Sanguinius, also known as the Great Angel and the Brightest One during his lifetime, was the Primarch of the Blood Angels Legion of Space Marines. He was killed during the climax of the Horus Heresy during the Battle of Terra defending the Emperor of Mankind from the Warmaster Horus aboard his flagship, the Battle Barge Vengeful Spirit. Though Horus slew Sanguinius, who had once been one of his closest friends amongst the Primarchs, legend holds that it was the ♥♥♥♥♥ in Horus' armour created by the Angel that allowed the Emperor to slay the Arch-Heretic and thus prevent Mankind from falling to the corruption of the Ruinous Powers of Chaos.

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After the Emperor created the Primarchs, the Ruinous Powers made off with the infants and carried them through the Warp. Unable to destroy the Primarchs because of the powerful protections laid on them by the Emperor, the daemonic powers nonetheless did their best to alter the Emperor's work to their own evil ends. Thus it was that even the best of the Emperor's creations became corrupted at the outset. The pod that housed the infant Sanguinius came to rest upon Baal Secundus, at the place now known as Angel's Fall. The infant Primarch was found by one of the wandering tribes of humans who called themselves the Folk of Pure Blood, or simply the Blood. The young Sanguinius' life almost came to an end then and there, for the touch of Chaos had changed him. Tiny vestigial wings, like those of an angel, emerged from his back. Many wanted to kill the child as a mutant, though in all other ways he was as perfect a child as had ever been seen. Eventually innate compassion prevailed and the child was spared. Sanguinius was indeed angelic, not just physically, but also within his unblemished soul. Many of the parables and psalms still recited by The Blood have been transcribed by Blood Angels Librarians over the years, and are kept with reverence in the most sacred shrine-archives of the Blood Angels.

The infant Sanguinius was a prodigy -- he grew quickly and learned everything his parents could teach him. After three weeks Sanguinius was as large as a child of three years. It is said that at this age he slew a giant fire scorpion with his bare hands, and that he never once showed fear at the colossal beast's onset. As Sanguinius grew his wings grew also, changing from vestigial things into mighty pinions that could bear him aloft upon the desert air. By the time he was a year old, he looked and acted like a man in his youthful prime. He could walk without a rad-suit in the most poisonous of Baal Secundus' deserts, and could shatter massive boulders with a single blow of his outstretched hand. In the use of all weapons he soon excelled his teachers.

Although the details of Sanguinius' early life are lost to time and memory, the notable events of his childhood have been told and retold so many thousands of times by the Baalite tribes that they have become ingrained in cultural memory. Like the other Primarchs, Sanguinius grew to maturity at an incredible rate, as did his wings. The feathers were as white and pure as a swan's, but as strong as those of the Imperial Aquila itself. His wings ultimately became mighty pinions that could bear him aloft through the scorching desert air, inspiring awe and devotion from the lesser beings beneath. Sanguinius learned everything his adoptive parents within The Blood could teach him. After only three weeks he was as large as a three-year-old child and could walk. By the time he was only one Terran year old, Sanguinius looked and acted like a man in his youthful prime. He could walk without a radiation suit in the poisoned, radioactive wasteland of Baal Secundus. He could smash a path through a rockfall with the blade of his hand, best wild animals with but a glance and soar high into the sky on his mighty wings to observe the land below from the perspective of a god. As Sanguinius reached maturity, his tribe prospered and grew under his wise guidance.

When a wandering band of Baalite mutants surprised his tribe, Sanguinius slew them all single-handedly, although they numbered over a hundred. This was the first time the members of The Blood had ever seen the Angel truly angry, for he felt his comrades' lives were in danger. When the blood-rage overtook him he was indeed terrible to behold. The full powers of a Primarch came upon him and a nimbus of light played about his head. Sanguinius distinguished himself in the fateful years that followed. He soon rose to the pinnacle of the primitive society present on Baal Secundus, and under his leadership, the pure-blooded Baalite tribes united against the infestation of mutants that had begun to plague the radioactive wastes of Baal.

Under his perfect leadership, coupled with his total mastery of physical combat, the Baalite tribes drove back the tide of mutant filth that threatened humanity's hold upon their poisoned world. Under Sanguinius' direction Mankind earned another chance to build civilisation upon Baal Secundus. In time, as a result of his accomplishments, Sanguinius was inevitably worshiped as a god by the humans of Baal who owed him so much. They were convinced that paradise would follow in the crimson footsteps of the Angel. Sanguinius soon rose to leadership of the Blood, and under his guidance they rolled back the mutant tide. For a time Mankind had a respite on the moon of Baal Secundus. Sanguinius was worshipped as a god by his followers who felt that he could once again create a paradise in that dreadful land. Yet it was shortly thereafter that fate intervened once more.