Thorfinn Karlsefni

Vinland (ヴィンランド Vinrando?) the Lnu or Mi'kmaq, called skrælings by the Norse, and who are ancestors of the Native Americans. In 1022, Thorfinn and his crew settled here in an attempt to create a peaceful land without war or slaves, and built Arnheid Village close to Kitpui's tribe.

Although the exact historical location is unknown, Vinland in Vinland Saga is specifically located along the modern-day Gulf of St. Lawrence, based on the map in Chapter 180, while the island Thorfinn and his group eventually settles is explicitly the modern-day Prince Edward Island, and the bay they enter appears based on a small harbor near North Rustico. This is confirmed in the afterword of Volume 26, where, in the translation notes, Makoto Yukimura states that "[The Mi'kmaq] traditional lands cover all of Epekwitk (also known as Prince Edward Island, where Thorfinn's settlement is located)".[

Thorfinn is 1.55 meters tall due to childhood malnutrition. He has medium blond hair, light brown eyes with a golden sheen. He has several scars, including a large one on his cheek that extends to his chin and cheekbone. There's also a scar near his nose and several others across his body. He has a muscular build. His hands are calloused from the hardships of slavery.

Enhanced Speed ​​and Reflexes: Thorfinn's speed is regarded as his primary asset in combat. During the invasion of London, he earned Thorkell's praise despite losing to him in combat. His reflexes have enabled him to dodge and react to surprise attacks such as Snake's drawing attack. Although, he was not able to dodge Garm's spear. Despite Garm proving faster than Thorfinn as well as wounding him, Thorfinn was nonetheless able to dodge his movements with his eyes. At Jomsburg, he was able to cover a distance of several meters before his pursuers could notice he had run away from them. A testament to Thorfinn's reflexes is shown when he was recognized by Garm as being the only fighter he has met to dodge his spear so quickly.

Enhanced Strength: Thanks to years of manual labor as a slave on a farm, Thorfinn achieved an explosive increase in strength when he reached adulthood. With this new skill acquired, he was able to throw a man away with just one punch and break the bones of a Jomsviking even though he was wearing armor. Other feats include breaking a sword with his knee.

Enhanced Durability: Although he doesn't usually engage in unarmed combat, Thorfinn knows how to take solid hits if given the chance to prepare for them. This ability appears when he withstands 100 blows from Drott to earn the right to speak to Canute. However, when set upon by Ylva in a rage, he was completely unprepared and was knocked out.

Enhanced Agility: Thorfinn is amongst the swiftest combatants in the series. He is capable of evading a platoon of soldiers within seconds on a battlefield, as well as scaling a wall of a fortress, including jumping over a moat. In combat, he can use his agility to strike from an angle where he may finish his opponent and to find his balance quickly after taking a hit or dodging. Thorfinn's fighting style emphasizes speed combined with the dual wielding of two knives, one of which was formerly owned by his father. By targeting his opponents' weak points and taking advantage of his speed, he could typically finish off an opponent swiftly while avoiding their attacks.

Expert Combatant: Thorfinn is a highly skilled combatant. He can wield daggers and swords with great lethality and is shown to be incredibly skilled in martial arts. His skill in combat has been recognized by other powerful fighters like Snake, Garm, and most notably Thorkell, the strongest Viking warrior of his time. Thorfinn is also able to effectively use throwing knives, although they are not his primary weapons.

Enhanced Strength: Thanks to years of manual labor as a slave on a farm, Thorfinn achieved an explosive increase in strength when he reached adulthood. With this new skill acquired, he was able to throw a man away with just one punch and break the bones of a Jomsviking even though he was wearing armor. Other feats include breaking a sword with his knee.

Thorfinn grew up on the battlefield, having experienced over countless battles and raids following his father's death since the age of six. As such, he has a wealth of fighting experience. He quickly grew into a highly skilled warrior capable of swiftly killing warriors at least twice his age during his years with Askeladd's band. His fighting style plays focus on striking vital points instead of clashing with blades directly, he developed a nimble style that emphasizes speed after losing his knives and letting go of his thirst for killing. Thorfinn's strength is recognized by some of the greatest amongst both the Vikings and mercenaries such as his great-uncle Thorkell the Tall, stating he was capable of becoming the next head of the Jomsvikings.

Thors
Thors is Thorfinn's father. Thorfinn looks up to him and respects him, but knows nothing of his past as a warrior. His death drives Thorfinn do grow as a warrior strong enough to put an end to his killer.
Helga
Helga is Thorfinn's mother. Sixteen years after leaving Iceland, Thorfinn returns and apologizes for leaving him. She accepts and comments that he looks like his father.
Ylva
Ylva is Thorfinn's sister, 9 years his elder. As children, she liked teasing him for being small and for daydreaming about fighting like their father. She believed him dead after he left Iceland on Thors' ship, and at first did not recognize him when he returned to Iceland as an adult sixteen years later.

Thorkell is Thorfinn's maternal great-uncle. Throughout the stages of his life, Thorfinn has always been unimpressed with Thorkell's thrill for war. Due to Thorkell's bragging of their fight, Thorfinn is known by many in the Viking world and in Canute's employ for being one of the only warriors to even match him.

After saying farewell to Snake, Sverkel, Olmar and the rest of Ketil's farm, other than Ketil himself, Thorfinn leaves with Einar, Leif and Bug-Eyes. Leif suggests they should make a stop in Iceland to see Thorfinn's mother, Helga, and sister, Ylva, after all this time away from them. Thorfinn and friends arrive in Iceland, and Thorfinn struggled to remember how many years he's been gone. He's worried about seeing his mother and sister after so many years. They meet his sister, Ylva, first, but she doesn't even recognize Thorfinn anymore. They go to meet his mother, Helga, next and when she opens the door and sees Thorfinn, she immediately recognizes him and says he has eyes just like his father, and starts crying. Thorfinn then takes her hand and says he's so sorry for everything and for being a terrible son. They then go inside and spend the evening and night there. Helga welcomes Einar as a son, as he is Thorfinn's brother now. Ari, who is now Ylva's husband, comes back and remembers Thorfinn from back when he lived there, and welcomed him. Then Ylva came back home, but yet again doesn't recognize him or believe he is her brother. Then Helga tells her that is really their Thorfinn, and then starts to beat Thorfinn in comical anger, before being held back by Ari.

Meanwhile, Canute makes preparations to attack Ketil's Farm to take his land, and Thorfinn initially is going to escape with Einar, Leif and Bug-Eyes, but decides that he can't just abandon Snake and Sverkel and let them die after they took care of them and helped them out. Thorfinn goes to Canute in order to try and negotiate, but Drott refuses to let him see the King. Thorfinn gets them to agree that he can see the king if he withstands 100 hits from Drott, which he ultimately does, despite being incredibly beaten and bruised. Once he gets to speak to Canute he simply asks him to leave the Farm alone, but Canute refuses. Thorfinn says he has no other than to run away then, to which Canute bursts out in laughter. He says that it was the funniest negotiation he had ever been apart of, and decides to leave soon after, because as he says later on to himself on his ship, they have the same goals.

Soon after, Arnheid's husband, Gardar escapes from another farm close by and tries to find Arnheid in Ketil's farm, Thorfinn tries to help Arnheid and Gardar by letting them both escape, but Snake doesn't want that to happen. Thorfinn fights with the decision of having to fight Snake with a vision of Askeladd, and ultimately starts a fight with Snake. During their fight, Thorfinn trips over a rock and leaves Snake next to Gardar, and Snake then stabs him through the chest. Gardar choked out Snaked, but stopped from killing him due to Arnheid, who told him they should leave, which they did, and Gardar died in the carriage they sat in. Arnheid was tied up and left in a barn as punishment, and when a disgraced Ketil returned from his meeting with Canute in Denmark and he found out that Arnheid tried to escape, he beat her with a stick. She tried to say she was pregnant with his child but he didn't listen and continued. He beat Arnheid so badly that she ultimately succumbed to her injuries, to the horror of Thorfinn and especially Einar. Thorfinn and Einar both agree about Arnheid's grave to journey to Vinland together and create a life of peace, away from violence and slavery, for people like Arnheid. They also call each other brothers.

Thorfinn makes friends with other people around the farm, such as Snake, one of Ketil's guests and guards along with Sverkel, Ketil's elderly father and Arnheid, Ketil's personal maid and concubine. Snake lounges around in Sverkel's house a lot of the time, and the two seem close but pretend they don't like each other. Sverkel lends Thorfinn and Einar a horse in exchange for helping around his house, as he seems to have taken a liking to the two. After years of helping each other, they have gotten very close. One day, Snake notices that Sverkel has still not come home even though it's dinner time, and Snake along with Thorfinn and Einar find him collapsed in his field. He is forced to stop farming, as he can no longer walk, and Ketil sends Arnheid to help Sverkel now. Snake keeps on staying around Sverkel's house as well.

Thorfinn has now mellowed out and become empty and emotionless after being sold as a slave to Ketil, a landowner in Denmark, as he now has no purpose in life after Askeladd died. He is constantly haunted by nightmares of the many people he has killed, but never remembers what happens at the end of the nightmares, and he always wakes up screaming in agony, sweating profusely.

After being on Ketil's Farm for over a year, he finds a friend in Einar, another slave Ketil buys to help on his farm. Einar doesn't like Thorfinn's lack of enthusiasm or energy initially, and calls him lazy. After an incident with Olmar and Fox, where fox tries to get Olmar to kill Thorfinn and Einar, the two started to get closer. One day after Thorfinn wakes up screaming, Einar says he was screaming about “Askeladd” and “father”. Later that day, Thorfinn told Einar about Askeladd, and Einar then realized that this was the reason Thorfinn had no energy, he had no ambition after his only goal in life, to kill Askeladd, was taken from him. It was completely empty. The next day, when Thorfinn and Einar are going back to their wheat farm, they discover some workers have destroyed all their crops. Einar becomes enraged. They approach the workers, but once they say that slaves couldn't grow good wheat anyway, and Thorfinn gets furious and punches one of the men, knocking him out

After King Sweyn announces an invasion of Wales, Askeladd murders the king, deciding to save both Canute and Wales. Canute then stabs Askeladd as part of Askeladd's plan after he slaughters dozens in the banquet hall. Askeladd then dies in Thorfinn's hands, who rushed in after hearing noise from outside, where he was waiting. Canute then offers Thorfinn the chance to go wherever he wanted, even back home to Iceland, but Thorfinn was shocked and dumbfounded by this revelation, and instead he slashed Canute in retaliation on instinct, only managing to cut his cheek. As punishment for attacking the Prince, he is sold as a slave, as Canute didn't want to have anyone else killed.

Thorfinn then spent the next 11 years going to war with Askeladd's band in England. He became a very strong warrior, killing a great deal of men in order to get a duel from Askeladd, in order to kill him. He became numb to these horrible acts that he witnessed daily, and became cold and distant from others, never so much as smiling. He still said that warriors are all madmen to himself after he fights Thorkell. He helps escort Prince Canute to Askeladd, after the prince had been taken prisoner by Thorkell, and left in a burning forest with his retainer, Ragnar. This was part of Askeladd's plan to take Canute back to the king and gain favor, and Thorfinn went along with his plan as usual.

He lived with his family and was a happy, lively boy. He played with the children in the village especially in mock combat with a wooden sword and shield, even though he was always one of the first to lose. One day Floki, and his Jomsviking crew, come to Iceland to get aid from his father, Thors. When his father was going out to a battle, Thorfinn hid in a barrel on his father's ship. A mercenary called Askeladd, who was hired by Floki to take down Thors, came and dueled Thorfinn's father. Thors took down half of Askeladd's men, including his second in command, and then the two faced off. Thors won the battle, but in exchange for Thorfinn's life, he was killed by many arrows from Askeladd's men. After his father died, Thorfinn vowed to seek vengeance for his father, by becoming one of Askeladd's men in order to kill him in a duel, so he can avenge his father's death in a fair battle.

Thorfinn was born in Iceland in the winter of 996, where his family had fled after Thors decided to abandon his warrior lifestyle, and by virtue the Jomsvikings as well. He grew up not knowing about his father's past as a warrior, or his connection to the Jomsvikings.

Thorfinn slowly begins to recover and then takes on a more kind and pacifist attitude. He seems to have become more like Thors and seeks to become a merchant to become a better person and forget his dark past as a murderer. His time as a slave also appears to have affected his behavior. For a while, he refrained from fighting and always tried to resolve the situations in the conversation, but even then this attitude backfired several times, and so he saw that sometimes it was necessary to use force to resolve conflicts. He also seems to have few social skills and doesn't seem to know much about the female body, as seen when after adopting Karli, he tells Gudrid to breastfeed Karli, not knowing that she would need to be pregnant for this to be possible.

Thorfinn has also become more empathetic with people who have suffered the consequences of war suffering multiple attacks to their villages, he felt horrible when he found out that he alongside Askeladd's crew attacked and murdered Hild's family, giving her all the right to kill him to avenge her family, even being prepared to be killed by her. He is very protective with those he cares about. When he involuntarily gets involved in the Baltic war due to his lineage and thus becoming the target of many claims to become the leader of the jomsvikings, Thorfinn forces his friends, with the exception of Hild, to leave and stay away.

His flaws lie in his temper and impulsive nature. This is seen when he ignores Askeladd's input despite the benefits it may be able to bring him, which leads to him losing fights against Askeladd. Frequently throughout the series, Thorfinn's reckless nature leads to his own suffering and failure. Even if he does possess talent far beyond the norm for his age, his hot-headedness is easily his biggest weakness. This weakness also unfolds with an inability to learn from mistakes, and several times, Thorfinn has hallucinations with his late father, asking him if this is really the right way to go, and he just ignores it all. This is probably a metaphor to show that the difference between the old Thorfinn and the current one is not that great, and inside his iron fortress, he is just a wrong-headed boy.

He also showed a great lack of empathy, as he did not seem to care when Askeladd's gang murdered civilians and raped women, he just walked away with disgust. Although he sometimes told his possible victims to run when he was not in the mood to kill them, but he didn't really care anyway.

However, Askeladd's death caused him to lose his purpose and become an empty shell after being sold as a slave. During that time, Thorfinn became totally depressed, melancholy, stoic and unwilling to live, living a deplorable life being mistreated by his merchants, with none of the exuberance of his childhood, the pride and belligerence of his adolescence, or even the will to stand up for himself. Fortunately, he began to regain his will and courage with the help of Einar, Snake and Sverkel, who helped him to realize that he is still capable of a meaningful life.

When the series begins, Thorfinn is shown as an innocent and friendly boy who is searching for adventure. He shared a very good relationship with his family and enjoyed stories told by Leif about his adventures. He has a good relationship with his father and looked up to him immensely, shown when he decides to follow Thors by sneaking on his boat to follow him. This would become the foundation of Thorfinn's drive to avenge his father.

However, by the time he joins Askeladd's band, he is a cold-blooded individual, hellbent on his goal to avenge his father. He becomes aloof toward others, unmoved by and uninterested in what they do or thinks of him, choosing instead to keep to himself. This is seen when Thorfinn ignores the invitations from his fellow Vikings to join in on the fun and refuses to eat dinner with the rest of them.

Thorfinn's appearance is consistent throughout the story. He has choppy and messy hair, old clothes and two knives. He is also short, as stated by multiple characters in the story.

When Thorfinn was a child, he had a happier face, round with bright, curious eyes, and well-kept hair.

He has a somewhat slight build that belies his strength.

Thorfinn's entire body is littered with scars, most of which were caused by blades. His face remains unmarred until he gains several obvious scars on his face in adulthood, mostly because he refuses to fight with weapons and tries his best to defend himself and neutralize his opponents without causing any lasting harm.

In 1015, an apathetic Thorfinn does not budge when one of Ketil's guests, Fox, comes at him with a sword to try to make him fear for his life, slicing off the tip of his left ear. In 1018, when he and Snake are fighting over Arnheid's husband, Gardar, he slashes Thorfinn's face with his blade, resulting in a long scar starting at his right temple, extending across his right cheek and ending at his jaw, next to his chin.

In May 1019, Thorfinn gets another piece of his left ear cut off when Garm slashes him with his spear. In June 1021, Thorfinn returns to Iceland from Greece with a scar across the bridge of his nose and above his cheek.

Before setting off to Vinland, he started slicking his hair back, which he still does while in Vinland at 27 years old.

Thorfinn (トルフィン Torufin?), also nicknamed Karlsefni, is the main protagonist of Vinland Saga. He is a former warrior of Askeladd's band as well as a former slave on Ketil's farm who earned his freedom. Afterwards he became a trader and adventurer attempting to settle in Vinland.

He was born in Iceland as the only son of Helga and the late Thors Snorresson, the most famous Jomsviking warrior until his defection. He is also the younger brother to Ylva and is related to the leadership of the Jomsvikings through his mother, who is the daughter of the third Chief, Sigvaldi.

He spent more than a decade attempting to take revenge on Askeladd, the man who killed his father, even followed him into battle to stay close to him, and grew cold and merciless, killing countless people. After he attacked Canute in a moment of shock and rage for killing Askeladd, the death of whom was Thorfinn's goal for most of his life, Thorfinn was enslaved as a punishment. Four years later he gained his freedom and changed his life.

He vowed to make good of his life and create peace and a land free of slavery in Vinland, which he heard from Leif Ericson's tales as a child. After leaving Ketil's farm with a new friend, Einar, he then journeyed to Greece in order to get money to be able to make the trip to Vinland, and after three years he had enough money and people to finally make his journey to Vinland. He created and founded the Arnheid Village on Vinland.