| “ | Only a fool takes Khârn for a mindless brute or rabid dog. Under that blood-soaked helm lurks an intelligence and cunning that makes him a masterful killer - trust me when I say that there is a dark purpose in his madness. | „ |
| ~ Abaddon the Despoiler on Khârn's nature. |
| “ | KILL! MAIM! BURN! KILL! MAIM! BURN! | „ |
| ~ Khârn the Betrayer. |
Khârn the Betrayer is a powerful follower of Khorne in the setting of Warhammer 40K and second in command of the World Eaters. He is a formidable opponent on the battlefield for almost anyone who happens to face him (including Greater Daemons) and he and his many followers seek "Blood For The Blood God" via mass slaughter and mayhem.
Biography[]
Khârn is the greatest of all the Champions of Khorne, second only to the Daemon Primarch Angron in power. He wields a chainaxe known as Gorechild (which, along with its twin Gorefather, was wielded by Angron himself during the Horus Heresy), rimmed with the teeth of a Mica Dragon. He is the avatar of Khorne, embodying the god's indiscriminate rage and bloodlust.
Kharn as he appeared before the Horus Heresy.
Like his Legionary compatriots, his brain was re-wired as a recruit, so that he finds joy only in killing the enemy. His love of killing is so great that he has actually had a kill counter installed in the lens of his helmet.
Before the Horus Heresy, Khârn was captain of the 8th Assault Company of the World Eaters Legion, and also served as the personal equerry to Angron - something of a "cool head" to his Primarch's bloody rages (which is somewhat surprising, given the World Eaters' practice of essentially lobotomizing their warriors). Despite this, Khârn was known even before the Heresy as a brilliant but unstable warrior. Before the Butcher's Nails (archeotech implants that cause uncontrollable rage) were implanted in the brains of the World Eaters, Khârn was among the only of Angron's sons that the primarch had a bond with. So close were they that when Angron had fled the Great Crusade for two years, Khârn was sent to find him. Rediscovering Angron on a Feral World, Khârn succeeded in convincing him to reunite with the World Eaters.
Khârn was the first in the World Eaters legion to be implanted with a replica of the Butcher's Nails implants without dying. Previously, all other attempts to implant World Eaters with the nails ended in the deaths of the test subjects, but after the first failed assault on the planet of Ghenna, the World Eaters apothecary Gahlan Surlak was able to develop a prototype that could be implanted without killing the Legionnaires. When Gahlan Surlak revealed his great breakthrough, Khârn immediately volunteered to receive the Butcher's Nails. After the procedure was a success, many more World Eaters were implanted, and both Angron and Khârn led a second assault on the world of Ghenna. During the attack, several unimplanted World Eaters led by the 18th Company's Centurion Mago tried to rebel against Angron and Khârn, claiming that the nails would doom the Legion. Even though Mago's words come true during the later Horus Heresy, Khârn ignored them, and single-handedly killed Mago for defying Angron's will. After the rebellion was put down, all the inhabitants of Ghenna were brutally murdered by Khârn, Angron, and the rest of the implanted World Eaters.
During the infighting on Isstvan III, Khârn was believed killed in action while fighting Garviel Loken of the Luna Wolves, a loyalist determined to stop Horus from attacking Terra by holding his former legion. Khârn engaged in close combat with Loken, only to be thrown against the dozer blades of a nearby vehicle, impaling his chest. It was believed that the blow was fatal, but this has been proven wrong.
During the Heresy and the culminating siege of the Imperial Palace, the World Eaters Astartes had become the fearsome Khornate Berzerkers, and Khârn was at the forefront of every assault. At the Heresy's defeat, Khârn already lay dead upon a mound of corpses at the walls of the Inner Palace. His fellow World Eaters carried his corpse away with them as they fought their way back to their ships. Once on board they discovered that by some dark miracle Khârn still lived. Whether Khorne himself breathed life back into the berserker's body or whether the relentless clamor of battle revived his blood lusting spirit remains a mystery, but since the Heresy Khârn has survived the bloodiest battles to the current age and never came so close to death again.
At the Battle of Skalathrax, Khârn became both legendary and infamous amongst his legion. The battle, which took place after the end of the Horus Heresy, was meant to claim Skalathrax as the new homeworld of the World Eaters, now led by Khârn following Angron's ascent into daemonhood. However, the Emperor's Children legion also wanted to control the planet for their own purposes, and the two armies clashed. The fighting lasted until the night, where the deadly cold of the planet threatened to wipe out both sides. The World Eaters and Emperor's Children agreed to a cease-fire until the morning. However, Khârn saw this as a despicable act of cowardice by his own men and the enemy. Taking up a chainaxe and a flamer of arcane origin, Khârn scorched the foxholes of the Astartes, leaving them without shelter. Khârn murdered his allies and his enemies indiscriminately, while the World Eaters and Emperor's Children had to battle themselves and each other for control of the remaining shelter. Khârn slew in a berserk rage Emperor's Children and World Eaters alike, earning him the title The Betrayer, and the infighting he started shattered the Legion into the individual warbands it now consists of. From then on, he has become the unstoppable and bloody avatar of Khorne.
Afterwards he hunted the Eye of Terror, slaughtering any worthy enough to be killed in Khorne's name. During the Thirteenth Black Crusade his wrath was unleashed upon the Imperium as Khârn alongside a few of the most insane of Khorne's berserkers turned on the Emperor's warriors flocking to the defence of Cadia.
Weapons and Abilities[]
A battle-ready miniature of the dreaded Betrayer
Khârn the Betrayer is one of the most deadly yet unstable close combat fighters in the entire galaxy, he is just as likely to attack his own allies in a berserk fury as he is the enemy. Armed with a warp-enhanced Plasma Pistol and his ancient (possibly daemonic) Chainaxe Gorechild, he is able to tear through armor, flesh and bone with ease. To emphasize that he is truly favored by Khorne, he is subject to the Blessing of the Blood God, as a result he is immune to the effects of psychic powers. Additionally, since he has become daemonically corrupted Kharn exudes a blood mist wherever he walks. This unnatural mist allows for the manifestation of daemonic creatures and can drive lesser foes to madness. Khârn's personal killcount is said to be in the millions, but this is hard to confirm, but at the same time not totally infeasible considering how long he has been alive. While he finds human skulls to be the most desirable he is known to have slain almost every kind of alien imaginable. Tyranid Hive Tyrants, Necron Overlords, Eldar Autarchs, and Ork Warbosses have all met their end at Khârn's hand.
Wargear[]
- Gorechild: An ancient chainaxe rimmed with the teeth of a mica dragon that is able to shear through both bone and muscle even when unpowered. In an unskilled user's hands the axe is powerful enough to split an armored space marine from head to crotch. In the Betrayer's hands it can deliver devastating blows with deadly accuracy and can tear through flesh, bone, and virtually any armor with punitive ease. Khârn inherited the chainaxe from his primarch Angron. The weapon is said to have a thirst for souls and will suck out the soul of any defeated foe and feed it directly to Khorne, this implies that the chainaxe has become possessed by a daemon and therefore has a sentience of it's own.
- Death-counter: Khârn's helm incorporates an archaic device known as a death-counter or kill-counter. The ancient high gothic (Latin) lettering of the digital death-counter is superimposed on Khârn's field of vision and tallies the number of the crazed berserker's kills per campaign as he makes them. it would seem to others to be little more than the obsessive tally of a madman. This unique device was gifted to him by none other than Warmaster Horus himself near the end of the Great Crusade and Khârn has been proud to bear it ever since.
- Archaic Plasma Pistol: An ancient and warped plasma pistol that is able to fire powerful bolts of superheated energy as hot as a sun, further enhanced by the warp. It is powerful enough to bring down power armored space marines and has the capability to destroy tanks with well-placed shots. Unfortunately it is known to be a somewhat temperamental and unstable weapon which can easily overheat and potentially even explode like a plasma bomb, but in a skilled user's hands (like Khârn) the latter rarely, if ever happens.
Abilities/Powers[]
- Superhuman Physiology: Khârn the Betrayer is a genetically-engineered superhuman and therefore possesses superhuman strength, speed, stamina, senses, reflexes and intelligence. He is able to live for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years and possibly even longer, practically being near-immortal. like all space marines he also possesses limited regeneration and has natural night-vision.
- Superhuman Strength: Khârn is regarded as one of the physically strongest space marines in existence, his already immense strength further enhanced by the blessings of Khorne. He can lift several tons of weight (4-6 or 10-15 depending on the source), crush heads with ease, casually rip off ork limbs, crush metal pipes, break apart tank turrets, fight toe to toe with "superior" opponents such as greater daemons and imperial knights (and win) and can toss power armored space marines like ragdolls (like he did in his duel with Azrael). In one moment in particular he managed to overpower 30 khornate berzerkers and win, A true testament to his immense skill and physical strength.
- Superhuman Speed: The Betrayer possesses enhanced speed, senses and reflexes. Like all space marines he is able to run so fast that the normal human eye can barely keep up with him and can even dodge bullets. He can also react in the span of microseconds.
- Superhuman Stamina: Khârn can fight on for an exceedingly long time and requires only the most minimal of rest. In one source a small group of space marines were on active combat duty for 364 days without ever tiring. Khârn is likely capable of fighting for just as many days, if not a lot more.
- Longevity: Khârn can live for an exceptionally long time, so many years in fact that many are convinced that space marines are effectively immortal. As long as any considerable damage doesn't come to his organs, he could very well live forever. Even in the event that he is killed, Khorne has been known to (allegedly) resurrect Khârn on several occasions during the Horus Heresy, back when he wasn't as unstoppable as he is now (still an absolute beast and unmatched duelist, even back then). He is already over 10,000 years old and is still in his prime.
- Blessing of the Blood God: To mark that Khârn the Betrayer is truly the greatest "mortal" champion of Khorne, the Blood God has blessed him with full immunity to the effects of psychic powers and sorcery. This also means he is immune to possession and cannot be mind controlled, some have tried but it seems like this blessing combined with Khârn's sheer adamantium-level willpower has overcome it numerous times.
Gallery[]
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