Dean Unferth: The Adult Who Already Decided Who Wulf Was

Dean Unferth: The Adult Who Already Decided Who Wulf Was Unferth meets Wulf with a warning. He's heard about him, and he's going to be watching him. Wulf hasn't exactly arrived at Abraxas Academy with a spotless record, so I understand why the dean would have concerns. The problem is how quickly those concerns turn into a complete judgment of the kid in front of him. Spoilers for Grimm Fairy Tales #109–110. Abraxas is in Oz, and its students are supposed to become the next generation of wizards, witches, sorcerers, healers and Realm Knights. Adraste introduces that future with a speech about who will prove worthy. Unferth is the other side of the introduction: the person students will answer to when they don't meet the school's expectations. With Wulf, he seems to take that personally almost immediately. After Wulf is caught in Natalie's room, Unferth takes him to the Chamber. On the way, he talks about having been at the school since the days of Scyld Scefing. He admires the old king's way of keeping order and suggests Wulf would have been left starving in the streets under that kind of rule. This isn't simply telling a student to follow the rules. He's describing the harsh treatment he thinks somebody like Wulf deserves. Wulf doesn't help himself. He keeps making sarcastic remarks and pushing until Unferth loses his temper. You can see exactly why these two make each other worse. One of them has decided he's dealing with a hopeless troublemaker. The other would rather turn the whole thing into a fight than give the man anything he could mistake for respect. But then Grendel attacks, and the situation isn't about detention anymore. Wiglaf brings Unferth and Adraste to the aftermath. Wulf is carrying Natalie, who has been badly hurt. Unferth's first reaction is to ask Wulf what he did to her. I think that is the most revealing moment he gets. A student needs help, bodies are involved, and his existing opinion of Wulf supplies the answer before he knows what happened. He does become part of the emergency response. Wulf orders him to take Natalie and Wiglaf away from All-Modor, and Adraste later tells him to get the students to safety and look for survivors. It would be unfair to turn him into the secret cause of everything or claim he refuses every opportunity to help. The comic doesn't give us that. The final confrontation with Wulf is ugly enough without adding anything. Unferth tries to stop him following Adraste. Wulf wants Natalie's healing finished and punches the dean unconscious before leaving with Wiglaf and her. Unferth isn't the monster in this story, but he makes the school feel less safe long before the monster arrives. For me, his role is a reminder of how badly an adult can handle a difficult student when every new event becomes confirmation of a decision he's already made.