History Headscratchers / Berserk

:::So why offer to turn people into Apostles? Because it justifies their actions to themselves. With every person who makes the same choice they did, they can tell themselves again, "What I did had to be done. I didn't have a choice. Anyone would have done what I did. If I'm a monster, it's only because all HumansAreMonsters." It's bullshit, of course; it IS possible to refuse them, as shown by the Slug Count. But they get to pretend that the nature of humanity is pure evil and that they're not so different from anyone else. The fact that it also creates an army of badass demons is just a side benefit.

** And yeah, it appears in the Japanese dialogue, [[AlternativeTimeline Griffith became king in that timeline.]]

* So, do any of you Berserk scholars know why is it that [[GoodWitch a person like Flora]] gives off a ''very'' faint aching feeling in Guts and Casca's brand but the Child - who has weirdness plastered all over him - doesn't? I know that the Child in his demonic form did, but Child v.2.0 doesn't.

** He was named after the scientific concept of Femto(symbol f) which is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10^-15.

*** I see. From what I've seen, the transformation completely kills most if not all inhibitions the person might have had(i.e. Griffith surely wasn't a rapist BEFORE the transformation, conniving and manipulative as he may have been). Would that count as a form of MoreThanMindControl? From what I've seen, there is a difference of power and attitude between the Godhand(i.e. Void, Slan and Femto, who are NighInvulnerable and Complete Monsters with no shred of their former humanity) and the lesser Apostles(i.e. Rosine and the Count, who are more vulnerable and may still retain some human morality), so that would imply there's also a difference between their transformations? Or is the difference based on their DespairEventHorizon and/or HumanSacrifice? The worse the despair/bloodier the sacrifice, the more radical the transformation and the more powerful and monstrous the person becomes(i.e. Rosine had a fucked up childhood, sacrificed her AbusiveParents and became that elf-fairy KillerRabbit, while Griffith suffered THE TraumaCongaLine, sacrificed his entire Nakama and became [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]] and [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 Pyramid Head]]'s lovechild)?

*** Seconded - how exactly does he get eviler? This dude is currently fucking up {{MoralEventHorizon}}s all by his lonesome.

* One of the main themes of Berserk is HumansAreFlawed(you need to give up someone you care about in order to become an Apostle). Why, then, are most of the people [[KickTheDog major dicks]] instead of just dickish? I am mainly referring to how 90% of the men [[AttemptedRape try to rape Casca]]-and those men are mainly villagers instead of [[ScarpiaUltimatum the usual]] [[AristocratsAreEvil sort.]] Does Miura think rape is necessary to show that Midland [[CrapsackWorld is a bad place]]? Or maybe that [[MemeticMutation its how you say hello in Midland.]]

* Why was Rickert invited to the post-war ball? The kid's skilled, but it's pretty damn unlikely that he's heading an unit.

* I have a question that may sound DracoInLeatherPants, but I assure you it is not: Can Femto really be considered to be Griffith? Griffith WASN'T a good guy and made the choice to become a Demon, yes, but is there any confirmation they're the same person anymore? Every Godhand was once a human, driven past DespairEventHorizon, until they chose to become an Apostle. I get the idea that the Godhand Apostles are BrainwashedAndCrazy, like the [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Cenobites]], or are just TheHeartless [[EnemyWithout based on and created from the person's negative aspects and memories enhanced]] UpToEleven and [[LossOfIdentity the original person just ceased to exist]], [[DeadPersonImpersonation even if the new Apostle retains their memories and some personality traits]]. Once again, I am not saying Griffith is innocent and that what he did is forgivable or acceptable ([[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil IT IS FUCKING NOT]]), I'm just asking whether Griffith and Femto can really be considered the same person. It certainly isn't the case with Rosine, who is considered a victim despite being turned into an Apostle.

** Griffith is certainly fixated on Guts for a pretty simple reason. Griffith was always so far above everyone, all of his life probably. Even before becoming Femto his level of competency and sheer luck bordered on the supernatural. The Band of the Hawk was essentially an average mercenary band who were carried by their Leader into success. Guts is the only other member of the Hawks to even approach Griffith's level of prowess. Not in terms of leadership or charisma but at least physically. Griffith has a keen eye for how to best use others and initially took an interest in Guts in order to use him towards his ambition. As time wore on, the two grew closer and Guts became ever more powerful in order to lead the Hawks to victory. This works out and the Band of the Hawk is made into an official army. However, Guts chose to leave him and the Hawks in order to find out his own dream and to take time to discover himself away from his comrades. What does this mean to Griffith at this point? A man, the only man, who he could begin to treat as an equal and to forge a relationship with leaves in search of his own dreams - essentially abandoning Griffith and his ambitions. In a way it was almost as though Guts had outgrown Griffith and was going on to better things, or at least how Griffith would have viewed it. That is why he confronts Guts and they fight one last time. It was an attempt to reassert himself as superior to his one-time subordinate. Guts wins and Griffith feels empty and alone because the only other [[TheUbermensch Übermensch]] around is gone. He feels so despondent that he throws his own dreams into the fire by sleeping with Charlotte in a single self-destructive act. It may have also been an impatient attempt to seal the deal for himself as future king.

** I don't remember the specific chapter number, but it was during the Fantasia Arc where Flora was stated to have been banished from Elfhelm due to something involving a behelit, so I think that could explain why the brand went a little off.

:::So why offer to turn people into Apostles? Because it justifies their actions to themselves. With every person who makes the same choice they did, they can tell themselves again, "What I did had to be done. I didn't have a choice. Anyone would have done what I did. If I'm a monster, it's only because all HumansAreMonsters." It's bullshit, of course; it IS possible to refuse them, as shown by the Slug Count. But they get to pretend that the nature of humanity is pure evil and that they're NotSoDifferent from anyone else. The fact that it also creates an army of badass demons is just a side benefit.

* Anyone else notice that when Guts' SuperPoweredEvilSide takes over the helmet of his Berserker armour is longer than when he's in control and [[FridgeHorror can function as a mouth]]? Compare [[http://mangafox.me/manga/berserk/c316/11.html here]] and [[http://mangafox.me/manga/berserk/c318/13.html here]].

** The lower panels on [[http://mangafox.me/manga/berserk/c102/13.html this page]] strongly indicates her climaxing, plus she cried when having sex with Guts too. I honestly think Miura could have emphasized her suffering more than all the pages and detail spent on her body getting naturally aroused. Heavier crying, screaming at Femto to stop, horribly bleeding from between her thighs etc. would have been alot more indicative of the extruciating pain she's meant to be in. The way I read it was that her body enjoyed it while her mentality was the suffering part. For example, I would personally have found it more powerful had ''Femto'' been the one coming in her before she passed out. Yet, Casca's the one climaxing, which I found a weird add to an otherwise horrible scene.

*** Actually, there are tears in Casca's eyes during the lovemaking that takes place after Guts talks to her about his past trauma. Based on context, though, it's clear that they're tears of happiness (or maybe ecstasy) and not pain. As for Femto's rape of Casca, her state of shock can make it difficult to discern exactly what physical sensations she's feeling based on her facial expressions, but the penetration scene very clearly seems to indicate pain on her face even if she ''might'' experience physical pleasure in other parts of the scene.