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"We fought monsters... and we became them..."
"Call us savages because we strike at you. But know this — it is we who are the closest to the Ruinous Powers. We most favored of the gods shall raid your lands, revel in your suffering and destroy you. Despair! For all that remains for you is the taste of northern steel and the end of your world. Such is the will of the gods."
The harsh and brutal nature of the far north is reflected in the grim character of its peoples. Yet even more than the privations of their cold and barren lands, their proximity to the Realm of Chaos shapes the Norsca and other northern tribes. Rather than fight the darkness, they embrace it, worshipping the forces of Chaos as Gods, providing a willing army for the Ruinous Powers' never-ending war against order and reason.
Though physically tougher and more powerful than those living an easier life in the south, the Northmen are still Men — although many of them will have their humanity warped by mutations, and their savagery and barbarism are legendary. War is their natural state, and whether raiding across the Sea of Claws in their longships or feuding with neighbouring tribes, their blades never go long without blood. They follow the Ruinous Powers with unquestioning fervour, personifying them as the Hound, the Crow, the Serpent and the Eagle. They need no priests to intercede with their Gods, believing the slaughter and terror they bring is an act of worship in itself, though they are also highly superstitious and often raise twisted shrines and make blood offerings to honour whichever deity they hope to win favour with. The shared ambition of every northern warrior is to cause the greatest possible bloodshed and mayhem in order to appease and please their Gods; in seeking this goal most die violent deaths, or fall into warped insanity, but a few become favoured as Champions of the Gods, often "blessed" with mutations such as a melding of flesh and armour, or weapons fused with the hands that wield them.
No single Lord holds sway over the nomadic northern tribes, although men and monster alike are increasingly drawn to fight for King Throgg, a Troll of surprising intellect, or to follow Wulfrik the Wanderer, a Norscan warrior cursed by the Gods to forever seek out and fight the mightiest opponents. And whenever the Ruinous Powers prepare for a new assault on the south the Northmen put aside their petty disputes and rivalries and unite behind their Champions, ready to fight and die in the name of their Gods. At times like this, the Realm of Chaos itself swells and expands, bleeding over into mortal lands. One day, the Norsca believe, their advance will not be checked, and Chaos will swallow the world.
The Norscan Tribes can be purchased as a DLC race (free if Total War: Warhammer II is pre-ordered) for Total War: Warhammer. They became playable in the Grand Campaign in August 2017 and Mortal Empires in May of 2018. In Total War: Warhammer III, they became playable in August 2022 with the release of the Immortal Empires combined mega-campaign for owners of I, II and III.
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General Tropes
World-Walkers
Wintertooth
- Achilles' Heel: Anti-Large units. Norsca has some of, if not the, most powerful selection of monsters in the game along with infantry that's rather on par with that of the Warriors of Chaos. However, outside of that, they have little else to offer as their ranged units can only fire from short distances and their chariots and horses are outclassed by those of most other factions. Their infantry generally lacks armor as well, so in the absence of those large units, tend to get worn down by ranged fire and artillery. Take out the expensive monsters and you might just have defeated the army then and there.
- Norsca is laughably bad at holding settlements and consolidating territorial gains because they can't build defensive walls which also ends up neutering their already pitiful garrisons. This almost always results in them getting curbstomped by Bretonnia and the Empire right off the bat.
- In the second game Norsca is affected more by the campaign difficulty setting, specifically the Supply Lines mechanic, than any other race due to their very limited economy and reliance on reducing upkeep expenses and stealing from others rather than generating more money. On higher difficulties the upkeep penalty applied by Supply Lines will rip through their upkeep reduction and swiftly cause armies to be far more expensive than the money they can generate raiding and sacking, severely limiting Norsca's reach.
- All Trolls Are Different: Trolls infest the snow-clad mountains of Norsca, and they can be found in numbers unheard of anywhere else besides Troll Country, partially due to how untamed it is, but mostly for its closeness to the Chaos Wastes. Norscan warbands can field "normal" Chaos Trolls, alongside their much more powerful kin, Ice Trolls, which are found only in the northernmost regions of the world. Unlike normal trolls, these can vomit shards of blistering ice. And this isn't even getting to Throgg...
- Animal Motifs: Savage Wolves for the Warriors of Khorne, Snakes Are Sexy for Slaanesh's minions, Creepy Crows for Nurgle and Feathered Fiend eagles for Tzeentch.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The War Mammoths, which are some of largest units in the game, and the largest up to the introduction of the Dread Saurian.
- Ascended Extra: In a number of ways. While Norsca was in the game from the very beginning to a certain degree, it was only much later that they were turned into a full faction. An even larger case is in relation to the tabletop game, where they never had an army book and were largely represented only by the background material and a selection of units in the Warriors of Chaos roster.
- Ascended Meme: The Norscan lord Surtha Ek, being one of the two Norscan faction leaders before they became a playable faction, became (in)famous on the game's forums and sub-reddits for using armies with large quantities of chariots and marauder cavalry. With Norsca becoming playable, Surtha Ek begins with two chariots in his army and has a chariot mount by default instead of having to unlock it at level 12 like all other Norscan lords.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Something of a given considering their culture; any leader who doesn't violently enforce his authority won't be in charge for long. This is represented by an in-game mechanic where if you beat an opposing faction leader's army, you can force the faction to confederate with you. When at war with another Norscan faction, the best course of action is to seek out the leader and defeat him.
- Axe-Crazy: What else could you expect from Vikings who worship Khorne?!
- Badass Army: Comprised of heavily armoured unholy champions of darkness, bloodthirsty berserkers wielding massive axes, demonic Werewolves, and massive mutant Mammoths the size of castles, with a mighty barbarian warlord exalted by one of the Four Chaos Gods ruling over them all.
- Barbarian Tribe: Played straight and turned all the way over toward "Evil Horde". Norscans organise themselves in loose confederations of Tribes, each seeking dominance over the other in bloody conflicts, truly uniting only when an Everchosen marches against the south.
- Beard of Barbarism: To the extent that they consider shaving or shortening their beards to be an effeminate practice.
- Beast of Battle: Giant wolves, mutated war-hounds, manticores, blood-encrusted demonic werewolves and mutated mammoths all stand ready at the command of Norscan Warlords.
- The Berserker: They have this as a hat and gameplay mechanic. Within every Norseman lies a bloodthirsty battle-rage that is unleashed to often devastating effect in the thick of battle. Which essentially means that the entire army receives massive buffs to their offensive stats the longer they're in combat and become basically unbreakable. Unsurprisingly, most of Khorne's followers tend to hail from the Norse tribes. There's also the actual Berserker unit, which is essentially a human version of a Dwarf Slayer with twice the sadism and bloodthirst, and also the added bonus of worshiping Khorne. They also have an upgraded version of the Berserk mechanic.
- Black Knight: The Marauder Champions and Wulfrik himself are clad head to toe in black Chaos Armour. So, essentially Horny Viking Knights.
- Blood Knight: Basically their entire reason for being in a nutshell. The Berserkers take this up to eleven.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Amongst the ranks of Chaos, the Norse are probably the most sociable of bloodthirsty warriors. This is also what prevents them from being as completely horrifying as the Warriors of Chaos, who have absolutely no room for humour whatsoever."Always ready for a headbutting contest!"
- Bold Explorer: Norscans are noted to be some of, if not the best, navigators in the entire world (tied with or better than the High Elves in that regard) and with their unmatched skills, have travelled all the way from the Lustrian Jungles, to the sandy wastes of the Southlands. Almost every other faction has some story of how a Norscan warband appeared on the horizon and began sacking coastal cities.
- Boss Rush: Pledging yourself fully to one of the four gods results in the other three sending their champions to face you. If you reject Archaon's offer to join him then you'll have to face him, his fully ranked Chaos Lords, and their elite full banner armies.
- Carry a Big Stick: Norscan ice trolls and giants wield absolutely enormous mauls, in the Ice Trolls' case giant mauls made from solid ice with the remnants of blades and other weapons stuck inside the clump.
- A Commander Is You: Elitist/Brute, just like their parent army, the Warriors of Chaos, though they lean far more to Brute than Elite. A relatively small number of extremely powerful, very high-DPS units (Marauder Champions, Berserkers) supported by a number of massive monstrous units that pound the enemy into submission through pure violent power. They have a number of powerful quirks like their Berserker and Frost Bite abilities, which allow them to become insanely stronger the longer they remain in battle and significantly slow their enemies in combat, respectively.
- Cool Helmet: Scary, badass horned helmets, with Marauder Champions and Chieftains having the most badass of the lot.
- Cool Ship: They travel in Viking Longships, which they row with extreme skill.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Defeating a Norscan chieftain in combat makes it easier to confederate with their tribe. Though in truth, this is less 'Defeat Means Friendship' and more 'Defeat Means Their Last Leader Was Eaten Alive By His Own Guys Because The Norse Despise Weakness'.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: When the end-game Chaos Invasion event begins, you will be invited by Archaon the Everchosen to join the horde and bring ruin to the southern lands. However, if you feel like it, you can reject Archaon and instead go to war with the Warriors of Chaos, with the goal of usurping the Three-Eyed King as the Everchosen of Chaos.
- Divergent Character Evolution: At the launch of Total War: Warhammer, the Norscan Tribes were a palette swap minor race with a very limited roster and a single unique lord type. But a little over a year later, they were significantly upgraded to be a major faction in their own right, possessing several new units, Legendary Lords and gameplay mechanics not shared with the Warriors of Chaos. It's in fact become a meme in the community that the Norscans actually ended up being far more powerful than the Chaos Warriors themselves.
- The Dragon: You become this to Archaon if you accept his offer and join him when he invades the world.
- Elite Mooks: Marauder Champions, the Huskarls of powerful Norscan Lords, more or less the regional equivalents to Chaos Warriors, but what they lack in the God's blessings they more than make up with their skills in battle.
- Evil Is Deathly Cold: As they are some of the most foul humans in the setting, and as they make their homes in the glacial peaks of the snow-shrouded land of Norsca, they have a stronger thematic association with cold and the north than the Chaos Warriors do, including access to ice-themed variants of wolves, trolls, Chaos hounds and Chaos dragons that do a special damage effect, frostbite, that slows and weakens units who have the misfortune of experiencing it.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: To the Vikings, even more so that their parent race — the Warriors of Chaos — is. The Norscans' characterization puts a great deal of emphasis on their frozen northern homelands and their culture of sailing, reaving and pillaging, making them more direct expies of the Vikings than the Chaos Warriors (who are monstrous devotees of Chaos first and foremost) are.
- Four Is Death: Pledge enough loyalty to The Hound (aka Khorne), and he will grant you a unit consisting of 4 (half of Khorne's holy number) extra powerful Hellcannons instead of the regular Hellcannon that only has one cannon per unit.
- Geo Effects: Chaos-aligned armies and heroes, whether they belong to the Warriors of Chaos, the Norscan Tribes or the Beastmen, spread "Chaos Corruption" in provinces they occupy. This corruption is represented by the landscape slowly warping into a Lethal Lava Land the higher the corruption gets. While they suffer no penalties for a region having low corruption, Chaos armies receive bonuses to army leadership and unit replenishment when corruption is high. Non-Chaos factions, however, suffer mounting public order problems and attrition, and rebel armies formed in high-corruption provinces become themed after the Warriors of Chaos rather than the local empire.
- Grim Up North: Norsca is basically the grimmest up north in all fantasy fiction, a title it shares with the true Chaos Wastes (Norsca is itself technically considered a part of the Chaos Wastes proper for geographic and cultural reasons, being the part of the Wastes closest to the Old World). In practice, Norsca is a vicious, barren expanse of jagged mountains and trackless forests shrouded in viciously cold weather, the shores of its ice-choked seas dotted with the forts and settlements of the barbarous Norse and its hinterlands haunted by vicious monsters.
- Had to Be Sharp: Living as close to the Chaos Wastes as they do, subject to all the wild magics, and being in such a cold and barren land as they are, Norsca tends to select for tough, if somewhat insane, survivors. Understandably, the Chaos Warriors recruit heavily from them.
- Heavily Armored Mook: Much like their parent faction, the Norscans have these in the form of Marauder Champions — essentially a warrior more powerful than the bog-standard Chaos Warrior (itself equal to or greater than the majority of other races' top tier infantry), yet not quite at the same level as the Chaos Chosen (AKA, the best heavy infantry in the game).
- The Horde: Similar to the Warriors of Chaos, but the Norscans are capable of settling, although they're restricted to coastal cities (where they can only build basic buildings) and capitol cities (where they can access the full building range). Besides game mechanics, these anarchic, violent armies of monsters and chaos-worshipping barbarians bent on the destruction of all civilization are pretty much a textbook example of this trope; their primary source of income being raiding, pillaging, and killing anything in their way.
- Horny Vikings: Essentially the most hardcore and insane Vikings ever created.
- Horns of Villainy: Inherited from the Warriors of Chaos, with whom they share their aesthetic design philosophy, albeit with a heavier focus on furs than heavy plate armour.
- Humans Are Warriors: If there's anybody who can show this trope in all its glory, it's the Norscans.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: They worship the Chaos Gods freely, openly and eagerly.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: In comparison to the Warriors of Chaos. Exactly like their parent faction, Norscans are bloodthirsty warriors of the Dark Gods. Unlike them, however, they do abide by a certain code of honour and have a dark sense of humour to them that prevents them becoming completely horrifying. Some tribes also trade frequently with the southern countries. In addition, they have the option of turning against Archaon and potentially averting the End Times, which automatically makes them more sympathetic compared to the Warriors of Chaos proper."Enter then! Are you after a drink, a fistfight, or both?"
- Lizard Folk: No, not the ones you're thinking of, but rather the Fimir, a race of beaked, one-eyed, reptilian humanoids who dwell in the swamps and fens of the Old World. In the lore the Fimir were once the favoured race of the Chaos Gods, but were eventually discarded in favour of the younger races like humanity. Nowadays they are greatly diminished, eking out an existence and desperate for even the slightest amount of recognition from their uncaring gods. To that end they will occasionally march to war alongside other Chaos worshipers such as the Norscans in the hope that the gods will notice them once more. Norsca can recruit them as both a melee infantry unit and as one of their options for magic-oriented hero units.
- Non-Player Character: At first, though they were later given a makeover and Promoted to Playable.
- Odd Friendship: Friendship is stretching it a lot, but the Norcans are one of the very few races that the xenophobic Dawi Zhar maintain any kind of long term relationships with, a dark mirror similar to the alliance between the Men of the Empire and the stalwart Dawi. In this case, Norscans trade scores of slaves for the much valued armor, weapons and war machines that the Chaos Dwarfs are infamous for smithing.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Downplayed. The Norscans can't field Hellcannons like the Warriors of Chaos, but those who devote themselves to the Hound can get access to a special Regiment of Renown version, the Ice Forged Legion, which has a frosty motif. And yes, they're crewed by Fire Dwarfs (the name the Norscans give Chaos Dwarfs)
- Our Dragons Are Different: The Norscan tribes can field rare two-headed, ice-breathing Chaos Frost Dragons (formerly named "Frost Wyrms", but renamed in Total War: Warhammer III after an unit with that name was added to Kislev's roster). They were originally normal dragons, but centuries of Chaos Corruption has turned them into the foul mockery they are now, and, unlike most Chaos Dragons, they are not spawns of Galrauch.
- Our Giants Are Different: Giants are one of Norsca’s unit choices, hiring themselves out as mercenaries in exchange for gold and alcohol. Unlike other giants they wear layers upon layers of fur to protect themselves from the frost. They're also tainted by Chaos, manifesting this as shadowy skin, and glowing red eyes.
- Our Manticores Are Spinier: Feral Manticores are one of the monsters that the Norscans can field in battle.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: In this case they're called Skin Wolves, so named due to the tendency of their wolf form to literally tear its way out of their human form upon transformation, resulting in hulking Demonic wolves with scraps of shredded skin hanging off their bodies. When the Werewolf phase ends, the human has to essentially rip his way out of the corpse of the wolf. If one loses themselves to the demonic wolf within, the beast ends up consuming the human part of the person, and they're left in their wolf form permanently. Atypically for fictional werewolves, they also organise themselves in their own tribes with Werekins, a hero unit, leading them to pillage and war.
- Palette Swap: They were originally a palette swap of the Warriors of Chaos at the launch of Total War: Warhammer, though the Norscans are mostly restricted to Marauder-tier units and some monsters. They are also capable of controlling settlements, but cannot expand beyond their homeland of Norsca. Averted by the Norsca DLC, which gives them many units unavailable to the regular Chaos Warriors, such as War Mammoths, Ice Trolls, Fimir, more Marauder variants and Skin Wolves.
- Pelts of the Barbarian: Most of the army makes use of hides, which the more advanced units wear over their plate armour.
- The Plague: If you show enough loyalty to The Crow (aka Nurgle), then he will let a dangerous disease spread across the world that badly harms your enemies while making your faction immune to it.
- Promoted to Playable: Norsca has been in the game since the beginning, though unlike Bretonnia, they were only a Palette Swap of a primary faction with a very limited roster. The Norsca DLC significantly expands the faction to include several unique units and gameplay mechanics, as well as two Legendary Lords.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: While every culture in Warhammer could conceivably be considered a Proud Warrior Race, the Norse are the most intense about it, with practically their entire way of life being centered on warfare. It is often said that the only tools the Norscans know how to use are swords and axes.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: That which they cannot make on their own they are happy to take from another, viewing raiding as its own form of labor and their right. Even if they do not need what they take, they may honor the Chaos Gods by the act of taking.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Fimir are one of the vilest races in the Warhammer world, which is saying a lot.
- Savage Wolves: The Norscans use massive and violent canines for combat far more often than the Chaos Warriors, including ice wolves and the once-human skin wolves. This is also one of the ways in which they perceive Khorne — the Norscans view each of the four Chaos Gods as an animal, and the bloody God of War is known to them as the Wolf.
- Screaming Warrior: "THE GODS COMPEL US TO MURDER, BUT I DO IT FREELY!"
- Shrouded in Myth: In-Universe. The origins of the Norscans (who make up the backbone of any Chaos incursion) are debated by Imperial theologians and historians as being half-breed spawn of men and daemons. In truth? They are simply a race of men who migrated south from the Chaos Wastes and briefly lived in the Reik Basin, raiding and slaughtering all the surrounding tribes in the name of Chaos before Sigmar united said tribes and drove them back to the North. This act has left them with a major grudge against the Empire.
- Spikes of Villainy: The Marauder Champions in particular have massive shoulderguards encrusted with jutting black spikes.
- Tribal Face Paint: Berserkers wear stripes of blue woad over their faces, in the style of a Celtic Warrior.
- War Elephants: Or War Mammoths in this case, absolutely gargantuan war mammoths corrupted by the power of Chaos with visible mutations such as clawed hand-like appendages at the ends of their trunks. And that's not even getting into their unique Regiment of Renown variant, an even bigger white fur-clad mammoth known as the Soulcrusher. Unlike many other beasts featured in the armylist, mammoths are noted in lore to not be evil, as they are not inherently creatures of Chaos. They are, however, highly territorial animals and very quick to anger, meaning that for ninety percent of the population the distinction doesn't mean much. They come in three variants; Feral Mammoths, barely trained and prone to going out of control but still deadly; War Mammoths, trained beasts that are clad in heavy spike plates and equipped with a howdah filled with javelin men on top; and a War Shrine Mammoth, which is a War Mammoth that holds a blasphemous shrine to the Chaos Gods on its back, and provides heavy leadership buffs to all units around.
- War God: Khorne, who in this rendition of Norscan lore is referred to as the Hound (actually a name dating from the ancient 4th edition Chaos armybook, before Norsca was officially rolled in with Chaos). Dedicating your armies to him inevitably transforms them into even more effective killing machines. The army in general has a much more Khorne-heavy theme than the Warriors of Chaos, who at this time lean more to Nurgle and Slaanesh, as a result of the Berserkers and the fact they have two Khorne-themed Regiments of Renown— the Brutes of the Hound and the Ice-Forged Legion. The Marauder Chieftain also has the ability to equip a Khornate daemon weapon in multiplayer, which establishes Norsca's canon Chaos allegiance fairly well.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: While playing as Norsca, defeating and incapacitating another Norscan faction leader in battle allows you to immediately confederate the leaderless faction.
Legendary Lords:
Wulfrik
Wulfrik the Wanderer, the Eternal Challenger
"A challenge? Undeniable!"
"Tribesmen, again it is time to soak our blades in the blood of weak southerners! Pompous and proud, yet they don't even give me the courtesy of a worthy fight. I come here seeking champions, but look — they send peasants! Their cowardly lords don't deserve their riches, so we shall kill them and take all that we see. Then, the rest of Bretonnia! My masters will receive these offerings by my sword! Kill at will!"
Voiced by: Edward Dogliani
Wulfrik the Wanderer, known also as the Eternal Challenger, the Inescapable One and the World Walker, is the ultimate sea-faring warrior. A mighty giant of a man, clad in hulking plate and bedecked in the trophies of his many kills, Wulfrik travels the four corners of the world, seeking the greatest and most deadly warriors and beasts to bring them to battle and slaughter them as demanded by the Gods.
One of the most devoted followers of Chaos to walk the earth, Wulfrik has made offerings of lords, kings, sea-serpents and dragons to his masters. To Khorne he offers up their skulls, to Nurgle the contents of their slit bellies, to Slaanesh their still-beating hearts, and to Tzeentch their dying breath.
Wulfrik leads what was initially known as the main Norsca faction, simply named Norsca, but was renamed World Walkers as of The Potion of Speed update.
- Adaptational Badass: Like Throgg, he was upgraded from a hero-tier character for Warriors of Chaos to a legendary lord for Norsca.
- Affably Evil: Besides his taunting, Wulfrik is actually one of the more pleasant Champions of Chaos to be around, especially if you happen to be a Worthy Opponent.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Was never a King or Chieftain within Norsca (though he was actually tipped for kingship of the Sarls before he was cursed), yet hordes of bloodthirsty Northmen gladly follow him to battle to catch some of the glory the Dark Gods have given him. If you reject Archaon's alliance when he invades, and defeat him he can even become the Everchosen of Chaos.
- Badass Boast: Basically half of what comes out of his mouth. The other half is I Shall Taunt You.Wulfrik: (in diplomacy with Beastmen) I only speak your tongue when challenging the gorebulls for exercise, beastman.
- Badass Cape: Made of Giant scalp, no less.
- Barbarian Hero: More like Barbarian Villain Protagonist, but yeah.
- The Berserker: This is basically a Norscan's default state of being, but Wulfrik's entire role as a unit is getting to grips with an enemy general and tearing them limb from limb in a swirl of dizzying violence and vulgar insults. Also, Berserkers in his retinue get combat bonuses.
- Black Knight: He's an Exalted Chaos Champion and thus fits this aesthetic.
- Blasphemous Boast: His legend started more or less because he caught the attention of the Chaos Gods due to constantly bragging about being the most badass warrior in the entire world who no one could possibly take on. Instead of shutting him up, however, the gods marked him and told him to live up to his rather extreme claims. So far, he seems to be fully able to live up to his own hype.
- Blood Knight: Wulfrik was so intense about his Blood Knight credentials that he impressed the Chaos Gods enough to curse him to a life of eternal battle for it.
- Canon Immigrant: The Sword of Torgald was created wholesale for this game, in order to give Wulfrik a signature item of his own. In the original canon, Wulfrik only kept Torgal's skull, first as a drinking cup and then as a pommel for his otherwise mundane sword.
- Combat by Champion: This is a big thing in Norscan culture, and Wulfrik frequently employs the Gift of Tongues to goad his enemies into this.
- Cool Boat: The Seafang, which is visible on the campaign map when Wulfrik traverses the seas. In battle, Wulfrik can also summon it like a wind spell, causing it to drive through enemy ranks for high damage.
- Cool Sword: Wields the mighty sword of the fallen Chaos Lord Torgald Aesling (aptly named Sword of Torgald), whom Wulfrik decapitated at the Battle of Thousand Skulls. Allows him to vastly increase his already preposterously high weapon damage, too.
- Dragon Slayer: His special trait, "Juggernaught" allows him to teach his hunting skills to his followers; Norse Hunters get "Wyrm-piercers" special javelins that do extra damage to large foes, alongside a general increase in anti-large damage.
- The Dreaded: Not only is he among the most feared worshippers of the Chaos Gods, but one of his traits makes sure that everyone in his army becomes The Dreaded by giving them the "Cause Fear" effect, and he can eventually learn the rule "causes terror" himself.
- Evil Redhead: This champion of the Ruinous Powers has a beard and mohawk of vivid ginger.
- Fate Worse than Death: What awaits him should he ever be defeated/slain. The consequence for failing to live up to his reputation as the world's greatest warrior is to be tortured by daemons for eternity.
- A Father to His Men: He's noted to care a great deal more about his followers than the average Chaos Warlord.
- Genuine Human Hide: Not only does he wear the skin and skull of a human on his shield, but his cape is made from a giant's scalp. A giant that he killed himself, of course.
- Ghost Ship: Seafang, his legendary vessel, is a magical ship that he can even summon onto the battlefield and cause carnage against his foes.
- Hero Killer: He's very effective against enemy Lords and Heroes, having the Duelist and Melee Expert qualities. His special ability "The Hunter of Champions" dramatically weakens an enemy character's speed, defense, and armor for a short time as well. Furthermore, he can unlock chariot and mammoth mounts, allowing him to simply plow through enemy units and go Straight for the Commander.
- Taken to glorious semi-broken extents in Warhammer II, as the Sword of Torgald has been buffed to 75% Weapon Damage, meaning that Wulfrik can end up hitting for at least 730 Weapon Damage per hit for 44 seconds. Drop it with Hunter of Champions on some poor unsuspecting bastard and he'll literally make minced-meat out of basically any other lord in the game.
- For reference, this also makes the Sword of Torgald one of the most powerful weapons in the entire game. Only the Slayer of Kings, Archaon's Infinity +1 Sword destined to bring about the destruction of all reality, which buffs both base damage and armour piercing damage by 60% each, is more powerful.
- Horny Vikings: A bloodthirsty giant of a man with the beard to match, swathed in the skulls of his kills, who sails a ghostly longship to reave and slaughter throughout the world. If Wulf doesn't fit this trope, nobody does.
- I Shall Taunt You: One of his few magical skills is the Gift of Tongues, an ability that allows him to speak every language fluently in order to issue an insulting challenge to get his target mad enough to fight him, usually by bringing up their Berserk Button and smashing it repeatedly. One of the loading screens for Total War: Warhammer shows this off when he addresses the lord of a dwarfhold in Khazalid:"Face me if you dare, stunted whelp, or do you lack even an elven maid's courage? I thought the Sons of Grungni were great warriors, but perhaps you are no true dwarf. Indeed, maybe you are instead some breed of bearded goblin; though in truth, I have seen a finer beard on a troll's backside."
- Lightning Bruiser: He deals more melee damage than Archaon or Grimgor combined at a massive 490 Weapon Strength (which he can boost to at least 730 using his Sword of Torgald ability, thus allowing him to deal much more damage per hit than either Kholek or Grombrindal), has a movement stat of 70 which is fairly impressive for a guy decked out in 200 pounds of Chaos Plate and is fairly durable with 100 armour and a 75% missile block chance.
- Nothing but Skulls: Norsca sees Archaon and raises him Wulfrik, who seems to affix a variety of different skulls to every inch of his armour, including that of a slain Orc Warboss on his cloak.
- Omniglot: This is what the Gift of Tongues grants him, expressly for the purpose of demanding challenges and insulting his rivals enough that they'll fight him.
- One-Man Army: He's got some of the best melee stats and DPS output in the game, and despite being a duellist, and thus better suited to facing down other combat-Lords, he can still cut through hordes of lesser enemies. With the Seafang, which is also a wind-spell, he can also decimate swathes of infantry with little effort. And then he gets his mammoth and literally becomes the most powerful thing in terms of raw DPS in the entire game.
- Power at a Price: Though his mammoth makes him arguably the hardest hitting lord in the game, it also makes him a very large target and puts him at risk at getting badly harmed by either artillery or anti-large units, foes that would otherwise not be a big threat to him.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Certainly one of the more straight examples among the company of Chaos Lords.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly for a Norse Chaos Champion, but Wulfrik leads a party of Chaos Warriors in his background and all indications there are of him being a fairly rational and capable leader, if not particularly approachable or forgiving of failure.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His armour is bedecked with the skulls of fallen opponents. He even has a complete skeleton affixed to a pole on his back.
- Tin Tyrant: Wears Chaos Armour like a Warrior of Chaos, making him the only Norscan to do so.
- Walking the Earth: He's called "The Wanderer" for a reason, as he goes from land to land in order to find worthy opponents and kill them in the name of the Chaos Gods.
- World's Best Warrior: Among the most lethal things in the Warhammer world, with litanies of tallies to prove it. Also, his quest battle for his sword involves him fighting and defeating the Green Knight AKA, Gilles le Breton, who bested Abhorash in single combat.
- His intro cinematic has him soloing a Giant in melee combat, just to drive this point home.
- World's Strongest Man: Certainly one of the strongest men in Norsca, which is saying something since Norsca seems entirely populated by eight-foot tall Vikings with 16 inch biceps that make Arnie himself look bleak. Wulfrik has managed to take out a giant, a merwyrm and a bull centaur Taur'ruk in a straight-up contest of strength. Also, he beats out both Archaon and Grimgor — the ultimate champion of Chaos and the single angriest Orc warlord to ever live, respectively — for weapon damage.
Throgg
Throgg, King of the Trolls
"You want to die now, or when my ice age comes?"
"Mmm, slave of the Hound God is here for a fight! The fool tries to make prey out of a predator! Does he know he fights a king? Not like the weak man-kings of the south. I eat those kings for breakfast! Time to feast!"
At the heart of an icy labyrinth strewn with the gnawed corpses of once-mighty heroes, the Troll King, Throgg, sits brooding upon his rocky throne. No fanfare announces his arrival, no vassals pay him tithe, and no courtiers vie for his favour. His subjects are drooling, stinking monsters and his domain is a desolate and wind-whipped wasteland. A filth-encrusted crown rings one of the Troll King’s tusks, a once priceless heirloom taken from a great warrior whose quest led him only into Throgg’s gullet.
Once, Throgg was happy with a life of hunting and killing. He led his monstrous kin in successful raid, ambushes and night attacks, using the harsh climate of the north as an ally; to a troll like Throgg, a brutal ice-shard blizzard is no more troubling than a light summer rain. Throgg became known to the warriors of the Old World as "Wintertooth", a fearsome and mindless adversary.
Yet the mutations Throgg and his kin welcome can affect the mind as well. One moonless night, as Throgg picked the flesh of his latest victim from his tusks, he stopped to consider the broken bodies of his prey. He began to think. As Throgg muttered to himself through the following days, his eyes burning with cold fire, a grim and malevolent cunning grew within him. If man and the other races of the so-called civilized lands of the south were so keen to fight him and his bestial subjects, then fight them he would. He would gather a nightmarish horde of Chaos infested creatures, and overrun the lands of man in the name of the Dark Gods!
- Adaptational Badass: Like Wulfrik, he was upgraded from a hero-tier character for Warriors of Chaos to a legendary lord for Norsca.
- Adaptational Dumbass: Downplayed. Throgg is still quite smart... for a troll. He's shown to be a competent military leader, but unlike in the End Times (which contains the most characterization for him), he has no interest in philosophy and speaks much simpler. Some of his personal skills' descriptions (added with The Silence and the Fury in the second game) do hint that he still has this intelligence in the games' continuity, but when it comes to voice lines, he hasn't changed.
- Adaptational Ugliness: Yes, we know. Trolls have never been very good-looking, but this game made sure to make Throgg much fatter than he was
on the tabletop and to make his facial mutations more gruesome. - Ambition Is Evil: Has a grant ambition to usurp humanity as the dominant race, and usher in another Ice Age, with him and his monster hordes at its helm.
- Badass Cape: Sure the thing is pretty damn torn and worn out, but it still suits him, and retains an air of regality to it, fitting for a would-be king.
- Body Horror: Throgg has several of what appear to be several fanged Belly Mouths, along with various other mutations.
- Cool Crown: The Wintertooth Crown, an enchanted relic that got stuck on his tooth while he ate one of many heroes who tried to hunt him. With it, Throgg can temporarily make himself and surrounding units unbreakable, ignoring morale and fighting to the bitter end.
- Evil Overlord: Rules his horde of monsters, and the entirety of Troll Country, from his icy stronghold of Wintertooth. He even has his own evil throne!.
- Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is so deep, it's hard to understand what he's saying at times.
- Genius Bruiser: By the, admittedly low, standards of trolls at least.
- Grim Up North: Has the most northerly start position in the game, beyond that of even Wulfrik or Archaon.
- Healing Factor: Like all trolls, Throgg can regain health when out of combat with his regenerative properties. His "Mutant Regeration" skill also gives all Skin Wolves and Trolls in his army an extra-potent form of this as "Horrible Regeneration", which is able to resurrect dead models in their units.
- It Can Think: Far better than any troll or even Greenskin should be able to, even if his ability to express his thoughts verbally is rather limited. Best seen in the descriptions of some of his unique skills, which appear to be eloquent inner monologues:"It is the hubris of men to see their own destiny in all things. Von Carstein. The Everchosen. Dead men. Exalted men. In their skin they are all still men. This... will be the Age of the Beast."
- Large and in Charge: A giant even among trolls, Throgg towers over his already hulking brethren, and is one of the few Monstrous Infantry Lords in the game.
- Monster Lord: The self-proclaimed "Troll King", Throgg commands legions of monsters, vastly preferring them over Norscan Warriors for his armies. His in game skills focus on heavily buffing trolls and various other monsters, reducing their upkeep, and giving them special bonuses. Many players enjoy fielding all-monster armies with him.
- No Indoor Voice: He always speaks in a loud, guttural voice, even on the diplomacy screen.
- Super Spit: Unlike regular trolls who have to be within melee range in order to properly fire their acidic vomit, he can use it as a Breath Weapon and fire it from long distances.
- Surrounded by Idiots: He is very displeased with the fact that he is one of, if not the only, troll in the world with any sort of basic intelligence.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He often has this with other members of Chaos due to a big case of Fantastic Racism against humans, with the same disdain shown towards him as well for being a troll.
- Underestimating Badassery: The main reason as to why so many heroes have met their ends at his hands. Almost all of them think they are just going up against a slightly larger troll and not much else. Imagine their surprise when that very troll not only possesses strength far beyond any other troll, but also has far more cunning and far more brutality.
- Villainous Glutton: Much of Throgg's dialogue is about how much he wants to eat his enemies. He also has a really large gut.
- You Are a Credit to Your Race: Though he hates nearly every human in the World, he seems to be fine with those Norscans who are so throthingly mad, insane and deranged that they might as well be among the monsters he leads. Or in other words, with a very vast segment of Norscans.
Others
Burplesmirk Spewpit
Burplesmirk Spewpit, Exalted Great Unclean One
- Canon Foreigner: He's an original character created for the games.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: Like Kugath, Burplesmirk is a Great Unclean One a Greater Daemon of Nurgle.
- Evil Sorcerer: A strong practitioner of the Lore of Nurgle.
- Green Is Gross: Naturally as a Daemon of Nurgle Burplesmirk is a sickly green color.
Azrik the Maze Keeper
Azrik the Maze Keeper, Lord of Change
Azrik is a powerful Lord of Change, an avian Greater Daemon of the Chaos God Tzeentch. A strong sorcerer, Azrik is available to lead your armies if a Norscan Chieftain pledges themselves to the Eagle in the Grand Campaign.
- Canon Foreigner: He's an original character created for the games.
- Creepy Crows: Like any Lord of Change. Azrik is very avian.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: Just like Sarthorael, Azrik is a Lord of Change, a Greater Daemon, and someone very high on the Chaos hierarchy.
- Evil Sorcerer: A strong practitioner of the Lore of Tzeentch.
- Our Demons Are Different: As a Lord of Change, Azrik is a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch with vast power over magic. Him and Sarthoreal are the only true daemon characters playable before Total War: Warhammer III, and Azrik is the only one playable in campaign.
- Palette Swap: The only difference in appearance he has to the default Lord of Change is his feathers are colored deep blue, in contrast to their purple.
Kihar the Tormentor
Kihar the Tormentor, Champion of Slaanesh
Kihar the Tormentor is one of Slaanesh's many champions, though few match his cruelty and depravity. Mounted on a Chaos Dragon, Kihar is a potent wizard, and can aid any army as a hero unit, although his services require pledging oneself to the Snake in the Grand Campaign.
- Art Evolution: In Warhammer III Kihar got a model update so that he is a Chaos Sorcerer of Slaanesh instead of a generic Sorcerer.
- Canon Foreigner: He's an original character created for the games.
- Dragon Rider: Unlike most Chaos Sorcerers, Kihar is mounted on a mighty Chaos Dragon, making him a lot more dangerous.
- Evil Sorcerer: A strong practitioner of the Lore of Slaanesh.
- Magic Knight: Even when compared to the regular already tanky for a wizard Chaos Sorcerer, Kihar stands out, being very capable in melee, having enhanced stats, as well as the fact he's riding a fricken dragon!
Killgore Slaymaim
Killgore Slaymaim, Exalted Hero of Khorne
- Canon Foreigner: He's an original character created for the games.
- Horse of a Different Color: Killgore has a Juggernaut as mount.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Quite possibly the most Khorne name in the setting.
Surtha Ek
Surtha Ek
"Asinine mortal!"
The ruler of the Varg Tribe (changed to the Sarl when Norsca became playable), Surtha Ek is a Norscan Marauder Chieftain known for his mastery of chariot warfare.
- Achilles' Heel: Siege battles can greatly limit his advance against you due to how ineffective chariots are in those type of battles. That is, until he breaches your gates...
- Ascended Meme: Before Norsca was promoted to its own faction, the Norscan Tribes consisted almost entirely of the Varg and Skaelings, and their rosters were spin-offs of the Warriors of Chaos with greatly limited options. This led to the Norscan AI relying heavily on spamming large stacks of single unit types, most infamously chariots. The fandom ran with this, and Surtha Ek became the popular face of Norsca's chariot-heavy armies. Post-Norsca, Surtha now has several unique skills and advantages based on his meme, such as beginning the game riding a chariot mount (which usually isn't available to generic Marauder Chieftains until they hit level 12).
- Canon Foreigner: He is just a generically-named faction leader by the game's standards, and as such, is not present in the proper canon. Unlike other generic leaders, however, he has earned himself a reputation across the fandom.
- The Rival: He somehow managed to earn the ire of Settra, with each of them trying to best the other in order to prove who is the true master of chariots. He is the only non-Legendary Lord who can give a unique trait for defeating him, but only if he is defeated by Settra. Surtha also gets a unique trait if he manages to defeat Settra (distinct from the usual traits granted for defeating Legendary Lords).
- Starter Villain: Tends to be the first major roadblock to both Wulfric and Throgg, thanks to his starting army allowing him to crush and confederate most of the other minor Norscan factions. Pre-Norsca he was this to the Empire, usually reducing Nordland, Ostland and Kislev's coastlines to cinders before Chaos even appeared on stage.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: It's true that he doesn't have much outside of chariots. Then again, it is all he needs to make your army's life a living hell once he sets his sights on you.
