Editing Roboute Guilliman (section)

==Personality and Capabilities==
{{Topquote|Amongst his brothers, none had been more idealistic than Roboute Guilliman. None had envisioned a brighter future, not just for Mankind but also for the warriors of the Legiones Astartes. That flame of hope had been a part of him for as long as he had lived. Even now, as it was smothered by darkness and woe, Guilliman realised that his flame endured.|The Gathering Storm III: Rise of The Primarch}}

Roboute Guilliman is a mix of the classical patrician and the archetypal virtuous politician. He's studied, efficient, extremely intelligent even when compared to his own demigod brothers, and morally resolute. He values merit and results over birth or flattery, and he emphasizes in his troops that information is victory, that a sound grasp of theory and a strong ability for the practical is necessary in resolving all problems. He's also rather tolerant of different moods and mentalities, so long as they still serve the Imperium's goals. The barbarous overtones of the [[Space Wolves]], the standoffish eccentricities of the [[White Scars]], even quiet religious practices on his own world, these things never bothered him. In his mind, the Ultramarines had clearly demonstrated the superior merit of their ways and those ways would rub off on the more eccentric factions of the Imperium over time. This is not to say he didn't have his moments when someone managed to rile him up, in those situations he has been shown to be wrathful enough to give Angron a run for his money and scare away even greater daemons (of course being armed with the permakilling Emperor's Sword makes him a great deal scarier). On that note, despite being one of the most bookish Primarchs, Guilliman was no slouch when it came to melee combat. He's held his own in duels with Angron, Konrad Curze, Daemon Mortarion, Daemon Magnus, and even defeated Skarbrand. His duel with Konrad Curze, when he fought Curze 2v1 with the Lion, actually saw Guilliman perform better than the Lion. Guilliman managed to land a couple of minor cuts on Curze, whereas the Lion not only did no such thing, but got himself skewered through the throat by Curze's Lightning Claws. Just to give an idea of how significant this is, Curze has demonstrated himself to be a match for Sanguinius in 1v1 combat, to the point where the two completely stalemated each other the only time they fought. Sanguinius was arguably the most martially powerful of the Primarchs, as he has demonstrated the ability to BTFO both [[Ka'bandha]] and Daemon [[Angron]] back-to-back. ''Right after'' single handedly destroying a Reaver Titan. So being able to land hits on Curze is no mean feat. Note that Guilliman is ''not'' a Lion or Curze level duelist, but his skills are significantly greater than he's typically given credit for.

Call it faith and trust, call it arrogance and presumption, but Guilliman genuinely believed that he controlled the most disciplined, civilized peoples and armies within the Imperium and he thought his way was best. And frankly, he wasn't exactly wrong. The five hundred worlds were, and remain, perhaps the single best large-scale segment of the Imperium in terms of general quality of life. But contrary to what many think of him, he didn't go out of his way to force his ways on others. He simply made all his writings and tactics available to all his brothers, and told his men to be at their best when fighting alongside the other factions. In his own words, he quite respected all of his brothers and had a brotherly affection for some of them. He only ever criticized or scolded when the circumstances seemed extreme, such as [[Alpharius]]'s unnecessary targeting of enemy civilian populations to damage morale, [[Perturabo]]'s wasteful decimation of his own Legion or [[Angron]]'s needlessly brutal assaults and pointless carnages leaving only piles of bodies and a ravaged planet behind. Where he saw such problems however, he was not shy about expressing his opinions. This attitude was likely the reason Guilliman was passed over for the role of Warmaster; he didn't get along well with many of his brothers, counting only [[Rogal Dorn]], [[Sanguinius]], [[Horus]], [[Ferrus Manus]] (even though he was too proud to give Guilliman credit), and [[Vulkan]] as friends. Though he did not count them as friends, he had a sincere admiration and respect for both [[Leman Russ]] and [[Jaghatai Khan]]. He even included the former amongst his "Dauntless Few", a group of four of his brothers who he believed could pair their legions with his to become unbeatable. He also saw a potential for common ground with Lorgar, but that potential was never explored because of... [[Heresy|reasons]]. He also had a great deal of respect for Lion El'Jonson despite considering him to be a complete ass (which to be fair to Guilliman, the Lion absolutely was).

Guilliman was also an organizational savant [[Perturabo|almost]] unmatched in all the galaxy. He was known to calculate logistical information and strategies far faster than the Mechanicum's best logic engines, planning out entire planetary invasions in his mind in moments. As indicated, only Perturabo possessed a similar level of logistical skill and/or interest. Unlike Perturabo however, Guilliman actually cared about the people under his command, and would not engage in practices, however mathematically sound, that would see unnecessary bloodshed. Though many of his brothers were godly tacticians, Guilliman was one of very few Primarchs who were known to truly focus on what came after a war: how the world could be used, improved, colonized, uplifted, integrated and becoming a full-fledged supporting member of the Imperium and the Great Crusade instead of being left a war-torn ruin. Guilliman insisted on ensuring that any populated world the Ultramarines took was left with working infrastructure, an able & trained [[Planetary Defense Force|PDF]], and a decent quality of life for civilian populations - something that his brothers, save for Dorn and Horus, paid little to no attention to, a trait that would come back to bite the Imperium in the ass later.

Guilliman possessed perhaps the single greatest ''strategic'' mind in the Imperium. This is contrasted to those Primarchs who were perhaps the best ''tacticians'', ie those who were best at winning individual battles, such as Corax, the Lion or Horus. This was because Guilliman's view of tactics and strategy tended to be less flexible than those of his aforementioned brothers, but once he figured you out, you were screwed. Corax, for instance, once managed to best Guilliman in three training exercises through the use of irregular and [[Moritat]] squads. Guilliman had initially had a very strict view of what constituted a fighting formation, and was quick to relieve or dismiss under-strength or casualty depleted units. He'd also drawn strict delineations between what constituted a combatant versus a non-combatant, and he tended to dismiss from his tactical outlines those he considered to be non-combatants. Corax however, demonstrated that irregular units could be decisive in winning engagements, and that civilians could be adeptly utilized as ad-hoc military formations. Guilliman, who had been staunchly convinced otherwise, quickly changed his mind regarding Corax's unorthodox tactics when he saw their merit, and incorporated them into his own strategies. Corax would later say of the exercises, "From the fourth simulation on, he had my mark and I could not beat him... I won battles against him but never a war." Of his brothers, only Horus and Dorn possessed a similar grasp of grand strategy. Perhaps the most clear example of this strategic prowess was the successful completion of the Indomitus Crusade. This 100 year long military campaign was of a scale similar to that of the Great Crusade itself, yet was orchestrated and implemented on virtually every scale by Guilliman alone, and in record time.

However, Guilliman's tendency towards cold calculation often bled into his personal life. The best example of this might be his dealings with [[Lorgar]]. After the Ultramarines were used by the Emperor to sanction the Word Bearers, Guilliman privately admitted to some of his officers that he sincerely regretted that it had happened, being uncomfortable with censuring his brother that way, and fearing that the damage in relations it caused between the XIII and the XVII would be permanent. After all, there was much potential for kinship between Lorgar and Guilliman, and their legions. What legions were more devoted to the Emperor than those two? Which brothers thought most of the future, of what came after the conquest? However during the actual sanctioning of the Word Bearers, Guilliman's demeanor was so emotionlessly cold that Lorgar believed from that day on that Guilliman hated and looked down upon him. The reality is that what Lorgar had mistaken for icy contempt was in fact Guilliman working as hard as possible to maintain an air of completely professional detachment. He didn't want Lorgar to think that the razing of Monarchia had been a personal matter (which it hadn't), yet he succeeded in projecting his professionalism too well, treating Lorgar like a distant colleague rather than a brother. The sudden void of lost potential between the legions was tragic. So what did Guilliman do after the fact? Did he seek out his brother later to make amends? Did he have a quiet meeting with his brother to confess his discomfort and seek reconciliation? Send a nice gift basket perhaps? No. Guilliman set up a formal, impersonal meeting between the two of them, alongside their captains, retinues, and aides. [[FAIL|Forty. Years. Later.]] By that time it was [[Battle of Calth|much too late.]]

Despite his personal shortcomings however, and beyond his tactical & strategic genius, or his skills as an administrator and as a statesman, Guilliman's most noteworthy characteristic is being one of the few well adjusted, sensible people in the '''entire freaking galaxy.''' He encouraged his sons to diversify their interests from pure combat, not to [[Emperor's Children|art]] or [[Blood Angels|fine]] [[Salamanders|crafts]], but to law, governance, city planning and infrastructure. He was a pragmatist, and was well aware of the need for his sons and indeed his legion to be useful outside of war, knowing full well what would have to happen to [[World Eaters|some]] [[Night Lords|legions]] when the Great Crusade ended. Guilliman was also one of the few Primarchs who didn't really see the Emperor as his father, paying lip service to the idea but being the first to state how shitty the Emperor was at raising kids and he never fully forgave the Emperor for using him and his Legion as a tool to humiliate Lorgar. In fact, he quite explicitly saw the Emperor as merely his creator, and always viewed his foster father Konor as being his ''real'' father. He understood how to run an empire, how to inspire loyalty and how to temper the flawed nature of humanity with organisation and discipline. The Emperor's greatest failing was always a lack of understanding in the people he ruled, a flaw that few saw in him, save perhaps for [[Malcador the Sigillite]] and Guilliman.

Ultimately we get a picture of a man who's charismatic, but impersonal. Brilliantly intelligent, but often blinded by arrogance and faith. Meritocratic and receptive to the common man, but often cold and distant. A superb general and warrior, but above that, an equally competent statesman and leader. If Horus was a conqueror at heart, Lorgar a demagogue and Magnus a scholar, then Guilliman is a statesman, a man whose concern is less the glories and bloodshed of war, and more the careful administrative work that follows (albeit one that has an unmatched ability to punch through your entire body if the need arises.) While it's not often shown, Guilliman actually cares greatly for his people, not just as statistics but as individuals, he can be friendly not just to his soldiers and the upper tops but even to the common folk, sincerely, on that sense he is ironically one of the most humane Primarchs despite accusations of being too clinical and dispassionate, this development of character is better seen in the Plague Wars, where it's shown along the story that he has managed to develop amicable or at least working relationships not just with Adeptus Astartes, but with baseline humans and even Custodes and Xenos, harem jokes aside it has become evident he has learned from the mistakes seen in the Heresy, people will not always agree with you, and sometimes it's better to let them be. He has also seemingly attempted to do for the [[Ultramarines]] what the Emperor did not do for his sons; be an actual father figure. During his meeting with Uriel Ventris for instance, he did his best to have a humble, respectful and paternal conversation with the 4th captain rather than being overbearing or attempting to overawe him. This meeting had a profoundly positive effect on the world-weary captain.

After his long nap he seems frustrated with the new (old) Imperium and shaken by his meeting with the Emperor, but that good 'ole Ultramarine spirit is still with him, so he got up, stretched his limbs, and went to town for an ass whooping. A few of his actions thus far are imminently noteworthy. He dissolved the independent sovereignty of any worlds that were historically part of Ultramar; started catering to the [[Imperial Cult|Imperial Creed]] in one of his speeches; is openly cooperating with xenos witches; has essentially taken the role of Emperor 2.0. That's not to say that any of those choices are wrong or unnecessary, but they're each notable because they show that Guilliman is now more inclined to sudden, imperious action where once he might have used diplomacy. However, this may be a result of having to singlehandedly salvage the entire Imperium even as it fights against his attempts at reform, a task that with careful diplomacy would take even centuries that the Imperium can't really afford. Overall, Guilliman is disillusioned with his "dad", disgusted by the Ecclesiarchy (he outright told their representative he considered them a lesser evil), disappointed with the state of the Imperium as a whole but still willing to step into the breach and help humanity elevate itself. His faith in the Emperor has been badly shaken but his sense of duty and faith in humanity is as strong as ever and as the top quote of this section points out, he may be the Emperor's sense of hope for a better future for mankind, which comes to explain the grudge Mortarion and Magnus have for him after they fell for Nurgle and Tzeentch respectively. Mortarion fell to the heart of despair, and Magnus also did the same thing around the other side. Guilliman defies this and acts as an anti nihilist, willing to struggle to his last breath if it comes down that for the slightest chance to give mankind a happy ending.