Cypher

Cypher, the Fallen Angel. Is rumored to have descended from Desmond Miles.

HE'S COMING, HE'S COMING, HE'S COMING!... Yeah, Right. He came. He's here.

Cypher is a pretty impressive Independent Character who Games Workshop neglected releasing rules for despite his model being available for fucking ever and being referenced every 12 seconds in Dark Angels fluff. He was originally notable for having a 4+ on 3D6 completely unmodifiable proof against everything bullshit saving throw on death that served no function but to prevent the other player getting the victory points for killing him since he was still removed even if he passed it. Thanks, Second Ed Codex: Chaos! With the Dataslate from Digital Editions, nearly everyone can now field this bastard in their 6E army.

He's basically a Fallen Dark Angel who dual-wields pistols - one Plasma, one Bolt ,both master-crafted, and both possibly archaeotech - and wears a sweet bone white hoodie over his power armor. Whenever he pops up on the Dark Angel radar, the Inner Circle loses its shit and dispatches the Deathwing and Ravenwing to bring the fucker in but they never can. They've claimed kills, but he always fucking shows up again.

Cypher’s continued existence bears testimony to his seemingly mystical ability to avoid capture. Every time pursuers get close, he has shown an uncanny ability to escape. Down the ages, the Inner Circle of the Dark Angels have suggested that Cypher is under the protection of some higher power. The fact that his lifespan has continued since the days before the Horus Heresy speaks of unnatural powers at play.

Who is he?

Cypher is as elusive as Robert Denby, a living urban legend who either has the patronage of a Chaos god, granting him immortality until he finishes his long mission, a title passed down among agents of the Fallen, a son of a bitch who sold us out to the Machines, or a bunch of random dudes pulling the Spartacus Maneuver. The issue of his identity becomes even more complicated when one considers that "Lord Cypher" was a title used by The Order of Caliban (and by extension, the Dark Angels) who was assigned to embody their traditions and customs and ensure that they would be adhered to at all times. It was specifically mentioned that the Lord Cypher was to completely abandon his old identity upon assuming his position and was given a cloak and hood to keep his appearance concealed at all times- given the nature of this role, it is possible that there has been more than one "Cypher" since the Horus Heresy, with each new one inheriting the equipment and personality of his predecessors.

Knight of Lupus

Thankfully we have more than just theories to go off, and something that is known for certain: his history with the Order of Lupus. If there has been more than one Cypher since the Horus Heresy, we know who the very first one was. Anyway, the Order of Lupus was a Calibanite Knight Order that was actually a cult that studied and collected knowledge of Chaos. They were wiped out by Lion El'Jonson, save for a single survivor who was allowed to join the Order and later the Dark Angels and became The Lord Cypher, a rank of the Dark Angels. He is the person who introduced Luther to the "truths" of chaos, but kept Luther and the other Dark Angels on Caliban ignorant of the Horus Heresy at large that was going on around them. However, this Lupus-Cypher was "killed" (we see him fall, and the body removed by Zahariel's men) during the Fallen uprising, and the Librarian Zahariel took his place as Lord Cypher. The whole young Knight of Lupus thing might just be some kind of elaborate cover story though as when he was unmasked by Zahariel just before his death, Zahariel was able to recognize him as someone from his own past (he may not have even been a space marine given he was still able to feel fear).

Zahariel El'Zurias

See also: Zahariel

One thing that is known for certain is that the Librarian Zahariel becomes the Lord Cypher during Luther's declaration of independence. So far he is the last known person to hold the role, since the fluff hasn't identified anyone else to occupy the role after him.

However, at this point Zahariel is consumed by the power of the Ouroboros, essentially making him possessed and therefore a pawn of Chaos.

Holguin - Voted-Lieutenant of the Deathwing

At the end of “Angels of Caliban” Holguin has self-appointed task of looking after the broken Lion Sword and planned to reforge it and make it whole once again.

However, looks like Holguin did succeed in reforging the sword, because the Lion was once again in possession of it in the space between the Horus Heresy and the Scourging. After the fall of the Emperor, the Lion met his brother Russ in the Imperial palace, and resolved their grievances with each other thrown up on Dulan, with both of them admitting their guilt over putting pride ahead of their duty by being away from Terra at the time of the final battle. The Lion Sword gets thrust through Russ's chest with the Wolf King not making any move to resist, but the Lion turns the blade aside without striking any organs and leaving his brother alive. Russ then believed that they finally understood one another after that and grew to respect and admire his brother (but not envy, never that), calling him the best of them all.

So unless Holguin took the sword, gave it to the Lion, then took it back afterward, he's not any more likely to become Cypher over any other officer of the legion.

Grey Knight Founder

It seems that one of the Cyphers was originally destined to become one of Malcadors Knights Errant and one of the first grand masters of the Grey Knights. In the Pandorax novel Grand Master Epimethius of the original Grey Knights and one of the Fallen Angels is awoken after a ten thousand year sleep and is confronted by a Lord of Change, who is confused at the turn of events by expecting a different person and actually fears the consequences of the change in fate. Epimethius himself states "someone switched places with me. That is now his path to walk". Granted, they don't mention Cypher by name in that book but it does go great lengths in explaining Cypher's motivations in that he selflessly CHOSE to become fallen with the rest of his brethren and is attempting to rewrite his destiny for some unfathomable purpose.

It is not entirely known when Epimetheus was recruited from Caliban prior to the fall, although the Knights-Errant were on Caliban trying to figure out what Luther was plotting and found him in the middle of a downward spiral, but Cypher helped them escape, so the opportunity was there for him to get out or potentially send someone in his place. Not to mention the fact that Epimetheus is an Alpha-Plus Psyker, so if he was a "proper" Fallen he could purge the Dark Angels if they even looked at him funny, and would probably make the entire Inner Circle collectively shit themselves right through their Termie buttplates if they knew about him.

Time Traveller

Another theory is that he is being cast through time in a similar manner to the Legion of the Damned appearing wherever and whenever he is needed. This is is subtly hinted at several times in the fluff, first with the minor inconsistency of his phase knife which exists outside of the space-time continuum, so Cypher has it in some instances, but does not have it in other encounters. Secondly, he can fuck with the established timelines and somehow confuse Lords of Change whose JOB it is to know the future (see above) and thirdly, Cypher/Zahariel is somehow connected to the Ouroboros which was concealed on Caliban, which if you know your philosophy is the representation of time recycling itself eternally. So he could be time travelling, or waiting for eternity to swing back around to try things a little bit better each time round.

• According to certain Arthurian legends merlin’s wisdom and knowledge came about because he was ageing backwards through time and so already knew what was going to happen because he had already lived it. In away Cypher could be playing the part of the Dark Angels version of the Eldar phoenix lords; traveling back through time in order to set up events in preparation for the final battle. Whatever the final plan might be according to the Lord of Change in the “Pandorax campaign” it is directly interfering with the great game of the ruinous powers; when it finds out that two of the players have somehow swapped destiny’s it is terrified about the implications.

41st Millennium

Unless the Watchers in the Dark can pull some resurrection shit or Lupus-Cypher is a Perpetual (or Cypher never actually "died") Because the Ouroboros plotline only gets resolved at the end of the 41st Millennium and we have no further candidates that we know of with any connection to the creature, and no evidence of anyone taking the mantle from him then is likely that Zahariel remains as Cypher through to the 41st Millennium.

During the talk between Azrael and Luther in “The Unforgiven” Luther mentions that his Cypher was slain by Corswain during the destruction of Caliban. Although given the situation at the end of the same book there may be more than one lord “Cypher” running around Caliban at that time.

Though with respect to the Grey Knight angle, it is possible that Zahariel passes the mantle on to someone else further down the line, allowing Zahariel to become Epimetheus whilst "Cypher" became the Fallen Angel we know so well. But the question remains: who?

What he's up to

Cypher: The most renegade of all badasses or most badass of all renegades.

His actual allegiance is a mystery- he's been just as likely to fight Chaos as he is to assist it and there have been multiple incidents where he showed up to save an otherwise doomed Imperial force or even turn on the very cults he helped create. (He even managed to steal the identity of an Inquisitor at one point without anyone noticing until he had long since gotten away with it.) His intentions regarding the Dark Angels are equally bipolar; for every time the Dark Angels have been led astray by him, there's another time where Cypher's trail just happens to lead to the capture of one of the other Fallen or even the discovery of a new recruiting world. Some members of the Inner Circle even theorize that he may be an emissary sent by the Emperor himself to test the Dark Angels' resolve (which is supported by several of Cypher's own statements, including a message he sent to Azrael).

Either way, he is slowly heading in the direction of Holy Terra, a bizarre mission that has the Dark Angels worried as hell. He may even want a word with the God-Emperor. "OH SHIT HE'S GONNA TATTLE ON US!"

In truth it's believed that he has the Lion's sword, and that he intends to return it to the Emperor, ergo earning his/their absolution. Or maybe he's going to assassinate the Emperor. Or maybe both somehow, which if the latter is true essentially makes him the 40k version of Friedrich Nietzsche by killing God, especially considering Cypher's connection to the aforementioned Ouroboros and breaking the cycle of burden that seems to linger around the Dark Angels.

Not to mention the whole Starchild thing, which to the best of everyone's knowledge tells us there's a 50/50 chance that if the Emperor is killed he'll reincarnate into a new body just as when he was originally born, or that the last string on his mortal tether being cut will result in the entire human race becoming unprotected warp gates for daemons and enveloping the entire galaxy in a warp storm that makes the Eye of Terror look like an anthill. So Cypher just might be the bearer of the end times. Who knows? Games Workshop sure as shit doesn't.

Either way, the Dark Angels want him dead before they can find out.

During Abaddon's 13th successive failure, he had the balls to walk onto his capital ship, talk shit, and shoot the only friends Abaddon made in ten thousand years. This happened when Abaddon blinked. As in, closed his eyes and when they opened, corpses. Then he walked out again. Clint Eastwood ain't got shit on this motherfucker. Thus it is now a known fact that Abaddon also fails at blinking.

Or so the rumors go.

This would be an intriguing, suspenseful plotline if Games Workshop ever fucking bothered to progress the storyline.

Also, he is sometimes depicted with green armour even though pre-Heresy Dark Angel armour was black. The Dark Angels who rejected Luther painted their armour green during the Heresy, and were fighting him before the Lion ever showed up on Caliban (this is evidenced by Merir Astellan, who hated both El'Jonson and Luther alike and kept his armor black). The Unforgiven confirms that Cypher changes colour scheme whenever he needs to. His armour is black during that book, but Belial notices that there are still traces of green paint on it (presumably left over from when he played loyalist dress-up during the attack on Piscina in Angels of Darkness). That would at least explain why he shows up all over the place, dressed exactly like a Dark Angel, rustling their collective jimmies

In one instance in the fluff he was being pursued by the combined efforts of a single Black Templar vessel and a Dark Angel fleet. Even though the Black Templar single-handedly managed to apprehend Cypher because they get shit done, the Dark Angel fleet threatens to destroy the Black Templar ship if they won't hand over their prisoner. Begrudgingly, the Templar ship hands over Cypher, starts to send a short message to their High Marshal and then "mysteriously disappears without a trace". Likely into a thousand tiny pieces because the Dark Angels are dishonest, team killing fuck-tards who commit treason to hide evidence of their oh-so-scary Fallen THEY GOT LOST IN THE WARP. The smug Dark Angels then proceed to fly back home, thinking mission accomplished until they arrive and find the cell containing Cypher to be empty. Poof motherfuckers.

More Recently

According to Gav Thorpe's latest novel, Cypher has tracked down a Ravenwing squad, killed an enemy Fallen, willingly thrown down his pistols, and demands to meet with the Inner Circle. Therein follows a series of events where Cypher reveals that The Rock has secretly been host to the Tuchulcha Engine for all this time, and it is part of a triumvirate of entities that when brought together can cross the bridge of time. The other two being the Ouroboros buried within the core of Caliban (and later remains in Caliban's ruins) and a third device/entity held by Typhus. Cypher's involvement in bringing the three together is is accompanied by unusual behaviours from the Watchers in the Dark which serve to convince the Dark Angels of Cypher's importance, if not his sincerity. When they are brought into proximity in the Caliban system they open a rift which appears to stretch back in time to Caliban's destruction, to the interest of multiple factions: Azrael skeptically but hopefully believes to use the rift to prevent the catastrophe, while Astelan thinks to help his rebels win, while Typhus thinks merely to time travel and cause carnage in the name of his dark master. Cypher, as we'll get to in a second, seems to want the overall picture to stay the same.

• Cypher seems to actually like and approve of Azrael saying that he would have made a fine seneschal for the Lion.

When shit hits the fan, it appears that the enemies are closer to the rift than the Dark Angels; Ezekiel is the one who convinces Azrael to destroy the rift, since the Fall of the Lion was simply meant to be and who-knows-what could happen if their enemies travelled through, or brought something back forward in time. However, in the aftermath, there is the implication that destroying the rift in the 41st millennium may have been the causal factor in the event which broke apart the planet of Caliban and which initially scattered the Fallen across time in the first place. While Cypher escaped into the time-rift, adding yet more evidence to the theory that he is travelling back through history trying to change events, but his entire motivation for bringing the Dark Angels back to the ruins of Caliban (and therefore uniting the three pieces and destroying 30k Caliban) remains uncertain.

Cypher somehow shows up again later at the close of the 41st Millennium, presumably either travelling back forward through time or by waiting 10,000 years. (which considering what we already know is actually quite plausible) This time he has showed up on Macragge at around the same time Roboute Guilliman is miraculously resurrected. While Ultramar is set upon by the forces of Chaos, Cypher makes a deal with the reborn Primarch to help fight against chaos, IF he takes him to Terra. So the story of Cypher may FINALLY come to its conclusion.

List of Cypher's Achievements / Troll-List

• Circa M31 Cypher presents himself at the Rock to the Dark Angels and their twelve successors, explaining that Fallen Angels are going to be dropping out of time and spilling the beans. So they form the Unforgiven to keep the secret under wraps.
• 632.M32 Destroyed/Disappeared a Dark Angels successor chapter (the Lions Sable) and a Dark Angels Supreme Grand Master, then returned the Lion Helm & Sword of Secrets to the Dark Angels
• 822.M33 Once again, gave back the Lion Helm & Sword of Secrets after the Dark Angels lost them to Orks.
• 997.M33 Corrupted the Angels of Redemption's recruiting world for some reason (more than likely exposed corruption, but since the planet paid its taxes on time, no one cared). At some point Cypher also guides the Dark Angels to the Feral World of Kimmeria, where Azrael is from.
• M34-M35 Was on the Ur Council during the Nova Terra Interregnum and RULED HALF THE IMPERIUM.
• 624.M36 Fought the C'Tan Deceiver IN THE WARP. The paradox of that shit caused his phase knife to exist outside of the space-time continuum and so he has it, but doesn't have it. Cypher broke physics.
• 665.M38 Impersonated an Inquisitor and deleted the Imperial records about himself and the Dark Angels.
• 200-500.M39 Hangs out with the Alpha Legion NOTHING HAPPENED, A PERSON WHO DOES NOT EXIST DOES NOT ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE WHO DO NOT EXIST
• 518.M39 Betrays the Alpha Legion PEOPLE WHO DO NOT EXIST and the Dark Angels incidentally reclaim a hundred planets from them while hunting for Cypher. The High Lords of Terra give them a whole bunch of medals which they wear with pride.
• Late M39 Kills the Grand Master of the Interrogator Chaplains, Belagor, delivering this bad ass line "Luckily for you I do not equate justice with torture so I promise you this will be swift."
• 976.M41 Single-handedly saves a planet from Chaos, leaves one loyalist survivor who becomes Cypher's fall guy when the Dark Angels come checking.
• 989.M41 Pisses off Lugft Huron and the Red Corsairs swear to kill him. Get in the queue guys.
• 997.M41 The High Lords of Terra get worried about broadcasts from the "Voice of the Emperor" and send SEVERAL members of the Officio Assassinorum to deal with it. None return.
• 998.M41 Ophidium Gulf Incident
• 999.M41 Gets into a fight with Belial of the Dark Angels who is the chapter's greatest warrior. Belial's weapons fail.
• Late M41 Cypher attempts to kill an Inquisitor who is close to figuring out the secret of the Fallen Angels, the Ravenwing spoil the kill, potentially causing themselves problems later.
• The aftermath of 13th Black Crusade While the "Voice of the Emperor" has caused a lot of uprisings, it becomes clear that the Cadian sector is now more faithful and prepared than it has ever been (much to Abaddon's irritation). The Dark Angels discover the source of the broadcasts was the ruins of Old Caliban and switch it off.
• M42(?) (Some years after the battle of Koth Ridge) Cypher presents himself to the Dark Angels and precipitates a sequence of events whereby it is implied that the Dark Angels of the future are involved with the destruction of Caliban.

The Lion Sword

There is no item more mysterious than Cypher’s sword – for it has never been seen unsheathed. Even in the press of close combat, Cypher has never yet been observed to wield the blade. Both psykers and auspex readouts report strange feedback that seems to emanate from the sword within the scabbard, as if it were the source of some barely veiled power. Varying legends have arisen over this never-drawn weapon, claiming it to be the Lion’s Sword once borne by the Dark Angels Primarch.

During the events of “The Unforgiven” Asmodai attempted to remove the Sword form Cypher. As soon as he made contact with the blade his mind was assaulted by visions of the destruction of Caliban; viewed from a single persons view. He experienced the final moments of the person he was viewing the events through. The feelings of hurt and betrayal were so intense that even someone as mad and as zealous as Asmodai was overwhelmed. Asmodai decided that it would be better to allow Cypher to keep the sword and made every effort to never come in contact with the blade again.

• It could be that the reason the lion is unable to wake is because his mind and body were separated during the final conflict with Luther. His body was carried away by the Watchers in order for it to heal and the Lion's mind entered the sword carried by Cypher until the time was right for it to be once again joined with his physical form. The whole Lion sword being broken into two and that one day it will be reforged and made whole once again is just a poetic way of describing what happened too, and what will eventually happen to the Lion. (So in short Cypher who ever he maybe is essentially responsible for protecting the Lion's mind until the time is right, and could quite possible be following the Lions instructions (from within the blade) this whole time.)
• It has been proposed that Cypher might be but a mask, a persona assumed when the last one was destroyed. If the Lion’s mind was indeed separated and now resides within the blade then it could be possible that the Lion could be doing a lucius the eternal on us; whoever has possession of the blade becomes a vessel for the lion’s consciousness. When one vessel is destroyed then the sword simple takes possession of another (essentially becoming the Lion himself just without the advantages of his physical form).
• Alternatively it could have nothing to do with the Lion and instead be connected to the heart of the Ouroboros that the Dark Angels were seeking to destroy during the events of”the Unforgiven”.

6th (and 7th) Edition

His Dataslate comes with some insane(AWESOME) changes and were updated along with the limited edition of the 7E Dark Angels codex.

For one, he can be a non-FOC HQ (But never Warlord) for a Sisters of Battle (eh?), Blood Angels, Grey Knights (Meaning that Kaldor Draigo's even more of a dick than Azrael thought), Imperial Guard, Chaos Space Marines, Space Wolves (How?)(Because an Enemy of an Enemy is a friend), Vanilla Marines and Inquisition (WOT) army. I mean seriously, how would even HALF of these armies accept this bastard as an ally?(master of disguise) And the kicker is that he'll cost -1 Ld on your real warlord. He can't join a Dark Angels army, and if he's up against Dark Angels, every model with the Deathwing rule gains Hatred (Everyone).

As an Independent Character, he gets ATSKNF, Fleet, Hit & Run, frag & krak grenades and Infiltrate. His sword also gives him Eternal Warrior and Shrouded. Also note that he has BS 10. THE SHIT, GEEDUBS.

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Cypher:	190	7	10	4	4	3	8	3	10	3+

Also, that old rule about his daring escape is around again with three modes if Dark Angels are on the field:

• If a Dark Angel is within D6" when he goes down, he's worth 3 flippin' Victory Points for being caught alive.
• If anyone else is within D6" when he goes down, he awards no extra Victory Points for his capture. If there's both a Dark Angel and another dude around when he drops, it becomes a random roll who gets him.
• If nobody's around D6" when he goes down, he'll just leg it and nobody wins a Victory Point.
• If Cypher's still alive at the end of a game, his side wins d3 extra Victory Points.

If no Dark Angels are on the field then Cypher does not award his kill/victory point unless an enemy is within D6" of him when his last wound is lost or he is otherwise removed from the field.

His guns manage to gain some major use, as his plasma pistol ignores Gets Hot! and they allow him to overwatch at full BS. He can also shoot both pistols twice or shoot them once each before or after running. In assault, he'll also make half his attacks (rounding up) at S4 AP5 (using his bolt pistol) and the rest at S7 AP2 (using his plasma pistol), which usually means 2 plasma shots and 2-3 bolt pistol shots as he have 3 base attacks, +1 for two pistols and +1 on the charge, meaning that anything without 3+ wounds and solid invuln in challenge with him is pretty much dead. Note, that this happens on initiative eight.

He also can bring up to 3 Chosen of Chaos squads with himself, to represent his Fallen subordinates/puppets. Those Chosen does not take any slots, have ATSKNF and Infiltrate and can use Cypher's Ld if he's around at the cost of being unable to take any Chaos-y upgrades, like marks or icons, as well as no dedicated transports.

So, looking back, we can summarize the following:
1- he's awesome
2- he's the dark angel equivalent to my little pony on /tg/
3- his rules are cool, do the fluff justice, and will make DA player you face lose. Their. Mind. Just as planned.

The Green Knight/Green Man

Through Zahariel's eyes in "Angels of Caliban" Cypher is seen as a green armoured knight with leafs adorning his helmet and cloak, wielding a bright green blade. This may seem weird but it seems to be a reference to The Green Knight of Arthurian legends.

Totally not similar in anyway.

The Green Knight can appear as one of Arthur's greatest champions where he is often portrayed as an exorcist and one of the most powerful knights in Arthur's court, or he is transformed into the Green Knight in order to test Arthur's court. His major role in Arthurian literature includes being a judge and tester of knights, and as such the other characters see him as friendly but terrifying and somewhat mysterious. He was also a Brettonian rather obviously.

Or as a reference to the green man, a vegetation being in medieval art; a recollection of a figure from Celtic mythology; a Christian symbol; or the Devil himself. very fitting for Caliban don't you think.

Gathering Storm

Cypher is getting a new mini in March, in Gathering Storm 3:Rise of the Primarch. It appears he is Loyalist..... or something. His pistols have also been re-done - to the point that the plasma one looks like its mechanicus.

Gallery

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  You will never find a better artwork for him than this... For now at least. Also, possibly the only official illustration that has him wearing appropriately pre-Heresy armour.

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  Possibly the first-ever artwork of him.

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  The dude has a skull fetish, you'd think he wants to be a chaplain.

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  His bolt pistol... No idea why it changes details with every artwork though...

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  Sexy new 7th Edition model, with true-scale Lion Sword!