Karl Franz
 This article is a stub. You can help 1d4chan by expanding it |
"The principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy – give one and take ten."
-Mark Twain
-Karl Franz, about to smack down the heresy
Karl Franz (formally Karl Franz I, Protector of the Empire, Defier of the Dark, Emperor Himself and the Son of Emperors, Elector Count of Reikland and Prince of Altdorf) is the current Emperor of the Empire and tabletop miniature of Warhammer. Although considered to be a formidable statesman and diplomat, Karl Franz is also a formidable warrior with a record of getting shit done.
Karl Franz is the son and heir of the late Emperor Luitpold. At his father's death he was nominated for the Throne of the Empire but was widely considered too inexperienced. With the help of the Count of Ostland he managed to get all but one vote among the Count Electors and the Church of Sigmar to vote for him. In the following years, Karl Franz has proved to be just as formidable a warrior as he is a statesman, leading the Imperial Army in numerous defenses, wielding the Hammer of Sigmar and riding the griffon Deathclaw. He is also the only one capable of riding the only dragon in the Empire.
Recently due the End Times he got pawned badly and stabbed through the chest by Walach (a Vampire Count) who started worshipping Khorne. He then fell hundreds of feet to the ground but passed his 4+ ward save and survived though Deathclaw was captured when he tried to protect the fallen Emperor. After regaining his strength a bit he freed Deathclaw, and was found by Gregor Martak (the new Supreme Patriarch) who healed Deathclaw and get them back to Altdorf in time for the siege. Unfortunately Karl took on Otto Glott who coincidentally was also stabbed through the chest recently, but that had already regenerated and he cut both of Karl Franz's arms off (and that makes him an anti-Abbadon, a competent armless man that gets shit done). At this point Karl Franz called out to Sigmar, and coincidentally this was the same time the High Elves were trying to bind the Winds of Magic, and seeing an opportunity Sigmar took the Wind of Heaven and bound it to Karl Franz, this gave him his arms back, gave him the ability to create his hammer out of nothing, and gave him the ability to shoot lightning out of his hands. He immediately used these new abilities to slap the Glottkin back to Nurgle's kitchen, and cleanse the city of Nurgle's forces.
Karl Franz Ascendant (also known as SUPERFRANZ) is also an absolute killing machine in the table, capable to wipe out nearly anything put in front of him, expect huge amounts of derp and rage from other factions used to get all the hard hitters as well as everyone bringing cannons to deal with him.
Actually, Karl Franz was dead all along. The lightning guy who arose in Altdorf was a shard of Sigmar Heldenhammer, who had split himself between Franz and Ghal-Maraz. When the Sigmar-Franz recovers Ghal-Maraz, he becomes Sigmar Heldenhammer reborn and promptly leads the other incarnates against Chaos in an epic battle where he manages to punch Archaon into a Chaos rift (Archaon does get the better of this exchange before Werner Volker, who's actually carrying the last spark of Ulric's divinity, interferes in their fight and distracts him). After Mannfred fucks everything up (GOD DAMMIT MANNFRED!), Archaon climbs out of the rift like a badass and takes on old blond Conan in an inconclusive wrestling match.
Total War: WARHAMMER
Karl is playable as a legendary lord, and faction leader, of the Empire faction. He starts off fighting a greenskin horde that tries to invade Altdorf only to find out that the no-good-ulric-worshipping dick Boris Todbringer has incited a rebellion causing the Empire Secessionists to occupy the other cities in Reikland.
As a Legendary Lord, he is a duelist that can wreck most lords in combat with his mighty Ghal Maraz. As he ranks up, he gets Deathwing as his rapetrain which lets him fly around and prey on greenskins, undead and heretics alike.
His other position in the game includes delivering awesome voice acting that burns straight into your brain, with lines like:
"NO PEACE, JUST WAR!"
"SUMMON THE ELECTOR COUNTS!"
"I'M FRANZ, THEY WILL OBEY!"
"I MUST SEE MY MEN!"
"THIS DOES NOT HAVE MY CONSENT!"
Other than that, there are also game images of him putting a smug look, which has transformed him into the official meme character for The Warhammer Fanstasy franchise since the games' release.
