# Leman Russ - Psyker or Pariah?



## hippypancake (Jul 14, 2010)

So all the Primarchs have a degree of psychic powers, but in all the books I can't remember Leman Russ displaying any psychic powers other than cancelling out or absorbing Magnus' attack.

So this has me wondering, is Leman Russ more of a Pariah or does he have some psyker ability that has a side-effect of cancelling out other psykers?

Sorry if this is a simple answer, it's been a long time since I read a 40k book.


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## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

Read A thousand sons novel. he has psychic powers. his roar has a psychic resonance in the warp that hurts psychers and his pressence is rather Icy. 
but in the tradition of his "homeworld" his psychic ability's only manifest trough runic and shamanic psychic power.


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## hippypancake (Jul 14, 2010)

so he's a Psyker who counters other Psykers?


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## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

I'm not to sure about that xD *rereads a thousand sons* tho I am pretty sure he CAN counter psykers he might be able to do much more.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Russ is not a pariah. His ability seems latent and is little more than a psychic scream of anger and hate. It only seems to affect his enemies who are psykers though, so maybe there is some measure of control behind it, or maybe the Rune Priests of the Rout are simply attuned to it. 

Either scenario would make sense.


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## NetherMessenger (Aug 6, 2011)

I heard from someone on here that Russ' scream was filled with so much anger/fury etc. that it left an effect in the warp that hurts psykers. So I don't think he NEEDS to be a psyker to do that, and I don't think it's proof either way if he's a psyker or a pariah.


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## Mindlessness (Dec 22, 2009)

The pariah gene came way later then the primarches, so he'd have to be a psyker.


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## effigy22 (Jun 29, 2008)

Mindlessness said:


> The pariah gene came way later then the primarches.


I think not, A thousand sons novel has the "Sisters of Silence" in it, they are all psychic Pariah. It goes in to great depth that during the battle on Prospero the The Thousand Sons were "seeing" psychic black spots in the battlefield where the Sisters were.


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## Aramoro (Oct 7, 2009)

But didn't he go into battle against the Thousand Son fighting side by side with Sisters of Silence, wouldn't have his had some negative effect if it was a psychic ability?


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## effigy22 (Jun 29, 2008)

Leman Russ among other primarchs were only latent psychers, they never developed their skills in them. So it wouldn't have mad a difference to him.


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## Aramoro (Oct 7, 2009)

Do pariahs make a difference between latent abilities and active abilities? They just make Psychic dead zones don't they?


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## effigy22 (Jun 29, 2008)

What I'm trying to say is that he wouldnt notice or care his latent abilities weren't working.l as he did not rely on them like the thousand sons do. Plus the range on the null zone tends to be limited and Russ wouldnt be right at the front of the fighting.


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

Aramoro said:


> Do pariahs make a difference between latent abilities and active abilities? They just make Psychic dead zones don't they?


Pariahs create a dead zone that affects all psychically attuned race feels, humans being psychically attuned feel it but most non-psykers it's more like an intense dislike or hatred for the source of the dead zone, the pariah.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

He's definitley not a pariah. He was extremely popular with his men, and other members of the crusade forces he fought alongside, which wouldn't have been true if he was a pariah. Other people wouldn't want to be around him if he was a pariah.

Considering Russ's attitude to psykers in general, including Magnus, I think he may have been aware of his powers but chose to ignore or neglect them, or to recognise them as something else, just as the SW rune priests seemed to believe they were channeling the spirit of Fenris as opposed to the powers of the warp.

Either way, he did (does?) possess what seems to be very powerful ability if he can incapacitate extremely powerful psykers just by venting his rage.



Mindlessness said:


> The pariah gene came way later then the primarches, so he'd have to be a psyker.


Very wrong I'm afraid. I think it's hinted somewhere that the necrons planted the pariah gene in humanity millenia before even the Emperor.


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

I doubt he's a pariah...his Rune Priests (or whatever SW librarians are called) wouldn't be able to stand him


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

He can't be a pariah because he is not human.

All the Primarchs have the essence of the warp coursing through their veins and so if they develop psyker powers it should not come as a shock. 

All of them are psykers in a way, it is how the Emperor found them after all.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Aramoro said:


> But didn't he go into battle against the Thousand Son fighting side by side with Sisters of Silence, wouldn't have his had some negative effect if it was a psychic ability?


The Sisters of Silence used to hang around the Emperor as well, seemingly without issue. 



Khorne's Fist said:


> Considering Russ's attitude to psykers in general, including Magnus, I think he may have been aware of his powers but chose to ignore or neglect them, or to recognise them as something else, just as the SW rune priests seemed to believe they were channeling the spirit of Fenris as opposed to the powers of the warp.


:goodpost: 
In a sort similar way, Lorgar rejected and feared his psychic potential (up until Isstvan V). But ultimately all of the Primarchs had some sort of psychic potential or ability.


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## Lux (Apr 17, 2010)

Perhaps he was a pariah much like a black pariah, capable of using his "dead zone" is destructive manners, as well as being able to rip and wield the warp powers of others near him.

why he didn't affect the rune priest? Maybe he was subconsciously choosing not to.


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## SoulGazer (Jun 14, 2009)

The Silent Sisters are not Pariahs, they are Blanks. There's a difference, though no one knows where that difference came from. In one of the Ravenor books a Blank was "burned out" by spending too much time near a powerful psyker, rendering his psychic blanking ability useless. It's possible that, being a Primarch, Russ was simply able to burn through the blanking ability with his uber warp-charged scream.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

The SoS are pariahs.

The only mention of blanks I think are in the Cain and Abnett novels and the _distaff_ mentioned in them.

Blanks basically can cut one's connection to the warp while a Pariah simply has no warp presence.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.


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## Jerushee (Nov 18, 2010)

Malus Darkblade said:


> The SoS are pariahs.
> 
> The only mention of blanks I think are in the Cain and Abnett novels and the _distaff_ mentioned in them.
> 
> ...



Blanks/Pariahs come in varying grades just as psykers do.

What determines if a blank/pariah merely has no warp presence, or actuall inhibits, dulls, nullifies, or is able to rip the warp powers of a psyker for their own use, is decided by what grade they are.

Ranging all the way down to Negative Epsilon, black pariah levels etc.


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## Minizke1 (Feb 7, 2010)

From what I know, he has the ability to unleash raw psychic energy, which, in A Thousand Sons, meant that he killed many, many Thousand Sons in the form of collateral damage.


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## Jerushee (Nov 18, 2010)

He could be like a black pariah, but far stronger. His psychic powers and warp presence, could in fact be the same as the Black Pariah, not his own psychic powers, but he was ripping the psychic presence/powers of all those around him and using them to his will.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Jerushee said:


> Blanks/Pariahs come in varying grades just as psykers do.


Blanks do varying levels but a Pariah is simply someone with no presence.

Black pariah is just something created for the novel Nemesis.


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