Berserk/Characters: Difference between revisions

'''BEWARE THE SPOILERS!!''' Some will be given below.

 

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== Guts ==

 

[[File:Guts.jpg|frame]]

** [[Kicking Ass and Taking Names]]: Killing fifty mooks was ''nothing'' to him - [[One-Man Army|he had to take it up a notch!]] And we're not necessarily talking about humans here...

** [[Scarf of Asskicking]]: Before the cape, Guts had the scarf - and it kicked so much ass.

* [[Because You Were Nice to Me]]: It isn't really as hard as you would imagine to get on his good side. All you have to do is treat him like a normal human being. It doesn't happen very often.

* [[Berserk Button]]: [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Uh...Well...]] Anyway, Guts has several of them:

** Post-Eclipse

*** Being faced with any member of the Godhand will set him off big-time. ESPECIALLY GRIFFITH.

* [[The Berserker]]: [[Captain Obvious|DUH!]]

* [[Berserker Tears]]/[[Manly Tears]]: Twice. Once upon seeing what Griffith has been turned into upon his imprisonment. {{spoiler|The other one when being unable to save Casca from her demon rape at Femto's hands.}}

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: He pulls this off many times.

* [[The Big Guy]]: Class 1. Guts towers over most of the people he fights alongside and most people he meets. Only Pippin was taller than him back in his younger days. Now, he is probably somewhere around the 6'6-6'7 zone (roughly between 2m and 2m05). Aside from wielding a very large weapon, Guts does not depend on his physical strength much, (since he's not seen punching boulders in half,) [[Lightning Bruiser|and prefers to use his ridiculous speed and agility to get within attacking distance, while dodging or enduring whatever the giant demons throw at him in the meantime]].

* [[Break the Cutie]]: Guts's childhood was pretty much one big [[Break the Cutie]] ordeal for him. By all accounts, he was a fairly nice kid who [["Well Done, Son" Guy|wanted to please his surrogate father]]. It did not end well. At all.

* [[Bridal Carry]]: Despite having had many opportunities to do this to the many women who harbor feelings for him, only one of them got this treatment from Guts. Take a wild guess who...

* [[But Now I Must Go]]: Subverted. As noted below, Guts isn't about saving people, he has his own goals and might help along the way if it serves his agenda. But he never settles anywhere and goes from town to town, seeking to kill all the Apostles who cross his path, indirectly liberating the city or people around from servitude.

** Except, of course, in those cases where the town Guts passed through ends up [[Walking Disaster Area|burned down and completely purged of human life.]] Naturally, the authorities come after him eventually.

* [[Chick Magnet]]: After the Golden Age arc he seems to develop a talent for getting younger girls to fall for him. Not that he's even trying.

** Actually, he gets a young admirer right after the first apostle fight. Too bad she died.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[Death Glare]]: Most visible expression after his [[Perpetual Frowner|perpetual frown.]] Still, you'd much rather want to see this than his [[Slasher Smile]].

* {{spoiler|[[Defiled Forever]]}}: Guts serves as a [[Rare Male Example]] for yet another part of his traumatic and shitty childhood.

** Debatable, as his relationship with Casca seems to have helped him overcome some of the trauma.

* [[Dude, Where's My Respect?]]: Zigzagged since it was more of an internal conflict than an external one, as Guts had [[Earn Your Title|made a name for himself]] [[One-Man Army|through his exploits with the Hawks.]] The conflict came from the fact that no matter what he did, Guts always felt that he was beneath Griffith, especially after overhearing Griffith's speech about what he deemed as a true friend: someone who goes after their dreams and doesn't blindly follow the dreams of others, someone who is equal to him. What Guts really wanted to gain out of leaving the Hawks was to someday reach a level that was the same as Griffith's so that they could then be true friends. It's really sad when you think about it that way, [[It Got Worse|since none of that came true after he left.]]

* [[Earn Your Title]]: He's called the Hundred Man Slayer [[Captain Obvious|after slaying a hundred men]].

* [[Eye Remember]]: Guts will ''never'' forget the last sight of his right eye. '''''[[Berserk Button|Never.]]'''''

* [[Fatal Flaw]] --> [[Unstoppable Rage|Wrath]]: As much as his raw rage and power has aided him on many occasions, it has probably caused more problems than solved. Not only has wrath taken a physical toll on Guts {{spoiler|remember that Guts has gotten so the point of being so very enraged that he resorted to self-mutilation, albeit for a heroic cause}}, but also an emotional and spiritual toll. Through his desire for revenge, [[Revenge Before Reason|he left Casca behind]] and [[The Power of Hate|let himself be devoured by anger and hate.]] This not only warped Guts into a dark man for a time, but it went as far as manifesting the beast, which embodies all of his wrath and [[The Corrupter|constantly goads]] Guts to go deeper into a pit of raw anger and hate. Even though Guts has found a [[Worth Living For|greater reason to live]] in finding a cure for Casca and is [[Turn the Other Cheek|trying to turn a new leaf,]] he still has that deep seated desire to exact revenge on Griffith and [[Berserk Button|will burst at the very sight or mention of him.]] These emotions within Guts will probably never go away completely. Another flaw that can be associated with Guts that goes hand-in-hand with his wrath would be his [[Jerkass|cruelty]] [[Implacable Man|toward anyone who gets in the way of his revenge.]]

* [[Foil]]: To Griffith.

* [[Forced to Watch]]: Dogpiled by a bunch of Apostles, Guts could only watch {{spoiler|Femto molesting and raping Casca to insanity right in front of him}}, unable to do a fucking thing about it, [[Screaming Warrior|screaming in rage and pain]]. It was also [[Eye Remember|the last scene his right eye could see before it got clawed out.]]

* [[Friend to All Children]]: Zigzagged. Guts is not the softest man to be around, and he has rough methods of dealing with people, including children. Despite everything he dishes out to them, kids genuinely seem to like Guts, and he doesn't ''really'' seem that bugged by them being around all of the time, so long as they don't get in the way. Just the fact that most of his [[True Companions]] are half his age just brings the point home. Relate to [[Would Hurt a Child]] below.

* [[Fountain of Expies]]: Pretty much any hardcore, brooding badass from the east owes his dues to the original BFS-owning hundred-man slayer. [[Final Fantasy X|Auron]] is the best example, while [[Final Fantasy VII]]'s main heroes Zack and Cloud...[[Subverted Trope|they'd wish]].

* [[How to Be Badass]]: [[Badass Cape|Has a garment]] that billows in the wind frequently? Check. [[Awesome McCoolname|Sweet-ass name?]] Check. [[The Determinator|Hardly anything fazes him]] [[Implacable Man|enough to stop him in his tracks?]] Nuh uh. [[Man On Fire|Gets set on fire]] frequently but thinks nothing of it? CHECK. [[Warrior Poet|Comes up with dramatic lines]] at the top of his head in the heat of the moment? Yes, yes. [[Heartbroken Badass|Is angsty,]] but tends to keep it at a minimum? Yes. [[Badass Normal|Remained relatively normal]] throughout all of his ordeals? How the hell is that possible?!

* [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]: Guts is the Huge Guy to Casca's Tiny Girl, even though since [[Hot Amazon|Casca is not exactly small]], this is more of a ''really'' Huge Guy and Above Average Girl.

* [[The Hunter]] (He at first killed a bunch of things because it was his job. Now he does it because [[It's Personal]].)

** [[Demon Slaying|Demon Hunter]] (And [[The Legions of Hell|these]] are his quarry.)

* [[I Have Your Wife]]: Big fan of this in his most jerkass times. {{spoiler|Just ask Theresia and Jill.}}

* [[Implacable Man]]: Guts wants Griffith and the Godhands dead and nothing, not even the [[Legions of Hell]], will stop him.

* [[Insult Friendly Fire]]: When Guts and Casca were up against Adon and his hundred men, Adon said that they were going to capture Guts to torture him and capture Casca to use her as their "[[Sex Slave|toy]]." Guts, in response, said that Adon wouldn't want a woman like Casca, since she was a total bitch and that she would "[[Freudian Threat|bite it right off.]]" Casca promptly elbows Guts in the head.

* [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]]: The reason why he is so reluctant to show more concern for his current companions. Also, it can be said that, even though he may be implacable, Guts would rather not see others get hurt as a direct result of his actions - so long as they didn't get on his bad side before hand. The clearest example of this is when he turned down Jill's request to join him in his journey.

** [[Jerk Justifications]]: Usually went by explanation type 1 when his jerkass-ness was at its peak: [[The Social Darwinist|the weak are prey to the ruthless, so you have to be just like that in order to survive.]]

** [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Guts may be a blunt asshole a majority of the time and his goals and priorities come first - which are often at the expense of others - but just look at what one of his "selfish" goals is: taking care of Casca, the most important person in his life. Later, he also insures the well-being of his present [[Nakama]].

* [[The Jinx]]: Guts had the really BIG misfortune of being born from a hanged corpse. When Gambino and Sys's mercenary band came across him, the other mercenaries warned Gambino to not pick up the baby, since someone born of that nature was a bad omen. Still, Gambino allowed Sys to take the baby.... much to [[Abusive Parents|Gambino's chagrin.]] After that, when bad things started to happen to Gambino and his mercenaries, [[The Scapegoat|it was Guts' fault.]]

* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]: If we were to replace "knight" with "mercenary", Guts acted very much like this in beginning. He acts like a jerk who doesn't care about anyone who is near him, but he reveals that he does care about his comrades, and he tries to make the most of a bad situation when it turns worst. However, [[Took a Level in Jerkass|we don't need]] [[He Who Fights Monsters|to remind you]] [[Byronic Hero|how Guts's]] [[The Social Darwinist|worldviews changed]] [[Good Is Not Nice|after the Eclipse]]. After awhile, he kinda goes back to how he was in the beginning, now that he is looking after his [[True Companions]], but you have to keep in mind that Guts isn't exactly on a mission to save the world and to protect the weak: he just fights monsters to a) get closer to Griffith and the Godhand and b) to protect Casca, and he ''sometimes'' just happens to [[I Was Just Passing Through|save a bystander or two on the way]].

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: The very reason why he wants to take on Griffith and the Apostles.

* [[Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training]]: Since childhood, [[Child Soldier|Guts has been trained as a warrior]]. Now, he can wield an [[BFS|impossible weapon]] with [[One-Handed Zweihander|one hand]] and can [[One-Man Army|take out scores of enemies all by himself. Sometimes ''in one swing''.]] ... It's just too bad that he has [[No Social Skills|crummy social skills]] because of [[Raised by Dudes|his upbringing]] ([[Rape as Backstory|along with his traumatic backstory]]).

* [[Scary Teeth]]: As much as we all look forward to [[When She Smiles|seeing Guts smile,]] whenever he does so, it's never with teeth... maybe because every time he bears his teeth, we see huge pearly gnashers with rather intimidating canines. And he usually only does that when he's pissed. Still pretty impressive in an age with no orthodontists.

* [[Screaming Warrior]]: When Guts gets ''really'' pissed, he'll often start yelling at the top of his lungs as he starts laying about with his [[BFS]].

** He had his moments even before that: following the 100-man slaying incident, he has a surprisingly [http://www.mangareader.net/96-1127-122/berserk/chapter-7.html poetic conversation with Casca,] and she is just as surprised as the reader to see that he has these sorts of [[Hidden Depths]].

** And even during his not-very-nice rampaging Black Swordsman days, he gave a "[[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]]" explanation to Jill that was pretty much a tearjerker, an awesome, and a heartwarming moment all in one.

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: As a kid, Guts's primary motivation was to make his adoptive father Gambino proud. It ended badly.

* [[Whole Costume Reference]]: His [[media:gutsbatman.jpg|Berserker Armor]] looks kinda similar to [[Batman]]

*** Also, while he has used children as human shields before, the enemy in question has backed down rather than let the child get hurt. Consequently we don't know what Guts' reaction would be if the child had actually died because of him.

*** There ''was'' that time where he used a kid as a bait, [[Pet the Dog|but he apologized for it afterwards after making sure he's ok,]] after [[Shaming the Mob|chastising the villagers for being cowards who do nothing to help the kid and chose to cower in their homes.]]

 

 

== Griffith/Femto ==

 

[[File:griffith.jpg|frame|Griffith]]

** [[Icy Blue Eyes]]

* [[Break the Haughty]]: Taken to [[Up to Eleven|level 11]].

* [[Bungled Suicide]]: With his dream in tatters and his body mutilated, Griffith couldn't even end his misery.

* [[The Champion]]: He was this to Casca for the longest time, since he saved her from a life of sexual slavery and prostitution and gave her a new one, and she was [[I Owe You My Life|indebted to him]] to the point that it was practically [[Hero Worshipper|hero worship]]. According to Judeau, she took his word as gospel and was prepared to sacrifice her life for his dream.)

* [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]

* [[Wicked Cultured]]

 

== Casca ==

 

 

 

 

 

 

She temporarily commands the Hawks during Griffith imprisonment and eventually becomes Guts' [[Tsundere|love interest]], after she realizes Griffith has no place in his heart for her, while Guts always had a HUGE soft spot for her.

 

 

After the Eclipse, she is left in the care of fellow survivor Rickert while Guts [[Walking the Earth|hunts for Griffith]]. The two are reunited two years later during the mock Eclipse at the Tower of Punishment, after which Guts decides to care for her himself. This turns out to be more difficult than he expects, and his frustration at the trouble he has protecting her, along with the urgings of his [[Super-Powered Evil Side]], leads him to {{spoiler|nearly rape Casca.}} Casca now fears Guts and wants nothing to do with him, made even more painful for him since she is [[Morality Chain|the only reason why he decided to change his ways]]. She is instead looked after by Farnese and [[Find the Cure|finding the cure]] to her state is the reason for Guts and his party's are current journey to Elfhelm.

* [[Armor-Piercing Slap]]: More like an [[Megaton Punch|armor piercing punch]], though the words that followed stung Guts more than the actual physical punch.

* [[Attempted Rape]]: She NEVER catches a break from this even though she could fight off most sexual assaults.

** During Guts and Casca's first fight, the Hawks do note that in terms of actual swordfighting skill, Casca is second only to Griffith.

** [[Pregnant Badass]]: Unbeknownst to the parents, Casca was technically pregnant with Guts's child during the Griffith rescue operation which she led and kicked some ass in.

* [[Bandaged Face]]: Coinciding with her [[So Beautiful It's a Curse]] status during the Conviction Arc, her face is bandaged up as a syphilis victim in order to draw male attention away from her.

* [[Beautiful All Along]]: Guts, we'll [[Never Live It Down|never let you live it down]] about how you took Casca's attractiveness during that ball. You made note of it twice!

* [[Does Not Like Men]]: Especially so right after the Eclipse, and for obviously understandable reason. Casca reacted very badly when Guts tried to touch her after waking up, and was implied that she acted the same way toward Rickert. After the time skip, like a lot of her [[Troubled Fetal Position|trauma-induced reactions]], Casca tends to react violently towards men who want to have sex with her, like the unfortunate case with she and Guts at the time.

* [[Damsel in Distress]]: After the Eclipse and she is reduced to the mindstead of a two year old, Casca needs constant babysitting so she won't get into trouble. Most prominent instance was when [[Rescue Arc|Guts had to save her]] from being burned at the stake as a witch in St. Albion, but usually it's from lecherous men who want to rape her. Despite this, Casca still has her moments...

* [[Expository Hairstyle Change]]: Once had short, tomboyish hair. Now has long flowing tresses.

* [[Famous Last Words]]: Again, Casca doesn't die during the Eclipse, but before she loses consciousness after being {{spoiler|horrifically raped}} and loses her sanity and speech as a result of the trauma, she utters, "[[Don't Look At Me|... don't watch...]]" to Guts. [[Tear Jerker|Truly heartbreaking.]]

** The fact that she was forced to watch Guts being physically tortured as well probably didn't help; by this point Guts had already lost his arm and was in the process of having his eye clawed out.

* [[Forgotten Fallen Friend]]: She was this to Guts during his raging revenge years, but more of on the emotionally forgotten level.

* [[Full-Frontal Assault]]: Casca has gotten a lot of [[Clothing Damage]] from enemies who had wanted to rape her... But it's been shown that she still won't back down given the conditions. One instance was when Guts saved Casca from Wyald after he ripped her clothes off, but she still assumed fighting position after the fact and was actually told by Guts to get the hell out of there. Another one came when {{spoiler|some bandits attempted to rape her and stripped her, but she killed them all single-handed}}.

* [[Gainaxing]]: One time. [[Fan Disservice|Guess when...]] Another trope [[Ruined FOREVER|destroyed.]]

** {{spoiler|[[Rape Leads to Insanity]]: [[Tear Jerker|*sigh*]]}}

* [[The Heart]]: In Guts' new [[Five-Man Band]], Casca is the one that everyone in the group is willing to protect. The whole reason why Guts formed the group in the first place was so he could have more people to watch over her and to get her safely to Elfheim.

* [[Shower of Angst]]: Right after the Eclipse, we see her bathing in a cascade.

* [[Sideboob]]: More accurately portrayed in the anime, where the censorship meter is increased by a whooping 1%!

* [[So Beautiful It's a Curse]]: A negative example. Casca is one of the two most attractive female characters in Berserk (the other being [[Gorgeous Gorgon|Slan]]). Many men have complimented Casca on her beauty - that is, while most of them are attempting to rape her. Her situation only gets worse [[The Ophelia|post-Eclipse]]. While in her care, Luca states how Casca's beauty, in conjunction with her [[Adult Child|innocent and helpless nature]], will land her into trouble with these sort of men. [[Defied Trope|To avoid this]], Luca wraps Casca's face in bandages and passes her off as her syphilis stricken sister. It works for awhile with some [[All Men Are Perverts|sex-crazed]] pagan worshipers - until they rip off her bandages.

* [[Stripperiffic]]: Averted. She and all the other warrioresses of the series dress reasonably and wear effectively protective armour on the battlefield.

 

=== Serpico ===

 

[[File:Serpico.jpg|frame]]

 

=== Farnese de Vandimion ===

 

[[File:Farnese.jpg|frame]]

Introduced as the figurehead of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, she was supposedly a [[Lady of War]], except that [[Faux Action Girl|she can't fight]]. She first meets Guts after his exhausting battle against Rosine and captures him.

 

 

Yet, after witnessing the horrible events of the mock Eclipse at the Tower of Punishments, all her convictions are destroyed and she stands amazed before Guts's survivability and his unwillingness to submit to Mozgus who she respected deeply. She eventually joins him, wanting to learn how to survive unaided in the world.

 

 

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* [[Team Mom]]: Due to her role as Casca's caretaker and her willingness to take care of everyone's basic needs, she qualifies as one of these.

* [[Tiny Tyrannical Girl]]: In spades when she was younger, especially with her [[Troubling Unchildlike Behavior]].

* [[Took a Level In Kindness]]: Joining Guts and caring for Casca really brought out the nicer sides in her.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]: Daggers. Whips during her crazed [[Knight Templar]] days.

 

=== Isidro ===

 

[[File:Isidro.jpg|frame]]

* [[Tagalong Kid]]

* [[To Be a Master]]: Isidro's whole reasoning behind following Guts around, even if his [[Step Three: Profit|plan doesn't seem that practical]] at times.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]: Tried to use a regular sized sword but it didn't work in his favor since it was too big. He was then given a dagger blessed by the fire spirits, but at the time he didn't fully recognize its potential. He finally gave a short sword by an old man who thought it would coincide with his stature and speed. This works out a lot better. He's since [[Choice of Two Weapons|been able to use the fire dagger more aptly]].

* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: He believes himself the main protagonist of a [[Shonen]] series.

 

=== Schierke ===

 

[[File:Schierke.jpg|frame]]

 

=== Puck and Evarella ===

 

 

{{quote|''"Aw, c'mon! You know this story would be too dark if I weren't around!"''}}

=== Roderick of Stauffen ===

 

 

{{quote|''"It looks bad when a princess protects a knight."''}}

 

 

 

He joined Guts and his party late in the story line, making him [[The Sixth Ranger]], upon proposing to ship them to Skellig. He also wants to use this opportunity to spend some time with his wife-to-be. He was very impressed to see the skills of Guts against the Kushan's familiars in Vritannis and immediately accepted him as a leader.

* [[Zany Scheme]]: Oh yeah!