Horus Heresy · atlas

Champion · Legion I · traitor (disputed)

Cypher · Lord Cypher

Cypher — a figure with not a single undisputed episode in the Heresy, yet without whom Caliban cannot be explained. “Lord Cypher” is an office of the Order, keeper of its charter and secrets; in that capacity Cypher sat on the council that admitted Zahariel into the brotherhood. In Luther’s rebellion he found himself on both sides at once: a counsellor — and an opponent of Chaos, an ally of the Watchers in the Dark. Zahariel killed him and put the title on himself.

Role
Champion
Legion
I Dark Angels
Side
Traitor (disputed)
Key events
1 event

Fate

His fate is not established. The holder of the title perished in the destruction of Caliban together with the other Fallen; the Cypher known in the 41st millennium appears among the Dark Angels and on Terra, but no source confirms whether he is the same man.

Disputed in the canon

  • The identity is disputed and probably disputed deliberately. “Lord Cypher” is an office of the Order of Caliban, not a name: it was held by at least two. The first Lord Cypher was Luther’s counsellor at the start of the rebellion; Lexicanum notes that the rumour of him as the last Knight of Lupus sits poorly with “Angels of Caliban”, where he is an ally of the Watchers in the Dark and an enemy of Chaos. Zahariel killed him and took the title — but whether the Cypher of the 41st millennium is identical to Zahariel, canon does not say. Hence the side assigned in the atlas: “traitor (disputed)”.

Key events

Sources

  1. Lexicanum: Cypher
  2. WH40k Fandom: Cypher
  3. Angels of Caliban (G. Thorpe)
  4. Descent of Angels (M. Scanlon)
Open in the atlas

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