When Guts left 

the drawings i've made for my berserk fanfic! in no particular order

and the one that didn't make it in the cut..

rated m - plz read the content warnings as well

Berserk and the theme of revenge

So, after reading the latest chapter of Berserk, it got me thinking again about the concept of revenge in the story, and how it ties into Guts’ journey, as well as his relationship with Casca and those he loves and cares for, as well as his relationship with Griffith.

I think it can be agreed upon that the concept of revenge in Berserk is portrayed to be, generally, a negative thing.  Guts’ thirst for revenge against Griffith is what leads to him losing Casca the first time, and, we see that theme circled back to in the latest chapters of the manga.  Guts is once again overcome with rage and an obsessive desire to kill Griffith, and in this blinding, berserker state, he once again loses Casca.  I think this is very much deliberate. 

I know there’s an overwhelming desire from the Berserk fanbase to see Guts’ get his revenge on Griffith, stemming from a general feeling of hatred toward Griffith from the fans.  I find Griffith to be an extremely interesting and in some ways tragic character, and his relationship with Guts to be probably the most important and thematically relevant relationship in the story, and I don’t think the narrative was ever meant to be taken as a simple one of revenge, and that’s backed up, I believe, by not only the most recent chapters, but by the entire story as a whole.

Because, given the trajectory of Guts’ journey, him seeking out and enacting revenge on Griffith would make no sense for his character development.  I know that this statement is likely to piss a lot of people off, but it’s true nonetheless.

Over the course of the story, Guts has come to realize the importance of human connection, of friendship and holding on to the ones you love.  He’s come to understand he doesn’t always have to go it alone, that he can rely on help from his friends, that he can depend on and trust in them.  It isn’t at all subtle, the way the story presents it.  When Guts started realizing this, and allowing it to happen, things started going noticeably better for him, and for those around him too.  Guts’ berserker rages in the story are always accompanied by the demons haunting him asking for a “sacrifice”, and it’s obvious what they mean.  Guts’ humanity, and Guts’ human connections.  The message is clear.  If Guts continues down the path of revenge, he’s going to lose everything that once made him human, and he’ll end up just like Griffith.  Griffith, of course, famously forsook all humanity and human connections he had in pursuit of his dream.  He’s meant to be a parallel and a mirror to Guts, what Guts will become if he continues to lust after Griffith’s head.  Indeed, one could easily argue that it was in his desire to be Griffith’s equal, by leaving the Band of the Hawk in the first place in pursuit of his own dream, that Guts inadvertently set off the chain of events that lead to Griffith becoming the monster he did.  By initially rejecting what he already had, the friendships he had formed, the connections he had built, including WITH Griffith, Guts finds himself here, Griffith standing as his mortal enemy, Casca gone, and the world lying in ruin. 

Guts’ latest failure to enact revenge on Griffith is really an encapsulation of his continued mistake, the continued fools errand of placing his personal desire for revenge over the lives of those he loves.  It was while trying to take Griffith’s head off, and failing to put even a single scratch on him, that Griffith was able to calmly walk over to an unconscious Casca and simply... take her.  Guts allowed this to happen, because, once again, he allowed his thirst for revenge to take priority.  It’s called “Berserk” for a reason.  When in a berserker state, it makes one blind to everything else around them.  That’s Guts’ challenge.  That’s Guts’ true advisory.  Not Griffith, but himself.  

If the story leads, then, to Guts finally succeeding in his revenge, in killing Griffith, it will undermine his entire character journey up to this point.  And on a more basic level, it would just be incredibly uninteresting and a waste of potential.

Again, I feel as though Guts and Griffith are meant to be seen as mirror images of one another, their journey’s paralleling one another.  Griffith wasn’t always an unfeeling monster, despite what much of the fan base tries to claim.  I’m absolutely certain he had genuine love and affection for his men, and for Guts and Casca in particular.  I even wrote two posts about it here, if anyone’s interested: https://cosmicjoke.tumblr.com/post/672119081465511936/understanding-griffith and https://cosmicjoke.tumblr.com/post/672076147740360704/ugh-i-just-finished-reading-berserk-for-the?is_related_post=1

But it’s that very fact that makes Griffith’s eventual fall and betrayal so emotionally affecting and brutal.  If Griffith had simply always been some entity of pure evil, these things wouldn’t have had even a fraction of the impact they did.  It wouldn’t have hit nearly as hard.

What would be the infinitely more interesting turn of events, and given the themes and current direction of the story, what I think is the much more likely scenario we’ll see unfold, is that Guts finds it in himself, somehow, to let go of his quest for revenge, and even that Griffith himself is allowed a chance at redemption.  I know everyone wants to credit Griffith’s tears with being nothing more than leftover emotional remnants from his transformation into the Moon Child, but again, that makes zero thematic sense.  Rather I think it’s a manifestation of Griffith’s own regret.  At his beginning realization of what he traded, true love and friendship, for the hollow, empty Kingdom he’s since come to acquire.  He once had the true love, admiration, respect and friendship of Guts and Casca, and all of his men.  Now, all he has is impersonal idol worship based on falsehoods.  That realization in itself is, in many ways, a far worse punishment for Griffith than mere death could ever be.  I would argue then, that it would bolster and make significantly more emotionally impactful this theme of the importance of friendship and human connection, if Griffith were to become fully conscious of his great mistake, and willingly sacrifice his dream, and probably even himself, in the attempt to right it. 

I know, I know, nobody wants to see a redemption arc for Griffith.  But I do.  I think it would make the story that much more powerful, and would link directly with Guts’ own story, and his ultimate triumph.

Guts has a choice then to make.  Either he lets his demons consume him in his pursuit of revenge, and loses everything that truly matters in the process, or he rejects his pursuit, and in so doing, fully realizes and embraces the things in his life that actually matter.

Guts will need to forgive Griffith for this to happen, I think.  Or in the least, let go of his burning hatred for him.  I don’t see Guts being able to let go of his revenge otherwise.  And maybe that forgiveness will be the thing that spurs Griffith into finally doing the right thing, sacrificing his own dream, and maybe even his own life, to make things right. 

B e r s e r k (Eclipse), Vol. 12

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You know something that I hate? Reddit Berserk fanboys. The way they misunderstand the whole points and messages in berserk is genuienly astonishing to me.

Yes dudebros! Griffth has feelings! Half of the story wouldn't even have happened if Griffith was a psychopathic, unfeeling, uncaring person.

Do people forget that his top motive to achive his dream was because he saw it as the only way to not make all the deaths of previous hawks meaningless???

How about the fact that Griffith put his life on the line for Guts TWICE for reasons that he himself couldn't verbally explain to Guts. Why couldn't he tell??? Oh yes, because Griffiths feelings for Guts go far than just seeing him as a tool.

Take a look at Griffiths body language! A pannel before this, Griffith wanted to literally choke Guts out of so much pent up anger, sorrow and resentment, but the moment Guts huged him and broke down, proving to Griffith that Guts genuienly loves and cares for him what did Griffith do??? He rest his hand on Guts as a way to comfort Guts!! As a way to accept Guts love. Instead of Griffith having a stronger urge to kill him, he embraces him instead. Now do not tell me that this is something Griffith would do to someone he sees as a tool because you're automatically wrong.

Tw: sh and lowkey r*pe mentions below

I don't understand why the reddit Berserk fanbase loves ignoring how Griffith literally reocurres to self harm when he feels overwhelmed by emotions that he doesn't know how to actually handle.

Also, stop making jokes out of the Griffith x Gennon situation. It's not funny!!! Griffith reocurred to Gennon and had sex with him as a way to repay the hawks. Griffith didn't want to have sex with him, we clearly see that he was disgusted by it. But he felt it was only right to sacrifice his own body the way many hawks before him had sacrificed their lives for his dream.

end of tw

Anyways as you can tell it pisses me of when people ignore and misinterpret Griffith as this unfeeling person, his emotional drive and the mask he wears over it are such compelling parts of his character.

Actually, the eclipse wouldn't have even been able to happen if Griffith didn't have any emotions at all. If Griffith didn't care for Guts, casca or the hawks then the apostoles wouldn't have considered them as sacrifices whatsoever.

Oh and guess what? Griffith and Guts relationship was totally homoerotic and went far from just simple brotherhood. You can fight me on this all you want, but theres so many subtext and moments in the manga that can easily prove my point.

Guts's body is a weapon Casca's body is something to be controlled Griffths body is a bargaining chip. Hi for the love of god h

“You're always…getting hurt. Always...because of me”

Casca drove Guts crazy. He loved Casca so much, but he also had dark urges to eat Casca’s insides, kiss her bare, as well as cuddling with Casca's slowly disintegrating body. Casca was the source of these thoughts, which Guts tried to control as best he could. The walls would be covered in the blood of anybody who came close to her, and he wanted Casca to be completely his and nobody else's. These ideas weren't bothersome; he only wanted to stab endlessly into the bodies of those he disliked and leave their twisted, unidentifiable remains deep in the forests for no one to find, especially Casca. Guts would never do something to upset her, he loves her.

When Guts found out Casca and Griffith started dating his thoughts started to get darker. He wanted to kill Griffith, chop off his limbs and send it to every single one of the band of the hawks members so no one else will get close to Casca. Guts hated Griffth with all of his heart. First he acts like he’s above him then he gets with Casca how dare he try to take Casca away from him. Griffith could never love Casca as much as Guts would. Guts was going to make sure Griffith realized exactly what big mistake he made getting with Casca. It was no longer just thoughts at this point, Guts was going to follow through with it this time. Griffith won't ever be seen ever again. I'll make sure to comfort Casca, be there for her through everything and make her realize how much better I am than Griffith ever would’ve been.

Guts sets out to find Griffith at night he knows he’ll be alone at this time. He sneaks up to Griffith’s tent, the lanterns out he should be asleep. Guts walks in quietly and hastily; he wouldn’t want to be seen that would cause suspicion especially after tonight. As I walk in I see Griffith sleeping, he looks so peaceful. It's too bad he did save me, but this is for love. “Sorry Griffith” I say quietly only if he didn’t get in the way. I raise my sword up and bring it down and strike his neck over, over and over again till his head falls off, never giving Griffith time to scream or fully process what just happened. Bloods everywhere, I have to clean myself off and make sure I don’t get caught. I sneak out of Griffith’s tent just as quietly if not more than when I went in. I take what used to be him with me. I need to get rid of his body. I'll bury him in the woods. I pick up Griffith’s pathetic body and bring it to the woods. As Guts throws Griffith in what would be his final resting place he looks at the head Guts cut off happily. All Guts can think about is how Griffith deserved it for distracting his one true love. Guts goes to the lake to wash himself off. He makes sure he gets every drop of blood off his clothes, body, and sword and scrubs till his arms start to burn. He heads back to his tent. “ It was a good night.”

************************************

It’s been three days since Griffith has been missing and it’s also been three whole days where Guts has been truly happy. Now all he has to do is convince his true love to forget about that pathetic man and fall in love with him. Here she comes, she hasn’t been out of her tent since Griffith disappearance, I’ve been starting to get worried. “Hey Guts, I need to tell you something that's important,” she says. She still looks upset for some reason. “Sure tell me” I say nonchalantly. “Guts I think someone has to know something or had something to do with it” she says quietly like she thinks someone’s listening to us. “Casca stop it, it couldn’t be we’ve known these people for years there’s no way they would betray or do something to Griffith” I try to “reassure” her knowing she’s right. Why can’t she realize I did it for us? Why can’t she move on already? “I know, I know but Guts I don’t know what to do I miss him, I really love him and I know he loves me too there’s no way he ran away right?” she starts to tear up, this is my chance. I bring her close and hug her. I love how close we are. It should have always been like this, her and I. Not her with anyone else. Just thinking about that makes me want to throw up, it’s disgusting. Every one of their kisses, every one of their conversation, longing stares from afar, smiles, touches, and gifts dedicated to each other was so repulsive to watch and I wasn’t even able to say anything. I know that prick did it in front of me on purpose, that was why he deserved it. “Casca, maybe it was for the better. We all know Griffith would’ve been too distracted with his dream to give you any of his attention” I try to sound as sad as possible but I can’t help but to feel so overjoyed that she came to talk to me first. I can’t wait until she loves me. I love her so much. I can’t help it, she makes me so fucking crazy.

Bsa fans Pintrest are way to dumb like now they are comparing borusara as guts casca and griffth as now kawaki.🤦‍♀️ wtf is wrong with that fandom. Why disrespect the best manga couple guts casca with bsa, comparing best useful leader girl casca with a ugly useless crybaby salad is such a shame and kawaki with a pyscho rapist!💀

That's just a wrong comparison to make like seriously Berserk and Boruto are too different genres.

I had any editing skills, I would 100% make some sort of AMV for Griffth & Guts using Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away".

31 Days of Halloween - Grab Bag Edition: Day 31 - Berserk

I am a being of few real passions. Berserk may be the top of that list. i found Berserk when I was in college and I don't think I've ever fallen in love with a story quite like I have with this tale of one man's struggle against forces far beyond his comprehension. Berserk follows the life of Guts from his birth from a hanged corpse to his binding to Griffth and the God Hand. He is constantly hounded by what can only be called demons as they are drawn to a brand he bears. There is a ton of plot since this story has been going since the 80s but the important part is the battle against gods and fate as an outsider learns to depend on the people around him after a life of nothing but torment and hurt. So style wise Berserk is very much Hellraiser meets medieval fantasy. Miura sensei delved a lot into the human desire for power verses the absolute will to survive. Berserk does deal with a lot of very touchy subjects however. Rape is present in the story but not in a fetishized manor but rather for the horror and it is equal opportunity. There are not many good people in the world this is set in and most that are get trampled along the way. This is not a feel good story. It is also a story that really can't be finished sadly. Miura died before completing the manga in 2021. Though the story is being completed by a friend he trusted, the way Miura intended the story to be finished can never really be seen. This story has had a lot of influence on me and many other. There are numerous media products based off it though i recommend few. The 90s anime series and the remake movies are good but really only cover one of the major arcs and it is a fairly early one that does not really scratch the surface of the overall story. Dark Horse has been publishing some amazing leather bound omibus collections which I proudly own ever one to date. Never been a better time to get the experience in your hands really. Though do stay away from the cg 2016 and 2017 seasons of Berserk. They are terrible and should be forgotten.

And so we have reached the end of the official spooking season and this list. I do hope you've found something to delight you in the candy bowl. See ya next year. Halloween is forever.

Redrew a manga panel of guts

Guts

I love those manga panels where Guts is looking up at Griffith, like he’s always someone out of his reach.

Guts & Griffith ~ Berserk

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