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Makari is an unusually lucky grot who appointed himself banner-waver to Ghazghkull Thraka. Bullets, blades and explosions always seem to miss him. Ghazghkull treats him as a mascot, and the Orks of the Waaagh! have come to see him as a lucky charm.
He carries Ghazghkull's glyph banner, and his luck seems almost supernatural. Bolts and blades that should strike him swerve away at the last moment, and he survives explosions that kill everyone around him. Ork belief is a powerful force, and some observers wonder whether the Waaagh!'s faith in his luck actually makes it real. Makari is Ghazghkull's banner-bearer, a Grot of absurd and unexplained luck. Bullets miss him, blasts pass around him and enemies trip on the way to him. The Orks regard this as proof that Gork and Mork smile on Ghazghkull. Makari is also tougher and stronger than other Grots, and enjoys bossing them around in his master's name.
Origins
Makari was an ordinary gretchin until he latched on to Ghazghkull's retinue. He survived countless battles in improbable ways, and his presence beside the warlord became a fixture of the Waaagh!.
Like most grots, Makari started life as a menial, servant and occasional meat-shield. What set him apart was his habit of surviving. By attaching himself to Ghazghkull he gained a measure of protection, and the warlord came to value his luck. In Ork culture, a grot who lasts this long is almost unheard of.
Nate Crowley's novel Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! gives Makari a full origin. He was a nameless grot on Urk, serving Mad Dok Grotsnik, until he found the apparently dead Ghazghkull on a rubbish heap behind Grotsnik's operating shed. As the grot leaned close, the corpse revived. Looking into Ghazghkull's one remaining eye, he saw the same vision the warboss had seen: a galaxy swept by an Ork tide and the Great Green itself breaking into the material world. Ghazghkull named him Makari, swore him into service and left him with a burning claw-mark that comes and goes.
Key events
- Carried Ghazghkull's banner through many campaigns, escaping death in ever more unlikely ways.
- Survived to the age of nine standard years, ancient for a grot.
- Was reportedly killed when Ghazghkull accidentally sat on him.
- His banner pole was salvaged and became the bosspole 'Da Lucky Stikk', whose luck can backfire badly.
- Has been seen at Ghazghkull's side again in the Era Indomitus, contradicting the story of his death.
His first job was to record the vision. Using Ghazghkull's blood, his own finger and a sheet of scrap metal, he wrote the prophecy in Ork glyphs and so created Da Lucky Stikk. Ghazghkull gave him a necklace made from fragments of the bullet that had pierced his brain, an act of Ork generosity Makari still treasures. Aboard the space hulk Wurld Killa he watched his master defeat a Bloodthirster. Then the jealous Grotsnik threw him out of an airlock. It was the first of many deaths. Each time, Makari woke in a new body, eventually regaining his memories when Ghazghkull's claw-mark reached him. Once, after Ghazghkull had grown distracted by Yarrick and Armageddon, Makari talked back and was killed for it. When he was revived only because Bullets missed him, he made his point by repeatedly leaping in front of gunfire until Ghazghkull admitted he had been wrong.
After Ragnar Blackmane killed Ghazghkull at Krongar, Makari was buried under rubble. Grotsnik revived him using the warboss's severed arm and Bullets to imitate the ritual, and the grot helped bring Ghazghkull back. The novel is framed by Inquisitor Falx's interrogation of a captured Makari through an Ork interpreter, Biter, who secretly signals an Ork rescue fleet.
Battles & campaigns
- Third War for Armageddon: He carried the Warlord's banner.
- Ghazghkull's wars: Wherever the Prophet goes, Makari follows with the banner.
Personality
Makari is plucky, cheerful and reckless, and impossibly lucky. His devotion to Ghazghkull and his willingness to plunge into battle with nothing but a flag make him oddly endearing.
He is fiercely loyal to Ghazghkull and takes pride in his role, waving the banner with gusto. He is gleeful in the face of danger, perhaps because danger has never yet managed to hurt him. The Orks around him treat him as a lucky charm, which is perhaps the best protection a grot can have.
Weapons & Vehicles
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Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Connections
Characters (1)
Factions
- Orks primary faction
- Astra Militarum enemy Makari carried Ghazghkull's banner through the Wars for Armageddon.
Related units (1)
Also in this faction
Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.
Legacy
Makari is the luckiest grot in Ork history, Ghazghkull's banner bearer and the Orks' closest thing to a mascot. His survival against every odd, and his reappearance after his apparent death, have turned him into a minor legend. He embodies the Orks' belief in luck, and the way their beliefs can bend reality itself. Whether he died or not depends on which account you trust. Makari is a reminder that in the Waaagh! even luck is temporary, and Ghazghkull is very heavy.
Appearances & sources
- Codex: Orks
- Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! (Nate Crowley)
Contested & retconned lore
The story of his death may have been spread by Imperial propagandists to embarrass Ghazghkull.