Editing Lion El'Jonson (section)

== Influences from Empy ==

''Some men demand such pomp. They cannot accept the end of one era and the commencement of another without an occasion by which to mark it and give it meaning. Laurels must be given, honours and fair titles invented so that they may be bestowed upon favoured generals. Some men need recognition.” The shadows around the Emperor’s throne deepened. But beneath the layers of obfuscation, deep within the myriad guises of that singularly unfathomable being, the Lion felt the Emperor behold His firstborn son. “Some men,” the Emperor continued, “do not.”''


The Lion shares a lot in common with the Emperor. Just like his dad, he's a charismatic and highly intelligent leader that had trouble relating to his subordinates and putting trust into them when it's really needed. Ultimately it's this secretiveness and lack of communication as well as deliberate withholding of some critical information from his sons that turned half of his legion against him, just like the Emperor kinda turned half of his Primarchs by not sharing with them the critical information about the project he left the Great Crusade for and the existence of Chaos gods. In a way it makes perfect sense - Lion being the first Primarch, he wasn't altered as much as others from the original genetic code taken from the Emperor himself.

According to Leman Russ' novel, when it comes to politics, the Lion "does so well on Terra" which implies that he is more than capable of holding his own among the Imperial court. He is further described as having a dark, sombre majesty perhaps more than any other Primarch with a calm presence of one born to rule and comfortable in the role. The story also seems to allude to the unique aspect of the Lion, as he is called the regent to the one who had created them all, possessing a kingly aspect not diminished by time, remaining one of suzerainty, domination and command. This kingly aspect is also demonstrated in ''Angels of Caliban''; when Typhon is in the presence of Horus he feels that maybe he should bow but when the Lion shows up, there is no maybe. He immediately drops to a knee along with everyone else present without a single thought needed. Typhon also mentions that being in the Lion's presence was like prey being discovered by a predator. Even Astartes found themselves flooded with dread. The dread was probably well-founded, as he was the primarch most comfortable with straight-up annihilating planets full of people, if they were enemies. Keep in mind that even madmen like Curze and Perturabo felt guilty about this. The fact that Mortarion admitted to admiring the Lion speaks volumes.

Beyond all other considerations, his loyalty to his father was absolute. The Lion seems to have truly believed that the Emperor was the only power truly worthy of sitting the throne of Terra, stating very clearly that his father was the one and only being to whom he would ever bend the knee; he would rather see he and his legion destroyed than allow another to usurp his father's throne. In fact he wanted very little for himself - a greater daemon of [[Tzeentch]] ''(possibly Fateweaver)'' found that it had nothing to offer the Lion besides an abstract notion of "freedom" and the prospect that the Lion would live his own life free of the burdens and responsibilities that chained him to his fate. The Lion rejected his offer. This is not to say that he would blindly follow any order given to him. The Emperor may have been his rightful liege lord, but as Dorn explained “The Lion has never been anything other than his own master".