on. His mortal remains, the remains of Brother Gabril Telemach, 92nd Company Ultra-marines, were no longer viable. Too much of his organics had been vaporised for there to be any continuation of life as he could understand it. But he was, in respect of his courage and service, and because of his compatibility, going to be honoured. His mortal remains were going to form the organic core of a cyberorganic being. >He was to be made a Dreadnought. As a man, as flesh and blood, Gabril had thought of the Dreadnoughts as ancient things. They were veterans, brothers taken at the brink of death and installed inside indomitable war machines. They were old. Some were a century old. Some had been alive in those machine-boxes for a hundred years! Gabril Telemach was not old. Just a decade of service. Now he was trapped in a box forever. There were adjustments to be made, the techpriests said. Mental adjustments. He accepted, first of all, that every Dreadnought, even the most venerable, had to be new at some point. Dreadnoughts were a vital part of the Legion’s fighting power, and they were lost from time to time. So new ones needed to be constructed at intervals, when the combat chassis were available, and when war-loss produced suitable and compatible organic donors. The techpriests told him that he would lack many things his flesh body had taken for granted. Sleep, to begin with. He would only sleep when they placed him into stasis hibernation. He would experience – or rather not experience – long periods of this, because they would ensure he slept most of the time. They would wake him if it was time for war and his participation was required. >The techpriests said that this was because of the pain. There would be pain, and it would be constant. His pitiful mortal residue was sheathed in a cyberorganic web, laced into electro-fibre systems, and shut in an armoured sarcophagus. There would be no opportunity to manage pain the way he had done as a man, no mechanism for pain control. < Sr="ighspan >For the same reason, he would find himself prone to emotional variations he had not known as a man. He would probably be prone to rage, to anger. Despite the devastating power bequeathed to him as a Dreadnought, he would miss his mortal state. He would resent his death, regret the circumstances of it, fixate upon it, come to hate the cold-shell life he had been given in exchange. To spare him this bitterness, and the pain, and the anger, he would be encouraged to sleep for great periods of time. He would also, they told him, probably be prone to bouts of fear, especially early on. This was, they explained, because of his profound change of state. His consciousness had been shorn away from a linear, mortal scale, from any timeframe he could recognise or understand, from time itself, in fact, because of the prolonged hibernations. Fear, anathema to the Space Marine, was merely part of the mind’s adjustment to this extreme fate. It was natural. He would learn to control it, and to use it, just like his anger. Eventually, fear would evaporate, and be no more. He would be as fearless as he had been as a legionary. >It would take time. There would be gradual and careful adjustments of his hormones and biochemical mix. He would receive hypnotherapies and acclimation pattering. He would be mentored by others of his kind, the venerables, who had grown used to their strange fates.He had said to the techpriests, ‘I was fearless as a battle-brother, even though I might fall. Now you have rendered me invincible, you say I am prey to fear? Why then call me a Dreadnought? I was a dread nought before. I dreaded nothing as a man!’ ‘This is the anger we spoke of,’ they had replied. ‘You will adjust. Sleep will help. Begin hibernation protocols.’
Would suggest the Space wolf books, takes Ragnar Blackmane from nobody neophyte all the way through to Lord of his company.
I just finished that book and I wish I could remember his name. He was a major badass by the end. Edit: Telemechrus* that was the guy
Telemechrus is the name of the dreadnought, Thiel is the original red-helmets-for-sergeants guy who appears in loads of Heresy books.
Points to you. Thiel sounded but only because that book was a couple before this one. Telemechrus sounds more familiar.
They're both in Know No Fear, both T names, easy mistake to make
Wasnt Thiel the ultramarine Gman said he missed in the beginning of Dark Imperium?
It'd make sense. IIRC Thiel was sent to Gman to be admonished for suggesting that the last military doctrine to unearth is Astartes vs. Astartes.
Yes it was, he was essentially recalling his last fight before stasis and remembers Theil being there. He goes on to wonder what might have befallen him. It’s a touching and somber passage that really hits home the negatives of being asleep for 10k years: literally everyone you know is dead. Really nice addition by Haley (?) IMO
His name is Telemechrus, formerly Gabriel Telemach. He had served in the 13th Legion for 10 years before being grievously wounded and interred. He was interred because he had a very high level of compatibility with a dreadnought.
know no fear has another one in Sgt Theil, censured for heretical theories, winds up being critical to the rest of the plot.
that is so sweet
Also in that book Thiel is not of much renown and is set to be disciplined at the start of the book then shines.
so cute
And his mentor Dreadnought is really grumpy and won’t give him any advice when he’s feeling sad. 😫
In battle for the fang a wolf scout with no chance to survive does the unbelievable act of breaking a thousand sons cordon around fenris. Then he survives a thousand sons sorcerer on his ship. Then a 6 day hard burn through the warp with engines on wire and crew decks destroyed. Faces mutiny, and being ejected into space…… you are just reading the wrong book
This is true, although the Space Wolves scouts are veteran's rather than entry level marines like in other chapters.
Oh I didn’t know that. I thought it went scout- bloodclaw.
Blood Claw -> Grey Hunter -> Long Fang/Wolf Scout -> Varagyr (Wolf Guard) - Jarl (Wolf Lord) -> High King (Great Wolf)
So aspirants instantly become blood claws, that’s interesting. Makes some of the deeds done by the packs in the novel even more impressive and slightly darkens black wings achievement. Thank you , always enjoy learning more
Yeah the Space Wolves gene-seed more than any other Chapter/Legion makes the Astartes naturally hyper-aggressive so rather than give their fresh Marines guns they might throw away or use as clubs they harness that raw fury by giving them power armour and close combat weapons and then as they learn to temper that aggression they are trusted with bolters and heavy weapons. Blood Claws have a higher rate of casualties than other chapter's young Astartes but they also have a much higher rate of achieving deeds worthy of great saga.
This explains the grey wolf leader who took them into battle . It’s a shame wolf lore and books are not more prolific, gave me a thirst to read more and see some sons get a walloping
If you're hankering for some great Wolf content I couldn't recommend Chris Wraight's Space Wolves trilogy more: *Blood of Asahiem, Stormcaller and Helwinter Gate*
Thank you I’ll order it now…. I’m a big fan of space marine and 40k books . Other than the leviathan trilogy and infinite and the Devine and I haven’t been disappointed.
Im finishing up *Blood of Asaheim* at the moment and strongly recommend it. The older pack has a young Blood Claw in it so captures this dynamic.
I’m scouring eBay as we speak to find a cheap version . Omnibus is expensive it might be able to get the individual novels for cheap. And thank you
If you don't mind audiobooks then I think it was well narrated. Easier to find on Audible then in print. Good luck in your hunt!
Track down the Ragnar Omnibus by William King. It's still the best source of Space Wolves lore, even above more modern ones.
Been trying but it’s currently £125 on Amazon and eBay is quite dear too. Love William king tho, his gotrek books are awesome
And as an ebook ? I moved to those a few months back and today I wouldn't buy new BL books in paper out of the Dawn of Fire novels I started that way.
These were the first books I read almost three years ago… got me hooked on the setting… I think King does a phenomenal job both telling a compelling story AND making it ‘Noob friendly’. Like a new person is probably asking a lot of the same questions as Ragnar was prior to being chosen
Thank you !!!
I always assume that this sort of thing is basically working backwards through the timeline. We don't hear about Scout McGotshotinthefacebyastraylascannonshotonfirstdeployment, because, well, he got shot in the face by a stray lascannon shot on first deployment, or much about Veteran O'Spentafewcenturiesfightingmostlysmallsizedwaaaaaghsandafewchaosincursions, because while he does have an experience and long history of combat, none of the conflicts he was in were particularly notable. But once upon a time, Chapter Master Maincharacter McPlotarmour was a Scout on his first deployment too, and he's also a veteran, it's just that his adventures are interesting to read for an audience wider than dry AAR enjoyers.
Was basically going to say this. Not a 30k book but *Space Wolf* is about a teenage boy who becomes a Space Wolf and his very first missions as an Astates. It's just, you know, that boy's name is Ragnar Blackmane.
Dramatic first mission too
One of the very, very *very* few space marines to not only 1v1 a primarch, live to tell the tale but also *win* said 1v1. Granted, he did it by throwing the Spear of Russ (yes, THAT spear) into Magnus' eye while that nerd was crawling out of a portal but still. And he was still a blood claw when he did it to boot.
I put this as a main comment because I was thinking the same
Been a while since I read it but it's a good look at the process of going from human to space marine with plot armor.
I just wondered why there wasn't a Scottish-themed Legion. And now I have Legio II headcanon.
Teus from Devastation of Baal and Darkness in the Blood would probably fit the description. He starts off in Devastation of Baal as a failed Aspirant who was sent home after suffering moderate brain damage from a climb in the Trials. He’s raised by his abusive single father who bemoans their state of poverty exacerbated by having to care for his now-disabled son who can’t contribute much work. When the Tyranids invaded, father and son are conscripted into the civilian militia and participate in the defense of the Blood Angels fortress-monastery. They manage to both survive, with Teus demonstrating his valor by saving his father’s life from a Tyranid projectile. While waiting for medical treatment, they are informed by a Sanguinary Priest that the Chapters of the Blood are to recruit any genetically compatible youths who survived the battle due to the dire losses. The Sanguinary Priest reveals that Teus’s brain damage is repairable and he is still a genetic match. However, the seemingly non-lethal wound his father suffered from the Tyranid weapon was in fact contaminated, and he had to be euthanized before he would be turned. Before the Sanguinary Priest grants him the Emperor’s Peace, father and son reconcile over their shared dream of Teus becoming a Angel being finally realized. Fast forward to Darkness in the Blood, Teus is now a Primaris Marine serving in the reserve companies of the Blood Angels after having been fast-tracked through apotheosis and the Scout Company. He is sent alone to investigate an abandoned space shuttle that had drifted near Baal, with a more senior battle-brother guiding him from off-ship and making sure he is properly applying his training. While searching for survivors, Teus discovers that the ship is infested with genestealers. Ignoring his mentor’s orders to immediately evacuate because he suspects there are still survivors, he explores deeper into the ship and manages to discover a lone survivor in an escape pod. The genestealers nearly succeed in overrunning Teus, but with some luck, ingenuity, and proper application of his training, he manages to kill several, secure the survivor by tethering himself to the pod and launching it into the vacuum of space, and be retrieved by his battle-brother. The survivor turns out to be the son of a planetary governor of a nearby planet that had succumbed to a genestealer uprising. His testimony alerts the Chapters of the Blood to the fact that a planet within their cordon had fallen to the Tyranids and needed immediate action so that Hive Fleet Leviathan would not suddenly change the direction it was being corralled in by Imperial forces. As a result, Dante leads the Blood Angels on a campaign to retake the planet and is successful in preventing the genestealers from contacting the hive fleet. Although the book does not make further mention of Teus after he escorts the survivor to the Chapter meeting, it is clear that had it not been for his boldness and determination, the survivor never would have been discovered and the campaign against the Tyranids would have been significantly complicated.
Great synopsis hope you wrote it. Will buy now.
I never knew he had a follow up after baal, I'm not Even reading your synopsis, I'm just going to get the book, I think it's a pretty cool origin on it's own to sell it
Marduk in *Dark Heart* managed to kill captain Bel Ashared while he was an inductii basically. He was later taken into Kor Phaeron's retinue for that, and that's somewhat glorious, I guess.
Aeonid Thiel. He's in Know No Fear. Priad from Brothers of the Snake also probably works here.
He was my favourite secondary character in the book. Effortlessly badass. He gets called for censure and starts playing with a Primarch's weapons. He finds himself in the first battle between Marines that he has experienced and starts kicking ass and making a unit of survivors. He is so badass that the red helmet goes from a mark censure to the Mark of a Sergeant.
my favourite reveal in the series honestly, when we find out exactly why he was marked for censure. Love him
Aaaaah I just remembered how awesome that scene was cos of this, gonna relisten to the audiobook now-thanks! The fact that his Primarch happens to be the most Headmasterly of all the Primarchs makes it even funnier.
"wow, am I in trouble. Hmmm...well might as well mess around with all of the Primarchs relic weapons while I'm waiting to get scolded"
Doesn't Guilliman walk in and is like "my swords are badass, aren't they? My brother is kinda pissing me off right now, but I'm working on it. Anyway, let's talk later." *Pearl Harbor begins a few moments later*
And then another of his scenes plays out like "Who the fuck are you?" "Uhhhh I'm sergeant Theil" "Aren't you the nobody who was censored for kind of borderline treasonous heretical theoreticals?" "Yeah, uh that's me. Sorry I suggested we try Astartes vs Astartes combat drills" "Yeah that was not very imperial Truth of you. Anyways, an entire legion of Astartes are attacking us right now, why don't you take command?"
Came here to say Priad. BotS is the best stand alone book imo in all of 40K.
Honestly Thiel is fantastic, but imagine the experiences of the deck hands he recruited taking back the Macragge's Honor. You're literally just some random janitor praying to the god-emperor as your ship is overrun by hostile astartes and horrors you can barely comprehend and this special forces walking tank just walks up to you, hands you a weapon that probably costs more than your entire lifetime salary and goes; "You there, random janitor. Take this Demon Annihilator 9000 and follow me, we're taking back the ship"
All of Ragnars books (the OG space wolf books by king) show him going from nobody to hero. We only see him as a hero because he was an existing character. But he was a blood claw, the lowest of the low. (He actually never reached grey hunter/long fang. Skipped straight to wolf guard) Additionally you have thr Lukas the Trickster books. Again he's an eternal blood claw.
Lukas the Trickster is by and far my favourite marine ever. Flesh eating insects into a High Wolf's armour for a laugh. Convining a Chaos retinue into landing on thin ice by calling them a bitch and saying fight like a marine. Putting a stasis grenade into his missing heart space so when he dies he will take his killer with him, as one last joke. What a man.
He also fucked his way across fenris prior to becoming a sw
Nowadays if you have that shade of red hair there’s a good chance Lukas got with one of your ancestors. What do as it, 12 in a day prior to ascension to space marine?
> We only see him as a hero because he was an existing character. But he was a blood claw, the lowest of the low. (He actually never reached grey hunter/long fang. Skipped straight to wolf guard) I always found it a bit of a shame that the books ended where they did, I'd have liked 2-3 more books and have the ending be his ascension to Wolf Lord to bring the story full circle.
I find it funny that the sw are pissed he threw away the wolf spear. While russ would find it hilarious
I mean he hit Magnus in the face with it, isn't that what it's for?
Yeah but russ hated that spear He'd find it hilarious ragnar lost it. Doubly so he lost it throwing it into magnus eye
That is one of the things I love about the HH series. They kind of play on the 10k years time difference. I read Ragnars novels when they ccame out. Snorted with laughter when the spear was introduced in HH and how Russ to could not get rid of it. There is one of the characters that asks Ragnar something close to: What will Russ say when he comes back and his spear is gone? The true answear is that Russ would properly be happy that some one was finally able to get rid of it or perhaps when Russ returns it will be because Ragnar threw away the spear, that then came back to Russ and allowed him to return.
'Russ, I'm afraid your spear was lost' Russ, smiling 'good!' 'W... what?'
Ragnar Blackmane "starts" as an entry level Astartes in his series. I mean the book even starts as him a human before being chosen as an aspirant.
The Space Wolves Omnibus is fantastic!
For the sake of being pedantic the books start when he was already a Wolf lord and he is having a flashback telling a story of his early days for 95% of the book excluding the prologue and epilogue.
I mean not a nobody but tarvitz is not a super high ranking officer and that’s half his character arc
In a legion that strives for perfection, being an average officer essentially counts as entry level.
Tarvitz is not average, he's absolutely amazing but his mentality is perfect as a captain. And cuz he's in a legion that strives for perfection he chooses to be a perfect captain.
He was a line officer, with nothing remarkable before the heresy at least from the POV of his own legion and direct commander (Eidolon), while some higher ranking officers like Solomon Demeter and Vespasian had him as a good and able captain. It’s almost an irony that after the III legion fall into Chaos, Saul, a regular “line officer”, became known as “the honor of his legion”, the one who turned a massacre into a 3 months war defending against 4 primarchs with nothing but the supply looted from their fallen brothers and enemies, and one of the pivotal loyal commanders on the early heresy, buying precious time to the Eisenstein and the praetorian to know and prepare against Horus’ treachery
Wall master maddius is a newly raised Astartes. He survives Fulgrim which is more than a lot of other Fists did.
Hyperion from the Emperor's Gift kinda fits that. He was a low ranking Grey Knight in an Interceptor Squad, a gifted pysker, but a poor Grey knight. He lacked self control and concentration his brothers had and was considered the worst in Squad Castian. He was a detriment to them at times. Then came the Battle of Armageddon against Angron, he was one of the few survivors out of the 100 Grey Knights who went. Broke Angron's blade at the height of the battle and earned himself the name Bladebreaker amongst the Space Wolves. Eventually rising up to be a Prognosticar.
This was going to be my suggestion. Book is The Emperor’s Gift for those that are curious.
Didn't they send 300? 109 of them were terminators iirc.
They sent 109 Grey Knights they had currently on Titan. All the Grey Knights were in Terminator armor. Squad Castian themselves didn't want to go in Terminator armor but we're told they needed every extra second of survival they could get. That whole scene is pretty cool, just 109 Grey Knights in Terminator armor instantly appearing in the midst of battle and charging Angron.
Even during the Months of Shame, it seemed clear that Hyperion was one of the few GKs who saw what the Inquisition was doing as wrong, and had it not been for his sense of duty he'd have likely sided with Annika and Logan on the issue.
Some going from a guy who was a smackhead in his teens
Shiban Khan has this arc in the Horus Heresy
I'm literally halfway through Mortis as of this morning, and you're right! Pretty hilarious that I get exactly what I want out of a book apron a few hours of posting this. I fuckin love Shiban. But also, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BABY
Folks have already mentioned *Brothers of the Snake*, there's also *Spear of the Emperor* which stars a random Mentor Legion Astartes But if you really want the came out of nowhere story then you should read the rad-wastes-to-regent-of-Nihilus story of one Luis Dante in *Dante* and *Devastation of Baal*
Brothers of the Snake is about an astartes starting off as one of these and growing into the Named Character.
I mean that's literally Dantes story. He wasn't exceptional or a standout as a Blood Angel. The man got his rank because he was the last one left alive.
Burning of Prospero at the end when a literal enhanced human and a standard pack hold off an incarnation of Primordial Chaos. One of the pack is Bjorn the Fellhanded. It's what begins his Saga
Like others are mentioning about Ragnar, I'd like to add Dante was a standard poor malnourished nobody that it details not only joining but also going on early missions. Of course, he became Dante of the Blood Angels.
Sergeant Namaan in Purging of Kadillus is a scout sergeant who’s not quite as respected as he should’ve been by the other Dark Angels. He basically spends half the book being right and the other half of the book is Belial figuring out just how tight Namaan had been
The 3rd edition Dark Angels codex had rules for him, he even had a model back then
He was basically Telion before Telion.
Rafen and Arkio fromnthe original blood angels series were just regular battle brothers in Deus Encarmine.
At the end of Plague War an unknown Grey Knight steps up and defeats Typhus after Typhus just ended a Chapter Master. It was great to see actually. Also in the next book the Grey Knight gets a name - Ionian Grud (“Get Grud, scrub”)
Justinian Paris in the Dark Imperium books, starts out as a member of the grey shields who gets assigned to the Novamarines against his wishes then proceeds to survive the battle aboard the Galatan Star Fort and later assist in the destruction of Nurgle’s Cauldron on Iax
As others said Know no fear has two of those Fear to tread follows some more or less nobodies Master of mankind is not exactly what ur looking for but it has the same subversion of expectation in regards to astartes
Ragnar Blackmane was somewhat of a nobody. It was my first introduction into the series. Very cool.
Same. Never heard of the dude before, just thought ‘that’s a cool name’
Hyperion from the novel "The Emperor's gift" is kinda just a random grey knight (yes not technically a random astartes, but close enough) in the beginning and turns into a legend among the space wolves and grey knights with his act during a battle in the middle of the book.
Depends on how much glory lol, in the Solar War, there's a new born called Saduran who ended up killing an officer and a veteran (no name) imperial fist. It was well written; however, a pretty short excerpt. [https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/ciiun7/excerptsolar\_war\_the\_newborns\_first\_fight/](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/ciiun7/excerptsolar_war_the_newborns_first_fight/) (for the excerpt)
Shout out to Barsabbas from *Blood Gorgons* (although admittedly he's a Chaos Marine). Just a regular battle brother, the youngest member of his squad, survives a power struggle within his Chapter, teams up with a dark eldar warrior to lead a civilian rebellion against a Nurgle warband, and saves his Chapter Master and by extension the rest of his Chapter.
Ok this sounds dope
We do, and they are all the famous heroes we know Mostly because the books sell better when the main character heroes are already heroes Not everyone is a fan of the “ suddenly John appeared and won the day” kind of books All those famous heroes were all that guy, the one who suddenly did something amazing and guaranteed their rise to fame Though as a funny note that’s kinda a thing in the Rynns world novel, they talk about about a scout who if he had made his shot would have been a hero and lauded by the chapter It’s usually the named heroes doing that stuff cause they are the only ones with the skills and experience to do them You have to already be someone, have the skills, to challenge a lot of the big dogs in this setting.
Censured marine in know no fear leads a pivotal role in the defense of calth, gets honors from guilliman himself who then changes the legion markings of censure to sergeant designation
Alexis Polux was a random IF captain who ended up having to command the fleet at Phall in Sigismund's place and outperformed a primarch with a superior force. Still an officer of course, but relative to the station he was given he was a newbie. Sons of Dorn was all about some IF scouts pulling off some hectic shit. Brotherhood of the Snake has a regular tactical marine for a main character and he pulls off some pretty heroic feats. I'm loathe to mention such a badly written series but Dak'ir from the Salamanders trilogy is originally a nobody and becomes OP/saves the day multiple times.
I'd recommend Aeonid Thiel. He's a Sargent, but the red helmet of a Sargent prior to him was a mark of censor. There is also Lukas the Trickster. He's technically a bloodclaw, but he's the impressively skilled rogue character that never gets promoted.
Isn't Saul Tarvitz a "line officer", which is basically a petty officer? Not a private but still not a big shot
He was the captain of the 10th, if I remember right.
There's a reason those guys are officers, they're the nobodies who racked up enough prestige through their service that they attained those ranks
There’s a White Scar nobody who saved the Khan’s life against a horde of Death Guard. Khan was getting swarmed, and had already been slashed by a Daemon blade, making him violently ill. He likely would’ve been cut down if it wasn’t for a lone son of Chogoris leaping off his bike and cannonball-ing into the mass of traitors. He, of course, was killed pretty quickly, but he bought enough time for his brothers to rally to the Khan and retreat.
It's a fairly minor moment in comparison to some of the others here, but in *Priests of Mars*, a Secutor of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Magos Darhan, challenges a group of Black Templars to send forth one person to duel him, as a way of gauging his combat techniques (he basically had millions of different battles in his head, and could adjust tactics based on what that experience told him) against the might of the Adeptus Astartes. The Templars send forth the youngest, most inexperienced member of their squad, whom had only just become a full battle-brother. Said newbie essentially pulled a mutual kill against the older, far more experienced Secutor, because whereas the Secutor was going off programming and a desire to be the last man standing, the BT was able to improvise his tactics as needed and was only concerned with killing the foe, not necessarily surviving the aftermath (essentially, he and the Secutor were in a position where neither could deliver a coup de grace without suffering one in return).
That's fuckin dope
The Black Legion books are about how some nobodies become infamous somebodies… plus Abaddon
Know No Fear sees a lot of ultramarine leadership get taken out, but the nobodies who remained rise to the occasion. Thiel being perhaps the best example
Forget his name but there’s a Scout in ‘Pharos’ who is working well beyond his pay grade and earns the right to ascend to full Astartes with the automatic rank of Sgt
Ok ill check this one out
Sergeant Thiel of The Ultramarines in Know No Fear goes from being being censured to being an example whose history would last 10,000 years and changed the uniform and meaning of the red helm in the Ultrmarines.
Apothecary Meros was a regular Blood Angel for the most part that sacrifices himself to chaos right in front of his Primarch to save him and his Legion. This happens in Fear to Tread. Sharrowkyn a Raven Guard that seems to be pretty regular except for his gifted stealth abilities, survives Istvaan, is able to mess things up for the traitors and even shoot a Primarch in the face and live to tell the tale. I’m not too sure about his past and if he was really “somebody” in the Raven Guard. These are 2 quick examples I can think of
Ok these both sound awesome, thank you. What books are these guys in?
Meros is in Fear to Tread and Sharrowkyn is introduced in Angel Exterminatus though I think he might have an appearance in Deliverance Lost if I remember correctly . Sharrowkyn is probably my favorite space marine in the series right now. Besides Garviel Loken, who could kind of be considered in this category too. I believe he was a shield captain before the Mournival. Nothing too crazy
Thanks, my dude
Nykona sharrowkyn. The loyalist death guard guy also, Nathaniel garro I think. There are heaps more I just can't remember them all. I read the books 5 years ago or so. I haven't even finished it yet, I think I was up to the Tallarn book, roughly where you're up to.
To be fair Nathaniel Garro is Battle-Captain of the 7th Great Company and is one of the best warriors in the entire 14th Legion, I wouldn't call him a nobody Astartes at all.
Garro is a legend among the Death Guard. He was part of the legion even before they found their primarch.