After Ragnar's death and the toll of experiencing warfare, however, he has a sharp reversal of personality, becomes strong, kingly, and openly hostile towards religion, and in his Messiah complex, develops an ambition to create utopia on Earth before God's return.

Towards this end, he plots to overthrow his father Sweyn and brother Harald while also razing anything he deems unfit for, or resistant to, his paradise.

His characterization in the next story arc as the new ruler was the subject of positive responses as well as analysis of how Yukimura pays homage to the real Canute the Great in several scenes from the series.

[4] Yukimura was often told by his editors not to draw Canute with a beard, as they claimed its interference with the bishonen archetype he represented would diminish the series' popularity.

While Thorfinn feels like a mean spirited teenager with a strong wild flavor, Canute is part of a royal family, timid, and of few words.

Askeladd is ultimately forced to sacrifice himself by killing Sweyn during an audience when the king announces his plan to invade Wales, feigning madness.

[14][15] As time passes since Sweyn's death, King Canute marches ahead of his troops in the war against Ethelred II for the throne of England.

[17] After his initial victory, the exiled Thorfinn who has been working as a slave for Ketil approaches Canute's camp to beg him to leave the land alone.

The King withdraws his troops from England, avoiding a potential uprising and earning the respect of the English nobles in the process.

[19] Den of Geek saw that while Thorfinn is the protagonist in the series, he and Canute are under the eyes of Askeladd, who seems to care for their futures despite his violent actions.

[20] The Escapist Magazine commented the first arc of Vinland Saga heavily explored the concept of revenge and consequences throughout its characters Canute detesting his own father due to favouritism over his siblings.

[21] Screen Rant found Canute's storyline compelling due to how he changes from a confined prince to a corrupted person after learning the harsh realities of the world, to the point where he plots patricide alongside Askeladd's forces.

[25] In "The European Middle Ages through the Prism of Contemporary Japanese Literature: A Study of Vinland Saga, Spice & Wolf and l'Éclipse", Maxime Danesin claims Yukimura takes liberties with the portrayal of his characters, such as Canute in the first story arc, by giving him an androgynous and fragile look when interacting with Thorkell.

[27] Comic Book Resources stated that Canute's ideology has been crafted by witnessing the effects of meaningless violence in how it made Thorfinn a monster warrior and has been twisted through his desire to obtain peace by whatever means.

The changed King has been making unification a noble goal on the surface, but it is contrasted with his wish to battle God, betraying his portrayed just desires with his narcissism.

The series' focus on violence was a charade after all, and instead it was seeking freedom, and Thorfinn counters Canute's ideals by searching for Vinland, which the King cannot find or reach.

[28] The transformation of Canute from a shy youth to a menacing man was done as a result of his father's death, who hunts him across the narrative in the form of hallucinations.

The event went to be called the "final challenge to Cnut's image as a Christian king and crystallizes the peak of his philosophical and religious struggle throughout the manga."

The writer further explains that across Vinland Saga, Yukimura pays both homage to the original Canute as well as his own take on the character by giving him such a role.