Berserk/Characters/Other

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


This page is for recurring and minor characters who don't fit into the other pages.


For the main characters, go to Berserk
For The Band of the Hawk, check out Berserk
For Apostles, The Godhand and other antagonists in this series, check out Berserk

Recurring Characters

The following characters show up regularly along the story or are Commuting on a Bus.

The Skull Knight

Voiced by: Tsutomu Isobe

"What you wish for might not be what she wishes for."

Guts and Casca's Mysterious Protector is a badass, philosophical, undead warrior that also opposes the Godhand. It is not known if he is aware of the Idea of Evil's existence. He often scares the Apostles into submission and his mere presence was sufficient to make Rosine and The Count flee. He seems to have some unfinished business with Void and often opposes Zodd himself, though none ever had the better of the other. He collects the Behelits from slain Apostles and can cut through reality to teleport to another place with a sword made from said Behelits.

He rides a spectral horse and appears as nothing more than a skeleton in a massive armor. He is rumoured to be the legendary emperor Gaiseric, mentioned many times throughout the story.

  • Aloof Ally
  • Animated Armor: It's hinted that his gaining of his actual, not-quite-godhand form, was related to or caused by the use of a berserk armor.
  • Anti-Hero: Type III
  • Badass: When you have centuries of Apostle asskicking under your belt, AND can stand up to the Godhand, you deserve the title.
  • Big Good: The closest that Berserk has, being the biggest opposition to the Godhand, and he also provides help to Guts and his companions a few times.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Does this twice. One time upon the Eclipse when he breaks into the dimensional vortex, fights past the Godhand, cuts his way through the Apostles and snatches the heavily wounded Guts and Casca from Femto's clutches right before he gives them the Coup De Grace. The second time was in the Qliphoth where he interrupts Slan who was torturing and tormenting Guts and gives him the opportunity to free himself from her grasp.
  • Black Knight: A rather straight example except he doesn't wear black.
  • Cool Horse: Guess its name is "Skull Steed" or something.
  • Cool Sword: In addition to his regular dentate sword, he owns the Sword or Resonance, which is a sword made of Behelits which makes it a...
    • Evil Weapon: Since Behelits are evil entities owned by Apostles to summon the Godhand...
    • Situational Sword: Thus it is to be used only in dire situations as it can cut through reality itself.
  • Cynical Mentor: Despite giving precious guidance to Guts in his quest, he always points out that there are high possibilities for him to fail epically in the end, which simply motivate Guts even more.
  • Dark Is Not Evil
  • Fan Nickname: Skully is a very popular nickname among fans.
  • Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Well, he is a undead skeleton knight after all.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: He preceded Guts in this game.
  • Horrifying Hero: Wouldn't be too surprising if the people he's saved thought he was the Grim Reaper taking them over to the other side.
  • Knight in Shining Armor: The Skull Knight is about the closest thing to one of these that Berserk has to offer, at least until Azan showed up. Locus is more of a subversion.
  • Like a Badass Out of Hell: Just how he saved Guts and Casca from a certain death upon the Eclipse.
  • Mister Exposition: Often clarifies situations in detail.
  • Monster Knight: And a good one at that.
  • Mysterious Protector: A non-romantic, non-Shojo one. He always shows up to help when Guts fights a number too big even for him such as Grunbeld, Slan, or the Kushans' demonic crocodiles.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Thank you so much for accidentally using your Cool Sword to bring Femto's plan to fuse the planes of reality to fruition, Mr Skull Knight, the world really needed a chance to get even more terrible than it was already.
    • It may go even further then that since it is implied that the Godhand had it's origin in Gaiseric's incredibly decadent empire and Void, the original arch devil, was once a close friend of skully. Just what the hell did they do to cause such a mess??
  • Reality Warper: Thanks to the Sword of Resonance, which main ability is this. See above. It's this power that Femto uses to defeat Ganishka and fuse reality with the Astral Plane.
  • The Stoic: What with his face being a skull. Despite that, when angles are played with, he can look angry or sympathetic.
  • The Undead: Despite his massive appearance, it seems like he is nothing but a talking skeleton...
  • Weapon of Choice: The almighty - SWORD OF RESONANCE.


Princess Charlotte

Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori

(To Griffith) "Together..Forever!"

The heiress to the throne of Midland is a Princess Classic example. Not a fighter at all, meek, cute and rather capricious, she immediately falls in love with Griffith upon meeting him. She is the one who helped the Hawks enter Midland's castle so they could free Griffith. She got captured and almost raped by Ganishka not long after her father's demise.

Upon his reincarnation, freeing her from Ganishka's grasp was one of Griffith's priorities, and during her captivity she would make embroideries of Griffith. Since she is the last pure royal of Midland, Griffith's plan is to marry her so he can access the throne legally.

  • Abusive Parents / Parental Neglect: Not only her father the king lusts after her, her stepmother the Queen completely ignores her.
  • Action Dress Rip: A variation. As it says above, she's no Action Girl. But when she tagged along Guts and Co in the Griffith retrieval arc, she did rip off her dress so as to run and move more easily.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys
  • Attempted Rape: Between her dad and Ganishka... ouch. That said...
    • Beware the Nice Ones: You know, for as much as some people complain she's a doormat, it's worth pointing out that she's one of the very few female characters who've unequivocally fought off someone who tried to attack them sexually, to the point where she completely wrecked her dad's face with nothing but her bare hands and feet. Granted her dad isn't quite of the same caliber as some of the other perverted monsters which populate this story, but still.
  • Dark Mistress: Rather than a Lady Macbeth, mostly because she has no clue about Griffith's real nature and is a rather sweet girl otherwise.
  • Everything's Better with Princesses: Somewhat subverted. Due to her role as Griffith's Love Interest / Meal Ticket, it is unlikely that she will have a positive impact on the story.
  • Friendless Background/ Lonely Rich Kid: With the exception of Anna, it's implied that Charlotte never really had any friends.
  • Girl in the Tower: Where Ganishka held Charlotte captive after he took over Wyndam.
  • The High Queen: Becomes this eventually, now that she's sole heir to the Midland throne.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Oh, if only she knew...
  • Jail Bait: Most literal example ever? Keep in mind that she was sixteen or seventeen when Griffith deflowered her.
  • The Lady's Favour: She gives Griffith a magnetic doll that belongs in a set with a lady and a knight that once belonged to her mother, hoping that Griffith would take it with him into battle. Griffith said that he couldn't take such a valuable item... so he swears to return it to her.
  • Last Of Her Kind
  • Love At First Sight: She immediately fell for Griffith upon seeing him.
  • Meal Ticket: As far as the story would go, Griffith isn't interested in her for something else than her birthright.
  • Naive Everygirl: She pretty much thinks about nothing else than Griffith and how happy she is when she is around him...
  • Never a Self-Made Woman: Take away her birthright and Griffith and she's nothing.
  • Overly Long Name: Charlotte Beatrix Marie Rhody Wyndham. Yeahhhhh. We're going to just keep calling her "Princess Charlotte".
  • Parental Incest: The poor girl barely escaped her father's lewd intentions.
  • Princess Classic: REALLY classical example.
  • Putting A Hand Over Her Mouth: Played for laughs during her uncharacteristic temper tantrum during the Griffith rescue. Everyone present excluding Pippin partake in this. Guts suggested that they gag her.
  • Shallow Love Interest
  • Shrinking Violet: We were first introduced to Charlotte when - hey, where is she? Oh, there she is: hiding behind that pillar. Anyway, this princess might have all of the riches in the world, but one thing that she doesn't appear to have is a lot of social experience. Squickily justified in that her father kept her close to home, commenting that big men and soldiers frighten her and even she said that she didn't like going to balls and other aristocratic gatherings much. Charlotte did seem to be coming out of her shell when she started interacting with Griffith, however.
  • Smitten Teenage Girl
  • Spoiled Sweet: Being the princess and sole heir of an entire kingdom, Charlotte has the finer luxuries in life. Though she might be naive about the world due to her sheltered life of royalty, she is one of the few genuinely nice aristocrats presented in the series and has a sweet and kind personality. Casca even admitted to herself that she felt bad for getting jealous over Charlotte because of her relationship with Griffith since Charlotte treated her with kindness despite her being a commoner AND a warrioress.
  • Taking the Bullet: During Griffith's rescue, one of the Bakiraka shot a poisoned dart aimed at Griffith, but Charlotte takes the dart. Luckily, since she was the princess (and they were sent by the King to kill Griffith), the Bakiraka allowed her to go in order to get treated.


Guts and Casca's Child

(To Guts) "You know... this one. Not to be lost. Not to be destroyed."

The Child in his supposed human form.


Right before the Eclipse, Guts and Casca got into Intimate Healing and Guts impregnated Casca. However, the Eclipse went down and Griffith turned Femto raped Casca to insanity. But losing her mind is not the only consequence for Casca: her unborn child got tainted by the experience, causing her to miscarry and deliver her baby prematurely.

The child is apparently nothing but a hideously deformed and apparently mindless Fetus Terrible that is still irresistibly drawn to its parents, like all children. It generally shows up to protect its mother and tries to contact its father many times but Guts is less than enthusiastic about his tarnished spawn and generally lashes out angrily at it whenever it appears. Still, this evil fetus is the one to warn him from the impending danger menacing Casca at the Tower of Conviction and it also appeared to protect its mother from the ghosts summoned at the mock Eclipse of Griffith's resurrection. Drained out of all its energy the child was found by the Nameless Apostle who swallowed it. Griffith then used the child's body to resurrect himself, killing both the Nameless Apostle and the child in the process.

Later, right after conversing with the Skull Knight about the possible cure for Casca's state, Casca is found on the beach with a strange little boy in her arms. The child, who looked very much like a cross between Guts and Casca, somehow helped in repelling the attack of the Kushan crocodiles and is implied to have stopped Guts from turning against his companions at the end of the fight. It disappeared mysteriously afterwards.

The kid's made yet another appearance on the island Guts and Co. stopped at while fighting the pirates. It's strongly implied that the fetus and the strange boy are one and the same.

  • Babies Make Everything Better: He probably would have if everything had not gone to crap after the Eclipse.
  • Badass Adorable: Post mock-Eclipse. Yeah, he might not have had enough screen time to make it absolute, but every time we've seen him he's warding off a big, scary, Hellhound spirit that constantly tries to goad his father into killing his mother - and he succeeds each time!
  • Bad Powers, Good People: Understandably got relatively evil powers from being corrupted by evil, but he uses his powers to help his parents.
  • Berserk Button: For a being that supposedly has no real thought or emotions, he looks genuinely pissed right here. So it goes without saying: don't try to rape his mother. Ever.
  • Child by Rape: Subverted. It isn't born from Casca's rape at Femto's hands, but the experience is what made it what it is now, even though it is technically Guts's child.
  • Creepy Child: The boy on the beach.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Technically it is but Love Redeems.
  • Eldritch Abomination
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Even hideous, corrupted demon-babies love their mamas.
  • Fetus Terrible: Subverted. It looks like one but it never acts as one.
  • Fire of Comfort: What he used one time to snap Guts from his Berserker rage.
  • Fan Nickname: Moonchild, Guska... The boy has many nicknames but has no official name at the moment.
  • The Grotesque: You just can't help but feel sorry for the little guy. Had none of this shit surrounding Guts, Griffith, and Casca happened, he would have been a normal little boy in a (hopefully) loving - if not dysfunctional - family surrounding. He was a victim in this all in the end.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Though supposedly evil, the little guy uses the last of its strength in order to protect its mother after expending it, presumably, for an entire month in order to keep Casca safe from danger when she left safety of the elf mine.
  • Hot Dad / Hot Mom: Both of the Child's parents are this fo' damn sho'.
  • Infant Immortality: Horribly averted and perhaps the most disturbing case in the entire series, since his existence was tainted even before he was born not unlike his father.
  • Love Redeems: Although he accepted a nature of evil in the womb, the child loves his parents too much to actually be evil.
  • Naked on Arrival: We first see the Child in human form as a naked little boy on the beach.
  • Parents in Distress: Always comes to his parents' aide in times of needs.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: He looks like a perfect blend of Guts (skin-tone) and Casca (hair), though his true origins are still enigmatic... Miura probably thought that giving him Guts' ears would have been a dead giveaway.
  • That Thing Is Not My Child: Sorry Guts, this horribly marred fetus IS your child.
  • The Voiceless: Like his mother, though it's implied that he talks when he is his form of light.
  • Touched by Vorlons: He was developing as a normal baby inside of Casca's womb, until Femto had his way with her... The terrible circumstances of how he became supernatural aside, the Child's main power is that of control over demons and evil spirits. His powers also seem to override his father's Enemy Within, allowing him to bring him back to the light by reminding Guts about his love for his mother, Casca.
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: During his brief time with Guts' party, the boy fell from Guts' arms and both him and Casca rush to catch it. Isidro lampshades just how much the three of them look like a family.


Azan

"Don't give up, knights are here to protect those in need! A knight's duty is to protect the weak!"

Azan is the second in command of the Holy Iron Chains Knights. An old-fashioned knight who has turned to the cloth, he always speaks of honor and loyalty. When the Holy Iron Chains Knights catch up to Guts, he challenges Guts to a duel, matching the injured Guts in combat. Azan manages to survive the events of the Tower of Conviction and decides to report the events to the Holy See, while Farnese and Serpico follow Guts.

He later reappears in Vritannis, living on the streets after having been kicked out of the Holy See and sleeping on boats. The pirate captain fighting Isidro steps on him, which prompts Azan to throw him into the water and beat up the rest of the pirates. Guts and his companions later end up sailing off with the boat he is sleeping on to Roderick's ship. As such, he is currently accompanying Guts towards Elfhelm.

The Beast of Darkness a.k.a Hell Hound

"Keep killing...eternally..."

A Hell Hound-like abomination with a pointy snout and lightning for eyes, the Beast is the personification of Guts' hate and blood lust. It used to live in harmony with him along the two years during which Guts would seek revenge on the Apostles only to then start acting against him when Guts realizes that there are more important things than revenge to his life.

Pretty much Guts' worst enemy after Griffith/Femto, the Beast is also one of the most malevolent beings in the Berserk universe who seems to have no purpose other than burning Guts in his own hatred and using him as a medium to operate in the physical world. Recognizing Casca as the only thing keeping Guts from succumbing to its influence, it constantly tries to goad Guts into killing her so it could take over his body and quench its desire for blood and revenge, claiming that this what Guts truly wants.

The Beast has faded into the background lately but promised it to be temporary.

Minister Foss

A conniving Midland noble, he opposes Griffith despite the advances he makes in the country’s war effort. Foss plots and schemes to have Griffith killed, but it always seems like one thing or another foils them.

  • Affably Evil: Well, evil may be too strong a word, but he is a scheming politician willing to murder or make others do his bidding to get what he wants. And he’s very polite and civil in all of his dealings.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil
  • Bald of Evil
  • Defeat Equals Friendship: Griffith invokes this after outgambitting him. When they see each other again for the first time after the Eclipse, Foss kneels down before him in reverence.
  • Heel Face Turn: Kind of. Since getting beaten at his own game by Griffith, Foss more or less retired from politics. When Kushan invaded the country, he led a small group of survivors.
  • La Résistance: Was the leader of one when the Kushan overran Windham. But it’s a resistance in name only, all he’s really capable of doing is keeping the few survivors he’s gathered hidden and alive.
  • Manipulative Bastard: He manipulates Julius into assassinating Griffith to ensure no evidence can be pinned on him.
  • Morality Pet: His daughter.
  • Out-Gambitted: Griffith suspected Foss was plotting against him, and pulled off his own Xanatos Gambit to get him under control.
  • Smug Snake: Tried killing Griffith twice. Not only do both attempts fail, but the aftermath of both worked in Griffith’s favor.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When he finds out Griffith kidnapped his daughter, Foss loses his cool completely.


Laban and Owen

Two Midland nobles. They are notable as staunch supporters of Griffith and for being among the more humanitarian members of the court.

Minor Characters

The following characters only appeared in their own Arc and haven't been seen or mentioned since.

Gambino and Sys

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto (Gambino)

Gambino
Sys

"You killed me. Don't you remember? It hurt so much..."

Guts's adoptive parents. Both were heading the mercenary band Guts grew up in before joining the original Band of the Hawks. Before finding Guts, Sys miscarried and Gambino agreed to take Guts along since it seemed to be the only thing that prevented her from going mad with grief. Guts lost his adoptive mother a few years later when Sys died from tuberculosis right before his eyes.

Gambino then trained Guts and taught him swordsmanship. But while he was good at his job of teaching the boy how to fight, he had no love for Guts as a father, and hated him enough to sell him as a child prostitute for three silver coins and allow Donovan, one of his men, to have his way with him. He would only get worse after losing his leg to a cannonball during a battle, ending his career on the battlefield, and causing him to take to drinking and to put the blame of everything on Guts. One night when massively drunk, Gambino came into Guts's tent one night and tried to murder him, telling him that Sys should never have picked up Guts from his dead mother. He admitted to having sold Guts to Donovan, and when asked why, he called Guts disgusting, blaming him for Sys's death and telling him that the one who killed her could not be raised to be loyal like a dog. Guts killed Gambino in self-defense and fled the mercenary camp to escape the wrath of the other mercenaries.

The traumatic childhood Guts experienced scarred him for life and for that reason, Guts Hates Being Touched and is generally mistrustful of strangers.

  • Abusive Parents: Gambino. One really nasty example.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: Or they're just really, really, really, really awful individuals. At least as far as father-figures go. Sys seemed cool enough for as little panel time that she had.
  • Bury Your Disabled: Gambino was handicapped during a battle when his leg was blown off by a canon. He wasn't killed off because he was disabled, but his disability probably did play a role in Guts being able to overpower him.
  • Cynical Mentor: Gambino was this to Guts.
  • Dark-Skinned Blond: Gambino was depicted as this in the anime.
  • Disposable Woman: Sys is presented only to show how she picked up baby Guts to raise as her own despite Gambino's initial disagreements. She dies from the plague a couple panels later, and is only mentioned thereafter by Gambino to show how much he despised Guts for allegedly being the cause of her death.
  • Door Step Baby
  • Drowning My Sorrows: Gambino tried to get away from his derisory condition through alcohol.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Gambino put Guts trough relentless combat training practically from the moment he could walk so he would be profitable to him as a mercenary. When he eventually tries to kill Guts, it all explodes in his face since the twelve year old boy is allready a far better fighter then he ever was and Guts kills him in a reflex action.
  • Hypocrite: While training Guts, Gambino has absolutely no qualms against hitting and slicing the kid. When Guts actually succeeds in cutting him, however, he reacts angrily with a nasty slash across the nose.
  • Kick the Dog / Pet the Dog: Gambino, guys: the only guy who managed to kick the dog while petting the damn dog! On a more sympathetic example, despite Gambino's gruff attitude and abusive behavior, it should be noted that he genuinely loved Sys. Of course, it doesn't excuse said behavior, but even douchebags have loved ones!
    • Also, there was one time that Gambino gave some ointment to Guts after he slashed him across the nose... Those moments were VERY far and in between.
  • Jerkass: Gambino.
  • Missing Mom: Sys. Guts missed having a gentle mother to compensate for his abusive father. Badly.
  • Offing the Offspring: Gambino tried this on Guts and failed.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Most readers don't realize that Sys's most common alternative name, Shisu, is the romanization of the Japanese pronunciation thereof.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: After he was crippled, Gambino was largely fed and cared for by Guts since he could no longer fight. Guts in turn did it with more eagerness for Gambino than Gambino ever did for Guts. He didn't care. He was still abusive and eventually attempted to kill Guts, blaming him for everything.
  • We Have Reserves: A favorite tactic of his on the battlefield was to send the rookies and fresh recruits in first to trigger the enemy archers. Including his adopted son.
  • "What the Hell?" Dad: Fully expected a four year old to hold his own on a battlefield - when he didn't even start training. Nice parenting there, pop!
  • You Should Have Died Instead: Gambino says this to Guts as he tries to murder him.


Luca

"People are shallow things. If anyone has a bit more than they do, they're jealous, and if one has less, they look down on them."

The comely, brown-haired leader of the prostitutes that took Casca in with her girls and looked after her shortly after she escaped the cave she was confined in during the Convictions Arc. She named her Helen and, after guessing out her condition, masqueraded her as a syphilitic, disfigured hooker so she wouldn't have to suffer any of the lewd intentions of the refugees with whom she was sharing a camp. She is also the only one to know about the true purpose of the Nameless Apostle who picked her up in order to leave someone with the knowledge of his story and goals.

Despite her minor role, Luca is still notable for being one of the very few genuinely good characters in Berserk's World Half Empty (points for not being maimed, raped, or killed for being so) and for being one of the most capable female characters introduced post-Eclipse. Deep in thought, Genre Savvy, fair and not afraid to go in the midst of battle despite her obvious weakness, she is smart enough to deal with any given situation and come out on top. Hence, all of the other prostitutes, even the envious and chicken-hearted Nina (pictured with her), look up to her as a mother figure and deeply respect her. Due to all of the above, she is one of the most beloved minor characters of the series.


Nina

"I'm no good. I really am a no-good person."

A member of Luca’s group of prostitutes. She is the opposite of everything Luca stands for, being weak-willed, envious, and most of all, afraid. This leads her to do, or consider to do, a number of morally questionable deeds.

  • A Party - Also Known as an Orgy: She was secretly a member of a pagan cult, and regularly takes part in these.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Her ever-present fear leads her to betray everyone around her. Or seriously think about it.
  • Dirty Coward: Somewhat sympathetic, because her inner monologues show that she does want to be brave but panics and can't bring herself to actually follow through with it. Also, the reason for her getting cold feet is often perfectly understandable, best illustrated by the arrival into the torture chambers. Read it here
  • Foil: To Luca.
  • Hair of Gold: Subverted. She has the classic blond curls, but anything but pure and innocent.
  • Heel Realization: She ultimately knows what a sorry person she is, and resents herself for it. In the end, she finally decides to do something about it, and sets out to find her own strength.
  • Ill Girl: Though still able-bodied, she's afflicted with some unidentified disease.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Every time she attempts or even considers throwing someone under a carriage to save her skin, she always suffers even more.
  • Morality Pet: Joachim, a young man with a personal interest in her. Casca also ends up as this for her.
    • Kick the Morality Pet: She has Joachim take part in a pagan orgy which involves cannibalism. When he understandably flees, she calls for him to be killed...
    • My God, What Have I Done?: And immediately regrets it when he falls off a cliff.
  • The Resenter: Towards Luca. Though Nina respects her, she hates feeling the need to be so dependant on her.
  • The Three Faces of Eve: She's a child, pure and simple (and a rather bratty and petulant one). She tries to be a mother toward Casca, she tries to be a temptress to Joachim, but is too insecure and immature to pull either off.
  • Tsundere: A dark example, as she often shifts between being caring and spiteful to those she’s close to, due to her cowardice.
  • Your Days Are Numbered: She’s afflicted with a disease which she feels will kill her in time, and hasn’t quite yet come to terms with that. She is also well aware if she's dying anyway, she would be morally and logically a good choice for a Heroic Sacrifice, but gets cold feet when she sees what it would involve.


Jill

"I don't have wings, so I guess I'll look up at this sky and crawl along the earth."

Jill is a quiet, sensitive girl who lives in a village (which at the time that Guts and Puck arrive) is being plagued by violent attacks from fairies. Her father, Mr. Zepek, is a reminiscent drunk, who basks in the memory of his former days in the military and pays little attention to Jill, while her mother is a more caring and compassionate woman who as well suffers a bit of neglect from her husband. She sets out with Guts and Puck to find her lost best friend Rosine in the forest, despite the many dangers and trials that await them...

The King of Midland

"Charlotte..."

The king of Midland and Charlotte's father.


Queen of Midland

The queen of Midland and Charlotte's stepmother, she disapproved of Charlotte's interest in Griffith and plotted against him.

She plots against Griffith to have him poisoned during his own triumph party but her victory is short-lived. Griffith only pretended to be dead and took advantage of all conspirators being together at the same place to have them die in a massive arson, including the queen herself.


Count Julius

Brother of the king of Midland, and general of its most prominent army, the White Dragons. Unlike the king, he is against Griffith’s rising prominence, and attempts to subvert it under everyone’s nose. It doesn’t work. Griffith finds out about it, and launches his own counter-assassination using Guts.

  • Abusive Parent: He’s this towards his son, Adonis. Surprisingly given how little screen-time this incident gets, he is actually shown to be somewhat three-dimensional in his feelings towards his son.
  • Adaptation Dye Job: Has reddish-brown hair in the anime and manga supposedly, but has blonde hair in the movie; therefore, this makes him...
    • Blonde Guys Are Evil: Though he's not quite evil. Just a bit short of the jerkass that his predecessor Gambino was.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil
  • Jerkass
  • Mauve Shirt
  • Spell My Name with an "S": The anime had his name be "Yurius."
    • Also, is he a duke, an earl, a count, or a lord? Nobody seems to be able to decide.
  • Unwitting Pawn: To Minister Foss, who goads Julius into trying to kill Griffith by staging a hunting accident. All to ensure there will be no evidence on himself.

Federico de Vandimion

Head of the esteemed Vandimion family, and father of Farnese, Magnifico, and Serpico. He’s a cold man who is more concerned about increasing his personal fortune than of considering the well-being of others, particularly his family. He was a major financial backer of the Vritannis Alliance, a gathering of armies put together to combat the Kushan threat.

  • Lack of Empathy: The feelings of others mean little to him.
  • Manipulative Bastard: People, including his children, are by and large only useful to him as pawns to preserve his family’s status, influence, and wealth.
  • Parental Neglect: Puts all of his attention into his financial empire, and ignores his children insofar as they don’t bring him shame.
  • Pet the Dog: For all of his flaws, he did grant Serpico a title of nobility after finding out the latter was his son.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly, yes! After Guts and company saved his and many other nobles' lives from a Kushan attack, he jumped to their defense as the aristocrats started to grow suspicious of them and the "heretical" magic they seemed to wield.

Lady Vandimion

Farnese and Magnifico's mother and Serpico's stepmother. She is extremely perceptive and a well-known Socialite who used to be more concerned with attending various parties and spreading her husband's influence rather than minding her kids who she never really took care of. Still, she is very supportive of Farnese and is also aware of Magnifico's incompetence and warned him about trying to manipulate his sister.

Bazuso

Bazuso is one of the earliest named adversaries faced by a young Guts at the beginnings of the Golden Age story arc. He's a rotund knight with an equally round helmet, which makes Guts call him a "teapot".

He is supposedly invincible but Guts makes a quick business of him. Watching him getting defeated by Guts is what made Griffith want Guts to join the band of the Hawks.


Vargas

"I beg of you, black swordsman, Deliver us from this demon!"

Once the Count's doctor, Vargas was one of the first to see his true, demonic form. His family was captured, tortured and devoured in front of him when they tried to flee the castle. Vargas was tortured by the Count but survived, leaving him horribly disfigured and mutilated.

Escaping the Count's castle, he managed to steal the Count's Behelit. He later encounters Guts and Puck and offers his help to defeat the Count, giving them the Count's Behelit, to which Puck grows attached. He is eventually captured and publicly executed by the Count in an attempt to lure Guts out of hiding, and shows up again as a damned spirit to drag the Count into the Underworld.

  • Action Survivor: Survived a gruesome torture session at the Count's hands but didn't escape unscathed.
  • Bandaged Face
  • Body Horror
  • Collector of the Strange: He has a number of rather...unique objects in his home. Including a Behelit. And a pickled Elf.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: The guy is deformed and driven by revenge but he's actually pretty gentle and saves Puck.
  • Deliver Us From Evil: A Rare Male Example.
  • Foil / Not So Different: Guts noticed that Vargas has similar wounds to himself (missing the same eye, limbs, family, etc). Guts saw far more of himself in him than he cared to admit.
  • The Grotesque: Horribly disfigured and mutilated after having been half-eaten by the Count.
  • He Knows Too Much: The reason why the Count tortured him so horrifically.
  • Mauve Shirt
  • Non-Action Guy: Meaner than the usual standard but his condition doesn't allow him to fight.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's not fit for going on one himself, but more than anything, he wants the Count to pay for what he's done, and does what he can to make that happen. In a way, though, he finally gets revenge in the afterlife.


Theresia

"Send me back to my room."

The Count's daughter who has passed most of her life imprisioned in her bedroom in the Count's palace.

Lord Gennon

Lord Gennon is a high-ranking noble of the Tudor kingdom. During the early days of the Band of the Hawk, he hired them for a number of jobs.

A homosexual and notorious paedophile, he developed an attraction for Griffith, which culminated when Griffith agreed to sleep with him in exchange for funds to support the growing Band. He is often seen to be attended by many very young male servants, no older than being in their teens.

He is dispatched upon the taking of his fortress.


Donovan

Donovan was a mercenary in Gambino's band to whom Gambino sold Guts as a child prostitute for one night for three silver coins.

Godo

Godo is the master blacksmith that Guts stays with for a year in order to train. He made most of Guts's armor and equipment, and also gave him some valuable advice. He has a young adopted daughter named Erica and began to teach Rickert the way of the blacksmith after the Eclipse.

  • The Blacksmith (Duh.)
  • Cool Old Guy
  • Face Death with Dignity: Very much. Guts even tells him how lucky he is for being allowed to die of old age, in peace and with people he cares for by his side. And he is completely right since that means Godo will probably avoid the vortex of souls unlike Guts and Casca.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's pretty gruff and rude in general, but he lent Guts a hand (and equipment) many times at no extra charge, allowed a safe sanctuary for Casca, apprenticed Rickert, and even adopted an orphaned girl.
  • Life Will Kill You: Eventually dies of old age.
  • No Badass to His Valet: Yeah. Yelling and death glaring might work to intimidate the other people present, Guts, but that ain't gonna work on this old man. Now sit down, shut up, and receive your What the Hell, Hero? lecture like a man.
  • The Obi-Wan: Gives Guts equipment and advice, is the only one who can make Guts shut up and think about his action, and to top it off, he dies in the end. May the force be with you, old dude.
  • Refuge in Audacity: In-universe reason for why he made the Dragon Slayer what it is. He was commissioned to forge a sword that could slay a dragon. Since he didn't really believe in dragons, or that they could really be killed, he made a sword no one could possibly wield that could kill things that didn't exist. And almost got hanged for it.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Drops a big one on Guts, calling him out on abandoning Casca to blindly pursue vengeance. His words are what ultimately make Guts change his priorities.


Flora

"The world does not exist merely in two dimensions. There exists profound depth within itself. This world could never be summarized by materialism or any single doctrine. Accept the great mysteries, and explore the universe from within your world. That is the way of magic."

A witch living in solitude in the forest around Enoch. She served as Schierke’s mentor, and provided Guts and company with knowledge about the spiritual world as well as magical artifacts to assist them, including the Berserker Armor. She was also a friend of the Skull Knight.

Jerome

A soldier enlisted in the Holy Iron Chain Knights, Jerome is the Love Interest of Luca.

  • Big Ol' Eyebrows
  • Nice Guy: He has shades of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold when it comes to Isidro, but he's a genuinely good guy. He doesn't agree with how the HolySee acts (and thinks that Farnese is positively nuts), and wants to give Luca a better life by at least making her his mistress when he becomes head of his household (and even offers to get Casca a good doctor, when Luca was passing her off as her syphilis-stricken sister). He also helps Luca and her friends get out of trouble.
  • Non-Action Guy: Averted. Though most of the other sons of nobles only enlist in the Holy Iron Chain Knights to get some military notability (and otherwise have little to no knowledge on combat), Jerome is a competent fighter and lends Guts a hand during the mock eclipse.
  • Heroic Build: Gotta give the dude credit - he does have a nice bod.
  • Maybe Ever After: Shares this with Luca after the aftermath at the Tower of Conviction, though it's implied that they get a good end, seeing that they survived being good people.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: Though he's enlisted in a troop of soldiers who hunt witches, as well as being under the constant threat of punishment from Farnese (or worse, Mozgus), Jerome went out of his way to help Luca and her company when they where in the Tower of Conviction.

Isma

A teenage girl living a solitary existence on an island. She's a pariah among the supersticious inhabitants, due to her rather interesting family history. Namely, in that her mother was a merrow, and that she is believed to be one too.

General Adon Corbowitz

The leader of Tudor's Blue Whale Knights. Though a fairly competent warrior, he's an inept general. Mostly all talk, he constantly brags about the secret tactics and techniques passed over through his family over the generations.

General Boscone

The highest ranking general in Tudor, and commander of the empire’s most powerful army, the Purple Rhinos. He leads the defense force at Doldrey, and is one of several reasons why the fortress remains impregnable

Erika

The adoptive daughter of the blacksmith Godo, she gives Guts moral support during his training and was Casca's primary caretaker after the Eclipse and Guts sets out seeking Griffith. After Godo's death she is left in the care of Rickert.

  • Adaptation Dye Job (It was suggested that she had light/blonde hair in the manga, but in the anime, she has brown hair.)
  • Baka: She throws a serious baka-barrage at Guts when he comes back after two years and blames Rickert for Casca's escape while Guts himself is the one who abandoned her. It actually leaves Guts speachless because she's right.
  • Cuddle Bug: Puck practically got all the juice squeezed out of him when Erica got a hold of him.
  • Genki Girl (Erika is one of the most upbeat kids in this shitty world, so much so that she carelessly waves a mallet around in joy!)
  • Happily Adopted (She was orphaned when her village was attacked and burned, but then Godo (who was on the run) comes across her and adopts Erika as his own.)
  • Mood Whiplash The first thing Guts sees after being in a coma for a few days after the eclypse is Erica comically falling on her butt. Guess Miura really needed a lighter moment after all that insanity.
  • Put on a Bus (Along with Rickert after Guts and Casca depart for Elfheim.)

Video Game Only Characters

These characters only appear in the non-canonical Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage video game for the Sega Dreamcast. In this storyline, which takes place roughly between Guts and Casca's departure from Godo's cabin and the formation of Guts' new True Companions, Guts, Casca, and Puck come across a performer by the name of Rita. After stopping in a nearby castle town to rest, they discover that the town is afflicted with a strange disease that turns the victims into "Mandragorans". The ruler of the city, Balzac, tells Guts about the disease and how he has possibly developed a cure for it, which may also cure Casca of her insanity. Taking the chance that his beloved might be well again, Guts takes Balzac's offer and goes with him to his castle. True to Berserk's nature, there is something much more sinister at work...

Rita

A young street performer who meets Guts after he (indirectly) saves her and her troop from some bandits who were also trying to mess with Casca. Afterward, they meet Rita in the nearby castletown where one of her companions, who was infected by the Mandragora, turns into a monster and Guts kills it. When Balzac comes and greets Guts with a possible cure for Casca's insanity, Rita is taken to his castle as well - as a hostage.

Balzac

Ruler of a city that's come under the siege of Mandragoran creatures in recent years, Baron Balzac claims he is trying to fight and understand them. A cruel tyrant, however, he also has to contend with rebels. Taking notice of Guts' prowess in battle, he makes an offer to cure Casca's madness if Guts retrieves the heart of the Mandragora.

  • Aristocrats Are Evil: That wasn't always the case for him, though.
  • Beard of Evil
  • Dual-Wielding: After mutating first into a Mandragora, and later into an Apostle, he wields two halberds!
  • Evil Old Folks
  • Evil Redhead
  • Face Heel Turn: He was originally an enlightened ruler who cared for his realm and people and wanted to do what was best for them.
  • It's All About Me: Ultimately he cares more for himself than for anyone else and he becomes an Apostle to avoid death using his wife as the sacrifice.
  • Mad Scientist: He's been conduction a lot of questionable research on Mandragora, finding that it can cure all physical and possible mental ills.
  • Not So Different: Toward the end of the game and near the final confrontation, Balzac tells Guts why he became the person he is today, and it's revealed that his wife had become deathly ill, and in attempt to cure her with the Mandragora, she became insane, having no memory of her husband and behaving in a child-like demeanor. This has left Balzac heartbroken and emotionally shattered, since his wife was physically close but mentally gone, and all he has are the memories with her. Rita and Puck immediately relate Balzac's story to Guts' broken relationship with Casca.
  • Plant Person: Briefly becomes one after ingesting Mandragora extract.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Described as originally being this.
  • Unfortunate Names

Eriza

A nun living within a village inhabited entirely by Mandragora, and who seems to be the most knowledgeable about them.

  • Blue and Orange Morality: She claims this when arguing in the Mandragora's favor.
  • Demonic Possession: She's directly under control of the Mandragora tree.
  • I Will Protect Him: She vows to safeguard the Heart of the Mandragora Tree (Nico) at all costs.
  • Nuns Are Spooky: She's the only human in a village of Mandragoran-possessed people and is a little too easy being in their presence. Except that it turns out she's one as well.
  • Press X to Not Die: What the entire fight against her consists of.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: She tries to call Guts out on brutally slaughtering the Mandragora, who only turn violent when provoked. It doesn't work.

Nico

A simple-minded little boy from a remote village. The other villagers never seemed to like him, often resorting to beating him with sticks and stones. He eventually became an Apostle, taking the form of a Mandragora tree.

Berserk the Prototype Only Characters

These characters only appear in Berserk: The Prototype. This story, which was included in volume fourteen of the Dark Horse translations, is part of Berserk's Early Installment Weirdness continuum (and when we say "weird", it's almost on the boundary of extreme surrealism), created in 1988 when Kentaro Miura was still in college. The installment is non-canonical, but would have taken place during the Black Swordsman Arc.

Some general differences between Berserk: The Prototype and the official story run:

  • Several differences in Guts' appearance and characterization, including a more cocky but also humorous (and dare we say, UPBEAT) attitude, a badass eye patch over his right eye, and his artificial arm does not have the repeating crossbow attached.
  • Guts and Puck travel together from the start of the story.
  • Guts' main motivation for hunting apostles is to avenge the death of his mother, since neither Casca nor the Band of the Hawk as a whole are present.
  • The Brand of the Sacrifice has an alternative design, being more rounded at the bottom.
    • Guts' brand is located on his chest instead of his neck and is much more obvious.
  • The apostles seem to worship a deity named Varna (or Vana), a god of darkness.

Don't worry. All of the blood and gore and insinuated rape threats is still present.

Fricka

A young girl that Guts saves from some bandits at the beginning of the arc. She was actually taken captive and was going to be given as a sacrifice to the Duke who ruled over the fiefdom that she lives in had Guts not interfered (supposedly in search of food). She ends up being kidnapped again, but Guts comes just in time to save her and to kill the Duke.

Vlad Tepes

The Big Bad of this story, he shares many similarities with the Snake Baron and the Count from the Black Swordsman Arc. Caring nothing for human life, Vlad began terrorizing the village ten years ago when he collected 500 villagers and impaled them on stakes to warn other countries from trying to interfere. Recently, he has taken up killing young maidens from the village, Fricka one of them. At first Guts refuses to aid the villagers after he saved Fricka from her first abduction, but later changes his mind and confronts Vlad Tepes in order to slay him.

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