The God-Emperor of Mankind is the central figure of worship in the Imperium of Man, a vast and crumbling galactic empire in Warhammer 40,000. Once a living human, the Emperor united humanity during the Great Crusade, leading His armies of genetically enhanced Space Marines and the Imperium’s forces across the stars, conquering thousands of worlds. His vision was to create a utopia for mankind, free of superstition and the warp’s corrupting influence. However, His dream was shattered during the Horus Heresy, a devastating civil war that saw His favored son, Horus, turn against Him. In a climactic battle aboard Horus’ flagship, the Emperor was mortally wounded and entombed on the Golden Throne, a life-support machine on Terra that keeps Him barely alive, but at a terrible cost.
Now, ten millennia later, the Emperor is worshipped as a god by the countless billions of His subjects, though He had originally sought to rid humanity of religion. The irony of His fate is that, in death, He has become the very symbol of faith and divinity He once opposed. His decrepit body sits immobile on the Golden Throne, sustained by the psychic power of the Astronomican, a beacon that allows human ships to navigate the treacherous warp. Although His physical form is crippled, His mind and will still reach out across the Imperium, protecting it from the horrors of the warp and guiding humanity’s fate through His unseen influence.
The Emperor’s cult-like worship is the foundation of the Imperium, with the Adeptus Ministorum, or the Ecclesiarchy, enforcing His divinity. For the citizens of the Imperium, the Emperor is both protector and punisher, a stern father figure who demands unwavering loyalty and sacrifice. His legend casts an omnipresent shadow over all of humanity, with His decrees and ideals driving the brutal, authoritarian regime of the Imperium. While His sacrifice holds the Imperium together, it is a fragile, decaying realm, perpetually at war and teetering on the brink of collapse. Yet, even in His ruined state, the God-Emperor’s influence is absolute, His loyal subjects fighting on with fanatical devotion, believing that one day He will rise again to lead mankind into a golden age.