Characters / Total War: Warhammer - The Dwarfen Kingdoms

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Main characters index | The Empire of Man | The Kingdom of Bretonnia | The Tzardom of Kislev | The Empire of Grand Cathay | The Dwarfen Kingdoms | The High Elves | The Dark Elves | The Wood Elves | The Lizardmen | The Vampire Counts | The Tomb Kings | The Vampire Coast | The Daemons Of Chaos | The Warriors of Chaos | The Norscan Tribes | The Chaos Dwarfs | The Beastmen | The Greenskins | The Skaven | The Ogre Kingdoms

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"Pay back every grudge!"

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

The Dwarfs, or Dawi, as they call themselves, are an ancient and long-lived race, shorter and stouter than men, known far and wide for their skill as warriors, their mastery of craftsmanship, smithing and engineering, and their love for gems and precious metals. Their most defining characteristic, however, is a gruff and stubborn nature that makes them persevere against all odds and refuse to ever accept defeat.

Dwarfs have a similarly unyielding sense of honour, and nothing is more sacred to them than an oath or promise. Tales are told of Dwarfs honouring oaths despite vast dangers or the passage of centuries. On the other hand, Dwarfs never forget any slights comitted against them, recording these grudges to be avenged in blood or gold. There is no word for forgiveness in their tongue: once someone has wronged a Dwarf, they have made an enemy that will last them a lifetime, and the lives of their descendants as well.

Dwarf armies, or 'throngs', reflect their stubborn and ingenious nature and favour attrition-based tactics, letting the enemy break against a wall of unshakeable, heavily armoured infantry that shelters deadly missile troops and batteries of finely-engineered war machines that unleash overwhelming firepower. Dwarfs do not wield magic like other races; instead, their Runesmiths bind the Winds of Magic into runes, used to forge powerful enchanted items.

Rising high in an endless series of jagged, snow-covered peaks stand the World's Edge Mountains. Beneath them the Dwarfs dug into the bedrock of the world, carving out a vast realms of tunnels, mines, and great holds called the Karaz Ankor, the Everlasting Realm. But then came the Time of Woes, their realm torn apart by war with the High Elves, devastating earthquakes and Greenskin and Skaven invasions. Nowadays, the Dwarfs are barely holding onto glories past, with only a few holds remaining in their hands, the rest lost to enemies or abandoned to the elements.

But within the stony heart of every Dwarf resides a deep-set and burning desire to avenge the grudges of old and reclaim what was once their own. When High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer was crowned, he vowed to reclaim the lost holds and strike clean the entire ledger of the Great Book of Grudges, a task that would take a thousand lifetimes. None doubt his resolve, however, for his deeds are legendary, and the grudges he has avenged are many. For the first time in many generations, the Dwarfs are truly roused to battle — an Age of Great Reckoning has begun.

Introduced in Total War: Warhammer, the Dwarfs are playable in the Old World campaign. In Total War: Warhammer II, they are playable in the Mortal Empires combined campaign for owners of both I and II, and also became playable in the Eye of the Vortex campaign with the Hammers & Herdstones FLC. In Total War: Warhammer III, they are playable in the Immortal Empires combined mega-campaign for owners of I, II and III, and also became playable in the Realm of Chaos campaign with the Thrones of Decay DLC.

NOTE ON SPELLING: In Warhammer, it's spelt Dwarfs and Dwarfen, not Dwarves and Dwarven.

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General Tropes

Karaz-a-Karak

Karak Kadrin

Clan Angrund

Ironbrow's Expedition

The Ancestral Throng

• Abnormal Ammo: The Gob Lobbers, a Regiment of Renown for Grudge-Throwers, launch large boulders with Night Goblins tied to them. The units they hit incur a significant but temporary loss in Leadership of 16.
• Achilles' Heel:
  • The Dwarfs, due to their slow nature and low numbers, are rather vulnerable against both cavalry and chariots. Though their heavy weight makes the charges less painful to take compared to many other races' infantry, it doesn't bode well for them when they don't have any proper answer to mounted enemies outside of their Slayers, who have no armour. In other words, their only halfway decent anti-cavalry unit will drop like flies if they are counter-charged. It also doesn't help that with rare exceptions cavalry is fast enough to avoid most mortar and artillery fire, which ignores one of the dwarfs' biggest strengths.
  • Dwarfs are also, somewhat ironically, deathly vulnerable to artillery. As their armies consist of tightly-packed formations of heavy and slow infantry, enemy artillery can deal tons of damage to them, and the dwarfs have no fast or flying units who can shut down artillery cost-effectively^note Yes, the Dwarfs have Gyrocopters, but they usually can't stop artillery quick enough for it to be worth their cost. Their usual go-to option is counter-battery fire, which is much more inaccurate than on the tabletop and enemy artillery can usually kill its value in Dwarf infantry before the Dwarfs can shut them down.
  • And while their universal access to heavy armour means that lighter hitting enemies pose little threat, enemies that have armour-piercing attacks like Empire Handgunners will shred them. The Dwarfs are considered to be a difficult faction to master, due to their opponents utilizing anti-armour infantry, artillery and monsters.
  • On the campaign map Dwarfs have one of the slowest Growth rates of any faction in either game, meaning their settlements take much longer to build up unless you dedicate a building in every region to Growth. This delays their access to late-game units significantly compared to other factions and forces them to rely on Tier 1-3 units for much longer. This was addressed slightly in the Silence and the Fury update, which made a number of Dwarf units (notably Irondrakes) available sooner by lowering their tier.
• Adaptational Badass: In general, the Dwarfs are far more significant a player in Total War than they are in the main universe. Their main fault in the latter is that their populations are simply too tiny for their realms to amount to much other than the Empire's sidekick.^note For example, the 2002 sourcebook "Dwarfs: Stone and Steel" lists the population of every hold in Karaz Ankor combined as about 250,000 people (excluding children), with less than 20,000 soldiers; militia levies could boost that, but even an absurd mobilization rate would at best give them an army on par with a couple of Imperial provinces. For instance, in the novel Grudgebearer the kingdom of Zhufbar is only able to muster a mere 800 soldiers and 4 cannons for an incredibly important campaign led by their king in-person, whereas any battle of great significance to the other races will invariably involve tens of thousands of troops. This is ignored in Total War where the dwarfs are fully capable of fielding enough stacks to rival the Empire or Ulthuan.
• Anti-Armor:
  • The Dwarfs have a wide variety of units designed to kick the cans of heavily armoured units. Dwarf units with Great Weapons are good at fighting them in melee, and the armour-piercing missiles of Thunderers, Irondrakes and artillery will make quick work of enemy cavalry and monsters at range.
  • The Peak Gate Guards, an elite variant of the normal Hammerers who wreck armored units, as they have the special trait "Sunder Armor". Besides being terribly expensive, they also get magical weapons, making them a terror on any battlefield.
• Anti-Magic: Dwarfs are naturally resistant to magic, as in all of their units have an inherent 25% (35% as of Immortal Empires) resistance to it and the Runelord's Anvil of Doom mount will raise this to 40% map-wide, and one skill that Runesmiths can gain allows them to outright reduce the total amount of Winds of Magic an enemy army has access to. This is to balance the fact they don't have access to traditional spells, which alongside their rock-born origin makes it difficult for Chaos to corrupt them.
• Arch-Enemy: The Dwarfs openly hate two factions in particular for being directly responsible for the decline of their Empires, the Greenskins and the Skaven. Both invaded the Karaks from below using the rifts that earthquakes created in their defenses and many of their cities have fallen to either Greenskin or Skaven hands.
• Army Scout: Dwarf Rangers are special units responsible for watching the mountain ranges and other isolated tunnels, and warn the holds of any incoming danger. As a bunch of Mountain Men (unlike every other underground Dwarf) and Combat Pragmatists (they do perform ambushes and sabotage), they are regarded with a level of distrust. In game they have a wide variety of traits that help them with this role, including Vanguard Deployment, Stalk, and and higher speed than most due to their lighter armour.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Double Subverted. The Dwarfs elect a High King from a few royal candidates, where they are judged based on the might of their deeds within a year. Thorgrim Grudgebearer became High King after all of the candidates but him returned after having slain powerful beasts or claiming victory over a fearsome army. Thorgrim was chosen as High King because he made contact with a Hold in Norsca that was thought to be lost. Thorgrim does kick a lot of ass, but it's not the reason he has his authority.
• Badass Army: Between their heavily-armoured and highly disciplined infantry, fearsome gunpowder weapons, and sophisticated steam-powered technology, the Dwarfs are truly a force to be reckoned with despite their modest numbers. It should be noted unlike the Empire, who has a professional army, Dwarfs lack that, instead relying on local militia to form up the ranks of its military. These "militia" consist of hardened warriors, equipped with the finest weapons and armors, and an unbreakable will to defend, or reclaim their holds. Some of these warriors, such as the famed Longbeards, are centuries old, and bring unmatched experience. The Dwarfs have been fighting a war against the Orcs and Skaven for untold millenniums and stand strong.
• Battle Cry: Several, though the most frequently heard is "Khazukan kazukit-ha!" which, in Khazalid, means "Look out! The Dwarfs are on the warpath!"
• Beneath the Earth: The Underway, a massive system of underground trade highways created by the dwarfs during the golden age of their civilization. As the dwarf empire has fallen into decay, huge swaths of the Underway have been abandoned and populated by greenskins and other monsters. In-game, Dwarf and Greenskin armies can use the Underway to effectively teleport short distances across the campaign map, allowing them to bypass enemy armies and terrain obstacles, albeit at the risk of being intercepted by an enemy army and being forced into an Underway battle which can end in a Total Party Kill for the loser.
• Behind Every Great Man: Implied. It is frequently hinted that the queens of each Hold actually hold the most power. It is said that female Dwarfs are highly respected in their communities despite what initially appears to be a Stay in the Kitchen situation. Women are allowed to be on a Hold's council of elders, and it's apparently common for the queen to hold a position. Even though Grungni is credited with starting the tradition of Dwarfs living underground, it was Valaya that founded the first Holds.
• Berserk Button: Even by the standards of the Dwarfs, who will maintain centuries-long grudges over any slight, there are examples of this.
  • They absolutely despise the Greenskins and Skaven for being directly responsible for the downfall of their Empires. In-game every single one of the Dwarf campaigns involves one or both factions as a primary antagonist, and the diplomacy penalty when dealing with both of them is among the harshest in the game. Additionally the Dwarf tech tree has numerous bonuses when fighting against Greenskins and Skaven.
  • They really hate the Chaos Dwarfs. They're such a source of shame that the Dwarfs refuse to speak of them and the Dwarf diplomacy penalty with the Chaos Dwarfs is just as massive as the one for the Skaven and Greenskins. When he enters the field in their campaign's final battle, Thorgrim orders his warriors to burn the beards of every single Chaos Dwarf. Given the immense importance that their culture places on beards this says a lot.
• Best Served Cold: It matters not for how long, Dwarfs will forever remember their grudges and will attempt to fulfill them for eternity. In-game, when other factions raid your territories, attack your settlements or defeat your armies in battle while playing as Dwarfs in campaign mode, you will receive a Grudge that must be settled with violence. The longer you take to settle it, the more severely it is regarded over time, and the more cathartic it is for your populace when you resolve it.
• BFG: The Irondrakes' optional weapon, the "Trollhammer Torpedo", is a kind of crude dwarf-portable rocket launcher. Rather than being designed for a light anti-tank role like real-world infantry-fired rockets, these are instead built to quickly take down large creatures like trolls and giants.
• Big Good: Downplayed, mostly because the Dwarfs don't particularly try and style themselves as such, but also because their stubborn and vengeful attitudes prevent them from achieving such. They're nonetheless one of the most stalwart forces of Order in the entire setting and often a major bulwark against the Greenskins, Skaven and Chaos.
• The Blacksmith: Dwarfs are noted to be the finest craftsmen in the entire Old World, and as a result have universally high armor ratings, even in their ranged units, to the point that the Dawi can often just completely ignore most races' lower-tier missile units. It has been said that they are physically incapable of cutting corners or doing a shoddy job, so proud are they of their work. Their Runesmiths infuse arcane magic into their blacksmithing, making them magical blacksmiths. In Mortal Empires they get their own mechanic based on the Tomb Kings' Mortuary Cult: Dwarf Forging, which lets them smith some of the most powerful and high-quality sets of armour, weapons, talismans, banners, and Enchanted Items in the entire world to represent that they're the finest smiths in the Warhammer universe. It's relatively unchanged, save that instead of canopic jars they require Oathgold (very rare ingots they get from Runesmith Skills, Special Buildings, and completing grudges), and because of their immense skill they can break down items the player no longer needs for extra resources.
• Bling of War: Dwarf armours, especially those of Thanes, Lords, or their elite unit such as Hammerers, are marvels of blacksmithing, often adorned with gold engraving, glowing runes, and many jewels. The most impressive thing about all this is that it's all still practical, and Dwarfs have the highest universal armor ratings in the entire game.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Not nearly as bad as, say, the Lizardmen, but most Humans and Elves can't comprehend or believe the ridiculous lengths the Dwarfs will go to avenge even the smallest of grudges. To Dwarfs, oaths must be fulfilled, and grudges must be paid back. Humans would have long forgotten that their grandfather twenty generations back in their family tree didn't pay his dwarfen workers in full during a business deal once. The Dwarfs have a detailed account of that incident, have been stewing on it for a couple centuries now, they've been working their way down a long list of similarly detailed grudges... and now they're coming to collect that one gold piece your ancestor cheated out of them, and they don't care that you have no clue what they're talking about. You don't pay up, they're taking it back by force and damn the cost of doing so, even if it costs more than what they're owed. It's not about how much or little you took from them, the fact you did it, or someone you know or are related to did it, is a complete affront to their honour and therefore, compensation one way or another is demanded.
• Bombardier Mook: Gyrobombers are helicopter-like machines that carry payloads of bombs they drop straight down, and are especially effective against massed infantry. Their usefulness drops sharply once their bombs are expended — they're reasonably tough, but aren't suited for melee and lack ranged weaponry.
• Boring, but Practical: Most Dwarf high-tier units are simply upgraded low-tier units with better stats, filling the same combat roles but doing it better. Longbeards are a straight upgrade of Dwarf Warriors and are in turn replaced by Ironbreakers or Hammerers, Quarrelers are replaced by Rangers who are in turn replaced by Bugman's Rangers, Giant Slayers are a straight Slayer upgrade, Cannons are better Bolt Throwers and replaced by Organ Guns in turn, and so forth. The exceptions to this are Irondrakes and Gyrocopters, whose unit variants specialize in different targets, and Thunderers who are the only dwarf handgun infantry (though one could make the argument that Trollhammer Irondrakes fill much the same role but better).
• But Thou Must!: One random event tells you that your people have suffered a grievous insult, but wonders if perhaps this time the grudge should be allowed to slide so you can focus on more important matters. However, both options involve settling the grudge anyway, have the exact same campaign effects, and their descriptions both mock the narration for being so cowardly and un-Dwarfish.
• Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Dwarfs refer to Warhammer races (including themselves) by their names in the Dwarfen language. They call themselves "Dawi", Humans "Umgi", Elves "Elgi", Vampires "Zangunaz", Orcs "Urks" and Goblins "Grobi".
• Can't Argue with Elves: Normally a trope associated with Elves, but in terms of arrogance the Dwarfs honestly aren't that far behind them. They heavily look down on humans, viewing them as weaker, less skilled and more likely to fall to Chaos. There's a reason the Dwarf word for "Man Made", Umgak, is synonymous for "Piece of Garbage."
• A Commander Is You: An Elitist/Technical/Loyalist faction. Dwarfs are slow-moving and small in number, but a combination of heavily-armored and disciplined infantry, with devastating ranged weaponry and artillery, can turn them into well-coordinated Mighty Glaciers. Their racial trait includes Undying Loyalty, to the point that they will not have civil wars, though their stubbornness can complicate their internal diplomacy.
• Cool Airship: The Thunderbarge, a massive war zeppelin that carries plenty of guns onboard and many bombs. Because of the difficulty in making them along with the Hindenburg-esque disasters associated with them, they are few in numbers and not many are willing to do any sort of work on them.
• Cool Old Guy: The Longbeards, the elite infantry of Dwarfish armies, are five centuries old (give or take) and have fought in more battles and against more things than any other Dwarf. You can spot them by their beards which stretch down to brush on the floor and their constant grumbling about how goblins were larger and meaner and everything was just generally made better "back in their day". No young Dwarf would ever dare argue with the word of a Longbeard, as they have the experience and the beard to prove it.
• Cold Sniper: More like cold spotter. Ulthar's Rangers, a Ranger Regiment of Renown, is an odd variant of this. For one, they use throwing axes but fit the bill otherwise, as they have a special sniping ability that debuffs the targeted enemy unit, and makes it weak to concentrated ranged fire.
• Conlang: The Dwarfen language of Khazalid is the most thoroughly constructed of Warhammer's fictional languages. It is written with Norse-looking runes that represent Semitic-sounding triconsonantal pronunciation. Notably, unlike many fictional languages, Khazalid actually has its own slang as well. "Umgi" is the Dwarf word for "human", and the literal meaning of "Umgak" is "Like a human". But in common use, "Umgak" means "Poorly made", as in "Who made this Umgak weapon anyway?".
• Crippling Overspecialization:
  • The Slayers are amazing units to use against massive foes like giants, Arachnaroks, dragon ogres and so forth. Against everything else? Not that much. Their only other potential use is against cavalry, but only if those cavalry are already engaged; if the Slayers are counter-charged then they will die horribly due to their complete lack of armour.
  • Same thing goes for the Bolt Throwers. Though they can easily take down giant creatures where other forms of artillery would struggle, they are rather ineffective against everything else.
  • The Dwarfs' entire schtick is to form a steel wall of heavy infantry protecting missile troops (who are also heavily armoured) and powerful artillery pieces. They have no cavalry and no monsters (so few options for flanking) and very limited magic. This presents Dwarfs in multiplayer open field battles with a big problem — as good as they are, they are still just infantry and there are a lot of potential counters to a defensive "box" strategy: shock cavalry and chariots will mostly ride them down like grass, as will monsters and monstrous infantry; magic and artillery will take a grim toll on their tight formations; and armour-piercing missiles will also be quite effective.
• Culture Chop Suey: Dwarf culture and design draws heavily on a number of influences such as the kingdoms of post-Roman Britain (particularly the Anglo-Saxons^note a number of helmets share designs with the the treasures found at Sutton Hoo ship burial), the Celts^note the blue tattoos and red hair of the Slayers echos the traditional image of Celtic woad covered warriors and medieval Scandinavia^note some terms and designs used by the Dwarfs have Scandinavian origin. All of this is held together with the stereotypical attitude of the people of Northern England and the Scots.
• Cycle of Revenge: Dwarfs often resolve their grudges via acts of violence, during which the people being attacked as part of the grudge settlement naturally fight back. Any Dwarfs being hurt or killed during this process is, of course, a brand new greivance for them to declare a grudge over, with another attack to be issued to settle it. And any Dwarfs being hurt or killed during that attack will need to be avenged, and you can see how this devolves quickly.
• Debt Detester: The same Dwarfen code of honor that demands they always be paid what they are due also requires them to pay what they are due in turn. Indeed, this forms the basis of the Slayer Oath, when a Dwarf has wronged or failed his people or community so heinously, only his life can be offered to even the scales.
• The Determinator: A race-wide trait shared by all Dwarfs. Dwarfs are naturally stubborn and will not ever give up, no matter how bad the odds are stacked against them. Despite countless losses to the Skaven and Greenskins, the Dwarf's will is to fight on against them forever, until they lose every mountain hold. This, being the setting it is, is usually Played for Drama, as their unbreakable will often leads to them doing stupid things in the name of avenging their many grudges, usually creating more grudges to be avenged after failing. In-game, their units tends to have extreme mass and very high leadership, meaning nothing is getting through them soon.
• Death from Above:
  • Unusually for how their race is usually portrayed, the Dwarfs have access to two separate flying bomber units; the Gyrocopters and the larger Gyrobombers. They represent some of the very few rapidly-moving units the Dwarfs have access to.
  • Dwarfs are known for their artillery, and they have some of the most effective long-range siege weaponry in the game, and with a diversity of different pieces to prove hard-counters to different varieties of threats. For example, grudge throwers and cannons for pounding down static fortifications at long range, organ guns and flame cannons for devastating infantry, and bolt throwers and trollhammer torpedoes for slaying monstrous beasts. They can now even call in off-field artillery strikes from massive Zhufbar 42 pounders, or even make them homing, with projectiles that can no longer be properly dodged by special runes.
• Death Seeker: Slayers; Dwarfs who have dishonored themselves to a sufficient degree that their only hope for absolution is a glorious death in battle against some vicious monster — and they can't throw the fight. The strongest Slayers ironically end up being the least successful by their standards, as they run out of local monsters able to kill them and have to start roaming the earth looking for more deadly foes. In gameplay terms, this means they get a bonus against monster units, are immune to Terror, and fight harder the closer they get to death. However, Slayers are, uniquely among the Dwarfen roster, entirely unarmoured and very vulnerable. Mortal Empires adds Giant Slayers to the mix, veteran Slayers that wield massive Greataxes, who are even more skilled against beasts and armored units due having killed so many things that they now have to test their luck at finding an honorable death against giants.
  • Slayers will now flock to various Dwarf factions as Hired Guns of sorts as a mechanic. When the Book of Grudges get larger, more and more Dwarfs begin to take the Slayer Oaths, and already-existing Slayers start gathering at the prospect of battles regarding said grudges. There is a chance the player's Regiment of Renkown pool will get units of slayers the player is able to instantly recruit, with the chances of more being added to the pool increasing as you fall deeper on the grudge-meter.
• Disproportionate Retribution: What the Dwarf obsession with grudges can lead to. This is typically caused by Deliberate Values Dissonance between Dwarfs and their erstwhile allies. In the game, grudges are a unique gameplay mechanic to the Dwarfs, as basically timed missions that the player has to complete or they begin to suffer increasing public order penalties. One Grudge requires you to send a saboteur to punish a rival Dwarf clan, an act that given what we know about the Dwarfs already can easily lead to a war, all because this clan stole away a halfling cook who made a good nut and fig pudding that the High King enjoyed.
• Drunken Master: Bugman's Rangers can drink some of their fabled brew, and become empowered temporarily. Not to mention their fondness to use alcohol-powered weapons...
• Doomy Dooms of Doom: The Anvil of Doom, Doomseekers... you have to admit it reflects their fatalistic nature.
• Dying Race: Almost as bad as the High Elves. The infamous War of the Beard, constant conflicts with the Skaven, Greenskins, and others for their mountain holds, has brought the Dwarf Empire to its knees, and the total population of Dwarfs is shrinking. They won't go out without a fight, however, and the High King seeks to change this.
• Elective Monarchy: Dwarfs have an option for this if a king dies without an heir, known as a Grand Council. Clans from all over the Karaz Ankor will travel to Karaz-a-Karak and prospective candidates will hold a recounting of deeds, with the candidate whose deeds are the most impressive being crowned victor. Thorgrim was elected in this manner by being the first dwarf since the Age of Woe to confirm the existence of Kraka Drak and re-establish diplomatic contact with the northern mountain hold, previously thought to have been lost.
• Elite Army: Between their heavily-armoured and highly disciplined infantry, fearsome gunpowder weapons and sophisticated steam-powered technology, the Dwarfs are truly a force to be reckoned with despite their modest numbers. It helps that every single Dwarf is a trained warrior, from the most humble coal miner or goat cheese merchant to the High King himself. This, however, leads to a general increase in price and upkeep for Dwarf units, they are universally better than most other factions equivalents yet they cost more, making numbers an issue for a Dwarf player, further emphasizing this trope.
• Elite Mooks:
  • Ironbreakers are Dwarf warriors trained especially for holding the line in prolonged combat against the Dwarfs' many underground enemies. They are heavily-armored (even for Dwarfs), have the Expert Charge Defense trait that allows them to nullify charge bonuses from any unit when charged from the front and have special blasting charges they can throw into oncoming enemies to soften them up. They are one of, if not the, best defensive units in the entire game, at the expense of having little direct damage output. Fortunately, they will hold long enough for other units to get into position around them to dish out the damage they can't.
  • Hammerers are veteran Dwarf warriors with centuries of battlefield experience. Serving as the Praetorian Guard for Dwarf lords and kings, they are granted massive warhammers that smash through enemy armour like tissue paper. While not as defensively-powerful as shielded warriors, they can dish out a lot of hurt in a short amount of time.
• Elves vs. Dwarves:
  • The infamous War of Vengeance. Part of the reason why the Dwarfs and Elves both now have Vestigial Empires; they were manipulated by the Dark Elves into going to war against the elves, but it was the arrogance of the High Elven king — and the blunt stubbornness of the dwarfen ambassador — that led to the war taking place. While they're willing to work together to defeat the forces of Disorder, and some members of their species can gain the other's respect (Eltharion's sheer hatred of the Greenskins actually impressed the Dwarfs), they still hate each other over it.
  • In-game, the War of Vengeance can be recanted in Immortal Empires, and there's even a special building you can build in Lothern if you capture it as the Dwarfs, the sacked Palace of the Phoenix King (which gives massive sums of gold every turn, representing how the Dwarfs are talking all the High Elves' wealth for themselves in reparations).
  • Conversely it's also possible to downplay this in Immortal Empires in favor of very slowly rebuilding their ancient friendship, as it's relatively easy to start forging alliances with High Elven factions by fighting mutually hated foes such as Chaos or the Skaven and allying with mutual friends such as the Empire.
• The Engineer: Dwarf engineers are the foremost experts in engineering in the Old World, and their race is just behind the Skaven as the most technologically advanced in the entire setting. They have created innovations such as firearms, war machines, hot air balloons and helicopters. When on the battlefield, they oversee their engines of war and with a glance at the machines and the battlefield, they can expertly tweak and manipulate their creations to optimize the shot. In game, the Master Engineers of Zhufbar serve as a Hero Unit, armed with a sniper rifle and a warhammer. They excel at buffing ranged units and artillery around them and in campaign they can be upgraded to grant ranged units boosts to their ammo, missile damage, movement speed and reload time, making them invaluable for shooting-focused armies.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: In terms of names and general motif, they resemble Horny Vikings. Their society of a collective of semi-independent lords and kings who owe their collective allegiance to a High King, decided through demonstrations of strength and ability resemble Scandinavian societies.
• Fantasy Pantheon: Technically the Dwarfen pantheon includes every single Dwarf who ever died, as the Dwarfs believe that the spirits of their ancestors live among them and guide them. Even so, the ancestors common to all Dwarfs are given the most respect, and are roughly similar to a pantheon. These are simply referred to as the Ancestor Gods. Valaya is the literal mother of the entire Dwarfen people, and Grungni and Grimnir are the fathers of roughly half. Their direct descendants make up the other Ancestor Gods. All in all, there are seven:
  • Grungni, God of Mining and Stoneworking. Considered to be the patriarch of all Dwarf kind. Dwarf lore states that he is the reason Dwarfs live underground, as he foresaw the coming of Chaos and thought his people would be safer that way.
  • Grimnir: God of War. When the Dwarfs migrated to the mountains they would eventually call home, Grimnir protected them from the monsters roaming the land. He is the patron of the Slayers, and given that he's depicted with a mohawk, might actually be the founder of the Slayer Cult.
  • Valaya: Goddess of Home and Healing. Valaya is the one Dwarf that all Dwarfs are related to, as she was married to both Grungni and Grimnir. She is creditted with founding Karaz-a-Karak and Karak Eight Peaks. She is also the patron of brewers.
  • Gazul: God of Death. In a pleasant aversion of Everybody Hates Hades, Gazul is revered as a protector of the Dwarfen dead and established the Dwarfen tradition of venerating ones ancestors. He is also the reason they despise the Undead. Interestingly, he is the only Dwarf in the setting portrayed with a sword.
  • Smednir: God of Metalworking and Ore Refinement. Unsurprisingly, he is considered to be very important to daily life. He is said to have taught his younger brother Thungni craftsmanship. Together, they created the first runic weapons, including Ghal Maraz.
  • Thungni: God of Runesmithing. Is said to have delved deep and discovered the secrets to runic magic, and also discovered that only he, his father Grungni, and certain of his own descendants had the ability to inscribe magic runes into items they forged. Every Runesmith can therefore trace their lineage back to Thungni and Grungni.
  • Morgrim: God of Engineers. The oldest son of Grimnir and Valaya, he invented the bolt-thrower and stone-thrower during the first incursion of Chaos.
• Fantastic Racism: It varies from race to race, but generally the Dawi view the other mortal races as beneath them in some manner:
  • Humans are soft. They also seem to be unable to do anything right, whether it's building a castle, a gun, or just brewing a keg of ale. That being said, umgi are still not as bad as the elves, their markets are always hungry for dwarfen expertise, most of them properly respect the Dawi's superior skills, and their first Emperor did help old King Kurgan Ironbeard many, many centuries ago, so we should step in and help his young Empire if they are being invaded.
  • Elves are even softer than humans, and arrogant magic-using bastards besides. The Khazalid word for "untrustworthy" literally means "like an elf". Also, Caledor II shaved our envoys' beards; we will never forgive that.
  • Greenskins and Skaven are utterly evil vermin who should be wiped clean from the Old World without mercy.
• Fatal Flaw: If the fatal flaw of the Elves is arrogance, then for the Dwarfs, it's stubbornness. Their uncompromising and supremely vindictive outlooks on the world and its inhabitants have led to them throwing themselves into an unending Cycle of Revenge that has stretched both their population and resources perilously thin.
• Felony Misdemeanor: Type 3. Due to Deliberate Values Dissonance with other cultures, a lot of people end up with entries in the Dwarfs' Book of Grudges with excessive requirements for restitution over seemingly minor incidents, like an Imperial town paying the Dwarfs short a single penny. It doesn't matter what the severity of the slight was, the principle of it is always Serious Business. Dwarfs will even hold grudges against each other for the most petty and frivolous of reasons like losing a favorite Chef to another hold.
  Under Morgrim's disappointed glare, did the Dwarfs of Karak Ziflin steal away a cook bound for the kitchens of Karaz-A-Karak! The secret of his Nutty Fig Pudding was the reason — a spiteful move to deprive the High King of one of his favorites in petty retribution for a difficult Reckoner's inspection. A grudge has been recorded and there will be no negotiations with Ziflin until they give up the halfling!
• Fiery Redhead: Enforced trope. A Dwarf Slayer covers his hair in orange dye, and recklessly throws himself into the thick of battle, being a Death Seeker and all.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: The Irondrakes are a relatively recent addition to the Dwarfs’ armies, armed with a drakegun spitting short-ranged but powerful bolt of searing flames for tunnel warfare against Night Goblin and Skaven Sappers. Likewise, Flame Cannons, the BFG version of the trope, shoot a burning ball of tar to set entire units on fire.
• Fire-Forged Friends: The ancient alliance between Sigmar and the Dwarf kings of old against the Greenskins endures to this day, and as such the Empire and World's Edge Mountain Dwarf holds represent this. Karl Franz and Thorgrim notably start Immortal Empires with a nonaggression pact and most human and Dwarf factions will be quick to offer treaties and alliances with each other.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Inverted. Dwarf language lacks a word for 'forgiveness'. Grudges can be settled and subsequently forgotten with correct form of recompense (usually involving the blood of the offender, the offender's family, closest friends, distant friends, hometown, And Your Little Dog, Too!), but the keeping of unsettled grudges is a near-sacrament to the otherwise secular dwarfs.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Master Engineers, whose mere presence can improve the firing power of ranged weapons and artillery with several rules like "entrenchment" and "ballistics". They can also specialize as a Cold Sniper or Dwarf shotgunner with two different skill trees, learn how to replenish Dawi ammo on the field of battle, and even call in artillery strikes from off field.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: The Dwarfs are said to be a declining civilization in the fluff, which cannot be further away from their depiction in-game. All Dwarf factions have diplomatic bonus with each other, allowing them to easily confederate. This makes it impossible for the Dwarfs not to control nearly half of the map by the end game as they confederate with each other and expand from there into a giant blob. This trope has been repeatedly Zig-Zagged during the game's development time. The main Dwarf faction (Thorgrim in Karaz-a-Karak) has always had the problem that the main Greenskins faction (Grimgor in Black Crag) starts out directly next to them and the two factions are effectively at perma-war. Once one has wiped out the other, the surviving faction now has practically no checks to prevent it from spreading through the World's Edge Mountains. During the initial release of Warhammer 1 this battle was heavily weighed in Grimgor's favour and ensured a greenskins-controlled mountain range unless you played as Karaz-a-Karak, and it has since jumped back and forth every time the auto-resolve mechanic got re-adjusted. In particular, following the patches for Rise of the Vampire Coast and Shadow and the Blade in Mortal Empires, the auto-resolve mechanic heavily favoured Thorgrim, leading to the infamous "Dwarfentide" or "Beardtide" where Dwarfs begin to dominate the eastern half of the world map.
• Gender Rarity Value: In the lore. Dwarf male births exceed female births at about a six-to-one ratio. As a result, dwarf brides are literally worth their weight in gold as the price of their dowry. This tends to lend male Dwarfs a preference towards larger brides. This has also had the side effect of further depleting the Dwarfen race.
• Geometric Magic: Dwarf Rune Magic takes this form. They cannot channel it the way Men and Elves can, but they recognize the power of the Winds of Magic all the same, and their Runesmiths are experts in shaping and binding that magic into objects with special symbols and materials. So while Dwarfs may not have any wizards nor can they use more abstract functions like divining the future, they have comparatively many magical weapons and tools that have set and definitive supernatural properties such as being really sharp, all of which are of great power.
  • Dwarf Rune Magic received a huge buff and rework in Warhammer 2. Now they actually count as their own lore... technically. They have their own special "Winds of Magic" UI at the bottom right of the screen, but the way rune magic works is very different than other spellcasting. Rather than having a "Winds of Magic" resource that allows you to pay for spells, Rune-Magic is free of charge. However, unlike with regular magic, which can be used one after the other if you have the Winds to pay for it, Runes cannot be used in succession, you need to wait for a timer before you use another rune.
• Glass Cannon:
  • Dwarf artillery pieces are very destructive if left unchecked, and very quickly destroyed if they are checked.
  • Slayers are only marginally faster than the rest of the dwarfs, but they'll tear monsters a new one if allowed to attack them in melee. Getting them to that melee mostly intact, though? Good luck with that.
  • Hammerers are remarkably fragile for their high tier and armor, not helped by by their very low melee defense, and will crumble quickly under sustained fire or if left unsupported in a melee.
• Gold Fever: One of Dwarfs’ fault is that they crave material wealth somewhat, never to the point of breaking their laws, but it turns into an gold obsession for miners and Dwarfs are notoriously hard to negotiate with when it comes to contracts involving money. It makes them Mirroring Factions to one of their most hated enemies, the Dragons.
• Grumpy Old Man: As a whole Dwarfs are seen as this by almost everyone, but even by Dwarfen standards, Longbeards are old and grumpy. They will spend practically all day complaining about various things, and if you have few enough grudges to settle, the game notes that the Longbeards hate it because they like having a good moan. Their cynical Seen It All attitude gives them Immune to Psychology and their unfiltered disregard for the younger Dwarflings around them manifests itself in an Encourage aura and, in the case of the Regiment of Renown Grumbling Guard, an ability that restores the vigor of themselves and nearby units. The explanation is that the insults inspire other Dwarfs to fight harder.
• Have You Seen My God?: The Dwarf Gods used to walk among their people but Caledor’s Great Vortex drained magic from the world and the Gods all disappeared.
• Hermetic Magic: Dwarf Rune magic takes this form. They cannot channel it the way Men and Elves can, but they recognize the power of the Winds of Magic all the same, and their Runesmiths are experts in shaping and binding that magic into objects with special symbols and materials. So while Dwarfs may not have any wizards, they have comparatively many magical weapons and tools.
  • Dwarf runes can be crafted from the forge, and after their rework, can be viewed as a sort of "special upgrade". With a very large increase in "banners" compared to the other races' (which falls under the runes) amounts, the player can forge with Oathgold very powerful expert Runes to equip their units with and kit out most of their armies in them, ranging from the "Rune of Fire" that give units flaming attacks, to the "Rune of Immolation" which causes artillery projectiles to explode on impact. Master-Runes, runes Stronger with Age and made by legendary runesmiths, can only be acquired through special events, Quests, and completing Legendary Grudges, but all provide insane effects; such as the "Master-Rune of Vayala" which makes units immune to Vigor loss entirely and have a massive magic resistance.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Inverted. Dwarfs believe that all melee weapons should double as tools. Because swords are purely weapons of war with no other use, Dwarfs consider them to be "umgak": bad craftsmanship. It doesn't stop them from making it for other races as the Runefangs can attest.
• Hidden Elf Village: The holds of Kraka Drak and Karak Zorn. Both are totally isolated from the rest of Dwarf-kind, having been cut off from the rest of Dwarf civilization during the fall of the old empire, which has led to their culture diverging from the dwarfen norm.
• Hobbits: Despite the Dwarfs usually being regarded as insular and mildly xenophobic, Halfling cooks are apparently welcome in the Karaz Ankor. They must be pretty popular, too; the infamous "Fig Pudding Grudge" tasks you with performing a hero action against another Dwarf faction, all because they poached the chef that made your King's favorite dessert.
• Honor Before Reason: As detailed under the Serious Business entry, the Dwarfs do not relent on their honour system for any reason. More to the point, this trope is why Thorgrim Grudgebearer and Ungrim Ironfist do not start out with their legendary gear; they didn't lose it or have to make it like the other Legendary characters, they swear an oath in the pre-battle speeches to not to use them until they've finished their quests. Thorgrim even swears that the Great Book of Grudges would not be opened again unless a particular battle is won, which would cause an incredibly important cultural relic to be forbidden forever if Thorgrim lost the fight.
• Hold the Line: The Dwarfs, thanks to their high morale, endurance, and better armors, naturally adopt this tactic. However, the champions of this move among the Dwarfs are the Ironbreakers, Dwarfs entirely clad in heavy gromril armor and tasked with guarding the lowest tunnels of the Karaks. And in these confines, the Ironbreakers let waves upon waves of enemies crash into their ranks, all the while letting loose volleys of satchel charges to tear apart lines before they even reach their axes!
• Hopeless War: It can be argued that the Dwarfs are constantly fighting a hopeless war just to maintain their remaining Holds as their enemies are both relentless and outnumber the Dwarfs by an insurmountable margin. The Dwarfs refuse to accept any of this and keep fighting despite mounting casualties and even more grudges being made with each defeat. As an example, Karak Eight-Peaks is the ground for a three-way war between the Crooked Moon Night Goblin tribe and the Skaven Clan Mors, each having made the higher and lower halves of the old Karak into their lairs, respectively. In-between, King Belegar Ironhammer has merely managed to occupy the outer citadel without any major progress, only holding this comparatively small portion of the Karak because High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer sends regular reinforcements.
• Improvised Weapon: All dwarf melee weapons are essentially this. The lorewise reason why dwarfs don't use swords or polearms at all is because they don't make tools that have no purpose in civilian life, whereas axes are usable for chopping wood and hammers and picks can be used in rock-breaking. Explicitly magical weapons and warmachines are the exceptions to this rule.
• I Gave My Word: The flip side to a grudge is a debt, and a Dwarf will not forget if he owes someone. This is especially true if they saved them or another Dwarf's life. The special relationship between the Dwarfs and the Empire started centuries ago when a young Sigmar rescued the then-high king Kurgan Blackbeard from Orc captivity. The reason it continues, much as conservative Dwarfs might grumble about those damn manlings and their upstart ideas, is that the Dwarfs remember humanity had their back when they needed it.
• Item Crafting: Introduced in the Resurgence Update for Total War: Warhammer II, the Dwarfs have access to a crafting mechanic called The Forge. A new resource called Oathgold can be spent to make anything from axes that grant armor-piercing damage to horns that can summon Ancestor Spirits. Unlike the very similar Mortuary Cult system that the Tomb Kings have, the Dawi can also recycle any magical items they have to gain more Oathgold.
• Kill It with Fire:
  • The Iron Drakes and Flame Cannons (which are powered by alcohol). Unlike most video game flamethrowers, these actually project burning gouts of liquid over a respectable (if still shorter than a good crossbow) range, doing horrifying damage to lightly armored infantry. One downside is that the flamethrowers need a direct line of fire onto an enemy to hit them, meaning they cannot fire over slopes.
  • The Warriors of Dragonfire Pass, an elite variant of the Warrior, also wield flaming axes.
• Language Equals Thought:
  • There are no words in Khazalid for 'forgiveness'. There are numerous words to describe types of recompense or revenge, as well as the severity of a wrong. The language also has no direct words for abstract concepts: All words for abstractions describe things as akin to something concrete. Something enduring is said to be 'like a mountain', or someone untrustworthy 'like a thief' (or 'like an elf').
  • Khazalid also has a specific word meaning "respect owed to someone because of the length and magnificence of their beard" ("Gnollengrom" for the curious).
• Lawful Stupid: Almost as bad as the Lizardmen; their adherence to avenging grudges tends to drive them this direction. Any slight on their honor, no matter how minor or unintentional, must be repaid in blood. It is implied that the Dwarfs actually are prone to suffering divine retribution if they fail to pursue their grudges in full, and the cost of such rigidity is part of why their empire is slowly shrinking. In any case, the ceaseless pursuit of their grudges has quickened the decline of their already depleted numbers.
• Long-Range Fighter: While Dwarfs have some excellent melee units, they are nigh-universally slower than most races, and are better known for producing gunline armies camped on a defensible piece of land with lots of ranged infantry and artillery, with just enough melee units to protect them. It helps their ranged units are also sturdy in melee.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: It's not just Dwarf melee troops who get shields. Most of their ranged infantry units get them as well. This allows Dwarf Quarrelers, Rangers and Thunderers to trade fire with other skirmisher units quite well.
• Magically Inept Fighter: The entire Dwarfen race is generally incapable of channelling the Winds of Magic conventionally, instead harnessing it through more indirect means like Rune Magic and functional Magitek. As a trade-off, they have partial spell resistance. Mind you, this is most applicable to the Karaz Ankor; their villainous cousins in the Dark Lands have found a way to use magic more conventionally, though that comes with its own costs.
• Magic Knight: Runelords, generals that combine the defensive and support skill tracks of a Dwarf Lord with the offensive skill track of a Runesmith. They excel in the role of support leaders, with the normal benefits of a Frontline General supplemented by runic magic Status Buffs they can cast on nearby friendly units.
• Magitek: Dwarf Runic Magic falls under the "technomancy" variety that focuses on enhancing the functionality of otherwise mundane devices. Dwarfs cannot use magic themselves like Elves or Men can and so they lack wizards, but they can "forge" with magic. Special geometric runes carved into weapons or tools can channel the Winds of Magic into enchantments. This really comes into its own by making some of the steampunk devices practical, such as adding Runes of Lifting to gyrocopters to make them light enough that their comparatively small engines can lift that much armor.
• Manly Facial Hair: The dwarfs consider this trope to be true In-Universe. Male dwarfs grow beard hair for as long as they live and never shave their beards shorter (they will, however, trim, braid and take good care of it). A dwarf's age and their importance is therefore directly tied to the size and length of their beard, and as mentioned above the dwarfs have specific words for how a particularly nice beard is worthy of respect and social status. All (non-Grombrindal) dwarf lords have access to a skill that removes local corruption by Chaos, Skaven and Undead based entirely on their long and magnificent beard.
• Mighty Glacier: The dwarfs have no cavalry and very few quickly repositioning units; in fact their infantry is slower on average than that of most other races. However, their infantry are (with the exceptions of Slayers and Rangers) universally well-armoured, and all Dwarfs are tough, well-disciplined and surprisingly strong. This means that while Dwarfs lack the maneuverability of many races, they are hard to wear down once committed to battle. In the early days of the game, this was actually downplayed quite a bit. Despite being universally very well armored (as well as slow), Dwarfs unfortunately had issues staying in place when cavalry charged. Due to the way mass worked, something as light as Goblin Wolf Riders could trample them over, sending them all over the place. As of Mortal Empires, their mass has been significantly increased, meaning they ain't moving anytime soon.
• Mithril: The Dwarfs use a particular metal named Gromril or Silverstone. It is the sturdiest metal in the world and they make the strongest non-enchanted armors, resulting in the best universal armor rating in the series.
• Money Fetish: Dwarfs consider their stockpiled material wealth to be their legacy, and provide for the future security of their families, often measuring that security by how high off the floor they can sit in their family vault using just their gold as a seat. Unfortunately, this stockpiling of riches proves frequently tempting to foes, especially Greenskins, who will risk the stout defenses of the Dwarfs to plunder it.
• Moral Myopia: The Dwarfs will readily raze entire cities and kill thousands if they feel slighted in even the tiniest way, but will never abide a single Dwarf being killed by another race. In the end, the only grudges that matter to them, are their grudges; if someone is angry at the Dwarfs for an offense they committed, then they are expected to just deal with it.
• More Dakka:
  • The Dwarfs can achieve the fantasy equivalent with a properly experienced Engineer. The skill "Ballistics Calibration" will improve the reload speed and firing rate of friendly units near the Engineer for a short time. Planting him next to the Dwarfs' already great missile infantry and artillery will create a solid wall of projectiles flying towards the foe.
  • The Organ Guns fire multiple volleys per fire.
• My Greatest Failure: The mere existence of the Chaos Dwarfs. Losing your empire to outside interlopers is bad enough, but having your own people cast aside everything your culture holds sacred and embrace a Religion of Evil? That stings on an even deeper level. To this day the Dawi refuse to hear even the slightest mention of the Dawi Zharr in their presence, and if you know what's good for you, you'll respect their wishes.
• New Technology Is Evil: Downplayed. While the Dwarfs are expert craftsmen, they are also extremely traditionalist, in contrast to the Empire who use anything they can get their hands on. Any significant leap of innovation is therefore automatically suspect and it will generally require decades of planning before even a prototype is developed, and then literally centuries of tinkering and testing before it is considered proven enough that others will adopt it. On the other hand, refining an existing technology or process to perfection is completely acceptable, as that's considered part of the pride that they take in their craftsmanship. In-game, Thorgrim getting the Engineering guild to tinker around with their Gyrocopter design in one of his quest chains causes a massive uproar.
• Number Two: Thanes, secondary Dwarf nobles who lead clans but not entire Holds, are a Hero Unit. They are identifiable by their winged helmets and fight as secondary leaders in the armies of Dwarf Lords and/or Runelords. Compared to the defense-minded Lord, Thanes are generally geared for charging and flanking, and in custom and multiplayer battles get a magic item that boosts their Charge Bonus and that of other units around them.
• Older Is Better: Even when they do make innovations, Dwarfs tend to prefer to just keep doing things the old-fashioned way out of cultural preference. Their research tree reflects this, with a lot of incremental technologies that add up to major increases to martial, social and economic power but take a lot of time to implement.
• Old Soldier: Regiments of Dwarf Longbeards consist of the oldest and toughest warriors of a Hold. They are skilled fighters who have an arrogant dislike of new things around them and are unfazed by anything.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Even if a Grudge is declared settled, that doesn't mean the Dwarfs will get over what happened. Since their war with the Elves, the Elves have attempted a few outreaches, particularly during the reign of Phoenix King Aethis, but those have always been rebuffed by the Dwarfs, who refuse to even engage with Elves in any way unless the latter prostrate themselves before them.
• Oop North: As a contrast to the RP of the Empire and the Orcs' cockney, the Dwarfs' accents are northern.
  Dwarf Lord: Do ye take me fer a wazzock?!
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Subverted. Humanity believe this trope to be true in-universe and view the Dwarfs as a homogeneous, monolithic culture but that's actually not true. Each "Karak" has its own cultural identity and as such, the Dwarf Realms are actually very diverse. The Dwarfs of the Grey Mountains tend to be more youthful and ambitious, the natives of Barak Varr are more friendly and laid back, etc. In practice, the game's Dwarfs are still the classic fantasy race of short humanoids with long and cherished beards, heavy armor, exclusively axe- and hammer-wielding infantry, majestic holds in the mountains that have mostly been lost to evil forces, and a great fondness for singing, mining, smithing and drinking. The Chaos Dwarfs, on the other hand...
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Dwarfs are so strong willed that, occasionally, their spirits refuse to leave the world. This is definitely not necromancy, and don't you dare imply otherwise if any Dawi are in earshot. Ancestral Wraiths of Dwarfen Kings of Old can be summoned and used in battle as well as the campaign by Clan Angrund.
  • As of the Resurgent Update for Total War: Warhammer II, all Dwarf factions can craft an item that lets them summon Ancestor Spirits into battle.
• Pardon My Klingon: Khazalid has many swear words and other insults, varying from the obvious to the strange. Whilst Dwarfs speak mostly accented English in-game they frequently mix in these Khazalid swear words in their speech. Highlights include...
  • Krut: A disease involving painful rashes that originated with goat farmers. "Kruti" is a harsh insult, "Krut!" is essentially equivalent to "Shit!"
  • Skruff: A thin or unkempt beard. Given the pride Dwarfs take in their beards, this is an extremely dire insult.
  • Dongliz: The part of a Dwarf's body impossible for him to scratch.
  • Umgak: Literally, "Similar to human". Commonly used to mean "poorly crafted".
  • Wazzock: Literally " A Dwarf who has exchanged gold or some other valuable item for something of little or no worth", used as a catch-all insult to the listener's intelligence.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: Dwarfs might be smaller than many of their opponents, with shorter arms and legs that might suggest they lack leverage, but they will fool you. The fact that some of them wield weapons taller than themselves should go a long way toward dispelling that notion. The animators at Creative Assembly likened a dwarf on the battlefield to being a "coiled spring", with lots of power to lash forth from a compact frame.
• Planet of Hats: Many Holds have something of a central gimmick, with Karaz-a-Karak and Karak Eight Peaks serve as the "standards" that they deviate from. Each Kingdom is represented in-game, and their differences are often shown by a unique building.
  • Barak Varr: Trade, and also Sailing: Barak Varr is a mountain that connects directly to an inlet into the sea, so it's the Dwarfs' only port city and a major merchant hub of the Old World.
  • Zhufbar — Research and Development: Zhufbar is the home of the Engineer's Guild, and is where most of the Dwarfs' strongest weapons of war were dreamt up. Also notable for its waterfalls, which the hold is named after.
  • Karak Kadrin — Slayers: Karak Kadrin has attracted many Slayers, especially since the King is one, and is the center of the Slayer cult itself. Its special building, the Great Slayer Shrine of Karak Kadrin, lets Slayer units gain experience faster and decreases enemy corruption effects.
  • Karak Azul — Prospecting: All Dwarfs love mining, but Karak Azul has the richest deposits of Iron.
  • Karak Hirn — Ambition: A young and inexperienced hold, eager to prove itself.
  • Karak Norn — Refugees: Displaced clans from Holds sacked by Greenskins tend to end up in Karak Norn.
  • Karak Azgoraz — Entrepreneurship: Young and adventurous Dwarfs founded Karak Azgoraz because of stories of untapped riches in the Grey Mountains.
• Powerful Pick: Dwarf Miners, levied-citizens drafted into military service from the Dwarfs' mining workforce. Their tools are made with the characteristic high quality of all Dwarfen craftsmanship and their picks can puncture armour as easily as they crack stone. In-game, Miners are low-tier infantry with the Siege Attacker trait, which allows them to (slowly) break down settlement gates using their pickaxes.
• Praetorian Guard: Dwarf Hammerers serve as bodyguards to Dwarf Kings.
• Proud Warrior Race: Everyone in the Warhammer universe is this, but the Dwarfs deserve a special mention because every single one of them goes through mandatory military training in their youth. Unlike the Empire, who has a professional military force, Dwarfen armies depend on citizen levy, and every citizen is ready to answer the call. Notably, however, the Dwarfs very rarely start wars, and most of them would be perfectly content to live a peaceful life of working and drinking. On the flip side though, they're not terribly likely to consider every ending one without expressly achieving their objective.
• Pyrrhic Victory: The Dwarfs technically won the War of Vengeance, something they are quick to remind others about. However, the war left them so depleted in both numbers and resources that it could barely be called a victory, in that their empire fell apart not long after, especially once Mazdamundi rearranged their mountains and once the greenskins began to show up far more frequently than before.
• Redemption Equals Death: A Slayer became so usually because of a great dishonor or fault on their part. They believe that only in death in battle they can redeem themselves.
• Resistant to Magic: A side effect of their inability to use magic is that it renders Dwarfs resistant to it. All Dwarf units have a baseline 20% resistance to magic damage, with some characters, or armies led by a Runelord, having even more. Due to a quirk in how magic damage works this resistance is somewhat arbitrarily applied, however: units with magic weapons (first two games only) and projectile, bombardment or vortex spells are all affected by this resistance, but direct damage spells like Spirit Leech are unaffected.
  • In Immortal Empires this innate magic resistantce is now 35%.
• Revenge Before Reason: A Dwarf will never forget a slight, no matter how minor. "They've wronged us!" is a commonly heard battle cry from Dwarfen units on the battlefield. This is represented with the Grudges system, where wrongs against the Dwarfen race are recorded as missions with conditions of fulfilment, and continued failing to avenge Grudges will inflict penalties to economic efficiency, public order and diplomatic relations with other Dwarf factions. Infamously, the Dwarf language of Khazalid has several words for revenge, retribution and recompense, but no word for forgiveness! Each Legendary Lord now has "Legendary Grudges", which are unique to each Dwarf Legendary Lord, and reward the player for completing them with special runes and magical items.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Dwarf Monarchs tend to be the Dwarfs' greatest warriors, and actively lead from the front, fighting with the grunts. All of the four Dwarf Legendary Lords are kings, or have been kings at some point, which says all that needs to be said.
• Ranger: Dwarf Rangers were added in the King and the Warlord. They're lightly armored squads of Dwarfs who act as Army Scouts and commando units for dwarf armies. They might not have the staying power of other dwarf units, but they are excellent shots and can move faster than an enemy might expect of dwarfs. They come in regular variants, and throwing axe variants, the latter of which is more melee focused and carry greataxes.
• Seen It All: Longbeards have been fighting and surviving for so long that they're never fazed by anything they fight against. When facing down something as big and mean as a Dragon, their typical response will be, "Bah! Back in my day those were bigger and meaner!" As such, they have Immune to Psychology to reflect how little anything fazes them.
• Serious Business: Everything. The Dwarf honour code means they're mentally incapable of not giving their all in an attempt to do something, be it crafting a weapon or attempting to commit ritualistic suicide. The one that sticks out to the other races, however, are their Grudges. Dwarfs will never forget any wrong, no matter now slight or petty, and the Great Book of Grudges contains thousands of years worth of history in written oaths of vengeance:
  • One grudge sampled in the loading screens details the throng of Karak Azul, who suffered a huge disaster that claimed ten-thousand lives. The event was caused during a fight with a greenskin tribe within Grimspike Pass, when a goblin shaman exploded and caused a huge landslide. Their response, as the dwarfs won the fight and the shaman had died, was to declare a grudge on the mountain itself, vowing that there will be no peace until the mountain is mined of all its natural wealth and eventually ground into dust.
  • A possible grudge in the campaign speaks of how dwarfs travelling through Stirland have been killed by vampires. That's bad enough, but the worst part is that the slain dwarfs were then resurrected and used to recreate an awful play titled Stoutheart Beardcomber and the Ostlander's Wife.
  • Bugman's Brewery, where the legendary ale known as Bugman's XXXXX was created, was once considered the greatest of all Dwarfish brewhouses. Then the Greenskins attacked, tore down the brewery, killed most of the Bugman clan, and drank almost all of the beer. In-game, the flavour text outright states that this particular grudge will never truly be considered made right, but that the Dwarfs will settle for retaking Karag Dromar (the settlement where the Brewery was built) and rebuilding the Brewery.
  • There are grudges in the game that come from not actually being attacked. The Empire can develop its Imperial Engineer School to the point that the School boasts that they've outpaced the Dwarfs' technology. The Dwarfs consider this an act of youthful impudence, and so require an experienced Dwarfen Engineer to put the manlings back in their place.
  • Furthermore, Gods help you if so much as a single Dwarf is killed while they are pursuing a grudge. They will consider this a slight unto itself, note it down as a separate grudge and come back later to settle it in turn. And if you incur a grudge but die before they can settle it, they have no qualms whatsoever about taking it out on your descendants or powerbase instead.
• Siege Engines: Dwarfs are the foremost users of such contraptions. Their technological savviness allows them to easily field Grudge Throwers, Bolt Throwers and many types of Cannons to break walls, but also shoot down hordes and monsters.
• Sins of Our Fathers : A dwarf’s oaths and failings are also attributed to the entirety of his clan and descendants. King Ungrim Ironfist is thus also a Slayer because his ancestor took the Slayer Oath. It causes frictions with the humans as they apply the same logic to others and the dwarfs may seek revenge on someone whose ancestor wronged them, causing incomprehension when angry dwarfs suddenly show up demanding recompense about some event centuries ago.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Canonically, the Norsca-based Dwarf hold of Kraka Drak was destroyed by Chaos long before the events of this game, but despite this they're present and well as an AI-controlled faction. That being said, they tend to not last very long in the campaign, surrounded as they are by the Norscan tribes with only three settlements to their name.
• Steampunk: More or less on par with The Empire depending on how powerful the local Engineer Guild is. Dwarfs have managed to create heavier than air flying machines, industrialize the steam engine, and other steam-powered machinery. However, not all places are as advanced as Zhufbar. Their Gyrocopters and Gyrobombers, essentially steam-powered bomber helicopters. Also their elite Skolder Guard Regiment fire steam projectiles instead of flame.
• Stone Wall: Their basic play style. Dwarf units are rarely very mobile, but make up for it in attack and defense. In battle, they don’t charge or try to gain ground, but let the enemy break themselves against their lines.
• Stout Strength: Dwarfs may be small, but they're stated to have about the same strength as the much taller, and bigger Orcs.
• Stronger with Age: Age doesn't slow Dwarfs down at all. One of their upper tier infantry units, the Longbeards, is entirely composed of elderly Dwarf warriors that kick a ton of Greenskin ass.
• Squishy Wizard: Downplayed on both counts by Runesmiths and Runelords. They have less health and do less damage than the other Dwarf Lords and Heroes, but they're considerably better in melee than the actual spellcasters of the other factions.
• Taking You with Me: Slayers have the Deathblow rule that allows them to do a final attack right as they fall.
• This Is Unforgivable!: The Dwarfs never forget a slight, and never forgive. If you wrong them, they will come to settle their grudge the only way they care to — in blood. In gameplay terms, the Dwarfs' strategic objectives are based on settling grudges against those who have wronged them. As wrongs are done against them in the campaign, new grudges are generated and added as objectives for a dwarf player to seek vengeance for. If you accumulate too many grudges, or leave grudges unresolved for too long, the Dwarfs will grow agitated and your faction will start suffering penalties.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: Dwarf Miners and Ironbreakers feature variations equipped with blast charges, which the units will attempt to throw at enemies before closing for melee.
• Tunnel King: Miners are expert at navigating underground and need be at making their own pathway in the rock. They are said to be able to sense ore or danger when they mine, and they constitute a typical flanker unit in the Dwarf armies. They get the Vanguard special rule to reflect this.
• Tunnel Network: The Dwarfs created a massive network of large tunnels to accommodate travel and trade between Karaks named the Underway. Since the Times of Woes, it has been heavily damaged (cave ins are very common down there) and large sections of it are occupied by hostile forces or random monsters.
• Two Girls to a Team: There are only two kinds of female Dwarf followers available to your Lords and Heroes: The Dwarfen Bride and the Daughter of Valaya. Since you can't have multiple of the same follower on the same character, this means you can never have more than two women in any of your groups of followers.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: Dwarfen Runesmiths are some of the best weapon and armor forgers in the setting. In Mortal Empires they even have their own crafting mechanic that allows them to forge powerful runes, and artifacts of great power. One their most outstanding Runesmiths is Alaric the Mad, who forged the Runefangs. Thungni (Ancestor God of Blacksmithing) takes the cake though, as he forged Ghal Maraz, which is not only the most powerful weapon in the setting, it's the Warhammer.
• Uncertain Doom: It is told Grimnir went alone to close the gateway allowing the Daemons of Chaos access to the material world at the height of their invasion. His ultimate fate is unknown, but the Dwarfs claim that “he fell into darkness”.
• Underground City: Dwarf Holds are located underneath the World's Edge Mountains and can be the sites of underground battles. The Dwarfs believe that the fresh, open air is unhealthy and teach their children not to spend too much time under the sky.
• Vestigial Empire: The old Dwarf empire extended all across the World's Edge Mountains and to several holds beyond, and was once the dominant power of the Old World (which spanned even further, into the Southlands and even as far as Lustria across the sea). Then the infamous War of the Beard with the High Elves broke out, shattering both superpowers. Then the Time of Woes broke the empire, massive earthquakes collapsing underways and damaging infrastructure and population. A massive greenskin migration around that time absorbed many now-isolated holds, while the others scraped by as best they could. High King Thorgrim's ambition is to reunite the holds and reclaim the glory of the old Dwarf empire.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: An intentional choice with the Dwarf Slayers. These are Dwarfs who feel that they have dishonored themselves beyond redemption, and the only way to redeem themselves is to die in glorious combat fighting the most dangerous of foes. As such, they wear no upper armor to show that they are Not Afraid to Die. Armour is meant for people who actually want to survive the battles they enter, after all.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Downplayed. Dwarfs are immune to same-race rebels at high unhappiness. Holds that reach -100 stability spawn Greenskins instead because local lords can't keep the raiders in check (unless high corruption causes a Vampire/Skaven/Chaos army to spawn instead). The dwarfs start out in factioned holds just like the humans, but inter-dwarfen warfare is extremely rare and signing non-aggression pacts and confederating is much easier than it is for humans. Which is a stroke of luck because you've got plenty of Greenskins eager to burn your lands down instead. The game justifies this by mentioning that though no Dwarf King would ever disobey the High King, they have their own obligations to their holds, their own grudges that need to be settled, and their own courts that need to be brought to order, and as such they sometimes have cause to drag their feet a bit on fully submitting to Karaz-a-Karak.
• Weapons of Their Trade: As a side effect of all their warriors being levied civilians, all personal dwarf weapons (except their war machines) need to have a use in civilian life, otherwise the dwarfs view their creation as wasteful and uneccessary. In-game this is reflected by the dwarfs having no polearms (as these are exclusively used for war) and using axes, hammers and picks in combat instead.
• Wizards Live Longer: Dwarfs do not have "normal" wizards, but Dwarf Runelords are renowned for their stubbornness occasionally extending to a refusal to die. While they've got something more important to work on, these rare Dwarfs will just continue to get older with no ill effects out of a sheer stubborn refusal to age. The oldest Dwarf alive, Kragg the Grim, Runelord of Karaz-a-Karak, is a little past 1,600 years old.
• World of Badass: The Dwarfs need to be a hardy folk to survive being at constant war with two other much larger races. Although the Dwarfs have a Warrior's Guild for professional soldiers, every Dwarf is a trained fighter, from the King of the Hold to the lowliest goat cheese merchant. This actually goes both ways, as every Dwarf weapon is supposed to double as a tool, which is why Dwarf pickaxes can go right from mining ore to chopping heads without needing to be adjusted and an Ironbreaker's axe works just as well when chopping down trees.
• The Worf Effect: The Dwarfs are more than anyone in the lore the primary victims of an awesome army or unit, as there isn’t a more impressive testament of dangerousness than being able to threaten the Dwarfs.

Legendary Lords

Thorgrim Grudgebearer

High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer, Lord of the Everpeak

"Let us not dawdle, for there are grudges to settle, and new entries in the Dammaz Kron to write!"

"Once more, we will ally with the manlings just as Grimnir did, ten score centuries ago. It has been many years since the umgi have produced an emperor as worthy as Magnus, or their founding warrior-king, but I hear good things about this Franz! Now is the time to test his mettle; we will stand with him against the grobi at Black Fire Pass, as King Kurgan did long ago! If the men of the Empire fight with bravery and honor, then the runes of my crown will glow with pride ever after. A gesture of my will, just as this emperor waits to take up his warhammer — a gift from the dwarfs no less! So gird up your loins, my kin! May your axes be sharp and thirsty for urk blood, for they come. We will repulse these vile beasts with our dying breaths, and renew the oldest and greatest alliance this world has ever seen!"

Voiced by: Richard Ridings

Thorgrim Grudgebearer is the current High King of the Dwarfs. He is a throwback to the High Kings of old — eager for new conquests, mighty in battle, and a merciless enemy. Yet upon his worn brow, there also sits a great wisdom, and he is able to uphold the ancient traditions as well as to accept (if not embrace) needed changes, such as alliances and new technology.

Thorgrim is forever brooding upon how to return his people to their former glory. As the ultimate ruler of the Dwarfs, the Great Book of Grudges is entrusted into his keeping. It is Thorgrim's avowed wish to avenge every single entry contained in that voluminous tome — an impossible task if he should live a thousand lifetimes. Yet such is his resolve that he has already helped to rejuvenate the whole of the Karaz Ankor. Tales of his deeds, and the long list of grudges already struck out, fill his grim warriors with a feeling that the Dwarfs have long done without: hope. Borne upon the Throne of Power and brandishing the Axe of Grimnir, Thorgrim is at the forefront of what the Dwarfs hope will be a great conquering — a new age of retribution has begun.

Thorgrim leads what was initially known as the main Dwarfs faction, simply named Dwarfs, but was renamed Karaz-a-Karak as of The Potion of Speed update.

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• Ancestral Weapon: The Axe of Grimnir has been passed down to each High King since the reign of Grimnir himself, making it the axe counterpart of Ghal Maraz.
• Armor of Invincibility: The Armour of Skaldor is an exceptional armour engraved with protection runes.
• Big Good: To the Dwarfs, due to Thorgrim being the highest authority of their society and being focused on restoring the Dwarfs to their former status.
• Bling of War: Wears a golden suit of armor, the Dragon Crown, is carried into battle on a golden throne, wears a set of golden chainmail, and wields one of the most ornate axes that his race has ever made, Thorgrim is even more fancily clad than his human counterpart Karl Franz.
• Cool Chair: The Throne of Power, a massive and extremely ornate throne covered in gravures and gold, but more importantly bearing the one and only Rune of Eternity, guaranteeing that the Dwarfs will endure as long as it exists. Thorgrim is never allowed to leave it, as it's the High King's duty to guard it, and so the Throne is hoisted into battle by a squad of bearers.
• Cool Crown: The Dragon Crown, a golden, ruby-adorned crown, which has been worn by the High Kings since the founding of Karaz-a-Karak.
• Cool Old Guy: Quite old, even by Dwarfish standards, and can still more than hold his own in battle. He excels at dealing with swarms of infantry from that seat and being the anchor point of the Dwarfen battle line.
• Final Boss: Of the Chaos Dwarfs' Realm of Chaos campaign in the third game, where Thorgrim leads an army (with Thorek Ironbrow and Belegar Ironhammer as his generals) to avenge the desecration of the Dwarfs' sacred relics.
• Fire-Forged Friends: In one of his quest battles wherein he joins forces with the Empire, he mentions his fondness for Karl Franz and notes the similarities between them working together and the alliance between Sigmar and Kurgan Ironbeard from long ago. And what better way to ensure the continuation of that friendship than by standing against the Green Tide and the Forces of Chaos together?
• The High King: His title, as the spiritual ruler of all Dwarfs.
• Impossible Task: Since he was crowned High King, he has sworn to write off every known grudge in the Book of Grudges. He has since learned, to his frustration, that grudges are rarely crossed off despite his best efforts. The Book continues to remain full with old entries piling up, along with newly-written grudges flooding in practically every second. He's one of the very few Dwarfs in existence to acknowledge this stubbornness is heavily contributing to the Dwarfs' decline as a race, but goes on regardless, since it's his duty.
• Keystone Army: One of his skills inverts this by imbuing nearby dwarfs with morale and attack bonuses if Thorgrim is defeated in battle, leading to an armywide Heroic Second Wind. It simulates a similar skill he has on the tabletop, where killing Thorgrim gives all nearby dwarfs hatred against the enemy.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Downplayed. He is the first prominent Dwarf to acknowledge that the unforgiving, vindictive nature of their culture will contribute to their self-destruction and is trying to change that by refusing to declare a grudge or pursue vengeance under certain circumstances. But he still maintains the traditional grudge trumps all attitude, and he is famously under an oath to resolve every grudge in the Damnaz Kron.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Dwarfs hold beards in high regards, to the point that the elven Phoenix King shaving the beards of ambassadors was (partly) the reason for the War of Vengeance escalating to the point it did. So it speaks to his loathing of the Chaos Dwarfs that, when he enters the field in their campaign's final battle, Thorgrim orders his warriors to burn the beards of every single Chaos Dwarf they fight.
• Praetorian Guard: His Throne of Power is carried by longbearded warriors called the Thronebearers, who also act as his bodyguards. A big case of Bodyguarding a Badass, but the Thronebearers are no slouches in combat either.
  • In Total War: Warhammer III, Thorgrim's personal army provides extra physical resistance for Hammerers, the most elite of dwarf warriors, as well as giving them the "Guardian" passive ability, which allows the Hammerers to confer a physical resistance bonus upon any character near them — implicitly this trope in action.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While he possesses a healthy respect for the traditions of his people, Thorgrim notably also welcomes new ideas and innovative technological advancements. For context, any invention less than a few hundred years old is considered new and unproven by the long-lived Dwarfs, but Thorgrim has empowered the Engineers' Guild to mobilize several new ideas with only a scant few decades of testing beforehand.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: While he spends most of his time sitting on his throne, that throne is usually on the battlefield if not actually being carried into a melee. When he attacks, Thorgrim will stand up and swing his axe hard enough to send several foes flying and do significant damage to heroes and monsters.
  Thorgrim: The High King acts!
• Too Important to Walk: As the High King is never to leave the Throne of Power unattended, under dwarfen law, both it and Thorgrim are carried on the shoulders of his Praetorian Guard, the Thronebearers. Note that just because he's being borne on the backs of his guards, it doesn't mean he's weak, either; both Thorgrim and his guards will do massive damage to nearby opponents, like with most melee legendary lords.
• We ARE Struggling Together: He features in the Immortal Empires trailer objecting to the idea of Franz's proposed alliance, claiming it is an Elvish scheme. When Teclis's attempts to reason with him is not terribly wisely worded, Thorgrim's angry reaction kicks off an argument that nearly dissolves the alliance then and there.

Ungrim Ironfist

King Ungrim Ironfist, the Slayer King of Karak Kadrin

"Bring me victory! Bring me death!"

"At last! Enough of this lurking about, lads! It is time to arm ourselves! To act like Slayers, and bring death to the urks — and especially those sniveling grobi! I wish to cleanse myself in battle! Once I have cleaned myself of the subterfuge, then I will wear the honorable Cloak of Fyrskyr again! Now, my throng, raise the shield-walls! Bring the oathstones! Let us drive all before us! When the job is done, I will crack open a barrel of Bugman's and we will drink until none can stand! Are you with me, lads?"

Voiced by: Alastair Parker

There are few kinds of monsters that walk the world that Ungrim Ironfist has not slain in battle. Armed with the enormous Axe of Dargo, Ungrim deals death – carving a path of red ruin before him while singing songs of old in a booming voice. Atop his head is a bright orange crest that rises above a sturdy horned helmet set with a golden crown. For Ungrim is both a Slayer and a King, more than likely the last of the line of Slayer Kings of Karak Kadrin.

The tale of Ungrim’s family, the Drakebeard Clan, is full of woe, as those in the clan of royal blood bear a history of calamities. Many years ago King Baragor, Ungrim’s five times great grandsire, suffered a terrible loss which drove him to take the oath of the Slayers. What caused such a drastic decision was not recorded. It is commonly assumed that the cause was the death of his daughter at the claws of the Dragon Skaladrak while on her way to marry the son of the High King of Karaz-a-Karak. In any case, Baragor became the first Slayer of Karak Kadrin. He was torn between conflicting vows: the Slayer oath to seek out death and the oath of a king to protect his people. In the end, good Dwarf sense prevailed, and he found a way to honour all commitments. He founded the famed Slayer shrine of Karak Kadrin, the largest shrine to Grimnir. Thus, he established a haven for Slayers that continues to this day. His son inherited his vows and continued the line of the Slayer Kings, of which Ungrim Ironfist is but the latest.

Although Ungrim cannot seek his death in Slayer fashion, he grows ever more restless, leading the throng of Karak Kadrin into countless battles. Inspired by his High King and seeking to avenge his lone son who was slain, Ungrim will march to war with the least provocation. It was Ungrim who slew the Dragon of Black Peak and who broke Queek Headtaker’s siege of King Belegar’s citadel in Karak Eight Peaks. The Slayer King has beaten the Ogre mercenary Golfgang Maneater and held off a Chaos army in the Battle of High Pass. Most Dwarfs are amazed Ungrim has lived so long, and none think that a mighty death in battle can be very far away.

Debuting as a Legendary Lord in the service of the main Dwarfs faction in Total War: Warhammer, the "Resurgent" update for Total War: Warhammer II moves Ungrim to the now-playable subfaction of Karak Kadrin in the Mortal Empires unified campaign map.

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• All for Nothing: Ungrim slew countless monsters, fought in numerous battles, all in the hopes that he would encounter something powerful enough to kill him and release his son of his familial Slayer Oath... but then, his son died.
• Ascended Extra: He's always been playable, but in the first game he always played second fiddle to Thorgrim, who was not only the faction leader, but Thorgrim was chosen far more due to to Ungrim's questionable usefulness. Not only did the Resurgent Update give Ungrim his own proper niche, it also provided him with his very own subfaction.
• Animal Motifs: Dragons/drakes. Ungrim hails from the Drakebeard clan, wears a cape made from scaly dragon hide, and the Axe of Dargo features images of fire-breathing dragons embossed in gold. Unlike many examples, he's a killer of his motif.
• Ax-Crazy: A more heroic example than most certainly, but when it comes down to it, Ungrim abandons any pretense of thought when on the battlefield facing down monsters.
• Badass Cape: The Dragon Cloak of Fyrskyr, the skin of a dragon that was defeated at the Battle of the Broken Leg Gully, which also contains his skull. It was a gift from Thorgrim Grudgebearer.
• The Berserker: Ungrim's fighting style is essentially mad axe strikes and crazy spins to bring down his prey, like most slayers. He even has a powerful ability that lets him give in to his blood lust, giving him massive attack bonuses, aptly named "Red Ruin".
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Sports an impressive pair of eyebrows that are bushy enough to extend over the brim of his crown.
• Blood Knight: Really enjoys a good scrap like any Dwarf, but he's this even moreso as any good Slayer.
• Conflicting Loyalties: Due to his position as the Slayer King, which is a contradiction Played for Drama. He is torn between his kingly oath of leading his people to prosperity, and his conflicting oath as a slayer to die in battle to make up for his bloodline's shame.
• Cool Crown: The horned Slayer Crown, which is open at the top to allow room for Ungrim's huge Slayer mohawk. Fittingly, it's been worn by the entire line of Slayer Kings.
• Death Seeker: Like all Dwarf Slayers, Ungrim is sworn to seek his death in battle against a Worthy Opponent — and he isn't allowed to throw the fight, either. What complicates matters is his duty to his homeland, and his bloodline.
• Determinator: Like all Dwarf Slayers, Ungrim is immune to morale. His leadership cannot be reduced by anything and he'll never flee from battle; he'll keep fighting until he's dead.
  • His ultimate skill, "Determined Deathblow", gives Ungrim truly insane buffs when he's half dead, essentially showing the closer he is to death, the harder Ungrim fights. If one is a gambling sort, one can take "Extremely Daring Deathblow", which doubles the previous bonuses, causes him to No-Sell attacks with a large thirty percent reduction to all damage, the catch being it only activates when Ungrim is at less than 20 percent health.
• Fiery Redhead: Like many other Slayers his hair is red, which just reflects his angry personality.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: In the first game, Ungrim is part of the main Dwarfs faction and based in Karaz-a-Karak, while his actual kingdom of Karak Kadrin is a foreign power that doesn't even like him very much. Averted by the "Resurgent" update in II, which promotes Karak Kadrin to playable and makes Ungrim its leader in the Mortal Empires campaign.
  • To a lesser extent, there's also the nature of his slayer oath, which requires him to try and die in battle. The problem is, as a Legendary Lord, Ungrim automatically starts with the Immortality skill, which makes it so that he can't die in battle no matter what, since if he's ever reduced to zero HP in a battle, he'll instead be wounded and come back after a few turns. The only way for him to die is if his entire faction is wiped out without him being confederated by anouther Dwarf faction.
• Hot-Blooded: Ungrim is noted to be incredibly aggressive, and foul tempered, even for a Dwarf.
• Hunter of Monsters: As a Slayer it's basically in his job description, and he has a considerable bonus against them with him being classified as anti-large, making him a suitable lord to target large beasts with, alongside a hefty armour piercing value.
• Last of His Kind: Downplayed example; Ungrim's son Garagrim has already pre-deceased him and his oath prevents him from remarrying, which means the end of his royal line. The many cadet lines of the Drakebeard Clan are said to be grooming their heirs for the day he dies.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The introduction displayed on the loading screen when starting Ungrim's campaign in Mortal Empires contains a few references to changes made by the Resurgence Update.
  ''At last! Ungrim Ironfist returns to the Slayer Keep, and with him come Runesmiths willing to share rules of the runes. Let the forges fire, for a new era in Dwarfen artifice begins.
• Mighty Glacier: In contrast to other slayers, Ungrim's dual oath allows him to wear armour and means he's just as well-armoured as any other dwarfen lord. This also means that he's no faster than any other dwarfen lord, in contrast to normal slayers.
  • Inverted compared to the other Dwarf Legendary Lords. Ungrim provides his entire army with a speed bonus and has a variety of buffs for Slayer units, which means he's as much of a Fragile Speedster as a Dwarf possibly can be.
• Papa Wolf: His desire to die in battle is even more zealous than most Slayers because it would save his son's life as well (since it will absolve his son of his Slayer Oath).
• Promoted to Playable: He himself has always been playable since the first game, but his subfaction, Karak Kadrin was an NPC till the Warhammer II's Resurgent update.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Being both a Slayer, and the King of Karak Kadrin, he leads his people usually from the front lines, and away from his ancestral keep. Though it's also something of a Deconstruction, Ungrim is arguably too involved with his Hold's army and doesn't spend enough time sitting on his throne governing, because he's so desperate to die in battle. He's also very quick to approve dangerous decisions and can be a bit of a warmonger because it gives him more opportunities to head into battle.
• Unfortunate Names: The word "ungrim" means "untrustworthy" in Khazalid (literally "a dwarf who has failed to fulfill an oath"). It is a recurring regnal name used by the kings of Karak Kadrin, ever since the first slayer king Baragor took up the name to represent his inability to uphold the oaths of Kingship and Slayer at the same time.

Belegar Ironhammer

Belegar Ironhammer, True King of the Eight Peaks

"Let the grudge be settled — let vengeance begin!"

Voiced by: Nick Fletcher

"Yes, my kin, today is a great day! Today we kill urks! Today is vengeance! Even now a throng from Karak Azul approaches the green-filth from the rear. We are honoured to dreng the urks from the front. Let them face our might! Let them see what Dawi of the Angrund Clan are made of!"

Ancestral heir of Karak Eight Peaks, King Belegar has a terrible and glorious destiny to fulfill. He has sworn an oath to reclaim the fallen Dwarf Hold from the Greenskin usurpers, despite the mountainous odds he faces.

Karak Eight Peaks represents more than Belegar’s birthright, however. In terms of prestige and wealth it is second only to Karaz-a-Karak itself, and if Belegar can reclaim it in the name of Clan Angrund, he will gain access to the ancestral tombs and the rich trove of ancient and powerful rune-weapons which lies within...

Belegar Ironhammer is a Legendary Lord available to those who purchase The King and the Warlord DLC. Belegar also leads his own unique, playable, sub-faction, Clan Angrund.

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• Ancestral Weapon: The Hammer of Angrund has been carried by the ruler of Karak Eight Peaks since the Angrund Clan first claimed kingship.
• Arch-Enemy: The cunning Goblin Warboss Skarsnik and the bloodthirsty Skaven Warlord Queek Headtaker, both of whom Belegar has fought with for control of Karak Eight Peaks for many years. The DLC Lord Pack The King & the Warlord for the first game pitted Belegar and Skarsnik against each other, and in Mortal Empires and Immortal Empires, all three have campaign goals and victory conditions that include taking Karak Eight Peaks and wiping the other two's factions out.
• Cool Old Guy: Seemingly quite old, with his white beard and all. Doesn't stop him from kicking major ass.
• Determinator: In typical dwarfen fashion Belegar will stop at nothing to reclaim his hold and restore his clan to glory, even if it means gambling the lives of himself and all his followers.
• Disc-One Nuke: Belegar begins the game with four extremely powerful heroes that represent the spirits of his ancestors. All four are all but immune to non-magical damage, unbreakable, No-Sell hero actions (so they can only ever be defeated in battle) and have the Immortality trait on top of it. Once you start encountering enemies with magical damage their invulnerability ends quickly (they only have two thirds of the health a normal Dwarf hero has, their entire tankiness resides in their innate resistance to nonmagical attacks), but in the early game they are capable of soloing entire regiments with no problems at all and will usually be a linchpin in the reconquest of the Eight Peaks.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The gist of his faction's campaign — Belegar must rebuild his clan, defeat the goblin warlord Skarsnik, and reclaim his hold of Karak Eight-Peaks, which is located smack dab in the heart of Grimgor Ironhide's territory. Then he needs to join forces with the High King and participate in the normal campaign sequence, which involves defeating Grimgor and destroying every Greenskin faction on the map and uniting every major dwarfhold on the map, before facing Archaon the Everchosen and the hordes of Chaos.
• Expy: Arguably to Thorin Oakenshield, an aged Dwarf seeking to reclaim the ancestral home that was stolen from him.
• Fantastic Racism: Hates Greenskins so much for defiling his ancestral halls that he has a special ability called "Orcsbane", which grants his entire army heavy leadership buffs, all united in their hatred of grobi filth.
• Government in Exile: He still holds the title "King of Eight Peaks" despite that hold having fallen to the Greenskin hordes long ago. As of now, he rules from loyal Hold Karak Izor.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Inverted. Belegar is never seen without his face-concealing helmet, with only his grey beard visible. This effectively makes him The Faceless, although his eyes can be seen.
• Impoverished Patrician: Despite being Eight Peaks royalty, Belegar has a severe lack of gold, which manifests itself as a whopping fifty percent increase in upkeep to all units until he retakes Eight Peaks, since the Dwarfs don't respect him enough to not charge extra for their services.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Shield of Defiance, which has saved Belegar's life many times, being able to ward off Giant’s blows, Troll vomit, and even allowed him to twice escape from inside the maw of Skarsnik’s enormous pet Cave Squig, Gobbla.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Begins the game accompanied by the spirits of his ancestors, who are represented by a quartet of Hero units (two Thanes, a Master Engineer and a Runesmith) with the Ethereal trait.
• The Power of Hate: As his quote suggests, Belegar is seething with such hatred, he can summon the spirits of his ancestors to assist him in his quest, a feat that no other Dwarf has done. His hatred is so strong he can use it to make himself briefly unbreakable.
• Power Glows: Belegar's armor is decorated with magical dwarfish runes, which all glow yellow.
• Rightful King Returns: As the heir to the Ironhammer clan, his goal is to liberate his ancestral dwarfhold of Karak Eight-Peaks, which is currently controlled by the Night Goblins and infested with a Skaven undercity.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: A running theme for the Dwarfs. He personally leads the expedition to reclaim his ancestral home.
• Timed Mission: His campaign essentially starts out with one of these, as his conquest of the Eight Peaks is a grudge. If not conquered within fifty turns or so, the growing grudge counter can quickly render his position untenable due to the public order tanking and bringing endless rebellions.
• Tunnel King: The Dwarf rework has turned Belegar into a master of underground warfare, with most of his skill tree dedicated to making battles underground far easier for him, alongside buffing Dwarf miners by giving them 200 percent more ammunition (which isn't as much as it sounds, as each unit only carries a handful of satchel charges.).

Grombrindal

Grombrindal, the White Dwarf

"I promised Grimnir there'd be a mighty tally, and I ain't one for breaking such an oath!"

"Wazzock! You slime-worshippin' ungi filth-merchant! Get your arse and that pet reptile over here! I would have words with your little beast face-to-face, so I may lop off its claw and reclaim what is mine! Those scales are from my armour and no thief steals from the White Dwarf and lives! You and your followers will die — that is my oath, as my kin, Grimnir, is witness!"

Grombrindal, the White Dwarf himself, is a hero from the time of legends. Rumors abound as to his true identity. Some say he is the living incarnation of the ancient High King Snorri Whitebeard himself; others that he was betrothed to the goddess Valaya, protector and bestower of magical resistance. Either way, he is a powerful living symbol of hope and pride for the Dwarfs and, in times of dire need, he may appear in the flesh to help the Dawi through their tribulations.

Grombrindal is a free Legendary Lord who became available in January 19th 2017, but could be acquired early through the use of a Steam code provided by Games Workshop at their hobby stores and in the November 2016 issue of White Dwarf Magazine. He did not possess his own faction for the first two games instead being part of the Karaz-a-Karak subfaction, until game III's Immortal Empires gave him "The Ancestral Throng" to lead.

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• Awesome, but Impractical: Grombrindal's blue skills buff your entire faction instead of Grombrindal only, making him a potent force multiplier on the campaign map. However, filling up his blue line will require 15 skill points, which is half his levels going entirely to this bonus and making him personally weaker as a result.
• Back from the Dead: Heavily implied to be Snorri Whitebeard's phantom brought back to the Mortal Plane to wreak his vengeance.
• Badass Boast: His first Quest Battle against a Chaos Lord with a Chaos Dragon opens up with him brazenly insulting his foe and vowing to strike down the Chaos Lord and make armor from his dragon's hide.
• Badass Cape: The Cloak of Valaya, a gift from the dwarfish goddess of healing and protection that increases Grombindal's magic resistance and reduces local corruption.
• Blinded by the Light: Grombrindal can learn the ability "Flash Bomb", in which he detonates a crude flashbang at his feet to heavily reduce the melee defense of nearby enemies and slow their movement speed by 76%.
• The Cavalry: Due to his famous habit of coming to the rescue of Dwarfs losing a fight, Grombrindal's army possesses a 50% larger reinforcement range than the average, allowing the White Dwarf to join allied armies in battle from further away.
• Determinator: Via the "Grombrindal Has No Fear" ability, which grants the "Unbreakable" trait to himself and his entire army for 33 seconds. The fact he refused to stay dead after the Witch King broke his vow, is just a testament to his willpower.
• Elves Versus Dwarves: In Mortal Empires, his army gets a hefty bonus to leadership when fighting any Elven faction. It's a not so subtle reference to his true identity of Snorri Whitebeard, and how an Elf betrayed him in the worst way possible. It's rather ironic, as Snorri initially heavily Inverted this, when he reigned the Elves and the Dwarfs had maybe the only completely friendly alliance between any two cultures in Warhammer's entire history. Malekith and Snorri were also extremely close friends as well.
• Foil: To Alith Anar of the High Elves. Both were very close to Malekith (Alith was his blood relative, Snorri Whitebeard was his best friend), and both cheated death to have their vengeance on him. They're both mysterious wandering warriors that are motivated as much by revenge as by their desire to protect their people. The biggest difference is that Grombrindal appears among armies to aid in their defense, while Alith Anar leads his own personal army into Naggaroth to take the fight to his foes. Also, Alith is a Stealth Expert while Grombrindal, tendency to suddenly pop up all over the place not withstanding, is anything but.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: One of his quest rewards is the Rune Helm of Zhufbar, which grants leadership bonuses to nearby half-health units, but Grombrindal doesn't wear it — instead, it remains attached to his backpack.
• Hope Bringer: Grombrindal has inspired countless victories from near defeats, his very presence inspires the Dwarfs to fight on.
• Manly Facial Hair: True In-Universe. Grombrindal has a skill called 'Mighty Beard of Defence', which buffs your entire army with morale and melee defence bonuses in defensive battles. This bonus is based entirely on how his army sees the magnificence of his beard and moustache.
• No Indoor Voice: Nearly all of his quest battle speeches have him sounding like an even angrier version of Gimli.
• Multiple-Choice Past: Used as a gameplay mechanic — Grombrindal can periodically choose which version of his legend he wants to embody, and each one gives him different benefits.
  • Kin of Grimnir boosts the combat ability of all melee and ranged infantry within Grombindal's army.
  • Apprentice of Grungni improves the research rate and reduces construction, recruitment and upkeep costs for the entire region that he's in.
  • Paramor of Valaya reduces enemy magic reserves, calms public order, tames corruption and increases replenishment rates.
  • The White Dwarf buffs Grombindal's combat stats.
• Mythology Gag: The White Dwarf is the namesake and mascot of Games Workshop's monthly magazine, and in fact one of the ways to unlock Grombrindal early was through a code found in White Dwarf's November 2016 issue.
• Mysterious Protector: To the entire Dwarfen race. In their Darkest Hour, Grombrindal has shown up time and time again to rend the foes of the Dawi.
• Religious Bruiser: More so than most other lords since all but one of his quest battles involves making an oath to one of his gods in one way or the other.
• Red Baron: The White Dwarf.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He returns from the dead after Malekith broke the promise made to him on his deathbed. In Immortal Empires, he starts off in Naggaroth, heralding the inevitable confrontation between him and his former Elven friend. The elimination of Naggarond is in fact one of Grombrindal's victory objectives.
• Screaming Warrior: His default expression, is one of rage, and hatred, and he's always shouting battle cries.
• Shrouded in Myth: No-one among the long-lived Dwarf race truly knows who this guy is, and several theories peg him as being tied to the supernatural. Perhaps the most popular theory is that he is actually the ancient Dwarfen High King Snorri Whitebeard. Snorri was famed for the friendship he shared with the infamous Dark Elven king Malekith before the latter fell to evil. It is theorized that Malekith's betrayal of the Dwarfen people by instigating the War of Vengeance was enough to rouse Snorri from the grave.
• Sir Swears Alot: His defining trait. In practically every Quest Battle, Grombrindal drops at least a dozen Dwarfen swear words.

Thorek Ironbrow

Thorek Ironbrow, Master Runelord of Karak Azul

"Wrath and Ruin!"

Thorek Ironbrow is a Runelord of the old school. Constant warfare has seen much of the art of the runes lost as holds have fallen to the Greenskins and other enemies. Thorek, however, is as skilled as any Runelord alive today and many would say as any Runelord ever. He has ruled over the weapon shops of Karak Azul for centuries and is a living terror to his apprentices and journeymen who dread his scorn almost as much as they admire his skill and wisdom. Even the sons of kings dare not enter the workshops without Thorek's approval, and many a young would-be Runesmith has found himself back working in the mines for not meeting Thorek's exacting, traditional standards.

In the best of his moods, he is fiercely irate and a living terror to his apprentices in the weapons shops. A traditionalist in every sense, Thorek cannot abide new technology, and takes every opportunity to speak his mind on "new inventions". Fortunately, he lends not just his councils, but also his strong arm to Thorgrim Grudgebearer. Like his High King, Thorek too longs to reclaim the Dwarf Empire of old, but he also has a personal quest — he seeks lost relics of the ancient days. For this reason, Thorek is extremely active and can be found aiding throngs from many different clans and holds.

Introduced as a free Legendary Lord for The Silence and The Fury DLC of Total War: Warhammer II, Thorek leads the subfaction known as Ironbrow's Expedition. In the Eye of the Vortex campaign, he starts out in Lustria's Southern Spine of Sotek region. In Mortal Empires, he begins his campaign in control of the isolated dwarfhold of Karak Zorn, in the Southern World's Edge Mountains, but has diplomatic contact with Karak Azul.

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• Ace Custom: Thorek's personal hammer Klad Brakak is inscribed with a new rune that he personally created that shatters armour and makes the sound of thunder when it strikes. The rune is unique to his weapon as he only created it a few centuries ago and is still in its testing phase. He wants to ensure that it meets Dwarfen standards of reliability before using it on anything else. His armour is also hand made, and can turn the club of a giant away.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: He seeks to find lost Dwarfen relics and in the campaign has led an expedition to do just that. His main quest involves finding key components and lost records that will allow him to reforge these relics of old. These include items that will provide his faction with buffs, as well as a collar that he uses to control a Feral Carnosaur.
• Beleaguered Assistant: The duties of Kraggi, Thorek's apprentice, mainly including taking the brunt of his master's bad tempers. He has been fired multiple times for petty mistakes. Thorek starts his campaign with Kraggi as a Follower.
• Berserk Button: Shoddy work. Any work less than perfect, no matter how good it is by most standards is, as Thorek says, a "waste of time". This gets to the point in where he often attacks his apprentices if they dare to present anything that doesn't measure to his standards, and after rescuing the Sotek Dwarfs, one of the options in the dilemma is for Thorek to fly into a rage at the sight of their foundries working in less than ideal conditions, insult the clan, and to take over as a result just to "get everything in working order" by his standards.
• The Blacksmith: Thorek is THE blacksmith of a race filled with them. He is arguably one of (if not the) best Runesmiths in Dwarfen history.
• Big Damn Heroes: His campaign starts as him doing this for the Spine of Sotek Dwarfs, a distant, long forgotten clan that's shocked to see their cousins from across the sea arrive, and begin to slaughter the Skaven that were assailing their kinsmen. Thorek gets a unique event in which he can confederate the Dwarf's, or leaving them alone, after slaying a few Skaven armies.
• Good Old Ways:
  • Even amongst Dwarfs, Thorek is a staunch traditionalist who cannot stand "new untested technology" such as gunpowder (which Dwarfs have had for over 2000 years), preferring the tried and true methods of old. He provides a huge buffs to Bolt Throwers, Grudge Throwers and Quarrellers, some of the cheaper (and less technology reliant) units in the roster. From one of his skills' description:
  Thorek: If it was good enough for our glorious Ancestors, it should be good enough for you.
  • His quest battle has him fight against Jorek Grimm, both because he and Jorek are after the same creature, but also because, despite having been expelled from the Engineer's Guild via the Trouser Legs ritual, Jorek is still trying to invent new things.
• Grumpy Old Man: Fits this to a tee, being arguably the grumpiest old man out of an entire species of grumpy old men. He is one of the oldest Runelords and one of the most skilled, and he staunchly believes that the ways of old were better.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He is usually irate and easily angered, but even the smallest of mistakes by his apprentices can see them expelled and sent back to the mines. This is represented in-game by his Fiery Temper trait, which makes him Cause Fear on nearby enemies.
• Magic Knight: Despite being the Dwarf's Legendary "caster", Thorek has insane armor values and can reliably be thrown into battle against dedicated melee heroes, and stomp them.
• Mighty Glacier: Whether on foot or on his Anvil of Doom, Thorek moves at a slow pace.
• Pet the Dog: Thorek may threaten other faction leaders (even Legendary ones) with an arse-kicking from Kraggi, showing he does respect his assistant at least a little bit.
• Support Party Member: While a very strong tank, his main role as a Legendary Runelord revolves primarily around using runes to buff other units in his army and debuff/damage the enemy. He can also provide a ton of unique bonuses and effects with his skills to buff low-tier Dwarf units with a variety of effects.
• Working-Class Hero: Thorek is the only Legendary Lord of the Dwarfs who is not a king. He serves King Kazador Thunderhorn of Karak Azul and often lends him his wise council.
• Ultimate Black Smith: Quite possibly the most skilled blacksmith in entire Warhammer world with only the Daemon-Smith Astragoth Ironhand of the Chaos Dwarfs contesting that claim. Only Daith, the avatar of the elven god of smithing himself, can claim to be better.

Malakai Makaisson

Malakai Makaisson, the Slayer Engineer

Malakai Makaisson was once one of the most brilliant minds that the Guild of Engineers has ever produced. Unfortunately, he was exiled from the Guild when his later creations were met with catastrophic failures: an ironclad ship he dubbed the Unsinkable sank on its first voyage at sea, while the Thunderbarge Undestructible somehow exploded. Each catastrophy had claimed many dwarf lives, and Malakai was burdened with such great shame that only by taking the Slayer Oath could he ever redeem himself. However, as a natural-born tinkerer Malakai continued to indugle in his obssession with machines, leading him to develop all sorts of contraptions like the Goblin-Hewer, even as his Oath obligated him to seek out a worthy death in battle. This obssession eventually led to madness, and thus Malakai was shunned by most of his kin, leaving him no choice but to wander the Old World together with other pariahs.

His (mis)adventures have taken Malakai to all sorts of interesting places, such as the Imperial Gunnery School at Nuln where he served as an instructor and the lost hold of Karag Dum where he, Gotrek, and Felix took part in an expedition to retrieve precious artifacts from there. Whatever fate lies in store for him, Malakai only hopes that one day his creations will be recognized by the dwarfs and that his death will return honor to his family name. Until then, the vaunted Slayer Engineer will continue his exploits, facing imminent doom with his inventions, an axe or a gun on hand, and a madman's smirk under his beard.

Introduced in the Thrones of Decay expansion for Total War: Warhammer III, Malakai leads the subfaction "Masters of Innovation".

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• Bungling Inventor: His last few inventions failed spectacularly, taking more than a few dwarfen crewmembers with them. The losses are why he's a Slayer now.
• Captain Crash: His flying contraptions tend to make a disastrous landing, which led him to take the Slayer oath after one incident caused the death of several dwarfen engineers.
• The Engineer: The Slayer Engineer to be exact.
• Genius Bruiser: He's a skilled warrior and also an excellent engineer, capable of creating things like armored dirgibles.
• Mad Scientist: Nowhere near "Skaven" level of crazy, but Malakai is infamous for field testing his invention long before any normal dwarf engineer (or even some human ones) would consider such a thing. The reason he took the Slayer oath in the first place is that one of his reckless inventions accidentally took the life of some dwarfs.
• Tempting Fate: His naming preferences seem to tempt fate at every turn. His previous inventions included a steam-ship called the Unsinkable, which sank with all hands apart from Makaisson himself, and an earlier airship called the Undestructible, the explosion of which only he survived. In fact, he had wanted to name the Spirit of Grungni the Unstoppable, but was overruled on that for reasons that elude him...

Legendary Heroes

Garagrim Ironfist

Garagrim Ironfist, War-mourner of the Slayer Keep

The son of King Ungrim Ironfist of Karak Kadrin, Garagrim has taken up the Slayer Oath like his father as is the tradition of their clan. However, Garagrim has also taken the title of "War-mourner", an ancient rank that obligates him to assume his father's vow as his own: if Garagrim fulfills his father's Slayer Oath, then the next generations of their clan will no longer have to take it up. And so, Garagrim has renounced his royal duties to live amongst the Slayers in the Shrine of Grimnir, eagerly awaiting the day that he will finally meet a worthy foe who will bring about his doom.

• Death Seeker: Unlike most Slayers, it wasn't actually a personal shame that made him take the oath.
• Godiva Hair: A male example. Garagrim would go into battle wearing nothing, and his beard obscures pretty much everything below the waist.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Taking the Slayer Oath is essentially suicide, but Garagrim was willing to do it if it meant his father Ungrim didn't have to.
• Papa Wolf: Inverted. Garagrim was willing to die to save his father's life.
• Saved by Canon: Garagrim died during the Storm of Chaos event when a Chaos Giant he killed fell on top of him... but the Storm of Chaos event was later retconned, bringing Garagrim back to life.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: An extremely painful two-for-one version. Garagrim's quest was to die in battle so his father wouldn't have to. Ungrim's quest was to die in battle so his son wouldn't have to. Garagrim dies... but the grief causes Ungrim to reaffirm his Slayer oath, making Garagrim's death All for Nothing.
• Warrior Prince: The son of Ungrim the Slayer King and a fearsome warrior in his own right.

Others

Kazador

King Kazador Thunderhorn Dragonslayer, King of Karak Azul

King Kazador is the legendary King of Karak Azul ("Iron Peak" in Khazalid), a magnificent and ancient Dwarf Hold that is situated with the southern lands of the Worlds Edge Mountains. Kazador is a massive Dwarf, and incredibly strong even by the extraordinary standards of Dwarf kings. He is said to have once lifted a fully-laden ore pony which had stumbled and become trapped in a crevasse. In his younger days he would cheerfully repeat the performance when challenged. It is said that he could (and frequently did) out drink all the Dwarfs in his kingdom. His younger days were full of feasting and fighting, bawdy songs and raucous humour, and, of course, battles. Lots of battles, so much so that eventually the Greenskin tribes have all but avoided the territory of King Kazador whenever they possibly can due to his legendary reputation as a skilled general and warrior.

Kazador is not playable as a legendary lord but has been the leader of the Karak Azul faction since the first game. With the introduction of Thorek Ironbrow, Kazador is the one responsible for giving Thorek royal decrees and missions to guide his expedition. In Mortal Empires he can be confederated by Thorek early on by completing a quest.

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• Arch-Enemy: King Kazador has sworn a Grudge against Gorfang Rotgut, lord of Black Crag, for raiding his territory, kidnapping many of his kinsmen and shaving his son, and has promised half his treasury to any dwarf that can rescue his kinsmen and bring back Gorfang's head.
• Boisterous Bruiser: He was this in his youth, until Gorfang's raid made him permanently somber and angry at the loss of his people.
• The Dragonslayer: It's his title, meaning he's killed at least one dragon.
• Hunter of Monsters: He used to hunt Greenskins for sport. Ever since his son was shaved he's become more serious about it and instead leads his army out in person to cleanse greenskins from the surrounding mountains.
• Large and in Charge: Noted by the lore to be gigantic by dwarf standards, to the degree that he stands almost as tall as a human and can pick up and hold a goblin in a single hand.
• Mauve Shirt: Kazador looks like a generic dwarf lord on the map, but has a unique trait called "Thunderhorn" that grants him the Fear special rule and bonuses when fighting Greenskins and Skaven, and is immortal as long as Karak Azul remains active as a faction.
• The Magnificent: Known both as "Dragonslayer" and "Thunderhorn" for the ancestral horn he carries.
• Mission Control: For Thorek both in the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns.
• Supporting Leader: He is Thorek's superior, but will be Confederated into Thorek's faction and not vice versa with Thorek remaining the effective leader of the faction.

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