Is Fulgrim Fulgrim? or has the daemon bound with in the Lear sword taken him over?

[Xenith]

The Daemon/Fulgrim are not literally in the painting.

Fulgrim was pushed to the recesses of the daemons mind when he allowed it to take over, the perception of the painting was how Fulgrim's Psyche communicated with the daemon. In Reflection Crack'd, the two are duelling over the psyche, and you dont find out until the end that Fulgrim has reclaimed his own mind from the daemon, when it talks to him and he gets upset looking at the painting in La Fenice.

I believe that Fulgrim is now in full control, although there is a daemon still present in his head.

I cannot remember what story dealt with daemonic possession and a marine fighting for control over his psyche after being pushed to the back. May have been HH, may have been Bleach...

[Anggul]

I think it plays really well. For the most part, Deamonic possession is portrayed as happening to the weak minded, or those who actively invite it.

Fulgrim fell into neither of these categories.

I would disagree with that, exceedingly so. Fulgrim was pathetically weak minded. He heard a voice in his mind that he had never heard before and didn't even question it. He almost immediately decided that it must be his conscience talking to him... funny how it had kept quiet all that time. The fact that he couldn't even resist taking the sword in the first place is testament to his weakness of will.

We know that Fulgrim had a severe inferiority complex due to the genetic flaw that causes his first lot of marines to die horribly. That's what made him so weak-willed, he was so obsessed with proving himself the best that it consumed him and although he put on a show and was still as strong and powerful as a primarch should be, inside he was weak.

That's the thing with the primarchs. They're brave and powerful due to how they were created, but they grew up on various planets without the guidance of the Emperor and their personalities were greatly moulded by that. Most of them are actually less mentally strong than Space Marines. Space Marines are conditioned from a young age, the Primarchs grew up wild and free, not rigorously trained like the Space Marines were. It's this weakness of mind in a body of great power that made the Horus Heresy possible. Can you imagine the focussed, distrustful minds of Marines such as Lysander or Calgar falling for the lies of Lorgar and Erebus? Not likely. The primarchs just weren't conditioned for it, everyone just assumed that because they were so powerful, they couldn't be tricked or twisted, which as we know is far from the case.

I agree with your second point though, it's great that he's probably a twisted abomination formed from the shards of both Fulgrim and the daemon, it keeps you wondering.

[Lord Lorne Walkier]

There is a important fact that always seems to be ignored. Fulgrim was possessed by a daemon in the Laeran sword yes but this is not the only daemon weapon he has used. He also was given the Kinebrach blade anathema that wounded Horus. It is my theory that the Deamon that was in control of his body was kicked out by the daemon that was in the Anathema. The Laeran blade was given to Lucius and i think it took over his body when the deamon was kicked out of Fulgrim.