History Berserk / TropesQToT

** DoubleSubverted in the manga. It takes [[spoiler:Casca]] and [[spoiler:Guts]] at least one try before they can make sweet, sweet love without one of them having a bad bout of temporary insanity caused by post-traumatic stress from childhood sexual abuse. Still, their moment is the only instance of sex in the series so far that wasn't either AttemptedRape, [[NearRapeExperience near-rape]], [[RapeAsDrama actual rape]], demon rape, [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy a pagan orgy]], [[NauseaFuel just plain sick]], or done out of [[ForTheEvulz spite]], [[BandOfBrothels money]], [[AnythingThatMoves lust]], or [[SexForSolace pity]]. Not to mention that [[spoiler: Guts and Casca]] resolved all of their then-current inner troubles through IntimatePsychotherapy.

* RebuffTheAmateur: Jill's father has a bad case of I Coulda Been a Contender! regarding his days in the army. When the Knights of the Iron Chain show up hunting Guts, he offers to guide them, but when battle is about to begin he is shooed away by the knights who don't want civilians messing around.

* RebelRelaxation: Guts and Casca do a lot of the folding their arms and leaning against a wall/pole/tree position. They're not always trying to be rebellious, but trying to retain their [[TheStoic cool]] and [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask collected]] personas instead.

* TheyDo: Guts and Casca [[spoiler:but not for long.]]

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: [[TheLancer Guts]], [[TheHero Griffith]], [[ActionGirl Casca]]. The sole purpose of these three's [[TriangRelations relationship]] is to get more complex as the story goes on...

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Interesting case for this series. While there's a healthy cast of female characters, Casca was the only main female characters for the first fifteen or so volumes, and is still considered one of the three main characters of the story. Not only that, but she was the only female member of the original Band of the Hawk, and still remains the series only genuine ActionGirl, albeit [[GoMadFromTheRevelation she's in remission]] [[DistressedDamsel for the time being]].

** DoubleSubverted in the manga. It takes [[spoiler:Casca]] and [[spoiler:Guts]] at least one try before they can make sweet, sweet love without one of them having a bad bout of temporary insanity caused by post-traumatic stress from childhood sexual abuse. Still, their moment is the only instance of sex in the series so far that wasn't either AttemptedRape, [[NearRapeExperience near-rape]], [[RapeAsDrama actual rape]], [[HornyDevils demon rape]], [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy a pagan orgy]], [[NauseaFuel just plain sick]], or done out of [[ForTheEvulz spite]], [[BandOfBrothels money]], [[AnythingThatMoves lust]], or [[SexForSolace pity]]. Not to mention that [[spoiler: Guts and Casca]] resolved all of their then-current inner troubles through IntimatePsychotherapy.

* RapeAsDrama: Multiple occurrences throughout the series [[spoiler:including child Guts being raped by a mercenary, scarring him for life]], the most heinous example happening to [[spoiler:Casca]].

* RapeLeadsToInsanity: [[spoiler:Poor, poor Casca]]

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Guts, and ''how''.

** Tools of warfare from the 15th century like fluted armor, gunpowder and cannons are in use, and shipbuilding has advanced to levels akin to TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy. However, no other kinds of guns have been invented yet (barring what Rickert has accomplished below), and people still fight with traditional medieval weapons like swords, bows, spears, crossbows and axes.

* TraumaButton: Given their experiences with sexual violence and abuse, both Guts and Casca have shown signs of this throughout the series. In general, both have had a strong aversion to being touched (definitely Casca when she's touched by members of the opposite sex). Guts in particular was triggered by memories of his [[spoiler:anal rape as a child when he tried to make love to Casca from behind]] and promptly almost [[spoiler:choked Casca in a post-traumatic fit of fear.]] Later, the memories of [[spoiler:having to watch Casca be raped to insanity]] doubles as Guts' BerserkButton, so whenever he sees a young woman in danger of being raped, he promptly becomes TheBerserker that he is and kills nearly everything in sight. Casca's trigger moments are much more conflicting and appalling, since after her horrific ordeal, Casca is totally amnesiac and can't remember her former life, but it's only when she's being assaulted that she is shown to have ''any'' memories - and they're of the worst moments of her life.

* SticksToTheBack: Averted by Guts, who wears his sword across his back but has an actual suspension mechanism to hold it there. His early {{BFS}} has a flexible leather sheath that only holds the blade at the point, middle, and base, and which flaps behind him like a pointed devil's tail while his sword is drawn. The [[UpToEleven even larger]] Dragonslayer has no scabbard, but instead is held up by a ring on the hilt that engages a hook on his baldric. It is kept from swaying by a leather strap on a chain that wraps around the opposite side. When he draws his sword, all he needs to do is release the security chain and lift the sword clear of the hook.

* ShipTease: Normally ''avoided'', as most ships tend to "sail" relatively quickly. There's still been ''oodles'' of teasing between [[FoeYay Guts and Griffith]], though. The relationship between Isidro and Schierke might have elements of SlapSlapKiss PuppyLove, although lately the strongest teasing has been for Isidro and Isma.

** Notably, several decades after the manga's debut, there's a lot of suspicion that a once-universally accepted translation was in error; with all the recent talk of "Falconia" and Miura's indication that one arc should be called "Millenium Falcon" (for the [[Franchise/StarWars obvious reference]] on several levels), many people suspect the proper name of Griffith's mercenary company should be "Band of the ''Falcon''", not "Band of the ''Hawk''". (This was caused by the word for both birds being the same in Japanese.) Two decades of fandom inertia make it basically impossible to correct in the zeitgeist at this point, however, and Band of the Hawk remains as the official translation.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: One of the rare cases where the target ''survives''. [[spoiler:Casca is raped into insanity, and now has the mental abilities and speech of an infant. She requires constant babysitting, whereas before she was once one of the leaders of the Band of the Hawk. [[note]]Doesn't count as {{Chickification}} because we ''saw'' all of this ''brutal'' BreakTheCutie happen '''with all kinds of details''', whereas Chickification is an invisible and unjustified shift in the story.[[/note]] As a result of her insanity and depowered status, Guts uses her fate as [[RapeAndRevenge the greatest justification for his revenge against Griffith and the God Hand]] and her [[TheLostLenore condition continues to anguish and cause great pain for Guts.]] The trope was played straight a few weeks after the Eclipse, as Guts was so consumed in his sadness and anger over the event that he [[ForgottenFallenFriend actually abandoned Casaca and disregarded the trauma that she herself was going through]] and left to pursue his revenge for two years. The trope was later [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] when Godo confronted Guts on the matter, which actually resulted in Guts giving up his revenge on Griffith in order to stay near Casca (though the trope is still occasionally discussed by the Beast who torments Guts). The overall use of the trope in the story has drawn some criticism from fans, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter since Casca's character arc was greatly diminished when she became insane]] and many events surrounding her status (an example being the demonized child that Casca bore) serve to aid in Guts' and even Griffith's character arcs more than her own.]]

* TenderTears: Subverted in a particularly twisted way. Slan tears up upon [[spoiler:witnessing the brutal rape and torture of Casca at Femto's hands while Guts is watching helplessly, held down by three demons right after hacking off his own arm and righ before [[EyeScream getting his eye clawed off in the process]]]]. [[NightmareFetishist She found the scene to be an epiphany of beauty...]]

* RealityEnsues: Occurs frequently, despite this being a fantasy manga.
** The Band of Hawk do fare well against human soldiers but when they encounter a Demon Horde for the first time, the end results aren't for the faint of heart.
** Guts easily overpowers Griffith in their duel, when the former wants to leave the Band of the Hawks. No matter how skilled Griffith is, Guts has been fighting opponents stronger than himself and remained calm and composed, while Griffith was in a state of mental fragility.
** Played for laughs when Casca winces heavily upon sitting on her horse. She and Guts had TheirFirstTime a few hours before, so it was natural for her to be sore.
** After losing his eye Guts suffers from poor depth perception and a limited field of vision. But hones his sense of hearing to compensate for his diminished sight.
** Guts tries to catch a falling Casca with his prosthetic hand, but she continues to fall because the prosthetic is nothing but a prosthetic, with no actual grip in it. Guts even lampshades this later on because he had gotten used to it being rather useful, since the hand had a magnet built into it that allowed him to hold onto his sword easily.
** Guts being CoveredInScars means he cannot sweat out a fever as easily as an unscarred body can.
** [[spoiler: After having her fractured psyche repaired by the fairie people, Casca is mostly returned to normal. We get a nice chapter of her hanging out with the group (as well as demonstrating that these past two years in her disabled state have not [[FragileSpeedster lessened her skill with the blade]]). That is until she gets ''one look'' at Guts and immediately collapses and suffers a vicious panic attack. While Casca has been healed, the trauma of the Eclipse has not gone away anytime soon, and unfortunately Guts reminds her of everything that happened at that time. This is very much in line with real-life PTSD triggers, and shows that Casca's trauma runs even deeper than Guts.]]
** The Holy Iron Chain Knights are a ceremonial unit, made of untrained and inexperienced nobles, who are given only the safest or easiest tasks and kept away from any real danger. When they try to apprehend Guts, an immensely strong warrior with years of experience, he is able to hold them off with only his metal arm. Despite being severely weakened by injuries he'd suffered earlier.

* ShamingTheMob: Guts gave quite the uncharacteristic one during his Black Swordsman days in the Lost Children Arc, where he chastises the town for abandoning a little boy right after his parents were killed by Rosine's minions. Of course, Guts ''did'' [[WouldHurtAChild use the kid as bait for his own plans...]] but he ''also'' [[WouldntHurtAChild made sure that the kid was okay]] afterward and gave him his own form of comfort (by basically telling the kid that [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop revenge felt good]]).

* ThatThingIsNotMyChild: Guts immediately rejects the deformed fetus as his own (at first thinking that [[spoiler:[[MamasBabyPapasMaybe Casca was impregnated by a demon hellspawn when Femto raped her]]]]) even after he found out that it is his and Casca's child. Although, to be a bit more sympathetic on Guts' part, it could be that he doesn't hate the child in itself, but rather what the child represents: [[ChildOfRape the byproduct]] of a horrible event that [[MyGreatestFailure he failed to prevent from happening to Casca]], an event that pretty much [[StarCrossedLovers quashed any chances that Guts and Casca]] could have had of actually having a real family (since it was implied from [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic their interaction with the mysterious child]] on the beach [[GoodParents that the two would not have made bad parents]], and Guts is later seen having a somber look on his face when remembering he and Casca's child [[spoiler:though it has been suggested that the fetus and the boy on the beach are the same]]).
** Also related to the [[spoiler:ChildOfRape]] trope is the treatment that Rosine received from her father, since it was strongly implied that she was [[spoiler:conceived through her mother's rape]].

* SexIsEvil: Damn near every sex-related scene, consensual [[RapeAsDrama or not]], is used to [[FanDisservice gross the hell out of the audience]]. Never mind all of the rape that goes on (and how the product of said rape can produce evil itself), but you have Slan, who is a GorgeousGorgon with [[NightmareFetishist BDSM tendencies]] [[TooKinkyToTorture and leanings]], you have Wyald, who [[CoitusUninterruptus doesn't have the decency to hold off on having sex]] with dozens of women in the middle of a conversation, then you have the pagan worshipers and their [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy disgusting psychedelic orgies]], and the numerous, ''numerous'' phallic and vaginal imagery in various monster designs…
** Not to mention that sex was linked to [[spoiler: Griffith]]'s downfall when he has [[spoiler: [[SexForSolace sex with Princess Charlotte]] after Guts departed from the Hawks.]] The scene was not particularly romantic…
** [[spoiler:Need we remind of Femto's infamous rape scene of Casca which is played out as THE epically gruesome point in a scene where all of her comrades' deaths are, while still portrayed horribly, still far from emphasized to ''that'' extent. Also, the rape causes her to promptly GoMadFromTheRevelation afterwards, transforming her mind into that of an infant.]]
** Averted thus far twice: Guts and Casca's first time is portrayed as the only bright spot in their lives up to that point (and that's ''with'' Guts almost strangling Casca due to rape flashbacks), and most of the prostitutes in the refugee camp during the Tower Arc are shown in a positive light (save for Nina, who is classed under the pagan worshipers mentioned above). One of the lesser themes is that sex, while not inherently bad, is ''far'' too easy to turn to bad ends.
* ShutUpHannibal:
** The God Hand and their Apostles like to try to invoke OmniscientMoralityLicense to justify their right to commit atrocities or just explain why their victory is inevitable, but Guts doesn't care. He'll tell you exactly where to shove your peculiar extremities. In fact, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu he'll do it for you.]]
** Before the final fight of the Birth Ceremony Chapter, Mozgus reproaches Guts for trying to save Casca, [[BurnTheWitch whom he accused of being a witch]] who is drawing evil spirits and demons to St. Albion that threaten to devour the inhabitants. And technically, he's correct, since the combined effect of both Guts' and Casca's brands are drawing in demons from all around, and for all of his horrendous acts, Mozgus was trying to save the people of St. Albion. However, Guts' only response to this ReasonYouSuckSpeech is that the people in St. Albion are mindless sheep who are deluded by religion and being manipulated by the PowersThatBe, and that he is going to [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl save his girl no matter how many people have to die in the process]].

* SexyDiscretionShot: Happens in the anime when Guts and Casca make love. [[TheBigDamnKiss They kiss,]] Casca has an inner monologue about her LoveEpiphany, then a white-out showing Casca being lowered to the ground with no visible top on, and then a PastelChalkedFreezeFrame of Guts and Casca kissing and embracing each other, which was actually taken from a scene in the manga - though a lot more censored. After another white-out, it just shows Guts and Casca the morning after.

** The knights of the Iron Chain are a largely ceremonial unit, made up of young nobles looking to serve in the army without being put in any real danger. When they try to apprehend Guts, an immensely strong warrior with years of experience, he (literally)cleaves through them like its nothing. Were it not for the injuries Guts was already suffering, and the presence of two legitimately skilled warriors like Serpico and Azan, he would have easily killed them all.

* RealityEnsues: The Band of Hawk do fare well against a human soldiers but when they encounter a Demon Horde for the first time, the end results aren't for the faint of heart.
** After losing his eye Guts suffers from poor depth perception and a limited field of vision. But hones his sense of hearing to compensate for his diminished sight.

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