Ulrik the Slayer, Wolf High Priest of the Space Wolves Chapter
Ulrik the Slayer, also known as "Grandfather Lupus" and the "Guardian of the Sons of Russ," is the Wolf High Priest of the Space Wolves Chapter and is the oldest of all the Space Wolves other than the Chapter's Dreadnoughts.
His great mane is white as the slopes of the continent of Asaheim on the Space Wolves' Chapter homeworld of Fenris. Ulrik is older even than the mighty Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf of the Chapter, who has fought in the name of the Emperor for over 700 Terran years.
Quick Answers
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History
Ulrik the Slayer
In his long career Ulrik has fought in countless battles, winning honour for his Chapter again and again. It was during the First War for Armageddon that Ulrik first won renown fighting in the Wolf Guard of the Wolf Lord Kruger's Great Company. Kruger and his warriors stormed into invading companies of World Eaters, meeting the bloodthirsty Traitor Marines with equal fury, for the fruit of betrayal is terrible wrath.
Ulrik the Slayer fighting the enemies of the Imperium.
Kruger himself was cut down and, though Ulrik had lost his own blade in the desperate close-quarter battle, he leapt to defend his dying Wolf Lord, killing three hulking World Eater Khornate Berserkers who had laid Kruger low in the bloody melee. Ulrik fought like a man possessed -- the spirit of the Thunderwolf was strong in him that day, inspiring his battle-brothers and even earning the unusual accolade of a grim salute from Angron, the Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters himself.
Wolf High Priest Ulrik the Slayer's iconography, a stylised wolf's claw
The Imperium eventually emerged victorious. The intervention of an entire brotherhood of Grey Knights ultimately led to Angron's defeat, and denied Ulrik the opportunity to earn a glorious death. His deeds in that terrible battle nonetheless earned Ulrik the accolade "the Slayer," which he has borne from that day forth, and was elected by his fellow Wolf Guard as Kruger's replacement at the head of the Great Company.
An Imperial portrait of Ulrik the Slayer
He declined the honour, which was all but unheard of, instead preferring to fight alongside his fellow Space Wolves rather than lead them. Ulrik chose to become a Wolf Priest instead, and in the long standard years since his investiture he has earned perhaps his greatest accolades by selecting and training many of the Chapter's greatest warriors.
Before a standard century had passed, it had become obvious that Ulrik's true genius was in the selection and training of new recruits. He was a veteran of so many wars that his tactical and martial knowledge was invaluable, and his natural charisma made him an excellent mentor.
In recent years, however, Ulrik has become ever more aggressive on the battlefield, swearing great oaths to cut down the most deadly of enemies in the name of the Emperor without a care for his own safety. His combination of near-unmatched experience and natural ferocity makes Ulrik a truly deadly warrior, and those who fight alongside him are buoyed up by his natural charisma and excellent mentoring ability.
It is Ulrik's sacred duty as a Wolf Priest to recruit and train new aspirants for the Space Wolves Chapter. In his time, Ulrik has chosen and trained a great many of the Chapter's luminaries and greatest heroes. In fact, Ulrik is the only living Space Wolf who remembers the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar as a young, impetuous Blood Claw, full of fury and future promise.
Ulrik witnessed this youth marked by the spirit of Leman Russ rise to glory, and accompanied him during many of his greatest exploits, forging a friendship bound by chains of honor and loyalty stronger than tempered steel. Indeed, Ulrik is the only Space Wolf who still addresses the Great Wolf by his first name.
Ulrik embodies the sacred duty of the Space Wolves to protect the innocent from the monstrous enemies of the Imperium of Man. The indomitable Wolf Priest leads his charges in a great solemn oath to hunt and kill fearsome xenos monsters and the mighty warlords of Chaos wherever he finds them.
In the Era Indomitus, after more than 350 Terran years, Wolf High Priest Ulrik the Slayer avenged the aspirants lost to the Drukhari Haemonculi coven The Hex in 641.M41, after Erik Morkai's Wolf Scouts tracked the elusive coven to their latest "living art" gallery. Khaeghris Xhakt, the Haemonculus Ancient who masterminded the atrocities so long ago, was betrayed by an ambitious underling, who left his ghoulish overseer to face Ulrik alone. Xhakt's head soon adorned a spike in the Trophy Hall of The Fang.
Wargear
Wolf High Priest Ulrik the Slayer arrayed in his fearsome panoply of war.
- Artificer Armour - When he goes to war, Ulrik the Slayer is a terrifying foe indeed, resplendent in his Artificer black battle-plate, he leads his brethren from the front, his grim example spurring other Space Wolves to action. Painstakingly cared for and customised for each esteemed bearer, artificer armour is the rarest form of power armour. The technology and superdense materials used to construct these suits is unparalleled inside the Imperium. Each one is a masterwork of Artificer ingenuity and (outside of Techmarines labouring towards creating their own) is awarded only to true Chapter heroes.
Ulrik the Slayer wearing the Helm of Russ, a revered relic of the Space Wolves.
- Wolf Helm of Russ - As high priest of his order, Ulrik has been gifted with the sacred Wolf Helm of Russ, said to have been crafted by the Emperor's personal Artificers and given to Leman Russ at the time of the Space Wolves Legion's Founding. This is both a potent symbol of the Chapter's honour and an arcane artefact that instills fear in those under his gaze.
- Crozius Arcanum - These winged, wolf skull-topped weapons are used as both a melee weapon and the primary badge of office of a Wolf Priest, and are fundamentally identical to the same weapons carried by the Chaplains of other Chapters. These heavy mauls are wreathed in crackling, molecular-disruption power fields, and more importantly serve as a symbol of the bearer's status as a spiritual guardian of his battle-brothers.
- Healing Balms
- Wolf Amulet - The Wolf Priests like Ulrik bear potent amulets that protect both body and soul from the mortal blows and baleful energies alike. These amulets contain a potent force field generator capable of turning aside mighty blows and ravening energies. These amulets are fundamentally similar to the standard Rosarius worn by Chaplains in other Chapters and high-ranking members of the Ecclesiarchy.
- Fang of Morkai - As much as they are the spiritual guardians of the Space Wolves, Wolf Priests also maintain the physical well-being and genetic legacy of their brethren, and require tools necessary for that vital role. Unlike the Apothecaries of other Chapters, Wolf Priests do not carry complex Narthecium arrays, but prefer instead to bear an assortment of potions, balms and herbal cures and a vicious-looking, complex, multi-bladed device known as the Fang of Morkai, which allows the extraction of a dying Space Wolf's Progenoid Glands so that his essence may live on to fight once again in a new host. The Fang of Morkai functions exactly like a Reductor. The presence of a Wolf Priest in battle will fortify those Space Wolves nearby as he leads them forth to slay his chosen foes, for the Space Wolves known that the Wolf Priests will carry the worthy beyond the gates of Morkai, that they might fight the enemies of the Allfather forever more.
Canon Conflict
Ulrik the Slayer is said to be the Space Wolves' oldest Wolf Priest, and mentor to many of their greatest heroes. Ulrik has had a hand in training both Ragnar Blackmane and (allegedly) Logan Grimnar; however the chronology of the Warhammer 40,000 universe actually makes this impossible with regards to Grimnar, not least because Grimnar reached the position of Great Wolf (leader of the Space Wolves Chapter) before Ulrik was even promoted to Wolf Priest.
This could be explained by the mention of a different Ulric (spelled differently from that of Ulrik the Slayer), though so far Games Workshop has not cleared up the discrepancy.
Sources
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Wolves (8th Edition), pg. 20
- Codex: Space Wolves (2nd Edition), pp. 34, 39, 48, 76-77
- Codex: Space Wolves (3rd Edtion), pg. 29
- Codex Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 23, 50
- Codex: Space Wolves (7th Edition), pp. 44, 46-47, 68, 122-124
- Companies of Fenris - Space Wolves Painting Guide (6th Edition), pg. 52
- Index Astartes II, "Wolves of Fenris - The Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter" & "For the Emperor - Space Marine Chaplains"
- White Dwarf 156 (US), "The Space Wolves", pp. 8-25
- White Dwarf 157 (US), "Space Wolf Army List: Space Marines Space Wolves", pp. 2-21
- White Dwarf 158 (US), "Ragnar Blackmane, Njal Storm Caller & Ulrik The Slayer in Space Marine: Space Wolves", pp. 9-13
- White Dwarf 208 (US), "Faith and Vengeance: Space Marine Chaplain Background and Tactics", pp. 78-86
- White Dwarf 227 (US), "Chapter Approved", pp. 73-80
- Sons of Fenris (Novel) by Lee Lighter
- Curse of the Wulfen (Novella) by David Annandale