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The Red Angel is a minor antagonist in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. It is a Daemon of Chaos that attempted to possess the angelic Primarch Sanguinius, only to be instead taken by Blood Angels Apothecary Meros as a host.
The Red Angel was featured in the works Collected Visions, Fear to Tread, and Vengeful Spirit.
Biography[]
In the grim darkness of the far future, Warmaster Horus Lupercal led an uprising against his father, the Emperor of Mankind, throwing the Imperium of Man into chaos. During the civil war, Erebus, instigator of the great betrayal, had managed to create a psychic construct known as the Ragefire, powered by the half-dead body of Captain Tagas, a Blood Angels Space Marine presumed dead at the fangs of Megarachnids. Using the Ragefire, Erebus and the Word Bearers, the Legion of traitor Primarch Lorgar Aurellian, created an uncontrollable rage that threatened to overtake the still-loyal Blood Angels. The effects of the psychic construct activated when Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels, was struck down by two Greater Daemons over Signus Prime, home of the Ragefire. With the distilled rage of Tagas, the Red Angel was formed within the Ragefire, waiting for the moment to strike as the Blood Angels were consumed with fury.
However, Sanguinius was healed from his wounds by Blood Angels Librarians, and promptly returned to battle, facing the two Daemons who had wounded him, one being the Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha and the other being the Keeper of Secrets Kyriss. Sanguinius overcame Ka'Bandha and banished the Khornate monstrosity back to the Warp, but Kyriss managed to communicate with Sanguinius before the Primarch could destroy the Daemon's physical form. Kyriss knew of a fatal flaw in the gene-seed of the Blood Angels, known as the Red Thirst, a vampiric hunger for blood which could overtake even the most seasoned Blood Angel and make them turn on the very people they swore to defend, leading them on a path towards Khorne if left untreated. As such, Kyriss offered a deal to Sanguinius, namely for Sanguinius to sacrifice himself by entering the Ragefire and allowing the Red Angel to take over him. In return, the Red Thirst would be purged from the Blood Angels forever. Sanguinius contemplated Kyriss' deal, coming to the conclusion that it was the only way to save his beloved sons from eternal damnation. However, before Sanguinius could move to enter the Ragefire, Blood Angels Apothecary Meros, who had accompanied Sanguinius, cut out his own gene-seed and threw himself into the Ragefire first, letting the Red Angel take control of him.
Meros' body warped into an infernal, corrupted form, much to Sanguinius' horror. The Primarch ordered the avatar of hate to release Meros, but the Red Angel refused. Sanguinius then asked if any part of Meros remained, and the Red Angel confirmed that a small piece of Meros' mind remained alive, locked away within the daemon and just conscious enough to be endlessly tormented. Sanguinius then vowed that no Blood Angel would die in silence, and that one day, Meros would be free of the Red Angel's control. The Red Angel then created a Warp rift and left Signus Prime, leaving Sanguinius and the surviving Blood Angels to purge the planet of remaining daemonic presence, including slaying Kyriss.
The Red Angel was soon taken to the Vengeful Spirit, flagship of the Sons of Horus, where Erebus presented it to Horus Lupercal. Horus asked the daemon about its past, but the Red Angel insisted that who its host was didn't matter, for it was now a weapon at Horus' command. The Red Angel then gave its name to Horus, and Horus' equerry, Sons of Horus marine Maloghurst, pointed out that traitor Primarch Angron of the World Eaters Legion also carried the title of "Red Angel" and would be displeased at sharing the name with the daemon. However, the Red Angel didn't care, remarking that it felt that it deserved the title more, and that Angron was welcome to fight it over the name.
Later, the Red Angel was used by Horus in the Battle of Molech to guide the Warmaster into the planet's hidden Warp Gate, where Horus planned to gain power equal to the Emperor, fighting through scores of loyalist Space Marines to do so. The Blood Angels garrison on the planet was quickly decimated by the Red Angel, who used its power to inflict the Red Thirst on the loyalists, soon leaving only a small force of Ultramarines as resistance. Molech was ultimately captured by traitor forces, and with the Red Angel's help, Horus appeared to achieve the power he came there for.
Following the Battle of Molech, the Red Angel seemed to have vanished into the Warp, being absent for the end of the Horus Heresy, as the war was later called. In the 41st millennium, its status and whereabouts are unknown, but it presumably remains at large.
