Warhammer 40K: Does Be’lakor Need A Champion in 40K?
Be’lakor is getting a new champion in Age of Sigmar with the arrival of Eternus. But should he get one in 40k, too?
Earlier this week Games Workshop dropped a preview of Eternus, Blade of the First Prince for Age of Sigmar. He’s a pretty cool looking model with an interesting backstory and origin.
He was a member of the Varanguard – Archaon’s Elite Champions of Chaos – until he broke his oath and swore allegiance to Be’lakor. After some divine lightning action and Be’lakor’s power mixed he was reborn as the First Prince’s new Champion.
But with his announcement folks started to wonder: Will we see him in 40k?
Personally, I don’t think so. Eternus is very much a product of the Age of Sigmar storyline and he wouldn’t fit as a 40k transplant like Be’lakor (who is canon in both 40k and AoS). Eternus is also not a daemon so that also limits his crossover options. Plus, he doesn’t even have a bolter. And Chaos Marines have to have access to bolters!
But that doesn’t mean Be’lakor shouldn’t have his own champion in 40k.
Be’lakor’s Champion In 40K
Be’lakor’s history in 40k isn’t dissimiliar to his Warhammer Fantasy history or the Mortal Realms. He’s still the First Daemon Prince and serves Chaos Undivided. He was still denied the power he ultimately wanted and he’s still super jealous of the Champions of Chaos who rise up after him. Be’lakor still helps out the Favored Champion of Chaos – in this case it’s Abaddon – albeit reluctantly (or with his own schemes in mind).
So yeah…the parallels are there. So just take one of Abaddon’s Inner Circle and have that character break ranks and swear loyalty to Be’lakor and BOOM…new Chaos Be’lakor Champion, right? Well…not exactly.
Abaddon doesn’t really have a direct 1:1 unit of Elite Champions like Archaon does. He doesn’t have a Varanguard equivalent. Sure, he’s got Chaos Champions and you could make the case for a Chaos Terminator but that just doesn’t have the same level of betrayal. The closest character that comes to mind is Haarken Worldclaimer but I don’t see him getting an update in that regard anytime soon.
No, if Be’lakor was to get a his own Champion of Chaos, who ever it was, the betrayal needs to sting. The Champion probably needs to be a relative higher up but someone without a model. And they need to be an Elite level fighter — someone Be’lakor would take note of.
I think Huron Blackheart would fit! He’s already betrayed the Imperium and he’s kind of a player in the galactic scene. However, he does have a model…But man oh man a replacement/update/glow-up would be most welcome! Imagine him redone with a spike in power from Be’lakor. That could be pretty awesome. But maybe he’s got his own plans and doesn’t need Be’lakor.
What if we went the opposite route? And we pulled a Champion from a Loyalist chapter? Perhaps a Captain from a Space Marine faction? That would be quite the betrayal! And we could double down on it by making it be a former Chapter Master who was a Primaris Marine! Oh…what if he attempted to undergo the Primaris Rubion but “died” on the table and Be’lakor offered him a second chance?
This would tick a lot of boxes. You get a big betrayal. You get to kill a Space Marine Chapter Master after the “dangerous” Primaris Protocol fails. You get to resurrect another character (similar to Eternus) and you get to make them “reborn” as a Champion of Chaos.
Eh, it’s just spitballing and probably won’t ever happen. That said, should Be’lakor get his own champ in 40k? Yes. Will it be Eternus? Probably not. But the door is wide open for someone else to fill those 40k boots.
What do you think? Who should Be’lakor’s 40k champ be?
