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| “ | The Valkyries, the Servants of the Gods, are always seeking the souls of valiant warriors. Warriors worthy of being Einherjar. Only those who lived in battle, and died in battle... are permitted to cross Bifrost and dwell in that great hall in Asgard. The Question is, how you fought, and how you died. The stronger your enemies, the better. | „ |
| ~ Thorkell's view on warfare and battle. |
Thorkell is the secondary antagonist of the War Arc from the anime and manga series, Vinland Saga. A famous Jomsviking commander since his younger days, Thorkell made his first appearance at the Battle of London Bridge where he switched sides to the English as he found the fight against them to be utterly boring and decided to lend them his strength in fending off his Vikings kinsmen. Later during the Eastern Expedition Arc, he becomes a major character. He is based on the real life viking of the same nickname.
He is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in Japanese and Joe Daniels (Sentai) and Patrick Seitz (VSI) in English.
Personality[]
| “ | ''Yeah, I get ya. So it was just a misunderstanding. When it comes to beer, saxon beer is great. I personally love'em. There's nothing quite like enjoying some saxon beer at night, so imagine you went without beer for the whole day to make it even better. But when you get back home, you realize you're completely out of beer. At that point, you'd be dying to drink any booze, know what I mean? So can you now understand? Because that's how I feel right now. I don't give two shits about the reason or whether it was a misunderstanding. I. JUST. WANNA. FIGHT.'' | „ |
A jolly, fun-loving man, in and out of combat, Thorkell is almost always laughing and smiling. When deprived of combat for too long, he becomes far gloomier and more irritable. He isn't necessarily cruel, nor seems to enjoy inflicting pain, especially on weaker opponents or civilians. He only wants to fight against Vikings and soldiers, basically people who can protect themselves. When he encounters a enemy who has no weapon, Thorkell would even give the said enemy a weapon to give them a chance to go Valhalla instead of just outright killing them. Whereas Askeladd's followers were fine with raping women and killing civilians, Thorkell's band are never seen doing the same. Instead, just enjoying the various privileges offered for their efforts in the conflict. Although, he has no qualms about ordering his men to kill Askeladd's company, despite them selling him out to Thorkell's band, although that has more to do with the fact that Thorkell hates cowardice.
| “ | Shit...Insane giant, bastard... | „ |
| ~ Thorfinn about Thorkell. |
Thorkell loves the thrill of combat and greatly enjoys fighting, claiming that he hates to be stopped in the middle of a fight worse than retreating. He loves battle and war so much to the point that, when Canute (Now King) united England, brought peace to the country and promoted him to the rank of earl, he would go around raiding the homes of the people under his earldom, barging in with his weapons whenever he hears a fight to 'join in' out of extreme boredom. He even passed out after Canute ordered the disbanding of the troops (which implies that Thorkell will not be required to fight under Canute anymore), with his underlings exclaiming that their leader will die if he gets any more peace. Thorkell rarely cares about the outcome of a battle or the decisions his opponents made in battle, as seen when he slaughtered the members of Askeladd's crew even after they surrendered. He also does not care about his affiliations except to those of his own men and is quick to switch alliances and betray former allies as long as he gets to fight the most fun battle, depending on which side is weaker. He also does not care about his status in society, and only truly cares about fights and battles.
Whenever Thorkell meets a powerful opponent in his battles (most notably his grandnephew Thorfinn), he prefers to fight said opponent alone in a one-on-one death battle rather than ordering his men to surround and attack. He will also acknowledge any warrior that is strong enough to survive an encounter with him and will not permit his men to insult the challenger in any way, this can be seen when he killed one of his men for laughing at Thorfinn. He also does not like his men interfering or helping him in any of his duels, or as he puts it, sullying his honor. However, he is willing to admit defeat when having been given a good fight, which hints at that he is simply a man who enjoys a good fight rather than just a man with a 'fight-to-win' mindset. His battle-maniac personality aside, Thorkell is also slightly doubtful of the path he had chosen in life and constantly wonders the meaning of a true warrior. He claimed to not understand the words uttered by his late best friend and nephew-in-law Thors to him, as well as Thors' strange gaze that, as Thorkell described, 'is looking at a place far away'. He often wonders that perhaps he should have followed Thors and left the Jomsvikings that day to find out what a true warrior looks like, and he eagerly waits for Thorfinn, who lived with Thors after he left the Jomsvikings, to tell him the answer. He was disappointed when Thorfinn was unable to answer and claimed that young Thorfinn 'wasted his time spent with Thors'. After Thorfinn decided to leave violence behind him, however, Thorkell was satisfied upon seeing that he 'had the same eyes as Thors', though he still did not find out the answer to the meaning of a 'true warrior'. Though constantly plagued by this question, Thorkell does not let it get in the way of his battle-hungry attitude towards everything.
Biography[]
Born as a Viking, Thorkell was an already Jomsviking commander since his youth. During this period of his life, he met and befriend a man named Thors Snorresson whom he grew to view and appreciate as much as his own flesh and blood brother. They fought in many wars and battles together with their bond growing stronger.
External Links[]
- Thorkell on the Vinland Saga Wiki
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 Villains
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Jomsvikings Askeladd's Band of Vikings Ketil's Farm Lnu Others | ||