“ | My Armies will spill humanity's blood...Across the stars. | „ |
~ Lord Nemeroth |
Lord Nemeroth (also known simply as Nemeroth) is the main antagonist of the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine video game. He is a powerful Chaos Sorcerer and Chaos Lord and the leader of a Chaos Space Marine warband known as the "Chosen of Nemeroth", tasking to invade the Imperial Forge World of Graia through a warp gate.
Overview[]
Nemeroth first appears in Chapter 11, right after Captain Titus has fired the Psychic Scourge. A Warp gate opens and Bloodletters slaughter the Orks that were facing the Ultramarines. Several daemons leap on Warboss Grimskull, who topples over a railing and falls, just as Nemeroth arrives.
Inquisitor Drogan (creator of the Psychic Scourge) arrives to the scene and approaches the Chaos Lord. Titus warns Drogan back, but he and his accompanying battle brothers are pinned in place by Nemeroth's psychic might before he can intervene. The Inquisitor calmly walks through the Bloodletter demons and falls to his knees before Nemeroth and states imposingly that he has "served him well". The Sorcerer then appears to extract some sort of "essence" – manifested as purple light – from Drogan, who falls to the ground lifeless. Nemeroth makes a speech suggesting that he just absorbed Drogan's memories and knows exactly what has been going on. He then reveals that the Inquisitor was carrying out a plan to use the Scourge to create a Warp gate and launch a Chaos invasion. The gate, however, is not yet large enough for a space fleet. Titus, still suffering from the psychic attack, tries to grab the Power Source during Nemeroth's speech, but the Chaos Lord takes note and redoubles his attack, calling Titus a "clever fool". Nemeroth notes that Titus seems somehow resistant to his powers and contact with the Warp, as Drogan had also noted previously. He also reveals that the real Drogan has actually been dead for a while ever since Titus first met him in person, and the "Drogan" the space marines had been helping was a "puppet" animated by either sorcerous means or by a daemon, evidence from audio tapes seems to suggest the latter.
Suddenly Grimskull reappears and promptly attacks Nemeroth, who grapples with him. The Chaos Lord manages to push the Warboss over a railing again, but Grimskull grabs him and both fall over the edge, leaving Titus with the Power Source and free to make his escape. Nemeroth next appears during Chapter 14, after Titus has used the Power Source to supercharge the Warlord titan Invictus and fire at the Orbital Spire in an attempt to close the ever-expanding Warp gate. Titus gives the Power Source to Sidonus and tells him to make for a nearby landing pad, then deliver the device to the ship Fury of Descent, while Titus goes off to hunt some traitors. After some fighting to distract the Chaos forces, Titus himself arrives at the same landing pad to find Sidonus defending himself. Before Titus can intervene, Nemeroth appears behind Sidonus from a opened warp rift and impales him with one of his Lightning Claws, killing Sidonus and retrieving the Power Source.
Nemeroth incapacitates Titus again with his sorcerous power and reveals that the Power Source is "a gift from the Chaos Gods" and that it will allow him to ascend into a Daemon Prince. He then comments again on Titus' peculiar Warp resistance, which he thinks must be explained by a connection to the Warp. He asks if Titus will be joining them (the Chaos Space Marines) soon and calls him "brother" before teleporting away.
Nemeroth's third and final appearance is in Chapter 17, the game's finale. Titus has climbed the Orbital Spire in search for the Chaos Lord and eventually finds him. Nemeroth tries to lure him to Chaos by offering untold power, but Titus flatly refuses. A battle ensues with Nemeroth talking behind a protective warp barrier while Titus fights several waves of Chaos forces. Finally the barrier falls and Nemeroth steps forward, partially transformed into daemon form and confident in his invulnerability. Titus, however, simply shoulder-charges him off a ledge and both warriors fall off the immensely high Spire.
A final fight follows, with Titus chasing Nemeroth in free fall, catching and punching him, then becoming separated again and repeating the sequence. Finally Titus manages to overpower the half-daemon and crushes Nemeroth's head with his hands. Nemeroth's headless body disintegrates and a sinister laugh is heard shortly after. When Titus is about to destroy the power source to close all the warp gates still present on the planet, Nemeroth's voice is heard repeating, "Will you be joining us soon... Brother?" implying that Nemeroth might have had just enough time to fully ascend and might eventually come back to take his revenge. Nemeroth's ultimate fate remains unknown.
With his banishment and with all warp gates or rifts closed, the remainder of his Warband's forces that were still present on the planet became trapped and cornered, slowly but surely being killed off after the imperial liberation fleet arrived to reinforce the world's remaining defenders. The world was then put under quarantine on the orders of Inquisitor Thrax. However, several years later, a fragment of Drogan's power source was discovered by rogue tech-priests, leading to a renewed Chaos invasion at the hands of Chaos Sorcerer Tumulus Samael, which would ultimately be stopped by Ultramarine Malum Caedo.
Abilities and Wargear[]
Lord Nemeroth was a large imposing figure, sadistic, yet sophisticated. Not only was he an accomplished and powerful psyker, but he also displayed an extreme talent for sorcery. His high talent and experience with sorcery allowed him to do things such as summoning daemons and possessing dead bodies. With his psychic might he was able to pin Titus and his squadmates in place, teleport large distances and creating protective warp barriers. Despite this, he never displayed his full might. As a leader Nemeroth is strategic and calm, yet sadistic and arrogant. His warband relied heavily on sorcerous powers and daemonic support to overcome their enemies.
- Lightning Claws: Nemeroth was equipped with a pair of large lightning claws. Each talon of these powered gauntlets is sheathed in a field of destructive energy which disrupts solid matter, allowing Nemeroth to cut through armor and flesh with equal ease. Both of the lightning claws also featured a built-in plasma gun, which he utilized in his final battle with Titus, when he was in his partially ascended half-daemon form.
- Plasma Gun: A plasma gun is a ranged weapon that is able to fire a superheated ball or bolt of energy as hot as a sun which can penetrate nearly all forms of infantry armor and even threaten vehicles. They have a known tendency to overheat and sometimes even explode in a user's face, but in a skilled user's hands the latter rarely happens.
- Terminator Armor: Nemeroth was outfitted in a suit of indomitus pattern terminator armor, otherwise known as tactical dreadnought armor. It offers superior protection and strength to power armor, but at the cost of reduced movement speed. It is durable enough to withstand anti-tank missiles with ease and high-powered energy weapons such as plasma guns, melta guns and even a few lascannon shots.