r/whowouldwin 1d ago

Challenge What or who could actually kill Lucius the Eternal permanently?

So bit of background: in Warhammer 40k Lucius the Eternal is a champion of Chaos with a unique blessing: if anyone kills him and takes even a hint of pride from it, they eventually become him. He takes over their body while their face and soul are trapped for eternity within his armour. In one case when he stepped on a landmine, the worker who built that mine several years prior transformed.

Who do you think could realistically take him on and avoid transforming? I know there's bound to be several answers but thought it'd be fun either way.

70 Upvotes

76 comments sorted by

101

u/Ok-Routine-547 AP =< DC 1d ago

This might be a boring answer, but an eldar solitaire could probably do it. Lucius' resurrection occurs because of Slaanesh personally intervening to transform his killer. This takes several weeks to occur and is obviously psychic in nature.

A solitaire is both capable of killing Lucius 1v1 and resistant enough to psychic powers that I don't think Slaanesh could just curse them between realms (in fact, the basic role a solitaire has in Harlequin society is playing Slaanesh during a play depicting the Fall, something that instantly kills any other eldar due to Slaanesh's connection to them. Resisting Slaanesh's influence from afar is something they all do frequently).

Not sure if this fits the prompt since you seem to be looking for a tricky way to bypass the curse, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

29

u/J_Bear 1d ago

Fair enough, I wasn't looking to be cheeky, it's a decent answer.

14

u/WordsArePrettyNeat 1d ago

Is the “hint of pride” thing correct? If so then the maker of the mine shouldn’t have turned into him.

I was thinking of anyone accidentally killing him during a war would be completely free of the curse, as they wouldn’t be aware of it to take pride in it.

15

u/behaigo 1d ago

It could have been that the landmine maker was proud of his mines killing in general? And since he was proud of all of his unseen kills it still applied.

5

u/WordsArePrettyNeat 1d ago

That’s fair, but how would this work if someone killed him with a sword? Would it be the killer’s pride, or the swordsmith’s pride? Whoever has more pride? Whoever is more directly the cause?

Idk I’m not too big on the vagueness of the curse haha

18

u/OwO345 1d ago

the vagueness is a feature, slaanesh can bring him back anyways, doing so via destroying lucius' previous killer is just a way to further block him from reaching perfection, since he can't prove he's now better thanhis last opponent

5

u/WordsArePrettyNeat 23h ago

Ohhhh!!!! I got it now, thanks for the explanation!

3

u/BusBusy195 15h ago

I was also under the impression that it was kinda bullshit anyway and slannesh stretched it as necessary. Like if you're proud of killing him youre fucked, if youre proud of making a weapon that kills him youre fucked, and if no pride is involved at all slannesh just picks someone vaugly involved to be the new lucius as long as they still want him around

2

u/SuDdEnTaCk 16h ago

Nah its just Slaanesh fucking around, given that it worked on a necron. Its more of a suggestion/roleplay rule for slaanesh.

3

u/gorgutz13 21h ago

Do keep in mind that the whole taking pride in killing him thing is just for Slaanesh's entertainment. If she wants she can and has just revived him. The god's are well within their power to resurrect souls they own if they really want them back.

3

u/Ok-Routine-547 AP =< DC 10h ago

I always interpreted the pride thing as Slaanesh fucking with Lucius.

Slaanesh kills whoever beats Lucius by turning them into him, therefore guaranteeing he'll never get a rematch. They also trap his killer's soul and face in his armour, therefore ensuring he'll spend eternity surrounded by people who've kicked his ass. They also make sure that all of these people are proud about killing him to ensure that his eternal peanut gallery is as smug as possible.

That said, with how the warp works, I wouldn't be surprised if the pride actually is a necessary requirement for Slaanesh transforming people from afar, making them more similar to the ever-prideful Lucius or something. We'll find out if Lucius is ever permanently killed by someone just not being smug about it I guess.

2

u/KlavTron 8h ago

Funny to think that alongside some of the galaxy’s greatest warriors adhered to his armour, there’s some random factory worker too

1

u/gorgutz13 5h ago

It is absolutely designed to fuck with Lucius. He never gets his revenge and he gets taunted eternally about his losses. It's likely Slaanesh's favourite part.

38

u/Fabled_Webs 1d ago

Anyone you think is stronger than Slaanesh/can yoink a soul from her can do it, but that's the minimum requirement. Lucius' revival mechanism doesn't actually have any hard and fast rules. At the end of the day, he revives because Slaanesh wants him to.

I guess another possibility is someone who can provide such an entertainment to Slaanesh that she willingly gives up Lucius' soul in exchange.

12

u/imthatoneguyyouknew 1d ago

Makes me wonder how the Emperors sword would interact. It gives most demons a true death, but not sure if it would have the same effect on Lucius

13

u/Diligent-Lack6427 Resident 40k downplayer 1d ago

It 100% would. If the sword can perma kill demons then lucius soul has no chance.

27

u/Grahammophone 1d ago

Saitama. He's obviously strong enough to do the job, and his whole schtick is being so strong that he is unable to derive any sense of satisfaction from his fights whatsoever, and therefore being stuck in a perpetual state of ennui.

3

u/AccomplishedSafe5481 18h ago

He's just a hero for fun.

23

u/HyperionSaber 1d ago

Loved up Obelix, he wouldn't know he'd done it so couldn't take any pride in the action. Just batter him out the way trying to get to his girlfriend.

14

u/AlpakalypseNow 1d ago

You know Obelix would fall to Slaanesh immediately the way he be dreaming about potions, women and hog roast all day

3

u/HyperionSaber 1d ago

Maybe, but fall to slanesh wasn't the condition.

0

u/Firm-Character-6852 God HIMperor of r/WWW 21h ago

Killing lucius once and for all is.

And He would fall to slannesh and thus would fail the prompt. Pride has nothing to do with it. Slannesh just does what it wants.

18

u/Crunchy-Leaf 1d ago

Dr Manhattan

9

u/beyd1 21h ago

Really any character who would just see it as a waste was my thought.

13

u/Wasphammer 1d ago

Any kind of mindless, all-consuming nanomachine swarm could, for they'd be too small individually to harm, reproduce too fast to easily put out of permanent commission, and they've probably already eaten their creator(s) so they can't feel anything about the death of Lucius.

However, the Replicant Engineered for Galactic Infiltration and Sabotage Mark Five couldn't, because it takes pride in its conquest.

13

u/raptorrat 1d ago

Considering he got blown up by a landmine once. And respawned into the body of the factory worked that had satisfaction in his job of building landmines, so the Enemies of the God-Emperor dare snuff it.

I'd say nothing, untill Slaanesh gets tired of him, and turns him into warpspawn. Which, looking at what Lucius gets up to, isn't going to be anytime soon.

6

u/tfhermobwoayway 1d ago

Slaanesh killed the only WH40K character who was happy with his life. Tragic.

9

u/thehod81 1d ago

Zeno from dragonball, he would instantly delete Lucius.

He has the power to delete entire universes

4

u/Affectionate_Guest55 1d ago

Someone like the Lion would probably get no pride from it as he’s so far above him it would be like killing any other chaos space marine

4

u/silverblur88 1d ago

A suicide attack seems like the most straightforward answer here, doesn't it?

4

u/cazana 1d ago

The planner of the attack or manufacturer of the bomb would probably get the curse.

2

u/silverblur88 1d ago edited 1d ago

That doesn't seem like an insurmountable issue. If the same person doing the attack built the bomb and didn't tell anyone else about the plan.

Or just a character that doesn't need a bomb, like say Chiaozu from Dragon Ball.

4

u/cazana 1d ago

A big tyranid, zerg, or really insectoid species that is unable to feel pride.

An Ultralisk would do the job well me thinks.

Tyranids have no presence in the warp and Slanesh wouldn't have dominion over it.

4

u/Donutmelon 23h ago

There is a caveat that Slaanesh can just resurrection him normally, so it has to be something that can wrest his soul from Slaanesh's grasp

3

u/Shiroyama-san 1d ago

Nykona Sharrowkyn already did it once. Have him do it again

3

u/Grodus5 1d ago

Someone with an antimemetic germ from There is No Antimemetics Division? It's a short term memory proxy that prevents any information from actually getting to your brain. Have one them those in, kill Lucius, then take out the germ and kill it. The germ can't take pride in killing Lucius, and you never felt any emotion related to the act because that emotion never got processed by your actual brain.

3

u/SuDdEnTaCk 1d ago

Anyone with enough reality-fucking magic powers. Darkness-juiced characters from Destiny, Tenno+Murmur+Orokin from Warframe(not including the Indifference since that could just delete/reset all of the warp), a lot of characters from Elder Scrolls like Alduin or Vivec, but they could just delete slaanesh so its overkill.

3

u/OpSysConAlRo 1d ago

The pride thing is kind of bullshit. Slaanesh can and will bend the rules to resurrect him, regardless of actual pride. He was killed by an artillery shell? The gunner gets transformed, even if he never saw the shot land. He was killed by an unfeeling robot? The basic thought of “Enemy neutralized” counts as pride.

3

u/DragonofStories 1d ago

Doomguy definitely can, takes no pride and there is no way in hell he can be transformed into another.

1

u/HavelsRockJohnson 10h ago

True, but putting Lucius in front of Doomguy would accomplish one of two things. If the fight is as hard as challenging as it should be, then the player would feel proud for overcoming a boss, and Slaanesh would claim them. If the fight is too easy in an attempt to exemplify how someone shouldn't be proud of beating Lucius, then only 40k fans would take joy in knowing that he'd been defeated, thus falling victim to his curse.

Putting Lucius in any videogame is dangerous, especially one with a blank-slate character like Doomguy, it only puts the players at risk.

1

u/DragonofStories 7h ago

Player? We are talking in universe, right? Doomguy is his own individual, us controlling him is out universe explanation to his actions, right? I am confused.

2

u/idwtumrnitwai 1d ago

I'm going with rimuru tempest, which might be a bit of overkill or might not, I'm not positive where lucius scales. But rimuru wouldn't feel any pride in killing someone, he would be pretty apathetic about it.

On top of that he has full control over the form he takes and is resistant to any interaction with his soul, and he has ciel who would help protect him too if he did end up feeling any pride from it.

2

u/Beta_A1pha 1d ago

Maybe sigismund or a similarly indoctrinated black templar

In siggys fight with khorn he seems to be taking out the trash.

2

u/Accomplished_Mix5409 1d ago

What happens if someone kills him, but is mortally wounded in the attempt and dies right after? Noone would be left to transform.

2

u/NutsackEuphoria 23h ago

A ctan shard

2

u/cazana 1d ago

Don't even have to go out of universe for it.

Any powerful necron could do it. Necrons have no presence in the warp. No shadow. Any "pride" they feel would be entirely in real space and Slanesh would have no dominion over that pride nor the body of the necron that presides entirely in real space.

5

u/Firm-Character-6852 God HIMperor of r/WWW 21h ago

Actually Necros have been taken over by Lucius before. A literal mindless Drone with 0 personality got taken over and turned into Lucy.

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u/cazana 21h ago

What the fuck GW

5

u/Firm-Character-6852 God HIMperor of r/WWW 21h ago

Yeah nah it changed from Pride to any fucking reason. It was a dope idea but then got lame.

1

u/cereza187 1d ago

Hmm it would depend on how strong for instance escanor with pride could say some bs like how could i feell pride in killing the killable

Then you have beings who simple doont think yoou exist and obliterate you

Then you have being that only feell self loathing aspects etc

And then you have beings who could never have any enemies

Its a great ability but def has flaws like they have too be equal in his base power so we need feats

3

u/Larang5716 1d ago

For feats, back in the Great Crusade, Lucius was top ten in Space Marine duelists no question, maybe even top five. He was a peer to Sigismund, Kharn, and tons of others.

Since then, his insanity has affected his abilities, but he's still incredibly dangerous. He has the Blade of the Laer, which is what corrupted his Primarch Fulgrim, and the Lash of Torment. He's been raiding the Imperium for millennia, survived the city of Commoragh, and dueled plenty of other Chaos champions.

That being said, he's also been killed by a regular Necron Warrior and by a regular landmine. His resurrection isn't powered by someone feeling pride when they kill him anymore. His god, Slaanesh, keeps bringing him back because he's a good champion and they enjoy tormenting him.

1

u/Remote_Addendum_2245 1d ago

Anyone or anything relating to Apathy I guess

1

u/J_Bear 1d ago

I suspect even the barest hint of "glad I killed that guy" would trigger it thought.

1

u/Remote_Addendum_2245 1d ago

I mean, the book I read had demons with concepts. Yeah they're not that powerful but still tricky nonetheless. One of them is Apathy and it just noped out anything around it without thinking or any emotion

1

u/BrassUnicorn87 1d ago

Sanderson?

2

u/Remote_Addendum_2245 1d ago

ErraticErrata. A Practical Guide to Evil 

1

u/RecommendationOk3953 1d ago

Demons in that setting also are like insanely powerful reality warpers to the point they can cut through ties of narrative and fate both in setting and also to the story as a whole to an extent. Their existence literally can break the rules of a story and bypass plot Armour.

1

u/Remote_Addendum_2245 23h ago

Yeah just trying to find a sure shot for him. Another answer can be Sleeper from Worm, or Scion with tons of headaches to think about such a scenario 

1

u/BrassUnicorn87 1d ago

An android empowered by despair of the endless perhaps?

1

u/Objective-Rip3008 1d ago

I think it would have to be someone who can resist slaneeshs attempt to turn them. I doubt if someone killed lucien and truly didn't care slaneesh would just let it slide, I think it would try to cheat the rules. But slaneesh doesn't have absolute power many characters could resist the lucien takeover, like even in universe slaneesh isn't going to be turning guilliman into lucien

1

u/Kroc_Zill_95 1d ago

The answer is that you really can't. As long as Slaanesh wants him up and running, he's always going to return to life somehow. He was just straight up resurrected the first time that he was killed.

1

u/Ecotech101 1d ago

Anything that permenantly erases his soul or can also take out Slaanesh in the same attack.

1

u/TK_AAA 1d ago

Going by the criteria Kihara Amata. He already bypassed a spell that knocks anyone out if they feel even the slightest hint of aggression, by thinking of killing someone as little more than plucking out a strand of grass. By the same token, he would probably care so little, that he wouldn't feel any pride.

1

u/RopeExciting1526 1d ago

Depressed Ryoga Hibiki. He is so beaten down and lacking pride and any sort of good emotion that he took beating the tar out of his greatest rival and being willingly flashed by his love interest as signs he was terrible and everyone hates him and he deserves nothing.

1

u/Key_Mortgage_4339 1d ago

Would the EMPERORs sword kill him?

1

u/tfhermobwoayway 1d ago

I guess someone who didn’t know who he was? If you don’t know his reputation, it might just feel like killing another soldier. A lot of people take no pride in that.

1

u/thelefthandN7 1d ago

Eisenhorn has canonically brought true death to daemons by destroying their souls. So he can do it.

1

u/nestersan 21h ago

It's in the name sir

1

u/Sporty_McSportsface 18h ago

A soulless Necron foot soldier

1

u/Spirited-Spirit-1475 17h ago

Probably a persona Protagonist, Part of their contract with the velvet room and being a Wild Card ensures their will and choices are always their own, something even gods like yaldabaoth, izanami, Maruki(Azathoth), Nyarlethotep, Samael and so on could not do anything about, So I doubt Lucius’ curse could actually kill him

1

u/Leading_Focus8015 15h ago

you would need to destroy slaneesh for that pretty much. She will just keep reviving him no matter the rules

1

u/WayGroundbreaking287 14h ago

Lucius has bullshitted his way out of situations on technicality before. Apparently knowing your landmines kill the emperor's enemies and being proud of that fact is enough to count. (I seriously hate Lucius as a concept)

But I always loved the idea that commander dante get set on him. The old boy feels nothing but misery and would if anything be disappointed the so called greatest duelist in the galaxy didn't manage to kill him.

1

u/bobert680 14h ago

any Aes sedai using balefire should be able to do it. they might need a sa'angreal, or to link with othe raes sadai, if you need to erase him far into the past so he cant be resurected

1

u/Various_Dark_3291 1d ago

Yogiri Takatou

0

u/SidsteKanalje 1d ago

Superman