Vikings

The **Vikings** were a group of human warriors that raided and enslaved other tribes. They were ultimately decimated by Spear and Fang in their quest to rescue one of their slaves.

There were apparently no survivors left from this tribe save for two Vikings, a father and son, who were not present when Spear and Fang massacred the rest and went on a mission of revenge to hunt the duo. This led to the death of the son and father's transformation into an inhuman monster by an unknown being.

## Appearance

As their name suggests, the Vikings are *Homo sapiens* with a strong resemblance to Scandinavian humans of the 9th and 11th centuries. The male Vikings have rugged builds and thick, bushy hair that comes in shades of red or brown. They wear clothes made from animal fur and leather but adorned with belts and metal buckles, indicating their skill with textile-making, and metal helmets with horns or antlers.

## Behavior

The Vikings are portrayed as barbaric warriors who worked to capture and attack other civilizations. Their intentions for the raiding of other tribes are unclear, but they were shown to be brutal and merciless, as they ruthlessly attacked Mira's people and enslaved those they captured. They were shown to be exceptionally brave and unyielding, with even the women and children fighting to the death to defend their home. Despite displaying strong ferocity, the nature of each Viking varied, as one of the warriors decided to run away from Spear and Fang before attacking them again in desperation, while others just reacted by silently hoisting their weapon.

These people were, however, by no means unsympathetic, as they also displayed a strong sense of comradery as all members of the community fought to defend the village. They had also operated under strongly knit, but small family units. The chieftain and Rikka's family demonstrated a very close connection, with the occasional sibling fights and the mother grooming the younger son for battle.

## Culture

The Vikings operated at a somewhat advanced level of civilization, while the knowledge and arts for combat and shipbuilding being heavily focused on. They were shown to be self-sufficient and very intelligent, as evident by the making and handling of metal weapons, clothing, and construction of houses and other buildings. Domestication was also widely practiced, as the warriors seemed to have tamed a large group of bears. Members of both the male and female gender were active combatants, although males mostly used swords and axes, while the women relied mostly on spears and archery. The Chieftain's wife, Rikka, was a notable exception, as she primarily relied on a battle axe during combat. Children were also active in battle, but only acting as archers.

Another practice among these people was funerary burial. While most of the Viking denizens had their bodies wrapped and entombed in a barrow, Rikka and her younger son were cremated on a boat out in the deep end of a body of water, in what is known as a Viking funeral.

## History

Sometime before Spear and Fang encountered Mira, a small crew of Vikings attacked her and a few of her tribesmen. After being alerted by the sounds of humans from Mira's tribe in the distance, they abducted Mira and the other survivors as slaves and quickly left before the tribesmen arrived. ("Echoes of Eternity") However, whilst being transported by ship, Mira managed to escape and jump overboard. Not wanting to lose one of their slaves, the Viking warriors later tracked the escapee down. After she had been separated from Spear and Fang by a band of monkey-men, Mira's old captors killed her new ones, recaptured her, and set sail for their homeland with their prize in tow. ("Slave of the Scorpion")

After some time traveling after them, Spear and Fang finally reached the continent of the Vikings' village, intent on rescuing Mira. By nightfall, two Vikings and their mounts tried to ambush the duo from outside a cave they were in. One warrior briefly wounded Spear, but Fang ultimately slayed his bear as Spear quickly dealt with his partner. They caught up with the warrior as he ran for his life and Spear threw a spear into his leg, preventing his escape, whereupon he demands the Viking for Mira. Instead, the Viking lunges for Spear with his sword, although Fang promptly catches him in her jaws and crushes him in two. The duo then tracked the way to the Viking village by the bears' tracks. Spear covertly scouts the huts until he finds the shed where Mira and the other slaves were kept, where he helps Mira's tribe sneak out of the village. ("Dawn of Man")

Sneaking the slaves out of the village, Spear was confronted by a group of Vikings and their bear mounts who were just coming back from a hunt. Fang soon arrived at the scene and fought the Vikings along with Spear. Spear and Fang killed numerous Vikings and in the midst of the carnage, Mira and the rest of the slaves fled. The whole village became alerted from the noise created by the fight and after an alarm was sounded. Many of them joined the fight against Spear and Fang, managing to injure the duo several times, but were unable to stop them as the two shrugged off their wounds. Spear and Fang continued slaughtering the Vikings and even Mira, who stayed behind after leading the slaves out of the village, managed to kill one of them. A red mist soon rolled in and Spear and Fang killed off the remaining Vikings, eventually succeeding in massacring the entire village. They apparently left no survivors, saved the slaves, and escaped with Mira on one of the Vikings' boats. Unbeknownst to any of them, however, two Vikings, the Chieftain and his son, were not in the village at the time of the massacre and returned sometime after to find everyone dead, including two of their family members. The bereaved Viking duo proceeded to bury the dead, burn the village, and then set out on a quest for vengeance. ("The Red Mist")

The souls of the slaughtered Viking warriors were shown briefly when the Chieftain gazes into the magma while in a fiery, underworld-like realm. ("The Colossaeus, Part I")

## Abilities

The Vikings showcased a wide variety of abilities native to their culture which allowed them to survive and prosper under harsh conditions and to travel long distances.

* **Carpentry and Housing**: The Viking village boasted a variety of triangular-shaped homes made from wood and thatched/straw roofs, The roofs extended into the ground level and were only high enough so that an adult could walk in. While most homes were large and wide enough for housing small family units of three to four individuals, some buildings, such as the slave barn, were large enough for housing dozens of people. Doors were either constructed from wood, or a simple cloth was used instead. Inside of these homes were wooden beds with either cloth or straw bedding and bed sheets. Other carpentry skills included the making of wooden shields and shafts for spears, axes and arrows. These people were also skilled shipwrights, able to construct longboats capable of traveling vast distances out to see and resist the pressure and danger of rapid waters and harsh weather.
* **Clothing making**: The village denizens boasted several articles of clothes, ranging from pants, loincloths, shirts and dresses, some out of cloth and others out of thick furs. Leather straps were used primarily for weaponry sheaths and sword grips. These people also used cloth and fur as basic footwear. They could also make padded grey long sleeved jackets for armor sets.
* **Metalsmithing**: The Vikings employed metal for a variety of uses, most notably to fashion blades for swords and axes. Another use of metal was for cuffs and chains used in restraining their captives, as well as keys for unlocking the cuffs. Yet another use for metal was for the forging of battle armor, gauntlets, bracers, shoulder guards, helmets, and chainmail. Likewise, the Vikings created metal belt buckles and iron finishes for their scabbards. A pot hanging from a fireplace shows that metal was also used in fashioning of cookware.
* **Taming**: The Vikings were capable of taming animals, most notably large bears which they employed as mounted transportation. The Chieftain and Eldar briefly tamed and rode on primal vultures while they attacked Spear, Mira and Fang during their second encounter.
* **Combat Proficiency**: All members of the Viking community demonstrated strong understanding of armed combat.
* **Sailing and Navigation**: The Vikings had mastered the art of naval transportation, as they could travel by longboat for long distances across the ocean and make their way back. This of course was utilized almost exclusively for finding human settlements and then bringing the captured prisoners back to their village.

## Trivia

* These warriors seem to be based on the aspects of the real-world Vikings, such as the Viking-style longboats, but seem to be less advanced and more primitive in arts than the people of the actual Viking age, as the warriors are shown not wearing any kind of armor, with the exception of helmets. Only the Chieftain and his eldest son are ever shown wearing full-body armor sets.
	+ As is the case with most Viking fiction, the Viking society seen in *Primal* are wearing helmets adorned with horns. Although there have been several instances of horned helmets discovered throughout Europe, most notably in Celtic, Germanic and Saxon settlements, all have been characterized as having been for ceremonial purposes and not for actual combat. Vikings from Norway and Danmark likely did not use horned helmets and instead opted for skullcap helmets such as the 10th century helmets: Gjermundbu helmet discovered in Norway and the Yarm helmet from England. Richard Wagner's *Nibelung Cycle* popularized the image of Viking warriors wearing horned helmets, which was likely inspired off of ancient stone carvings and Medieval armor plates depicting such helmets.
	+ Aside from funerary rites, the Vikings showed no other religious practices. Although, the Chieftain did shout the name of the Norse god of vengeance "Vidarr" while hunting Spear, Fang and Mira. ("Vidarr") Also, as the Chieftain laid dying, he was nearly spirited away by what can only be implied to have been Valkyries, the angelic women who would carry the honored dead warriors towards the afterlife of Valhalla. ("The Colossaeus, Part I")
* The Vikings bear the symbol of a scorpion on their sails, shields, and the people they enslave, supposedly to represent themselves.
* Some of the Vikings seen fighting were children and though Spear did kill one child, albeit accidentally, it is unknown if he or Fang killed any other children during the massacre.