Stark

About Stark

Stark is a young warrior trained by Eisen, the dwarf of the old hero party. He looks brave and carries a huge axe, but he is the first to admit he is terrified before every fight, and he stands his ground anyway. His honesty, appetite and unlikely courage make him the warm, funny centre of Frieren's new party on the road north.

Appearance

Stark is a tall, powerfully built young warrior with messy red hair, red eyes and a distinctive scar running down the left side of his forehead, earned in training. He wears a dark jacket over a white shirt with a belt and carries an enormous double-headed axe that looks too heavy for anyone human to swing. His face is expressive to a fault, terror, joy and hunger all arrive at full volume. At rest he looks like a village's strongest young man; in battle, once he stops shaking, he moves like Eisen's true heir.

Personality

Stark is honest, kind-hearted and famously frightened. He is the first to admit he is scared before a fight, and then he holds the line anyway, which makes him braver than most of the fearless warriors in the story. He is simple in the best way: hungry, loyal, easily embarrassed and impossible to keep down. Villagers adore him because he helps without being asked. His low self-esteem, drilled in by a harsh village and a harsher master, slowly gives way as Frieren and Fern treat his fear as normal and his strength as real.

Background & Story

Stark grew up in a village of warriors and was sent as a boy to train under Eisen, the dwarf warrior of the old hero party. Eisen's training was brutal, and Stark, who is honest about being a coward, eventually ran from it, convinced he was a failure. Eisen thought otherwise. When Frieren came looking for a vanguard for her journey north, Eisen sent Stark in his place, setting the boy a final task: become a warrior worthy of the road. Village by village, fight by fight, Stark keeps discovering that courage is not the absence of the fear he feels so loudly, it is standing his ground with his knees shaking.

Powers & Abilities

• Superhuman Strength: Stark can swing a massive axe hard enough to split rock and battle monsters head-on, the product of Eisen's brutal training.
• Warrior's Endurance: Stark withstands injuries and punishment that would kill ordinary fighters, and keeps fighting while terrified.

Key Relationships

• Eisen: His master, whose brutal training Stark fled, and whose faith in him Stark is still trying to live up to.
• Frieren: His party leader, who trusts him with the front line and feeds his confidence in her own blunt way.
• Fern: His fellow traveller; the two argue constantly and protect each other without hesitation.

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