Berserker/Bio & Battles

"One text describes them as "mad as dogs or wolves" and "strong as bears or wild bulls". They had the strange habit of chewing the edge of their shields before battle and emitting roars and growls."

- R.G. Grant, "Warrior: A Visual History of the Fighting Man", pages 52-53

The regular Vikings warriors of old where formidable hit-and-run raiders, yet their prowess in battle and savagery was nothing compared to those whom all feared, those whom the Vikings used effectively as bestial shock troops, those who had the strength of wild beasts: the Berserkers. The Berserkers where bear-skin clad warriors who fought with no armor and in a crazed frenzy brought about by their rituals and chants. Some wore these skins over most of their body, with the head and jaw skins over their heads and faces, while others wore the skins like a cape, with the upper head and ear skins covering the tops of their heads and exposing their faces. The latter went into battle otherwise naked. A similar group of warriors, the wolf-skin clad Ulfhednar (pronounced Ulf-heth-nar), where just as powerful and mad as the Beserkers, and eventually where absorbed by them.

When Berserkers fought they where said to be immune to arrows, swords and fire, to be as strong as bears or bulls, and immune to pain. It seems that, whatever the rituals and chants that brought about their inner, bestial natures, also brought about major adrenaline surges, increasing their strength and speed to superhuman levels (possibly upwards of 10 times their normal strength: beyond this and ligaments and joints will tear), rendering them immune to pain, and lessening their blood flow. Many of the ideas we have of Vikings stem from the Berserkers. The Ulfehdnar, in particular, due to their powers in battle and dress, was a major influence of European Werewolf Legends.

The "Wendol" of Michael Crighton's "The 13th Warrior/Eaters of the Dead", which where neanderthals in bearskins, where inspired by Berserkers.

Battle vs. Vampire (Folklore) (by GSFB)
Berserkers:

Vampires:

Eastern Russia, 1066 AD. In a black forest hounded by the sounds of Bears and Trolls, a Vampire emerges into a clearing. Behind him, four of his groupies follow him. They are on the hunt for prey, and they have smelled 5 mortals in the woods, nearby a river. The head Vampire sniffs the air, sensing they are near, yet also sensing that something aint right...

The head Vampire, Nosfer, points in seveal directions, and the others follow: 3 females, 1 male.

Nearby an ancient tree, the male underling vampire, Atu, stalks his prey. Finally he catches a glipmse of the human, who is covered head to toe in bearskins and wielding two axes. His head is covered in the headskin of a European Brown bear. The Berserker, himself on the hunt for pillage, hears the vampire and turns, growling. The Vampire is startled, and the Berserker roars and charges, his axes in the air. The Vampire, shocked and baffled by being on the recieving end of an attack instead of launching an attack, bares his teeth and claws. The Vampire is even more shocked when the Berserker shows off speed almost on par with his, and strength beyond that of mortals, though still less than vampires. The Berserker strikes with his axes, and the Vampire blocks with his claws. Over and over the Berserker strikes, and each time the steel-strong claws leave deep cuts in the iron blades. The Vampire tries to bite, but the Berserker bites back and hits him in the adam's apple. The Berserker goes for a downward thrust, but the vampire blocks and quickly stabs the chest and face of the Viking with claws. However, the Vampire does not know that the Berserker feels no pain, and with a quick slice the monster's head drops to the frozen earth.

Two of the female Vampires hear the violence and run to aid their comrade. However, two berserkers confront them, one wielding a mighty Dane axe, another two spears. One of the Vampires, Ravanna, realizes what they face, and readies herself. the other, Anne, snarls like a wolf and readies to recieve the Vikings, who attack. Ravanna perries the dane axe of one Berserker and then thrusts her claws to the Viking's head.

Anne grasps the arms of the other Berserker, overpowers him, and goes for the throat.

Three hundred yards away, the head vampire and the other female are ambushed by the three remaining Berserkers. The Head Vampire blocks a double strike by a Berserker wielding axes, and puts his left hand behind the warrior's head, stabbing where the spine meets the skull, and into the brain. The other Female, Susanna, is cutting her Berserker opponent savagely, and is about to land a killing fist blow to the head when another Berserker attacks from the rear, splitting her skull with a downward strike of a double-bladed broadsword. The two warriors gang up on the master Vampire, cutting him to pieces.

The last Berserkers head towards their Viking river ship. The Berserker that was severely wounded, Aulf the Wise, drops his shield, broken by a slap from the vampire Susanna, gets the ship ready to sail off. Just when he turns to cut the rope holding the ship to the shore, he notices his friend, Erik the Blue, has dissappeared. Standing next to a torch, Aulf pulls out his two Sax knives and readies for the final assault. Before it comes, he spots the last tw vampires in a nearby tree. The Vampiresses leap from the tree together, their teeth and claws bared, and tackle the Viking to the floor of the ship, his head bitten into, his chesy impaled with their claws.

Ravanna, suffering a wound to the chest that barely missed her heart, stands and pulls the knife out. She looks over Anne, turning her over. Her eyes are glazed, her breath lacking, a sax knife imbedded in her heart, her chest bleeding.

Looking around, trying to sense any further danger, Ravanna roars with her hand towards the Full Moon!

Winner=Vampires!

Expert's Opinion
The Vampires were victorious due to their super speed and strength. They also had more stamina than even the Berserkers so long as the sun wasn't out. The Vampires were able to take advantage of the human frailties of an unarmored opponent (even one like the Berserker) before the Berksers were able to learn their opponents' weaknesses from scratch and adapt to them. Even with the benefits of weaponry, the Berserker came in at a disadvantage against superhuman beings who likely had years of experience against people with weapons, given their average lifespan.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Juramentado (by SPARTAN 119)

 * Berserkergang: [[File:Darkred.png]] [[File:Darkred.png]] [[File:Darkred.png]] [[File:Darkred.png]] [[File:Darkred.png]]


 * Juramentado: [[File:Green.png]] [[File:Green.png]] [[File:Green.png]] [[File:Green.png]] [[File:Green.png]]

Five Berserkers stood around a campfire, reciting ancient chants, working themselves into a rage for the coming battle. Suddenly, a shout was heard over the chants: "La ilaha il-la'l-lahu" ("There is no god but Allah"- though the Vikings obviously had no idea what it meant").

The Berserkers turned to see five juramentadoes charge out of the forests swords in hand. The nearest juramentado lunged at a berserker with a panabas and brought down the blade, cleaving through the man's shoulder, into his chest. The Viking fell to the ground, dead.

The other four berserkers drew their weapons and charged at the juramentadoes in a furious rage. A berserker armed with a Dane axe brought the weapon down on the juramentado who killed his fellow with a furious roar. The juramentado tried to block with his panabas, but the axe simply snapped the handle of the weapon in half and kept going, splitting the Juramentado's skull.

A few feet from the other berserker, as Juramentado armed with a kampilan slashed at another berserker, this one wielding a broadsword. The Viking blocked the blow and retaliated, thrusting his sword through the Juramentado's chest, roaring as he did so.

The thick bandaging of the Juramentado meant the blow did not kill him instantly, but he was still bleeding out. As a last strike, the juramentado drew a kalis and thrust it through the berserker's neck. Seconds later, the juramentado finally bled out. Both warriors fell dead.

Another juramentado ran at a berserker, swinging a barong. The Viking tried to the swing his sword at the juramentado at the same time, but the juramentado sidestepped the attack and swung his parang with such force that it chopped off the berserker's right arm.

The berserker did not seem to notice, except perhaps that his shouts of rage got louder as he drew his knifr with his remaining hand, rushing forward and slashing the juramentado's throat in a spray of blood.

As the now one-armed berserker stood over the fallen juramentado, however, another juramentado charged in, kampilan in hand, and made a wide slashing attack that severed the head of the unaware berserker.

The last two surviving berserkers charged at the kampilan-wielding juramentado and took a great swing of his axe, but the juramentado blocked with his sword. Unfortunately for the juramentado, the second Viking was on to him, wildly swinging his longsword, slicing off the juramentado's arm and leaving a gash across his chest. The berserker than finished off his enemy with a thrust through the chest.

The final juramentado charged at the two berserkers, however, the one with the Dane axe raised the weapon over his head and threw it at the juramentado, catching him in the face with the blade and causing him to fall forward, the axe still embedding his skull.

The berserker retreived his axe, before both of the surviving berserkers raised their blood-stained blades in the air and gave a wild yell.

WINNER: Berserkergang

Expert's Opinion
The berserker won this battle because of his superior weapons, as well and the pain-reducing and strength-increasing effects of the berserk state. The juramentado, while more mentally aware, was not able to counter a crazed, well-armed, bloodthirsty enemy.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.