Pariah Nexus is a 3D animated series set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
The story is set on an Imperial Shrine World called "Paradyce" that has been invaded by the Necrons. The Necrons have emerged triumphant, and only a few pockets of surviving imperials remain to resist the invading Xenos. Among these ragged survivors, a war-broken Sororitas crosses paths with an Astartes of the Salamanders Chapter. While the Battle Sister stubbornly demands they keep (futilely) fighting, the lone Salamander insists they escort a band of civilians to the faint hope of an evacuation site. On their way, the stress of combat, the horror of the alien, and the machinations of an unseen Necron Cryptek all conspire to stop them...
The series is exclusive to Warhammer+ subscribers.
The series provides examples of:
- And I Must Scream: On par with the character, Illuminor Szeras has several captured humans strapped in operating tables in his laboratory as unwitting test subjects. The restrained humans look corpse-like with green tainted veins and in obvious pain, and they can do nothing but scream.
- The "zombified" guardsmen are hinted to be aware, but unable to control their actions. One mangled Krieger in the second episode has just enough leeway to beg Sa'Kan for a Mercy Kill (which the Salamander, believing the corrupted guardsmen to be mere traitors, disregards).
- Battle Cry: Just as Sa'Kan faces off against a Necron Destroyer, he utters the Salamander's iconic motto: "Into the fires of battle, unto the Anvil of War!"
- Beware the Nice Ones: The Salamanders are renowned for being one of the most compassionate of the Astartes chapters, and are known for their dedication to the safety and protection of civilian lives. But make no mistake, they are still the Emperor's Angels of Death, and can be merciless to their enemies. Brother Sa'Kan is no exception.
- When he encounters Krieg guardsmen inside his crashed Thunderhawk, he commends them for their courage for apparently attempting to rescue him, and implores them to leave immediately as the Thunderhawk is quickly being engulfed in flames. But when it is revealed that they are mind controlled (something that Sa'Kan doesn't seem to be aware of) and they attack him, he mercilessly dispatches them one by one, angrily denounces them as traitors and initially leaves one wounded guardsman to a painful end from the flames before deciding to shoot him with a burst of promethium from his hand flamer.
- When he encounters Sister Danica, the situation almost turns hostile when she points her bolter towards the civilians accompanying him. He quickly shields the civilians by standing in front of her, demanding that she lower her weapon and was fully prepared to kill her to ensure the civilians safety were it not for the timely attack of the Deathmark Assassin.
- Big Bad: The Necron Cyptek, Illuminor Szeras.
- Chainsaw Good: Seeing what universe this is, the iconic chainsword is of course seen as the weapon of choice for the Space Marines. The Ultramarine sergeant in the first episode wields one (as befitting his rank as sergeant) and attempts to strike the Deathmark with it but misses his mark. Sa'Kan briefly wields a chainsword to kill a few of the zombified guardsmen. It is embedded deep in one of them and Sa'Kan quickly switches to a combat knife to dispatch the rest. While he does arm himself with a couple weapons after the fight, he doesn't bring the chainsword with him. He manages to make use of another chainsword, taken from the hands of a dead Ultramarine, as he battles a Skorpekh Destroyer.
- Cold Sniper: The Deathmark, a phase-hopping Necron assassin armed with a synaptic disintegrator — a sniper rifle that fries the victim's nervous system. In the first episode, Illuminator Serzas wakes it from stasis and hands it a list of human survivors to hunt in the ruined city.
- Extra-Dimensional Shortcut: The Deathmark has the ability to open portals to a secure pocket dimension* and then emerge in a new location, which it abuses for Teleport Spam.
- Downer Beginning: The series does not have a happy beginning. The first episode has the imperials defeated, the survivors being hunted down one-by-one and one of the main characters, a surviving Battle Sister, having a crisis of faith. Oh, and we get to see first-hand how Illuminor Szeras does his experiments with live, human subjects.
- Downer Ending: Despite the Imperium's efforts, the Necrons completely annihilate the city, leaving nothing but ruins and several millions of dead. Anyone who survived the onslaught is either hunted down or succumbs to The Stilling. Aita, one of the kids rescued by Sa'kan, successfully escapes the warzone due to the efforts of Sa'kan, only to be gunned down by the very people he believed were going to get him offworld, just to show how utterly hopeless the situation is. Could also be a bleak form of Mercy Kill as he was already demonstrating symptoms of The Stilling.
- Deadly Euphemism: As Illuminor Szeras says to the Deathmark, he demands that it hunt down the surviving imperials and "rectify the anomaly of their continued existence".
- Defiant to the End:
- One of the Deathmark's targets is an Ultramarine sergeant. After a small fight, it manages to gravely wound the sergeant with a shot of its Synaptic Disintegrator. The sergeant has enough strength to reload his bolt pistol for one last shot before he's finished off with a head shot.
- In one flashback, it shows a Sister Palatine continuing to fight the attacking Necrons despite being fully surrounded. When she is fatally impaled by a Skorpekh Destroyer's leg, she still tries and fails to shoot at the Necron and declaring her hatred of it before finally expiring.
- Sister Danica, mortally wounded by the Synaptic Disintegrator and lacking the aforementioned Ultramarine sergeant's superhuman resilience, still struggles unto her last moments to reach her weapon to defend the civilians.Deathmark: An unusual degree of defiance, but futile.
- Due to the Dead: Sa'Kan attempts to extract his battle brothers geneseed after becoming the sole survivor of a fatal crash landing. Unfortunately, he can't save even a single one after wasting time having to fend off a small group of mind controlled guardsmen, and the flames quickly engulf the bodies of the dead Salamanders.
- Evil Is Bigger: Most Necrons are larger than the average humans, but Illuminor Szeras is gigantic even by their standards. When he briefs the Deathmark on his mission, he looms over him like a Space Marine would a child.
- The Fundamentalist: In her zealous mind, Sister Danica comes to believe that the reason why they lost to the Necrons is because the defenders of Paradyce were lacking in faith.
- Gas Mask Mooks: The Death Korps of Krieg are one of the two known Astra Militarum regiments fighting the Necrons. And they are of course wearing their signature gasmasks. Many of them have fallen to the Necrons mind controlling technology, and are forced to fight the protagonists against their will.
- Handicapped Badass: According to Sa'Kan, his secondary heart and one of his three lungs has ceased functioning after barely surviving a crash landing. Despite his injuries, he is still battle ready.
- Taken even further later on when his arm is severed by a Skorpekh Destroyer. Not only he is still able to destroy it (although with the aid of the Battle Sister), he also manages to fight the Deathmark sniper.
- Heroic BSoD: What ends up happening to most people affected by the Stilling. The Necron pylons responsible for it gives the victims a feeling of dread so overwhelming they simply shut down, becoming lethargic or even suicidal. Those who are particularly devout to the Emperor, however, are able to resist it.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: After spending the series as an untouchable and relentless hunter, the Deathmark gets damaged to the point that it can no longer use its teleportation device to its advantage. It spends its last moments pleading with Illuminor Szeras for aid, claiming that it is now being hunted by Sa'Kan, before the Salamander catches up to it and cuts off its head, killing the Deathmark for good.
- No Animals Were Harmed: The ending credits have a parody of this, claiming that "No Canoptek Scarabs/Ultramarines/Deathmarks were harmed in the making of this episode".
- Not Quite Dead:
- After escaping from the zombified guardsmen, the Deathmark is seen damaged and broken before seemingly shutting-down for good...Until it manages to reactivate itself a few seconds later.
- After destroying the Skorpekh Destroyer, Sa'Kan falls to the ground seemingly lifeless. When the Deathmark Assassin approaches the dying Sister Danica, it is revealed that Sa'Kan is still alive and charges at the Deathmark.
- Not So Stoic: The Deathmark Assassin presents itself as a cold and emotionless being, but it shows itself to have more emotion that it appears. It clearly prides itself as a professional killer, and while subtle, it is clearly annoyed and feels that its talents are wasted after being given a job that basically amounts to pest control. It nods in satisfaction after it kills an Ultramarine sergeant, and expresses utter frustration after being pestered by Illuminor Szeras and later in the same scene being swarmed by zombified guardsmen. When it is severely wounded, it shows fear when it realizes that it is being hunted by Sa'Kan and contacts Szeras to beg for aid.
- Not Worth Killing: The Deathmark doesn’t even see the civilians as being worth engaging after killing Sister Danica.
- Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: Illuminor Szeras takes offense to the Deathmark describing itself as a "weigher of souls" and warns it not to use "such unscientific terminology" in his presence.
- P.O.V. Cam: At some points of the series, we get to see the helmet HUD and targeting systems in the eyes of the Space Marines.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Sa'Kan says this to a severely damaged Skorpekh Destroyer just as he is about to deliver the killing blow.Sa'Kan: This Galaxy is ours...Your empire had its chance.
- Recycled Animation: The animation studio for the series is the same studio who created the 9th Edition Cinematic Trailer. So of course, some of the models, props and backgrounds have been reused along with newly created ones.
- Redemption Equals Death: Sister Danica finally moves past her anger at the civilians, and begins leading them on the path Sa’Kan was leading them, only to be shot from behind by the Deathmark.
- Rule of Symbolism: Sa'Kan losing function of his secondary heart and one of his three lungs is likely to emphasize his humanity despite the process of becoming a Space Marine elevating him to be more than human.
- Sanity Slippage: Danica. The lone guardsman with her has been a figment of her imagination the whole time, as she died in battle. Her survivor's guilt and rage against her own faith begins eating her up to the point where she loses control and lashes out.
- Scary Black Man: As a result of their planet's volcanic environment and a genetic flaw in their geneseed, the Salamanders have charcoal black skin and red eyes. Downplayed as Sa'Kan looks distinctively Asian. note
- Simple Solution Won't Work: Illuminor Szeras enlists a Deathmark Assassin to hunt down and eliminate the surviving imperials. It questions why it is needed when the members of the Destroyer Cult can do its job instead. Szeras explains that the Destroyer Cult's single-minded obsession with exterminating life makes them too unreliable and that he needs this mission done with precision rather than brute force.
- Sole Survivor: The Salamander, Sa'Kan, is the only member of his squad to survive after his Thunderhawk gets severely damaged and crash lands.
- Teleport Spam: The Deathmark is able to perform this by way of Extra-Dimensional Shortcut thanks to its Dimensional Oubliette, rapidly portal-ing back and forth from a pocket dimension to flank prey and avoid attacks. After escaping an attack from a horde of zombified guardsmen, it discovers that its Dimensional Oubliette is damaged to the point that it has trouble opening a portal. This proves to be its downfall, as when Sa'Kan charges at it, the Deathmark is unable to open a portal in time to avoid being shanked by Sa'Kan. It's implied that after barely surviving Sa'Kan's attack, it is further damaged to the point that it can no longer use its Dimensional Oubliette, which makes it easy prey by the time Sa'Kan catches up to it and kills it for good.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sister Danica gets one from her hallucinatory Guardsman as she threatens the Ministorum preacher for talking to her about forgiveness. The Guardsman reminds Danica that he's a man of faith just like her, and that blaming him and civilians for not fighting hard enough to stop the Necrons is useless. She says that Danica is a zealot, and that's why she's lashing out at her beliefs being challenged, before capping it off with telling her that the planet didn't fall because of a lack of faith. The planet fell because the Imperium lost the war.
- You Have Failed Me: When the severely damaged Deathmark contacts Szeras and begs for repairs, Szeras declares that the Deathmark has failed him and he will not waste resources to aid it.
- Zombie Gait: At the end of Episode 1, the Sister Danica finds herself surrounded by zombified guardsmen. Luckily for her, they are moving in such a snails pace that they are unable to fully swarm her, and she has enough time to aim and shoot at her targets and reload her weapon when she empties one magazine. And she manages to win the fight without really moving from where she was standing.
