Adeptus Custodes - Role and Capabilities: The Custodes are warriors unmatched in the galaxy, genetically-engineered by the Emperor Himself. The Emperor engineered few of these warriors once the swifter method for creating superhuman warriors using Space Marine gene-seed became more viable. The martial capabilities of the Adeptus Custodes remain largely unknown at the present time. What is known is that they possess skill beyond even a "normal" member of the Adeptus Astartes.It has been said that the Adeptus Custodes are to the Emperor what the Space Marines are to the primarchs; that the Emperor's own genetic matrix was used in their creation and through this their loyalty to Him is assured. Others argue that the Custodians are not like the Emperor in the way that a Space Marine is like his primarch, and that some other source was used as a template for their physical and psychological form; a source that was lost during the anarchy of the Age of Strife. The truth will likely never be known.The Adeptus Custodes are similar to the Grey Knights, the elite Chamber Militant of the Ordo Malleus branch of the Inquisition, in that both are elite, secret organisations with close genetic ties to the Emperor. Custodes are unique as they have neither a known primarch nor do they use Astartes gene-seed to produce their genetic modifications, since gene-seed can only be used upon Human males. Every Custodian stands a full head taller than a Space Marine and it is said that they were almost the same size as a primarch. In fact it was said that Constantin Valdor, Captain-General of the Legio Custodes and Chief Custodian to the Emperor during the Horus Hersey, was the same size as the Traitor Primarch Alpharius of the Alpha Legion.Only 300 Custodes serve as the actual personal guard of the Emperor, called the Hataeron Guard, the Companions of the Emperor, who guard the Emperor's chambers at all times. These are the Custodes that are privileged enough to be in the Emperor's physical presence. The Companions fall under the command of a Tribune, one of the Custodian Tribunate; a senior cadre that formerly consisted of ten in number, forming the Adeptus Custodes' council of war and policy.In the matters of the security of the Imperial Palace's inner sanctums and the person of the Emperor, no higher authority existed. In rank below the Tribune can be found the Centurions or Shield-Captains. Each unit of Companions is led by a Centurion. It was one such Centurion that led a small group of Companions to meet Alicia Dominica, head of the Brides of the Emperor (later the Sisters of Battle) during Goge Vandire's Reign of Blood in the Age of Apostasy during the 36th Millennium.One of the Companions, Constantin Valdor, was the Captain-General and Chief Custodian of the Legio Custodes during the Horus Heresy. He was the most honoured of all of the Emperor of Mankind's creations. No other being had served the Emperor for as long as he, save for the Imperial Regent of Terra, the potent psyker Malcador the Sigillite. Valdor was a proud and respectful warrior unmatched in his devotion and loyalty to the Emperor. Valdor was ever-present at the Emperor's side, always protecting Him from unseen enemies and he saved the Emperor's life innumerable times. Along with Malcador, Valdor was the Emperor's most trusted friend and advisor.Constantin Valdor was one of the first High Lords of Terra chosen after the end of the Horus Heresy to guide the Imperium forward following the Emperor's internment within the Golden Throne. He also had a close relationship with Primarchs Rogal Dorn and Leman Russ, although initially Russ and Valdor did not see eye to eye.Dorn was ever-present at the Imperial Palace during the Great Crusade and so Valdor and the primarch spent much time together. On the other hand, Leman Russ only earned Valdor's respect after Russ wounded Horus using the Spear of Russ, though not unfortunately killing him as intended.The two then served together in combat during the Fall of Prospero when the Custodes and the Space Wolves joined to punish the Thousand Sons Legion of Magnus the Red for his continued use of sorcery despite the edicts of the Council of Nikaea. There is no record of when or how Valdor was killed or if he was even killed at all. He eventually stepped down from the Senatorum Imperialis as a High Lord so that he could continue to devote all of his attention to protecting his beloved Emperor, now encased within the Golden Throne.However, other accounts of the Custodians' exploits provide a different version of the relationship between the Astartes and Custodes. These records indicate that though the Custodians are slightly larger, on average, than Space Marines, their fighting skills are more or less equal. While Space Marines don their armour ritually and in the presence of their squadmates in order to focus themselves entirely on their martial calling, Custodians arm themselves alone and in silence, reflecting on the varied duties they must perform in the service of their master.As bodyguards, the Custodes not only protect the Emperor's person but also maintain scrupulous surveillance on all the other factions of the Imperium to police their loyalty, infiltrate the households of suspicious individuals among the Imperial nobility, and enter deep cover to test the strictness of their own security within the Imperial Palace, exercises which are called "Blood Games." Additionally, these records also confirm that each Custodian's name consists of numerous components typically awarded for feats of arms; Valdor's full name, for instance, is over nine hundred components long.