Gotrek and Felix

Gotrek and Felix

Gotrek and Felix are a pair of characters in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, appearing in a series of novels written primarily by William King, secondarily by Nathan Long.

The novels chronicle the adventures of a Dwarven Slayer named Gotrek Gurnisson and his poet/insurrectionist companion, Felix Jaeger. As a Slayer, Gotrek seeks a glorious death in battle to atone for his unknown sins. Felix, bound to him by a Dwarven blood-oath sworn after a drinking binge, is tasked with writing and recording his heroic exploits and ultimately his death. Felix, however, has long since come to adopt the opinion that "anything capable of killing the Slayer would finish me off shortly afterwards". Together they have travelled the length and breadth of the Old World and beyond, fighting against all manners of evil from orcs to undead to the forces of Chaos so that Gotrek might finally fulfill his Slayer Oath by dying in battle.

As well as appearing in the novels they have also been incorporated into the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game appearing initially as hero characters for the Dwarf army and then later in the Dogs of War army book. The characters also make an appearance in the Warhammer Fantasy MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Primary Characters

Gotrek

Gotrek Gurnisson is the greatest (or worst, depending on the viewpoint) Dwarven Slayer ever to have lived. This apparent contradiction is rooted in the nature of the Slayer Oath. Having committed a crime so terrible that only death in battle will serve as atonement, Gotrek has fought and slain numerous monsters, including hordes of orcs and Skaven, a giant, trolls, Chaos warlords and sorcerers, an entire Black Ark of Naggaroth and even a Bloodthirster of Khorne, and unfortunately (in his mind) lived to fight another day. His inability to find the heroic end he seeks begins to take its toll after a time, and by the events of Orcslayer, Gotrek is becoming worried that all that remains for him is a pathetic doom against unworthy opponents like Goblins, or even worse, death as a result of old age. An experienced adventurer before taking the Slayer Oath, Gotrek has travelled across many lands and faced numerous foes of the Dwarven people, and possesses some engineering experience, including the ability to pilot gyrocopters. Gotrek is also a very grim and moody figure, even by Dwarven standards, and possesses the same stubborn character, obsession with honour, oaths and grudges, unerring sense of direction, prodigious love of ale and general distrust of non-dwarves that is typical of his people's culture. Like all Slayers, Gotrek shaved his crimson hair into what usually is a crescent shaped Mohawk and is described as broader than he is tall, heavily muscled, and wears a patch to cover an eye which he lost in battle with Orcs and Goblins. He is also far stronger than the average dwarf and is able to perceive secret passageways in seemingly impenetrable tunnel walls. He is seemingly impossible to kill, having survived, among other things, a single combat with a Bloodthirster of Khorne, being hit by a stone hurled by a trebuchet, being catapulted into an orc ship and falling three hundred feet off a cliff.

The exact nature of Gotrek's crime has never been explicitly revealed; like many Slayers, Gotrek considers his transgressions an intensely personal shame, and has threatened to kill those nosy enough to pry. However, some hints have been revealed over the course of the novels, though the authenticity of these sources is somewhat questionable. In a vision of the Slayer's past seen by Arek Demonclaw, it is shown that after returning from his first incursion into the Chaos Wastes, Gotrek found his wife and children dead. The vision then shows Gotrek in the court of an unnamed dwarf lord, and Gotrek arguing with the said lord. Afterward the dwarf lord sentences Gotrek to an unnamed fate, at which Gotrek kills the Lord and his bodyguard and all others that do not flee. Wracked with guilt and shame, Gotrek shaved his hair, becoming a Slayer.

His signature weapon is a battleaxe imbued with powerful rune magic, having gained this weapon during his first excursion into the northern Chaos Wastes, where he recovered it from the dead son of King Thangrim Firebeard. Gotrek's axe is as powerful as that wielded by the dwarven High King, Thorgrim Grudgebearer. This weapon was the Runemaster's Axe of the lost dwarven fortress of Karag Dum, and supposedly previously belonged to the dwarven deity Grimnir. The elven mage Teclis once read the magical aura of Gotrek, and determined that immense power is flowing from the axe and slowly changing The Slayer into something greater than an ordinary dwarf - having already been proved in the previous eight books when all the creatures Gotrek has killed are considered.

Felix

Felix Jaeger is Gotrek's reluctant companion and "Rememberer." The black sheep of a rich Imperial mercantile family, he was initially a poet but was expelled from university after accidentally killing a student in a duel. After Gotrek saved Felix from being killed in the Window Tax Riots in Altdorf, Felix, in a drunken stupor, swore a blood-oath to record Gotrek's doom so that his honor could be maintained and to let him be remembered by the world. A blood-oath was the gravest one a dwarf could make (even for a society obsessed with the sanctity of oaths), and so Felix was compelled to travel with Gotrek. A major theme in the novels is the tension within Felix between his desire to settle down in peace and comfort, away from the danger of being Gotrek's companion, and his longing to escape the banalities of civilized Imperial society for a life of heroism and adventure, and it is this conflict that shaped much of his relationship with Gotrek and his family.

In contrast to Gotrek's taciturn and absolutist mentality, Felix is a much more romantic, pragmatic figure, and frequently serves as the voice of logic and moral reason of the duo in order to remind Gotrek of the long-term consequences of his actions and guide him towards greater heroism. He also finds himself serving in a more diplomatic role, helping to soothe bruised egos after Gotrek's anti-authoritarian nature provokes allies or civilized society. Felix is also something of a womanizer, and forms several romantic relationships over the course of the series, most prominently with the Kislevite noblewoman (and eventual vampire) Ulrika Magdova.

Felix is a human with a swordman's physique and long blond hair, who favors a chain shirt and red cloak. Over years of following Gotrek, Felix has become an accomplished swordsman and duelist. His own weapon is the rune sword Karaghul, a blade with a dragon hilt recovered from the fallen hold of Karak Eight Peaks. A relic of the Knights of the Order of the Fiery Heart, it was forged for the purpose of slaying dragons. As shown in Dragonslayer, it grants him a shield from a dragon's fiery breath, as well as providing a powerful confidence when facing such a creature. As the decades pass, old acquaintances comment that Felix has not aged a day. First shrugged off as niceties, this soon becomes fact when, in Elfslayer, Max Schreiber verifies that Felix has indeed become immortal, or as close as to make no difference. Upon self-inspection, Felix also discovers that many of his old scars and wounds have vanished from his body. Max attributes this immortal state to various causes, from both Felix's and Gotrek's magical weapons, to some force encountered during their sojourn in the Chaos Wastes, to his passing through the wormhole in Sylvania. Many of his diaries concerning his and Gotrek's adventures have been published by his brother, Otto. The outlandishness and impossibility of the tales in question have brought most of its readers, including Otto, to believe it to be pure fiction.

Supporting characters

Ulrika

Ulrika Magdova is a vampire, formerly a Kislevite noblewoman and Felix's former love interest. She was daughter to Ivan Straghov, March Warden of the Border, which was the first defense against the forces of the Ruinous Powers descending from the Chaos Wastes in the north. While still human, she was a notable swordswoman and beauty, attracting the attentions of both Felix Jaeger and Max Schreiber during the expedition to Karag Dum. Felix won. However, due to differences in background, they began to split after the Battle of Praag, and their division compounded when Ulrika was turned into one of the bloodsucking undead by Adolphus Krieger in Sylvania. Her transformation is one of the reasons why Felix stayed out of the Old World for two decades. She returned in Manslayer, seemingly wanting to patch things up with Felix, but once again their differences (now predator and prey) prevented a complete reconciliation and she abandoned Felix and Gotrek to fight fellow vampires, forced to abide her "mother's" command to kill them. Ulrika also now has her own book series (which seem to chronicle her adventures between her last appearance in Vampireslayer and return in Manslayer) - "Ulrika the Vampire" series, beginning with Bloodborn and continuing with Bloodforged and Bloodsworn. She also appears in the short story The Funeral of Gotrek Gurnisson, in which she temporarily joins forces with Felix to hunt down the villains whom he (mistakenly) believes have killed Gotrek.

Max

Maximillian "Max" Schreiber is an Imperial wizard, first encountered by Felix and Gotrek in Middenheim aboard the Spirit of Grungni. Max swiftly established himself as a powerful ally, and a bitter rival with Felix for Ulrika's affections. Max is an avid scholar into the powers of Chaos, having lost his family to beastmen as a child, and has made it his mission in life to destroy Chaos wherever he found it: however, he was expelled from the Imperial College of Magic for displaying too great an interest in the subject. However, Max's knowledge proves invaluable as the group find themselves in battle with the forces of Chaos. Specifically, he was originally written to be a Gold wizard but this was later retconned in 'Elfslayer' to being a wizard of the Light College and using the Wind of Hysh.

Kat

Kat (full name Katerina) is a young woman who serves as Felix's current love interest. Gotrek and Felix first encountered her in Trollslayer when she was a little girl, the only survivor of a beastmen attack led by a female Chaos Champion. As the story unfolded, it turned out Kat was the Chaos Champion's daughter (the woman having been raped in her youth), who sought to murder the child and become a Daemon Prince, but the champion was killed by Kat, who stabbed her in the back with her own sword as the woman tried to kill Felix. After the battle, Kat begged Gotrek and Felix to let her go with them, but the pair refused, knowing a child wouldn't be safe travelling with them, and left her in the care of a woodsman and his family. However, they encountered Kat again in Shamanslayer many years later, now a woman in her late twenties and a deadly warrior, driven to kill all beastmen to avenge the murder of her adopted family. As they journeyed together, Felix and Kat began to feel affection for each other; while Felix initially had misgivings about falling in love with a woman half his age, whom he'd known as a child, after rescuing Kat from bandits who'd abducted her, Felix accepted what he felt, and the pair became lovers. They survived the battle against the beastmen and Heinrich Kemmler's zombie horde, though Kat was left behind accidentally as they tried to flee Castle Reikguard, and only just managed to avoid death by starvation before the Reikland army arrived, though she still had enough strength to assist in the final battle, distracting Kemmler long enough for Gotrek to reach him.

Other Dwarfs

Antagonists

Thanquol

Grey Seer Thanquol is one of the most recurrent enemies of Gotrek and Felix, a rarity in that he has encountered the pair more than once and lived to tell the tale. A Skaven Grey Seer of great power, Thanquol conspires to achieve a position on the Council of Thirteen and to bring about the day when the armies of the Skaven, led by him, will conquer the surface world in the name of the Great Horned Rat. Thanquol first came to prominence when he took command of the armies of the Skaven Clan Skab (after his predecessor, Warlord Vermak Skab perished in a 'tragic accident' involving a loaded crossbow and an exploding donkey) and used them for his own ends. He came close to his goal in the novel Skavenslayer, nearly conquering the city of Nuln, but the constant intervention of Gotrek and Felix thwarted his plans, forcing him to flee. Every time they encounter one another, Thanquol's (self-proclaimed) ingenious schemes are either confounded (as Thanquol paranoidly believes) by the incompetence of his lackeys or utterly destroyed by Gotrek and Felix (or both); as a result, Thanquol has lost much power and prestige in the Skaven Under-Empire. Humorously, even though they have foiled many of his plans and ruined his status among Skavens, Gotrek and Felix had no idea of who Thanquol was when he finally was able to catch them. Thanquol has vowed to one day find and kill the pair for the many indignities they have brought on him, along with the loss of his health, sanity and his right hand which was chopped off by Gotrek's axe in Thanquol's last encounter with the pair. Likewise, Gotrek and Felix have vowed revenge on Thanquol when they next meet, especially Felix as Thanquol was responsible for the death of Felix's father. Thanquol like Gotrek and Felix is a proven survivor, though unlike Gotrek and Felix who survive on skill, bravery and honor, Thanquol survives mainly due to his cowardice and his willingness to put others in the line of fire. It is proven fact that most Skaven armies or forces led by Thanquol are either wiped out or suffer extremely high casualties (even by Skaven standards).

Though Thanquol thinks himself a tactical genius, a mighty sorcerer and a brave leader, Thanquol is, like all Skaven, a maniacal egotist and a complete coward who flees at the first sign of trouble. While it is true he has phenomenal sorcerous skill and great cunning, Thanquol prefers to leave the dirty work to his underlings: in particular his bodyguard, the ferocious Rat-Ogre he calls Boneripper. There have been thirteen Bonerippers, nearly all of which have been killed by Gotrek and Felix. Thanquol has his own book series (which would appear to chronicle his schemes in the period between his last appearance in Beastslayer and his return in Elfslayer) which started with the novel Grey Seer and is continued in Temple of the Serpent and Thanquol's Doom.

The fate of Thanquol's Rat ogre bodyguards:

Other enemies

Some other enemies Felix and Gotrek have faced (and defeated) in their adventures include:

Gotrek and Felix novels

  1. Trollslayer by William King (August 1999)
  2. Skavenslayer by William King (September 1999)
  3. Daemonslayer by William King (October 1999)
  4. Dragonslayer by William King (September 2000)
  5. Beastslayer by William King (February 2001)
  6. Vampireslayer by William King (September 2001)
  7. Giantslayer by William King (April 2003)
  8. Orcslayer by Nathan Long (October 2006)
  9. Manslayer by Nathan Long (October 2007)
  10. Elfslayer by Nathan Long (October 2008)
  11. Shamanslayer by Nathan Long (October 2009)
  12. Zombieslayer by Nathan Long (November 2010)

(The first twelve books of the series, from Trollslayer to Zombieslayer, have been reprinted in four Gotrek and Felix Omnibus collections.)

  1. Road of Skulls by Josh Reynolds (January 2013)
  2. City of the Damned by David Guymer (September 2013)
  3. The Serpent Queen by Josh Reynolds (April 2014)
  4. Kinslayer by David Guymer (September 2014)
  5. Slayer by David Guymer (May 2015)

Novellas and Short Stories

Anthologies

Audio dramas

Gotrek and Felix make (small) appearances in many Warhammer Army books during the fifth edition of the game as well as an old version of the magic rulebook for Warhammer Fantasy Battles:

Other

Several characters introduced in the Gotrek and Felix series are featured in their own novels:

Ulrika the Vampire

  1. Bloodborn by Nathan Long
  2. Bloodforged by Nathan Long
  3. Bloodsworn by Nathan Long

Grey Seer Thanquol

  1. Grey Seer by C.L. Werner
  2. Temple of the Serpent by C.L. Werner
  3. Thanquol's Doom by C.L. Werner
"Mind-Stealer" by C.L. Werner

See also

Black Library

References

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