Characters / Expeditions: Viking

Norsemen

The Thegn of Skjern

The Thegn of Skjern

"My father always taught me that the best defense is an unexpected attack."

The main protagonist of the saga. A Norse noble with various attributes, skills, and a family background largely tailored to the choosing of the player. The Thegn of Skjern is the heir of a mighty warrior and chieftain of a small, impoverished Danish tribe dwelling in western Juteland. When their tribe's autonomy is threatened by the machinations of rival lords, they must undertake voyages to raid and plunder the British Isles to gather the means to protect their people from their enemies.

• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: You'll be the masculine girl if female, with Rurik being seen as the feminine boy, which is why you're the one who becomes thegn.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: You're the manly man (if a man) compared to your older brother Rurik.
• Youngest Child Wins: They became thegn instead of their older brother Rurik. Granted, he seems to rank poorly among Norse sensibilities compared to you.

Recruitable

Ketill Kolbjarnason

The protagonist's childhood friend, and, along with Nefja, one of the mandatory characters of every game. He is a hunter by profession, and therefore a very strong archer. He is peaceful, cautious, and skeptical in character. His personal quest reveals that he is actually a pict, and was abducted by Norsemen with his sister when he was five. His sister was later killed by accident by his foster father Kolbjørn.

• Childhood Friend Romance: Can romance, and eventually marry the PC.

• Dark and Troubled Past: Is actually a pict who was abducted by Norsemen in his youth.
• Not Blood Siblings: The adoptive son of the PC's father, he's also a romance option.
• Tragic Keepsake: His sister Sefa was killed in an accident when he was five, and her necklace is his only memory of her. It is used to discover his own past.

Nefja Holmunsdottir

The protagonist's other childhood friend, and another mandatory hirdman. She is a warrior, and her class is a rogue, her weapon being a very long spear that can attack from a distance. She is aggressive, adventurous, and independent in character. She has a sickly twin sister called Eyfura, whom she cares deeply about. Her personal quest consists of finding a cure for the disease her sister has been struck with, and is split in two: one half in Denmark, and one half in Britain.

• Cool Big Sis: They are technically twins, but she definitely takes this role with her sister Eyfura.
• Hot-Blooded: She is notably aggressive and eager for fighting, and will lose morale if the player picks a peaceful non-combat approach.

Asleifr Grimvardsson

The player character's distant cousin. He is openly critical of their father, and challenges the player to a duel for leadership of the clan, making him the first antagonist of the game. If defeated, he can either be killed, exiled, or offered to serve as a hirdmen, in which case he will join for the rest of the expedition. He is aggressive, cautious, and fiercely proud in character. He is a defender, and uses a sword and shield by default.

• The Big Guy: Not as much as Gunnar, but his strength is his main asset in combat.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Makes sense in context, since he genuinely believes that the winner of the duel deserves to lead Skjern.
• Kissing Cousins: A female PC has a romance option with him, even if this trope is openly acknowledged.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Is obnoxious and aggressive, and openly critical of the player's father. He also challenges them to a duel, but ultimately he cares more for his hometown than for power, and will loyally serve the PC if he loses.

• Optional Party Member: You fight a duel with him. And so, instead of being one of your hirdmen, you could instead have killed or exiled him after your duel with him.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Openly believes in the warlike nature of the Vikings, only supports a mission to Britain for the sake of conquest, and considers a brutal fight the best way to settle disputes.

Gunnar the Peaceful

A giant Norwegian Viking who early in the game leads a raid sent by Skule Skullcleaver to Skjern. If he is defeated, he can be killed, set free, or invited to join as a hirdman, similarly to Asleifr. He is the only character in the game to have his own class, as an ulfheddin, which is a special berserker who wears a wolf skin instead of a bear skin. His default weapon is dual wielded axes.

• The Big Guy: Is physically a giant.

• Defeat Means Friendship: His loyalty is unquestionable after being turned, with him openly attacking his former allies when encountering them in Ribe by chance.
• Heel–Face Turn: Starts out working for Skule, but will serve the player loyally if defeated.
• Ironic Nickname: "The Peaceful" for a guy that is anything but. That being said, he does make sure that his men don't harm the player's mother or brother when he raids Skjern.
• Large Ham: The largest in the game, with him yelling all his lines during combat, and sometimes his subtitles will be in all caps.
• Manly Facial Hair: The manliest among many beards in the game, with an awesome descrition to match
  "It was as if a bear had crawled onto his chin and died."
• Optional Party Member: Defeating him puts him at your mercy and it's honestly rather logical at first glance to just kill the large man who tried to raid your homestead rather than release or have him join you which you can also do.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Like Asleifr, he openly loves the warlike Viking nature.

Røskva the Black

The apprentice to the wise woman of Skjern, Hulda Crowtalker, who offers to join the players expedition, and acts as Hulda's assistant and medium to the player. She is a healer, and therefore the players default healer character from early on. Her weapons are a sling and a knife, though she is primarily a support character in combat.

• Combat Medic: Her main purpose is being a healer, but she can be a pretty competent fighter in her own right.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Serves this role to Hulda, who is increasingly senile.
• Hot Witch: She is often described as a witch, due to serving under Hulda and being good with natural remedies. She is also hot enough to be romancable by the PC.

• Parental Abandonment: She was left in the woods by her parents, and was then taken in by Hulda.

Eydis Alfriksdottir

An middle-aged female woodcutter from Skjern. She joins the party because of her knowledge of a hidden treasure on Funen that can help fund the expedition. She can also potentially join for the expedition to England. She is a defender, and uses an an axe and a shield by default.

• Brawn Hilda: She is built like a stack of pancakes, and is a very competent defender.
• Mama Bear: She is fiercely protective of her sons.
• Team Chef: Several characters comment on Eydis' cooking ability, and there is even one voiced exchange between several characters when they ask Eydis how her stew is so delicious. The player can invoke this if they assign Eydis to cook during camping, otherwise it becomes an Informed Ability.

Morcant

An Anglo-Saxon monk who can join the hird after the player arrives at Scarborough. He can join the expedition willingly, seeking to learn about the player and chronicle their Norse culture and religion during their travels, or be forcibly recruited against his will, depending on the player's actions in Scarborough. He uses a sling by default, and is primarily a support character.

• Combat Medic: Like Røskva, he is mainly a healer, but he can also fight pretty well.
• Cunning Linguist: Morcant helps translate for the player, both when it comes to language and when it comes to explaining the local cultural and political context. It should be noted that he doesn't actually know Norse, but both him and the player have some - but not full - fluency in the Saxon language which they use to communicate (though this is never mentioned again after the first meeting, nor does Morcant speak any differently than any other hird member).
• Locked Away in a Monastery: When asked about his backstory, Morcant mentions that he was the only son of a nobleman who was killed for supporting the wrong king. His mother made him join a monastery to protect him.

• Optional Party Member: He meets you at Scarborough, which you can then try to raid. Needlessly to say, this could quite possibly rob him of his life.
• The Smart Guy: Serves as a linguistic and cultural translator for your hird, is a capable healer in combat, and starts off with several levels of the tinkering skill, meaning he can craft various items such as fire pots and tripwires that can be used in combat.

Non Player Characters

Skule Skullcleaver

The thegn of Jelling, and the primary antagonist of the game. He claims the player is incapable of defending Skjern in case of a Frankish invasion, and intends to make the king hand Skjern to him at the next Althing. The driving force of the plot is the players effort to gain power anf prosperity for Skjern through campaigns in Britain, in order to become powerful enough that Skules attempt to control Skjern will be denied. If the player succeeds, Skule will instead attack Skjern at become the Final Boss of the game.

• Anti-Climax Boss: He is a surprisingly weak character in combat, compared to several other plot important characters, like Grainne, Leofric, Hrodgerda and Skakki, and goes down through one or two hits.

• Big Bad: His antagonism to the player is the main driving force of the plot.
• Evil Is Petty: Losing the feud with the player turns him into a rather sore loser, and causes him to attack Skjern outright to seize the town instead.

• Villain with Good Publicity: Is a highly regarded thegn, and also invited to the player's father's funeral.
• Visionary Villain: Claims that he is not after Skjern for power, but in order to be better able to defend Denmark from a Frankish invasion.

Hrodgerda

One of the leading archers of Skule, she is a fiendishly powerful archer, who is leading the faction of Skule assisting Osred II against the players ally Aethelred in Northumbria.

• Co-Dragons: With Skakki. It is never clear who of them is in charge.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She turns up early on after a fight in Skjern in the prologue to assess the player, but her overall importance only becomes apparent later.

• My Master, Right or Wrong: While she definetely doesn't mind being evil, she states near the end that she does onlt what her master commands.

Skakki

Another of Skules berserkers, first encountered in Ribe, who later leads Skules forces in Pictland, helping Connel Mac Thaigh against the players ally, Caustantin.

• The Berserker: He is quite similar to Gunnar the Peaceful, so similar that Gunnar at one point claims to be Skakki to sneak past som Pict guards.

• Early-Bird Cameo: Like Hrodgerda, he appears shortly in Denmark before becoming significant in Britain.
• Made of Iron: He is insanely powerful, so much that in an early version of the game, a glitch existed, meaning he gained health form enemy attacks with a power up, making him indestructible.

Astrid Ingvarsdottir

The players widowed mother, who early on aids him/her in his/her leadership of thegn.

• Despair Event Horizon: She understandably suffers this when she realizes her oldest son has turned against his clan.

Rurik

The player's older brother, who lacks the same skills as the player, and is happy to leave Skjern in the control of his more capable younger sibling. In the end, he is convinced to join Skule and claim his birthright as thegn of Skjern, and the player deals with him accordingly.

• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Even during his betrayal, he never really becomes a threat to the player and the player never fights him- he seems to be way out of his league and completely controlled by Skule.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The sensitive guy to the player's manly man, regardless of the player's character actual personality they choose to display (because, well, you're still the one going out trying to secure their clan's future).

Ragnhild the White

The thegn of Ribe, and one of the most powerful women in Denmark. She helps the player hire a hird for her ship, and if the player is powerful enough, aids them in their final attack on Britain near the end.

• Reasonable Authority Figure: She is reasonable in most of her dealings, but powerless to aid the player against Skule Skullcleaver.

Steinn the Clever

The viking chief of the Orkney islands, whom the player has to deal with to take over the Orkney islands.

• The Chains of Commanding: He is largely happy to be relieved of command of the islands, which is considers a burden more than anything else.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Joins the player willingly if he loses, though there are other ways to persuade him.