Kullervo is a tormented Warframe in the game Warframe, known for having committed seven crimes against the Orokin. The details of his backstory and the nature of his crimes are shrouded in mystery and open to interpretation.
Who is Kullervo?
According to the game’s lore, Kullervo was one of the early generation Warframes that had no operator and maintained his own thoughts, ultimately rebelling against the Orokin after witnessing the slaughter of his infested proto companions.
It is suggested that Kullervo’s crimes may be related to his rebellion against the Orokin, his betrayal, and his attempts to rally the Tenno against the Orokin leadership. The game’s narrative also hints at Kullervo’s complex relationship with characters like Ballas, the Executor, and the Warden, adding layers to his story. The specifics of Kullervo’s crimes and his tragic history are left open to player interpretation, contributing to the enigmatic nature of the character.
The 7 Crimes
Murder
Kullervo was one of the earliest Warframes and still had his will intact. He killed an Orokin in an attempt of gaining the favor and admiration of an Executor. However, this earned him his first crime: Murder.
Cowardice
During The Old War, the Orokin began to destroy the proto-Warframes. However, Kullervo did nothing to aid them, and thus earned his second crime: Cowardice. This is most likely the event that drove Kullervo to rebel against the Orokin.
Flight from Just Custody
The Executors then sent a squad of Dax to detain Kullervo, but during the scuffle, he accidentally killed Archimedean Ainikki, his ‘mother’. By fleeing and slaying the Dax, Kullervo earned his third crime: Flight from Custody.
Treason
The Tenno would then return from the Zariman. Immediately after, Kullervo would begin attacking various sensitive Orokin locations, such as their labs, homes, and places of government. The purpose: To distract and buy time for some unknown plot. As consequence, Kullervo was given the crime of Treason
Espionage
The next generation of Warframes was then created. Kullervo spared no time and began whispering dark thoughts into their minds, earning him his fifth crime: Espionage.
Treason (Second Count)
After the conclusion of the Old War, during the Night of the Naga Drums, Kullervo’s planning had borne fruit. The Tenno attacked, and the Orokin Empire began to fall. Even though Kullervo was not entirely responsible, he earned his second count of Treason.
Attempted Regicide
As the Empire fell around the Origin System, Kullervo found the one Executor he abhorred the most; one of the Orokin Seven. He would attempt to execute this Executor, but ultimately failed. With this, Kullervo earned his ultimate crime: Attempted Regicide, and finally, Kullervo received his imprisonment and his punishment.
Ballas and Kullervo
From the first and last crimes, it could be speculated that the Executor that Kullervo first tried to gain favor from and then murder might be Ballas. Ballas was one of the 7 Orokin Executors and is one of the primary antagonists in Warfrme. He was responsible for the creation of the Warframes during the time of the Empire.
It is possible that Kullervo seeing the destruction of his fellow proto frames and then the torture of the Zariman children for the creation of the of Warframes could have driven him to rebel against the Orokin and go after the person responsible.
From the first crime’s sentencing, it reads as though Kullervo murdered the orokin of his own volition to seek Ballas’ approval, but we know from the main story how cunning and manipulative Ballas can be. This could easily have been a way for Ballas to remove a political rival from the picture and have Kullervo take the fall after his other crimes.
Conspiracy against the Empire
To stop the Orokin from torturing, experimenting on and executing the Tenno as Kullervo sees children as innocent, he razed their laboratories and places of government to make sure that the Tenno would eventually fall towards Margulis’ hands and not the hands of less scrupulous Orokin.
Kullervo’ 5th crime is quite major as it implies he sparked off the slaughter at the Naga Drums. But the 6th then countermands it by implying he wasn’t the only one complicit in it. The mocking tone heavily seems to imply Ballas passing the buck to Kullervo once more, implying that Ballas may have a hand in this too.
Kullervo in Duviri
Kullervo made an attempt on Ballas’ life. It is not known how his imprisonment was like back in the real world, but Kullervo’s emotions were powerful enough that he manifested in Duviri. According to Acrithis, Kullervo arrived in Duviri in a ball of fire which then formed the island, Kullervo’s Hold. There he is kept imprisoned by The Warden in seven cells to represent each of his crimes (with last one Attempted Regicide notably caved-in). The Warden refers himself as Kullervo’s guilt and the form and voice of his greatest persecutor, implying to be an embodiment of Ballas, the Orokin Executor that charged Kullervo with his seven crimes, formed from Kullervo’s guilty conscience.
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