K'ell Hunter

K'ell Hunters were large K'Chain Che'Malle bred to serve as warriors and as the elite guard of the K'Chain Che'Malle Matrons.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 10, US HC p.266 Said to be the firstborn of every brood, they were the Matron's own children and answered only to her.Memories of Ice, Chapter 6, US SFBC p.234-235 
K'ell Hunters stood on their hind legs like wingless birds twice the height of a man. Their forearms terminated in enormous curved man-length bladesForge of the High Mage, Chapter 15, UK HC p.224 that appeared fused to their wrists. A long, tapering, counter-balancing serrated tail allowed them to lean forward as they walked or ran. They ran on taloned, three-toed feet in silent strides greater than six feet across at twice the speed of a horse's canter. They could leap as many as twenty paces from a dead stop. They had flat, wide, faces with long snouts bristling with two rows of fangs. Their heads were topped by ornate skull-cap helmets which protected their head and nape and featured sweeping cheekguards that met in a bridge-guard over the snout. They often wore a kind of harness or armour made of leather and metal. It wrapped across their shoulders, covered their chests around their jutting sternums, and sat high on their hips.Stonewielder, Chapter 3, UK TPB p.144Memories of Ice, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.558Memories of Ice, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.250/252House of Chains, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.685Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.479 They may also have decorated thenselves with stretches of brightly coloured cloth, shiny as silk.
They had superior senses than humans, including eyes that could see light humans could not and a nose that that allowed them to scent prey.Forge of the High Mage, Chapter 15, UK HC p.222/223
Their lifespan was approximately 1,000 years.
K'ell Hunters were nearly impossible to defeat by conventional mortal forces. Skilled and coordinated opponents could bring down individual Hunters at great cost.Memories of Ice, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.252-254 Hunters were resistant to Sharpers, but proved vulnerable to Cussers.Memories of Ice, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.891
== Notable K'ell Hunters ==
* Kor Thuran
* Rythok
* Sag'Churok
==In Memories of Ice==
Millennia before the events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen the soul of a Matron became trapped in the Rent at Morn. The bodies of her children were buried in barrows surrounding her central tomb.Memories of Ice, Prologue, US SFBC p.24-26 Through the mistaken efforts of Kilava Onass the Matron was eventually freed and she set about reviving her children bringing them back to a semblance of life in undead form. But the now insane Matron's control over her many hundreds of K'ell Hunters was co-opted by her adopted child, the Pannion Seer. The Seer used the nearly unbeatable Hunters to conquer the cities of eastern Genabackis and expand his Pannion Domin.Memories of Ice, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.57Memories of Ice, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.694-695
During the Pannion War, the Seer sent his undead Hunters to Capustan to slay anyone outside the city and assist Septarch Kulpath's siege. Individual Hunters were first encountered by the necromancers, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, whose sorcery and demonic servants could only drive them away.Memories of Ice, Chapter 6, US SFBC p.223/225/228 A mounted Grey Sword patrol led by Itkovian was able to bring down individual Hunters with coordinated attacks with lassos and lances, but lost a third of their number.Memories of Ice, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.252-255 The magic of Lady Envy and the superb combat skills of the Seguleh warriors, Mok, Thurule, and Senu, had similar success against individual Hunters to the south.Memories of Ice, Chapter 9, US SFBC p.325-326 
The Hunters were only beaten in great numbers by armies of T'lan Imass and T'lan Ay. They killed more than 80 Hunters at Capustan.Memories of Ice, Chapter 14, US SFBC p.467 At the end of the war at the Battle of Black Coral, the Malazans and their allies faced over eight hundred Hunters defending the Seer.Memories of Ice, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.901 They were ultimately killed by the T'lan Ay.Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.933
==In House of Chains==
Travelling into the warren that formed Raraku's ancient memory, L'oric observed three K'ell Hunters stalking seven Deragoth. The Hounds lured the Hunters into an ambush and slew two in the space of a heartbeat. The third ran off and was not pursued.House of Chains, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.684-685
==In Midnight Tides==
At the time of the sundering of Kurald Emurlahn, several hundred thousand years before the events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, an allied force of four hundred thousand Tiste Andii led by Silchas Ruin and two hundred thousand Tiste Edur led by Scabandari invaded the Malazan world. They arrived on the continent of Lether through a violent rent and destroyed an army of K'Chain Che'malle, which included sixty thousand K'ell Hunters. Afterwards, Gothos encased the remains of the dead under a vast field of ice.Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.19-25
In modern times, the Crippled God destroyed a Meckros city from below with a mass of ice. The wreckage of the destroyed city was brought to the Refugium by the goddess, Menandore. Amongst the debris, Udinaas and Feather Witch spotted blocks of melting ice riddled with the preserved corpses of strange, giant, reptilian creatures dressed in unusual armour.Midnight Tides, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.478-482
==In Reaper's Gale==
The K'ell Hunter, Sag'Churok, served as one of Redmask's guardians along with the Drone, Gunth Mach. He was a hulking male who slaughtered his way through Letherii soldiers with ease at the Battle of Bast Fulmar.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 2, US HC p.69-70Reaper's Gale, Chapter 12, US HC p.334-336
==In Stonewielder==
Kiska and Jheval came upon a K'ell Hunter in the Shadow realm. It had been savaged by the Hounds of Shadow, but still remained a deadly threat.Stonewielder, Chapter 3, UK TPB p.144
==In Forge of the High Mage==
(Information needed)
==Fan art gallery==
File:Kçhain chemaille.jpg|Interpretation of a K'ell Hunter by Corporal Nobbs
File:K'Chain_Che'Malle_K'ell_hunter_by_seraph777.jpg|K'ell Hunter Interpretation by seraph777
File:K'ell hunter by Jeanfverreault.jpg|Interpretation of K'ell Hunter by Jeanfverreault
File:K'ell Hunter.jpg|Hunter by Corporal Nobbs
File:K'chain.jpg|Interpretation of K'Chain Che'Malle K'ell Hunter by Yapattack
File:K'Chain Che'Malle by genesischant.jpg|Interpretation of a K'Chain Che'Malle K'ell Hunter by genesischant
File:Kchain1.jpg|Interpretation of a K'ell Hunter, by Toraneko
File:Kchain2.jpg|Interpretation of a K'ell Hunter, by Toraneko
File:Kell Hunter PAINT 2.jpg|K'ell Hunter - Sculpture by Corporal Nobbs
File:Two Blades by Shadaan.jpg|'Mok faces an undead K'Chain Che'Malle K'ell Hunter' Interpretation by Shadaan
File:The seguleh by artsed-d8f65yf.jpg|Interpretation of the Seguleh fighting a K'ell Hunter by Artsed
File:K'Chain Che'Malle by slaine69.jpg|Interpretation of a K'Chain Che'Malle K'ell Hunter by Slaine69
K'Chain Che'Malle Yoshi by shark-art.png|K'ell Hunter by xpibx
File:K'ell Hunter Living Jacob Gamm.jpg|Interpretation of a K'ell Hunter by Jacob Gamm
File:K'ell Hunter Undead Jacob Gamm.jpg|Interpretation of an undead K'ell Hunter by Jacob Gamm
File:K'ell Hunter Undead Jack Burton.png|Interpretation of an undead K'ell Hunter by Jack Burton
==Notes and references==
es:Cazador K’ell
de:K'ell-Jäger
Category:K'Chain Che'Malle