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Canis Wolfborn

Canis Wolfborn and his Thunderwolf Fangir.

Canis Wolfborn is a Space Marine of the Space Wolves Chapter and a loner, a warrior who is more at home in the company of wolves than men. He prowls the corridors of The Fang, lupine shapes both great and small padding in his wake.

There is something undeniably animalistic in his sure-footed gait, in his darting yellow eyes, and in the snarls and growls that pass for his speech.

Though he is a member of the Wolf Guard of the Wolf Lord Harald Deathwolf, Canis Wolfborn's story is utterly different from those of his peers, and his prowess in combat is unmatched.

History[]

Legend tells how Canis Wolfborn was raised among the Fenrisian Wolves, learning to hunt and fight alongside them. They recount how he overpowered Jorek the Giant, a great warlord in the tribes of Fenris who was chosen by the Wolf Priests. During Jorek's Lone Hunt, he tracked a pack of large Fenrisian Wolves to a fissure in the Bladed Mountains, and lay in wait on top of their cave.

He was about to pounce upon what he believed to be the alpha male of the pack when a long-limbed human slammed into him, pitching him over the edge of the cave roof into the circle of wolves below. Jorek had a fleeting impression of wild eyes, bloodcaked fingernails and matted hair before he was thoroughly beaten into unconsciousness. Jorek eventually returned to The Fang, but not in the manner he had hoped -- he was dragged by the heel across the wastelands by Canis, who had tracked his footprints all the way back to The Fang.

More peculiar still, the savage had an entire family of gigantic Fenrisian Wolves in tow. Canis and his pack reached the gates of The Fang and gave up such a great howling that the Wolf Lord Harald Deathwolf came to investigate. After several abortive attempts to communicate, Harald met Canis' eyes and growled a challenge. The resultant duel was far more close-fought than Harald expected it to be, with each combatant pushed to the limits of their strength, but eventually, Canis grudgingly acceded that he had finally come up against a greater predator than himself and bared his throat to Harald.

Canis Wolfborn model

Canis Wolfborn and his Thunderwolf Fangir charge into battle

Though Harald bested Canis in the fight that ensued, he saw in this savage and feral youth a kindred spirit. Since then, Canis has risen to his birthright as a Space Wolf and Harald's personal champion. The Wolf Priests theorise that Canis was lost in a snowstorm as an infant, abandoned after his nomadic tribe were killed in the wastes and raised as a whelp by a brooding she-wolf in whose lair the young Canis sought shelter. Riding atop the monstrous bulk of the Thunderwolf, Fangir, Canis is a whirlwind of feral rage, a frenzied killing machine capable of hacking apart entire squads of the enemy in a welter of blood and gore.

What the crushing teeth and claws of his ferocious mount do not slay, Canis himself dispatches with sweeps of his deadly wolf claws. It is well known that Canis enters a terrible frenzy when battle is joined, and his feral rage has seen the Deathwolves champion fight his way clear many times after being seemingly hopelessly surrounded by foes. Loping in his wake, Canis’ lupine companions often follow him to battle to join the bloodshed, ripping and tearing at any that attempt to harm their alpha leader, and spurred to even greater savagery by his preternatural prowess

His Wolf Guard companions joke that Canis was taken in as a cub because he was hairy and smelled like a wet dog’s backside, but underneath the jests, all respect the Fangrider. His steel and courage are beyond question, and wolves great and small instinctively obey his commands – even the largest Thunderwolf will avert its eyes from Canis’ gaze. Canis has courage and strength beyond measure and despite his feral nature (or perhaps because of it) all are honoured to call him Battle-Brother.

Wargear[]

Sources[]

  • Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Wolves (8th Edition), pg. 34
  • Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 54, 83
  • Curse of the Wulfen (Novella) by David Annandale
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