Dead In Vinland / Characters

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The Survivors Family

As a whole

The family of four castaways and the main characters of the game. After finding themselves stranded on a mysterious island with almost no supplies and with a bloothirsty warlord breathing down their neck for tribute, they have to use all of their skills and get help from other people on the island in order to survive.

Badass Family: Eirik is the only one with a warrior background but they all can handle themselves in a fight quite well.
The Exile: They are forced to flee their home when some people come to raize their house and kill Eirik and everyone else.
Four-Temperament Ensemble: They form one, with Eirik as Melancholic, Blodeuwedd as Phlegmatic, Moira as Sanguine and Kari as Choleric.
We Cannot Go On Without You: If any of the four die it's instant Game Over.

Eirik

Unwilling Hero

"So we must start a new life here. It may be a land of new possibilities for us, as long as we stick together."

Eirik is the patriarch of the castaway family. While he blames himself for their plight, he has no intention to let his family perish.

Eirik starts with strength as his highest stat, with fishing, hunting as his highest practical stats. He wields a sword and his class is warrior.

Action Dad: A father to a teen daughter and a capable fighter.
The Atoner: "Yet, the remorse for being the cause of all this suffering, that he feels deep inside, will last forever."
Betty and Veronica: Gender-inverted, with him being Betty to Eustache's Veronica and Blodeuwedd's Archie.
Classical Anti-Hero: Eirik is a capable man plagued by doubts and self-deprecation.
Dismotivation: He's almost stubbornly unambitious, refusing to go for positions of authority before his exile and not being too thrilled with being put into a leadership position on the island. Depending on how you characterize him through your choices, it could be becuse he's too weak-willed to either purusue leadership on his own or refuse it when it's given to him, or because he dislikes the idea of lording over people and responsibilities that come with it but still has the spine to stand up for himself.
Happily Married: With Blodeuwedd. As the game starts, anyway, you can make them rather unhappy as the game goes along.
The Hero: For a given value of hero, but the opening narration is from his point of view.
Heroes Prefer Swords: He's a hero and he uses a sword.
Heroic Bastard: He's a jarl's bastard son, and a good man overall.
Hidden Backup Prince: The source of his problems is that he was his jarl's hidden bastard son, making him the jarl's successor once the jarl died. Eirik himself never cared for the title nor would he make a claim for it, but unfortunately, the brother of the jarl did. Cue armed people showing up to Eirik's homestead and Eirik being forced to flee for his life along with his family.
It's All My Fault: Has a habit of blaming himself for many things, including those that he isn't really responsible for, much to Blodeuwedd's annoyance.
Lightning Bruiser: Emphasis on "lightning", he has solid combat stats all around and his perk allows him to increase his initative for the next round per every enemy he succesfully hits.

Reluctant Hero: Unwilling Hero is even the title given to him in his profile. All he wants is a quiet life, but he can still find himself in threatening situations where he has to protect himself and other from threats. How heroic he is in practice will depend on how and how often you use him during events.
Reluctant Warrior: Unusually for a typical norseman, Eirik isn't at all thrilled about fighting and combat and would rather spend his life farming. He did go raiding in his youth and still has the skills but he doesn't like remembering that time and doesn't see any glory in it.
The Stoic: Out of the four castaways, he's the least emotional.

Blodeuwedd

Welsh Princess

"I'm thankful to Frigg to be able to endure this hardship with my husband, my dear sister and my daughter."

Gentle and strong, Blodeuwedd keeps her family together and protects them fiercely. She prefers diplomatic solutions but can wield an axe when things get ugly.

Blodeuwedd starts out with charisma as her highest stat, with constitution and cooking in tow. She wields an axe and her class is protector.

Action Mom: She's a stay-at-home mother most of the time but she is a fully capable fighter.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: If she pursues romance with Eustache.
Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Parvaneh's Veronica and Eirik's Archie.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Can have this dynamic with Eirik.
The Chief's Daughter: She and Moira were this both in their birth family, being daughters of a welsh noble, and in their foster family, formally adopted by the jarl that kidnapped them.
Feminine Women Can Cook: Her highest practical stat is cooking. This easily makes her a Supreme Chef.
Fiery Redhead: She is strong-willed, brave, not afraid to take charge and knows how to handle a weapon. In her youth she was even more temperamental - she married Eirik in open defiance to her foster father's wishes - but by now she outgrew it.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to Moira's Foolish.
Happily Adopted: She seems content with being a foster daughter to a jarl and calls him their real father to Moira. Doubles as a downplayed Happiness in Slavery, as she got adopted by him after he had killed her real parents and took her and Moira home with him as raid trophies. It probably helps that she was too young to remember any of that.
Mama Bear: Threatening her daughter is a surefire way to cause her wrath.
Meaningful Name: "Blodeuwedd" means "face of flowers". Though as she explains, this is just a fancy way of saying she has freckles.
My Beloved Smother: Kari's opinion of her, and Blodeuwedd really can be overly protective and controlling of her at times - in he own words, Kari's survival takes precedence over Kari's happiness in Blodeuwedd's eyes.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Moira's Red.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: In the pasts she got to love Eirik for his kind heart and for treating her with respect. Whether she still loves him in the present is up to your choices as a player.
Stone Wall: In combat she doesn't hit too hard but she's very resilient and her skills help with protecting other combat party members.

Moira

Blodeuwedd's sister, Eirik's sister-in-law and Kari's aunt. Moira is a very knowledgeable and free-spirited woman, neither of which made her life particularly easy, same with her very sharp tongue.

In combat she's a mystic, providing magical support to members of the party, and out of combat she's a good healer and a source of knowledge on all matters.

All Girls Want Bad Boys: Averted. Unlike Bloudeuwedd, who can potentially fall for his charms, Moira sees Eustache right through and refuses to be involved with him.
Black Sheep: She doesn't fit well either in her immediate family or in society at large. Eirik, Blodeuwedd or Kari don't hate her but they more tolerate than like her.
Cool Aunt: Zigzagged. She fits the trope in that she's well-travelled, knowledgeable, has no ties or children of her own and is much more free-spirited than Blodeuwedd - but instead of admiring her Kari is annoyed with her more often than not.
Deadpan Snarker: Her tongue is weapon-grade sharp.
Fiery Redhead: And unlike her sister she never grew out of it. Moira is fiercely independent and never keeps quiet when she has something to say.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish to Blodeuwedd's Responsible. Interesting case is that between the two Moira is the eldest.
Freudian Excuse: It is implied that her rebellious attitude stems from the fact that she still remembers her real parents and her homeland from before she and her sister got kidnapped, and so she lashes out at those who took it from her and treated her as just a raid trophy.
The Gadfly: Often says things to try and get a raise out of people.
Good Bad Girl: She's had plenty of sex, she's not afraid to talk about it, and she still has a solid moral compass.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Irrepressible sarcasm aside she is a good person.
Really Gets Around: She had plenty of partners and experience before the game started, and never even thought of settling down, which didn't help her reputation. Less so during the game as there aren't that many opportunities to get around. Plus, she might get around but she still has standards, and so she only has two romance options among the cast.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Moira's Blue.
The Resenter: She rarely shows it but she does resent her sister a bit for having a better-arranged life, while Moira is designated to be a "bad girl".
The Smart Guy: She has the best knowledge-related skills in your starting group, and she will likely retain this position for the whole game unless you recruit Gudrun.
Squishy Wizard: In combat she's a caster but not very tough. True out of combat as well, as her physical stats are not very good and characters' dialogue mentions that she's not physically fit.
Stepford Snarker: Some of her sarcasm serves as a coping mechanism and a way to hide her own insecurities.

Kari

Eirik's and Blodeuwedd's teenage daughter. A tomboy going through her rebellious phase, she is a thrill-seeker restless for an adventure.

She's good with a bow and arrows and makes for a great explorer.

Butch Lesbian: If she pursues relationship with Shanaw her personality makes her one. Though they're both about equally butch.
Critical Hit Class: She inflicts increased damage with her crits, which predisposes to building her into this.
Daddy's Girl: She adores her father and still treats him as her idol.
Jerkass: Downplayed, but she is one of the most confrontational and standoffish characters in the whole game.
No Guy Wants an Amazon: Non-romantic example. Back home she had often joined boys' warrior training - which caused boys to start disliking her when she started beating them at that.
One of the Boys: Back home she preferred sticking with boys and never had any girl friends.
Outdoorsy Gal: She liked going with Eirik on hunting trips back home, preferring that to Blodeuwedd teaching her traditionally feminine skills like cooking and sewingm much to her mother's consternation. This makes her a great explorer in the present but her homemaking skills suffer as a result.
Pitbull Dates Puppy: With Angelico if the player pursues this romance, where she's the Pitbull.
The Straight and Arrow Path: She uses a bow in combat.
Tsundere: How she acts towards Angelico if she pursues romance with him.
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: A mundane variation - having just entered puberty and with her tomboyish character she still treats the idea of intimacy as "icky" and does not know how to process or deal with her own romantic emotions if they arise.

Other survivors

The Vallhund

A Swedish Vallhund. Introduced in the eponymous DLC, he can be encountered early on in the game and potentially adopted by Kari, letting him assist the whole community.

Bribing Your Way to Victory: He can only be recruited through a paid DLC, and while his actions may not seem like much at first their effects add up a lot over time. Especially if you train him. Add to that his practically non-existant maintenance and overall this makes him a great assistance for your community in the long run.
Canine Companion: Mostly Kari's but he has actions that let him assist any survivor or even buff the whole community.
Hello, [Insert Name Here]: His default name is Valur but he can be renamed at any moment into anything you want.
Mechanically Unusual Class: He cannot participate in any normal camp actions directly, but he has a set of his own unique actions that he can do during the daily phases. In addition, he does not have the needs other characters have and requires no resources to survive.
Relationship Values: His affection meter indicates which skills you can train him in. Feeding him is necessary to fill it, but not for his survival.
Undying Loyalty: You may not feed him a single scrap throughout the whole game and he'll still stay in your camp and follow commands you give him without complain.

Knut

A norseman from danish shores who got exiled from his clan. He's the husband of Solveig and is encountered alongside her. A big, strong man who had lost his leg below his knee when raiding - but his real flaws are not physical.

The Alcoholic: Was one even before his exile, but he will slip into this especially hard if Solveig splits from him but he is allowed to stay in the camp. He will develop this as a trait, giving him a chance to start every day Drunk, generating him potentially stacking Hangovers.
Alcohol-Induced Stupidity: What caused his exile - after he attacked a wrong person during his latest drunken bender his clan had had enough of him and exiled him along with his wife.
Berserk Button: Hates doctors and shamans, who he blames for not being able to save his leg.
The Blacksmith: What he became after he could not longer be a warrior. He seems to dislike it but if his Crafting skill is any indication he was quite good at it.
Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: His weapon of choice is a huge two-handed one.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The most likely reason you will decide to keep him around when it comes to exiling him. Knut has few, if any, redeeming personality qualities, but you may not want to lose his skillset.
Career-Ending Injury: Losing his leg put an end to his days as a clan warrior.
Domestic Abuse: Verbally and physically abuses his wife.
Foil: To Eirik, as both are norsemen and former warriors who got exiled along with their families. But where Eirik is a calm, kind man who does not like fighting, supports his family and puts blame on himself even for things he shouldn't, Knut is angry, violent, relished in being a warrior, abuses his wife and blames everyone but himself for his misfortunes.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Knut is quick to anger and there are many things that tick him off.
Handicapped Badass: Even with a missing leg he's a formidable fighter.
Jerkass: A violent, abusive and hateful man, there is little to like about Knut as a person. Apparently he hadn't always been like that but losing his leg and getting forced out of the clan warriors' ranks embittered him.
Mighty Glacier: The man is a real tank in combat. His wooden leg greatly slows him down, reflecting in his reduced initiative and the AP pool, but he hits like a truck with his hammer and he is the toughest character you can get.
Never My Fault: Blames all of his misfortunes on a curse that was put on him, resulting in him losing his leg, getting forced out of the clan's warriors, losing his children and then getting exiled. From what he lets slip once this is a compensatory behavior - he can't admit that some of his misfortune came from blind luck and the rest did from his own actions, so he puts everything onto a curse.
Stay in the Kitchen: He's all for traditional values and ways of life of the time, where men fight while women stay at home. So women that do not follow that (Kari, Moira, to name a few) quickly earn his enmity. That said, Tomoe manages to get some grudging respect from him.
Stout Strength: He packs quite a paunch, but he's still one of the best warriors on your roster.
War Is Glorious: Unlike Eirik he very much liked being a warrior and going raiding. So him losing a leg and gettin forever sidelined from that felt especially bad for him.
Would Hit a Girl: He beats his wife, and he can also hit Moira during one event.

Solveig

A norsewoman from danish shores. She is Knut's wife who followed him into exile, and she is encountered alongside him. She is also the mother of their baby son Thormod, who she always keeps close to her.Solveig is not a good combatant, but she's a good housekeeper and an excellent cook.

Dark and Troubled Past: Solveig had more than a fair share misery in her past. She grew up in a large, but poor family, her husband was often away from home on raids and when injury prevented that he turned abusive on her. Also, Thormod is not her only child, he's just the youngest - but all the rest of her children died during a typhus outbreak.
The Dividual: She is never seen without her baby son, constantly carrying him with her. For some reason she even takes him into combat.
Domestic Abuse: Is a victim of this from Knut.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's blond and she's one of the sweetest characters in the game.
The Heart: She tries to get everyone to get along when conflict arises.
Rage Breaking Point: With support from other characters she will eventually call Knut out on his abuse and split from him. Depending on your choices in this and the preceding event this can end with Knut exiled, allowed to stay but as an outcast, or killed.
Stay in the Kitchen: Solveig is actually fine with the traditional woman's role as a housekeeper and does not aspire for anything else. Pity that her husband happens to be Knut.
Supreme Chef: The only real competition for Blodeuwedd in this department. Their starting Cooking skill is the same but Blod is likely to gain some levels by the time you recruit Solveig. However, Solveig has several events where she provides food for the community.

Gudrun

Gudrun is a völva, a female shaman from norse lands. She's very old, but even though age has taken its toll on both her body and mind she still knows more than most, and some things that noone else does. She's the only survivor who came to the island willingly and purposefully, and she also knows some things about Eirik.

In combat she's a mystic, similar to Moira.

Animal Companion: Her pet crow. She's very protective of it.
Birds of a Feather: Gudrun is basically Moira with several decades added. Little wonder they hit off quite well.
Connected All Along: She's not just from any random place in the north, she is from the same general area as Eirik's family. She's one of the two characters that can help reveal what really caused the attack on Eirik's household.
Cloudcuckoolander: Her age combined with a lifetime practice of using drugs in her shaman rites means Gudrun is... pretty out there.
Dirty Old Woman: She mentions that in her youth she used to ride a strong young warrior every time after a succesful ritual, and she can also lust after Yaghoub.
Eccentric Mentor: She can start teaching Moira more of her magic, and calling her eccentric is putting it mildly.
Glass Cannon: She has the worst health rate in the game, that of 8. This means that any scratch on her will cause an increase in her Injury statistic, and some stronger enemies can outright oneshot her. However she has a huge AP pool, enough to easily use multiple incantations per turn or to spam Uncanny Litany every turn.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A few of her actions show that, beneath her prickly facade, Gudrun does care after all.
Magic Staff: She fights with a wooden stick tipped with three spikes resembling a bird's foot.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Invokes this herself when, late in her training of Moira, she suggests Moira to use her as a Human Sacrifice in order to absorb her power. You have an option of refusing or taking her up on her offer.
Miniature Senior Citizens: She's even shorter than Kari.
Mystical White Hair: Gray with age in her case.
Prophet Eyes: Her eyes are covered in cataracts from age.
Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Gudrun has long ran out of shame or cares to give about propriety or being nice.
Squishy Wizard: Even more so than Moira, see Glass Cannon above.
The Smart Guy: The only one who can outclass Moira in this regard. Even with the headstart Moira gets Gudrun's wisdom and knowledge stats are still likely to be higher than Moira's by the time she is recruited.
Touched by Vorlons: In her ending, where she goes off to learn wisdom from Freyja. Later she is seen flying through thin air with her skin turned blue.

Angelico

A young christian monk born in Italy, who was adopted by a monastic order as an orphan. A kind and gentle soul, he came to the island fleeing from darkness in his past - and unfortunately, this darkness might have followed him even here.

Angelico is not a good combatant, but he's a decent healer and a camp worker.

Covered in Scars: They are mostly hidden by his robe but you can see a few peeking out from underneath it on his character portrait. Other characters see him in full when they catch him at the murder site and he tries to flagellate himself to exorcise the demon.
Deadly Book: Back before he came to the island his monastery had discovered a peculiar tome, and after that murders started occuring in the monastery. The book was sealed and eventually disposed of, but the murders still continued.
Demonic Possession: Believes to suffer from one. Moira thinks it's a Split Personality instead.
Enemy Within: Angelico suffers from a split personality disorder, with his other personality being a murderous serial killer with Angelico himself unaware of his actions while his other personality is in effect. The deaths in his past that happened due to the evil book's influence were actually murders commited by him.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He's fair-haired and normally he's nothing but gentle and polite. Normally.
Innocently Insensitive: The night after you recruit him he calls the family heathens out of habit, but he quickly apologizes and in general he treats their beliefs with tolerance.
Like a Son to Me: Eirik and Blodeuwedd both regard him as the son they never had, and like the idea of Kari settling down with him. Eirik in particular spends time doing father-son activities with him, like fishing and teaching him how to fight.
My God, What Have I Done?: He's been unaware or possibly in deep denial about the true cause of deaths that have been following him, but when he is forced to definitely face his deeds it breaks him.
Non-Action Guy: Angelico has no combat training and abhors violence. Eirik and Knut can train him a bit, but his combat class still remains Civilian.
Nice Guy: Outside of his split personality he's the epitome of dutifulness, kindness and christian virtues.
Pitbull Dates Puppy: With Kari if you pursue their romance, and he's the Puppy.
Self-Made Orphan: It's heavily implied that he murdered his real parents along with the rest of his family under the influence of his split personality.
Serial Killer: He murdered several fellow monks in his past under the influence of his Split Personality, and if kept around long enough he will also kill a random (non-essential) camp member.
Throw the Book at Them: If you take him to combat he'll fight by bashing enemies with his bible.

Eustache

A dashing man from France. He calls himself a monk, but his roguish attitude and skillset put a doubt to that.

He fights with a mace, and his perk lets you gain additional loot from combat when he's present.

Bad Habits: He calls himself a monk and he actually was one in the past, but he had left the monastery at one point and before arriving to the island he was an adventurer and a pirate. Monkish attributes were his gimmick.
Betty and Veronica: Gender-inverted, with him being Veronica to Eirik's Betty and Blodeuwedd's Archie.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He acts nice but his inner thoughts reveal a very nasty attitude. He will also actively try to steal Blodeuwedd from Eirik.
Blue Blood: He was the youngest son of a french nobleman who was sent to the monastery as his elder brothers blocked him out of his inheritance anyway.
Byronic Hero: Has many traits of one and would definitely consider himself one if he had known of the concept. He had a very turbulent past full of drama and adventure, but he's essentially a Byronic Hero who has accomplished his goal and let his vices overcome his heroic traits.
Carry a Big Stick: He fights with a one-handed mace.
From Nobody to Nightmare: From the youngest son of a nobleman who took a monastic vow to a dreaded and notorious pirate whose career lasted a decade.
Handsome Lech: He's good looking and he knows it, and he will put some moves on almost every female member of the camp. Note that he is very definitely not a Chivalrous Pervert.
Rage Against the Legal System: He tried to seek his vengeance legally through the noble court at first, but instead had his title and inheritance stripped from him. He killed the count who held the court in response.
Red Baron: The Black Monk.
Revenge: In his past he left the monastery when he learned that his father and elder brothers were assassinated, fled to Spain, learned fencing, and then returned to France to seek answer against the one who killed his family.
Took a Level in Cynic: He was kinder and more idealistic in his youth, but losing his legal battle for revenge and with that all of his inheritance and titles knocked it out of him.
Vengeance Feels Empty: He felt disappointed when he learned that the count he had killed for taking his lands was in fact the one who ordered the assassination of his family - because at the time when he killed him Eustache didn't know that, so he was denied the satisfaction of enacting his revenge.

Shanaw

A native american girl from a Beothuk tribe. A great hunter and survivalist, her demeanour is hostile at first and it will take some effort to get through her shell.

She fights at range and also helps securing additional loot after combat.

Birds of a Feather: She hits off great with Kari.
Butch Lesbian: A tough native hunter and completely not into male sex.
The Chief's Daughter: Was one in her tribe, not like it matters now.
Cloudcuckoolander: She had a reputation as this in her tribe for her habit of dancing naked under moonlight and howling like a wolf, even earning her a nickname "Crazy Moon". In practice she's not really weird, just free-spirited.
Does Not Like Men: Being almost raped by her husband on her wedding night probably has something to do with that, and by now Shanaw is by default hostile to all men.
Gay Option: For Kari.
Just Friends: You can follow through her and Kari's chain of events to the end but back out at the last moment, not committing to romance, with Kari not realising Shanaw's feelings and treating her only as a friend. This effectively breaks Shanaw's heart, giving her a trait "Friendzoned" that gives her Depression increases every night.
Outdoorsy Gal: She's a competent hunter, tracker and survivalist.
Marital Rape License: She killed her newly-made husband and fled her tribe when he tried invoking this on her.
My God, What Have I Done?: She may repress it but she does feel guilty for murdering her husband, and she's afraid that she will attract an evil spirit of her tribe's mytholgy on herself.
Nubile Savage: A tribal girl wearing an outfit exposing her stomach and all in all quite easy on the eyes.
Runaway Bride: She fled her tribe on her wedding night after killing her husband when he had tried forcing himself on her.
You No Take Candle: Despite the island's Translator Microbes making sure that all characters can communicate with each other even if they do not share a common tongue Shanaw's speech still comes out broken for some reason.

Yaghoub

A persian merchant, he is encountered alongside Parvaneh. He is a physically strong, jovial and charismatic man but there is more than meets the eye about him.

He's a quick if defensive fighter using a two-pronged spear.

Agent Peacock: He's flamboyant in both the way he dresses and the way he acts yet he's a very good fighter as well as a seasoned traveler and adventurer.
To Be Lawful or Good: His conflict on whether to kill or spare Eirik amounts to this, as he has to either kill someone who he considers a good man or break his code, which commands him to fulfill any order that was given to him. Ultimately he decides to be good but it still tears at him.
Betty and Veronica: Gender-inverted, he's Veronica to Cisse's Betty and Moira's Archie.
Connected All Along: Yaghoub ended up on the island not by a complete accident, as he was in fact following Eirik's ship - hired by the jarl's brother and Eirik's uncle to track down and kill Eirik.
Gay Option: For Eirik.
Hitman with a Heart: He's an assassin but also a very conscientious man with a strong sense of honour.
In Love with the Mark: Before his arrival to the island Yaghoub was going to follow through on his contract and just kill Eirik. But spending more time close to Eirik as a part of his camp on the island made Yaghoub realise the good of Eirik's character, and he found that he doesn't have it in himself to kill him. This respect can eventually be developed into romance.
I Did What I Had to Do: How he views his imrisonment of Parvaneh. He regrets it and realises it was cruel to her but he saw no other way to save her life.
Intrepid Merchant: He was not the kind of merchant who stuck to the same tried and tested trade lanes, gradually increasing his wealth. Instead, he tended to put his profits towards newer ships and more and more daring expeditions.
Large Ham: He speech is pretty flowery, especially if he's telling one of his tales.
Professional Killer: His trader activity seems to be a cover up for the fact that he's an assassin. And not any kind of assassin, he's of the Nizairi Ismaili branch of Islam, the same one which gave the world hashishin, from whom the word "assassin" was coined in the first place
Shout-Out: He takes a few cues from Sinbad the Sailor, and the tales he tells to Kari are direct references to some of Sinbad's adventures.

Parvaneh

A persian woman who used to be a dancer at the king's court, she is encountered alongside Yaghoub. Beautiful and graceful, she seems reserved and shy at first but in fact her ability to stir and create drama is second only to her looks.

Parvaneh is not a good combatant, but her charisma can be an asset to the camp's mood.

Allergic to Routine: She hates being bored, and often stirs drama for her own amusement. Granted, after years of solitary confinement in a ship's cabin Parvaneh had enough routine to last her a lifetime, and now that she's out she's drunk with freedom.
Betty and Veronica: Veronica to Blodeuwedd's Betty and Eirik's Archie.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She does a lot of mean things for her own amusement, and will actively try to steal Eirik from Blodeuwedd. Being The Social Expert she's great at being subtle about it.
Dance Battler: She's not good at combat, but when she fights she does so without weapons and her moves resemble dancing.
Dark and Troubled Past: There's her being picked as his one-day bride by a mad king, which was followed by many years of confinement to a ship's cabin. And even before all that, life at a Deadly Decadent Court had been far from all sunshine. Like that time where Parvaneh's mother was killed before her eyes.
Freudian Excuse: A lot of her mean tendencies seem to stem from the dangerous environment she was exposed to from her very youth, and where her words and her beauty were the only ways for her to defend herself.
Gilded Cage: In order to prevent her from being tracked down and found by the king's men Yaghoub kept Parvaneh locked up in his ship's cabin for years. He did all he could to make her imprisonment more palatable, treating her well and showering her with expensive gifts, but both knew this could not replace a true freedom.
Manipulative Bitch: Parvaneh does not have a lot of survival skills but her life at the court made her The Social Expert and a master at sowing gossip around. Many of her events concern with her spreading gossip that tanks characters' Relationship Values with each other, and she seems to do this primarily out of plain boredom.
Sugary Malice: If passive-aggressive barbs could be used to actually harm people she could defeat Bjorn one-on-one.
Whole-Plot Reference: To Arabian Nights. Going beyond a mere Shout-Out, Parvaneh's backstory directly starts from the framing device of the tales and involves Schaherezade as a real person. Dead in Vinland has Parvaneh being Schaherezade's friend, and when King Shahryar had picked Parvaneh to be his next bride for the night, which would get her executed next morning, Schaherezade volunteered to take Parvaneh's place to save her life, marking he beginning of the One Thousand and One Nights, while she had Yaghoub discreetly take Parvaneh away.

Cissé

A griot from West Africa. A cheerful, kind and irrepressible optimist, Cissé always tries to keep the others' spirits as high as his own.

Even though he's a professed pacifist Cissé can still assist others in combat as a mystic, and from his past as a griot he's a veritable treasure trove of stories and wisdom.

The Bard: He's a musician, a storyteller and a keeper of knowledge and history - as a griot Cissé's for all intents and purposes a bard, only from Africa. A lot of his events include him telling his stories to other characters.
Betty and Veronica: Gender inverted, where he's Betty to Yaghoub's Veronica and Moira's Archie.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Story-wise he's the most pacifistic member of your camp, but you can still use him in combat and he's in fact a better combatant than some other characters. Also, despite greatly treasuring his instrument he uses it as his weapon of choice, bashing enemies with it. And the worst of all, if you try giving him food during his hunger strike, due to the mechanics of the game instead of refusing the food he will still consume it - but his Hunger state will not decrease, wasting your food for nothing.
The Heart: He's the most preoccupied with keeping everyone's spirits lifted and united, viewing it as his professional duty as a griot.
I'm Not Hungry: At one point he will declare a hunger strike as a sign of protest against Bjorn's tyranny, and will state that he will continue his strike until Bjorn is overthrown. Mechanically this will make his Hunger state rise much slower but also make it impossible to reduce. Thankfully for you if you're nowhere near close to defeating Bjorn, other characters can talk him out of it eventually, if he doesn't die of hunger before that.
Made a Slave: He used to be attached to an imperial court in West Africa, but when he had become unwanted by his enemies he was sold into slavery and shipped off. He came to the island when his slave ship got caught in a storm and he found himself washed ashore on the island.
The Smart Guy: When it comes to lore and wisdom he's solidly on the third place after Moira and Gudrun and before everyone else.
Squishy Wizard: Averted, among the three Mystic characters in the game he's the sturdiest.
Technical Pacifist: If it weren't for the Gameplay and Story Segregation he'd probably be an Actual Pacifist.

Lady Tomoe

A woman from a very far away land, belonging to the class of a warrior nobility back home. Stern and stoic, she's bound by a strict code of honour and conduct.

Tomoe is a great fighter with her sword, and despite her noble origin she's not above hard physical work.

Armour-Piercing Question: Tomoe gets a rare distinction of being able to get under Gudrun's skin when she turns her doomsaying routine back at her and asks if Gudrun had foreseen her own doom.
Artistic License – History: All characters carry some element of it but Tomoe is the biggest offender.
Everything's Better with Samurai: Tomoe is by far the most outlandish addition to the cast. Most characters come from Northern or Western Europe, with Shanaw coming from North America, making it an easy assumption for them to become stranded on an island located in Atlantic where Vinland was believed to be. Yaghoub and Parvaneh come from the Middle East but Yaghoub habitually makes faraway expeditions and was specifically tracking Eirik down too. Cissé is a bit of a stretch but he would still be shipwrecked in Atlantic. Tomoe, on the other hand, comes from literally the opposite side of the globe, with the shores of her homeland not even being washed by the same ocean as the island's.
Fighting Fingerprint: She can suss out that Yaghoub is more than just a merchant from watching him in a fight.
Historical Domain Character: She's based on the historical Tomoe Gozen.
Every Japanese Sword is a Katana: Her sword would be a katana's predecessor, but she still refers to it as a katana.
Knight In Shining Armour: She aspires to a very idealistic version of the samurai code of honour, espousing not only bravery and loyalty to one's master but also acting with courtesy and honesty as well as serving as a good example to lower classes. Through a series of events she can try to impair the bushido values to Kari, giving her some combat stat boosts in the process.
Lady of War: Graceful, dignified and absolutely deadly in combat.
Lightning Bruiser: Emphasis on "bruiser". She has good combat stats all around, and along with Kari she has a trait that increases damage of her critical hits. If built with that in mind she can shred enemies like they were made of paper.
Sarashi: Binds her chest with them.
Second Love: With the right choices she can hook up with Yaghoub, making him this to her after Minamoto no Yoshitaka.
The Stoic: Keeps her emotions firmly in check, and meets all difficulties and challenges with her usual steely demeanour.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's usually cold and severe, but gets more approachable with those who earn her respect.

Bjorn's people

As a whole

Soon after settling on the island the survivors will find out that it is inhabited - by roving gangs of raiders and bandits led by a man known as Bjorn the Headcleaver. With the survivors forced to pay tribute to them in exchange of being allowed to live as well as encountering their hostile members during explorations, they make the main antagonistic force of the game.

Always Chaotic Evil: The regular no-name enemies are this, attacking your camp members during expeditions with no opportunity to negotiate with them. Justified, as they also need to pay their own tribute to Bjorn and don't particularly care where they get it from.
Army of Thieves and Whores: Bjorn's forces seem to primarily consist out of various raiders, brigands, murderers and other never-do-wells.
Authority Equals Asskicking: With the exception of Elof, Bjorn and other Fingers are also the strongest enemies in the game.
Co-Dragons: Bjorn's five closest leutenants and enforcers, collectively referred to as his Five Fingers.
Elite Mooks: Among regular enemies Berserkers, Shieldmaidens and Slavers are partiularly dangerous.
Final Boss Preview: You can briefly see all Fingers as well as have a fight with Bjorn when he comes to your camp for the first time.
Flunky Boss: Bjorn and all of his Fingers (with one exception) fight you backed by regular enemies. Bjorn in particular has a skill that lets him summon new enemies to his aid.
Heel–Face Turn: The heroes' plan to get rid of Bjorn involves turning his Fingers to their side and with their help taking the fight to Bjorn. It ends up only partially successful, but thankfully it still suffices.
Left Hanging: The fate of Bjorn's Fingers isn't touched upon at all during the ending. Last time we see them Grim was engaging Njall and Gwendolen cut off Egill's arm but who ends up winning their fights and what do the winners do after Bjorn's defeat is not even hinted at.
Underground Monkey: As you explore far enough into the island you will start encountering enemies with the Elite prefix. They look and act exactly as their non-Elite counterparts but have buffed stats.

Bjorn

The raider warlord that rules the island with an iron fist. A violent brute of a man, Bjorn will make his presence known to the survivors a couple of days after the land on the island, when he along with his army come to their camp and puts them before an ultimatum - pay him tribute or die.

Bad Boss: It's implied that his more direct underlings are not exempt from his wrath either.
Big Bad: He's the main villain of the game.
Creepy Souvenir: Skulls of his victims that he carries on his belt.
Dark and Troubled Past: It's not touched upon in the game but the official wiki reveals that Bjorn has a backstory dark enough to rival that of Guts. In the end it made him just as much of a monster as those who had inflicted his misery on him.
Dumb Muscle: Bjorn rules with his might, not with his wits. Even his speech is noticeably broken and has poor grammar.
Evil Is Bigger: He's probably the biggest character in the game, possibly only behind Thor.
Final Boss: Bjorn is the final opponent of the game, and once he's defeated the game ends.
Hopeless Boss Fight: You cannot win your first fight with him when he comes to your camp at the beginning of the game.
Red Baron: Bjorn the Headcleaver. Three guesses as to why he got his monicker and the first two don't count.
Relationship Values: He has his animosity meter. It fills up if you don't pay tribute or do something that would piss him off, but you can reduce it by paying extra tribute. When you fill it up beyond certain thresholds you will face increasing punishments from him, and if you fill it to the max it's Game Over.
Stupid Evil: Bjorn doesn't care about building a proper civilisation on the island or about its mysteries, and only squeezes it dry for resources. The bad ending shows that this eventually leads to the island becoming unable to sustain life, with humans on it dying out.

Elof

One of Bjorn's Five Fingers and his tax collector, he's the one who will come to your camp to collect the weekly tribute and to announce a new one. A thoroughly unpleasant man, you will not be looking forward to his visits.

Distracted by the Sexy: Unsurprisingly, but with his personality he never gets any affection. So a simple peck from Moira during one of his events leaves him so giddy that he might forget to take the weekly tribute.
Evil Genius: Only relatively. It is implied that Elof is the one who does the thinking in Bjorn's organisation, but he can still be occasionally tricked.
Hate Sink: Revolting in body and in personality, there is nothing likeable about the guy.
Humiliating Wager: Occassionally offers these to the survivors in exchange of lessening the tribute.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: To Bjorn. Elof still defers to Bjorn but it's clear that Elof is running his own side hustle under Bjorn's nose and makes sure that Bjorn's organisation has what little organisation is in it. Buttering Elof up with extra tribute is also the way to lower Bjorn's animosity.
I Lied: He says that he will help you against Bjorn if you can turn all other Fingers on your side, and then bring him some resources. When you do so he laughs in your face.
Jerkass: Elof is an unrepentant bully, reveling in tormenting the heroes and constantly rubbing their subservient status in their faces.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: You get several opportunities to kill Elof during the endgame, though it's also possible to spare him.
Mouth of Sauron: Bjorn actually has very few appearanes in the game, and most of the time you will deal with Elof, Bjorn's main agent and the one to relay his will to you.
Non-Action Guy: Despite being one of Bjorn's Fingers Elof is not a fighter. He relies on threats of Bjorn's retribution to keep himself unmolested while letting other Fingers do the fighting.
The Pig-Pen: Elof has atrocious hygiene, and characters often say that you can smell him before you can see him. It's implied he actually has some health problems resulting from that.
Smug Snake: Elof is only a Bjorn's hanger-on and he knows it. So when he thinks there's a threat to him he will be noticeably worried, even if he won't exactly grovel.
Terms of Endangerment: He has a habit of calling the survivors "his little X", with X being something new every time, in a very condescending manner.

Gwendolen

One of Bjorn's Fingers, a towering woman with a big sword. Fierce and combative, she respects only strength.

All Amazons Want Hercules: Elof implies than in addition to being Bjorn's enforcer she's also his mistress. Gwen doesn't really confirm or deny it in person, but seeing how she casually proposes the character who beats her for sex it's likely true.
Amazonian Beauty: Gwendolen is tall, muscular and rugged from combat but, judging from some occasional remarks, is still fairly attractive.
BFS: She fights with a huge claymore that is almost as big as she is tall - and she is quite tall.
Do You Want to Copulate?: She doesn't mince words when she proposes the winner of their duel to have sex:
Gwendolen: "Wanna fuck?"
Duel Boss: She's the only one who averts the Flunky Boss approach of the rest of the Fingers. She will fight your combat party of three all on her own, and then fight another character one-on-one in a series of skill checks. She still manages to be That One Boss.
Fiery Redhead: One for the enemy team.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: In-story she follows Bjorn because she cannot beat him in combat. In-game she's likely to give you more trouble in combat than even Bjorn.
Good Old Fisticuffs: In addition to her skill with a sword she's also a good brawler.
Might Makes Right: Her life philosophy. She doesn't personally care about Bjorn and only follows him because he's stronger than her. The key to turning her to your side is proving that you're stronger than either of them.
Noble Demon: She has her own sense and code of honour and seeing how she challenges Bjorn to a fight every day she's not exactly content with their arrangement. That said, she's not a kind or empathetic person and she also doesn't shirk from dishing out Bjorn's punishments on his command, like coming to your camp and beating up one of your unresisting characters.
Spirited Competitor: She doesn't care about fighting those who are knowingly weaker than her, and will only accept your challenge after you prove you can give her a good fight. She also gives you some useful items after you complete her task and win her duel.
Strength Equals Worthiness: The way of turning her to your side is proving your strength.
That One Boss: She's the strongest boss in the game, surpassing even Bjorn. And the reason for that is that...
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: During her fight she disables positive effects from your characters' traits - while keeping the negative effects in place, making your fighters potentially weaker than when you recruited them! Hope you weren't relying on minmaxing too much when you built your fighting team. Thankfully, bonuses from skills you use directly in combat still apply.
Tomboyish Ponytail: She keeps her hair in a long tail, bound in several places.

Grim

One of Bjorn's Fingers, a silent archer. Mysterious and unapproachable, he has a sinister and ruthless reputation.

Aloof Archer: Aloof and solitary to the point where he even refuses to talk to you, but if you get through his shell you'll see he's far from heartless.
Elective Mute: Grim is completely nonverbal most of the time, but the event when you bring him the news about his daughter implies he can talk after all.
Forced into Evil: He follows Bjorn only because Bjorn kidnapped his daughter, and it's implied Grim would have nothing to do with the man otherwise.
Good All Along: Elof paints him as a cold-blooded killer, but once you get to know his real character you see he's actually a good man who is forced to commit villainy against his will.
I Have Your Wife: Daughter in this case. Bjorn had Grim's daughter taken as a hostage, forcing Grim's obedience with that.
Master Archer: He's lethal with a bow.
Noble Top Enforcer: He is one of Bjorn's top leutenants but he is a non-malicious man who has a sympathetic reason to obey Bjorn.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: Subverted. Elof says that Grim doesn't play with his victims as most other Bjorn's men do, and finishes them on the spot as soon as he sees them, making it look like a proof of Grim's ruthlessness. Taking Grim's real character into account, it's more likely that this is Grim averting being a Sadist and/or trying to get over with a job he hates as quickly as possible.
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: In truth Grim's daughter had already been killed by Bjorn long time ago, with Grim none the wiser. When you brings him the news he takes it about as well as you would expect, and agrees to side with you against Bjorn.
Tragic Keepsake: His daughter's amulet ends up being this, as you return it to him as a proof that you saw her remains.

Njall

One of Bjorn's Fingers, a thin smug man that fights with two broken spears. Nobody quite knows what his deal is, and he has a natural talent for pissing people off.

Dual Wielding: Oddball that he is, Njall fights using two broken spears that he grips close to tips.
Enigmatic Minion: His role in the Bjorn's organisation. Nobody knows where he came from or why exactly he follows Bjorn, he just does.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: He seemingly agrees to help the survivors against Bjorn, but come the final fight and he flips back to Bjorn's side. Apparently he just felt like it, if his initial agreement was true to begin with. It's hard to tell with him.
Lean and Mean: He's rather scrawny, he serves as one of Bjorn's top enforcers and he's also a dick.
Troll: He manages to make everything he does extremely annoying to others just through his attitude. Characters note that not even defeating him feels satisfying.
Volleying Insults: After defeating him in combat he demands that you defeat him in an insult duel before he helps you against Bjorn. And you'll have to scour the whole island for insults good enough to get to him.
Wild Card: Unpredictable and impossible to read, Njall is a sly man who does as he wants even when he follows Bjorn.

Egill

One of Bjorn's Fingers, an axe-wielding berserker. A man insane with rage, it's unknown how exactly Bjorn manages to control him.

Ax-Crazy: Egill is a frothing lunatic that makes most berserkers look tame.
The Berserker: Up to eleven. That infamous all-consuming rage that makes berserkers such fearsome warriors? That's Egill's normal.
The Con: How heroes turn him to their side - after collecting the necessary items Moira manages to convince him that she put a curse on him, and won't remove it unless he helps them with Bjorn. Sadly, by the time of the final fight Egill manages to figure out that he was deceived and turns hostile.
Fiery Red Head: Volcanic-fiery.
Mad Eye: One of his eyes is squinted while the other is bulging with anger.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's quite short, but ferocious and very strong.
Turns Red: He has a mechanic where he gains buffs to his characteristics throughout his fight as he loses health. Buffs stack, and so he goes from hitting like a truck at the beginning of the fight to oneshotting your characters when close to death door.
Villainous RRoD: When you defeat him in combat it's less that you overpower him and more that his rage gets so strong that Egill becomes completely consumed by it to the point where he loses control over his own body, unable to make out anything from his rage, and all he can do is roll around in the dirt and foam from mouth.

"Gods"

As a whole

The original inhabitants of the island. They are the last living remnants of an ancient advanced human civilisation that collapsed. There are only three of them on the island, and they are referred to by the names of certain norse gods who they seem to resemble.

Advanced Ancient Humans: Their civilisation's capabilities surpass even modern technology, much less that contemporary to the game's events.
Atlantis: They are specifically remnants of the atlantean civilisation.
Amazing Technicolour Population: Their skin is bright blue. Freyja explains that this is a side effect from their longevity drugs.
Clarke's Third Law: The amazing and supernatural things that occur on the island come from their impossibly advanced technology, which might as well be magic to the heroes.
The Gods Must Be Lazy: They are aware of the threats that plague the island, but none of them seems like in the mood to do something about it. That, or they are for some reason unable.
God Guise: Downplayed. They answer to the names of norse gods but Freyja explains that they are not gods, and hints that those are only some of their names, possibly implying they were the inspiration to mythology in the vein of One Myth to Explain Them All.
Long-Lived: They had their natural lifespan greatly increased with special drugs.
Prophet Eyes: Their eyes are faintly blue with no visible pupils or irises.
The Remnant: The island the game is set upon used to be a remote Atlantean outpost that survived after their main land sunk, with the three on it as the only survivors.

"Freyja"

The first blue human you're likely to meet, and fortunately for you, the most benevolent and the least apathetic out of the three. Freyja warns the survivors of a great threat to the island's existence, and requests their aid in stopping it.

Animal Companion: She is accompanied by a quartet of lynxes that you will have to brave before you wake her up. Later she will ask you to fetch some milk for them.
Bequeathed Power: After she finishes the last piece of the orichalcum armour she offers to give the last specks of her power to the character talking to her to aid them in their task. You may take her up on it or refuse.
Big Good: Plays this part in the game's plot, as out of the three "gods" she's the only one who seems to care about the threat looming over the island and tries to do something about it, even if she has you do all the legwork.
Cryptic Conversation: Most of her talk is very cryptic, though she does get better as the game progresses.
Deep Sleep: How you find her, and rousing her requires reciting the correct incantation. She slips back into it in the endgame, as crafting the orichalcum armour exhausts her too much.
Exposition Fairy: She explains to heroes the background of the setting and the reason behind some mysteries of the island.
Godiva Hair: She wears nothing but her cape and her hairband, with her hair and the strategic placement of legs covering her naughty bits.
Human Notepad: Her body is covered with norse runes.
Power at a Price: Crafting pieces of the orichalcum armour drains her, though it's unclear if it's a case of Cast from Stamina, Cast from Lifespan or Cast From Hitpoints.

"Loki"

The second blue human you're likely to meet. A cunning and sarcastic man, he treats his sister with skepticism.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He tries to present himself as nice, but he can involve you in some mean pranks as befitting his name.
Devil in Plain Sight: Subverted. With his name and a slightly sinister air about him you'd expect Loki to be an important antagonistic figure with a large role in the plot, but he actually barely does anything at all. Apart from possibly conning you into fighting some cave critter for his amusement he doesn't directly harm you in any way and only sits there to sell you some rare items, serving as a glorified resource sink.
For the Evulz: His pranks are not good-natured, and he seems to engage in them purely because he's bored.
Slouch of Villainy: Sits in this posture, and while he's a minor character at best he can pull off some nasty pranks.
Smug Super: He treats Bjorn's men with amusement, vaguely implying that they occasionally try to bother him but he dispatches them with no effort. So he refuses to deal with Bjorn's threat - they're the source of his entertainment.
Snake Oil Salesman: Averted, which is a surprise considering that it's Loki we're dealing with. When it comes to buying things from him there is no foul play involved and you always get what you pay for.
Weird Currency: He takes some of your camp supplies in exchange for his wares. Which can create weird combinations, like you buying Ancient Knowledge or mysterious Fire Crystals for piles of rotten food.
You Got Murder: Another prank he can involve you in amounts to this. If you ask him for a discount on his goods and haven't met Thor yet Loki will ask you to bring a package to Thor. If you do as he says you'll find out that inside that package was a snake - that kills Thor as soon as he opens the package.

"Thor"

The third blue human you find on the island, and the one you will likely find the last. A boisterous man who likes fighting trolls and engaging in various contests but unfortunately does not care about anything else.

All Trolls Are Different: When you meet him he's sitting on a corpse of... something that he killed. It's clearly some sort of inhuman monster, and according to him it is a troll. Unfortunately we don't get a better look at it, and Thor does not provide any useful explanations.
Boisterous Bruiser: He's pretty boisterous, though all the bruising has already happened offscreen.
Cloudcuckoolander: Thor seems like a nice enough guy, but one essentially living in his own reality with no care for anything else.
Competition Freak: His gameplay function is to let you engage in a series of competitions with him. They are quite difficult and can seriously harm your heroes' needs but winning them lets you get some very good bonus traits.
Heroic Build: The man is shredded, with a build fitting for a warrior god.
Hunter of Monsters: He kills trolls, and only trolls.
Large Ham: He's hammy and loud, with his speech written in all caps to indicate the latter.
Manchild: He leaves this impression with his fixation on his favourite pastimes to the exclusion of everything else. Unless it's fighting trolls or engaging in contests Thor does not care. A bloothirsty warlord terrorizes the whole island? Thor doesn't care. A threat capable of destroying the whole island? Unless it's trolls Thor doesn't care.
Spirited Competitor: No matter the contest and no matter if you win or lose Thor remains friendly with you.

Characters / Dead In Vinland

The Survivors Family

Other survivors

Bjorn's people

"Gods"

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Characters / Dead In Vinland

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The Survivors Family

Other survivors

Bjorn's people

"Gods"

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