Total War: Warhammer teaser introduces the Master Necromancer

Sesame Street has ensured that I will never be able to take Total War: Warhammer’s Vampire Counts seriously, no matter how unspeakably evil they are. Necromancers are a different matter. I don’t know why, really, especially since they’re a lesser form of wickedness than vampires, but they give me the straight-up heebie-jeebies.

Maybe it’s because their pursuit of the necromantic arts is driven not by any innate evil, but by their essential humanity: Aware of their mortality, and unable to come to grips with the brevity of their time in this world, they pursue a meaningful life that only true longevity can afford. And is that so wrong? Should we be content to simply scuttle like vermin from day to day, oblivion to oblivion? Of course not! And power isn’t inherently evil, after all. Right?

Here’s what Total War: Warhammer developer Creative Assembly has to say about this one in particular: “The Master Necromancer is amongst the most cursed of all those who practice the magical arts, having exchanged his humanity for the ability to raise the dead and command them to wage war upon the living. Strange as it may seem, this depraved madman made this dread pact willingly. At the heart of the Master Necromancer’s morbid obsession is the need to subjugate and punish those who have persecuted him in the past, regardless of the cost. Drifting between the living and the dead, a Master Necromancer summons undead minions to fight enemies on his behalf.”

Sounds like a fun guy at parties. Speaking of swell fellas, don’t miss our hands-on with the Vampire Counts, in which a guy named Mannfred (because of course he’s named Mannfred) learns that sometimes, being bad feels really good.

Total War: Warhammer (I still haven’t figured out why it’s not called Total Warhammer) is set for release on May 24.