History Characters / WarhammerDwarfs

[[Characters/WarhammerTheEmpire The Empire]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBretonnia Bretonnia]] | '''Dwarfs''' | [[Characters/WarhammerHighElves High Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerDarkElves Dark Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWoodElves Wood Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerLizardmen Lizardmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerVampireCounts Vampire Counts]] | [[Characters/WarhammerTombKings Tomb Kings]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosGodsAndDaemons Daemons of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWarriorsOfChaos Warriors of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBeastsOfChaos Beastmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosDwarfs Chaos Dwarfs]] | [[Characters/WarhammerSkaven Skaven]] | [[Characters/WarhammerGreenskins Greenskins]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOgreKingdoms Ogre Kingdoms]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOtherFactions Others]]]]-]]]

[[Characters/WarhammerTheEmpire The Empire]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBretonnia Bretonnia]] | '''Dwarfs''' | [[Characters/WarhammerHighElves High Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerDarkElves Dark Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWoodElves Wood Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerLizardmen Lizardmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerVampireCounts Vampire Counts]] | [[Characters/WarhammerTombKings Tomb Kings]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosGodsAndDaemons Daemons of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWarriorsOfChaos Warriors of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBeastsOfChaos Beastmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosDwarfs Chaos Dwarfs]] | [[Characters/WarhammerSkaven Skgaven]] | [[Characters/WarhammerGreenskins Greenskins]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOgreKingdoms Ogre Kingdoms]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOtherFactions Others]]]]-]]]

[[Characters/WarhammerTheEmpire The Empire]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBretonnia Bretonnia]] | '''Dwarfs''' | [[Characters/WarhammerHighElves High Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerDarkElves Dark Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWoodElves Wood Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerLizardmen Lizardmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerVampireCounts Vampire Counts]] | [[Characters/WarhammerTombKings Tomb Kings]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosGodsAndDaemons Daemons of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWarriorsOfChaos Warriors of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBeastsOfChaos Beastmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosDwarfs Chaos Dwarfs]] | [[Characters/WarhammerSkaven Skaven]] | [[Characters/WarhammerGreenskins Greenskins]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOgreKingdoms Ogre Kingdoms]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOtherFactions Others]]]]-]]]

* GoodOldWays:

* BadassBeard: A notable example because, as mentioned below, Grombrindal's beard is apparently considered ''sexy'' by Dwarf standards.

* BadassBeard: Duh, they are Dwarfs, they love their beards more than they love a good fight. Most notable are the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly-named]] Longbeards. Since Dwarfs never shave, ''ever'', the oldest Dwarfs have beards down to their feet. Dwarf beards are actually serious business, since one foolish Elven Phoenix King decided to send Dwarf diplomats back sans facial hair, which resulted in a massive war between the two races.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While he possesses a healthy respect for the traditions of his people, Thorgrim notably also welcomes new ideas and innovative technological advancements. For context, any invention less than a few hundred years old is considered ''new and unproven'' by the long-lived Dwarfs, but Thorgrim has empowered the Engineers' Guild to mobilize several new ideas with only a scant few decades of testing beforehand. Despite his adherence to his species' ancient grudges against the high elves he's also smart enough to know when to set it aside and is willing to work with the high elves against the Warriors of Chaos, greenskins or skaven.

--'''Hengist Stonebelly - Dwarf Longbeard'''

->''"We sons of Grungni may have drunk deep from the bitter waters of misfortune, but we yet survive. Whilst a single Dwarf draws breath, we will fight the evils that assail us, and we will never, ever give up."''
-->'''Hengist Stonebelly, Dwarf Longbeard.'''

->''"No rest until the blood of Greenskins flows like dark ale upon the earth!"''

* CultureChopSuey: Dwarf culture and design draws heavily on a number of influences such as the kingdoms of post-Roman Britain (particularly the Anglo-Saxons[[note]]a number of helmets share designs with the the treasures found at Sutton Hoo ship burial[[note]], the Celts[[note]]the blue tattoos and red hair of the Slayers echoes the traditional image of Celtic woad-covered warriors[[/note]] and medieval Scandinavia[[note]]some terms and designs used by the Dwarfs have Scandinavian origin[[/note]]). All of this is held together with the stereotypical attitude of the people of [[OopNorth Northern England]] and the [[ViolentGlaswegian Scots]].

* CultureChopSuey: Dwarf culture and design draws heavily on a number of influences such as the kingdoms of post-Roman Britain (particularly the Anglo-Saxons[[note]]a number of helmets share designs with the the treasures found at Sutton Hoo ship burial[[note]]), the Celts[[note]]the blue tattoos and red hair of the Slayers echoes the traditional image of Celtic woad-covered warriors[[/note]] and medieval Scandinavia[[note]]some terms and designs used by the Dwarfs have Scandinavian origin[[/note]]). All of this is held together with the stereotypical attitude of the people of [[OopNorth Northern England]] and the [[ViolentGlaswegian Scots]].

* CultureChopSuey: Dwarf culture and design draws heavily on a number of influences such as the kingdoms of post-Roman Britain (particularly the Anglo-Saxons[[note]]a number of helmets share designs with the the treasures found at Sutton Hoo ship burial[[note]]), the Celts[[note]]the blue tattoos and red hair of the Slayers echoes the traditional image of Celtic woad-covered warriors[[/note]] and medieval Scandinavia[[note]]some terms and designs used by the Dwarfs have Scandinavian origin[[/note]]. All of this is held together with the stereotypical attitude of the people of [[OopNorth Northern England]] and the [[ViolentGlaswegian Scots]].

* GeometricMagic: Dwarf ''Rune Magic'' takes this form. They cannot channel it the way [[TrainingTheGiftOfMagic Men and Elves can]], but they recognize the power of the Winds of Magic all the same, and their Runesmiths are experts in shaping and binding that magic into objects with special symbols and materials. So while Dwarfs may not have any ''wizards'' nor can they use more abstract functions like divining the future, they have comparatively many magical weapons and tools [[FunctionalMagic that have set and definite supernatural properties such as being really sharp]], all of which are of great power and reliability.

* MeteoricIron: Gromril, the Dwarfs' preferred material for crafting armor and weapons, was carried to earth by a meteor whose impact crater became the Black Water and is still only found around it. It's the toughest and most durable material known to the Dwarfs, never corrodes, and holds runes better than any other substance in the world.

* {{Mithril}}: The Dwarfs use a particular metal named Gromril or Silverstone. It is the sturdiest metal in the world and they make the strongest non-enchanted armors, giving a 4+ armour save if one wears a ''Gromril Armour'' set.

** Dwarven beards are SeriousBusiness and harming them is arguably worse than actually ''killing'' a dwarf. As Caledor II figured out the hard way when shaving a dwarf ambassador's beard resulted in a centuries-long war that nearly drove both races to extinction.

* DugTooDeep: The Dwarves have a longstanding habit of constantly delving deeper and deeper to create more living space and pursue mineral seams. This tends to cause them trouble when their digging breaches into the lairs of any of the monstrous things that live beneath the earth, such as Skaven, goblins or dragons.

* ElvesVersusDwarves: Part of the reason why the Dwarfs and Elves both now have {{Vestigial Empire}}s; the Dwarfs were manipulated by the Dark Elves into going to war against the High Elves, but it was the arrogance of the High Elven king -- and the blunt stubbornness of the Dwarf ambassador -- that led to the war taking place. They still hate each other over it -- the Khazalid term for elf (while not an outright synonym for a negative-connotation term like human) is a byword for treacherousness. The similarly-prefixed words elgram and elgraz are words referring to something weak or thin, and a construction on the verge of collapsing respectively. Their clashes also tend to be exacerbated by their contrasting cultures and personalities -- dwarves love mountains and underground spaces, value loyalty to duty above all else, are closely tied to their homes, enjoy hard labor, stout construction and strong alcohol, and deeply distrust magic. In contrast, elves love open spaces and forests, often allow passions to rule over duty and obligation, are restless explorers and wanderers, view physical labor as demeaning and prefer lives of leisure and contemplation, prefer elegant constructions and delicate liquors and art, and are one of the most magically adept peoples in the world.

* OurDwarvesAreDifferent: For the most part, they're a straightforward if exaggerated version of the usual neo-Tolkienian model -- they're short, stout folk who wear long, flowing bears, horned helmets and heavy armor, live in richly decorated mountain holds, hate elves and orcs but have a more positive relationship with humans, immensely value wealth and especially gold and often tend to [[DugTooDeep unleash terrible things by mining too greedily and deep]], fight almost exclusively with hammers and axes, possess much more advanced technology than other races, and value their personal and cultural honor to an absurd degree.

In Dwarf society, honor is everything. Occasionally, a Dwarf may feel that his honor has been stained beyond redemption, such as by failing to uphold an important oath, causing the deaths of other Dwarfs through carelessness or cowardice, being forsaken in love or surviving the loss of home, hold and hoard. These Dwarfs respond to their shame by taking the Slayer oath, vowing to forsake all wealth, titles and worldly ties and to seek death in combat against the enemies of the dwarven race. Only then will their shame be cleansed.

->''"No Rest until the blood of Greenskins flows like dark ale upon the earth!"''

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Subverted in the lore when High King Alriksson, finding himself dying and without direct heir, decided to test potential candidates and tell them to do something worthy of a High King of the Dwarfs. All but one presented themselves with glorious kills, for instance Ungrim Ironfist having slain a Giant. The last contestant, Thorgrim, instead of killing some big monster, had successfully made contact with lost Dwarf clans in the North and retrieved priceless artefacts from the Lost Holds. This and Thorgrim’s charisma signaled to everyone present that he would be a greater High King than any of the others because he had a vision of returning their kind to their former glory; thus Thorgrim was crowned.

* ElvesVersusDwarves: Part of the reason why the Dwarfs and Elves both now have {{Vestigial Empire}}s; the Dwarfs were manipulated by the Dark Elves into going to war against the High Elves, but it was the arrogance of the High Elven king -- and the blunt stubbornness of the Dwarf ambassador -- that led to the war taking place. They still hate each other over it - the Khazalid term for elf (while not an outright synonym for a negative-connotation term like human) is a byword for treacherousness. The similarly-prefixed words elgram and elgraz are words referring to something weak or thin, and a construction on the verge of collapsing respectively.

** Gazul: God of Death. In a pleasant aversion of EverybodyHatesHades, Gazul is revered as a protector of the Dwarf dead and established the Dwarf tradition of venerating one's ancestors. He is also the reason they despise the Undead. Interestingly, he is the only Dwarf in the setting portrayed with a sword.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Inverted. Dwarfs believe that all melee weapons should double as tools. Because swords are purely weapons of war with no other use, Dwarfs consider them to be [[PardonMyKlingon "Umgak"]]: bad craftsmanship. It doesn't stop them from making it for other races as the ''Runefangs'' can attest.

* LanguageEqualsThought: Subverted. Dwarfs are an incredibly direct, no-nonsense people that dislike trickery and prefer straight talk. Their language has no words for abstract concepts, ''at all''. But it's not that they don't understand those things, it's that the Dwarf language of Khazalid uses bywords to express theoretical ideas. For instance, Khazalid has no word for "eternal" but it does have the word "Karak". "Kar", meaning "Mountain" and "Ak" meaning "Similar to" so "Karak" means "Similar to a mountain", that is to say, lasting a long time.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Though the extensive use of cannons and muskets is new and the focus on oaths and revenge is taken over the top.
** Actually {{Subverted}}. Humanity believe this trope to be true and view the Dwarfs as a homogeneous, monolithic culture but that's actually not true. Each "Karak" has its own cultural identity and as such, the Dwarf Realms are actually very diverse. The Dwarfs of the Grey Mountains tend to be more youthful and ambitious, the natives of Barak Varr are more friendly and laid back, and Kraka Drak is extremely isolationist and paranoid. Differences between individual Dwarfs are not described to be any less varied than any other race; a dwarf can be anyone from a BoisterousBruiser like Kazador Dragonslayer to a BunglingInventor like [[{{Characters/GotrekAndFelix}} Malakai Makaisson]] to an AdventurerArchaeologist like [[VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide Bardin Goreksson]].

* UncertainDoom: It is told Grimnir went alone to close the gateway allowing the Daemons of Chaos access to the material world at the height of their invasion. His ultimate fate is unknown, but the Dwarfs claim that “he fell into darkness”.

* TheWorfEffect: The Dwarfs are more than anyone in the lore the primary victims of an awesome army or unit, as there isn’t a more impressive testament of dangerousness than being able to threaten the Dwarfs.

[[Characters/WarhammerTheEmpire The Empire]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBretonnia Bretonnia]] | '''Dwarfs''' | [[Characters/WarhammerHighElves High Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerDarkElves Dark Elves]] ([[Characters/WarhammerMalekith Malekith]]) | [[Characters/WarhammerWoodElves Wood Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerLizardmen Lizardmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerVampireCounts Vampire Counts]] | [[Characters/WarhammerTombKings Tomb Kings]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosGodsAndDaemons Daemons of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWarriorsOfChaos Warriors of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBeastsOfChaos Beastmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosDwarfs Chaos Dwarfs]] | [[Characters/WarhammerSkaven Skaven]] | [[Characters/WarhammerGreenskins Greenskins]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOgreKingdoms Ogre Kingdoms]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOtherFactions Others]]]]-]]]

* AFriendInNeed: He's a friend ''[[UndyingLoyalty forever]]'', if that friend is a [[IGaveMyWord Dwarf]].

* GargleBlaster: Bugman's XXX[[UpToEleven XXX]]. All Dwarf Ale is this, really, but Bugmans XXXXX is very possibly the strongest drink ever made.
* ICallItVera: DoubleSubverted. Josef's axe has a name, but he won't tell anyone what it is...so instead he calls it ''Ol' Trustworthy''.