Lukas the Trickster
"I think you have my eyes. It must've been your great, maybe great-great, grandmother I was... Acquainted with."
- – Lukas with a Blood Claw that looks familiar.
In a chapter known for its rebellious streak and tendency to stick a middle finger up at larger Imperial authority to get shit done, Lukas the Trickster of the Space Wolves (also called the Strifeson, the Laughing One, the Jackalwolf, and That Enormous Prick; the last by both enemies and lovers) stands out for his legendary example of these...traits. He is despised by half the Wolf Lords for his constant mooning them during council meetings but does he care? Nah, he sees it all as part of the fun. He has never made it out of the Blood Claw packs due to his perceived immaturity but there is no denying his skills are far beyond most Wolf Guards and then some.
He also has renown as a serial shagger amongst the womenfolk of Fenris with the stamina of a herd of stallions; on one famed occasion, he famously once slept with a dozen women in one night. That might sound stupid, but Space Wolves recruit them relatively old, Fenris could be like some of Earth's historical societies where a boy became a man at age 13 (thus being able to start having sex then, if not slightly earlier) and the Space Wolves are famous for not becoming asexual with multiple Space Wolf characters still displaying sexual attraction to various women, so this could have happened at anytime. In the novel with his name, Lukas stated he also has tons of illegitimate children or other assorted descendants (one of the female characters who has his hair and eyes is all but stated to be one of his descendants) and he secretly goes around looking after his bastard children when he's not doing Space Marine stuff (that's surprisingly responsible and manly of him) with the implication he still sleeps around. It's also worth remembering that it is never stated that the Astartes are sterile (though GW flip-flops about whether or not Space Marines have their genitals removed) they're just conditioned to ignore sexual impulses as distractions, but the Space Wolves don't seem to do it because they consider getting laid a lot to be a sign of manly warrior strength to boast and laugh about at the mess hall. Keep in mind that Space Marines technically aren't genetically modified. They are filled with growth hormones of various kinds (probably mostly ones that don't occur naturally in addition to testosterone) to make them big, biological and artificial implants are stuck in them and various body parts are replaced (eyes and ears for instance) and the progenoid manages these implants and ensures the body does not reject them (usually). But, growth hormone treatment is not genetic alteration. They're still normal humans with extra stuff added to them, so they would still be able to have perfectly normal human children provided they still had dicks. In fact, they'd probably be very virile.
The only reason Logan Grimnar has not exiled him from the Chapter is because he recognizes that Lukas represents the rebellious nature of the Wolves and because for all of his antics Lukas is loyal to the organization itself, still gets the job done and gets it done well. Also, the other half of the Wolf Lords think he's hilarious.
Since his induction he has shown his penchant for playing 'tricks' on others, although his victims are in little agreement over the humor of it. He locked an Inquisitorial Delegation in a grox breeding pen while the creatures were in heat (saucy) and spiked the drink of the Wolf Lord Hrothgar with some bloat-toad venom. These acts have led him to gain something of a cult following amongst the Blood Claws, as big an asshole as he is. Currently he is attached to Ragnar Blackmane's company, that being the only group of hot headed idiots capable of stomaching the crazy lout. It helps that Blackmane, who is still a Blood Claw at heart, is one of the Wolf Lords who thinks Lukas is hilarious, to the point where he stopped Wolf Lord Bjorn Stormwolf from beating him to death for filling his Terminator Armour with bloodlice, making him itch uncontrollably.
When he turns his tricks on the Imperium's enemies however they produce stunning results (perhaps the only reason the hostile half of the Wolf Lords have never kicked him out of the nearest airlock; that and a belief that if they tried, then he'd somehow be the one in the ship and they'd be spacing themselves). He caused an Ork civil war with a series of faked transmissions; used a necrovirus on the cell of traitor Mechanicus adepts that made it in the first place; and caused a bunch of Word Bearers to land on thin ice, resulting in hundreds of traitor marine deaths, including the Chaos Lord (that alone would make any battle brother go down in history for grand efforts of trolling and earn a gold star from the Emperor).
His second finest dick move was using ancient tech to good effect during an Ork Waaagh. As the creatures attempted to conquer a planet, Lukas flicked the climate controls from 'normal' to 'chill motha' fuckas!'. When the great company arrived in force they found the orks were little more than ice statues and the temperature a pleasant reminder of home to them. This is also a terrifying example of how ridiculously advanced Dark Age humanity was.
Lukas was only beaten once and by the mad Dark Eldar corsair Duke Sliscus, who removed Lukas' secondary heart as a parting gift and kicked him out an airlock (which the Wolf Lords had wet dreams about; if it wasn't for the fact that Sliscus was a mood-swinging Dark Eldar, you'd think he and Lukas would bond over their mutual rebellious streak and rampant philandering). Lukas though just laughed about it afterwards and had a stasis bomb put in place of his second heart. Should his primary heart every stop beating then....he will end up having the last laugh on his killer who will be frozen forever in his dying moment of glory.
Recently, Lukas made his finest dick move to date: tricking Magnus the Red while looking him in the eye. He accompanied Njal Stormcaller and Arjac Rockfist to Prospero to rescue some Space Wolf legionnaires trapped inside a man-made Webway since the Razing. Magnus caught him and at first threatened him, then tempted him to give up a Rune of Unlocking that would allow his complete take-over of said man-made Webway and use of it to empower him in real space. Lukas gave the thing up, only to reveal that he had never had the aforementioned Rune in hand before being spirited away. One can only imagine how horrifying he'd have been as an Alpha Legionnaire. Unless...
Also, it was revealed that Lukas is secretly afraid of the Wulfen curse.
On the Tabletop[edit]
Lukas is a Blood Claw with the stat block of a Wolf Guard Battle Leader, the only difference being his Leadership of eight, which any accompanied Blood Claw squad (and he can only join Blood Claws) will be forced to use. Many of the issues with that can easily be averted by adding a Wolf Priest to watch over them, which can be quite viable considering they are a close combat unit.
7th Edition[edit]
| Pts | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas the Trickster: | 80 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3+ |
Lukas has Acute senses and ATSKNF as he should, plus Counterattack and Independent Character. His special rules are Blood Claws Hero (only blood claws put up with his bullshit), Rebellious (forces his bloodclaw unit to use his leadership of 8 at all times, NEVER higher) and his famous Last Laugh which stasis bombs an enemy that kills Lukas in a challenge if you beat them on a D6 rolloff. Gear wise Lukas comes with a wolfclaw and a plasma pistol, power armor, and frag and krak grenades.
Note that this Last Laugh, his trademark, was once the bane of Titans everywhere, as he could single-handedly remove any Titan that accidentally stepped on him. As of 7E, it's now been knocked down to just being in challenges and even then if the Player beats the other guy in a roll-off. Yeah, kind of a weak laugh.
8th Edition[edit]
| Pts | WS | BS | S | T | W | A | Ld | Sv | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas the Trickster: | 80 | 2+ | 3+ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3+ |
Lukas has ATSKNF as he should, plus the CHARACTER and BLOOD CLAW keywords as he should. His special rules are Blood Claws Hero (only blood claws put up with his bullshit and re-roll wound rolls of 1 within 6 inches of him), Master of Mischief (subtracts 1 to the Leadership of ANY unit within 3 inches of him, yes it does include allied units), The Pelt of the Doppepangrel (subracts 1 to any hit rolls made against him in close combat) and his famous Last Laugh which stasis bombs an enemy that kills Lukas if you beat them on a D6 rolloff and suffers D6 mortal wounds. Gear wise Lukas comes with a wolfclaw and a plasma pistol, power armor, and frag and krak grenades.
As of 8E, his Last Laugh has now been changed so it only works if he's killed in close combat and even then only if the Player beats the other guy in a roll-off. Yeah, still kind of a weak laugh.
Trivia[edit]
Lukas is obviously based on the Norse God Loki, the God of Trickery and a good move in the right direction; less furry and more VIKINGS in space please, GW.