Wiglaf: Wulf Picked a Better Friend Than He Realized

Wiglaf: Wulf Picked a Better Friend Than He Realized Wiglaf wants to become a Realm Knight. When he first tells us that, he's just been getting beaten up by other students, and he's still making jokes about how badly they hit. It doesn't exactly look like the beginning of some great warrior's career. But going back through the Abraxas Academy chapters, I think he's already showing the part of that job that matters most. Spoilers for Grimm Fairy Tales #109–111. He's Wulf's roommate at Abraxas, the school in Oz where Wulf ends up after Arcane Acre. He's the feline-looking student with the mane and the mouth that doesn't seem to know when to stop. When Natalie gets the bullies off him, he thanks her, then goes right back to talking about what he's going to become. He gets knocked around, but he hasn't given up on himself. He doesn't let Wulf turn every conversation into a tragedy about Wulf either. When Natalie points out that Wulf caused some of his own problems, Wiglaf is perfectly happy to enjoy watching his new friend get called out. That makes their friendship feel more believable to me. He likes the guy. He isn't there to worship him. The part that really establishes Wiglaf comes when Unferth locks Wulf in the Chamber. There's a party going on, and Wiglaf could stay there. Instead, he goes to get his roommate out. Apparently he's spent enough time in trouble himself to know how the lock works. Wulf gets his freedom back because somebody bothered to come looking for him. Then they hear the attack. Wiglaf isn't the one who defeats Grendel. He recognizes that they need help, and when Wulf tells him to get Adraste, he goes. He brings the adults back while Wulf is carrying the badly injured Natalie. Later, when Wulf insists on following Adraste through the portal because Natalie's treatment hasn't been finished, Wiglaf is the one holding her. He's afraid, he complains, and he still goes with them. That is where the jokes start becoming harder to read. At Arcane Acre, he keeps trying to reassure Natalie that help is coming. He tells her Wulf will be back, that Adraste will save her. By issue #111, he's attempting chest compressions and pleading with her. Whatever confidence he had at the party is gone. He's a frightened student trying desperately to keep somebody alive while another disaster unfolds around him. I don't need to invent a list of special cat powers to make Wiglaf worth talking about. The useful things he actually does are right there: he gets a friend out, brings help, carries someone who can't get herself to safety and stays with her when it gets awful. He wanted to be a Realm Knight. These chapters don't give him the title or some glorious victory. They give him people who need him, and he keeps showing up. That's why I remember him.