Who are Space Marine 2’s new Chaos antagonists, the Thousand Sons?

When Space Marine 2 was first introduced, its debut trailer led gamers to consider the largest enemy to combat could be the hungry hordes of Tyranids swarming the Imperium. They’re nonetheless a serious menace, however the newest gameplay trailer revealed the sport’s different antagonist: the Thousand Sons, servants of the God of Change. But who are these dangerous guys, precisely, and why are they such a menace to Titus and the Imperium of Man?

Over 10,000 years in the past, earlier than the present grimdark setting of Warhammer 40,000, the Emperor of Man created 20 Space Marine legions. Things instantly began going off the rails; two legions had been purged from historical past, their fates unknown. A civil conflict referred to as the Horus Heresy break up the remaining 18 legions 50/50, with half on the aspect of humanity and the Emperor. The different half, together with the Thousand Sons, ended up siding with the extra-dimensional and wholly malevolent Chaos Gods.

The Thousand Sons are arguably the most tragic traitor legion, and a few followers have argued that their primarch, Magnus, did nothing unsuitable. (He completely did a complete lot of issues unsuitable, however that’s a complete different article.) Each legion, loyalist or traitorous, has their very own specialization; the Imperial Fists like to fortify, the Raven Guard is the finest at stealth, and members of the Death Guard are powerful to the level of near-invulnerability. Magnus and the Thousand Sons are top-tier pyskers; these guys aren’t simply Space Marines, in addition they have a ton of house wizards of their ranks.

Image: Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment

Back in the days round the Horus Heresy, Magnus the Red — who loved numerous freedom and energy as one in every of the Emperor’s sons — spent numerous time mucking about in the Warp. What he didn’t know, as a result of his dad by no means clued him in, is that the Warp is the area of the Chaos Gods. One of those malevolent entities, Tzeentch, reached out to Magnus and began some house Skype calls.

Tzeentch provided to repair up a little bit downside the Thousand Sons had been coping with: a rampant mutation referred to as the flesh change. Magnus traded his eye for an answer to the flesh change. This began a sequence of bargains that finally by accident turned Magnus towards his dad and loyalist brothers, and ruined his father’s grasp plan for the way forward for humanity.

Making issues worse, the flesh change returned. Ahriman, the favored son of Magnus, determined to interact in a little bit paternal rise up of his personal. He solid an advanced spell, referred to as a rubric, in an try to remedy the flesh change. It variety of labored; Ahriman stopped the flesh change as a result of the spell turned each non-psyker Thousand Son right into a storm of mud trapped inside their armor. Oopsie doodle!

Image: Games Workshop

The Thousand Sons have been a long-running antagonist to the Imperium, and Magnus even confirmed up at the starting of the present Era Indomitus to try to cease the Ultramarines primarch Roboute Guilliman from making it to Terra. The Thousand Sons displaying up in Space Marine 2 is a little bit little bit of a grudge match. As Titus stomps his method via Rubric Marines and Tzeentchian sorcerers, I’ll be pondering: My dad might beat up your dad.

Tzeentch is a harder boss to depict in video video games than the different Chaos Gods. Change, manipulation, and destiny are summary ideas in comparison with Khorne’s bloodshed or Nurgle’s plagues. The Thousand Sons are a great way to place a face — effectively, or a helmet filled with mud — on Tzeentch and his infinite variety of schemes. I hope we see a few of this Chaos God’s weirder parts, like two-headed demons that may inform the previous and future, however not the current.

Space Marine 2 is because of be launched this winter on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X; it has no concrete launch date.