Midwak

Midwak is an experienced werewolf whose exile from Lupus's pack turns a gifted prospective Ironfang into an Omega driven by strength, revenge, and the hope of reclaiming Ylva. He enters the Howlers' story as an enemy far stronger than their early wolves and is forced into Gary Dem's pack after defeat. What begins as supernatural captivity gradually becomes a loyalty Midwak chooses for himself: Gary keeps his bargains, the younger Howlers accept his knowledge and training, and Midwak eventually abandons the Alpha title he once sought in favor of protecting the pack that gave him another place to belong.

Biography

A warrior's promise, Ylva, and exile

Midwak originally belongs to the old pack that Lupus trains as a hidden society of warriors. Lupus notices his fighting talent and offers him a route into the Ironfangs, the pack's elite combat unit. Midwak embraces that future because he is proud of what the pack is building and loyal to its Alpha; at this stage he is not trying to replace Lupus. His private life is equally settled. He and Ylva live together as long-term partners, regard one another as nearly married, and expect their shared life to continue alongside Midwak's rise as a warrior. (Chapters 1260–1261)

That future breaks when Lupus tests the pack's women and selects Ylva as his Luna. The position is not merely ceremonial: she must move into the castle, form an intimate supernatural bond with the Alpha, and become the partner who can awaken and regulate his highest form. Midwak learns what happened only after the choice has been made. He storms the castle, sees Ylva's white Luna eyes, and challenges Lupus in anger. The challenge is less a calculated bid for command than a desperate attempt to recover the woman and life he believes were taken from him. He loses decisively. Although Galdark argues that he should be executed, Lupus instead exiles him, declares him an Omega, and forbids him from returning. (Chapters 1261–1262)

Exile gives Midwak's pursuit of strength a new and corrosive purpose. Cut off from the pack structure in which he had expected to mature, he comes to believe that only becoming powerful enough to kill Lupus and take an Alpha position can undo his humiliation. He later admits that he did not initially desire the title; the ambition grew out of losing Ylva. That distinction explains both his brutality and its limits. He spends years presenting himself as a solitary predator who needs no one, but his feud remains rooted in an attachment he never resolved rather than in a coherent wish to lead other werewolves. (Chapters 1262–1264)

Scatterbugs enforcer and captive Howler

As an Omega, Midwak tries to stay beneath his former pack's attention. He eventually enters Notsburg and attacks the Scatterbugs, but chooses to serve Slith rather than openly take the gang. Slith supplies money, strong Altered subordinates, and a useful public front, while Midwak becomes the organization's strongest enforcer without exposing a werewolf as its true ruler. When ordered to eliminate the masked Howlers, he attacks Numba, Izzy, and Ian at a pool club, overwhelms Kai in their first werewolf battle, and leaves Kai displayed as a warning. His opening conduct is deliberately terroristic: strength is his language, and innocent or peripheral fighters are acceptable leverage if they draw out the Alpha he wants. (Chapters 528, 533–535, 552–553)

Gary's invasion of the Scatterbugs base upends that arrangement. Midwak kills Slith himself, attempts to install himself as leader, and consumes defeated Altereds to strengthen and refuel his body. Austin, Olivia, Innu, and Marie can wound or restrain him only through coordinated attacks, anti-Altered equipment, and Innu's red axes. Gary is initially a lower Bishop grade while Midwak is at least Rook grade, and the Omega's experience, healing, claw projectiles, and stamina nearly decide the fight. Gary survives through his newly evolved Dark Warrior class, Last Stand, and his pack's intervention, then promotes himself to Rook grade after victory. (Chapters 553–568)

Rather than kill him, Gary uses his new rank to force Midwak into the Howlers. The transfer turns Midwak's yellow Omega eyes blue and places him under detailed Pack Rules: he cannot attack the Howlers or their umbrella organization, must obey the core members, cannot kill except to preserve his life, cannot bite others, and cannot leave Notsburg without permission. Midwak accurately calls the arrangement imprisonment. The Howlers withhold food while questioning him because low Energy prevents him from transforming or rapidly healing, and the bond compels answers about Omega status, werewolf grades, old packs, Dark Warriors, and vampires. He agrees to administer the former Scatterbugs territory only because doing so keeps him alive and leaves open the monthly right to challenge Gary for Alpha. (Chapters 569–574)

Challenges, training, and earned membership

Midwak initially treats cooperation as a long route to takeover. He warns Gary that ritual restrictions and full-moon vulnerabilities could leave the Howlers helpless against another Alpha, but also tests every boundary of the rules binding him. Gary eventually accepts a daytime challenge specifically to remove the Dark Warrior's nocturnal advantage from the comparison. The fight is close, yet Gary wins through his improving technique and control rather than a night-only statistic boost. Afterward Midwak keeps the promise attached to that defeat and, despite retaining his wild manner, stops making the recurring challenges that once defined his relationship to the pack. (Chapters 638–647, 758–761)

That shift is gradual rather than sentimental. Midwak continues to rule Notsburg through intimidation and is still capable of callous violence, but he also becomes a training resource for people he once tried to kill. Kai secretly spars with him to overcome his fear of transformation, improve transitions between wolf and bipedal forms, and learn to fight an opponent who will exploit hesitation. Midwak in turn learns that raw force has ceilings. A technically superior enemy can defeat him in his own casino, and later opponents repeatedly counter him through specialized classes, elemental control, equipment, or teamwork. His defeats do not make him gentle; they make his understanding of strength less simplistic. (Chapters 765–791)

During the Phoenix assault on Slough, Midwak returns from Notsburg and attacks Sin without displaying the fear that has paralyzed others. He uses the pressure from a claw swing to scatter flame and tells the younger wolves not to treat fire as untouchable, although his launched nails melt before reaching the Phoenix leader. Fighting beside Kai reverses their first encounter: former jailer and victim now exhaust themselves against the same enemy, each relying on the other to keep the engagement alive until Gary arrives. Midwak later clashes with the vampire Blackjack, and Gary has to stop him through the Alpha bond. His insistence that vampires and werewolves cannot coexist shows that joining the Howlers has not erased the inherited hatreds of his old life. (Chapters 905–929)

Ylva's offer and the return to Ruin City

Ylva eventually approaches Midwak with an apparent chance to kill Lupus together. Because he still loves her and has spent his exile imagining precisely that opportunity, he follows her willingly; the wounds and restraints used when she presents him in Ruin City are part of their staged capture. The plan immediately exposes how far their wishes have diverged. Midwak asks whether they can simply leave and rebuild their former life, while Ylva remains focused on obtaining Alpha power. He realizes that she has not returned to restore their partnership, even though he is not yet prepared to abandon her. A shapeshifter takes his place in Notsburg, but Kai recognizes that the substitute's scent and behavior are wrong. (Chapters 1138, 1181–1194, 1259–1264)

While held around the old pack, Midwak delays Ylva's attempts to convert the captured Innu and Blake, buying time rather than openly exposing himself. He then finds Kai and tells him the history he had hidden from the Howlers. Their reunion still begins with a fight: Kai's ice, speed, and Shapeshifter versatility push Midwak hard enough to reveal the recently advanced Lone Warrior class. Its solitary combat surge breaks the ice covering him and restores some of his condition, yet it does not make him superior to every opponent. Once they reach an understanding, the two fight Ironfang members together and work their way back toward the prisoners. (Chapters 1254–1277)

Midwak's divided loyalty becomes explicit when he kneels before Gary and asks him to spare Ylva if possible. Gary agrees to try, honoring a request that is personal rather than strategically useful. Midwak nevertheless fights Ylva when she blocks the rescue. He recognizes her Wolf's Song and lunar foresight, warns Gary's side about the interaction between Luna and Alpha, and also warns them to account for the coming sunrise because Gary's Dark Warrior advantages will weaken. He holds back against Ylva, and that reluctance prevents a clean resolution. Later her Luna power forces him to disclose the Howlers' full-moon restriction. Midwak reports the breach to Kai immediately and offers to fight Lupus alone if Gary commands it, promising to protect the people who took him in. Kai recognizes how far he has moved from the Omega who once challenged Gary every month. (Chapters 1278–1289, 1322–1324)

The full-moon war and a final choice of pack

As war approaches, Midwak serves as the Howlers' principal source on old-pack biology and Luna abilities. He explains that lunar foresight is normally strongest under direct moonlight and manifests as brief flashes useful in combat. During the full moon, when the Howlers are bound from transforming, he helps Xin Clove reason toward using foresight as an energy ability separate from a physical transformation. The attempt leads their group to Ghost, an Ironfang sent to hunt the weakened wolves and draw them out by attacking civilians. Midwak's knowledge matters more than his raw power: having studied Ironfang equipment in case he ever had to escape Ruin City, he uses blood to reveal Ghost beneath an invisibility cloth and directs the others to protect their healer. (Chapters 1397–1439)

Ghost still defeats the untransformed group, but Marie's newly awakened Luna form intervenes and kills him. Midwak declines Ghost's invisibility item, giving it to the smaller Kevin because concealment suits Kevin's combat role better, then remains behind to consume Ghost and recover strength. He later returns strong enough to kill enemy wolves while still unable to complete his own transformation. When the old pack's second wave arrives under Ylva's and Lupus's overlapping boosts, Midwak advocates breaking the full-moon vow rather than allowing the Howlers to be exterminated. It is a severe proposal, but not a bid for command: he accepts that any supernatural punishment would fall on them together. (Chapters 1440–1476)

Ylva is ultimately killed by Blake. Midwak grieves, but he does not blame the Howlers or try to avenge her. He recognizes that her pursuit of power produced the war and that the woman with whom he once planned a life had already chosen a different path. When Lupus threatens the survivors, Midwak answers Gary's call and briefly prepares to sacrifice himself, burdened by the people hurt during his years of ambition. After sunrise restores his transformation, he makes a more disciplined choice: rather than waste his life against a Lupus he cannot affect, he turns toward the broader battlefield where his strength can save others. When the old pack's survivors later enter the Howlers through Xin and Marie, he tells Luzen that they must move beyond their history for everyone still alive. (Chapters 1500–1517)

Holding the pack together while the Alphas are gone

The battle ends with Gary, Kai, and Lupus disappearing into another world, leaving both packs without their Alphas. Midwak remains in the ordinary world and helps the Lunas and surviving core conceal the absence from vampires and other enemies. His role is therefore a home-front one rather than an expedition into the other realm: he contributes old-pack knowledge, confirms that the pack's recorded history has no precedent for three Alphas, and works alongside former Lupus members he once regarded as enemies. The merged group gives him something his Omega years denied him—a place in werewolf society that does not require defeating its leader. (Chapters 1516–1528)

When the three Alphas remain missing for two months, Xin sends Midwak and roughly 150 werewolves to secure Centerfield. A month into the absence, the force becomes both an emergency garrison and a test of the united pack. Midwak trains the younger wolves, protects residents, and earns the affectionate title “Big Unc.” He tells them that only the green-haired boss can command him. The boast sounds like his old defiance, but its meaning has reversed: he no longer wants Gary's position and has decided to help him because Gary repeatedly kept his favors and promises, including the promise concerning Ylva. (Chapters 1728–1736, 1748–1751)

Midwak's command also shows a restraint his earlier self lacked. He assesses when his Lone Warrior trait can activate, refuses to throw subordinates into every personal contest, and understands that defending a city is not the same as demonstrating dominance. Yet the appetite that once helped him grow remains a vulnerability. After killing and eating an unknown creature in a butcher shop to recover Energy, he experiences an unfamiliar hunger, consumes an Altered he ordinarily would have left alone, and must consciously resist the urge to eat a human corpse. Rather than conceal the change indefinitely, he leaves to investigate its source—an attempt to protect his force that brings him directly to Unzoku. (Chapters 1750–1754)

Glutton corruption and the final war

Unzoku explains that the creature Midwak ate was a Glutton and that consumption begins a progressive conversion. He offers Midwak leadership, appealing to the same endless search for strength that shaped his exile. Midwak tests the offer with a characteristic question—whether Unzoku has green hair—and attacks when the answer is no. His refusal is an unambiguous statement of chosen loyalty, but it does not stop the corruption. Unzoku overwhelms him, the Glutton influence consumes his judgment, and the Centerfield strike force is likewise transformed. Midwak becomes a feared leader among the corrupted creatures, not through a decision to betray the Howlers but because the infection and Unzoku have stripped away the choice he just made. (Chapters 1754–1769)

Gary accepts responsibility for confronting him and asks allied vampires to leave Midwak to the Howlers. In his Glutton state, Midwak battles the vampire Rowa with grotesque elasticity, immense regeneration, and energy claws, continuing after his limbs are shattered. Gary observes that the form's raw power is not beyond an ordinary full werewolf at their level, but its relentless repair and tolerance for damage make it difficult to stop; the corrupted Midwak is also more predictable and less tactically capable than the fighter he was before infection. Gary defeats him without executing him, and Kai uses a medallion empowered with Qi against Midwak's chest to expel the red corruption as mist. (Chapters 1784–1806)

The cure returns Midwak to human form with his memory intact. He is shocked to be alive and burdened by what he did while corrupted, while Gary rejects the vampires' demand for punishment on the grounds that the Glutton was not Midwak's chosen self. The medallion cracks in the process, preventing the group from simply curing every infected wolf, but Midwak's recovery proves that Unzoku's conversions can be reversed and helps shape the later plan against their source. He survives the final conflict and is present with the wider Howlers family at Gary and Xin's wedding. The corpus does not assign him a separate postwar office; his last state is that of a living, restored member of the community whose loyalty he chose long before his body was freed. (Chapters 1806–1809, 1827–1831, 1847)

Appearance and personality

In human form, Midwak is a large, heavily built man whose first conspicuous outfit is a Hawaiian shirt. His physical presence is imposing even before transformation, and his eyes glow yellow when his Omega nature surfaces. His full werewolf form is roughly eight feet tall, covered in black fur, and described as a wall of muscle with a long muzzle, large claws, and saliva hanging from razor-sharp teeth. His eyes are yellow as a packless Omega and turn blue after Gary brings him into the Howlers. (Chapters 528, 533–534, 569)

Midwak is proud, combative, blunt, and often deliberately insulting. He measures people by their willingness and ability to fight, enjoys provoking the Howlers, and speaks about eating enemies with little of their disgust. That brutality should not be confused with mindlessness. Even early on he understands the value of a front organization, collects information on dangerous Ironfang equipment, evaluates class matchups, and knows when the strategic battlefield matters more than a glorious loss. His humor is frequently macabre, but it also becomes part of how he fits into the younger pack rather than merely threatening it.

His deepest contradiction is that he performs independence while being shaped by lost relationships. The Alpha ambition he claims as his identity begins with Ylva, and his contempt for rules partly masks the pain of expulsion. Gary earns his loyalty less by overpowering him repeatedly than by treating promises as binding even when Midwak is inconvenient or dangerous. By the Centerfield mission, Midwak remains fierce and irreverent but has ceased to equate leadership with taking power. He mentors younger wolves, accepts responsibility for civilians, refuses Unzoku's offer, and feels guilt rather than entitlement after being cured of Glutton corruption.

Powers and abilities

Werewolf physiology and transformations

Midwak can transform individual body parts, assume a large bipedal werewolf form, and fight in an animal-like full-wolf configuration when needed. Transformation sharply increases his strength, speed, durability, senses, and natural weapons. He can tear through steel-like Altered hair, leap across rooms, cling to ceilings, throw large opponents, and continue fighting after wounds that would disable a human. His scent recognition and hearing also let him distinguish pack members, transformations, and supernatural conditions that humans cannot perceive. (Chapters 533–568, 905–908)

His body heals visible wounds rapidly so long as he has enough Energy. Meat replenishes that reserve, while consuming Altereds, werewolves, or other supernatural prey can restore him and increase his strength; eating Ghost before sunrise is a representative use of that mechanism under desperate conditions. The dependence creates an exploitable limit. The Howlers starve him after his first defeat so that he cannot maintain transformation or repair himself, and prolonged exertion can empty the reserve even when his flesh is otherwise resilient. Anti-Altered bolts and specialized weapons can shock or pierce him, Innu's axes cut him, and superior classes, technique, or overwhelming power can outfight his regeneration. (Chapters 534, 559–572, 1444–1475)

Midwak is not a Dark Warrior and has no general daylight weakness. The day instead deprives Gary of particular night bonuses, which is why their daylight challenge is a meaningful comparison. Conversely, ritual vows can suppress Midwak's transformation on a full moon despite leaving parts of his underlying strength available. Pack bonds are another nonphysical counter: while a member of the Howlers, explicit rules and Gary's Alpha authority can halt attacks or compel obedience even when Midwak consciously resists. Those rules are later abolished, so they are not a current restraint. (Chapters 569–572, 643–647, 758–761, 1397–1410, 1840)

Lone Warrior class

Midwak advances to the Lone Warrior class sometime before his Ruin City confrontation with Kai; the corpus does not explain the selection process or the exact event that grants it. Its defining trait rewards solitary combat. When he is truly fighting alone in a one-on-one engagement, a howl releases an energy aura that produces a major power surge, breaks Kai's encasing ice, and partially restores Midwak's injured or frozen body. The form complements his preference for direct contests and can reverse an opponent's attempt to immobilize him. (Chapters 1255–1258)

The class condition is also a hard tactical limitation. Nearby participants prevent the solitary boost from activating, as Midwak discovers when a nominal duel becomes a multi-person battle. It therefore cannot simply be applied to every battlefield or while commanding a formation, and opponents can counter its advantage by joining the engagement. The class strengthens the fighter already present rather than granting immunity to superior technique, Alpha power, elemental attacks, or specialized equipment. By the Centerfield mission, Midwak understands the condition well enough to judge when fighting alone will help and when protecting his force is the more useful action. (Chapters 1270–1271, 1750–1751)

Claws, projectiles, and combat method

Midwak's transformed claws elongate into hard, silver-colored blades capable of cutting durable Altered tissue and gouging solid surfaces. He can also launch his fingernails as straight projectiles, using several at once to puncture targets at range. Against Kai, the nails embed in the chest before Midwak closes distance; against Sin, however, the Phoenix's heat melts them before impact. The text demonstrates repeated launches but does not give a precise ammunition count, regrowth interval, or material explanation, so those mechanics remain uncertain. (Chapters 533–568, 905–908)

He can project broader claw-shaped waves of force through the air. These ranged slashes cut across rooms or battlefields and can scatter ordinary flame through pressure, but sufficiently powerful energy, armor, shields, or opposing attacks can block or disperse them. Midwak mixes these effects with tackles, bites, aerial movement, punches, and throws rather than depending on a single signature strike. Lupus's early training and years of survival give him real combat awareness, although later Ironfangs and Kai show that his direct style can still be read or outmaneuvered. (Chapters 565–568, 905–918, 1255–1274)

Lore, instruction, and command

Years in Lupus's society give Midwak knowledge that the System-raised Howlers lack. He explains Alpha and Omega grades, challenge rights, pack instincts, ritual vulnerabilities, Luna–Alpha interaction, lunar foresight, vampire hostility, and the behavior of packless wolves. His knowledge is incomplete—he openly admits he ignored much ancient history, and Galdark knows more—but it repeatedly lets Kai and Xin turn supernatural rules into workable plans. He also studies individual Ironfang abilities and equipment as a contingency against pursuit. (Chapters 570–572, 1259–1289, 1334–1452)

As a sparring partner, he helps Kai build transformation control through repeated high-pressure combat. As the Centerfield commander, he trains a large mixed force of newer Howlers and former old-pack wolves while maintaining civilian protection. These are learned skills rather than supernatural powers: Midwak has no demonstrated Qi discipline of his own, and his knowledge of the Howlers' classes does not grant their abilities to him. His latest demonstrated mastery lies in combining werewolf experience, Lone Warrior matchup judgment, and earned command rather than merely pursuing higher raw statistics. (Chapters 791, 1516–1528, 1736–1751)

Temporary Glutton corruption

Midwak's Glutton form is an infection, not a normal evolution of his Lone Warrior class. Eating a Glutton begins with escalating hunger and weakened inhibition, then advances under Unzoku's influence into a red-mist corruption that distorts the body and overrides judgment. In that state Midwak can stretch his limbs, absorb extreme impacts, regenerate shattered tissue almost immediately, and use oversized physical and energy-claw attacks. These effects make him relentless against Rowa, but the loss of his normal tactical mind makes his patterns easier for Gary to exploit. (Chapters 1750–1756, 1789–1803)

The corruption is countered by incapacitation followed by a special medallion pressed to the chest with Qi. Kai's use of it expels the red mist and returns Midwak to his ordinary human body, although the process cracks the medallion. There is no evidence that Midwak retains elastic limbs, Glutton regeneration, or the corrupted appetite after the cure. His latest confirmed state is restored rather than hybrid, and the Glutton abilities should therefore be treated as a past condition rather than part of his active arsenal. (Chapters 1803–1809)

Power progression

Relationships

Gary Dem

Gary begins as the weaker Alpha Midwak expects to replace, defeats him with the pack's help, and forcibly binds him to the Howlers. Midwak resents that captivity and tests Gary through challenge rights and ridicule. Over time, Gary's kept promises matter more than the original coercion: he agrees to spare Ylva if possible, accepts Midwak's difficult loyalty, protects him from vampire retaliation after the Glutton cure, and never treats his corruption as a chosen betrayal. Midwak eventually abandons his Alpha ambition and defines Gary—“the green-haired boss”—as the only leader entitled to command him.

Kai

Midwak brutally defeats Kai in Notsburg, making their later training relationship especially significant. Kai uses secret spars with him to master fear and transformation, while Midwak comes to respect Kai's intelligence and adaptability. Their Ruin City rematch exposes Midwak's Lone Warrior class but becomes an alliance once he tells the truth about Ylva. In the final war, Kai returns the trust by using the medallion and Qi to purge Midwak's Glutton corruption rather than allowing him to be killed.

Ylva

Ylva is Midwak's former domestic partner and the emotional center of his exile. Her selection as Luna destroys their shared future, and much of his later pursuit of strength is an attempt to kill Lupus and recover what he lost. When she returns, he discovers that she wants Alpha power rather than their old life. He still asks Gary to spare her and holds back when they fight, but by her death he accepts that her choices—not the Howlers—led her into the final war. His ability to mourn without seeking revenge marks the end of the ambition built around her.

Lupus

Lupus is first Midwak's Alpha, trainer, and prospective sponsor into the Ironfangs. He becomes Midwak's hated rival after choosing Ylva as Luna, defeating Midwak's challenge, and exiling him. Midwak spends years imagining Lupus's death as the solution to his life, yet his loyalty to the Howlers eventually outgrows that feud. By the time the old-pack survivors merge with the Howlers, Midwak is willing to coexist with Lupus's people and help preserve the society both packs nearly destroyed.

The Howlers and the old pack survivors

Innu, Olivia, Austin, and Marie first help defeat Midwak, but later accept him as a dangerous source of training and knowledge. He delays Innu's and Blake's forced conversion in Ruin City, works with Xin to understand Luna foresight, and fights beside the core during the full-moon war. His reunion with Luzen is wary because both carry the history of Lupus's pack, yet they agree that the survivors must move past it. The Centerfield force's nickname “Big Unc” captures his end position: still harsh and formidable, but recognized as an older guardian rather than a packless predator.

Items

Midwak has no finalized notable item in the supplied inventory. He briefly claims Ghost's invisibility cloth after the Ironfang's death but immediately gives it to Kevin, so it is not treated as Midwak's personal equipment.