Trajann Valoris

Overview

Trajann Valoris is the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, the seventeenth to hold the office and perhaps the deadliest warrior in the Emperor's service. He commands the defence of the Sol System and, since Guilliman's return, sits among the High Lords of Terra.

He wields the Watcher's Axe and has led his warriors against daemons, xenos and traitors. Since Guilliman's return, he has worked closely with the Primarch to reform the Imperium's defences. His role as High Lord has given the Custodes a political voice they had not had in millennia. Trajann Valoris is Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes. Many in the Imperium see him as the Emperor's personal representative, and even the High Lords dare not mock him. He commands the Ten Thousand with complete freedom and leads them in defence of Terra and the Throne. He became a key figure in the Era Indomitus as Guilliman's ally.

Origins

He rose during the Years of Madness, a time of strange omens on Terra that began with the disappearance of the conservative Captain-General Galahoth. Cult activity and possession spread even among the Custodes' own allies, and Valoris pushed the Custodes to act.

Codex: Adeptus Custodes (8th edition, pp. 32-36) traces his career. As an Allarus Terminator he destroyed the space hulk Mournful Siren, wiped out the Genestealer cult called the Emperor's Writhing Shadow and led a pre-emptive strike against Waaagh! Krushfist. He has also run two successful Blood Games, a record no one else has matched. He spent twenty-two years among the Companions but was reassigned because he wanted to take the fight to the enemy. He then spent centuries as a Shield-Captain leading sorties throughout the Sol System and beyond. He became the seventeenth Captain-General after Andros Launceddre died during the Years of Madness.

Key events

1. Took command of the Custodes after Galahoth's disappearance.
2. Led the Custodes' most proactive century since the fall of Goge Vandire, purging hidden cults, striking a xenos threat in the Plutonian void-fortresses and launching extra-solar interdictions.
3. Faced Guilliman when the Primarch reached the Golden Throne, and accepted his authority as Lord Commander.
4. Sits among the High Lords of Terra, and leads the Custodes beyond Sol more than any Captain-General in millennia.
5. Fought alongside Guilliman's Ultramarines and the Sisters of Silence in the Battle of Lion's Gate, when Khornate daemons assailed the Imperial Palace.

Chris Wraight's Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legion describes him as cold and severely scarred. Chancellor Lev Tieron talked him into filling the vacant seat of Lord Brach on the High Lords, hoping he would cast the deciding vote to abolish the law that kept the Custodes on Terra. Valoris was about to vote against it when news of Cadia's fall threw the chamber into chaos. The novel later suggests he had quietly been preparing the Custodes for war, and may have summoned the Sisters of Silence back, years earlier. During the battle for the Palace he led four thousand Custodians out of the Lion's Gate, and he later allowed Guilliman to stand before the Golden Throne, to the anger of several High Lords.

Battles & campaigns

• Battle of Lion's Gate (Second Battle of Terra): He led the Custodes against a horde of Khornate daemons.
• The Indomitus era: He works with Guilliman to defend Terra.
• Watch duty: He commands the Ten Thousand as they guard the Golden Throne.

Personality

Formal, austere and burdened. He believes the Custodes must change, and he dreads what that change might cost.

He is formal and controlled, hiding deep anxieties behind a calm exterior. He understands that the Custodes must change to survive, but fears that change will betray the Emperor's will. His burden has made him a lonely figure.

Weapons & Vehicles

Guardian SpearMelee Weapon

The iconic auramite halberd-and-bolter of the Adeptus Custodes and Deathwatch Watch Masters, marrying a crackling power spearhead with …

Power SwordMelee Weapon

A master-crafted blade sheathed in a crackling molecular disruption field that parts ceramite, bone and steel with effortless lethality…

Bolter & Bolt RifleRanged Weapon

The signature .75-calibre rocket-propelled mass-reactive firearm of the Adeptus Astartes, firing self-propelled explosive bolts that de…

Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.

Connections

Characters (4)

• 
  Arcadian Leontus ally · Astra Militarum

  Trajann's Solblades fought alongside Leontus's armies in the Fourth Tyrannic War.

• 
  Constantin Valdor predecessor · Adeptus Custodes

  Trajann holds the title Valdor first held.

• 
  Morvenn Vahl parallel · Adepta Sororitas

  Both lead elite institutions based on Terra in the Era Indomitus; no joint campaign is recorded.

• 
  Roboute Guilliman ally · Ultramarines

  Trajann accepted Guilliman's authority as Lord Commander.

Factions

• Adeptus Custodes primary faction

Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.

Legacy

Valoris leads the Custodes in an age of upheaval. His acceptance of Guilliman's authority, and his willingness to send Custodians beyond Sol, have redefined the Custodes' role. He is acutely aware that the Imperium may be on the brink, and that the Emperor's guardians cannot simply wait at the palace walls. His tenure redefines what the Custodes are for, moving them from hidden guardians to an active force in the Imperium's survival. His leadership marks the Custodes' return to a more active role in the Imperium's wars.

Under his command, the 8th-edition codex says, the Blood Games became more frequent, cults hidden in Terra's polar underhives were purged, and thirty-two separate interdiction strikes were launched beyond the Sol System. Some credit the Moment Shackle, a relic from Terra's dark past, with letting him foresee Guilliman's return. He led Custodians and Grey Knights at Gathalamor and recovered relics on Jovandira alongside the Imperial Fists. The Leviathan rulebook puts him aboard the Manifest Judgement at Bastior, where he saved Lord Commander Leontus from a Norn Emissary. The 9th-edition codex rates him as perhaps the deadliest single warrior in the Imperium, approaching the Primarchs.

Appearances & sources

• Codex: Adeptus Custodes background
• The Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch
• Watchers of the Throne (Chris Wraight)