Eliphas the Inheritor

Eliphas the Inheritor is a former Dark Apostle of the Word Bearers Chaos Space Marine Legion, eventually becoming a Chaos Lord of the Black Legion, and a villain from the Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War series.

Past
Eliphas was part of the Shadow Crusade during the Horus Hersey, launched by the traitor legions of the Word Bearers and World Eaters against the Ultramarines. He tried to build a powerful Daemon Temple on the planet, Kronus, to call on the Warp’s power, but failed to finish it before the World Eaters Chapter Master, Lorgar, called back the Word Bearers.

Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
As a new Dark Crusade began on Kronus, Eliphas and the Word Bearers were summoned by a Chaos Cult, using a ritual gained from the Epistles of Lorgar. The cult sought help to protect themselves from the Necrons, who had awakened on Kronus and sought to slaughter all on the planet. Eliphasplanned to transform Kronus into a Daemon World and gain the favor he needed from the Chaos Gods to become a Daemon Prince. Eliphas and the Word Bearers engaged the other six factions fighting to take over Kronus, first taking over the Daemon Gate on the Deimos Peninsula. During this war, Eliphas would find himself showing great hate for the Necrons due to their lack of souls to offer to the chaos gods. However this animosity did not outmatch Eliphas’ natural hatred for the Blood Ravens Space Marine Chapter. As the campaign went on, the Dark Apostate gained favor of all the Chaos Gods through various actions, primarily destroying forces from the other factions. In the Chaos campaign ending, Eliphas and the Word Bearers conquered the other factions and claimed Kronus for themselves. The Chaos forces transformed Kronus into a Daemon world, converting the planet’s population to Chaos worshippers and using those that would not as blood sacrifices. Eliphas was finally able to ascend into a Daemon Prince, making Kronus into a staging ground for an even greater campaign on the Imperium of Man as more Chaos forces flocked to his side.

In the canon ending, Eliphas was ultimately defeated by the Blood Ravens under the command of Captain Davian Thule. The Word Bearers were driven back and Eliphas was left to try and explain his failure to a Daemon Prince in a quickly collapsing Warp Gate. However, the Daemon Prince declared that a poor leader blamed his soldiers and he was the only one to blame for his defeat. Eliphas attempted to fight him, only for the Daemon Prince to telekinetically lift him into the air and make him explode.

Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising
Eliphas was however restored to life by the Chaos Gods, believing he could be useful in engaging the Blood Ravens in battle on their home planet. Now under the command of Abaddon the Despoiler as a member of the Black Legion, Eliphas became a Chaos Champion, acting as second in command of a Black Legion warband under the Chaos Lord, Araghast the Pillager as they launched a campaign against the Blood Ravens. Eliphas revealed himself to the Blood Ravens during the Chaos Space Marines attack on the planet, Meridian, amongst them his old enemy, Davian Thule, now a Dreadnought. Eliphas mockingly greeted them, saying he was eager to see his old friend, Thule, again, before withdrawing and leaving a Chaos Dreadnought and Havocs to deal with them. Later, the Blood Ravens engaged Black Legion forces on Aurelia and destroyed their Chaos Temple, before retreating. Eliphas and Araghast watched their ship leave the planet, the former questioning why they allowed the Blood Ravens to escape. Araghast replied that it served his purposes, since they could still make use of the traitor amongst the Blood Ravens’ ranks and that his vengeance could wait. Eliphas ceased questioning him as the two prepared for the next battle, the Black Legion continuing to launch raids on the worlds that the Blood Ravens protected. Eventually, Araghast called the Blood Ravens out to battle him on Aurelia and Eliphas stood by as he dueled them on his own. Whenever the Space Marines started to gain ground against Araghast, Eliphas opened portals to warp him away from them. But finally, as the Chaos Lord found himself on his last legs, Eliphas betrayed him and left him to face the Blood Ravens once and for all where Araghast met his end. Now in command, Eliphas lead the Black Legion in their main objective, freeing Ulkair, a Great Unclean One Daemon of Nurgle. As the Greater Daemon took form once again, the Blood Ravens laid siege to the former chapter keep where Ulkair had been freed, Eliphas appearing and taunting them to battle while the Great Unclean One gathered strength. Eliphas battled them fiercely but was ultimately slain, though he died mocking the Blood Ravens for giving Ulkair time to become stronger. However, Eliphas was brought back to life by Abaddon, who believed he could still be of some use. Eliphas promised that he would finally bring the Blood Ravens to their knees.

Dawn of War II: Retribution
Eliphas was given a suit of Chaos Terminator armor by Abaddon and dispatched to conquer sub-sector Aurelia for the forces of Chaos. He was also ordered to disrupt the plots of Azariah Kyras, Chapter Master and Chief Librarian of the Blood Ravens, who’d become seduced by the powers of Chaos. Kyras plotted to sacrifice the entire sector and the Blood Ravens to Khorne using the Inquisition’s Exterminatus, allowing him to become a Daemon Prince and Chaos Warmaster. Refusing to let Kyras usurp his glory amongst the Chaos Gods, Abaddon ordered Eliphas to deal with him. In the Space Marine campaign, Eliphas was on planet Typhon when he found himself and his warriors being hunted by Apollo Diomedes, captain of the Blood Ravens Honour Guard. He finally emerged to face off against the Space Marines, mockingly calling Diomedes the puppet captain, blind to the Dark Gods pulling on his strings. Eliphas declared that he would slay them and feed their souls to the Chaos Gods, before engaging them. However, Diomedes and his men overcame Eliphas, but before he died, he used his last breath to declare that Dark Gods still had the Blood Ravens in their grasp and soon the Chapter would belong to them.

In the Chaos campaign, Eliphas began his hunt for Kyras on planet Typhon, accompanied by the Chaos sorcerer, Neroth. They fought fiercely through the Blood Ravens and Imperial Guardsman, reuniting with and reviving Eliphas’ fallen Chaos Champion, Kain. Finally, Eliphas faced off against his old foe, Davian Thule, in one final battle. The Chaos Lord declared that they had unfinished business before his forces engaged the Dreadnought in battle. Eliphas managed to slay Davian, mocking his final prayer to the Emperor, before Abaddon psychically contacted him with help from his sorcerers. The Chaos Lord was surprised at his master speaking to him, the Warmaster reminding him of their deal and that Neroth was there to ensure Eliphas lived up to his end. The Inheritor ordered Neroth to summon his Plague Champion, Varius and his warriors began to hunt for Kyras throughout sub-sector Aurelia. Eventually, Eliphas and his warriors discovered a troop of traitorous Imperial guardsmen on Meridian that had taken Capital Spire and were awaiting further orders from Kyras. By intercepting Kyras’ response, Neroth believed he could pinpoint the traitor Chapter Master’s location and Eliphas eagerly slaughtered them all. Neroth used Kyras’ response to track him to Typhon and Eliphas eagerly planned to offer the Chapter Master as an offering to the Chaos Gods. Upon arriving there, the Inheritor instead found an ambush by Eldar, but Eliphas was only amused and eagerly hunted down all the Eldar gathered there, including their Seer council. The search continued and finally, they were psychically spoken to by Kyras, but he revealed to them his plan to use Exterminatus to sacrifice the Blodo Ravens. The Seer Council had been keeping the Inquisition ships from arriving, but with all of them dead at Eliphas’ hands, the fleet arrived and began raining death upon Typhon. The Chaos Lord and his forces desperately sought to escape the planet as Kyras mocked them, safe from the Exterminatus. Eliphas and his forces stormed through the Tyranid, Ork and Chaos forces locked in combat as the planet was annihilated around them. Finally, Eliphas’ forces came to an arena where Khorne sealed them in until they had proved their strength. They fiercely fought and fought until the arena was choked with corpses, a Chaos Champion of Kyras’ forces emerging to battle them. Eliphas snarled that the eternal war would end for his foe, before engaging and defeating him, proving himself to be Khorne’s favoured before the barriers dropped. Eliphas and his allies managed to escape Typhon through a Warp rift and found themselves on the abandoned Space Hulk, the Judgment of Carrion. Neroth accused Eliphas of failing Abaddon but the Chaos Lord replied it was the sorcerer’s fault as they’d been following his information. Abaddon interrupted, threatening to have his sorcerers destroy both their minds, but Eliphas pleaded for only three more days and he would succeed. The Warmaster relented, stating that the Inheritor’s failure just amused him, and Eliphas set out to leave the Space Hulk and resume the hunt. After escaping, Neroth irritably told Eliphas he should’ve asked for more time, but the Inheritor replied he knew exactly where to find Kyras, on the planet Cyrene, and demanded that the Sorcerer bring them there. As Eliphas amassed his forces to defeat Kyras, he eventually engaged a group of Imperial Guardsmen that had entrenched themselves in Ulkair’s former prison. Eliphas found that they’d been corrupted by whispers of the Great Unclean One’s presence that still remained. The Chaos Lord managed to revive Ulkair again, recruiting him to help aid his cause. Finally, Eliphas and his forces headed to the Maledictum in Cyrene, where Kyras had become a Daemon Prince of Khorne. The Inheritor and his forces battled the huge amount of Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines that had arrived to serve Kyras. As Eliphas advanced, he watched as Gabriel Angelos, Captain of the 3rd Company of the Blood Ravens, battled the Daemon Prince only to be struck down and slain. Eliphas noted that he was disappointed that he would not get to fight Gabriel himself, but declared he instead would just take more pleasure in killing Kyras. Finally, Eliphas and his forces engaged the Daemon Prince, the former Chapter Master noting how valiantly the Inheritor fought and inviting him to join his side instead of opposing him. Eliphas replied that he should not make such offers so quickly, before fighting Kyras fiercely. Ultimately, Eliphas succeeded in slaying Kyras, opening a Warp Rift to tear the Daemon Prince apart and banish him into the Warp. Neroth tried to remind Eliphas that Exterminatus was still going on, but the Chaos Lord replied he would do nothing, granting the souls of the Blood Ravens to Abaddon as he promised. Meanwhile, Eliphas used the billions of souls claimed as an offering to Khorne and was granted Daemonhood. Afterwards, he used Gabriel Angelos’ distress codes to try and lure the Ordo Malleus into a trap so he could slay them as well.

Personality
Eliphas is a cunning, sadistic, and sinister servant of the Chaos Gods, utterly devoted to them even by the standards of other Chaos Space Marines. He is quick to anger and eager to violently engage in battle, showing no mercy, an extreme disdain for cowardice and weakness, and incredible skill as a warrior. However, Eliphas does have a more calm, cold and arrogant side to him when out of combat, causing others to fear him greatly just from speaking to him. Unlike other Chaos Space Marines however, Eliphas does not viciously hate Space Marines loyal to the Emperor. He simply sees them as naïve and unenlightened, offering Loyalist Space Marines a chance to join his side. During his time on Kronus, Eliphas demonstrates the Word Bearers’ determination to spread Chaos worship as much as possible, building temples, teaching from the Book of Lorgar, and calling his warband a “crusade.” Also, while Eliphas is apparently a follower of Chaos Undivided given the Chaos Legions he is a part of, he seems to be drawn most towards Khorne. His warrior skills, love for combat, and temper all are common elements of Khorne followers. Additionally, Eliphas also frequently declares “Blood for the blood god!” and “Skulls for the skull throne!” in battle, which Khorne followers frequently call out as well.

Abilities
As a Chaos Space Marine, Eliphas is genetically engineered for warfare, possessing superhuman strength and endurance. He is equipped with powerful Chaos Space Marine wargear, wielding a Power Sword and a Bolt Pistol as his basic weapons. During the Kronus campaign, Eliphas eventually gains a Melta gun, an Accursed Crozius, and a helmet worn by the Word Bearer Primarch, Lorgar. After being revived by Abaddon, Eliphas wears Terminator Chaos Armor, which is heavier and more durable than normal Power Armor. He first wields a Power Sword and a Storm Bolter, but later gains other more powerful alternate weapons, such as a Power Maul and a pair of Lightning Claws. Eliphas can also call on the powers of Chaos for various abilities, such as Daemonic energy bolts and fearsome shockwaves.

Trivia

 * Eliphas is voiced by Paul Dobson in Dark Crusade and in the Dawn of War II expansions, he is voiced by Steven Blum.