Phoenix Lord

The Phoenix Lords are the founders of the Eldar's Aspect Warrior shrines, and are the authorities on what it means to practice their respective Aspects. They embody their Aspects so completely that their students often get trapped in that Aspect and become Exarchs. Think of them as legendary (im)mortal heroes of Khaine.

As of the 41st Millennium, the Phoenix Lords are not properly alive any more; their spirits have integrated themselves into their armor, so if they do fall in battle, they can be resurrected by having someone new don the suit, and they're vicariously back in action, though the unfortunate Eldar who dons the suit gets overwritten by the original Phoenix Lord's personality and memories. Believe it or not, it's not as bad as it sounds. The Eldar who take up the Phoenix Lord's armor are always Exarchs, so they're committed to their Aspect for life. By the time an Eldar becomes an Exarch, they eat, sleep, and breath their Aspect. Due to the way the Eldar mind works, at that point they'll never be able to change occupations, so becoming the host body for a Phoenix Lord's spirit isn't much of a change for them. Whether you see this as a tragic loss of what little personality the Exarch had managed to retain, or the ultimate sacrifice made by a noble warrior is up to you.

On the battlefield, they wield upgraded versions of their Aspect's weapons and have all of the powers available to their Aspect's Exarchs (unsurprising, considering that they taught their Aspect everything) and strike a variety of fantastic battle poses. It has been years since the models have been updated though, so come on GW; tear yourself away from the new Ultramarines for a moment and give us some kickass new Phoenix Lord models!

Supposedly, these Lords will be heavily involved in the final battle against Chaos; given that Phoenix King is one of Asuryan's titles, there may be something to this rumor. Yet for being such rumoured big characters in the endgame, GW continues to underuse them in the fluff, which is a crying shame.

It's generally agreed that the Phoenix Lords' stats are distinctly unfitting of their background and more suited for very experienced Exarchs rather than the embodiments of each Aspect. (Alternate take: while I can understand this idea to a certain extent, keep in mind that not one, but two of the Phoenix Lords can consistently beat Abaddon himself—Abaddon, who is generally regarded as being the hardest close combatant in the game. Their stats are far from sub-par.) (These are Eldar players you're trying to reason with. They aren't satisfied unless every statline has a 9 in it). (Maybe if Imperial Assassins weren't more skilled in the crunch than ancient, reincarnated warrior souls with the experience of a thousand battles? Seems odd.) But barring Forgeworld making a Phoenix Lord line, this isn't likely to change any day soon.

List of Phoenix Lords

Asurmen

Hat? Hat.

Asurmen, the Hand of Asuryan, was the first Phoenix Lord and the one who led the flight of the Craftworld Eldar from the collapsing Eldar empire, and later founded the Dire Avenger Aspect and the Path of the Warrior. Originally named Iliathin, he was just an average Eldar who lived an ordinary life on one of the Eldar homeworlds. When the pleasure cults started wreaking havoc, his brother, a anti-pleasure cult vigilante named Tethesis, wanted to leave with the Exodites but stayed as he didn't want to leave his brother (who saw them as foolish doomsayers). Then the Fall of the Eldar happened & the two brothers somehow survived & tried to survive a post-apocalyptic world. Unfortunately his brother got possessed & he had to kill him. Feeling depressed, he almost commits suicide by jumping off a balcony until a young brat named Faraethil interrupted. Originally annoyed by her, he takes up the name Asurman after rescuing her from some Dark Eldar. After renaming himself and her, they settled on a moon they renamed Asur and the rest is history. He later sealed his brother's soul to his sword hilt to keep it being Slaanesh's junk food. To the Eldar he's seen as the paragon of what a warrior can be, and many of his protégés went on to found Aspects of their own. Before the Fall Asurmen led the Craftworlds away from the Eldar homeworlds. We know he's a humble fellow, as he named himself Asurmen, which means "hand of god", and after the fall he renamed his newly chosen homeworld Asur. After the Fall, he spent all his time traveling between the Craftworlds, teaching any who would learn the Path of the Warrior and kicking the ass of any who threatened the Eldar. Asurmen was killed during the fall of Asur when the world was overrun by the daemonic legions of a certain rapey god, though like a boss Asurmen shouted "Fuck death!" and started the Phoenix Lord tradition of keeping their souls in their armor. He's also responsible for the massive fetish all Eldar have for huge pimped out hats.

On the Tabletop

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Asurmen:	220	7	7	4	4	3	7	4	10	2+/4++

In-game, Asurmen is a good all-rounder; he's good in melee and ranged combat, and great in a challenge. Like all Phoenix Lords, Asurmen is Fearless, Fleet, and has Counterattack and Eternal Warrior. He has a twin-linked Avenger shuriken catapult for ranged combat (so his BS7 is no better than BS5, but he hits 35/36 times), the Sword of Asur (a S+1 AP2 MC power sword), and the Shield of Grace that ups his invulnerable save to a 3++ in a challenge. He's also as tactically flexible as you'd expect, as he rolls D3 warlord traits from the Craftworld Eldar choices. His sword also has a fun rule called Soulrazor that forces targets to take a Leadership test for every unsaved wound; if they fail, they are removed from play (note: removed from play, so not Instant Death, which is HUGE. Having a chance to one-shot anything with a Leadership value is great, especially if you start dicking around with people's values, and because it's removed from play, no saves are allowed; Eternal Warrior does nothing to help against this). With his AP2 and great WS and I, he's good in a challenge, and if you stick him into a unit of Dire Avengers he can make them much more formidable. Also, not really important, but he did gain Plasma Grenades like the rest of his Aspect.

Jain Zar

Bend over, Abaddon.

Jain Zar, the Storm of Silence, was Asurmen's first student, loyal companion, and hot space-elf eyecandy. Or maybe not. She never takes off her armor, so fuck if I know. She's the founder of the Howling Banshees Aspect. Originally a feral Eldar child named Faraethil, she was too young to remember the glories of the Eldar Empire (not that that helped them much due to their fall). She was originally raised by her brother before he was killed some Daemons. (Retcon! Jain Zar: Storm of Silence reveals that Faraethil lied about her origin. She was actually a Wyche who got fed up with her old way of life and ran away. More specifically, she was disgusted in how the fights in the arena had devolved into nothing but sport and spectacle.) She eventually encountered a survivor named Iliathin and interrupted his suicide attempt. He shunned her until she is attacked by some Dark Eldar (probably not too happy about her running away). He manages to save her though she lost control and managed to kill some herself. Realizing he needed to discipline her, he renamed them both before they left. They then settled on a moon they renamed Asur and the rest is history. Even among the greatest Eldar warriors, her skill and blinding speed were noteworthy. In the true Phoenix Lord way, she spent most of her time in life wandering around the Webway with her students, perfecting her skills and skullfucking the occasional Deldar or daemon, occasionally coming forth to wreck shit. She is noted for being an acrobatic fighter, so it's likely she trained with the Harlequins or, considering her age, maybe she trained them, equaling if not surpassing the Harlequins, though her eponymous book makes clear she knew only a little of them, and was disturbed by what she knew. Of all the Phoenix Lords, Jain Zar is the most active. She can regularly be seen leading Eldar warhosts against the forces of Chaos. Lately she's been hunting Night Lords, as she heard from a mysterious prophet that Talos Valcoran would unite the assorted warbands and lead them against Ulthwé. After getting his ass handed to him, Talos pulled the pin on a krak grenade and gave her a big hug. She died. For now. Confirmed to have "reincarnated" already, as she is playable in Dawn of War III. Confirmed to still be alive as of Gathering Storm II: Fracture of Biel-Tan.

On the Tabletop

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Jain Zar:	200	7	7	4	4	3	7	4	10	2+

Why does no one field this chick? She has your typical Phoenix Lord stat line, and she adds some mobility to her unit with her warlord trait: Falcon's Swiftness, which adds 1 to her run distance and any unit she is attached to. If she's on her own she benefits from the "Acrobatic" rule, which adds another 3 to run distances, for a total of D6+4 with rerolls for Fleet. She has a big spikey fucking boomerang thing called Silent Death that is range 12 S user AP2, Assault 4. In melee she still uses the Blade of Destruction (creative name, right?), S user AP2 with shred. She has a pimped out banshee mask that destroys the WS and I of whoever she's in melee with, and a wicked rule called Disarming Strike. Jain can choose to give up an attack to make one of her opponent's weapons count as not being equipped. It sure would be a shame for Kharn to forget to use Gorechild. For all this Grade A cheddar, she has no invulnerable save and no assault grenades (...which she doesn't need! Acrobatic lets you charge through difficult terrain with no effect on your Initiative. Oh, and no overwatch because of the mask), so sticking her in a unit of Banshees is almost mandatory, but then why wouldn't you? By pure mathhammer she is the second most formidable melee challenger in the game, hands down (so long as she isn't up against a Monstrous Creature). She'll beat Logan Grimnar, Dante, Drazhar, a pimped out Chaos Lord or Marine chapter master. Even against a lot of the cheesiest melee fighters like Abaddon, Kaldor Draigo, Sevrin Loth, or 3 out of 4 Imperial Assassins she'll come out on top, as most characters are fighting her at WS 1 or 2 with no melee weapon, at initiative 1. After doing some calculations, literally the only three characters that aren't Monstrous Creatures (meaning they don't have Smash) that can beat her in a fair fight are the Culexus Assassin, the 30k Custodes Shield Captain and (in a fight that will interest fa/tg/uys everywhere) Lelith Hesperax. Both first and last ignore armor via a special rule rather than a weapon; the Culexus has a similar WS-destroying rule and Lelith manages to win purely based on having an invulnerable save, and even then it's a really close fight. They have almost identical numbers of hits, and Jain actually wounds more, but Lelith has her invulnerable. Jain Zar will actually win if she gets the charge and uses her (Assault 4, AP2) ranged weapon, and Lelith's lack of Fearless and Leadership 9 (7, with Jain's mask) mean she might well suffer from Fear each round. The Custodes Shield Captain on the other hand can have an Invulnerable save so good, that Jain Zar barely touches him while he beats her to death with his bare hands (yes, even with her 2+ save she still loses). Also of note is Lukas the Trickster, whose Last Laugh rule means that when Jain Zar inevitably spanks him in melee, he might take her with him (the harlies have a warlord trait that does something very similar).

Baharroth

Did someone say laser tag?

Baharroth, the Cry of the Wind, was the founder of the jump infantry Aspect: the Swooping Hawks. Noted by Asurmen as the best of all his students, and noted by everyone else as an evasive motherfucker. He reflects the tactical genius of his teacher more than the other Asurya—not that you'd know that from his performance on the table, but more on that later. Baharroth is the fastest Eldar to have ever lived, and is the most "youthful and vibrant" of the Phoenix Lords, and his appearance is seen as a good omen by the Eldar. He apparently specializes in flying around, looking pretty, and inspiring people. No lore exists about his original death, so it's possible he's still in his first body, not having passed into his armor. If so, this would make him one of the oldest still-living beings in the galaxy, save one or two others.

On the Tabletop

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Baharroth:	170	7	7	4	4	3	7	4	10	2+

In-game, Baharroth is the cheapest of the Phoenix Lords, and for good reason. He's pretty mediocre in melee, and his shooting isn't that impressive, as he only has a regular lasblaster with slightly higher strength, but you aren't taking him for his combat abilities. Stick him in a squad of Swooping Hawks and you now have a squad of jump infantry that has an 18" regular move with an extra D6+3 and Hit & Run. Unless you're playing on an Apocalypse board you're going to be able to put your Hawks wherever you want them. They can kill blobs and MEQs or vehicles with their Haywire grenades, but they can do fuck-all against TEQs. In true Eldar fashion, Baharroth's strength comes not from balls-out combat power but the tactical flexibility his mobility can offer, and while he isn't going to be leveling any armies on his own, your hyper-mobile group of harassing troops could be quite distracting. Once upon a time, he was infamous for being able to wipe out whole armies in one turn due to assault consolidation rules and his ability to generate more attacks from his attacks, including the extra attacks made in this manner. Needless to say, this got nerfed hard later.

Karandras

Mysterious fucker could be anything under that mask.

Karandras, the Shadow Hunter, is the Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions Aspect. He started out not as the pupil of Asurmen but of Ahra, and no one knows anything else. Even among Phoenix Lords, this guy is mysterious. Seriously, I can't even find lore on this guy, which is actually rather appropriate for a space ninja. Person who knows what they're doing here; Crushed to death by a dreadnought and promptly possesses another striking scorpion instead of waiting for someone to put on his armour, so cool

On the Tabletop

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Karandras:	200	7	7	4	4	3	7	4	10	2+

In-game, Karandras is a ninja with a powerfist and a chainsword. He comes to battle with the typical Phoenix Lord stat line, Infiltrate, Move Through Cover, Night Vision, Stealth, and Shadowstrike (if he Infiltrates he has Shrouded until he shoots or enters close combat). These abilities mean that he can get into melee range really quickly, all the better to shove his power fist up you opponent's ass. As far as gear goes, he brings a S+1 chainsword and a S-user x2 AP2 Scorpion's Claw that strikes at Initiative. He also has The Scorpion's Bite (a stupid name, because scorpions don't bite, they sting) which is more or less a souped-up version of mandiblasters that hit at Initiative 10, guaranteed hit, wounding on a 2+ and ignoring armor saves, and he rounds it all off with assault grenades. For all this win, he has no invulnerable save, so he can be pretty fragile, but with his high Initiative this usually won't matter. Also, for some stupid reason he does not have the Stalker rule Striking Scorpion Exarchs now have. Just don't go charging any greater daemons.

Fuegan

Is his codpiece a skull?

Fuegan, the Burning Lance, is the founder of the Fire Dragons Aspect and the patron saint of overkill. His students can often be heard talking about how the enemy should be utterly annihilated so that their survival is impossible; they think that carefully applied annihilation is necessary for harmony, and that destruction can be a force of creation. In reality Fuegan is just a misunderstood fellow. He just likes popping holes in tanks. Given his great love of fire, axes, and overkill, he's actually a pretty fun guy to be around. He and Kharn would get along pretty well if it weren't for that whole business about Kharn's boss. For some reason, he keeps a skull over his dick. Like most Phoenix Lords he is annoyingly mysterious.

On the tabletop

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Fuegan:	220	7	7	5	4	3	7	4	10	2+ 6+++

In-game, Fuegan is pretty much a berserker with a melta gun, and he plays about like it sounds like he would. No, really, that's pretty much how he works. Okay, fine. He rolls with the typical Phoenix Lord stat line (with +1 Strength), and he's tied with Asurmen for being the most expensive Eldar Independent Character. In addition to the typical Phoenix Lord stuff he can reroll any one die in the shooting phase. He also has Feel No Pain and a fun little rule that buffs his Strength and Attacks by 1 every time he takes an unsaved wound (this includes wounds he ignores with Feel No Pain). His warlord trait, Mark of the Incomparable Hunter, gives him the Split Fire universal special rule. Gear-wise, he has his firepike, which is an 18" range melta gun, melta bombs, and a power axe that strikes at full Initiative and has Armorbane. No invulnerable save, but that's somewhat compensated for with his Feel No Pain. As you'd expect, he's hell on wheels against armor, and he's not half bad in a challenge either. Very expensive and not terribly points efficient. YMMV.

Maugan Ra

8.1/10, too much skulls

Maugan Ra, the Harvester of Souls, is allegedly "the founder of the Dark Reapers Aspect", though looking at his chosen heraldry and the gun that he carries, it is more likely that he's a DeathJester that partied waaay to hard and is now stuck pretending to be a Phoenix Lord. Originally a child on Biel Tan, Maugan Ra is the lone survivor of the craftworld of Altansar. Altansar itself escaped the birth of Slaanesh but was pulled into the Eye of Terror by its gravity well. This slightly annoyed Maugan Ra. Having nothing else important to do, he packed up and shipped off to join the Asurya and train under the OG himself. Among Asurmen's students, he was that kid that always dressed in black and didn't talk much or get along with other students. While his fellow students were learning the ways of the blade with Asurmen, Maugan Ra fashioned devastatingly powerful long-ranged weapons to surgically destroy his opponents from afar. After perfecting the art of ranged combat, 'ol Maugie fashioned himself the Maugetar, which losely translates to Harvester (which makes one wonder what his name translates to. Reaper, perhaps? Subtle, GW). This "baroque relic of destruction" was more or less a pimped out shuriken cannon with a big fucking power scythe stuck on the bottom. All jokes aside, Maugan Ra is...different. Whereas the other Phoenix Lords exemplify the specific combat and tactical arts of their shrine, Maugan and his followers exemplify destruction itself, delivered by the most efficient and devastating method possible. Rather than perfect the means, as do the other Phoenix Lords, Maugan perfects the ends. While he's technically one of the Asurya, he more or less did his own thing while learning from Asurmen. Apparently the A-man's teaching sucked balls because at some point Maugan got bored and decided to rape a hive fleet on his own (well with his BFF dark reaper students but nobody gives a shit about them). During the 13th Black Crusade of Failbaddon The Armless, he managed to seize the initiative and drag Altansar out of the Warp. Needless to say, the other Craftworlds reacted with utter distrust, and in some cases with hostility, towards Ra's kin because no Eldar can live so long in the Warp without being altered. Yet nobody, not even the most arrogant and powerful Eldar even dare to think about badmouthing Altansar when Maugan Ra is around in fear of being...well, harvested. Grim Destroyer-of-All or angsty edgemaster? You decide!

On the Tabletop

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Maugan Ra:	195	7	7	4	4	3	7	4	10	2+

Standard stat line for a Phoenix Lord, plus Relentless, Night Vision, Hatred: Daemons, Split Fire from his warlord trait, and an extra shot each turn from his Exarch ability. He specializes in putting an ungodly amount of firepower downrange. He's got a big fucking shuriken cannon (Range 36", S6, AP5, Assault 4, Pinning, Rending. In melee it's S6, AP3). Can't do shit against TEQs in melee. No invulnerable save.

Irillyth

The derplord himself!

Irillyth, the Shade of Twilight, is the long-lost creator of the Shadow Spectres Aspect shrine and the Phoenix Lord with the derpiest backstory. Supposedly, after being lost for millenia, Irillyth and his warriors returned from Craftworld Mymeara, but it's really fucking dumb to suggest that the Eldar, a species that live for thousands of years, somehow forgot about an entire aspect shrine within a few generations! How the flying fuck do you lose knowledge about something that your neighbor down the street is old enough to remember? No, that's just too dumb to believe. I do, however, have my own theory. Stupid idea? Yeah, it is, but it's more likely than what Forge World came up with. Anyways, Irillyth, like most of the Phoenix Lords, was trained by Asurmen. Midway through his training with the OG, Irillyth had a vision of a mysterious craftworld being destroyed. Vowing not to allow another craftworld to fall (which worked out so well for him), he set out into the Webway to look for the Shadow Spectres he'd somehow lost already while he trained up his first generation of Shadow Spectres (in case I wasn't clear, the lore surrounding this guy is fucked). After searching for hundreds of years Irillyth found a Keeper of Secrets breaking down the Webway's wards to allow more daemons to inflitrate. After a mighty struggle with the daemon, Irillyth was pretty tired, so he laid down for a quick nap and didn't wake up for a few thousand years. When he woke up he fucking finally found and saved Mymeara by taking half their forces and going on a suicidal campaign against the prophesied reptile aliens who would wipe them out. And he didn't get resurrected since all the Eldar he led were busy being dead and Mymeara couldn't find his armor until M41. Derp. This guy makes Failbaddon look like Creed. It would have been so much easier and more intelligent to just say a daemon flung him into the future like Aku from Samurai Jack.

On the Tabletop

	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Irillyth:	180	7	7	4	4	3	7	4	10	2+

In-game, Irillyth's quick, hits hard, is good at range, causes Fear, and has one of the sexiest models the Eldar can field. He also has Night Vision and Acute Senses because reasons. His gun is basically a power lance (S+2 AP2 on the charge, S+1 AP3 otherwise) with an Assault 3, S7 AP2 gun strapped to the bottom. Surprisingly, nothing super derpy about him on the tabletop.

Irillyth (along with the Shadow Spectres) was created and sculpted by Forge World for Imperial Armour Volume Eleven: The Doom of Mymeara.

Drastanta

Drastanta, the Tempest of Starlight, was the Phoenix Lord of the Shining Spears. Drastanta was really full of himself and liked to go on needless solo battles. This backfired horribly during the Fall, when because of this, it got Asurmen killed for the first time. After blowing up the Keeper of Secrets who did it, Drastanta went on to found the Shining Spears and then went into self-exile, leaving his weapon behind. His lance is currently with Craftworld Iyanden.

Living proof that Matt Ward can add a character without canon rape. Guess even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Arhra

This guy mentored Karandras and probably everyone's favorite Incubi...or, he is the latter.

Arhra, the Father of Scorpions, (also called the Fallen Phoenix and the Dark Father), is a shady one, as two stories of his life exist and no one is sure which (if any) is true. Craftworlders teach that he founded the Striking Scorpions Aspect. Somewhere along the way, he fell to Chaos, and left the Craftworlds. Dark Eldar Incubi tell a different story in which Arhra founded the Incubi from the start and was not corrupted but just angry and eager to fight Chaos, so he recruited from all Eldar factions, but mostly Commorites, since they fit his brutal standards better. When the other Phoenix Lords decided to focus their attention on craftworlders only and to defend the status quo rather than fight Chaos, Arhra pretty much said "fuck it" and started fighting his anti-Chaos war by himself, until he was eventually corrupted as all things tend to be after being exposed to the Ruinous Powers for too long. To make things even more complicated, craftworlders also have a story about Arhra fighting his pupils, but rather than teaching them the valuable lesson that everything can be corrupted and should be killed if it is, he's just somehow "tricked" into doing this by Karandras who fought him for three weeks straight while taunting him before getting the last laugh by cloaking and watching his enraged master kill all his Incubi students. Some suggest that Arhra survived or was reincarnated as a Dark Eldar character named Drazhar, Master of Blades and Hierarch of the Incubi (a title he got by killing the previous Hierarch and his bodyguards), though Drazhar may as well be the Dark Eldar equivalent to Karandras, who was trained by Arhra. Nobody knows what is true or not in his case.

The Unknown Warp Spider Phoenix Lord

Bizarre as it is, while most Aspect Warriors know the identity of their Phoenix Lord, or at least who he or she might be, the Warp Spiders don't have a known Phoenix Lord, though there is speculation. Moreover, there are a lot of Eldar that believe the Warp Spider Phoenix Lord never existed. It is theorized that the legendary warrior of Craftworld Kaelor, Lhykosidae the Wraith Spider, may be the Phoenix Lord of the Warp Spiders. This is quite possible as Lycosidae is the scientific classification for a Wolf Spider, and GeeDubs, being anything but original, does this name-borrowing often. Wolf Spiders, if you have not experienced their joy, are quick and hidey. If you blink, you will miss them, much like you will miss a Warp Spider when he teleports.

One probably should not believe Kaelor's account considering the fact that for some reason they forgot most of their history (not to mention that even they aren't completely sure if Lhykosidae was actually a Phoenix Lord or not, and he may not even be an Eldar). Although, they do have the copy of The Arc of Destiny that describes the Craftwars against Saim-Hann being won by them thanks to the arrival of the Wraith Spider at the right place, at the right moment, at the right time.

From Kaelor's point of view, the whole Wraith Spider thing is probably just a spiritual awakening that manifests itself exclusively in the Warp Spider Exarchs, supercharging them to the point that they are similar to the Phoenix Lords in power and capabilities. Others suggest that this Wraith Spider entity may be connected to the small Warp critters in the Webway after which the Warp Spider Aspect Warriors are named. The actual Warp Spiders maintain the systems of Eldar Infinity Circuits and keep the Webway clear of non-Eldar psychic energies, and the Wraith Spider appears when the craftworld suffers from great impurity.

Another theory is that the Wraith Spider may even be a wraith construct that is an organic personification of the Warp. Most Eldar and Imperial experts on Eldar don't actually believe in this and take it with a giant pinch of salt. Thus the truth will probably remain unknown for a very long time...

The Unknown Crimson Hunter Phoenix Lord

As Crimson Hunters are so new, even less is known about their Phoenix Lord than the Warp Spiders', owing to a lack of fluff about them.

Why the Phoenix Lords are Badasses

Asurmen, the Hand of Asuryan

He is the start of all this Aspect Warrior stuff and personally led the first Craftworld Eldar out of their doomed worlds, so the entire reason the Eldar still exist is due to him.

Kinda like the Smurfs, they wear the hat of tactical adaptability. Unlike them, however, they don't lord themselves over the rest of the shrines like chumps. And they especially don't slave themselves over an oversized book.

He is SO BADASS that even lesser races have legends about him. We don't know what these feats are, but they must be impressive if people OTHER than eldar are talking about them.

Apparently at some point he defeated a C'tan shard by simply stabbing it to death with his sword.

Jain-Zar, the Storm of Silence

She's considered the second-oldest of the Phoenix Lords, so she's definitely got a ton of experience and respect under her belt (...in her pants).

Head of perhaps the most populous of the Aspect Shrines, a bunch of sword-and-spear swinging ladies, and unlike some of the others, still teaches her students the ways of the shrine.

In Aaron Dembski-Bowden's novel Void Stalker she actually makes Night Lords feel a mild reaction of fear.

Her mask liquefies brains. That is all.

Baharroth, the Cry of the Wind

Fastest fucker in the known galaxy. No 'Nid, no Warp-cocaine addict, no White Scar on some super-bike, could potentially capture him.

Dude was considered the best of Asurmen's students, and considering the responsibilities these Aspect Warriors hold, that's a high expectation that they have to live up to.

Unlike most of the other Phoenix Lords who live on through their armor, Maugan Ra and this evasive bastard are still alive.

Fuegan, the Burning Lance

He and his shrine have probably the most brutal of guns, capable of cooking holes in fortress walls and turning tanks into puddles.

Has soloed a Greater Daemon and lived to tell about it, more than once.

Soloed a Gargant. OK, a steam Gargant, but still...

Is prophesied to be the last of the Phoenix Lords to go down during the Eldar's sparkly-elf-pocalypse, so to keep that up, he's gotta be the most ruthless of bastards; and with a gun like his, expect to see everything you know and love reduced to ashes.

Arhra, the Fallen Phoenix

You know those fancy Incubi everyone with a Dark Eldar army uses? Well, he's the granddaddy to those elite face-stompers. Have fun with that.

Karandras, the Shadow Hunter

Considering that Arhra got fucked up, it's a miracle he's able to hold on to his job, considering the grudges Eldar hold.

Dude at one point fought Drazhar (who may or may not be Arhra) for almost three weeks before deciding to piss him off so royally that he just decided to let the bastard RAGE at anything he found in his way, most of it being his own students. Reports heard him laughing all the way back about how it was all just as planned.

Kinda was hit by a Dreadnought, killing him. That might sound like FAIL, but he was holding up one of the Dreadnought's feet. A dreadnought's. Foot/claw/whatever.

Maugan Ra, the Reaper of Souls

Maugan Ra dragged Altansar, his Craftworld, out of the Eye of Terror.

He defeated an entire Tyranid invasion swarm by himself.

Killed a Trygon by fucking standing beneath it and shooting it in half.

Forging his badass scythe/gun by dicking around in the Eye of Terror (Even had an Exarch to morph into an avatar of Khaine and stab its heart to have his scythe tempered).

He had the harlequins publish his story to all Eldar kind so they would piss themselves every time the story was told.

He cut down (in)famous daemonprince Periclitor the Foresworn. Thus he also unintentionally avenged Howling Griffons Space Marines chapter.

Unlike most of the other Phoenix Lords who live on through their armor, Baharroth and this motherfucker are still alive.

Irillyth, the Shade of Twilight

Has a very damn fancy concept for a shrine: Mini stealth battlesuits with enough weaponry to make the Tau's stealth suits blush.

Guy had to be seriously patient if he was able to survive decades, if not centuries, stuck in his armor, just waiting, waiting, for the time he'd get out and then just go back to fighting when he does.

Drastanta, the Tempest of Starlight

Killed a Keeper of Secrets, stabbing it so hard its soul exploded.

TL;DR

Fucking Eldar Primarchs.

Famous Eldar
Heroes:	Eldrad Ulthran - Illic Nightspear - Prince Yriel - Yvraine Visarch - Sylandri Veilwalker
Phoenix Lords:	Asurmen - Baharroth - Drastanta - Fuegan Irillyth - Jain Zar - Karandras - Maugan Ra
From Dawn of War I:	Farseer Caerys - Farseer Macha - Farseer Taldeer
From Dawn of War II:	Autarch Kayleth - Farseer Elenwe - Farseer Idranel Ranger Ronahn - Warlock Veldoran