Thorkell, also known as Thorkell the Tall, is a former Jomsviking commander, and currently a commander serving under Canute. He fought for the Dane’s his entire life, until he switched sides to fight for the English during 1013 because it would be more interesting. 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's considered as the strongest Viking, noted by both Floki and Garm. He is the brother of Sigvaldi, the Jomsvikings chief, uncle of Helga, uncle-in-law of Thors, great uncle of Ylva and Thorfinn, and father of Cordelia. Thorkell is an extremely tall man, towering over everyone who meets him, as his epithet indicates, also being very muscular and covered with scars, 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 got burned alive in the Year 1019, his hair became curly. In the Year 987, Thorkell had mostly the same physical characteristics as he does in the present, except that he was less muscular and his hair was shorter. He was also shown using only 1 two-handed poleaxe with both hands, although another flashback showed that not long after, he began using 2 two-handed poleaxes in each hand, like he does in the present. 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 more gloomy and 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 the opportunity to die a glorious death in combat and go to Valhalla instead of 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 also 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. 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.
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