Warhammer 40,000 followers have been possible delighted to see Dawn of War 4 introduced with a flashy CGI trailer at Gamescom 2025’s Opening Evening Stay, however they’ll certainly have seen one of the sequence’ most vital characters is MIA.
Gabriel Angelos, Chapter Grasp of the Blood Ravens and basically the protagonist of the unique Dawn of War trilogy, is nowhere to be seen. And so after I had the chance to speak to Jan Theysen, Dawn of War 4’s artistic director and the co-founder of developer King Artwork Video games, I knew I needed to ask the place the large man was.
“That was truly one of the choices we made comparatively early. We do not need Gabriel Angelos within the sport,” Theysen instructed me.
That’s a reasonably main exclusion. Gabriel Angelos has been half of the sequence since its inception, rising in each significance and energy with every entry. He started as a House Marine Captain, main his military of Blood Ravens to victory in opposition to the Orks, Eldar, and Chaos throughout a marketing campaign on the planet Tartarus within the authentic Dawn of War. By the occasions of the third sport, he was the Blood Raven’s Chapter Grasp and wielded the mighty warhammer often known as God-Splitter. However it’s that ascent that’s seen him erased from Dawn of War 4’s roster of commanders.
“For us, he felt a bit bit overpowered,” Theysen defined. “It is a bit bit bizarre to have both this barely overpowered character from the start of the sport, which is a bit bit off, or you must do, ‘Oh, properly, he misplaced his reminiscence and he misplaced all his energy,’ which can be a bizarre trope.”
Dawn of War 3 earned the ire of followers for making use of too many MOBA-like traits to its hero characters, and so Angelos’ departure could be half of King Artwork’s try and return to the type of Dawn of War 1. “We mainly stated we would like extra ‘regular’ heroes,” stated Theysen. “So we’ve Cyrus and we’ve Jonah coming again, however they’re all, energy level-wise, extra much like regular models.”
Cyrus was final seen in Dawn of War 2, appearing because the Blood Raven’s Scout Sergeant. Recognized for his gravelly voice (supplied by none apart from long-time Wolverine VO, Steve Blum) and shock of blonde hair, he returns as Dawn of War 4’s most distinguished House Marine character, at the least so far as the preliminary advertising goes.
Jonah Orion, in the meantime, made his first look in Dawn of War 2’s Chaos Rising growth, and was the Blood Raven’s Chief Librarian in Dawn of War 3, offering {powerful} psychic talents on the battlefield. Each return with new, up to date designs to replicate the Blood Ravens’ having been upgraded to Primaris Marines, the latest type of House Marines within the Warhammer 40k lore.
Dawn of War 4 is about to characteristic greater than 10 playable Commanders throughout its 4 factions, so it’s possible that Cyrus and Jonah might be accompanied by one other notable Blood Angel – whether or not that’s a brand new or returning character stays to be seen. However whoever they’re, we all know they received’t be Gabriel Angelos, they usually actually received’t be ultra-powerful.
That’s not all we realized from Theysen. Take a look at our large Dawn of War 4 interview to study how new studio King Artwork Video games has taken over growth duties from Relic Leisure, why the sport returns to the setting of Darkish Campaign, and why Chaos is lacking from the faction roster.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s Government Editor of Options.