Wulfen

The Wulfen are Space Wolves Space Marines that have succumbed to the Curse of the Wulfen and reverted to savage, malformed lupine hybrids. Within their Gene-Seed is the Canis Helix which invests the Space Wolves with the acute predatory senses of the Fenrisian Wolves native to their homeworld of Fenris.

History
When a Space Wolves Aspirant is deemed worthy he partakes in a sacred ceremony where he receives the Canis Helix, the Spirit of the Wolf, which is actually a genetic cocktail drawn from the genome of their Primarch Leman Russ and used as a catalyst to activate the viral machinery of the Aspirant's gene-seed implants, similar to the Blood Angels Aspirants who drink the sacred blood of their Primarch Sanguinius from the Red Grail to begin their transformation into Space Marines. This mixture is drunk from and ancient relic of the Space Wolves known as the Cup of Wulfen.

Ancient legends speak of the coming of the Emperor of Mankind to the world of Fenris during the Great Crusade, seeking his long lost genetic progeny. Many of those that were to become the first Space Wolves were all old men by the standards of the Astartes, having been reavers and sword-brothers to Leman, King of the Rus, for many years before the Allfather had come to Fenris. When the truth of Leman’s heritage was finally revealed, every warrior in the king’s mead-hall had drawn their iron blades and clamoured to fight at his side, as sword-brothers ought. But they were all too old, the Allfather told them; not a man among them was younger than twenty years. The trials they would have to endure would very likely kill them, no matter how courageous and strong-willed they were. Yet the men of Leman’s mead-hall were mighty warriors, each man a hero in his own right, and they would not be dissuaded by thoughts of suffering or death. Leman, the king, was moved by their devotion, and could not find it in his heart to refuse them.

It is said that Leman Russ possessed the Cup of Wulfen, giving this vessel to his original followers, the first men from Fenris to join the ranks of the VI Legion, telling them to drink from the Cup. Amongst the chosen was a jarl named Wulfen. He was a mighty man, fell and strong, proud in his power. He was a man gifted beyond all others in the art of war and he was bested only once in his life, and that was by Russ, who humbled him before all his people but seeing a worthy warrior spared him, and offered him a place among his warriors. Russ spoke to the assembled men of Fenris and told them of his plan. He offered them power and a vast span of years if they followed him to make war among the stars. They roared their acceptance, and hailed Russ as their chief. He told them that they must drink a potent brew from the great cup and thus would their transformation begin. Wulfen was the first to step forward and he swigged the glorious mead of Russ from the chalice. But evil lurked still in Wulfen. He was consumed by a secret gnawing hatred of Russ and he planned to take treacherous revenge upon the man-god. The guardian spirit within the cup saw this the moment Wulfen put it to his lips, and it worked a spell on him, making his outer self match his inner evil. To the horror of those who looked on, the great chieftain changed. He turned into a dreadful thing, half-man, half-wolf and he sprang on Russ with a howl of hatred. But Russ was not dismayed. With one blow, he crushed Wulfen's skull and slew the beast that had been revealed. He looked upon his followers and told them that Wulfen was unworthy, and that this would be the fate of all those who drank from the chalice with evil in their hearts. He told them that those who wished could now depart without drinking. To the Space Wolves' ancestors credit, no man departed, and all drank and all gained the power that Russ had made their due. And thus began the founding of the VI Legion. Those men strode forth to write their name in the history of all the worlds of men, becoming the first Space Wolves to be recruited from Fenris.

In reality, those Aspirants who are likely to fall prey to the Wulfen mutation inherent within the gene-seed of Leman Russ do not do so after immediately imbibing the Canis Helix mixture, but usually over the weeks and months of training that follow afterwards. After drinking from the Cup of Wulfen, the Aspirants are taken through the Gate of Morkai, a mystic gate deep within the Aett (the Fang), the Space Wolves' massive fortress-monastery, where every Aspirant's mind is picked and probed by the Chapter's psychic Rune Priests (Librarians) for signs of corruption or mental weakness that will make them easy prey for the blandishments of Chaos. When and if the Aspirants pass this test, they are finally augmented with the gene-seed organs of Leman Russ as well as the anatomical gifts found within every one of the Emperor's Astartes.

The next phase of their transformation into a full-fledged Space Wolf is a trial period of training in which the physical transformations initiated by the genetic catalyst within the Canis Helix begin to manifest themselves. Amongst the most common changes are that the initiate's senses will become vastly superior to that of other Space Marines, his teeth will lengthen into fangs capable of tearing through plasteel, and his skin will toughen to the texture of leather. His body mass grows by up to eighty percent and many of his bones fuse. Many of the Aspirants will continue to grow into their newly-received genetic implants while others succumb completely to the Curse of the Wolf and devolve into one of the giant, feral and blood-thirsty creatures, known as the Wulfen. To become one of these fell creatures is to fall from grace, and to roam the wilderness for evermore as a creature of the darkest night. The Space Wolves' harsh induction regime generally ensures that these individuals perish at an early stage in the process. However, at the time of the Great Crusade, when the Emperor and his Legions were conquering vast swathes of the galaxy in the name of Mankind, those brothers touched by the curse were banded together into the 13th Company, where their feral ferocity could be brought to bear en masse, as well as contained for the safety of the whole legion. But eventually the 13th Company disappeared, their loss the subject of numerous myths.

Even once the Helix gene has been stabilised, it still has the power to affect the warrior throughout his life, particularly when the ferocity of the Space Wolf, barely contained at the best of times, is roused in battle. Then the warrior may finally succumb to the Curse of the Wulfen, and he is transformed once again into the beast he has fought for so many centuries to subdue. Currently, amongst the Space Wolves Chapter, there is one group of warriors under the shadow of this curse more than any other, that of Wolf Lord Bran Redmaw's Great Company. It is renowned for its savagery in battle, and the Inquisition has, within its records pertaining to loyal Adeptus Astartes deviation, accounts of terrifying feral creatures shadowing the deployment of the Great Company. These reports though, have yet to be proved, and the Space Wolves themselves ignore all demands to account for these allegations. The Great Company's Wolf Lord Bran Redmaw, also does little to dispel these rumours, and that he has recently begun to take to the battlefield alone rather than leading his battle-brothers only serves to court the growing attention of the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy are paying upon the Great Company. None have yet dared to question their loyalty to the Imperium, and its proven record combating Mankind's enemies has forced the Inquisition to so far stay its hand.

Notable Wulfen

 * Bran Redmaw - Known as the Curs'd Lord, Wulfen-Kin and The Bloodied Hunter, Bran Redmaw serves as the current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. He and his Great Company are looked upon with suspicion by the other 11 Wolf Lords, for they are regarded as tainted. More Space Wolves bearing the Curse of the Wulfen serve alongside Redmaw's company than in any other. The unspoken truth is that Redmaw has risen to become a Wolf Lord despite himself being afflicted with the curse.