Markus Wulfhart

This article is fucking 'Murican. Expect copious amounts of Freedom with an infrequent side of Awesome.

"Take ein number, zit dovn, und ven I call it ztep forvard und I'll kill you zen."

"Civilization will triumph against the dark wilderness!"

– Marky himself, in Total War: WARHAMMER

Markus Wulfhart is a Player Character in Warhammer Fantasy. Not the kind of which characters play in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, where you graduate from ratcatcher to Witch Hunter at epic levels and hundreds of hours of campaigning, Markus is the PC of just about any other kind of game. D&D Rangers wish they were as awesome as Markus, regardless of having ascended into literal godhood as a god of the hunt. TES characters may be able to literally change anything they want about their universe by realizing how pointless life is, but Markus has seen that nothing good lies beyond for mortal man and decided to fire arrows into the abyss until it claims him. Markus is what happens when someone plays Dark Souls on only one life.

The Legend

Hailing from Middenland, more specifically Drakenburg which was in the Drakwald Forest AKA the forest of horrible deaths. As a young man he was just an ordinary hunter (or as ordinary as a man who could survive in Drakwald could be) until a one-eyed Bonegrinder Giant, a more intelligent variety of Giant, destroyed his hometown while he was away in the woods. He swore revenge on the Giant, and tracked it to its cave where he shot it in its remaining eye, hacked away at its feet until it was hamstrung, then hacked away at its neck until it was beheaded. Like the Player Character he is, he decided this was only the first motherfucker in a bloody rampage and that since the tutorial was over he'd move onto the next beastie that nobody willing to sell him stuff would object to him killing.

His rampage through the Drakwald and greater Empire only paused when he received word from Karl Franz himself that his RIPANDTEAR spree had earned him a Knighthood, with the nobility and lands that go along with it. Markus declined, wanting only to get back to shooting shit that shouldn't be able to be killed until it died. Karl instead granted him a magical bow, carved from an ancient Drakwald tree and blessed by a Wizard trained in the discipline of Beasts which guides arrows into the hearts of its target, as well as a newly established title; Huntsmarshal, The Emperor's Captain of the Scouts. He was to establish an organization of monster hunters, called Wulfhart's Hunters, and lead them in service to Sigmar's Empire.

End Times

Markus participated in the Battle Of Altdorf, and after the Beastmen hero Taurox The Brass Bull butchered multiple entire regiments of men Markus stood on the ramparts above the gate that Taurox had been attacking and put a single arrow into a single fleshy part of Taurox's throat, killing him immediately. What happened to Markus after that is unknown.

Age of Sigmar

There's been nothing to suggest that Markus survived into the Age of Sigmar, but at the same time there's been nothing to suggest he didn't either. He was certainly enough of a badass to manage it. Assuming Markus did end up Sigmarined, he'd most likely be a Knight-Venator, hopefully with an actual bow and not some generic hammer and shield.

Total War: WARHAMMER

Markus had a brother in this continuity, Jacob. His brother obsessively tracked the insane High Elf Merwyrm Amanar across the world, assembling a magic item and a sea shanty that would bring it under control. It killed him instead, with his magical map falling into the hands of the Vampire Coast faction after being sold at a port in a cinematic cutscene. His effort most likely resulted in Amanar being killed, zombified, and used to take over the watery parts of the world. He also has several cameos in letter teasers that CA releases to tease the latest expansion a week before announcing it.

As of The Hunter and The Beast DLC pack, he is also now playable, where he takes his hunters to Lustria to conquer the jungles and go up against Nakai the Wanderer and his lizard boys. He will have to rely on reinforcements and supplies sent from overseas as he tracks down famous hunters, takes gold and booty, spreads imperial territory, and tries his damnedest to not get eaten by dinosaurs. Good luck, Markus, good luck. He also starts in the same position in Mortal Empires, and while his rival is off in Albion, he is still based in the Melting pot that is Southern Lustria. In Immortal Empires he is still there, but now has a buddy Alberic de Bordeleaux, with whom his campaign will be a little bit easier (plus the melting pot moved to Southlands). And once again, Nakai is too far away from him, this time in Cathay for some reason.

Crunch

Added in 8e, giving the Empire has a character archer. He's kitted for hunting monsters obviously, his Monster Hunter rule means he can reroll hits against monsters, always shoot monster mounts out from under characters, and taking him lets you buy a unit of Huntsmen in who get the same rule. He's also got his own magic longbow that always wounds monsters on a 4+ and does D3 wounds to them. Would have been an amazing option if min/maxing the post-7e ability to basically snipe with cannons didn't mean just to bring more 'splodey dakka.

Wulfhart's Hunters

Wulfhart recruits from the entire Empire. Men sick of the plow in the peaceful farmland of Stirland, noblemen from Averland, veteran scouts from Wissenland, trappers from Nordland, it doesn't matter. Markus knows what to look for in a monster hunter, and his Hunters are the single most diverse group in the setting outside possibly Slayers. Since their establishment the feats of Markus and his men have gone to legendary status, killing unkillable monsters of nightmare that even entire armies couldn't defeat, creatures thought to exist only as a myth used to explain the destruction of villages until the Hunters brought the severed head to the local Inn, and even fucking Dragons. All the more proof Markus is a Player Character, min/maxing his troops based on their actual stats instead of their roleplay fluff and color scheme cohesion.

Gallery

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