History Literature / BlackLegion

* DealWithTheDevil: A literal one of these is required [[spoiler: to escape the Eye of Terror; [[TheFerryman a mysterious force of Chaos Space Marines calling themselves the Warp Ghosts]] maintains the only stable way out of the Eye and demands a tributary sacrifice in exchange for safe passage. Thagus Daravek offers the Warp Ghosts a fortune in slaves, plunder and war material, but since that offer truly costs him nothing to make, it is rejected. Abaddon, understanding the necessity of a sacrifice having to have meaning to the one offering it, tells the Warp Ghosts they can take whatever they need from the Black Legion,(which turns out to be a number of sorcerers and psychically gifted children as new recruits), a sacrificial offering they accept]].

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere; [[spoiler: During the First Battle of Cadia, Khayon notes that, once the Legion Host follows the Black Legion out of the Eye of Terror, a large number of its forces decide they'd rather start settling their own scores with the Imperium than continue aiding Thagus Daravek in his personal vendetta against Abaddon and promptly absconds]].

* TheBlackKnight: Vortigern, a Fallen Angel who has become a senior member of the Legion.

** Khayon also claims that this is Abbadon's underlying purpose - to break the control the Chaos Gods have over the lives of mortals, so they can forge their own path. Given what his true purpose is though..

* MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual: Abaddon's collection in the Hall of Titans aboard the ''Vengeful Spirit'' looks like this. He even gives Khayon and the others a tour around it. While the Talon of Horus and Abaddon's own terminator armour hold the places of honour, he's also got the skeleton of a whale-sized serpent that tried to kill him (apparently its jaws are big enough to swallow a Land Raider tank ''whole''), Guardian Spears left by Adeptus Custodes who died during the Siege of Terra, and the remains of an aborted experiment trying to synthesize ''Warp energy''. Khayon later calls it a "monument to madness".

* PantheraAwesome: After losing Gyre, Khayon's next Daemon familiar, Nagual, takes the form of a Prosperine lynx, an extinct apex predator from Prospero the size of a horse, with canines the length of short swords capable of biting through Space Marine armour.

* BrownNote: The Talon of Horus, to anyone with psychic senses, due to the fact it was used to kill Sanguinius and mortally wound the Emperor.

* LookUponMyWorksYeMightyAndDespair: Invoked; while attending a armistice with Daravek upon a destroyed craftworld at the edges of the Eye of Terror, Khayon takes a moment to admire the architecture. When Abaddon questions Khayon about his fascination with the Eldar, Khayon replies that he considers them a warning what happens when a species doesn't exercise sufficient caution in dealing with the Chaos Gods.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Being handed over to Nefertari is considered to be this, presumably because as a Dark Eldar, she [[Sadist can]] and ''[[HorrorHunger will]]'' make your death as slow and drawn out as possible.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Being handed over to Nefertari is considered to be this, presumably because as a Dark Eldar, she [[TheSadist can]] and ''[[HorrorHunger will]]'' make your death as slow and drawn out as possible.

* FelonyMisdemeanor: On approach to Gallium, both Khayon and Ashur-Kai (who are, it should be noted, warp sorcerers and traitor space marines) are personally revolted by the fact that one of the warships docked at the Halo is called ''The Skinner'';

** Fabius's own novel - "Primogenitor" refers to the events of the book a few times. It's noted as being the last time that Fabius took any authority role in the Emperor's Children and left them in disgust (whilst conspicuously not mentioning how he got out of Abbadon's custody after the battle with [[spoiler: the clone of Horus.]]. The sequel - ''Clonelord'' - shows that Harmony is still around afterwards and that not every clone was destroyed in the battle, as well as indicating Fabius still holds a grudge against Abbadon for destroying his life's work and the fact that despite destroying his facilities, [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou the Black Legion are more than happy to take advantage of his services]].

** Fabius's own novel - "Primogenitor" refers to the events of the book a few times. It's noted as being the last time that Fabius took any authority role in the Emperor's Children and left them in disgust (whilst conspicuously not mentioning how he got out of Abbadon's custody after the battle with [[spoiler: the clone of Horus.]]. The sequel - ''Clonelord'' - shows that Harmony is still around afterwards and that not every clone was destroyed in the battle, as well as indicating Fabius still holds a grudge against Abbadon for destroying his life's work.

** Equalled by the Eternal Crusader, now revealed to be the Imperial Fists Gloriana class Battleship and counterpart to the Vengeful Spirit.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Being handed over to Nefertari is considered to be this, presumably because as a Dark Eldar, she [[Sadist can]] and ''[[HorrorHunger will]]'' make your death as slow and drawn out as possible.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Thhe main characters all somewhat fall under this, given they're all Chaos Space Marines with a long list of atrocities and war crimes to their name, but top prize must go to Zaidu, a former Night Lord who serves as Telemachon's second in command, an unrepentant Jerkass and Troll who delights in baiting his compatriots, safe in the knowledge that [[KarmaHoudini if any try to challenge him to a duel, Telemachon will fight it in his place]], if only because [[PragmaticVillainy letting a member of a rival warband humiliate or kill Zaidu would be a stain on Telemachon]]. [[spoiler: Telemachon also order Zaidu spared from [[LeaveNoWitnesses Khayon's purge of any surviving witnesses to Sigismund and Abbadon's duel]].]]

* TacticalWithdrawal: During the First Battle of Cadia, [[spoiler: with the Black Legion locked in battle with the Black Templars, Thagus Daravek's Legion Host emerging from the Eye of Terror behind them and Abaddon missing and feared injured or dead, Khayon takes command of the Black Legion fleet and orders them to scatter in all directions. [[AtLeastIAdmitIt He freely admits it was hardly the Black Legion's finest moment]], but notes that it served its purpose; instead of being trapped between two armies, the Black Legion escapes, while the Black Templars have to face a fresh and rested enemy while Abaddon's forces escape into the wider Imperium, and Daravek has to waste time fighting the Black Templars, losing his chance to destroy the Black Legion in one fell swoop. After the battle, Abaddon commends Khayon's choice, admitting the situation is not ideal but affords more opportunities; the Black Legion, though scattered, is more or less intact, the Imperium will dismiss the inevitable attacks that come from Black Legion forces on worlds near the Eye as the work of pirates and raiders, not a cohesive army and thus its military response won't be as extensive as it might have been (freeing Abaddon to pursue his secondary goal of claiming [[EvilWeapon the daemonsword Drach'nyen]]) and with Thagus Daravek killed in the battle, what's left of his armies will be more willing to consider joining the Black Legion]].

* PantheraAwesome: After losing Gyre, Khayon's next Daemon familiar, Nagual, takes the form of a Prosperine lynx, an extinct apex predator from Prospero the size of a horse, with fangs the length of short swords capable of biting through Space Marine armour.

-->'''Khayon''': He burned with life...and I realised then just how it was that Sigismund still lived after all this time.[[Determinator He had survived for a thousand years because he refused to die]]. He hated us too much to sleep in his grave with his duty undone.

* LeaveNoWitnesses: After the First Battle of Cadia, [[spoiler: Khayon personally eliminates any surviving witnesses to Sigismund and Abbadon's duel, the Ezekarion having decided it was too dangerous letting anyone outside their ranks know how close Abbadon came to dying in that battle.

* CollectorOfTheStrange: Abaddon has a wide collection of trophies from his centuries-old pilgrimage, from the talon of Horus to skull of a giant serpent creature.

** Fabius's own novel - "Primogenitor" refers to the events of the book a few times. It's noted as being the last time that Fabius took any authority role in the Emperor's Children and left them in disgust (whilst conspicuously not mentioning how he got out of Abbadon's custody after the battle with [[spoiler: the clone of Horus.]]. The sequel - ''Clonelord'' - shows that Harmony is still around afterwards and that not every clone was destroyed in the battle..

* BadassGrandpa: Sigismund. Whilst plenty of traitor marines are, technically, as old as him, Sigismund was verified as being close to 1000 in realspace verified years - not warp-dilated time. Abbadon struggles to beat him in spite of this.

*** TheSixthRanger: Telemachon, who undergoes HeelFaceBrainwashing and then HeelFaceTurn before joining with the heroes.

-->'''Khayon''': He burned with life...and I realised then just how it was that Sigismund still lived after all this time. [[Determinator He had survived for a thousand years because he refused to die]]. He hated us too much to sleep in his grave with his duty undone.

* BetrayalByInaction: Why Khayon hates Telemachon initially: [[spoiler: Telemachon's forces were supposed to reinforce Khayon's during the Siege of Terra, but instead they broke off to join the rest of the Emperor's Children in massacring Terra's civilian population, leaving the Thousand Sons under Khayon's command at the mercy of the Blood Angels]].

* TacticalWithdrawal: During the First Battle of Cadia, [[spoiler: with the Black Legion locked in battle with the Black Templars, Thagus Daravek's Legion Host emerging from the Eye of Terror behind them and Abaddon missing and feared injured or dead, Khayon takes command of the Black Legion fleet and orders them to scatter in all directions. [[AtLeastIAdmitIt He freely admits it was hardly the Black Legion's finest moment]], but notes that it served its purpose; instead of being trapped between two armies, the Black Legion escapes, the Black Templars have to face a fresh and rested enemy while Abaddon's forces escape into the wider Imperium, and Daravek has to waste time fighting the Black Templars, losing his chance to destroy the Black Legion in one fell swoop. After the battle, Abaddon commends Khayon's choice, admitting the situation is not ideal but affords more opportunities; the Black Legion, though scattered, is more or less intact, the Imperium will dismiss the inevitable attacks that come from Black Legion forces on worlds near the Eye as the work of pirates and raiders, not a cohesive army and thus its military response won't be as extensive as it might have been (freeing Abaddon to pursue his secondary goal of claiming [[EvilWeapon the daemonsword Drach'nyen]]) and with Thagus Daravek killed in the battle, what's left of his armies will be more willing to consider joining the Black Legion]].

* TheVoiceless: Sargon is this initially, having lost the ability to speak due to a throat injury he sustained in the siege of Terra. By the time of ''Black Legion'',, [[BodyHorror his armour has mutated to compensate for this]], his pauldrons forming into two daemonic faces that [[VoiceOfTheLegion speak in unison for him]].

* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler: Khayon loses his left arm at the elbow in a duel with an Iron Warriors champion loyal to Daravek. It is replaced with an augmetic prosthesis that gradually mutates into something more Chaotic by the time he is an Imperial prisonal]].