From a certain point of view – most notably, his own – Ezekyle Abaddon is the most important character in the 41st Millennium. He has vision, schemes, and a towering topknot. Unlike the lazy Throne-bound Corpse-Emperor,* he’s out there stalking battlefields personally, making heads roll, and teaming up with unlikely new friends to wage his furious campaign of eternal vengeance.
Abaddon was there almost from the beginning, right alongside Horus himself – and even after the Heresy, his list of achievements and victories has grown so vast that to contain it in one document would be a material impossibility. Let’s check back over some of the big guy’s greatest hits.
Despite his disdain for the title’s previous holder, Abaddon stands as Warmaster of the Black Legion – his reputation eclipsing any Imperial pretenders to the title. From this lofty – albeit precarious – position, he has led 13 Black Crusades against the Imperium, each with their own dark agenda and key objectives.
War crimes? He’s done them all. Desecrating the remains of saints? Winning the allegiance of Daemon Princes? Wiping out entire Space Marine Chapters like the Warhawks and Venerators? Check, check and double-check. His very first outing saw him claim the daemon sword Drach’nyen from the Tower of Silence, buying knowledge of its location with the carnage of the original Black Crusade.
In his 12th Black Crusade – known to most as the Gothic War – Abaddon wrangled the Traitor Legions together to command a fleet the likes of which hadn’t been since the Siege of Terra. The resulting invasion lasted over two decades, and ended with the Despoiler capturing not one but two of the seven Blackstone Fortresses.
One of these unfathomable arcane installations proved very handy during his next sortie beyond the Eye of Terror, when he sacrificed it in order to destroy Cadia.**
So, grand theft space station and planetary destruction are on his rap sheet, but what about his headcount? Abaddon’s opportunistic commands have resulted in an unfathomable number of deaths down the centuries, but he’s also personally offed a vast number.
He’s not afraid to take on the biggest opponents. He’s gone toe-to-toe with Rogal Dorn’s erstwhile champion, Sigismund. He battled Fabius Bile’s Primarch clones, including a fully-formed Horus. Even Marneus Calgar was laid low by the Warmaster, though an Aeldari raid on his flagship caused him to retreat just a second before landing the killing blow.***
Abaddon’s thirst for power is unquenchable – he’s always looking for a new angle, forever seeking a fresh advantage or unique relic to help fulfil his goal of reclaiming the Imperium that is rightly his. Even now, he’s launching a fresh set of schemes with the help of the daemonic demigod Vashtorr.
The Despoiler has marshalled a great fleet of retrofitted space hulks known as the Arks of Omen, his steely gaze fixed on mysterious artefacts scattered across the galaxy – but to what end? All will be made clear in the pages of the Arks of Omen series – sign up for our newsletter to find out when the first book arrives.
* Being half-dead is no excuse. Abaddon’s been there many a time.
** This was definitely a cunning tactical ploy, and not a spiteful move after he’d been sent packing.
*** A sure-fire way to get Abaddon to retreat is to go after his precious flagship.