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The Imperium of Man
In General
Leadership
The God-Emperor
The Emperor of Mankind, AKA the God-Emperor of Mankind
The formal sovereign and sole deity of the Imperium of Man, the Emperor of Mankind has been in stasis upon His Golden Throne since His mortal wounding at the hands of His traitorous son, Horus Lupercal. Despite the decadence and decay His Imperium has fallen into since He and His sons, the Primarchs, ceased to influence mortal affairs, the Emperor still does his best to defend and preserve humanity via his maintenance of the Astronomicon and the defenses against Daemonic Incursion on Holy Terra, while also lending some of his seemingly divine power to mortal Champions and Saints.- And I Must Scream: Is confined to the Golden Throne in a perpetual state of undeath. Downplayed in that he is able to communicate telepathically with certain individuals, but it requires tremendous effort to do so.
- Big Good: In the eyes of the people of the Imperium, he is this.
- The Dreaded: The Ruinous Powers refer to him simply as "The Anathema."
- God-Emperor: The trope namer, himself.
Roboute Guilliman
Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the XIIth Legion Ultramarines
- The Chains of Commanding: He shows a degree of weariness as noted by Belenos.
- Large and in Charge: As a Primarch, he towers even over the Adeptus Custodes.
Imperial Guard
In General
Commissar Sebastian Yarrick
Commissar Sebastian Yarrick, Hero of Hades Hive
- The Ghost: Is mentioned by the Greenskins in passing, but hasn't appeared in the story yet.
- Red Baron: Is known to the Orks as "Ol' Bale Eye."
- Worthy Opponent: Is the only human that ever won the respect of the Orks. This includes Ghazghkull Thraka, himself.
The Arbanian Janissaries
In General
The Imperial Guardsmen who called the late world of Arbanon their home.
- Determinator: Even with the loss of their homeworld, and facing overwhelming odds fighting the Orks, the Janissaries do not back down, but instead gives it their all in fighting back and saving the colony.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Has significant influence from Slavic nations like Albania in their style of uniform and regiment name.
- Last of Their Kind: The Janissaries present on Kanrilla, a single regiment's worth, could be the last of their kind due to their planet being destroyed during a Tyrannid invasion.
Lord General Eskender Kastriot
- Awesome by Analysis: Is able to tell that Ruby is not from any part of the Imperium based on her barely visible confusion over terms that are commonplace within the Imperium such as the Primarchs, Adeptus Arbites, commissars, and psykers to name a few, and he also noticed how she reacted when she saw the servo-skull.
- Father to His Men: Cares deeply about his men, and this is part of the reason that he decides to free Ruby from her imprisonment because she saved the life of Ismail.
- Four-Star Badass: He has led many campaigns against Orks and Tyranids and is not afraid to fight alongside his men.
- Defiant to the End: Manages to taunt and enrage a Khornate Herald before the daemon moves to finish him and his men off. Ultimately averted when Ruby's Silver Eyes end up wiping out the daemons and petrifying the Herald.
- Old Soldier: Is over a hundred years old and is still fighting alongside his men on the front-lines.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While standard Imperial Protocol in the event of encountering an Unsanctioned Psyker(which Ruby qualifies as due to the nature of her powers) is to immediately arrest and transfer them to the custody of the Adeptus Astrotelephatica or the Inquisition, Kastriot realizes that Ruby presents a bit of an exception to the rule due to a)being from outside of the Imperium and not being familiar with it's customs and laws(and, arguably, not being subject to them either), b) that she saved his soldier from certain death, allowing him to return to base with vital intelligence, and is genuinely a good person, and c) the planet they are on is currently cut off from the wider Imperium and cannot make contact with representatives from either organization and are about to face a massive Ork Incursion.
Commissar Sharifa Merneith
- Honest Advisor: Acts as Kastriot's right-hand woman and is not afraid to speak plainly with him.
- Pragmatic Hero: Will do whatever she has to in order to prevent her men from losing morale whether it's delivering a Rousing Speech or executing a soldier attempting to flee the battle.
Zahra
- Demonic Possession: Nearly succumbs to this when the Great Rift opens at the climax of the Battle for Kanrilla. Fortunately, Ruby's Silver Eyes manage to purge any and all traces of warp corruption plaguing her.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Becomes this with Ruby during the Battle for Kanrilla.
- Mercy Kill: Narrowly averted in that Merneith nearly shoots her to prevent her from succumbing to demonic possession. Luckily, Ruby's Silver Eyes save the day.
- That Came Out Wrong: When Kastriot asks Zahra for her opinion on Ruby, she merely says "Beautiful." This causes Kastriot and Mernieth to think that she was referring to Ruby's appearance and mistake it for Zahra having a crush on Ruby, when in fact she was referring to Ruby's soul and aura. Upon realizing how her words were misconstrued, Zahra is reduced to a flustered, stammering mess.
Sergeant Ismail Demiraj
- Big Damn Heroes: Manages to save Ruby from being killed by Urzog by sniping him in the head when he has her pinned down.
- Friendly Sniper: He becomes good friends with Ruby after she saves his life, and he even develops a friendly rivalry with her as a fellow sharpshooter.
- I Owe You My Life: He feels indebted to Ruby after she saves him from the Orks and treats his injuries. He returns the favor by vigorously defending her to General Kastriot when she is detained.
Trooper Qemal
- The Big Guy: Ruby compares him to Yatsuhashi in terms of sheer size and bulk.
- Gentle Giant: Despite his sheer size, Ruby discovers he's very friendly as he gives her a big hug for saving Ismail.
Trooper Delmina
- Only Sane Man: Often is chastising her squad-mates for their shenanigans.
The Adeptus Custodes
In General
The elite brotherhood of Transhuman Warriors tasked with protecting the Emperor himself.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Responsible for guarding the Emperor himself, regarded as a God in the modern Imperium.
- Named After Someone Famous: Each of the Custodes adopt the names of ancient gods and heroes from the history and mythology of Old Earth; examples include:
- The current Captain-General, Trajan Valoris, takes his first name from the famous Roman Emperor who added the most territory to his empire out of any who came before or after him, and helped bring his people out of a decline started by some of his predecessors.
- Belenos Suillemanis, the main Custodian character in the story, is named after an ancient Celtic God of Healing and Suilleman the Magnificent, the greatest Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In-Universe; for Belenos Suillmanis, a Companion, to leave his post guarding the Emperor's mortal form in the Sanctum Imperialis is an unprecedented event and alerts his fellow Hetaeron that the mission their Master must have given their brother must be very serious indeed.
Belenos Suillemanis
A veteran warrior of the Custodes; serving as a member of the Hetaeron Guard-the personal Companions of the Emperor Himself-when his Master gives him a new mission that causes him to the unprecedented and leave the Sanctum Imperialis halfway through his service. His charge? Protecting what He on the Golden Throne has identified as the "Silver Light,"AKA: Ruby Rose.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Not only is he the bodyguard of the God-Emperor himself, but he is also tasked with protecting Ruby Rose.
- Slightly downplayed in the later example; while Ruby is certainly one tough cookie, Belenos is a Custodian and therefore exceeds her in virtually every aspect of general combat. However, when it comes to fighting Daemons, her Silver Eyes grant her an edge parallel to that of the Emperor Himself when He walked as a man.
- Mission from God: He was personally tasked by the God-Emperor of Mankind to find the Silver Light, aka. Ruby Rose, and protecting her. Slightly downplayed; as while Belenos deeply reveres the Emperor and is eternally loyal to Him, he does not share the rest of the Imperium's belief in his Master's divinity.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The only reason that his fellow Companions do not react to his sudden abandoning of his post is because they know that he would only ever do so if it was a matter of great importance such as the God-Emperor, himself, charging him with a crucial mission.
- Old Soldier: He's implied to have been serving with the Custodes at least since the Emperor could still walk among mortal men, and that he's at least seen Guilliman prior to his battle with Fulgrim and his subsequent stasis. That would make him roughly ten thousand years old, which is a long time even for a Custodes to live and still be serving with the Adepta proper.
- Tears of Joy: Is overwhelmed with emotion after being entrusted by the God-Emperor himself with such an important task.
The Adeptus Sororitas
Serena Domita
Cannoness Commander Serena Domita
- Knight Templar: She is a member of the Order of the Valorius Heart, one of the most fanatical branches of the Sisters of Battle, and she is willing to stop at nothing to insure that anyone who she believes is tainted in the hive-city of Maltax is purged.
