Who Are the Adeptus Custodes? History & Lore | Warhammer 40,000 

"Each one of the Ten Thousand represents genetic lore acquired over many lifetimes. Each one of you is unique, a work of art never to be repeated. I am miserly with your lives, where I would spend so many others without a thought." - The Emperor on his Custodes

The custodes are supposed to be able to talk to the emperor as an equal on war, politics, logistics ect. They are not just brutes. They also have their blood games constantly going on.

"Yo, dawg. We heard you like gold and technology, so we got you some gold jetbikes!"

One minor gripe, the Custodes don't use Gene-seed. They use a different form of genetic augmentation that was hand crafted for each singular custodes

AYYAYAYA! THE OILED ABS ARE GLISTERING WITH AROUSAL AT THIS VIDEO~

KITTEN!!!!

There are several instances where the Primarchs say that the Custodes kept them on equal footing while sparring. So If necessary, at least a squad of Custodes could take a Primarch down.

Haven't you heard? The Emperor has a text to speech device.

Even then, the Possessed Marines they fighting were the first and greatest, they were also outnumbered and still managed to kill over half of them. Of course the newer lore makes Custodians take a steaming dump on Space Marines, both regular and Primaris. Golden god-blood, halos of light, immortal etc. The thing about them not fighting as a whole isn’t really true though, it was later revealed that their tactics are so nuanced that even Space Marines can’t grasp them. They actually fight better in a group than SM’s do.

LOYALTY INTENSIFIES

Ahhhhhh it's Little kitten an the marry band of body oiled custodes

you know you are wierd when a Space marine is better then you at reading human Emotion.

The Word Bearers made a heavily flawed observation there. A *bunch of Wardens* who all had their individual assignments do not fight like a unit, because when they invaded that one planet where said observation was made, the Custodes were not exactly fighting anything that was a threat to them. So they went casual about it. However as those fools would learn later, the Custodes are very well capable of fighting their way out of a situation as one cohesive force and little to nothing was able to halt them, until yeah, cheating on the Word Bearers part : P Besides the Custodes, especialy in that period had designated combat formations for offensive and defensive operations. They weren't all just guardians.

I've always enjoyed the Custodes; men supremely loyal to the Emperor and who are arguably superior to even the angel-like Astartes, possibly superior even to the Primarchs. What might make for an interesting video is a comparison of all the "super-humans" under the Imperium: Custodes, Astartes, Primarchs, Primarius', and the Grey Knights (who undergo trials as recruits that maybe even the Custodes could not pass). Maybe even the Sororitas, who haven't undergone the genetic augmentation of the the others, but who are highly trained and very well equipped, beyond all other non-super military factions (I believe).

"pimp my ride, except for spacemarines" oh man, that was good. lol awesome video man I don't know the most about 40k lore but it sounds really interesting

Definitely would love to see a unification war series

I believe the practice of improving the palace security measures via testing the defenses in mock battles is called the blood games. Valdor was begrudgingly inspired by alpharius to create it after al made a pretend attempt on the emperors life during his primarch novel. since then all new inites compete in the blood games as a means of training and iniation into the custodes.

There were 10,000 immortals, persian royal gaurd as such also fairly rarely used. The mark of an immortal was a golden apple at the bottom of their spear

at least the custodes finally put clothes on.....

"There's no instance of them outright commandeering a Primarchs command" *2 years later* *hello Brazen Drakes*

That’s why I love both sides of the forces: Custodes and Adeptus Astartes. Like that part you talked about the kid asking questions of the Custodes and Blood Angel. The Blood Angel comforted the child, because they understand they can’t be “cold” like the Custodes, to a kid. But the stoic and unwavering Custodes are awesome. They are above even the Angel-like Astartes, because they need to be and are grown that way. Same side, but completely different from each other. I love the two forces I commented on.

That last armor looks like you need to get your legs cutoff to beable to use it

the techno-barbarians could be seen as the warlord from mad max fury road

Thank you so much for this video! I'd love to hear more about the Adeptus Custodes and also the Thunder Warriors! Great job!

This has to be the 20th time I've watched this video, can't wait for the Thunder Warriors. I love all things Imperium, especially pre-Imperium history!

Thank you for making these lore videos, they're really great.

Good stuff! Well rounded & great scope. (Production value is a positive also!). Personally, Custodian Guards always a favorite. Like you mentioned, before they were only in bits of lore or in artwork. Great to see a developed army. Thanks for posting

Loved it. Beautiful. You should make more of these lore videos.

Man, I've been waiting for months and months to get a thunder warriors video

We need more lore content from you homie, only warhammer RU-vidr who's voice I can stand besides arch and 40k theorys

Fantastic video my friend! Remember there is nothing to mourn when a life has been lived in service to the Emperor

Great Video my friend, I did not think I would be so hype for the Custodes... But as soon as I saw the new models... I had to get them... picking up my codex, Trajann and the Termis up tomorrow x)

Love your videos, please do the Black Templars and Blood Angel's and the Grey Knights !!

I like to think the custodes that were sent to babysit the wordbearers were just the most expendable of them, because the guys in master of mankind were able to fight as one alongside the sisters of silence.

Very nice video! You have a very wonderful vocie aswell. :)

Would love to get some thunder warrior lore, there really isn't a lot of it out there on the you tube at least anyway. Awesome vid.

Yet another new imperial codex and army, whilst my Black Templars have been shoved in the vanilla marine codex sense 6th ed. Still nice video man.

Great video as usual buddy. Love the humour you put in too

Great video, one brief stipulation, I think it was “The First Heretic” and not Betrayer where the Bearers of the Word observe the Custodes

The monastic aspect of the space marines covers the emotional stuff. Litanies of hatred before battle, feasts after, a regular routine for weapons and armor maintenance.

I want so badly for someone to call Guilliman "Bobby G" in a future novel. He would either think it was the funniest thing that ever happened or have them killed on the spot.

*G O G E Vandire* was not just some "future tyrant that is trying to take the position of (a) HIgh Lord of Terra!" He was much worse than that!

How dare you besmirch the mighty Spartans! Heresy!!!! Awesome videos man please keep making them. they are making work so much more fun

In my Head Canon the Custodes are the Golden Men from the Dark Golden age of tech. Some sorta synthetic men the Emperor used and uses.

The Lore Behind This is Phenominal. The Whole of The STORY of Their Origins and Objectives, is Mind Bending. Ready for Another interesting and Slaughterful Movie to pop up out of know WHERE. Soon I will have The Technologies to create these types of Fan Films, and Might try my hands at a Sick & WICKED Write dealing With The vast Lore Behind This. Intriguing!

I do love fighting Adeptus Custodes with my astra militarum. I almost never loose a unit while i table those golden fools.

very good lore video!! thank you!

I’ve been watching a lot of different channels that cover the lore on the Warhammer and I must say your the only channel I’ve come across that full explains everything. A lot of stuff out there is confusing and leaves out a lot of the finer details that I in particular and my friends enjoy. I thank you for that and would love to make some future suggestions for topics to cover.

Just subbed Really good posts/info! Thanks for your time and enthusiasm for the hobby

This process you talk about makes me think of the process of becoming a Witcher. Geralt would be an amazing Space Marine, a Grey Knight, naturally.

One thing I'd love to see is a timeline of history. From the unification wars to the Horus Hersey to present day Imperium. I would be interested on your take.

Dude, the Primarch’s themselves admitted that a Custodian made them hesitate when thinking of fighting them.

Hey man, greatly enjoy listening to your take on the lore. The music you use is awesome, too. Where'd you get the music?

I heard a rumour that Fulgrim changed his battle barge into a "party bus" is that true? ;)

First video, love your voice, subbed.

Great content! I would love to know what software you use!

I know I'm late to the party, the codex has already dropped but I kust got it today. I love the lore on these guys, and love the video. If you haven't already, do one on the Thunder Warriors. Thanks mang.

I love TWW2 and fantasy lore. 40k just has so much more the Titans, Dark age of technology and so much more. Thanks for the videos 👍

where's my boy kitten at

Great job on the Custodes- I’m so looking forward to the new codex and models! Forge World’s stuff is just normally out of my price range, but I had bought 2 squads of GW’s Custodes and 1 of the Sisters of Silence, because I really love the lore and the models. I’m thrilled that I’ll finally be able to afford their jet bikes and Terminators- like I said, I love the Forge World models but they are just waaay too much $$. Not that GW is cheap, by any means (!), but they are the lesser of two evils. Anyway- thanks for another great video- enjoy your weekend! =][=

@ItalianSpartacus, man...Custodes do not have Geneseed. They are altered at the base by The Emperor. Grey Knights use Geneseed, not Custodes. Also the 100,000 orks and only 3 Custodes dying isn't hyperbole, you forget there were 3 other Legions there as well. The Emperor's shaman origin also isn't exactly lore anymore as from Master of Mankind we know more about his origin... Some Thunder Warriors lived btw.

High ranking Custodes could actually beat Primarchs in one on one combat.

Custodes aren't augmented via geneseed. They are hand-crafted, customized down to their individual DNA to be genetically perfected. Even more so than the Astates. The Custodes are extensions of the Emperor, his 10,000 fingers that ensure His presence is always felt. They are small parts of Him; whereas the Astates are his Legions, his army, the Custodes are the words that unleash them.

Was about to watch However betrayer and master of mankind are next on my list after legion

Love to know more about ancient terra

Well done,

For comparison, Astartes are like wolves, Thunder Warriors are like bears, and Custodes are like tigers/lions. Custodes are the apex hunter but fewer and prone to be overrun with hoard tactics without support. Thunder Warriors are like bears who just woke up from hibernation.They're bigger and stronger than wolves but you can't expect them to fight together. TW are all about wanton destruction. You can group them together point them in the general direction of the enemy and hope they stay together as a cohesive unit. There's a reason why Big E replaced them. Now Astartes are the smallest and physically weakest of the three but they fight and move together as a pack. They also hunt in bigger numbers. That's the advantage of Astartes over the two. Just my own observation here.

It was first heretic the book you're talking about with the duels against the word bearers 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

Definitely making an army on these guys

And one of them manage to outsmart Big E and Tzeentch in a Children's Cardgame and become the sole winner of Stellaris. 🤣

mmm great timing

Emperor is Proud about This and You 😎 !!!.

Id like to see a krork and a Custodes fight. Aren't they on the same level?

I'm pretty sure if i remember correctly Constantin valdor bound them to Terra and they all dawned the black. And Robute had nothing to do with them because he had no authority over them and the only one save the Emperor was the Captain General

Not a fan of GW retconning the Emperor into a cold, calculating asshole. TTS Emps should be canon since it explains why he's a jerk as he cast out the "kind and fatherly" aspect of his soul into the warp so he could eradicate Horus without any hesitation. Makes more sense than what GW is writing.

3:27 KITTEN!!!

@ItalianSpartacus, re-watching this video I noticed multiple more errors but a main one that I missed first time is when you're talking about the Age of Apostacy the Custodes don't bring the leader of the "Sisters of Silence" before the Emperor, THEY have been gone for quite some time. They bring the leader of the BRIDES OF THE EMPEROR, before The Emperor.

can i ask what role did the custodes play during the horus heresy?

They have to be the most bad ass bodyguards of all time.

THE THUNDER WARRIORS ALL DIED IN GLORIOUS BATTLE!

love it if you could revisit the fluff on these guys again?

It was 300 Spartans, a few thousand other greeks(3-5k. With the persians numbering around 40-50k. The Immortals numbered 10k alone.

can somebody explain how thet have restored their numbers up back to 10k? if each one was hand-crafted by the E-money -- who made the new ones? and out of whom? 1d4chan states that they rebuilt themselves but I couldn't google more, even on Lexicanum...

You know I often think of the Custodes as a mix between The Swiss Guard guarding the Vatican and the Knights Templar since to them there is no greater authority then that of the Emperor, the same way for the Knights Templar the highest authority was the Pope and no lord, King nor Emperor told the what to do.

If you finish Arkhan the black campagin. You get a message that you get by every finished total warhammer campaigns. Can you make a vidoe about the message its a Huge foreshadwoning for something. (Sorry for bad english)

I take the constant rewritings of the lore as the fact that the Imperium is fucking huge, so legends probably rule over facts.

"Glorious Spears!!!"

4:03 you are referring to the book "The First Heretic", not 'Betrayer'; There are no living custodians in the book 'Betrayer"; only word bearers, world eaters and ultramarines.

The rank of Tribune is a roman equivalent of a general but its not in 40K codex anymore. plus Traijan Volris is only a tiny bit more powerful than a shield captain, which really annoys me. if you want a Custodian HQ that's not him, you have to have a shield captain. that's pretty sad

Please if you haven't do a technology barbarian

1:23 VICTORY FOR THE C A P T A I N G E N E R A A A A A L

OI YOU FOKKIN WUT M8!?

They stand head and shoulders above Space marines, they're not really the same size.

Yes. The Royal Custodes. The Emperors personal potty guard.

MMMYES!!! Kitten and friends!

All?! That better mean Squats!

Tell me more about this "White Dwef".

Cool “new” army, I’m knee deep in Dark Angels and fending off my sons Death Guard but these do have a lot of potential. Also “new” history. New sub and loving your vids

Gonna buy Constantine Valdor soon

Spears? Doesn't do justice to the bolt halberd.