The valkyries, agents of the gods, ever seek the souls of great warriors. Heroes worthy of being called Einherjar. Only those will live true in battle and die true in battle, will be allowed to cross Bifrost and dwell within Valhalla in Asgard. How did you fight and how did you die? That's what matters. The stronger the foe, the better.[3]
Thorkell (トルケル Torukeru?), also known as Thorkell the Tall, is a former Jomsviking commander, and currently a commander serving under Canute. He fought for the Danes his entire life until he switched sides to fight for the English during 1013 because he claimed it would be more interesting. After 1013, he fought for the Dane’s again. He commanded his own band while fighting for the English. Due to his actions, he is a major antagonist in the War Arc.
Due to his colossal strength, he is considered as the strongest Viking alive, noted by both Floki and Garm. He is the brother of Sigvaldi, the Jomsvikings chief, uncle of Helga, uncle-in-law of the late Thors Snorresson, great uncle of Ylva and Thorfinn, and father of Cordelia.
Appearance[]
Thorkell is an extremely tall man, towering over everyone who meets him, as he wears his epithet quite wall, also being very muscular and covered with multiple scars from decades of battles and wars, with spiky blond hair held up by a bandana and a small beard. He lost the tips of his right ring and pinky fingers in his first duel with Thorfinn and later lost his left eye in their second duel, prompting the use of an eyepatch. After he was burned alive in the Year of 1019, his hair became curly. Over 30 years ago, in the Year 987, Thorkell had mostly the same physical characteristics as he does in the present, except that he was way less muscular than he is now, and his hair was shorter. He was also shown using only 1 two-handed poleaxe with both hands, although another flashback showed that not many years after, he began using 2 two-handed poleaxes in each hand, like he does in the present.
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.— Thorkell's battle-mad thirst for battle.[4]
Always searching for a good fight.
Thorkell is a jolly, fun-loving man, in and out of combat. He's 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 is only motivated to fight against people who can protect themselves, mainly vikings and soldiers. When he encounters an enemy without a weapon, Thorkell would even give said enemy a weapon to give them the opportunity to die a glorious death in combat and go to Valhalla, instead of just killing them outright. While Askeladd's followers were fine with raping women and killing civilians, Thorkell's band is never seen doing the same. Instead, they just enjoy the various privileges offered for their efforts in the conflict. He has no qualms about ordering his men to kill Askeladd's company despite them defecting to his side with the hope of them being spared by Thorkell's forces (although this has more to do with the fact that Thorkell hates cowardice).
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. Thorkell loves battle and war 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 from shock after Canute ordered the disbanding of the troops (which implies that Thorkell will no longer be required to fight under Canute anymore), with his underlings exclaiming that Thorkell '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 does not care about his status in society and only truly cares about fighting and battle.
Whenever Thorkell meets a powerful opponent in his battles (most notably Thorfinn), he prefers to fight said opponent alone in a one-on-one fight to the death 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.
Thorkell's one regret.
His battle-hungry 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 last words Thors uttered to him, as well as Thors's 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 it means to be a true warrior, 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 way of life.
History[]
History[]
Background[]
Thorkell and Thors are old friends.
Thorkell was a fellow Jomsviking commander and friend of Thors. However, he deserted when the war was over because he considered the army 'boring' as they were undefeatable. Therefore, he joined the English forces as he considered this more interesting because the English were 'weak and pathetic' and he was tired of being on the side that always emerged victorious, which to him was unchallenging, uninteresting, and meaningless.
War Arc[]
Thorkell, about to attack Floki.
His first appearance was at the siege of London where King Sweyns Forces were trying to seize the city. He joined the English forces much to the dismay of Floki who he has known from his Jomsviking days. Floki told him to go back to the army as those are King Sweyn's wishes. Thorkell agreed that the English are really weak since he fought them himself until last year, and how the country is finished, but then however stated that it would be more fun to fight against the Jomsviking army instead, leaving Floki speechless. As Floki panics and offers him double the money England gives him, Thorkell ends the conversation by throwing a giant boulder at Floki's ship, nearly sinking it in the process, causing Floki and all of his men to flee the scene.
Askeladd and his band, at that time in service of King Sweyn, were trying to take the city as well. Askeladd immediately saw Thorkell as the primary threat and only reason why the city hadn't been captured yet. He ordered Thorfinn to get rid of Thorkell for a duel with him.
Thorkell vs Thorfinn.
None of the ships that were trying to get close to the bridge managed to survive long enough as every single one was destroyed by Thorkell. Thorfinn, standing on the mast of one of those ships with a shield in hand charged at Thorkell and took a huge leap towards him. Thorkell tried to swat him out of the air with a log, but Thorfinn managed to dodge in time, jump off the log, and land on the bridge. Thorkell, sensing potential in the young fighter, ordered his men to not interfere with his battle with Thorfinn.
Abilities[]
Thorkell punches a horse.
Overall Abilities: Thorkell is an extremely powerful and skilled viking, being one of the greatest warriors in his generation. He's commonly considered as the Strongest Viking in the World. His colossal power gave him the epithet Thorkell the Invincible by Askeladd. Thorkell is in fact so strong that the only thing rumored to possibly kill him would be "too much peace." And indeed, during over a year of peace, Thorkell was suffering from battle withdrawal and once passed out in a comedic scene. When King Sweyn gave the command for 4000 soldiers to continue the siege on London, Ragnar stated that even the entire army stands no chance against Thorkell. Floki, who has known Thorkell for many years, thinks that there is no warrior alive who could kill Thorkell, and Garm, who is very strong in his own right, was eager to face Thorkell in combat due to Thorkell being known around the world as the strongest warrior. Whereas Askeladd accepted to fight Thors, he never wanted to face Thorkell, and kept running away from him.
Superhuman Strength: Thorkell possesses superhuman strength, with the only person ever being able to beat him in the past being Thors. Thorfinn stated that one punch from Thorkell would be enough to kill him. Thorkell can destroy wooden walls and stone walls with his punches alone. Despite being massively huge, Thorkell is quick in close combat. Amongst his many feats include being able to lift an around 5 tons enormous boulder and throw it strongly enough to sink longships, throwing several tree trunks with ease and use/swing them as if they're quarterstaffs, throwing a spear from over a kilometer away and killing several armored vikings with it in the process, sending Thorfinn flying several feet into the air with one kick, punching a horse in the abdomen so hard it flies off in the air, punching some of a bear's teeth out with one punch and breaking its spine with a bear hug, and most notably, bulldozing two houses on his own with his axe.
Superhuman Durability and Endurance: On top of his strength, he possesses inhuman resilience and a high pain tolerance, capable of taking heavy damage and laughing it off later. For example, Thorkell didn't even flinch when he got stabbed through the hand with a dagger and lost two of his fingers, and he also survived after being burned alive, and was completely unfazed by the wounds and able to throw men around while bandaged, not weakened or slowed down whatsoever by serious injuries.
Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: Despite his immense size, Thorkell is surprisingly fast. While unarmed and in close combat, he forced the quick Thorfinn to use his agility to dodge his punches. He can keep up with Garm in a fight, who is not only faster than Thorfinn, but can also dodge arrows with ease. Thorkell also once threw a spear from over a kilometer away at over half the speed of sound and impaled 4 vikings with it.
Thorkell slicing apart several vikings at once.
Master Axeman: While skilled in hand-to-hand combat, he truly excels when wielding his 2 two-handed poleaxes, using them to slice fully armored warriors and trees into pieces with ease. Although he's large and powerful, his slashes are also accurate and fast, truly testing Thorfinn's dexterity.
Leadership: As a leader, Thorkell may be calm and have goodwill for his men, who respect him for his strength, despite all being seasoned fighters. His band of 500 men are almost as bloodthirsty as he is and Thorkell can motivate them with a simple but powerful speech. Thorkell may come off as a dim, raging brute, but he is actually quite intelligent and introspective. He is a capable and charismatic leader, a keen observer of tactics and fighting styles, and has a good understanding of politics. He just can't be bothered with all the mind games and intrigue and sticks to what he is best at: battle.
Thorkell's aura.
Intimidation: Thorkell possesses a terrifying aura which is depicted as a demon. Torgrim's mental state broke when he had to face Thorkell in combat. Although Thorkell didn't do anything to Torgrim and just walked up to him, his aura was so immense that that alone caused Torgrim's mind to break. And while Torgrim survived due to Thorkell not killing him, he succumbed to amnesia afterwards and his mental state reverted back to that of a child. Even hearing Thorkell's name causes fear in experienced vikings including Askeladd, who considers Thorkell to be "invincible" and a "monster".
Gallery[]
Battles & Duels[]
- Countless battles before the start of the series.
- In 987, Thorkell was defeated by an unarmed Thors, despite being armed with his ax at the time.
- Thorkell and Thorfinn fought twice throughout the course of the story.
- In their first fight, an unarmed Thorkell defeated an armed Thorfinn with ease, despite having to take a hit with Thorfinn’s knife straight through his right hand, in order to grab a hold of Thorfinn. Thorkell swung Thorfinn around like a ragdoll and presumed Thorfinn had been knocked unconscious, but while his guard was down, Thorfinn managed to cut off the ring and pinky finger on Thorkell’s right hand. Thorkell didn't show any sign of pain but was impressed that Thorfinn still got the will to fight in him, asking the warrior to tell him his name. Thorfinn stated that he is the son of Thors but before Thorkell could ask more, Thorfinn escaped into the sea, with a dislocated shoulder and ankle, and some broken ribs. When Thorkell's men asked him if they should let loose arrows after him, Thorkell told them to let Thorfinn escape. Thorkell then called out to Thorfinn, saying that he enjoyed the fight and that they should do this again someday.
- In their second fight, Thorkell used his axes and Thorfinn held his own, but Thorkell still held back. Thorkell then hit the ground to blind Thorfinn's view with snow, and sent him flying into the air with a kick, where Thorfinn landed through a tree and fell unconscious momentarily and got his right arm broken. While Thorkell waited until Thorfinn woke up, Askeladd patched up Thorfinn's arm and told him Thorkell’s weakness. The fight continued and as Thorkell was about to finish Thorfinn off, Askeladd initiated his strategy into the battle by reflecting light into Thorkell's eyes, using the blade of his sword that he coated in snow to blind him for a moment. Thorfinn used this chance to kick Thorkell's chin and knock him down. He then gouged out Thorkell’s eye. Despite the fact that Askeladd saved and helped Thorfinn, Thorkell declared Thorfinn the winner.
- A barehanded Thorkell fought a bear in Chapter 125. He caught the bear's paw mid swipe, then punched it once in the face so hard that it knocked out some of its teeth and staggered it, and then proceeded to break its spine with a bear hug. Afterwards, Thorkell was disappointed with how quickly the fight was over. Not even bears are strong enough to last as toys for Thorkell.
- Thorkell and Garm fought once and it ended in a draw, although Garm implied that Thorkell was holding back.
- Thorkell took part in the battle at Jomsborg, getting burned alive (ultimately making his hair curly), and killing dozens while on the battlefield.
- Thorkell fought and defeated Ymir, without using any weapons. The fight took all night, and Thorkell wanted to take Ymir with him, as he says he’d never find someone else more fun to play with.
Trivia[]
- Thorkell was evidently based on his real life counterpart, Thorkell the Tall.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 VS Official Guidebook, p. 40 (Age at first appearance, age during flashback, height, weight)
- ↑ Vinland Saga Manga: Chapter 42, page 9, Thorkell is 50 in 1013.
- ↑ Vinland Saga Manga: Chapter 21, page 12-13
- ↑ Vinland Saga Manga: Chapter 140, page 17-19