Character Analysis: Sabrewulf(Feat Lousy)

 Backstory

Height: 5’11

Weight: 415 lbs

Born as Konrad Von Sabrewulf, Sabrewulf’s life as an aristocrat took an unexpected turn one day after suffering a wolf bite that inflicted him with Lycanthropy. Like most werewolf stories, this turned him into an outcast among human civilization, forcing him into exile in an isolated tower in the forest. This did little to help with his mental state as his condition worsened and worsened until he couldn’t revert back to his human self.

Just as all of his attempts to find a cure failed and he seemed without hope, a message from Ultratech arrived, promising him a cure to his condition. On the condition that he compete in their Killer Instinct Tournament and win. While wary of Ultratech’s true motives, Sabrewulf accepted the deal, seeing it as his last chance for a cure. 

Canonically, Sabrewulf’s unwillingness to embrace his beast side becomes his undoing, forcing him out of the tournament, and losing the use of his two arms at the hands of Glacius. To make matters worse, a lynch mob had arrived and brutally beat him to the point of near death. Now back in the hands of Ultratech, he received new cybernetic arms and was ready to carry out his revenge on the one who injured him. Depending on whether or not he spares Glacius, he either returns to his own time again in hopes of finding a cure, or succumbs even further into his madness before finally embracing his beast side in its entirety.

-Sabrewulf’s backstory in KI2...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTNtf2YqhUg 

In the original Killer Instinct series at least.

In the reboot Konrad’s story is much the same, though instead of suffering a wolf bite, he stumbles upon a hidden family archive, and accidentally cuts himself on a trophy: The mounted claw of one of the werewolves that his family had hunted for generations. Using the remains of his family’s archives, he desperately attempted to find a cure, but only ended up making himself addicted to opiates. 

Ultratech once again offered him a cure, and Sabrewulf took the offer. And they once again implanted Sabrewulf with cybernetics, and unbeknownst to Sabrewulf, attempted to extend his cycle of lycanthropy until he was almost always a beast. Konrad naturally didn’t like this, and broke free during an early Killer Instinct tournament, ripping out his cybernetics and regenerating new organic arms with his knowledge of potions and the arcane.

For a brief time he had regained control of his sanity. But his addictions would ultimately lead him back to his beast side, and into the Killer Instinct tournament. His fate here also varies, but virtual all lead to him fully embracing what he always knew himself to be: A wolf with the heart of a man.

Experience

Original Timeline

-Fought in the original Killer Instinct tournament, but is stated to have canonically lost fairly early on. He still does get the chance to do battle with Glacius, however.

-During the events of Killer Instinct 2, he’s established to have fought Glacius again for revenge.

Reboot Timeline

-Fought Fulgore and Thunder.

-Survived an encounter with Mira in the Novella.

https://www.ultra-combo.com/ki-novella-chapter-4-conflux/  

Comics Timeline

-Is established to have had a 17-0 win streak.

https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Killer-Instinct/Issue-2?id=121140#10 

-Fought with Jago

Arsenal

Cybernetic Arms: After being defeated by Glacius, Ultratech upgraded Sabrewulf’s arms to be cybernetic. Though during the reboot he ends up ripping these out, and relying on his own strength.

Abilities

Beyond Superhuman Strength, Speed, & Durability, Sabrewulf has…

Pyrokinesis: Sabrewulf seems to be able to create, or at least summon, flaming bats. In the original, they appear to be made of some sort of green energy. 

Strength Buffs: Sabrewulf can temporarily increase his strength both through Howl, and while activating Instinct Mode.

Lycanthropy Claws: In the Killer Instinct comics, Sabrewulf’s claws had a chance of spreading lycanthropy onto whoever they come in contact with. This was how Jago got infected with the disease.

https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Killer-Instinct/Issue-4?id=121142#6 

Moves

Flaming Bat: Sabrewulf fires a flaming bat that moves towards the opponent as a projectile.

https://youtu.be/FOxn_qBcS_M?t=51 

Sabre Spin: A series of spinning slashes.

Sabre Roll: Sabrewulf rolls forward, slashing with his claws during his final strike.

Sabre Flip: Sabrewulf flips his legs into the air in a swiping motion.

https://youtu.be/UOSQtitUppA?t=19 

Sabre Pounce: Sabrewulf leaps forward, clawing at his opponent when landing.

Howl: Sabrewulf temporarily buffs his strength.

Hamstring: Sabrewulf slides across the ground, aiming for his opponent’s legs. The move can be used to move under projectiles.

Eclipse: Sabrewulf performs an overhead slash that forms a crescent-shaped arc.

Overpower: Sabrewulf reels back before striking with both claws.

Feral Rage: Sabrewulf’s Instinct Mode. Boosts his attack power and speed, and the range of his attacks considerably.

Feats

Strength & Destructive Power

-Tore through a steel door. (Killer Instinct, Issue 4, Page 16)

-Sabrewulf, like every Killer Instinct character can knock around Fulgore and Aganos. (500 lbs)

Speed & Agility

-No particularly notable speed feats, though he should scale to several other characters’ speed feats.

Durability & Survivability

-Survived an extended fight with Jago (Killer Instinct, Issue 2, Page 12-14).

Scaling

-Survived crashing through a stone wall (Killer Instinct, Issue 4, Page 13-14).

-Survived having his arms cut off by Glacius in the original Killer Instinct.

Scaling

Note: Because the power of characters varies from their original and reboot counterparts, I will specify which I’m scaling Sabrewulf to.

Who does Sabrewulf scale to?

Original

Sabrewulf directly fights Glacius in his story mode in the original Killer Instinct, and in Killer Instinct 2, killing him in one of his possible endings. As such, he should reasonably scale to both him and Cinder, who Glacius defeated. He should also scale to Tusk as least somewhat, as nothing implies Tusk is greatly above him.

Reboot

Sabrewulf fights with Thunder and Fulgore in his mode, and survives an encounter with Mira. He should reasonably scale to most of the mid-tier characters, including Fulgore, Glacius, and Aria.

Cinder (Original)

-Flew into a volcano at high speeds.

Glacius (Reboot)

-Blitzed Aria multiple times, who can perceive things down to the nanosecond.

Tusk (Original)

-Can summon a large meteor

Weaknesses

While fairly strong, Sabrewulf is far from Killer Instinct’s top fighter. He ultimately lost to Glacius during their bout, and has seen similar losses in the comics. In the new reboot, he also has a really bad addiction to substances of all kinds: Alcohol, drugs, ETC. Though even in the original timeline he has never quite managed to control his werewolf side.