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Gabriel Seth commands the Flesh Tearers, the most savage of the Blood Angels successor Chapters. He fights a constant battle to keep his brothers from being consumed by their gene-seed's curse, and to keep the Imperium from declaring them renegade.
He wields the two-handed chainsword Blood Reaver and leads his Chapter in battle with savage fury. During the Devastation of Baal, he answered Dante's call and fought alongside the Blood Angels against Hive Fleet Leviathan. His Chapter's reputation for brutality has earned them few friends. Gabriel Seth, the Guardian of Rage, is Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers, a successor Chapter of the Blood Angels that is unusually prone to the Black Rage. He accepts that he cannot fully contain his brothers' bloodlust. Instead he tries to channel it toward worthy enemies and to rebuild the Chapter's ties with the Blood Angels. Their home world of Cretacia is now little more than an armoury and recruiting ground while the Chapter roams the galaxy.
Origins
Seth took command of the Flesh Tearers in 815.M41. His first act was to mend relations with the Blood Angels, whose bond of brotherhood with his Chapter had broken down.
Seth inherited a Chapter in steep decline. On Baal he met Dante and admitted that the Flesh Tearers were dying faster than they could recruit, and that the Black Rage was eroding their strength. Much of his rule since has been an effort to keep the Chapter from extinction while still fighting where the Blood Angels needed him.
Key events
- Repaired the Flesh Tearers' estranged relationship with the Blood Angels.
- Fought in the Third War for Armageddon against Ghazghkull's Waaagh!
- Was summoned to Baal to face a trial of blood before Dante and the Chapter Masters of the Sanguinary Brotherhood.
- Supported the Blood Angels in a conclave when the Chapter teetered on the brink after events on Sabien.
- Was a key commander in the Devastation of Baal. After Dante fell to the Swarmlord, Seth led the retreat.
In James Swallow's Red Fury, Seth refused Dante's request for recruits at a conclave on Baal and privately suggested disbanding the Blood Angels so the Flesh Tearers could take over Baal. Then he fought beside Dante to defend Sanguinius's crypt against Fabius Bile's mutants. Afterwards he called Dante a true brother and offered the recruits, and the other masters followed. Swallow describes his rage as cold and precise. When Dante complained that Seth always tested him, Seth replied that Flesh Tearers must never be predictable. In Guy Haley's The Devastation of Baal, Dante entrusted him with the Reliquary of Amit, and he withdrew from Baal Primus when Ka'Bandha appeared while the Knights of Blood made a suicidal stand.
The same novel shows him resenting the Primaris reinforcements, which he feared would turn Sanguinius's sons into Ultramarines in red armour and take away the fury that defines them. The audio drama The Assassination of Gabriel Seth has his own Captain Guriel conspire with the Inquisition, call him reckless with his brothers' lives, and trap him in a shrine with an Eversor. Seth defeated the assassin, used its embedded explosive to escape and dealt with Guriel. Psychic Awakening: Blood of Baal has him kill a huge Tyranid psychic beast on Ashallon during the Angel's Halo campaign.
Battles & campaigns
- Third War for Armageddon: Five companies of Flesh Tearers fought the Orks. The Chapter came close to excommunication afterwards.
- Devastation of Baal: The Flesh Tearers fought in the defence of Baal.
- Era Indomitus: Primaris reinforcements restored the Chapter's numbers.
Personality
Brash, blunt and fearless, and haunted by the brothers he has lost to the Black Rage. He is fiercely loyal to the Blood Angels brotherhood.
He is a hard and pragmatic leader, focused on survival and the protection of his brothers. He knows that the Flesh Tearers are on the brink of madness and works to keep them from falling. His loyalty to Dante and the Blood Angels is unwavering.
Codex: Blood Angels (5th edition, p. 55) says that when the Sanguinary Priests predicted extinction within decades, Seth vowed that if the Flesh Tearers had to die, they would be remembered with honour rather than fear. He sends them on aggressive patrols through enemy space and answers every distress call he can. He also has them strike apart from other Imperial forces, partly to limit collateral damage and partly to hide their savagery. Index Astartes adds that he often ignores Guard and Sororitas commanders, and that outside battle he becomes stern and gloomy, absorbed by his Chapter's fate. The Character Encyclopedia notes that his armour is covered in blades, so every part of his body is a weapon.
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Connections
Characters (2)
Factions
- Blood Angels primary faction
Also in this faction
Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.
Legacy
Seth leads the Flesh Tearers, whose savagery makes them outcasts even among the sons of Sanguinius. His struggle to hold his Chapter together against its own curse makes him one of the most tragic figures among the Blood Angels successors. His frank admission of the Chapter's plight marks him as a leader willing to confront hard truths rather than hide them. Seth's greatest fear is that the Primaris Marines will cure his Chapter's rage and change what the Flesh Tearers are.
Appearances & sources
- Codex: Blood Angels background
- Flesh Tearers novellas and short stories (Andy Smillie)
- The Devastation of Baal (Guy Haley)