Lukas the Trickster

Lukas the Trickster is a Blood Claw of the Space Wolves, known for his irreverent conduct and for a stasis bomb carried in his chest. The Chapter’s Wolf Priests have not succeeded in civilising him, and his enemies have not succeeded in keeping him dead. The stasis bomb, a device that holds those within its effect motionless, is understood to freeze in place whoever kills him.

Observers differ on whether the bomb represents a jest or a doctrine, the judgement depending on who stands beside him. Several Wolf Lords have attempted to exile him from their Great Companies or to commit him to suicidal charges, and have declined to acknowledge that he was the reason a war turned. His tenure as a Blood Claw has run far longer than is customary for the Chapter, whose warriors are ordinarily advanced to the rank of Grey Hunter once they have proven themselves in battle; Lukas remains where he began, whether by his own choice or by the judgement of his superiors.

He is counted among the younger generation of named Space Wolves who rose to prominence alongside Ragnar Blackmane, the Blood Claw who went on to lead his own Great Company, and his reputation circulates in the same circles as Njal Stormcaller, the Chapter’s senior Rune Priest, and Ulrik the Slayer, a Wolf Priest of long standing. Great Wolf Logan Grimnar governs the Chapter from the Fang, the fortress-monastery on Fenris, and it is under his broader authority, rather than the patience of any single lord, that Lukas has been permitted to remain in service despite the disruption he causes.

Fenris, the Space Wolves’ home world, continues to produce warriors of his kind, and its sagas record him as one of the more unpredictable products of its harsh selection. In the present era, as the Chapter answers battle-summons across a galaxy fractured by the Great Rift, Lukas continues to fight within its ranks. The sagas do not agree on whether he is fortunate or cursed, and he has not sought to settle the question; he remains in service.