Brad Meadows, publicly known as Hookwolf, is a member of Empire Eighty-Eight.
Personality
Hookwolf had "a tendency for violence and a thirst for blood", and sometimes thought that he would have done better in an era where martial glory was more valued.[3] Related to this, he followed something of a personal "warriors code" that supposedly guided his actions. Meadows was largely opportunistic, enjoying the protection of Empire Eighty-Eight after he murdered someone. He seems to have taken to their philosophy as a matter of course and likely did not believe it.[4]
He refused to turn his back on The Chosen, calling them "his people". Shatterbird, who had studied him, blackmailed him by leaving instructions to target his followers as part of his "tests" for the Nine if she were killed or if he refused to join.[3]
He was overly attached to the "wolf" theme, leading him to take suboptimal forms.[5][6]
Appearance
Brad is a big man, hairy, with long, greasy blond hair, an "E88" tattoo on one bicep, and a wolf superimposed on a swastika on the other. Usually wears a metal wolf mask in human form, as a reference to his favorite metal form.[7]
Abilities and Powers
Hookwolf can transform into a shifting mass of hooks, blades and other weapons.[8] He prefers to assume of the form of a large wolf-like creature, but is not limited to that shape.[3] Under the influence of Jacob, Meadows began showcasing his versatility assuming forms like like a Wolf-headed serpent or even an amorphous glob of blades.[9] Even when he appeared human, Hookwolf had metal encasing each of his muscles.[3][10]
Hookwolf perceives his power as him pushing metal out from a 'core', into which he can draw his fleshy human body for protection.[3] Hookwolf's eyes still remain human, but are protected by a shifting screen of blades.[3] It took him energy to create metal, although he was able to "recycle" it by drawing it back into his core.[3]
His alternate form can take an amazing amount of damage, being torn in half by Leviathan. However, when this happened, the 'core' remained undamaged. This allowed Hookwolf to shift his remaining half back into his unscathed human state.[11]
History
Background
Hookwolf was a trained fighter "before he was a fighter with powers".[3] He fought in illegal lethal parahuman fighting rings alongside Stormtiger and Cricket before having to go into hiding to escape a murder charge.[12] Hookwolf had murdered someone who was considered an acceptable target by Empire Eighty-Eight and would fight alongside them for protection.[12]
Has committed numerous felonies[2] and was known to have escaped while being transported to the Birdcage twice.[7] Because he was sentenced to the Birdcage, the normal steps to protect his identity weren't taken.[13]
Story Start
Hookwolf had risen to being the right hand man of E88. He also gained income from several illegal dog fighting rings.
Staged ambush on the police barricade during the rampage caused by E88's identities being revealed.[12]
Faced off against Leviathan when he came to the city, being one of the front liners who faced the beast.[14]
Post-Leviathan
With Empire Eighty-Eight's leadership gone, Hookwolf formed his own faction - Fenrir's Chosen,[2] and started claiming territory and recruiting people in the devastated Brockton Bay.[15]
Slaughterhouse 9
He turned down recruitment by the Slaughterhouse 9,[3] and called a truce meeting to fight against them.
After exposure to Bonesaw's agnosia miasma they were successful at acquiring him. Forgetting his friends and loved ones and snapped up for the Nine.
Following this he was further twisted into a loyal member of the Nine shedding whatever fictions he had as a moral code while in the group.[16] He slowly lost more and more of his mind as well.[17]
Would go into stasis with the Nine and come back for the Slaughterhouse 9000 war.
Post-Timeskip
Jack Slash rode him to take advantage of his many blades. Met his end when Foil pierced his organic core with one of her empowered projectiles.[18]
Trivia
- While his is officially classified as a Shaper[2] he is listed as Changer for ease of reference and given that Shaper is an out-dated classification.[19]
- Hookwolf can be traslated as Flyfoot, symbols that are a precurser to the Nazi swastika.
References
- ↑ Hookwolf: Brad Meadows - Private conversation with Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 “Let’s see, the next group is… Fenrir’s Chosen?”
“One of two major offshoots of the Aryan villain group, Empire Eighty-Eight, which fell apart after the death of their leader, Kaiser. Fenrir’s Chosen are led by Hookwolf. Violent, utterly merciless, and reveling in the current chaos.”
“And it looks like he’s a Shaper 4, Brute 7, with the longest list of homicides or suspected homicides I’ve seen on someone who wasn’t already in prison. Thick file, I take it he has lots of followers?”
“The largest group in terms of parahuman numbers, at present.” - Excerpt from Sentinel 9.1 - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Interlude 11e
- ↑ Speculation by Wildbow on Reddit
- ↑ He knew. Shatterbird chastized him because he was a little fond of the 'wolf' theme. - Wildbow on Spacebattles
- ↑ Hookwolf – A onetime contestant in underground Parahuman fighting tournaments, he found his way into Empire Eighty Eight after murdering a stadium manager, then formed a splinter group after Kaiser’s death. His journey has led him to the Slaughterhouse Nine. A ‘caniform metalstorm’, Hookwolf is a powerful shapeshifter with the ability to replace parts of his body with shapes comprised of blades, hooks and needle points, all violently shuffling amongst one another. His favored form is a quadruped ‘wolf’, thus his name. - Cast (in depth)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hive 5.2
- ↑ Hookwolf – A white supremacist in Brockton Bay, originally one of Kaiser’s lieutenants, Hookwolf can transform himself into a shifting mass of hooks, blades and other weapons. - Worm Cast Page
- ↑ Interlude 26b
- ↑ Bread Matthews Hookwolf Can transform into mass of blades and metal objects, form roughly customizable - parahumanList, bolded edit by Wildbow.
- ↑ Leviathan used his claws to heave Hookwolf off his face, tore the metal beast in half, and then threw the pieces down to the ground, hard. One landed straight on top of Shadow Stalker, the other almost seemed to bounce, rapidly condensing into a roughly humanoid form before it touched the ground again, landing in a crouch. Hookwolf backed away, the blades drawing together into a human shape, skin appearing as they withdrew. He brought his hand over his head and pointed forward at Leviathan. A signal for the next front-liner. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.5
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Buzz 7.7
- ↑ Without_Thinker:
What does the public think about this? We're told that, for example, Hookwolf has escaped from Birdcage transport twice; does no one get angry about the multi-murdering Nazi being allowed to have a civilian identity?
[–]Wildbow:
The fact that he's en route to the birdcage means the usually 'coddling' isn't happening. - What do they do when someone is arrested? (Wildbow, reddit.com, 2016) - ↑ A slash of Leviathan’s tail brought down two of the stuffed entities, and Hookwolf tackled him to ensure the Endbringer didn’t get a moment’s respite. Leviathan caught Hookwolf around the middle with his tail, flecks of blood and flesh spraying from the tail as it circled Hookwolf’s body of skirring, whisking blades. Leviathan hurled Hookwolf away. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.5
- ↑ Sentinel 9.1
- ↑ Interlude 16 (Donation Bonus 2)
- ↑ “It doesn’t sit well,” Hookwolf said. “I can’t articulate why. My thoughts are still cloudy.”
Bonesaw hit a button, and the lights began to flicker, the engine beside her starting to hum with a progressively higher pitch. With the flickering of the lights came glimpses of the things beyond. Light on glass and wires.
“I’d rather a Ragnarök than-" - Excerpt from Interlude 20 - ↑ Excerpt from Interlude 26b
- ↑ Wildbow - Today at 7:08 PM
What profhoy said. They were collapsed into one another when it became more trouble than it was worth to distinguish between controllers & masters. Current protocols work for most situations where you need to quickly communicate possibilities.
And the recruits kept getting tired of 'mover, shaker, catcher, brick, brute and breaker, shaper, razor, master, controller, changer, tinker, thinker, uhhhh..." - Worm Quotes and WoG Repository on Spacebattles, quoted post by Wildbow.
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