Video Games

Total War: Warhammer 3 – Karanak revealed as free Legendary Hero

Creative Assembly is letting the dog out

Marco Wutz

Creative Assembly / Sega

Fans of Total War: Warhammer 3 continue to eat well as Creative Assembly has announced that a free Legendary Hero will join the game soon: Karanak, the Hound of Vengeance.

Based on the three-headed guard dog Cerberus from Greek mythology, Karanak is the guardian of Khorne’s Throne of Brass and the Blood God’s most favored hound. Each of his three heads possesses a different way of tracking prey, making it the ultimate hunting companion.

Anyone unfortunate enough to incur Khorne’s wrath will be marked as prey for Karanak, who will mercilessly hunt them down, no matter in which daemonic realm or dimension of reality they try to hide in. Khorne being Khorne and basically always being irritated by someone or something, Karanak is kept pretty busy when it comes to hunting. In his rare time off he lies below the Throne of Brass, snacking on anything and anyone coming too close to the Blood God’s seat.

Total War: Warhammer 3 screenshot showing Karanak during a charge.
Karanak hunts alongside Khorne's legions. / Creative Assembly / Sega

Karanak shares the magical resistance typical for followers of Khorne and can cross the field of battle at enormous speed – once he’s located his prey, he’s pretty much unstoppable. Nothing escapes his senses, which means he can easily detect any hidden units on the battlefield. This hound is a perfect anti-magic weapon with his Brass Collar of Bloody Vengeance silence nearby casters and negating magic attacks. Once Karanak has closed with a target, he drains its fatigue and then goes in for the kill.

Aside from Skarbrand, Karanak will likely be available for Legendary Lords from the Warriors of Chaos, as has been the case for previously released Legendary Heroes with a similar status.

Creative Assembly announced Karanak during the Warhammer Skulls 2024 showcase, where it also debuted a new accolades trailer celebrating Thrones of Decay, the latest expansion for Total War: Warhammer 3. 

Adding Tamurkhan, Elspeth von Draken, and Malakai Makaisson with their respective factions as well as bringing massive overhauls to Nurgle, the Empire, and the Dwarfs to the table as part of the free Update 5.0, Thrones of Decay marked a major turning point for Creative Assembly, allowing the studio to rebuild its relationship with the Total War community in the wake of several disastrous decisions made last year.

Recent rumors indicate that a Total War: Star Wars game may be in development at the British company.

Published
Marco Wutz

MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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