History Characters / VinlandSaga

* NotSoDifferentRemark: During his fight with Thorfinn both men find themselves wondering what the heck someone this skilled is doing as a thrall/'houseguest' at some random farm.

* ArcherArchetype: Handy with a crossbow and has the cool, focused, and distant mindset associated with this trope.

* DropTheHammer: When Askeladd's band attacks, Hrafnkell seizes a large hammer and uses it to fend them off, killing two of them. Since it's implied that he's a RetiredBadass, it may have also been his preferred weapon during his time as a warrior.

* DropTheHammer: Wields a giant two-handed hammer as his weapon.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: He's the spitting image of his father.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: When he learns the fugitive slave of the neighboring village is Arnheid's husband, Gardar, he persuades Thorfinn to reunite the former couple and help them escape. [[spoiler: They fail to protect Gardar, and Arnheid dies from punishing wounds inflicted by Ketil for trying to escape.]]

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: When he learns the fugitive slave of the neighboring village is Arnheid's husband, Gardar, he persuades Thorfinn to reunite the former couple and help them escape. [[spoiler: They fail to protect Gardar, and Arnheid dies from punishing wounds inflicted by Ketil for trying to escape.]]
* LikeASonToMe: [[spoiler:When Thorfinn finally returns to Iceland, Helga immediately decides that if Einar is like a brother to Thorfinn, then he's like a son to her and treats him as one of the family. Einar is clearly touched by the gesture and feels a lot of fondness and respect for Helga.]]

* TheIshmael: For much of the beginning of the second arc. The story is still Thorfinn's, but Einar is the POV character.

%%* SwornBrothers: Becomes one to Thorfinn during the second arc. The two begin referring to each other as "brother" afterwards.

* LikeASonToMe: [[spoiler:When Thorfin finally returns home and introduces his BloodBrother Einar to Helga, she is quick to take Einar into the family, stating that if Einar is like a brother to her son, then he is like a son to her. It's a gesture that clearly touches Einar's heart.]]

* BloodBrothers: Becomes one to Thorfinn during the second arc. The two begin referring to each other as "brother" afterwards.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: A generally kind-hearted man who allows his slaves to buy their freedom through honest work, and trusts Snake and his fellow outlaws as household guards. Subverted in that he regularly beds his female slave Arnheid, who of course cannot refuse, and he does not offer her the same bargain. [[spoiler:Being outlawed by Canute only exaggerated his worst attributes.]]
* ReplacementGoldfish: The anime adaptation shows that [[spoiler:Arnheid is a replacement for a woman Ketil loved and lost when he was a young man. Before becoming rich, Ketil loved a woman, but a rich and powerful man named Ebbe proposed to her. Ketil was prepared to try to fight for her, but Sverker convinced him not to, worried what would happen if they opened a feud with someone as powerful as Ebbe was. So Ketil reluctantly stepped aside... and Ebbe and the woman were both killed at their wedding by a rival of Ebbe's. This is part of why he utterly flips out when he learns that Arnheid supposedly tried to run away from the farm with Gardar.]]

* RealMenLoveJesus: One of the things that makes him amicable towards Snake is that Snake is able to read Greek and thus able to recite a genuine Greek Bible perfectly to the elderly man for comfort. It's implied that Sverker's growing dementia and weakening body and eyesight are what prevents him from reading the scriptures himself, and as such these session are one of their biggest points of bonding. [[CulturedBadass Thorfinn even starts listening in on these impromptu sermons.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While he bullies and threatens Olmar during his duel in Jelling, [[spoiler:Thorgil refrains from outright harming his brother. When Olmar decides to surrender and Snake and Sverker takes his side, Thorgil chooses to run away rather than trying to seize control of the farm.]]

Unofficial 'captain of the guards' of Ketil's farm as the leader of the warrior band who have settled on the grounds. Snake serves as an on-off antagonist and/or ally to Einar and Thorfinn during the farmland arc. He is hinted to have been a former member of the Varangian Guard (the foreign bodyguard and elite soldiers of Roman Emperors), given his use of a sabre and his ability to read an Orthodox Bible.

* AFatherToHisMen: Nobody messes with his men and gets away with it.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Snake's SinisterScimitar particularly resembles a Persian shamshir. While it's not impossible for him to have a foreign sword, as detailed above, the sword type in question would not exist for another couple centuries.

* CoolSword: A very nice, thin, ornate, single-edged blade with a distinct curve, in quite the contrast to the large, straight, double-edged viking swords everyone else uses. Snake knows Greek, so it's possible that the sword itself is from Greece.

* HiddenDepths: He's literate (very rare in 11th century Scandinavia) and can read Greek (even moreso; Latin would not be uncommon for a traveling man or someone in the upper classes, but Greek? Incredibly rare), and hides a very strong sense of fairness under his scruffy, jerkish behaviour. His relationship with Sverker is also a lot warmer than it looks on the surface.

* LightningBruiser: As fast as Thorfinn, with considerably more girth.

* NonIndicativeName: His alias, Snake, is an animal associated with evil and deviousness, but the man himself is a honorable warrior who never wavers from his ideals.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: During his fight with Thorfinn, with both men wondering what the heck someone this skilled is doing as a thrall/'houseguest' at some random farm.

* ShoutOut: With that nickname, it should hardly be a surprise that he looks a lot like [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Solid Snake]].