Thorfinn (トルフィン, Torufin), also nicknamed Karlsefni, is the main protagonist of the manga and anime, Vinland Saga. He is a former warrior of the Askeladd band, and the son of Thors, the most famous Jomsviking warrior until his defection. Thorfinn is related to the leadership of the Jomsvikings through his mother Helga, who is the daughter of Chief Sigvaldi and the niece of Thorkell.
After attacking Canute in a rage when the latter killed Askeladd, the death of which was Thorfinn's goal for most of his life, Thorfinn was enslaved as a punishment. Four years later he gained his freedom and changed his life. He is currently a traveling merchant working with Leif Ericson and attempting to colonize Vinland.
Appearance
Thorfinn's appearance is pretty consistent throughout the story. He has bushy hair, old clothes, two knives, and a rebellious, angry face.
He is also relatively short. When Thorfinn was a child, he had a happier face, round with bright, curious eyes, and well-kept hair. He has a somewhat slight build that belies his strength.
Background
Thorfinn was born on 996 in Iceland where his family had fled after Thors had decided to abandon the Jomsvikings. He grew up not knowing about his father's past or his connection to the Jomsvikings.
Personality
When the series begins, Thorfinn is shown as an innocent and friendly boy who is searching for adventure. He shared a very good relationship with his family and enjoyed stories told by Leif about his adventures. He has a good relationship with his father and looked up to him immensely, shown when he decides to follow Thors by sneaking on his boat to follow him. This would become the foundation of Thorfinn's drive to avenge his father.
However, by the time he joins Askeladd's band, he is a cold-blooded individual, hellbent on his goal to avenge his father. He becomes aloof toward others, unmoved by and uninterested in what they do or thinks of him, choosing instead to keep to himself. This is seen when Thorfinn ignores the invitations from his fellow Vikings to join in on the fun and his refusing to eat dinner with the rest of them.
His flaws lie in his temper and impulsive nature. This is seen when he ignores Askeladd's input despite the benefits it may be able to bring him, which leads to him losing fights against Askeladd. Frequently throughout the series, Thorfinn's reckless nature leads to his own suffering and failure. Even if he does possess talent far beyond the norm for his age, his hot-headedness is easily his biggest weakness. This weakness also unfolds with an inability to learn from mistakes, and several times, Thorfinn has hallucinations with his late father, asking him if this is really the right way to go, and he just ignores it all. This is probably a metaphor to show that the difference between the old Thorfinn and the current one is not much big, and inside his iron fortress, he is just a wrong-headed boy.
He also showed a great lack of empathy, as he did not seem to care when Askeladd's gang murdered civilians and raped women, he just walked away with disgust. Although he sometimes told his possible victims to run when he was not in the mood to kill them, but he didn't really care anyway.