History Characters / Warhammer40000CurrentImperialFactions

Known as the Legio Custodes prior to the Horus Heresy, the Adeptus Custodes[[note]]also known as The Custodian Guard; The Guardians; Watchers of the Throne; The Thousand Companions[[/note]] have been the personal bodyguard and emissaries of the Emperor since before the unification of Terra. Genetically altered through a secret method of bio-alchemy known only to the scientists of the Imperial household, the Custodes are transformed from the infant sons (and sometimes daughters) of Terran nobility into perfect warriors, second only to the Primarchs themselves in ability. Equipped with custom-made wargear that is at the pinnacle of Imperial technology, the Custodes are the most elite armed force within the Imperium, responsible for the defence of the Imperial Palace and the Sol System as a whole. After millennia of static defence, the opening of the Great Rift and the resulting assault on the Imperial Palace by a legion of Khornate daemons, the Custodes have realised they cannot ignore events in the wider Imperium and have begun striking out at anything that could threaten Holy Terra, no matter where in the galaxy such a threat arises.

* BlingOfWar: The ''standard'' Custodes' PowerArmour (seen on the picture at the right) is more blinged out than most Space Marine Chapter Masters. Their [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Storm Shields]], vehicles and Dreadnoughts are just as incredibly ornate.

* GenderIsNoObject: While the Imperium knows the process to create new Custodes, they have long since lost the understanding of why it works. What they do know is that the end result is modified at the cellular level, and since the Custodes aspirants are chosen at near-infancy, they seldomly get anything coherent from those who do not survive the process, thus the Imperium doesn't know why some survive and some don't, and so they simply keep tossing babies of either gender into the metaphorical blender until one survives.

* AntiMagicFaction: Not to the same extent as the other Talon of the Emperor, the Sisters of Silence, but it is noted that no Custodian has ever exhibited psychic powers or the touch of warpcraft and they all appear to be extremely resilient to the powers of the Warp. [[spoiler:In the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels detailing the Emperor's assault on Horus's flagship the ''Vengeful Spirit'' at the climax of the Siege of Terra, it took being in a GeniusLoci absolutely ''dripping'' with Chaos magic and currently housing manifestations of the four Chaos Gods themselves to drive some of the Custodians accompanying the Emperor to madness, and even then the rest of their fellows managed to subdue or slay the maddened ones with little trouble.]]

Known as the Legio Custodes prior to the Horus Heresy, the Adeptus Custodes[[note]]also known as The Custodian Guard; The Guardians; Watchers of the Throne; The Thousand Companions[[/note]] have been the personal bodyguard and emissaries of the Emperor since before the unification of Terra. Genetically altered through a secret method of bio-alchemy known only to the scientists of the Imperial household, the Custodes are transformed from the infant sons of Terran nobility into perfect warriors, second only to the Primarchs themselves in ability. Equipped with custom-made wargear that is at the pinnacle of Imperial technology, the Custodes are the most elite armed force within the Imperium, responsible for the defence of the Imperial Palace and the Sol System as a whole. After millennia of static defence, the opening of the Great Rift and the resulting assault on the Imperial Palace by a legion of Khornate daemons, the Custodes have realised they cannot ignore events in the wider Imperium and have begun striking out at anything that could threaten Holy Terra, no matter where in the galaxy such a threat arises.

* AdaptationalDumbass: The original Ogres from Warhammer Fantasy are not ''particularly'' smart but they are still perfectly capable of creating their own civilisation. Their Ogryn counterparts barely qualify as sapient.

* ImprobablyLowIQ: To give you an idea of how dumb Ogryns are, Nork Deddog, the setting's most famous Ogryn, knows the first letter of his name ("N is for Nork!") and can count to four. These accomplishments are said to make him a genius of almost unparalleled intelligence for an Ogryn.
** This has started to become a DownplayedTrope in recent years, with examples of Ogryns being able to speak in coherent sentences and hold an intelligible, if simplistic, conversation becoming far more common in the fluff of the setting. The Ogryn player character in ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000Darktide'' is a prime example of a non-Bone'ead Ogryn of at least passable intellect, and the novel ''Ghazgkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh!'' features a female Ogryn ''psyker'' as part of an Ordo Xenos Inqusitor's retinue who is smart enough to ''read books on her condition'' and be trained in the use of her powers by a Space Marine Librarian. Some Imperial adepts who study abhumans such as Ogryns are chalking up this sudden spike in Ogryn intelligence to a possible knock-on effect of the Great Rift causing more psykers in the general human population to crop up, with the related effect in the genetically similar Ogryns being an overall boost in brainpower and the ability to manifest psykers ''at all'', something previously considered impossible due to how stupid they were believed to be.

* UndyingLoyalty: The Custodes are genetically programmed to be eternally loyal the Emperor, whose corpse they still guard. Works from their perspective show that they are physically incapable of disobedience. If they so much as think in terms disloyal to the Emperor, they feel intense anxiety and compulsion to better themselves in some way to serve their master. They refuse to recognize any authority other than the Emperor, unless He has explicitly empowered another, which is the only way their ranking system works. Notably, they are the only division of the Imperium not answerable in any way to the Inquisition, due to the fact their authority comes directly from the Emperor himself. It wasn't until Roboute Guilliman entered the Emperor's throne room and emerged again that the Custodes decided that they were done with simply guarding the Emperor and set out to do his will upon the galaxy.

* LongLived: Custodes age at an imperceptible rate compared to even Astartes, but even they are not immortal. When age finally catches up to them and lowers their performance to the slightest degree, they'll turn in their gear and go out to serve as the Eyes of the Emperor somewhere in the galaxy.

* UndyingLoyalty: To the Emperor, whose corpse they still guard. In fact, they refuse to recognize any authority other than the Emperor, unless He has explicitly empowered another, which is the only way their ranking system works. Notably, they are the only division of the Imperium not answerable in any way to the Inquisition, due to the fact their authority comes directly from the Emperor himself. It wasn't until Roboute Gulliman entered the Emperor's throne room and emerged again that the Custodes decided that they were done with simply guarding the Emperor and set out to do his will upon the galaxy.

'''[[Characters/Warhammer40000ForcesOfChaos Forces of Chaos]]:''' [[Characters/Warhammer40000ChaosGods Chaos Gods]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000ChaosPrimarchs Chaos Primarchs]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000ChaosMarines Heretic Astartes]]\\

'''[[Characters/Warhammer40000Imperium Imperium of Man]]:''' [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialFounders Founders]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Astartes Adeptus Astartes]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesChaptersFirstFounding First Founding Chapters]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesChapters Other Chapters]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesCharacters Characters]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000PrimarisSpaceMarines Primaris Marines]]), [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialGuard Astra Militarum]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Sororitas Adepta Sororitas]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Inquisition Inquisition]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Mechanicus Mechanicus]], '''Other factions'''\\

* EvilColonialist: Many Rogue Traders aren't above ruthlessly exploiting whichever frontier planet they've come across and found an incredible opportunity for making great profits from, with little to no regard for the native population. Even if said natives were '''fellow humans'''. After all, their Warrant of Trade only forbids them from preying upon '''Imperial''' planets; those that aren't controlled by the Imperium unfortunately have no such protection.

'''[[Characters/Warhammer40000XenoRaces Xeno Races]]:''' [[Characters/Warhammer40000Eldar Aeldari]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000CraftworldEldar Asuryani]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000DarkEldar Drukhari]]) | [[Characters/Warhammer40000LeaguesOfVotann Leagues of Votann]] | [[Characters/Warhammer40000Necrons Necrons]] | [[Characters/Warhammer40000Orks Orks]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000OrksCharacters Characters]]) | [[Characters/Warhammer40000TauEmpire T'au Empire]] | [[Characters/Warhammer40000Tyranids Tyranids]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000GenestealerCults Genestealer Cults]])]]-]]]

* UndyingLoyalty: Ogryns believe that the Emperor has personally issued them every order (being worked down from the chain of command) and thus obey orders to the best of their abilities. In a tragic demonstration of this, many Ogyrns fought on the side of Chaos during the Horus Heresy, but they didn't ''knowingly'' do so: they all genuinely believed that they were still fighting for the Emperor and the Imperium, when really it was their superiors misleading them with lies.

* AntiMagic: The Sister of Silence are an organisation consisting entirely of Blanks, beings that have a negative warp presence. The mere presence of a Blank makes psykers acutely uncomfortable, even causing actual pain, and their psychic abilities are dampened or even shut down. In all editions of the game, they're immune to psychic powers and make it more difficult for nearby psykers to activate or deny their powers.

* EvilColonialist: Many Rogue Traders aren't above ruthlessly exploiting whichever frontier planet they've come across and found an incredible opportunity for making great profits from, with little to no disregard for the native population. Even if said natives were '''fellow humans'''. After all, their Warrant of Trade only forbids them from preying upon '''Imperial''' planets; those that aren't controlled by the Imperium unfortunately have no such protection.

'''[[Characters/Warhammer40000XenoRaces Xeno Races]]:''' [[Characters/Warhammer40000Eldar Aeldari]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000CraftworldEldar Asuryani]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000DarkEldar Drukhari]]) | [[Characters/Warhammer40000LeaguesOfVotann Leagues of Votann]] | [[Characters/Warhammer40000Necrons Necrons]] | [[Characters/Warhammer40000Orks Orks]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000OrksCharacters Characters]]) | [[Characters/Warhammer40000TauEmpire T'au Empire]] | [[Characters/Warhammer40000Tyranids Tyranids]]]]-]]]

* PragmaticVillainy: In contrast to most other Imperial factions, Rogue Traders tend to be motivated by self-interest, greed and personal ambition more than by zealotry and adherence to state doctrines. As a result, they are largely disinterested in directly aiding the Imperium's ForeverWar unless there's something in it for them (they're more than happy to sell arms, but they won't be putting their own necks on the line), and will happily engage in actions that orthodox Imperials would find repulsive or treasonous, such as working with aliens (if they're what's available and good at their jobs, why not?) or attacking Imperial shipping if they think they can get away with and the haul is worth the risk.

* PragmaticVillainy: In contrast to most other Imperial factions, Rogue Traders tend to be motivated by self-interest, greed and personal ambition more than by zealotry and adherence to state doctrines. As a result, they are largely diseterested in directly aiding the Imperium's ForeverWar unless there's something in it for them (they're more than happy to sell arms, but they won't be putting their own necks on the line), and will happily engage in actions that orthodox Imperials would find repulsive or treasonous, such as working with aliens (if they're what's available and good at their jobs, why not?) or attacking Imperial shipping if they think they can get away with and the haul is worth the risk.

* {{Expy}}: They are based on Xerxes' Immortals, a unit of 10.000 elite, heavy infantry who were known for being decked-out in gold. Another theory was that their name was actually based on the term "companions" instead.

'''[[Characters/Warhammer40000Imperium Imperium of Man]]:''' [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialFounders Founders]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Astartes Adeptus Astartes]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesChapters Chapters]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesChaptersFirstFounding Chapters of the First Founding]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesCharacters Characters]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000PrimarisSpaceMarines Primaris Marines]]), [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialGuard Astra Militarum]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Sororitas Adepta Sororitas]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Inquisition Inquisition]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Mechanicus Mechanicus]], '''Other factions'''\\

'''[[Characters/Warhammer40000Imperium Imperium of Man]]:''' [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialFounders Founders]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Astartes Adeptus Astartes]] ([[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesChapters Chapters]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000AstartesCharacters Characters]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000PrimarisSpaceMarines Primaris Marines]]), [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialGuard Astra Militarum]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Sororitas Adepta Sororitas]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Inquisition Inquisition]], [[Characters/Warhammer40000Mechanicus Mechanicus]], '''Other factions'''\\

* SoldierVsWarrior: The Warrior to the Soldiers of the Space Marines and Imperial Guard. Custodians have genetic kinship with each other in their formations, but they are much more solitary than the Astartes or Guard in terms of their actions as a military function. Also, their individuality is reinforced by the rigor of their creation process and the lack of mass production it involves, in contrast to the creation of Astartes or induction into the Guard. Notably, however, is that the Adeptus Custodes are still able to fight and operate in perfect coordination, beyond even the most advanced and skilled of Astartes, but this is simply because they are ''that much better'' in terms of physical and mental ability and their wargear. What an Astartes would take decades or centuries to learn through training and experience comes entirely naturally to a Custodes.