Vinland Saga - Characters & Cast

Initially, his sole motivation is to avenge his father's death by killing Askeladd in a fair duel. After this is taken from him, he loses all motivation and becomes passively suicidal. His motivation evolves in Season 2 into a desire to atone for the countless lives he took. This new purpose crystallizes into a positive goal: to travel to Vinland and establish a peaceful society, a land free from the violence that defined his youth.

Thorfinn's arc is one of the most dramatic transformations in modern anime. In Season 1, he is an archetypal revenge-seeker, a boy consumed by rage who becomes a hollowed-out, lethal warrior. His entire identity is tied to killing Askeladd. The climax of Season 1 shatters this identity, leaving him an empty shell. Season 2 depicts his rebirth. As a slave, he is forced into a state of total passivity, allowing him to slowly and painfully confront his past sins. Through his relationship with Einar and others, he rediscovers his humanity, renounces violence, and embraces his father's philosophy. He transforms from a person defined by his enemies to a man who declares "I have no enemies," aiming to build a world of peace.

Askeladd's motivations are layered. On the surface, he seeks wealth and power. His deeper motivation, inherited from his mother, is to protect Wales and find his true king, the legendary Artorius (King Arthur), whom he eventually sees in Canute. He manipulates Thorfinn by weaponizing the boy's revenge, using him as a valuable asset while also, in his own way, teaching him harsh lessons about the world.

Askeladd serves as the primary antagonist and a twisted father figure to Thorfinn for the first season. While ruthless, cunning, and responsible for countless deaths, his character is revealed to be incredibly complex. As a half-Welsh, half-Danish man, he secretly despises the Vikings he leads and harbors a deep-seated desire to protect his homeland of Wales from them. His entire life is a strategic game to find a worthy king to protect Britain. His arc culminates in a selfless act of sacrifice, where he orchestrates his own death to save Wales and propel Canute to the throne, cementing his legacy as a tragic, brilliant tactician rather than a simple villain.

Initially, Canute's motivation is simply to survive and rely on others. After his transformation, his motivation becomes the creation of a strong, unified kingdom that can protect its people, a utopia on Earth. He interprets God's love as a passive force and decides that he must become an earthly power to enact real change, even if it means dirtying his own hands and becoming a tyrant to end the cycle of Viking raids.

Canute is introduced as a timid, effeminate, and deeply religious prince who is terrified of the world. His character arc is a dramatic transformation spurred by the death of his guardian, Ragnar. Forced to confront the harsh realities of power and the silence of God, he discards his meekness and Christian faith in a cruel world, resolving to create his own "paradise on Earth" through force and political maneuvering. He becomes a ruthless, pragmatic, and capable king, a stark contrast to his initial persona. His journey is a dark mirror to Thorfinn's: while Thorfinn forsakes violence for peace, Canute embraces it to achieve his vision of order.