Living Saints are people infused with the Emperor’s power, for whom even death does not signify the end. Sounds like something that’s usually reserved for the demons of Warhammer 40,000, doesn’t it? And yes, there are striking similarities.
Demon Princes are mortals who have been infused with demonic energy by the Gods of Chaos to ascend to a demigod-like status. They embody the power of their God almost on the same level as the Great Demons, who often serve as Heralds of the Dark Gods.
For some time, there has been the thought that the Emperor himself has ascended to Godhood. Even one of his sons harbors this suspicion, despite knowing the Emperor better than most.
At the latest since the trailer for the 11th edition, which presents the Emperor in a whole new light, we can be almost sure that “Big E” himself has become a God or a godlike being, an entity of the Warp.
It makes sense then that he can grant mortals the same power as Nurgle and Khorne, right? And indeed, that is exactly what has happened – even multiple times.
Living Saints – The “Demon Princes” of the Emperor
If a person proves themselves in life with almost unbelievable acts of faith, they can ascend to become a Living Saint. Their (or usually: her) acts of faith are strong enough to manifest divine power.
Living Saints are exceedingly rare. Although several billion people live in the Imperium, at most a handful ascend to become Living Saints per millennium, even rarer at the same time and usually when the Imperium needs them most.
Of course, the Imperium wouldn’t be the Imperium if divine intervention were sufficient: Since humans have an absurdly complex administrative apparatus, the existence of a Living Saint must first be confirmed by the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition.
Since precisely these two groups, two of the most dangerous organizations in the Imperium, are involved, no one would ever dare to call Living Saints “Demons of the Emperor.” And indeed, there are differences, but also many similarities.
Eerie Powers of the Warp, but no one is allowed to call them that
Demon Princes are beings that are infused with the Warp, the realm of Chaos. Originally, they were mortals who ascended and have little in common with humans anymore.
Living Saints are the same; only their ascent was not enabled by a Chaos God but by their devotion to the Emperor. In any case, that is the assumption, since the Emperor actually does not want to be worshipped as a God – at least not anymore.
Just like Demon Princes, Living Saints have an aura that represents the strength of their God and can have physical effects on the battlefield, from terror in the enemy’s heart to the protection of allies to the burning of the unclean. The aura is even visible in many cases.
When a Demon Prince “dies” in the Materium, that is, the “real” world, their soul returns to the Warp and waits there to be reborn. Living Saints can likewise circumvent death, as their soul returns to the Emperor and can be reborn from there. This has happened several times, such as with Saint Celestine. However, this has always been accompanied by severe trials.
An important difference is that the power of Saints functions even where the Warp does not reach – such as near Blackstone, the material that completely “shuts off” the Warp.
If the Emperor doesn’t want to be a God, why does he have mortal champions?
It is now clear that Living Saints are infused with the power of the Emperor, just as is the case with Demon Princes and the Chaos Gods. But how can this be, when one of the Emperor’s highest laws was to break away from all gods and not to worship him?
Small warning: From here on, I speculate as someone who has been deep in Warhammer lore for many years. Feel free to contradict me in the comments or share your own theories!
A possible explanation is the twists of the realm of Chaos. In the Warp, the concept of time no longer exists, at least not in the way you know it. This means: Something that exists has always existed, even if it still needs to be created.
As a human, one cannot logically imagine or explain this. But exactly this has already happened: When the Aeldari created the Chaos God Slaanesh through their excess, he has from that moment always existed – even in Warhammer Fantasy, where there are no Aeldari at all.
With the Emperor, the same could be the case. If he has more or less confirmed to have ascended to a Chaos God, or more accurately: to a Warp entity, because his diet of thousands of souls daily has heated him up so much, then he has always been a God and could therefore have raised mortals long before.
A fanatical order of battle nuns is the reason so many women ascend
Among the Living Saints, there are several well-known names such as Saint Drusus, the patron of the Drusians, Saint Celestine, Saint Katherine, or Saint Justine. And yes, there are surprisingly many female names among them, although women are not even allowed to become Space Marines. But there is a good reason for that.
The Adepta Sororitas are an (almost) exclusively female church Order dedicated entirely to the Emperor. They are zealots and the most devout people in the Imperium.
Accordingly, the likelihood of them ascending to become Living Saints is significantly higher than for other humans – even though this has already occurred with members of the Astra Militarum.
Among the Sororitas, there is even a specific “category” of warriors who are entirely devoted to trying to live the life of a Saint and thus ascend: the Saint Potentia. They repeatedly undergo harsh trials to prove their faith – often, of course, with fatal consequences.
In the community, there has been discussion for many years about whether the Living Saints are truly “Demon Princes of the Emperor” or merely his champions. Because they are also quite powerful in Chaos, one of them even destroyed a world – literally: The Emperor is cool and all, but do you know these 6 badass Chaos champions from Warhammer?
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