Characters of Battlefleet Gothic: Armada
The Battlefleet Gothic: Armada games introduce a host of characters to flesh out the personalities involved in the Gothic War and, later on, the galaxy-shaking events that came in the wake of the Gathering Storm.
Characters appearing in both games[edit]
Admiral Spire[edit]
Your player character for the Imperial campaign(s), Admiral Spire was the captain of a Dauntless Light Cruiser called in to investigate an Orbital Station that Sector High Command suddenly lost all contact with. Encountering the forces of the Great Enemy, Spire and his ships managed to get word to Sector High Command about the impending danger the Gothic Sector was about to face.
After a very intensive... job interview care of the Inquisition due to his origins (Spire was born of a world with a history of sedition), Spire was promoted by Lord Admiral Cornelius Von Ravensburg to Admiral, and tasked with defending the Gothic Sector against the forces of Abaddon the Despoiler. When Warp Storms isolate the sector, and the Fleets of Chaos broke upon its worlds, Spire rose to the challenge, and helped drive the Traitor forces back, though at great cost.
Given that the Gothic War lasted twenty years, one can imagine that was a lot of work done.
In the wake of the Gothic War, Admiral Spire led his ship in pursuit of Abaddon's retreating forces. Somewhere along the way he ran afoul of one of Abaddon's Chosen, Lord Ravager Devram Korda, and would have died had it not for the intervention of the Blood Angels fleet.
He recovered, and renewed his pursuit. Eight hundred years had passed since then, and what became of the Admiral was unclear...
...Until that is, when his Lunar-class Cruiser manages to break out of the Warp, into a very VERY changed galaxy.
With Cadia in ruins, and the Fleets of Chaos running roughshod over the Imperium in the wake of the birth of the Great Rift, Spire is faced with the monumental task of rebuilding the Imperium's space fleets, and taking the fight back to its enemies.
In-game, Spire is characterized as soft-spoken, dutiful and loyal, he is very religious showing a lot of faith in the Emprah but also quite open-minded for an Imperial Navy man. He is willing to set aside racial enmities and ally with Xenos, if the end result ultimately benefits the Imperium. That said, his patience for BS does have its limits.
Commodore Kage[edit]
Spire's second-in-command and trusted aide, Kage is the one who manages the day-to-day running of whatever ship the Admiral is using. While as loyal and dutiful as his commander, Kage is always ready with a wry quip or comment on the events occurring around him.
Magos Crawn[edit]
The Adeptus Mechanicus magos assigned to Spire's ship, he's the one responsible for keeping its systems working. As unemotional as one would expect from a Mechanicus drone, Crawn does have his moments of awe or surprise.
Prince Eldrathain Voidstinger[edit]
The leader of a significantly-sized Corsair fleet, Eldrathain aligns his forces with Spire's in face of the greater threat that Abaddon posed. His Corsairs play an important part in routing the Chaos forces during the battles of Gethsemane and Schindlegeist, and eventually clearing the sector of Chaos remnants.
The first game gives the player the option of annihilating Eldrathain's Corsairs, but the canon result is that the Eldar (thanks to nudging by Craftworld Ulthwe) ally with Imperial forces, so...
A much older Eldrathain returns in the second game, pleasantly surprised at Spire's return. Though ostensibly on opposite sides again because of a certain Craftworld Os'Tara, he looks forward to "dancing" with Spire once more. He eventually introduces Spire to Yvraine and the Ynnari, and is instrumental in brokering an alliance.
Abaddon the Despoiler[edit]
The main antagonist of both games, Abaddon the Despoiler is the Warmaster of Chaos, leader of the Black Legion, and Commander of the Black Fleet. Ancient, powerful, and with a chip on his shoulder ten millennia old, Abaddon set his sights upon the Gothic Sector thanks to the urgings of a certain troll.
What followed was almost two decades of fire and anguish for the people of the sector. While his fleets were eventually driven back by an alliance between the Imperial Navy and the Eldar, Abaddon still sort of wins, as he was able to abscond with two Blackstone Fortresses, while he destroyed the rest, and left the defenses of the Gothic Sector in tatters. Just as Planned.
At the end of the 41st Millennium, Abaddon makes another play against the Imperium, and this time, mostly succeeds, thanks to blowing up Cadia. With his Chaos fleets now running rampant across the Segmentum thanks to the Great Rift, Spire now has to clean up the mess he left behind. The finale to the second game in the Imperial campaign gives Spire a chance to end the Despoiler's rampage once and for all, as usual, Failbaddon is quite a bad boss, with his minions used as cannon fodder while he gloats about how he cannot be beaten by any mortal being from the bridge of his flagship, of course (if you play the game right) having the Maccrage's Honour and a score of battleships at your side makes the Vengeful Spirit look less impressive than it ought to be.
Characters Introduced in Battlefleet Gothic: Armada[edit]
Lord Admiral Cornelius Von Ravensburg[edit]
Spire's boss, and the first canonical Gothic War character the player meets, Ravensburg is the overall commander of the Imperial Navy forces in the Gothic Sector. Mostly concerned with the broader strategic situation in the Sector, not surprisingly he delegates most of the grunt-work to Spire. He does intervene personally on a few occasions however, specifically the Battle of Gethsemane and the Battle of Schindlegeist.
In canon and in the second game, Von Ravensburg gets all the credit for the victory of the Imperial forces during the Gothic War. Written by the victors indeed. Given that Spire literally disappears at the end, it's more of a propaganda thing than anything, but Spire is known and recognized by Guilliman when he returns, so maybe old Ravensburg isn't such a dick after all.
Inquisitor Thadus Valconet Horst[edit]
An Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, Horst is the second canonical character that Spire encounters in the campaign. Investigating rumors of Traitor activity in the lead up to the 12th Black Crusade, Horst gets stuck in the Gothic Sector when the Warp Storms isolate it from the rest of the Imperium. From that point on, he works hard to counter Abaddon's strategies, with mixed results.
In canon, Horst continues his chase for the Chaos artifact called for the Eye of Night after the Gothic War, but he and the Grey Knights squad accompanying him get killed in the process. His quest eventually gets completed by Inquisitor Katarinya Grefax centuries later, who retrieves the artifact under the orders of the Lord Commander of the Imperium.
Captain Abridal[edit]
Captain of the Overlord-class Battlecruiser Flame of Purity and third canonical character encountered in the campaign, Spire would occasionally run into Abridal as he worked to stabilize the Gothic Sector during the Black Crusade. The good captain would eventually go out in a blaze of glory at the climax of the Battle of Schindlegeist, as he pushed his ship into the point where the warp beams of three Blackstone Fortresses converged.
While his ship was destroyed, Abridal's sacrifice saved the system's star, and stymied Abaddon's plans. This led to an eventual Imperial victory, as the Despoiler was forced to retreat back into the Eye of Terror.
The good captain re-appears in the second game, though mostly to put doubt into Spire's conscience as he runs down a particularly smarmy Tzeentch-worshipper. Spire is forced to take him down, but in the end is forced to admit that even he wasn't really sure if he killed the real Abridal, or a Chaos-induced hallucination.
Brother-Captain Tiberius Solarian[edit]
Commander of a Space Marine strike force from the Imperial Fists Chapter, Tiberius managed to rush to the sector before the Warp Storms fully isolated it. Any favors related to the Space Marines contribution to the defense can be traced to his influence.
Fabricator Cambrius[edit]
The representative of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the Sector's war council, Cambrius fully backs the Imperium's efforts in defending the Gothic Sector. Most of the shiny stuff Spire gets to use as upgrades are thanks to his influence.
Kaptin Krashkrooz[edit]
The Boss of the Ork pirates plaguing the sector, he made his base on a massive Space Hulk. When Spire and Abridal's fleets cornered the Greenskin, the pirate fought back with all the weapons he had available, up to and including a Crusade-era Cyclonic Torpedo.
The forced launch of the latter... didn't end too well, and the Space Hulk was blown apart from the inside, taking the good Kaptin along with it.
Characters Introduced in Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2[edit]
Prologue Characters[edit]
Lord Castellan Ursakar E. Creed
General of the Cadian 8th Regiment, now the supreme commander of all the defenders on Cadia. A man of few words, the Lord Castellan is still an inspirational figure to the men and women defending the fortress world. Initially in favor of evacuating the world, meeting Magos Dominus Belisarius Cawl changed his mind. As a result he moved the remaining defenders to the Elysion Pylon fields in a final stand to buy the Magos time to work on the Pylons.
Wolf Lord Sven Bloodhowl
One of the two Wolf Lords of the Space Wolves Chapter on Cadia for its defense, Sven leads a force of Space Marines from various mauled Chapter forces, Imperial Guard volunteers, and Skitarii cohorts, in an attempt to delay the advance of Abaddon's fleet. Using the Battle-barge Firemane's Fang, Sven's forces board the Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity, and try to sabotage it from the inside.
Thanks to his efforts, the shields of the Fortress went down, which gave the Imperial Fists Fortress-Monastery Phalanx the opening it needed to land the killing blow.
Iron Priest Firemaw
The Space Wolves Iron Priest left in command of the Firemane's Fang as Sven Bloodhowl led his boarding attack on the Will of Eternity. Much like he promised, he gave the Battle-barge a good death by taking as many Black Fleet ships with it before it fell.
Brother-Captain Tor Garadon
Captain of the 3rd Company, and in overall command of the Imperial Fists stationed on The Phalanx during the Battle of Cadia. He orders the venerable star fort's charge into the midst of the Chaos fleet surrounding the planet to destroy the Blackstone Fortress. Needless to say it succeeds. Later he moves the Phalanx to orbit around the Elysion Pylon fields to provide support to the defenders there.
Commodore Trevaux
Officer-in-charge of the Phalanx and other Imperial Fists fleet assets, Trevaux is obviously concerned with whether or not the Fortress-Monastery would be up to taking on the Blackstone Fortress. Naturally Garadon vetoed his more cautious suggestions in favor of charging the Phalanx straight into the midst of the Chaos Fleet, and destroying everything that got in the the way to the Will of Eternity.
Admiral Harbride
A commander of a Cruiser squadron tasked with scouting out the location of the Chaos Fleet for Tor Garadon. Manages to survive the encounter with the vanguard of said fleet, and bring news of its location to the Phalanx.
Magos Dominus of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Cawl was on an exploratory dig at Eriad IV, where an important discovery there forces him to pay Cadia a visit. He convinces Creed to not evacuate the planet, and defend the Elysion Pylon fields while he tried to coax the latter back into working order. Thanks to a certain Necron, he succeeds, and almost manages to close the Eye of Terror.
Archeovist Trazyn the Infinite of Solemnace
A Necron Lord with a collection fetish, Trazyn decided to aid the defense of Cadia on a whim. He helped reactivate the Null Array on Cadia in time to protect it from the Blackstone Fortress' Warp Beam, and then aided Cawl in reactivating the Pylons. It worked. Almost.
Trazyn reappears later, usually related to stymying (or aiding, in the case of the Necron campaign) the Nepheru Dynasty, who he regards as barely better than savages.
Imperial Characters[edit]
Admiral Venesca Catalia
Commander of Cruiser task force Silver Dawn, Catalia's fleet arrives above Cadia during the climax of the Battle of Elysion Fields. Initially she was directed by Brother-Captain Garadon to intercept a planetstrike by Chaos forces on the on-world defenders, but once that was done she led her fleet against the Vengeful Spirit. Guess how that turned out.
Admiral Spire encounters her later on, leading a battered fleet back to safe harbor at Nemesis Tessera, in the aftermath of a failed raid on Craftworld Os'Tara.
Lord High Admiral Drang
The commander of Imperial Navy assets in Segmentum Obscurus, Drang is Spire's direct superior for the initial part of the campaign. After Spire's fleet experiences one Chaos ambush too many, he is BLAMMED by Inquisitor Darkhammer, as apparently he was an Alpha Legion double-agent (this is in fact, confirmed in the Chaos campaign perspective). The latter detail explains so much, especially when one learns that he ordered Catalia's ill-fated raid on Craftworld Os'Tara to begin with.
His rank, and the overall command of the Segmentum forces, is given over to Spire as a result.
Inquisitor Darkhammer
Probably owning the most meaningful name ever, Inquisitor Darkhammer is the Inquisitor assigned to monitor Spire after the discovery of Drang's dubious loyalties. Despite having access to records of Spire's heroism during the Gothic War, he has personal doubts that Spire is up to the task of consolidating the scattered Imperial forces in the Segmentum. This doesn't stop him from ordering Spire around anyway.
Despite Chaos being the most obvious concern after what happened to Cadia, he insists that the Eldar have to be dealt with first, ignoring the fact that the Lord Commander of the Imperium has an alliance with them. Spire misses Inquisitor Horst as a result, as at least Horst was relatively more reasonable.
Eventually Darkhammer goes full "KILL ALL ELDAR" mode, forcefully takes command of the warship Righteous Fury, takes half of your fleet, and leads an attack on Craftworld Os'Tara. Depending on your choice, Spire can either aid the Eldar in the defense of the Craftworld (probably the obvious choice), or join the nutty inquisitor in the attack (earning the wrath of the Ynnari in return).
Given his hard-on for dealing with the Eldar, and a off-handed comment about Inquisitor Valeria (penpal of Trazyn the Infinite), it can be inferred that Darkhammer is part of the Ordo Xenos.
Colonel Maxson
Commander of the Naval marines of Spire's ship. Any Boarding Action care of Lightning Strike or Boarding Torpedoes is assumed to be led by him. Eventually gets killed when he boards a booby-trapped Thousand Sons ship in search of the Spirit Gate, an Eldar artifact that the Ynnari needed.
Magos Numerian
A Magos Dominus who pledged to join Spire's attack on the Dark Throne World Engine. Due to warpstorms his fleet arrives late to the party, but still contributes its numbers in trying to hold back Phaeron Kheprekh's warships.
Chaos Characters[edit]
Malos Vrykan A Word Bearer Chaos Lord, who is the player character. Starting out as a no-name cultist, a daemonhost specifically chose him amongst a gathering of his fellow cultists, earning him ascension as a full-fledged chaos marine and giving him his current name. He was eventually approached by a Dark Apostle named Arkrist Vane, who promised him glory as Abaddon's trusted lieutenant and the blessing of the chaos gods for his involvement in the Cadian invasion, leading him to participate in the campaign.
Arkrist Vane A Dark Apostle who takes the role of Vrykan's mentor and second-in-command.
Sorcerer Antharek A shifty chaos sorcerer of Tzeentch. He appears in the Imperial campaign as a target for the Imperial mission to recover the Spirit Gate artifact on behalf of the Eldar.
In the chaos campaign, he takes a more prominent role as an ally and adviser during the campaign against the Tyranids, warning Vrykan that his stunt of reviving the colossal Tyranid Hive Ship known only as "The Ancient One", has a potential of dooming the entire Cadian sector to the nids, so he proposes a plan of turning the Belial IV subsector into a trap by luring refugees across the Cadian sector so that the sector is concentrated with biomass, which will no doubt attract the attention of the Tyranids.
Maltrius A jovial chaos lord of Nurgle. He appears as an enemy in the other campaigns, and becoming one of Abaddon's chosen if Skyrax Slaughterborn is killed.
In the chaos campaign, he takes a more prominent role of being an ally during the campaign against the Necrons, taking on a quest to obtain a Nurgle relic known as the "Chalice of Entropy", a chalice forged from a splinter from Papa Nurgle's cauldron, giving it a direct link to his garden. He's infamous for the mission involving you playing a stealth mission with warships, of all things. He eventually becomes a Daemon Prince of Nurgle after leading an assault on the Dark Throne with Vrykan and his cohorts, and sacrificing himself in a ritual to connect the Chalice of Entropy with the Garden of Nurgle, dooming the world into rot and corrosion.
Threxos Hellbreed One of Abaddon's chosen and a Khornate chaos lord, whom he put incharge of maintaining the Cadian gate after Abaddon departed for a campaign elsewhere.
He appears as a major enemy in the Imperial and Tyranid campaign, the latter of which sees him at his most hilarious, not only defying Abaddon's direct orders to evade the Tyranids because Khorne demanded slaughter, but axing one of his own captains for merely suggesting retreating while laughing maniacally.
In the Chaos campaign, he takes a more prominent role, initially ordering Vrykan around as his superior, and leading an assault on the Phalanx. However, he instead decided to chase another target at the far side of the Cadian system before joining the raid, causing Vrykan to bear the brunt of the Phalanx's warpath, whilst arriving too late to help. The Phalanx eventually escapes the battle, with him blaming Vrykan for this failure. In turn, Vrykan accuses Threxos of being a slave to wayward pride, and proceeds to kill him as punishment.
Astartes Characters[edit]
High Cardinal Svar
The Iron Hands Iron Father left in command of the Chapter's fleet in Medusa. Initially hesitant to accept aid from the Imperial Navy, even he was thankful once the Eldar raiders in the system were dealt with.
Sind Grolvoch
Another Iron Hands Iron Father, his ships arrive to aid the Imperial Navy in finally driving off the Eldar Raiders from the Medusa system. Kage grumbles his intervention is probably due to the Iron Hands not trusting the Navy enough to complete the mission alone.
Seglei Khan
A White Scars Khan who rides in to join Spire's hunt against the Tyranid Ancient One. While the arrival of his Brotherhood's warships is a welcome one, the Khan doesn't bother coordinating his forces with Spire's fleet. Pretty much in it for the glory of the hunt, really.
Shadow-Captain Aajz Solari
Brother-Captain of the Raven Guard 2nd Company, and part of a Space Marine strike force tasked to take down the Dark Throne, a Nepheru World Engine that hadn't been activated yet. Solari take a page out of the Astral Knights' playbook and rams his Battle-barge onto the World Engine's surface. There the Raven Guard fight their way to the Necron construct's core, where Solari detonates a Vortex bomb to disable it permanently.
Brother-Captain Donatos Aphael
Commander of the Blood Angels 2nd Company, he was part of an Astartes strike force sent to destroy a yet-to-be activated World Engine. A veteran of another attack on a different World Engine, he's more than familiar with just how hard the things are to take down, and the extreme sacrifices that are required to end their threat.
Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman
The Lord Regent of the Imperium, Avenging Son of the Emprah, and Primarch of the Ultramarines Chapter, Grandpa Smurf comes to Spire's rescue when the good admiral's fleet is jumped by Iron Warriors using the Planet Killer. With that little issue dealt with, he puts his uber-warship, the Macragge's Honour, under Spire's disposal.
Eldar Characters[edit]
Autarch Yramahr
An Autarch of Craftworld Alaitoc, who for some reason found it a bright idea to attack the Medusa system for shits and giggles in the middle of one of the most MASSIVE Chaos incursions the galaxy had ever experienced. Spire and the Iron Hands set her straight, sure enough.
Bobby G's Eldar girlfriend and leader of the Ynnari, Yvraine is more than eager to see the threat of Chaos contained. She has a particular interest in the beleaguered Craftworld Os'Tara, and wants to make sure it survives.
Sure enough, the moment Os'Tara's safety is secured, she pulls her forces back, leaving Spire in a lurch. Despite this seeming betrayal, she sends her warships to reinforce Spire in his final battle against the Vengeful Spirit.
Yvraine's second-in-command, the Visarch leads the Ynnari forces in her stead when she's not available. Compared to his counterpart in written media, the Visarch here is downright chatty, and prods Spire into action once things get trippy in trying to recover the Spirit Gate.
Dark Eldar Characters[edit]
Ork Characters[edit]
Kaptin Wazrok
An Ork Freebooter who was hell-bent in hunting down Void Whales, with the intent of using their very radioactive guts to lure something even bigger. Spire and his fleet puts an end to this hunt, first by disposing of the spaceborn titans, then the Ork hunters next.
Before the Naval fleet warp out, this leaves Kage wondering about old horror stories he's heard, and just what could be out there that might prey on Void Whales. (Hint: Void Kraken)
Big Boss Blitzrippa
The Warboss commanding the fleet surrounding Mordax Prime, and force behind the Green Kroozade. He gives Spire and his assembled fleet a difficult fight, and that was before the Warboss revealed that he had two Space Hulks kept ready as his ace-in-the-hole. Doesn't quite have the respect of the rest of his fleet, as the Warboss commanding the other Space Hulk decided that he'd had it with Blitzrippa ordering him around.
Warboss Gorespitta
The Boss of the other Space Hulk around Mordrax Prime, he and Blitzrippa have a "disagreement". Tired of the other warlord bossing it around, Gorespitta decides that he's better suited to leading the Green Kroosade, and opens fire on Blitzrippa's hulk.
Necron Characters[edit]
Nemesor Amarkun the Gatherer
The best nemesor that the Nepheru Dynasty had available, and the player character of the Necron Campaign. Amarkun starts out as the Phaeron's troubleshooter. Mostly content to follow orders and see just how much the Galaxy had changed since the Great Sleep, a little prodding from his adviser as well as Trazyn the Infinite convinces him to take over.
In the Imperial Campaign, Amarkun is encountered thanks to a "tip" given to Inquisitor Darkhammer by Trazyn. Since Spire took Trazyn's warning of "don't let anything escape" literally, Amarkun's warship is blown to kingdom come before it could jump out of the system.
A rather decent guy as 40k goes, Amarkun offers the chance of withdrawal to his enemies if they would agree to his demands while still paying them respect for their bravery, he also states he really doesn't take any pleasure about killing other species and for him it's just pest control over the lawn, additionally he honours his part of a deal to win the allegiance of another Necron dynasty and treats them fairly well, helping them defeat the tyranid invasion, so yeah, pretty much a classical newcron tomb-king-in-space.
Kephrekh the Unbroken
Phaeron of the Nepheru, and Amarkun's boss in the Necron Campaign, as any self-respecting necron ruler he has an ego as big as black hole and does not tolerate discrepancies or alternate takes, this makes him antagonize with cryptek Zaa, who in turns think Amarkun should be in charge.