Characters / Berserk: Band of the Hawk

Berserk Main Character Index
Guts | Griffith / Femto | Casca | Guts's Companions | Band of the Hawk | Kingdom of Midland | Antagonists (Godhand and Apostles) | Other Characters | Video Games

BEWARE OF UNMARKED SPOILERS! While we make an effort to cover some of the most important spoilers, we cannot guarantee that every potential spoiler will be hidden, or that those that are will be hidden consistently. Character bios in particular are likely to discuss late events in the manga. Lastly, some tropes are going to be spoilers because of their mere presence. You Have Been Warned!

---

This page is for The Band of the Hawk, both the Original band from before the Eclipse and the New Band of the Hawk formed by Griffith after his physical reincarnation.

---

The Original Band of the Hawk

Common Tropes

The grim reapers of the battlefield.^CharactersLeft to right: Corkus, Pippin, Rickert, Guts, Griffith, Judeau, Casca.

"On his own, no one of us is any big deal. No different from any other mercenary. It's just that unlike other mercenaries, who are so hardened they think only about money and their own survival, we're a little different. Around here, while we do spend every blood-filled day killing and being killed, it's strange, but we can also cry, laugh, get angry, whatever."

— Judeau

The Band of the Hawk (鷹の団 Taka no Dan) is the legendary mercenary company that Griffith started as a young man to pursue the goal of winning his own kingdom. At first little more than a group of bandits, in which Judeau, Corkus, Pippin, and Casca were early members, their numbers and reputation grow quickly, especially once they add Guts as the captain of the raiders.

With the exception of Rickert, all of the original Hawks were victims of Griffith's Transhuman Treachery, and ended up as Sacrificial Lions to the Godhand in order to fulfill Griffith's destiny. Only Guts and Casca survived the nightmare, but as mentioned above, they did not come out of it unscathed.

Tropes applying to the Band of the Hawk in general also apply to Griffith, Guts, and Casca, but they have their own character pages for tropes applying to them as individuals.

---

• Badass Army: Judeau says that even though the individual soldiers in the Band of the Hawk are no different than the mercenaries you would find in other armies, Griffith's inspirational leadership has made them into a force that's more than the sum of its parts. There's no one in the Band of the Hawk who didn't join of their own will or who isn't willing to endure suffering, and their superior morale and tactics have enabled them to defeat armies that were much stronger than them on paper.
• Badass Crew: The named leaders of the Band of the Hawk form a tightly knit group of combat veterans who have been following Griffith since the early days (with the exception of newcomer Guts, who still manages to become Griffith's most trusted companion within just three years), and they would gived their lives for him and for each other.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: All of the Hawks in the wounded camp except Rickert, and all of the Hawks in the Eclipse except Guts and Casca, were killed and/or Eaten Alive by Apostles in the most nightmarish ways.
• Developing Doomed Characters: From the very beginning, the audience knows that Guts' journey with the Hawks won't end well by the end of the Golden Age. Even so, plenty of time is spent developing each member of the Band in order to endear them to the audience and help them share Guts' feelings of grief and anguish when the inevitable happens and Griffith sacrifices them all to the demons of Hell to become an Eldritch Abomination.
• Eaten Alive: Most of the Band of the Hawk, including Pippin and Corkus, meet their deaths by being devoured alive by Apostles.
• Elite Army: Only 5,000 strong, they routinely destroy much larger forces with few casualties, culminating when they defeat a force of 30,000 supposedly "elite" enemy knights fortified in a castle known for being impregnable. It takes capturing their commander unarmed outside of battle, ambushing them without any weapons or armor, wearing them down through attrition over the course of a year, and finally literally dragging them to Hell and Zerg Rushing them with an army of immortal demons to finally bring them down. Possibly justified; see Plot Armor down below.
• Fatal Flaw: The Hawks' extreme subservience to Griffith is to the point where they become ready and willing to cast down their own dreams and lives for the sake of his own. Though Griffith acknowledges that the Hawks are invaluable to his cause, he ends up unable to truly care for them or see them as other than extensions of his own will, as a result of their devotion to him. While this is partly because Griffith believes he needs to quell his concern for his men in order for the sacrifices he's already made to not have been in vain, it's apparent he lacks respect for his companions because they strive merely to serve him, rather than pursuing their own goals beyond him.
• The Fatalist: Downplayed. It's heavily implied that the biggest reason the relationship between Griffith and the rest of the Hawks is so blatantly unequal is because the Hawks collectively feel that Griffith is so utterly beyond the likes of them that they don't even try to see him for who he is, rather seeing him as the flawless leader he presents himself to be. Attempting to pursue a relationship with Griffith as an equal is so bizarre a concept to them, because they believe he has no equal. Guts treating Griffith as he would have treated anyone else forms the impetus of their strong, brotherly friendship, but when Guts began believing there had been some sort of divide between himself and Griffith, their relationship started falling apart.
• Fate Worse than Death: On top of already dying, due to them being branded by the Godhand, their souls are doomed to the Abyss, the terrifying vortex of souls and negative energy at the bottom of the Astral World, unable to preserve their final remnants of individuality and dissolving within the swirl for all eternity.
• Foil: To Guts' later companions. Led by Griffith, the Hawks largely served as a Red Shirt Army who were inspired more by the mask Griffith put on as a flawless god-amongst-men who fought only for his dream and nothing else. The relationship between Guts and his crew is on much more equal footing, largely because Guts is willing to trust them and see them as they are, rather than see them as merely extensions of his will. As such, his companions come to appreciate him more for who he truly is, beyond the gruff exterior he often puts on. And finally, the Hawks were all hardened mercenaries who all chose to remain subservient to Griffith's dream to advance their own standing in society. While this resulted in them finding commonalities in each other and growing a genuine sense of unity and trust in their ranks, this also enabled them to remain relatively unambitious with their own respective lots in life, instead of striving to achieve greatness on their own terms. On the other hand, Guts' companions often started off as enemies to Guts (or at least on more unfriendly terms), but joined up with him because saw through Guts the means to fulfill their individual ambitions (though in Magnifico and Azan's cases, it was largely because extenuating circumstances forced them to tag along).
• Foregone Conclusion: As detailed in Developing Doomed Characters above, it's made painfully clear from the very beginning that Guts' journey with the Hawks cannot end in any other way but tragedy.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Defied hard. Guts' whole reason for going on the warpath against Apostles is to avenge his comrades' deaths, Rickert personally laid out the hill of swords to memorialize them, and Casca is still haunted by the horrid memory of the eclipse, especially Judeau's sacrifice. The sheer, callous indifference Griffith shows to his men's deaths further cements Guts and Rickert's disgust with him.
• Killed Off for Real: Slaughtered like animals in a series of Undignified Deaths enacted by demonic entities from beyond reality all because their charismatic leader decided his dream mattered more than their lives and souls did.
• Like a God to Me: Essentially their "relationship" with Griffith. In serving Griffith, the Hawks each find a unified purpose, which forms the basis for their strong companionship. However, while Griffith clearly recognizes the value of having such a powerful army so willing to serve him, he doesn't see them as friends at all (save perhaps Casca or Guts).
• Loving a Shadow: They admire Griffith, no question about that, but it's beyond clear that they're more enamored with the image they've constructed of Griffith, as well as the facade Griffith himself puts on for them, rather than who Griffith truly is as a person. Perhaps the only exception to this would be Guts.
• Nominal Hero: They're a likable band of mercenaries that act more like a family than a group of seasoned warriors. But they've killed so many people that the act itself is casual to them, are more or less open to less-than-ethical tactics to achieve their goals, and aid the kingdom of Midland primarily to advance their standing in society—not to end the war between Midland and Tudor.
• Plot Armor: It's entirely possible that the Hawks' astronomical successes in the battlefield were orchestrated by the Godhand just to bolster Griffith's ego, only to then break him hard in the end — all part of their plan to bring about their "fated" dark prophecy.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Downplayed, but the Hawks still give vibes of this. Though everyone's a sellsword driven mainly to rise up in society and make something meaningful out of themselves, they act with a surprising sense of camaraderie that separates them completely from other mercenary bands.
• Recurring Boss: In Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō, the player fights the Band of the Hawk as a Wolfpack Boss multiple times at different points in the story.
• Red Baron: The whole Band of the Hawk are known by the nickname "Grim Reapers of the Battlefield" for being the deadliest mercenary company in the business.
• Red Shirt Army: Besides the named leaders, the Band includes a couple of thousand unnamed soldiers who fight and die for the sake of Griffith's dream. Downplayed in that they're more effective than most armies and perform admirably on the battlefield, but whenever disaster strikes or a particularly powerful antagonist appears (Zodd, Adon Coborlwitz, Boscogn) death follows.
• Sacrificial Lion: With the exception of Rickert, all of those listed here die in the Eclipse. As important secondary characters on the protagonist side, their deaths demonstrate the enormity of Griffith's betrayal and the threat posed by the God Hand, while having a permanent effect on the personalities of the characters who survive.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: During the Golden Age Arc, it's heavily implied that Griffith's desire to achieve his dreams is so compelling and overwhelming that, rather than being inspired to fight for their own dreams, the rest of the Band simply ends up believing they don't have what it takes to become more than what they are. So they just accept their position in life as subordinates to Griffith, instead of making an impact on the world on their own terms. Guts is the only one who ends up wanting to break free from this kind of complacency, and though it's largely in part because he wants to become equal to Griffith, it's equally apparent that Guts came to value his life enough to want to make something meaningful out of it.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: It's almost a Running Gag of sorts with this bunch. Tragically, when the Eclipse hits, this crosses over into Shoot the Shaggy Dog Story.
  • First, the Hawks garner a reputation for themselves as one of the most crushingly effective mercenary bands in history, even managing to gain favor with the King of Midland to the point where they become knights under his rule. And then Guts decides to leave the band in order to pursue his own dream, leaving Griffith so distraught that he ends up bedding the princess for solace. This ruins the Hawks' rep and gets Griffith imprisoned and tortured for an entire year, and the Band is declared an enemy to the state and hunted.
  • Next, the Hawks' struggle to survive in the wilderness and are reinvigorated when Guts reunites with them and decides to temporarily join forces in order to rescue Griffith... and when they do, they find out he's emaciated to the bone. All of his muscles and tendons have been removed, reducing him to a limp husk of his former self unable to even wield a sword, let alone rule a kingdom.
  • And finally, after having done so much to rescue Griffith, he throws them all to the dark forces ruling over their world, resulting in the majority of the Band being Eaten Alive by demons and their souls Dragged Off to Hell. All of their efforts wasted on a man who cared more about himself than any of them — and their dreams, goals, and aspirations having been reduced to nothing.
• True Companions: Their defining trait is that they act less like a band of killers-for-hire and more like a family composed of affable and even quirky personalities all united by their different aspirations. Hell, this even includes Corkus. When Guts joins the Hawks, he's in fact puzzled by their friendliness but finds himself gradually accepting them as the closest thing he has to a family. And juuust before the Eclipse, after his year-long absence from the Hawks in pursuit of his own dream, Guts realizes that his place was always with them—and that leaving them was the most painful mistake of his life.
• Übermensch: Zigzagged.
  • Though all the Hawks are subordinate to Griffith, Guts notices that each and every one of them has a purpose for themselves that they're striving to fulfill in their own way—one that goes beyond mere survival for the next battle or scrounging for coin. This strikes a chord with Guts and gets him to start trying to find his own purpose beyond the battlefield.
  • That being said, the Hawks are all-too-willing to latch themselves to Griffith to achieve greatness. Even then, they focus on obtaining fame and fortune, rather than individually searching for meaning and purpose in their lives. This is to the point where, when it becomes clear that Griffith post-torture is in no condition to lead the Hawks, the majority of the Hawks choose to join up with Guts, the others simply deciding to tend to Griffith's condition. In fact, it's largely implied that the Hawks choose to remain relatively unambitious in life and dependent on Griffith because Griffith's drive to obtain his dream was so awe-inspiring that they simply decided they couldn't compete, and thus decided to achieve worldly greatness through him.
• We Were Your Team: The source behind their eventual disintegration. Following Griffith or the promise of following him again, was the one thing that kept them together.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: The Band of the Hawk is largely composed of idealists who are simply trying to make a name for themselves and increase their standing in society. Their faith in Griffith is such that they're willing to give their lives simply for the purposes of fulfilling his dream and their own—and in a world as cynical as Berserk's, that's saying something.
• Wolfpack Boss: In Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō, The Band of the Hawk including Judeau, Pippin, Corkus, and Casca have the power of one boss divided between them, though they become stronger each time they're fought. Individually they can be focused down relatively quickly for bosses; the challenge is that they've got you surrounded and fight as a team so that turning your attention to one tends to open your back to the others.

Judeau

Judeau (ジュドー, Judō)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese, Berserk (1997) & Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō), Yūki Kaji (Japanese, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc, Berserk (2016), and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk), Christopher Kromer (English, Berserk (1997) & Berserk: The Golden Age Arc), Kyle McCarley (English, Berserk (2016)), Jesús López (Spanish, Berserk (1997)), Jordi Nogueras (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King), David Jenner (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle of Doldrey and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III - Advent)

Guidebook Stats:^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 159 cm (5 ft, 2.6 in); Weight: 49 kg (108 lb); Age: 18

"Whether it's good or bad, it's always unfortunate to wake up in the middle of a dream."

Click ^here to see Judeau in Berserk: The Golden Age Arc.

Click ^here to see Judeau in Berserk and the Band of the Hawk.

"Guts. I'm sure you'll find it here. The place where you belong."

Judeau is The Smart Guy, kind, and keenly observant, who has an unrequited crush on Casca. Yet he holds no grudge towards Guts for having won Casca's affections and even helps them get together. He used to be part of a traveling circus, which is how he learned to be a jack of all trades and absorbed a great deal of useful knowledge. He uses throwing knives with deadly accuracy and is also a cunning tactician in combat.

---

• Always Someone Better: Judeau's confessed that while he is a better overall warrior than those around him, he knew he'd never be the best at anything—which is why he chose to serve the man who could be the best, Griffith. This attitude of his is also reflected in how he reacts to Guts eventually winning Casca's affections—he not only supported the both of them but actually urged Guts to confess to her.
• Blade Enthusiast: His specialty is throwing knives, and his close combat weapons are basically big single-edged knives too.
• Circus Brat: He worked in a Circus, but he grew tired of his life, so he escaped and became a mercenary.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: Casca was surprised when Judeau admitted that he believed in elves. And it turned out that he was right.
• Dual Wielding: His close combat weapons on the battlefield are a pair of single-edged short swords or great knives.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Subverted, he tries to tell Casca how he feels about her, but Cannot Spit It Out.
• Go Out with a Smile: Gives Casca a wistful smile before he dies.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He's one of the nicest guys in the whole series, and that's quite an impressive feat.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Dies using his own body to shield Casca during the Eclipse.
• His Quirk Lives On: The throwing knives strap that Guts wears at all time post-Eclipse is a Homage to Judeau, whom he considered a friend.
• Hopeless Suitor: Fell in love with Casca but knew she would never reciprocate.
• Improbable Aiming Skills:
  • Because of his practice from the circus he can hit small targets with his throwing knives from quite far away. When Guts meets Judeau upon emerging from the tent where he spent three nights recovering, Judeau whimsically pranks a bathing comrade by bursting the bucket in his hands with a well-aimed knife.
  • In the version of this scene in Berserk: The Golden Age Arc he knife-throws a wasp out of the air, apparently managing to clip off just one wing! And during the fight with Silat, he stops the last chakram Silat throws at Casca by pinning it to a tree with a thrown knife.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Although in love with Casca, he sees that she'll never see him as more than a friend, and that her real feelings are for Guts. He helps them get together because he wants Casca to be happy most of all.
• Jack of All Stats: He described himself as a better fencer, fighter, and archer than anyone around him; despite this, he states that he would never be the best at anything. This is what made him follow Griffith in the first place—if he couldn't be the best, he figured he'd serve the person who could.
• The Matchmaker: For Guts and Casca. In the end, he only had the two's happiness in mind, despite his own feelings.
• Nice Guy: A badass one at that but still truly kind and generous.
• Obi-Wan Moment: Goes out less horrifically than his comrades, instead spending his last moments comforting Casca.
• Only Sane Man: He was certainly one of the most level-headed members of the original Hawks, and is one of the few who manages to think somewhat rationally during the Eclipse while everyone else is losing it.
• Pyrrhic Victory: See Senseless Sacrifice below.
• Romantic Runner-Up: He was secretly in love with Casca but never acted on his feelings out of respect for the reciprocated bond her and Guts had formed.
• Senseless Sacrifice: In a Pyrrhic Victory sort of sense. Yes, in the end, his and Pippin's sacrifices to save Casca did indeed save her life... but she ended up suffering an equally horrific ordeal at the hands of the demons which ultimately ended with her losing her mind and with a kid horribly tainted by the evil seed of Femto.
• Shoot the Dog: As affable as he is, even Judeau has his ruthlessly pragmatic side, which he shows when he suggests to Casca that they should take Charlotte as a hostage during their mission to rescue Griffith.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Stands just under 5 foot 3", shorter than most members of the original Hawks including Casca, and is incredibly perceptive and shrewd. He even perceived Guts and Casca's attraction to each other before either of them understood their own feelings.
• The Smart Guy: As a well-traveled jack-of-all-trades, his encyclopedic knowledge of the world is second only to Griffith's. He's particularly good at coming up with plans for the rest of the team to follow, as demonstrated in the sewers under Windham.
• Taking the Bullet: Judeau protects Casca from the whiplike tentacles of a demon during the Eclipse, taking several fatal wounds but putting out one of its eyes with his last throwing knife and allowing Casca to finish it off.

Pippin

Pippin (ピピン, Pipin)

Voiced by: Masuo Amada (Japanese, Berserk (1997) & Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō), Takahiro Fujiwara (Japanese, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk), Jeff Ward (English, Berserk (1997)), Patrick Seitz (English, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc), Santi Lorenz (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle of Doldrey), Jordi Nogueras (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III - Advent)

Guidebook Stats:^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 190 cm (6 ft, 3 in); Weight: 133 kg (293 lb, 3 oz); Age: 19

[Offers a cup to Guts]
"Drink."

The enormous muscle man of the Band of the Hawk who used to work in underground mines before becoming a mercenary, Pippin is actually an even-tempered Gentle Giant who only unleashes his power on the enemy. After the success of Guts' first raid together with the Hawks, he helps drag Guts down from his perch on the battlements and make him join the celebration. From then on he often rides alongside Guts in the vanguard while laying into the enemy using weapons of strength such as the ax and warhammer. He is also quick to protect little Rickert whenever he gets into danger, since the two of them are close. Pippin's preference for listening more than he speaks makes him The Quiet One, and his constant squint makes him appear placid, but his highly attuned senses and quick thinking make him invaluable in an emergency. If Pippin opens his eyes, or breaks from his usual soft-spoken manner by raising his voice, his team-mates know they should not hesitate to do exactly what he tells them to if they want to live.

---

• Ambiguously Brown: His ethnicity is never mentioned, so fans speculate that he might be mixed-race or part-Native American. Which is funny, because Miura told Yukari Fujimoto that he based Pippin's appearance on himself, which would make him the only Japanese character in Berserk.
• The Big Guy: Taller, bigger and more massively built than Guts himself!
• Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: He was the tallest, biggest and strongest member of the original Hawks, perhaps even stronger than Guts himself. He was also the first named Hawk seen dying.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: He's the biggest member of the band of the Hawk, and frequently hangs around Rickert, who's the smallest.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Although a Gentle Giant, he's plenty macho and serious, and has great big eyebrows to show it.
• Black Dude Dies First: He's the first named character to die during the Eclipse.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Hard-hitting weapons such as the battleaxe, mace, or war pick that let him take advantage of his strength.
• Died Standing Up: He appears to have possibly died standing, it is somewhat unclear whether the Count just stood his body up to lure in the delirious Guts.
• Eyes Always Shut: Having his eyes closed all the time reflects his generally mild-mannered demeanor, which doesn't change even in battle. If he opens them it means something serious is going on.
• Friend to All Children: Implied when a bunch of Midland kids almost swarm his path during the Band's return after the Battle of Doldery.
• Genius Bruiser: Despite being a giant strongman he is very perceptive and observant. Downplayed in that he isn't necessarily educated, but the information he knows is often valuable and on one occasion he saves the party from being incinerated in a tunnel using his experience of how fire behaves underground.
• Gentle Giant: He only uses violence on the battlefield, and is pretty soft-spoken and patient otherwise.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: After getting his entrails sucked out by the various apostles who overwhelmed him, he was torn in half and eaten by the Count.
• Hunk: There are some ladies who are into huge, muscular guys, and even if he isn't as handsome as Guts he's good-looking enough to be at least a downplayed example. Several admiring noblewomen at the victory ball swarm around him and playfully try to feel his muscles; Pippin looks rather uncomfortable about all the attention.
• Hyper-Awareness: Pippin has the most acute senses of the band and never fails a spot check. When the Hawks are lured into a trap by the Midland army he hears the arrows coming over the horizon, and during the rescue of Griffith he spots a tiny hole in the tunnel ceiling pointed out by Griffith that ends up saving their lives from the Bakiraka woman's firestorm.
• Mighty Glacier: Not fast or agile, but because of his brawn hardly anything can stand in his way.
• Pyrrhic Victory: See Senseless Sacrifice below.
• The Quiet One: Never a man of many words, Pippin speaks only when necessary and keeps it laconic when he does.
• Senseless Sacrifice: In a Pyrrhic Victory sort of sense. Yes, in the end, his and Judeau's sacrifices to save Casca did indeed save her life... but she ended up suffering an equally horrific ordeal at the hands of the demons which ultimately ended with her losing her mind and with a kid horribly tainted by the evil seed of Femto.
• The Stoic: He is hardly ever shown smiling or mad, which makes the few occasions where he's Not So Stoic stand out more.
• Stout Strength: Subverted. He may look fat but he's just solid.
• Younger Than They Look: His official guidebook age is only 19, but his macho appearance could easily let him pass for a man in his mid-30s.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Dies holding the line against the Count and other Apostles in order to cover Casca's escape.

Corkus

Corkus (コルカス, Korukasu)

Voiced by: Tomohiro Nishimura (Japanese, Berserk (1997) & Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō), Yoshiro Matsumoto (Japanese, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc, Berserk (2016), and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk), Mark Sebastian (English, Berserk (1997)), Doug Erholtz (English, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc), Bill Rogers (English, Berserk (2016)), Eduardo López (Spanish, Berserk (1997)), Pep Ribas (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc)

Guidebook Stats:^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 173 cm (5 ft, 8 in); Weight: 66 kg (145 lb, 8 oz); Age: 20

"Listen, a real man has a responsibility to face up to reality, recognize his limitations, and to make compromises! But you're just too weak to admit you've already exceeded your station! And you look to the horizon, praying for what will never be because you're just a coward!"

A Jerkass with an inflated opinion of himself, Corkus was the leader of a band of thieves before joining the Band of the Hawk. He and his friends attacked Guts in order to rob him of the reward for defeating Bazuso, but Guts made short work of them and Corkus would have died if not for Casca and Griffith's intervention. Afterward, Casca prevents him and his accomplices from trying to kill Guts out of revenge while Guts was recovering from his wounds, but Corkus keeps his hatred of Guts and never accepts him as a real member of the Band of the Hawk. He often provides a counterpoint to Rickert's innocence with his cynical comments. Despite his abrasive personality, he is one of the Hawks' commanders.

---

• Adaptational Badass: In the original manga, he's a downplayed Miles Gloriosus who talks a big game and possesses basic competence, but comically panics when he's bitten off more than he can chew and doesn't defeat many enemies in battle. By taking out or downplaying the parts where he gets scared, and showing him fiercely spearing and hacking down Tudor Knights in the Battle of Doldrey, the second film turns him into a legitimate badass who seems more worthy of his command position.
• Anti-Hero: His underhanded ways as well as his rather questionable moral compass make him one of these.
• Big Brother Mentor: He attempts to be this with Rickert, but he's more of a passive-aggressive Big Brother Bully in practice. One instance in the 1997 anime has him chiding the latter for his lack of aghast from losing potential spoils from an enemy fort after its destruction. Rickert, in turn, calls him greedy.
• Big Damn Heroes: He shows up together with Gaston and The Cavalry just at the nick of time to help his companions against Wyald.
• Bullying a Dragon: When Corkus and his party of horsemen ambush Guts with the intention of killing him and looting his corpse, he has no excuse for not knowing he's picking on the wrong guy. He had already seen Guts kill the dreaded knight Bazuso using mighty sword swings capable of cutting through plate armor, but despite this and Casca bluntly telling him he's not a match for Guts, Corkus and his buddies proceed with their attack. It only takes a few seconds for Guts to kill Corkus' comrade Dante, cut off his other comrade Errol's arm, and nearly kill Corkus too before Casca intervenes. Shortly afterward Corkus assembles a group of seven men to murder the heavily bandaged Guts in his sleep as revenge for the death of Dante, only to get scared off by Casca before they have a chance to find out that Guts knew they were coming and was ready to fight them off. In the years that follow, Corkus never stops antagonizing Guts or looking for opportunities to kill him. Corkus is just lucky that Guts never gets really angry with him, because he could squash Corkus like a bug if he wanted to.
• Defeat Means Friendship: He was the leader of a group of bandits until Griffith defeated and recruited him. He is one of Griffith's most loyal and outspoken supporters afterward. This was definitely NOT the case with Guts, however, since he never forgave him for beating him and cutting down Dante and Errol.
• Dirty Coward: While quick to start fights and provoke people, Corkus gets knocked down a peg whenever the tables turn on him, such as when he chickened out during his fight with Guts after the latter had taken out Dante and Errol. Another one of his lackeys Sam implies that Corkus never is the one to lead an assault on their enemies. In Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō his default sword stance is rather knock-kneed and cringing, while his "counter" to Guts attacks is to fall on his butt and crawl away as fast as he can.
• Dub Name Change: Changed to Corkas in the Spanish dub of the 1997 anime.
• Face Death with Dignity: Zigzagged; the Eclipse almost completely broke his sanity and left him a quivering, delusional mess, but when encountering a beautiful woman, he accepts it and buries his face in her tits. It is implied that he knows the woman is a demonic Apostle that is going to eat him, but there's no real reason to run anymore. SO he decides to die on his own terms; with his face between two big breasts.
• Glory Seeker: Attached himself to Griffith to improve his station because he couldn't make it on his own. He is extremely pleased when the crowd cheers for him in the victory parade after the Battle of Doldrey.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He can't stand the fact that Guts is willing to give up opportunities for advancement that Corkus himself would kill for. It's generally implied that he is indeed jealous of Guts' drive to pursue his own dreams at the cost of riches and glory—especially since Judeau hinted at Corkus having a dream of his own before joining up with Griffith.
• Hair Color Dissonance: His canonically black hair primarily has a midnight blue hue to it in the '97 anime.
• Hate Sink: Due to his constant uselessness and antagonism towards his fellow mates, particularly Guts, it makes him stand out as such, especially before Guts leaves the Hawks. However, this is actually subverted in the long run. Despite his antagonism towards Guts, he is loyal to Griffith up until the end, kind to Dante and Errol, and isn't completely wrong when he calls out Guts on his bullshit. It all comes to a point at the Eclipse, where his death is that vile; not even a jerk like Corkus deserved a fate that horrific, violent, and merciless. One can't help but feel pity and remorse for someone who just wanted to be somebody.
• Hypocrite: Calls Guts out for being selfish or a coward when he himself is no different from that, if not more. Still, the things he says aren't completely without merit.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Experiencing the horrors of the Eclipse, Corkus bitterly sees it all as just a bad dream, and reflects his past glory as a mercenary as all too good to be true. All he wants wake up, back to the nobody he was before he met Griffith.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Never passes up a chance to draw attention to himself, but at the mention of having an actual dream, his mouth falls shut.
• Jerkass: Deliberately obnoxious and offensive to everyone, especially to Guts. It's hard to see why anybody puts up with him.
• Jerkass Has a Point: His speech/chewing out of Guts about realizing one's own limitations and unwillingness to compromise isn't entirely without merit, especially given the usual circumstances of the setting. His personal refusal to accept Guts' return after a year on the run was reminisced by Guts years later upon realizing that he lost the right to avenge the Hawks after leaving them, signifying that that was also validated somewhat.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's not a nice guy, a rude, slimy egomaniac who makes no attempt to hide his contempt for the new hawk captain. But that said, he genuinely cares for his friends and sticks with the Hawks to the bitter end.
• Kavorka Man: He's a boastful jerk, and that gaunt face of his isn't very attractive, yet he gets hordes of pretty female admirers after the battle of Doldrey. In Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle for Doldrey, he literally has women lining up to kiss him. Apparently, if you're a famous war hero it doesn't matter how you look.
• Never My Fault: Corkus maintains a rather one-sided rivalry with Guts after the latter kills his two buddies, Dante and Errol. Of course, Corkus also likes to conveniently forget that he was the one to instigate the fight and try to mug Guts, with Guts only fighting in self-defense, not to mention Casca's prior warnings that it'd fail.
• Off with His Head!: Our last glimpse of him during the Eclipse showed only his head within the Female Apostle's jaws.
• Pet the Dog:
  • When Griffith fakes his death and shows up after the Queen's assassination plot, Corkus and Rickert were shown bawling their eyes out at his survival. For all of his faults, he is loyal to Griffith and his dream.
  • After the Hawks were outlawed and hunted, he didn't leave with the other deserters when he could have.
  • Assuming that Dante and Errol were members of his original band of thieves and their death and disfigurement at Guts' hands makes Corkus' grudge against the former seem a lot more understandable, albeit still somewhat hypocritical.
  • Of all people, he has one moment with Guts. After telling how the Hawks lost everything after the day Guts leave Griffith, Corkus tells Guts not to blame himself. Granted, it has a vibe of "You are not that important", but still.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When Guts leaves the Hawks, Corkus gives him a ranting speech about why he hates him, telling him that he's always brooding and judging other people, thinking that he's somehow special or better than everyone else. Guts isn't the only person in the world who has problems, he says, and if he wants to throw away what every member of the Hawks has fought for he should know that he's not special like Griffith, and never will be.
• Smug Snake: He looks down on other people and thinks he's awfully clever, but most of his underhanded plans end in embarrassment for him. This eventually reaches a climax in the Eclipse.
• Social Climber: He enthusiastically views following Griffith and fighting in the war as his ticket to wealth, fame, and admittance into high society.
• Team Killer: He got some friends together to kill Guts in his sleep after he lost his duel with Griffith (Casca stopped them), and three years later suggested to Casca that they off him together (she refused).
• That Was Not a Dream: During the Eclipse he decides that not only the Eclipse itself but his entire time with the Hawks must have been a dream because it was too good to be true. When he saw a beautiful naked woman before him amidst all that carnage, he knows for sure he must be dreaming. Can't say we blame the guy, but unfortunately, he was wrong.
• This Is Gonna Suck: In the Eclipse, when he realizes that the alluring woman whose bosom his face is buried in is actually a man-eating Apostle, he can't even manage a proper Oh, Crap! and just whimpers, "Dammit."^note "Chikusho" in the original Japanese
• Token Evil Teammate: Downplayed because he's not wholly evil, just a Jerkass. Still, in a band where friendship and honor among comrades are pretty widely observed, Corkus stands out as the exception who's off-puting, self-serving, and unscrupulous.
• True Companions: His hatred for Guts began when Guts killed one of his comrades (in a confrontation that he provoked).
• Unfriendly Fire: When Guts leaves the Hawks, Corkus shamelessly claims to have aimed a few arrows at Guts in the chaos of battle over the years.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It can be argued that Corkus constantly comparing Guts to Griffith, and him deeming Guts' worth right in front of Griffith, helped encourage Guts into leaving The Hawks. This is even given credence when Corkus failed to ever realize how integral Guts was to Griffith's ego; whereas everyone else in The Band only realized far too late after Griffith became depressed and was captured.
• Wrecked Weapon: When he suffers a breakdown at the news that Griffith is too crippled to lead the Hawks, he breaks the blade of his sword by swinging it against a rock to vent his frustration and despair.
• Yes-Man: He failed in his dream so he decided to attach himself to Griffith to improve his station in life.
• Younger Than They Look: According to the official guide book he only reaches 20, but it seems he's always looked at least twenty years older than his actual age thanks to that gaunt horse-face of his, as well as being a premature curmudgeon in terms of personality.

Rickert

Rickert (リッケルト, Rikkeruto)

Rickert as part of the Band of the Hawk.

Click ^here for his older appearance.

Voiced by: Akiko Yajima (Japanese, Berserk (1997)), Minako Kotobuki (Japanese, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk), Michelle Newman (English, Berserk (1997) and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc), Erica Mendez (English, Berserk (2016)), Carmen Calvell (Spanish, Berserk (1997)), Ariadna Jiménez (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc)

Guidebook Stats:^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 166 cm (5 ft, 5 in); Weight: 61 kg (134 lb, 8 oz); Age: 19

"I was ashamed. I couldn't go with everyone to Wyndham that day, to rescue you... There was a debt I had to pay, for not going with my comrades to their doom. Unlike Guts, I couldn't get angry, I couldn't shoulder that burden, but... on that hill, the one who forged those swords in remembrance of everyone—that was me!"

A kindhearted, naïve, and optimistic boy often seen together with the Hawk's Gentle Giant Pippin, Rickert is the youngest member of the original Band of the Hawk. Even at such a young age he was a front-line combatant who rode and fought alongside his older comrades, although his fighting ability was minimal. Like Pippin and Judeau, Rickert is quick to welcome Guts into the Hawks and thinks of the group as one big family. This puts him at odds with Corkus, who has more cynical ideas and often throws a wet blanket over Rickert's optimism.

Due to a couple of chance events which included getting his arm wounded, going to fetch water, and being rescued by the Skull Knight, he was the only member of the Hawks not to be either devoured by demons or branded like Guts and Casca. As such, he also did not witness Griffith's transformation into Femto and knew nothing of the Eclipse except that everyone else had died. In its aftermath, he cares for Casca with Godo's daughter, Erica, while Guts sets off to exact revenge on the Apostles.

He reappears sometime later in Falconia with Erica in tow, not long after Ganishka's defeat, where he gets to see Griffith again. But instead of joining him, he dismisses his offer to remain in Falconia and decides to leave, but not before slapping him in the face and humiliating him in front of his court, which prompts Locus to send Rakshas after him in retaliation. Rickert is rescued in extremis by Silat, whom had recognized him as a former follower of Griffith. In exchange for all the information Rickert knows about Griffith, Silat offers to spirit him and Erica off to his native Hidden Elf Village where they can remain relatively safe from Griffith's cohorts. Rickert devises a plan to Run for the Border and eventually manages to defeat the pursuing Rakshas, as they all fly away to a yet unrevealed fate.

---

• Adaptational Badass: In the manga, Rickert is depicted as relatively timid and weak throughout the Golden Age Arc, spending most of his fights fending off the enemy's blows and frequently needing protection from Pippin or Guts. The second film turns him into a fearless little warrior who racks up some respectable kills during the battle of Doldrey and changes the delivery of his "rather die fighting" line from despairing to defiant.
• Adaptation Name Change: He's called Ricket in the 1997 anime, lacking the "r" in both pronunciations. This was likely due to the anime staff's lack of grasp of the English language. His proper name has been restored in every voiced adaptation since.
• Badass Bookworm: After taking a level in badass, he's a scrawny Teen Genius who shows surprising courage and usefulness in combat with his inventions.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: He was often seen hanging out with Pippin who was easily three times his size.
• The Blacksmith: A little while after being taken to Godo's place by the Skull Knight with Guts and Casca, he learns blacksmithing from Godo and helps Guts by putting together his new armor and Arm Cannon.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Seemingly suffers one in the '97 Anime Adaptation. When the demons slaughter the camp nursing the injured Hawks, Rickert is last seen about to be attacked. He's not shown again after this.
• Break the Cutie: His sweet and lovable optimistic attitude is savagely ripped to shreds by having all his companions killed by demons, and seeing Guts and Casca survive with horrible trauma with the implication that Griffith took part in something horrible. The process continues on the hill of swords when Guts tells him exactly how Griffith betrayed every member of the Hawks, and it seems to be completed when Locus shows him the demons in Pandaemonium and Rickert can no longer deny Griffith's demonic nature.
• The Bus Came Back: Starting with chapter 332 the focus returns to him and Erica, who flee as refugees and encounter Griffith's new Band of the Hawk.
• Cheerful Child: His youth goes hand-in-hand with innocent optimism, at least before getting traumatized by the massacre of his comrades.
• Child Soldier: Despite his young age, Rickert rides and fights alongside the other Hawks in combat.
• Combat Commentator: He witnesses and provides commentary for a couple of notable fights in the series, including the Skull Knight's confrontation with Zodd at the Eclipse and Guts' rematch with Zodd on the hill of swords.
• Coming of Age Story: Though a secondary character, Rickert's story arc is perhaps the most striking coming of age stories in the series, only second to Guts' since we are introduced to him as a young, optimistic if slightly immature kid soldier who grows into a realistic though level-headed and resourceful young man.
• Defector from Paradise: As Griffith offers him to join his utopia, Rickert remembers what he did in memory of his former comrades. He dismisses his proposal and walks away with a simple "Farewell", but not before giving Griffith a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: He has the distinct honor of being the first person to ever strike a physical blow on the reincarnated Griffith and tells him off in the process.
• Due to the Dead: We eventually learn that he was the one to build the Hawk's memorial in honor of his former comrades who died in the Eclipse.
• Dub Name Change: Known as Riquelt in the Spanish dub of the 1997 anime.
• Enemy Mine: Downplayed. By the time they meet again, both him and Silat are foes no more and now share a common enemy in the person of Griffith. Working in conjunction to defeat Rakshas who was sent after them, both maneuver a successful Indy Escape from Falconia, and fly away on Daiba's familiars' back, along with Erica and Silat's Tapesa bodyguards, to Silat's Hidden Elf Village in the mountains.
• Freak Out: In chapter 52 when the Hawks' wounded are devoured by Apostles including Rosine and the Count, Rickert has a sobbing breakdown. This trauma is the first of several steps that break his optimism and cheerfulness.
• Gadgeteer Genius: About as much as one can get in a Medieval setting. He was able to fashion a prosthetic arm for Guts using spare parts he found around Godo's workshop. An arm that also doubled as an Arm Cannon and which could be used to mount a Repeating Crossbow. He later fashioned a larger version of the crossbow that could be mounted on the back of a horse-drawn cart. This, in a world where the only other crossbows are large unwieldy crank-powered ones and small, underpowered hand crossbows that take too long to reload to be good for more than one shot...
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A cute, blond-haired boy who is really kind and idealistic.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Has blue eyes and is the most innocent character in the original band.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Since he wasn't involved in the Eclipse and Guts never spoke of it, he didn't know about Griffith ascending to Femto or the details of how the Hawks died. It isn't until he reunites with Griffith at the Hill of Swords that Guts tells him the full details.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Let's be honest, he's really pretty. And his long hair emphasizes this.
• Nice Guy: He’s as sweet as a cinnamon roll and even when he’s broken by Griffith’s betrayal, he still maintains that kindness. That compassion serves as a backbone for his moral fiber and refuses to join Griffith’s new Band of the Hawk out of his principles.
• Promotion to Parent: Since Godo fell ill and eventually died, he's taken it upon himself to raise Erica.
• Put on a Bus: He stays at the workshop to take care of Erica while Guts and Casca depart on their journey to find somewhere they can be safe.
• Refusing Paradise: Rickert could have lived a comfortable life in Falconia. He could have had a high-ranking position in the safest and most luxurious place in the world. But he didn't. He turned it down, slapped Griffith in the face, and prepared to leave the city, even if it meant braving the Death World outside.
• Run for the Border: Because he dishonored Griffith in public, Rickert soon found out he wasn't safe anymore in Falconia. Therefore, he allies himself to Kushan prince Silat and both successfully get away to Silat's native abode in the mountains, along with Erica and Silat's bodyguards, so as to elude further persecutions.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The rare noble version. When he gets to meet Griffith for the first time after the instatement of Falconia, Griffith offers him to join again. And even though Rickert recognizes the tremendous powers of Neo-Griffith, he remembers that he was the one to forge the countless swords of the Hawks' memorial and that, even though he's nowhere near as badass as Guts, he just won't kneel in front of the man who betrayed and murdered the former Band of the Hawk. In answer, Rickert bitchslaps Griffith across the face in front of everyone present and shows him that his former insignia isn't the same as that of Neo-Griffith, thus Neo-Griffith isn't his commander. Rickert then walks away calmly, dismissing Griffith altogether.
• Serendipitous Survival: Rickert would have been eaten along with the other wounded if he hadn't gone to fetch water just when he did, and also returned to the scene late enough that the Skull Knight was there to scare them away.
• Sole Survivor: Along with Casca and Guts, he is the only other survivor due to not being involved in the Eclipse but also thanks to the Skull Knight's intervention at the wounded Hawks' camp who prevented the Count and Rosine from killing him along with his buddies.
• Teen Genius: Becoming a teenager and apprenticing with Godo reveals his prodigious mechanical talent, such that he single-handedly creates practical inventions, prosthetics, and weaponry more advanced than anything of his own time.
• Took a Level in Badass: Beginning with volume 37, Rickert's transformation from a gentle and timid Child Soldier to a Badass Bookworm becomes apparent. He uses his crossbow turret to defend a whole refugee caravan from monsters long enough for help to arrive, slaps the face of the most powerful man in the world, hatches a daring escape plan with a clan of feared assassins, and to top it off while escaping on the back of one of Daiba's pterasaurs he shoots down the pursuing Apostle Rakshas with a freaking rocket launcher. Someone, give this kid a MacArthur Grant and a medal for badassery!
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The 1997 anime shows him in the Hawk's wounded camp when it gets attacked by Apostles, and then just leaves him hanging there without showing what happens to him afterward. Without the Skull Knight, the strong implication is that he shared the other injured's fates.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Since his encounter with Rosine, Rickert developed a bit of a phobia towards Elves. Puck, of all things, can make him uneasy.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: The most optimistic of the Hawks, almost taken to an annoying level since he sees the Hawks as more of a family unit than a company of Hired Guns. Even after seeing half of his comrades get eaten, being told that the rest had died, seeing Casca insane, and seeing Guts take a dark shift in character, he still remained hopeful that Griffith would return and didn't really think to pressure Guts for the truth of what really happened for everything to come to that because he was too scared to ask. A big part of his growing up has been losing his illusions and wanting to find out the truth.

Gaston

Gaston (ガストン, Gasuton)

Voiced by: Masahito Kawanago (Japanese, Berserk (1997)), Kazuki Yao (Japanese, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk), Sean Schemmel (English, Berserk (1997) & Berserk: The Golden Age Arc), Javier Roldán (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc)

Click^here to see him in Berserk (1997).

"It doesn't feel real, does it? Like we're in someone else's dream..."

Gaston is an average guy who joined the Hawks in order to earn enough capital to open his own clothing shop someday. He serves as Guts' second-in-command in the Hawks' raiders and is loyal to Guts before anybody else.

---

• All Just a Dream: Like everybody else, he has a hard time believing the carnage of the Eclipse isn't just a horrible dream.
• Death by Adaptation: Downplayed. When Guts rejoins the slaughtered Hawks he meets the still alive Gaston in a Hope Spot who converses with him over the damage before dying from the demon within him. In the Berserk: The Golden Age Arc he's already dead by the time Guts catches up to them.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: In Guts', while telling him about what happened to the rest of the Raid Party.
• The Everyman: A simple man who joined the Hawks just to make a living and earn enough money to pursue his own modest idea of happiness.
• Hidden Depths: Although at first, he seems like a generic soldier, it turns out that Gaston was hoping to save up his wartime earnings to open up a clothing shop. In Berserk and the Band of the Hawk this side of him is introduced earlier, where he tailors one of Guts' shirts and tells him about his dream.
• Humble Goal: When the war’s over, he just wants to earn a living opening up a clothing shop.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Not too meta, but his last words are spent musing that he feels like a minor character in a crazy story about the Band of the Hawk. He's not wrong.
• Mauve Shirt: Gaston isn't one of the Hawks' Commanders and is more of a common soldier. He puts in fewer appearances than the others, but often enough shows up during the group scenes to speak and be characterized a bit more than the other mercenaries.
• Number Two: Guts' right-hand-man within the Band of the Hawk's Raiders.
• Satellite Character: A background character who revolves around Guts, appearing consistently throughout the story and helping to flesh out Guts' relationship with his men. He actually lampshades this near the end, saying that the Band of the Hawk was like being pulled into some crazy story someone wrote, and he was just a minor character after all.
• Undying Loyalty: Completely devoted to Guts, even before Griffith, and would have preferred to follow him if the Hawks were to fall apart.
• Your Head A-Splode: A parasitic demon kills him by bursting out of his head during the Eclipse.

The New Band of the Hawk

Common Tropes

The Falcon's followers.^CharactersLeft to right: Rakshas, Zodd, Irvine, Griffith, Grunbeld, Locus.

"So what if they aren't human?! So what if they're demons?! [...] What matters is whether we fight beside Griffith, the Hawk! After all... we're the Band of the Hawk!!!"

— Sonia

The new Band of the Hawk is a force of humans much like the first one but led by greater Apostles that all gathered around Griffith and consider him as their leader. These Apostles appear much less monstrous when in human form than their weaker peers. There’s some basic information about each of them, thanks to their famous reputations and some strategically placed hints, but Grunbeld is so far the only one whose backstory has been shown in significant detail. Because of Griffith's status as a member of the Godhand, they willingly serve his cause and ensure that not only are his goals and aspirations achieved but that all possible resistance before him is crushed mercilessly.

---

• Badass Army: Griffith's new Band of the Hawk is even more so than the original because, in addition to having disciplined and motivated humans, its ranks include champions and monsters with superhuman powers.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Downplayed on the "goodness" aspect, as they're a group of Noble Demons at best, and some of them decidedly aren't noble, but compared to the true forms of other apostles, the ones in the New Band of the Hawk have more dignified and streamlined appearances, which makes them stand out among their brethren, who tend to have repulsive and abominable true forms.
• Bishōnen Line: The appearance of their apostle forms falls into the "awesomely badass" category, rather than the "freaky hideous Eldritch Abomination" category to which many apostles belong, demonstrating their great power.
• Colonel Badass: Each of the named Apostles is seen leading a contingent of similar Apostles — Irvine has a squad of archers, Grunbeld commands a bunch of armored giants, Locus leads the cavalry, and Zodd heads a number of equally savage warriors. Rakshas is a lone operator and thus the only exception.
• Elite Army: Despite their growing ranks, the New Band of the Hawk is a small but disproportionately powerful force on the battlefield. In one instance Griffith saves Mule and a party of refugees by routing 5,000 of the Kushan empire's elite troops with no more than a thousand of his own, and in reality mostly thanks to a vanguard of just a hundred warriors who are ridiculously powerful. He repeats this feat on a larger scale when he repels Emperor Ganishka's grand army outside the walls of Vritannis, using several hundred horsemen to defeat a horde which Laban reports was about 200,000 strong!
• Fake Ultimate Hero: To Midland and the Holy See, they appear to be valiant knights and brave warriors fighting against the evil Kushan invaders and liberating the land. However, almost all the people who meet them are completely oblivious to the truth that these beings are not only demons, but were serving the Dark Messiah Griffith, metaphorically wearing the skins of his former comrades whom he sacrificed to satitiate his own ego.
• Humanoid Abomination: The most powerful members are Apostles who stay in human form most of the time, while Griffith is a member of the God Hand.
• Likable Villains: All of the commanders. have some likeable qualities to their personalities - even Zodd. Debate is up for Rakshas, though. Subverted with most of the rank-and-file Apostles, who are just as feral and cruel as before.
• Monster Knight: The named Apostle commanders look fearsome and ambiguously monstrous in human form, and clearly beast-like and monstrous in Apostle form, but unlike many of the Apostles we've seen before they fight in a disciplined and professional manner. Locus is renowned as a chivalrous knight, and while both Grunbeld and Zodd are of the Blood Knight persuasion, they have a certain brutal sense of honor and can respect a Worthy Opponent. How much their subordinate Apostles fit the trope varies widely since many of them are depicted as feral and only kept in check by the force of their leaders' personalities. And of course there's Rakshas, the main exception who can't be described as an honorable warrior in any sense of the word.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Both human and apostle members of the Neo-Hawks seem to be the original band's counterparts:
  • Zodd is Guts: lives mostly for the fighting, fiercely loyal, as well as having lost a part of themselves in battle (horn for Zodd, arm and eye for Guts). Zodd's reason for joining the Hawks also plays exactly like Guts, since he was defeated by Griffith.
  • Grunbeld is Pippin: the tallest one, wields an enormous war hammer, and unappreciative of unsporting violence.
  • Sonia is Casca: infatuated with Griffith and the only female of note, except she's more Mission Control and not an Action Girl. Her armor and sword bear some resemblance to Casca's.
  • Locus is Corkus (or an idealized version of what Corkus wished he were like): noble, chivalrous and daring in battle. He can also be called a reversed counterpart of Corkus, as suggested by the inversion of their name's first syllable ("l" and "r" being the same in Japanese).
    • In the 2012 films, Corkus also uses a lance, just like Locus does.
  • Mule is Rickert: a naïve kid who has no clue about who he's actually serving. At the same time his outfit resembles Casca's a bit, with a feathered burgonet helmet, half-armor, a short cape, and knee-high boots.
  • Irvine is Judeau: calm demeanor and affinity for ranged weapons, playing the lute, and close bond with the sole female member of their respective bands (Casca for Judeau, Sonia for Irvine).
  • The only core member who doesn't seem to fit the bill is Rakshas, who is more of an Evil Counterpart to Silat.
• Token Heroic Orc: Subverted. When you think of "Apostles", they're usually monsters who went mad by crossing the Despair Event Horizon, committing heinous crimes For the Evulz. In sheer contrast, Neo-Hawks are much more honorable and disciplined. But in the end, they still sacrificed the people closest to them to hell and are loyal servants of Griffith, and by extension, the Godhand.
• Villainy Discretion Shot: All of the Apostles who head Griffith's neo-Hawks seem decent enough, some even noble, but they are still Apostles, meaning that they must have done something at some point in order to get to that point. We’ve since found out what Grunbeld did through his light novel.
• Visionary Villain: They all think that Griffith is going to make the world a better place and are behind him 100%.

Zodd

Nosferatu Zodd (不死のゾッド, Nosuferatu Zoddo)

Voiced by: Kenji Utsumi (Japanese, Berserk (1997), Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage, & Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō), Kenta Miyake (Japanese, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc, Berserk (2016) and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk), J. David Brimmer (English, Berserk (1997) & Berserk: The Golden Age Arc), Peter Lurie (English, Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage), Imari Williams (English, Berserk (2016)), Vicente Gil (Spanish, Berserk (1997)), Ramón Canals (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle of Doldrey), Santi Lorenz (Spanish, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III - Advent)

Guidebook Stats (Human):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 220 cm (7 ft, 2.6 in); Weight: 165 kg (363 lb, 12 oz)

Guidebook Stats (Apostle):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 350 cm (11 ft, 6 in); Weight: 1001 kg (2,206 lb, 13 oz)

The wrath of Zodd.

Click ^here for his Apostle form.

Click ^here to see him in Berserk and the Band of the Hawk.

Click ^here to see his Apostle form in Berserk and the Band of the Hawk.

"If this man is a true friend to you, be prepared! For when this man's dreams come crashing down, you shall meet your death! A death that you shall not escape!"

Nosferatu Zodd is a centuries-old Blood Knight with a muscular frame and a face like a feline. He is the first Apostle that Guts meets in the timeline and almost kills him along with Griffith, stopping when he realizes Griffith wears the Crimson Behelit. As he flies away, he leaves Guts a prophecy of the Hawks' unfortunate fate. His Apostle form is like an enormous cross between a lion and a Minotaur, with bat-like wings, horns on his head, and hooves for feet. If you cross him in a fight, you WILL face your demise.

At the start of the Birth Ceremony chapter he is defeated by Griffith, losing one of his horns, and out of respect for Griffith's strength he joins the new Band of the Hawk as a demon commander upon Griffith's reincarnation. Extremely fond of battles and bloodshed, he seems to have a strange form of respect for Guts and considers him a Worthy Opponent, who only he should defeat. Not to mention that both cooperated once upon battling Ganishka after the great fight in Vritannis. According to Sonia, they are bound together by fate.

---

• Always a Bigger Fish: Wyald is a huge threat to the Hawks in his giant ape form, but Zodd who is even bigger swoops in and kills him in a single move.
• Always Someone Better: He was this to Guts in their first fight, even without turning into his Apostle form. Zodd had him outclassed and Guts only beat his human form by breaking his sword.
• Animal Motifs: When in humanoid form his appearance is feline, and he is especially associated with the lion. His full Apostle form adds the characteristics of a bull as well as bat wings.
• Ax-Crazy: Downplayed; he's bloodthirsty and brutal, common traits for an Apostle, and is not above killing others in visceral, gory detail. That said, he does have a strict code of honor and limits himself to directing his bloodlust toward those whom he could see as a Worthy Opponent, hence he appears to be relatively tame and even reasonable in comparison to other Apostles who are more explicitly insane and voracious about killing.
• Bad Boss: Not nearly as bad as Wyald but as one of Griffith's commanders he really doesn't seem to give a shit about his soldiers, casually crushing one's head for trying to back out of fighting Guts.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: In Apostle form, he uses his natural weapons including tail, hooves, paws, horns, and fangs.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Keeping in mind that humans can only become Apostles when they are at their lowest and given Zodd's Blood Knight tendencies, it could be reasonably assumed that he called for the Godhand because he was in a position where he most likely couldn't fight anymore or perhaps missed the battlefield. While it's not known whom he sacrificed and exactly why, it has been shown that an eternal life combined with the lack of finding worthy opponents (people who can last more than 60 seconds against him) has made him weary and depressed, going from one battle to another but never finding true satisfaction — apart from those rare occasions his arch-rival, the Skull Knight, is willing to give him the time of day.
• Berserk Button: His sense of honor lends itself to furious reactions when a fight is interrupted or fought unfairly, to the point of using the This Is Unforgivable! line when this happens (which is very strong in Japanese culture). This even extends to fights he doesn't directly participate in, such as Guts' duel with the general of the Purple Rhinos: noticing Guts was unarmed, he tossed him a sword.
• BFS: His sword is bigger than Guts' first zweihander was, but it's not very durable and also horribly outclassed by the Dragonslayer.
• Big Red Devil: In his Apostle form, which is a change from his Eldritch Abomination brethren.
• Blood Knight: He loves fighting and killing above all else, and it is most likely this that has made him seek immortality as an Apostle. This trait also gives him a sense of honor, as he respects strong opponents and gets very angry if a duel is interfered with.
• The Brute: Subverted. He might look like he's merely Griffith's top mook on his new Band, but he actually gets to keep his own values and goals.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Prefers great chopping weapons such as axes and scimitars, in keeping with his sinister nature and superhuman strength.
• Combat Sadomasochist: Likes pain, because it's a sign he's in for a challenge.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: He completely dominates Guts in their first encounter Pre-Eclipse, with Guts only getting a few kicks in by breaking Zodd's sword. Zodd then turns into his Apostle form and proceeds to demolish him and Griffith, stopping only when he senses the latter's fate to become one of the Godhand.
• The Dragon: After the Eclipse he becomes Big Bad Griffith's right-hand enforcer.
• The Dreaded: He never made his existence a secret and is quite notorious among mercenaries. Any hardened warrior who hears his name is likely to start quaking in their boots.
• Enemy Mine: He temporarily cooperates with his enemy Guts to defeat the greater threat of Ganishka in Vritannis. And it was awesome. He also indirectly helped Guts beat the commander of the Purple Rhino Knights.
• Even Evil Has Standards: See Noble Demon. During the Eclipse, he has no interest in the mindless slaughter and remains outside the vortex to battle strong foes.
• Evil Counterpart: To Guts, so much so that he's probably what Guts would be like if he were an Apostle. Though he's not particularly evil, at least in comparison to most other Apostles.
• Evil Sounds Deep: You bet your ass. Kenji Utsumi and Kenta Miyake both give him their finest baritone in the anime adaptations. David Brimmer and Imari Williams followed suit in the English dubs, as did Peter Lurie in the Dreamcast game.
• Face of a Thug: He looks like a monstrous ogre who couldn't speak in anything but grunts and battle cries. However, Zodd has more noble qualities than he gives off at first blush, preferring to fight strong opponents over indulging in bloodthirsty hedonism like his brethren. He's still an Always Chaotic Evil Blood Knight Demon of Human Origin, but professionals have standards.
• Fangs Are Evil: If you take one look at his fangs you know he's bad news.
• Foil: Strangely enough, he's one to Serpico and Schierke, despite them looking as different as night and day. It's more apparent by the fact that the three of them are among the most prominent members of Guts and Griffith's second party after the two-year time-skip and each of them plays a vital role in their group.
  • Zodd and Serpico are their leader's right-hand men and are excellent swordsmen. Their main difference comes from the fact that Serpico's loyalty to Gus is based on mutual respect while Zod's loyalty to Griffith is based on a Darwinistic desire to follow the strongest being there is. Finally, Serpico's combat style is mainly finesse while Zodd is defined by brute force with deceptive intellect and speed mixed in.
  • Zodd and Schierke serve as their leader's closest confidants, though were forced to join them due to circumstances, and both of them have a strong interest in Griffith and Guts respectively. Outside of their blatantly different appearances, Zodd is only following Griffith because the latter is the strongest being he's fought and mainly follows Griffith around to find stronger opponents, though Griffith only sees Zodd as a useful pawn at best. Schierke comes to see Guts as a figure to depend on as an ally and friend, and Guts reciprocates Schierke as one of his best companions. While Zodd is clearly the most powerful in Griffith's New Band of the Hawk, Schierke is the only one in Gut's Party who is able to bring Guts back to normal in case he slips into his Berserker Armor state.
• Friendly Enemy: In his own twisted way, Zodd cherishes the Skull Knight for being one of the few individuals out there who can consistently give him that "sense of happiness" he always craves for. Case in point, witnessing another warrior dressed and kicking ass in his lifelong rival's old armor actually stirs within him what can only be described as fond, nostalgic memories of "the good old days". The feeling is not at all mutual, as it's unknown if the Skull Knight can even be truly friendly.
• Full-Frontal Assault: The first time Guts meets him he is completely naked, though thankfully Barbie Doll Anatomy is in effect and he subsequently wears at least a loincloth. His Apostle form lacks any clothing, but if he has anything there it's covered by his fur.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Has large bat wings to confirm his demonic nature.
• Hellish Pupils: Has demonic glowing pupils, which are generally drawn as circular until volume 22 or so, after which they appear as vertical slits like the pupils of a cat.
• Horned Humanoid: Possesses a great pair of bull's horns in his Apostle form, which despite his animal features has a humanoid upper body and posture. The size of his horns change between his first appearance and the scene where he bows down to Griffith, which is noticeable in that his remaining horn has a far wider diameter than the stump of his amputated one.
• Horns of Villainy: His bull's horns are appropriately frightening, sinister, and devilish in appearance for a bloodthirsty antagonist.
• Horrifying the Horror: Even Wyald is terrified of him. Wyald doesn’t even bother fighting back and instead resorts to begging Zodd not to kill him. This doesn’t work.
• Lightning Bruiser: While being incredibly strong and capable of taking a large amount of damage, he is also very fast and reactive despite his massive appearance. However, his Apostle form seems to trade some of his speed and agility for flight and even greater strength. He still hits like a truck and moves just as fast.
• Master Swordsman: Unlike a lot of Apostles, Zodd is very proficient with mundane weapons, particularly swords. He is without a doubt one of the most skilled swordsmen in the series and enjoys crossing blades with those of equal skill.
• Morphic Resonance: His human form has a broad, flat nose that makes his face resemble a feline's. His Apostle form has the head of a big cat such as a lion or panther.
• Noble Demon: He's a bloodthirsty warrior who only lives for killing and battle, but he never engages in the sort of cruel debauchery that the majority of other Apostles do (he has never been shown murdering non-combatants), and genuinely respects those of equal or greater skill. More than anything else, Zodd detests cowardly, unsportsmanlike acts such as taking advantage of an unarmed or badly weakened opponent, proving so time and again. For example, in the immediate aftermath of Guts' brutal match against Ganishka, Zodd opts to postpone their own duel for another day, seeing how critically wounded the Black Swordsman already is by that point, and flies off knowing a better, more appropriate time & place is on the horizon.
• No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: He lives only for the thrill of combat, wandering from battlefield to battlefield looking for more opponents to fight. However, Zodd has become such a master of his art that very few can actually match him, so even his one passion no longer gives him satisfaction. Which is why he becomes so elated whenever he finds or faces a Worthy Opponent who is able to force him to fight more skillfully.
• One-Man Army: This is a guy who's been roaming battlefields for centuries without ever finding an equal besides the Skull Knight, and later Guts.
• Our Minotaurs Are Different: In Apostle form, he has the body and horns, but not the face of a minotaur.
• Panthera Awesome: His Apostle form resembles a bat-winged, furred Minotaur with a lion's face.
• Pelts of the Barbarian: Wears animal pelts and leather about his loins to emphasize his beast-like and barbaric persona. It's seemingly more his style preference than any particular need to keep warm, since he once fought in the snow barefoot and wearing nothing but a loincloth, with no sign of feeling cold!
• Pointy Ears: In humanoid form he has pointed human ears. Despite some fans' Wild Mass Guessing about Guts' parentage it doesn't necessarily mean anything, since it's actually a very common trait in the world of Berserk.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The reason he killed Wyald; Wyald, Stupid Evil that he is, endangered Griffith, the future fifth member of the Godhand.
  • It also explains why he doesn't just slaughter random civilians; he fights not just out of bloodlust, but he deliberately seeks out strong fighters to test himself. Killing people who can't fight back isn't enjoyable to him.
• Psycho for Hire: Before pledging his allegiance to Griffith, he routinely joined battles as a mercenary on whatever side was willing to take him in and let him wreak havoc.
• Pulling Themselves Together: Did somebody chop off your arm, Zodd? Well, no worry, because you can just reattach it! Not before smacking the shit out of the person who severed your arm - WITH said arm - in the first place though! It's all good.
• Really 700 Years Old: He has known the Skull Knight for centuries. He's been an Apostle for at least three hundred years, from what he says to Guts.
• Red Baron: Known among mercenaries as "Zodd The Immortal" and "Nosferatu Zodd" for his supernaturally long lifespan and seeming ability to come back every time he was rumored to be dead.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His Apostle form's eyes glow red with supernatural menace.
• The Rival: It's unknown when exactly they'd first crossed blades, but Zodd has long considered the Skull Knight his one true equal and would love nothing more than to finally get the chance to "settle their score" once and for all. The feeling seems mainly one-sided on his part, as the latter remarks that he's in no real hurry to fight Zodd, considering him more of a recurring obstacle than a threat.
• Shadow Archetype: Like the Skull Knight, Zodd acts as a skewed reflection of one aspect of Guts' character — his Blood Knight tendencies. Both Guts and Zodd have lived most of their lives on the battlefield, fighting opponents for the thrill of it. The main difference being that Guts eventually found greater purpose in standing up against the Godhand for ruining everything he held dear, whereas Zodd became their servant upon realizing how boring his own existence had become and encountering the strongest being on earth he could've ever faced — Griffith.
• Sinister Scimitar: His weapon when he isn't in Apostle form is a giant Kushan anti-cavalry sword. It's based on a type of Indian/Himalayan sacrificial sword called a ram dao.
  • Prior to that, he favored a sword that looked like an oversized falx.
• Super-Strength: Even by Apostle standards, Zodd is definitely one of the strongest characters of The 'Verse, even in non-Apostle form. The simple fact that he and the Skull Knight have been crossing swords for centuries attests to this. He also has shown incredible feats of strength in both his humanoid form and Apostle form, such as crushing through a stone ceiling with one punch, wielding a massive blade around the same size as the Dragonslayer, and holding full grown men's bodies on the blade of his sword. His best demonstration is when he encounters another behemoth of powers, and effortlessly rips the latter in half with his horns while the latter is in his Apostle form.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He would rather save Guts than let someone else defeat him, and has the same regard for the Skull Knight.
• A Villain Named "Z__rg": Downplayed since Zodd is not a sci-fi villain and there isn't an "r" or a "g" in his name, but it still sounds like the typical trope. Zooooooooooooooodddd.
• Villainous Rescue: Despite his score with Guts he comes to his aid more than once, first when Guts is about to get his head handed to him by General Boscone by throwing him a sword, and then the second time by stopping Wyald from ripping a crippled Griffith in two. Admittedly he only does this in order to save the lot for the up and coming Eclipse. In Sword of the Berserk he actually saves Casca by scaring away the ghosts that were about to attack her.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Ever since Guts and Griffith put up a halfway-decent fight against him (and he saw Griffith held the red Behelith), he's saved Guts' life several times to keep him alive for later.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: His regular outfit is fur loincloths with a belt and armor for the abdomen, but his chest is always uncovered. Heck, he wears no shirt or pants even in winter with snow on the ground!
• Wrecked Weapon: Both his sword fights with Guts end with Zodd's sword getting broken, prompting him to transform.
• World's Best Warrior: Zodd has been fighting for over 300 years in his lifetime and has been known to be the best warrior there is in Midland. He is capable of taking on multiple men at once and surviving through thousands of battles beating anyone in his path. In fact the only one to physically harm him or give him a decent challenge would be Guts and the Skull Knight. The latter being his so called "fated rival", while the former being a fighter who can match him blow for blow and will challenge him occasionally if they were to meet. While there are beings who outclass Zodd like the Godhand, he still is by far the most skilled and experienced warrior in the series.
• Worthy Opponent: Zodd has this going on with the Skull Knight. The two of them have had this sort of dynamic going for centuries, and he even refers to Skull Knight as "My beloved opponent" at one point. Yes, beloved. Also, despite his denial, Zodd deeply respects Guts and is extremely fond of fighting with or against him. Zodd has two and interestingly different reasons for his respect towards both. With the Skull Knight it's because Zodd has never beaten him and the Skull Knight has proven time and again that he is the better fighter and more powerful than Zodd. With Guts it's because he was able gain enough strength and skill to challenge both Zodd and the apostles while still remaining human (barring the use of the Dragon Slayer sword and the Berserk armor). More than that, Guts was able to survive the eclipse and having monsters hunt him every night while never giving into despair or giving up. It's implied Zodd admires his spiritual strength along with his martial prowess. Given how apostles become apostles in the first place, this makes sense.
  • Zod's feelings are confirmed with a prophecy given to him by Sonia just before he rides into battle against the demon emperor.
  Sonia: You must choose
  Zodd: Choose?
  Sonia: To exchange blows again with the blade that once tore through your flesh or to wield it as a weapon. Wild madness or resolute will. Beast or warrior. The same goes for him as well.
  Zodd: Who?
  Sonia: The one you admire.

Grunbeld

Grunbeld Ahlqvist (グルンベルド, Gurunberudo)

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda (Japanese, Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō), Kiyoyuki Yanada (Berserk and the Band of the Hawk, Berserk (2016)), Paul St. Peter (English, Berserk (2016))

Guidebook Stats (Human):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 270 cm (8 ft, 10 in); Weight: 303 kg (668 lb)

Guidebook Stats (Apostle):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 600 cm (19 ft, _ in); Weight: 1644 kg (3,624 lb, 6 oz)

Click ^here for his Apostle form.

"To warriors, the battlefield should be a holy place. Our greater desire is to die amidst blood and carnage."

A massively-built red-haired giant in full plate armor, wielding a war hammer and a shield with a built-in cannon, Grunbeld is an unstoppable juggernaut of the battlefield who is famous in many lands for his fearsome prowess and devotion to war. His Apostle form is a colossal fire-breathing dragon armored in the ultra-hard mineral corundum (better known as the stuff rubies and sapphires are made of). While his knightly sense of honor makes him more noble than most Apostles, he gives his enemies no quarter and obeys Griffith without question. At the mansion of the spirit tree he challenges Guts to battle in the hope of savoring a Worthy Opponent, and at first finds him disappointingly easy to beat down, but when Guts arms himself with the Berserker Armor, Grunbeld is shocked to have his attacks stopped and his defenses damaged by a mere human. Guts is unable to defeat his fire dragon form, despite cracking the armor on his face, but Flora summons a wall of fire to cover the party's escape.

Grunbeld serves as the Final Boss of the 2004 video game Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō, and is a boss in Berserk and the Band of the Hawk. He is also the main character of a light novel, Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight, which tells his origin story and how he became an Apostle.

---

• Arm Cannon: One of the most devastating weapons in his arsenal is the black powder cannon that he has built into the shield strapped to his forearm.
• The Battle Didn't Count: Averted in his PS2 boss battle; instead of still being fine in the cutscene after his dragon form's health bar is reduced to zero, which might be expected if the game were following the manga exactly, he actually collapses to the ground defeated much to Zodd's surprise. In the manga, he receives only a minor crack in his armor and is very much still coming after Guts when Flora conjures her wall of fire.
• Bling of War: His dragon form's scales are usually depicted as being a bright, glowing orange in versions of the story with colour. That's because they're literally made of padparadscha sapphire. His hide would be worth a king's ransom... if anyone were capable of taking it from him.
• Blood Knight: Like Zodd, he lives for battle and prefers fighting opponents that pose a real challenge.
• Breath Weapon: In his dragon form, he is able to breathe and control fire. His breath attacks are quite dangerous in Seima Senki no Sho, especially the one where he lobs multiple fireballs in the air which rain down and engulfs a large area in flame.
• The Brute: An immense giant clad in impenetrable armor and armed with a hammer, he serves no role except to crush Griffith's enemies in combat. Unlike most examples, he's actually a more dangerous opponent than The Dragon.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Grunbeld's war hammer and cannon shield are weapons to fit his personality: the hammer represents his strength and has a head shaped like a dragon's horn or claw, while the cannon reflects his fire-breathing nature as a dragon.
• Bullfight Boss: Downplayed in the PS2 game, since he uses a lot of ranged attacks as well and only charges at Guts occasionally, but it is a devastating attack that is difficult to counter or dodge.
• Carry a Big Stick: Wields a giant war hammer that's four feet long and weighs 200 pounds. The story is that when Grunbeld was an eighteen-year-old inmate of Tudor's reeducation camp for Grantian youths, the sadistic warden Sir Abecassis put him and his two friends in an arena against a man-eating Kushan tiger, giving them only wooden weapons. Abecassis also put this giant hammer, which had sat in a temple as a non-functional work of art or votive offering, in the arena as a Hope Spot which would prove too heavy to use. To everybody's shock, young Grunbeld managed to take up the hammer and smash the tiger's head like a pumpkin. As he grew even bigger in the following years, the hammer went from being something so heavy that only Grunbeld could use it, to merely being the only weapon sturdy enough to survive Grunbeld using it. The effect on the enemy can only be described as "pulverizing".
• Colossus Climb: At least one of Guts' counter animations against his dragon form in the PS2 game involves leaping to reach his upper targets using the crystals jutting from his body as stepping stones.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Dishes out one against Guts until he gets the Berserker Armor.
• Dark and Troubled Past: As revealed in The Flame Dragon Knight, Grunbeld was born to an Impoverished Patrician family in a northern island state, the Grand Duchy of Grant. His father died in battle when he was a child, he got into a lot of fights with bullies, and when he was fourteen he was forced to watch the rape and murder of his mother at the hands of invading Tudor Empire soldiers. Then he and about 200 other children of nobles or knights were imprisoned in a barbaric prison camp called Fort Chester for forced religious conversion and military training to mold them into loyal soldiers for Tudor; it was four years until they were rescued, by which time only a hundred of them were still alive.
• Defiant Captive: Through all four years he spent as a captive in Fort Chester, he rejected the "Conversion Education" forced upon the children by Sir Abecassis and preferred punishment or even death to the idea of submitting to the enemy. He thus became an inspiration to other children, which is why Abecassis tried so hard to break his spirit instead of just killing him.
• Despair Event Horizon: A given, considering that the only way he could have become an Apostle in the first place is to reach that point. Exactly what happened is revealed in Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight: At the end of the book, he's kneeling defeated after being overwhelmed by both invading Tudor forces and traitorous troops of his own side. His beloved Benedikte is dying in his arms, and he too is dying after being bombarded with cannons and then lanced through the chest by Edvard, the once-loyal friend who was corrupted by envy into betraying him. His other best friend, Sigurd, is also critically wounded and she's about to be raped by Edvard. And since Edvard's father, the Grand Duke, has decided to sell out his people to Tudor, the homeland that Grunbeld fought for is going to fall under tyranny. Grunbeld curses himself for failing to protect his loved ones, wishing he could just keep fighting forever and wash away his grief with the blood of his enemies... and then his blood falls upon his behelit, summoning the Godhand to offer the answer to his prayers.
• Didn't Need Those Anyway!: Once Guts gets the Berserker Armor in the PS2 boss battle, his shield begins to visibly chip as it takes damage, and eventually gets destroyed.
• Disappeared Dad: His father died in a battle when he was a child, leaving his mother to raise him until she too was killed.
• Dragon Knight: A knight with dragon-themed armor, a fiery cannon in his shield, and the ability to turn into a fire-breathing dragon with scales that are harder than steel.
• Even Evil Has Standards: At the spirit tree he admits that attacking the home of an old woman like Flora with so many troops is far from honorable for a warrior like him, even if she is a witch. He forces himself to participate in order to prove his loyalty to Griffith, not because he enjoys it.
• Evil Redhead: While he doesn't do things just For the Evulz, he is ruthless in carrying out Griffith's orders and his flaming red hair is part of his frightening appearance.
• Famed In-Story: According to Mule, he is famous for holding off the entire Tudor invasion army for a decade with only his personal force of 3,000 soldiers. That and his burning red hair gave him the nickname "Dragon's blaze."
• Final Boss: The most difficult boss waiting at the last level of Seima Senki no Sho. Zodd serves as the Post-Final Boss, being the last boss actually fought but a lot less difficult than Grunbeld.
• Giant Mook: Leads a squad of giant Apostles who are of near-equal height with himself.
• Happily Adopted: The famous General Kirsten adopted Grunbeld after rescuing him and the others from captivity.
• Hellish Pupils: Has vertical slit pupils like a reptile, indicating that he's an Apostle and reflecting his dragon-like nature.
• Huge Rider, Tiny Mount: Averted. Grunbeld is too heavy to ride even the biggest horse, and one Tudor commander assumes that Grunbeld cannot lead a cavalry charge personally for this reason. He gets a nasty surprise when he sees Grunbeld riding out on a heavy chariot pulled by eight strong horses.
• The Juggernaut: Practically nothing can stand in his way. He shows this by breaking down a city gate with just his war hammer and plowing his way through massed ranks of Kushan soldiers.
• Living Legend: He's well-known across the lands for his gigantic appearance and larger-than-life deeds as a warrior, making him one of the more powerful characters in Berserk.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Makes extensive use of his shield as a defense, a cannon, and a melee weapon. Guts has to destroy it before he can land a telling hit on Grunbeld, which is only possible when he puts on the Berserker Armor.
• Never Gets Drunk: Grunbeld finds alcohol rather pointless because his great constitution makes getting drunk practically impossible.
• Mighty Glacier: Slow, and an enormous target, but nearly unstoppable.
• Missing Mom: His mother, the eccentric Countess Euphemia Ahlqvist, raised him to be a warrior after his father died. Then, when he was fourteen, a group of Tudor soldiers raped, tortured, and murdered her in front of him. During his subsequent imprisonment and indoctrination by the occupying Tudor Empire, he clung to what she had taught him and refused to submit.
• Mythical Motifs: His abilities and personality are represented by the dragon, a fire-breathing monster that signifies strength, nobility, and aggression. In The Flame Dragon Knight, Benedikte tells him he looks like a fire dragon to her, because in exchange for blindness she was granted the power to see the color of a person's heart.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Both his armor in human form and his skin in his Apostle form are literally Made of Diamond, or more accurately of corundum, which is only one place below diamond on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. At first, Guts is unable to harm him or even stand up to his blows, which makes the transformation wrought by the Berserker Armor even more pronounced. Grunbeld can hardly believe when Guts wearing the armor is able to break his shield which can withstand even cannon fire and to crack his dragon's skin that is tougher than steel, neither of which any foe was ever able to do before.
• Older Than They Look: When Grunbeld is fourteen in Flame Dragon Knight, he's already taller and brawnier than most adult men. Edvard and Sigurd are shocked upon first meeting him and learning that he's not older than them, but younger!
• Our Dragons Are Different: Grunbeld's true Apostle form is a crystalline dragon made of the mineral corundum. Apparently there actually were/is a species of real dragon in the Berserk world, but Grunbeld isn't one of them. He walks on all fours and lacks wings, but is able to breathe fire.
• Our Giants Are Bigger: He is even taller than the towering Zodd (who is already much bigger than Guts), and is almost twice as tall as Guts, who is far taller than average for a human. And that's without even shifting into his dragon form, which makes him one of the biggest creatures period. If anything, the official guidebook numbers underestimate his size!
• Red Baron: Came to be known as the Flame Dragon Knight in the years when he was the fortress commander of the Fire Dragon's Lair. With his red hair, dragon-decorated armor, and superhuman size and strength, he struck terror into the enemy. All of this before he could transform into a dragon.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In his human form, his eyes are glowing red. This is not a guy you want to fight.
• Scary Teeth: His mouth is full of sharp, menacing fangs, including a pair of giant tusks.
• Seemingly Hopeless Boss Fight: In the PS2 boss fight he cannot be significantly damaged at first, and relentlessly pounds on Guts until the cutscene where Guts obtains the Berserker armor, after which the tide turns in Guts' favor.
• Special Ability Shield: his shield has a built-in cannon and two retractable blades.
• Spikes of Villainy: His fearsome armor is covered from head to toe with claws, horns, and fangs.
• Super-Strength: One of the more physically stronger Apostles that Guts has ever fought, which is saying something. While Guts was able to fight somewhat evenly with powerhouses like Wyald and Zodd, even blocking and parrying Grunbeld’s attacks was enough to numb his arms so badly that he couldn’t even attempt to counterattack. Though in Guts's defense he was injured and exhausted at the time of fighting Grundbeld so it was likely his attacks weren't as strong or as formidable from if he were healthy.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: The shield he carries has three functions in one. It's a shield, it has a cannon built into it, and as if that wasn't enough it has two retractable sword blades!
• This Cannot Be!: He's surprised enough when Guts wrecks his weapons in human form, but when Guts withstands two of his full Apostle form's full power attacks and even cracks his skin, Grunbeld exclaims that it's impossible despite the evidence right in front of him. He is similarly in consternation when Flora creates a wall of fire that he, a fire dragon, cannot manipulate.
• Token Good Teammate: Downplayed, but Grunbeld is the only known Apostle other then The Egg whose sacrifice wasn't evil. He gave up his three closest friends—Edvard, Sigur, and Benedikte—but Edvard had sold them out to Tudor and left Sigur and Benedikte on death's door. Grunbeld only doled out the Apostle-standard brutal death to Edvard, and granted the other two a quick death by immolation.
• Walking Armory: This guy's loaded out with a war hammer and a shield, which itself contains a sizable cannon and two retractable sword blades. Add powder and ammunition for the cannon, and he's equipped to start a war.
• What the Hell Are You?: To Guts he says, "Unbelievable! To withstand two attacks from my true Apostle form, and even wound me?! What the hell are you?!"
• Worthy Opponent: Grunbeld lives for those opponents that really challenge him. He specifically asks to fight the man who has killed so many Apostles, and is bitterly disappointed when Guts fails to put up a good fight. In contrast, soon as Guts dons the Berserker armor and manages to wound him, he praises him as magnificent and says that he exceeds all of the rumors about him.

Irvine

Irvine (アーヴァイン, Āvain)

Guidebook Stats (Human):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 175 cm (5 ft, 9 in); Weight: 63 kg (138 lb, 14 oz)

Guidebook Stats (Apostle):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Length: 531 cm (17 ft, 5 in); Weight: 446 kg (983 lb, 4 oz)

Click ^here to see his transformation.

"I'm a hunter. I'm more relaxed when I'm alone."

Irvine is an aloof, solitary, and quiet Warrior Poet who enjoys playing the lute. He rarely speaks to anyone in the Band yet has formed a close relationship with Sonia. He uses a demonic, sentient bow in battle and is able to fire several arrows at a time.

He appears as a blank-eyed, Darker and Edgier version of Robin Hood. His Apostle form is that of a shaggy, Hell Hound-like beast from the waist down while his upper body is similar to a werewolf. His lower-body beast sports two long horns that he can use as a great bow, and his hair transforms into both bowstring and ammunition.

---

• Beast Man: He defines himself as one, and ultimately appears as one.
• Cold Sniper: Efficiently and dispassionately headshots enemy targets from long distances.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: He can shoot off the enemy's ear drums, or both their eyeballs from the side of their face. From roughly a kilometre away!
• Living Weapon: His strange, one-eyed bow. The design of his Apostle form strongly implies that the weapon is an extension of his own body.
• Loners Are Freaks: A strange case. He isn't seen talking to anyone in the Neo-Hawks except Sonia, but he is one of the most sympathetic Apostles shown so far, along with Rosine and the Nameless Apostle.
• Multishot: He has the ability to knock and loose multiple arrows at once, and have them all hit with pinpoint accuracy.
• Nerves of Steel: Invoked. His solitary, dispassionate demeanor attests to this.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Most werewolves aren't men-turned-demons who have bizarre, antlered wolf-centaurs as their true forms.
• Pet the Dog: His relationship with Sonia makes him seem less scary.
• Prophet Eyes: His blank white eyes serve as the Red Right Hand that indicates he's an Apostle.
• The Quiet One: Aloof to everyone in the Band with the notable exception of Sonia.
• Razor Floss: His hair, while in Apostle form, seems to have this effect.
• Warrior Poet: He likes playing the lute when he is not fighting.

Locus

Sir Locus (ロクス, Rokusu)

Voiced by: Shougo Nakamura (Japanese, Berserk (2016)), D.C. Douglas (English, Berserk (2016))

Guidebook Stats (Human):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 200 cm (6 ft, 7 in); Weight: 110 kg (242 lb, 8 oz)

Guidebook Stats (Apostle):^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 300 cm (9 ft, 10 in); Weight: 520 kg (1,146 lb, 6 oz)

Click ^here for his Apostle transformation.

"In this war, the physical world's trivialities will soon become meaningless. Dawn is drawing near. And a true sun will shine over us all."

Sir Locus, also known as The Moonlight Knight, is a Noble Demon with very strict principles and who firmly believes Griffith will bring about a much better world. In his human form, he appears as a dark-haired biseinen with ten liters of testosterone and badassery. His Apostle form is that of a shining, metallic centaur wielding a heavy lance.

Also notable for being among the least mean-spirited of all Apostles thus far, he usually speaks normally with humans and has never been shown to be in need of human flesh for sustenance.

---

• Anti-Villain: He's an Apostle, but he's also got a strict code of morals and doesn't have classic villainous traits like greed or sadism.
• Berserk Button: Normally he is very reasonable, but if his lord is insulted in front of him he loses his temper and feels that he must pursue retaliation.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He is normally courteous and polite, but he takes his honor and that of his master very seriously. When Rickert slaps Griffith across the face he becomes livid and would have demanded satisfaction if not for the White Hawk's orders. Afterwards he is seen fuming with anger while clenching the stonework so hard that it breaks in his grip! Not only that, he may have ordered Rakshas to murder Rickert!
• Diagonal Cut: His Apostle's double lance has such a keen edge that when he cuts through the heads of all the Daka around him, it takes a moment before the parts separate.
• Famed In-Story: As the Moonlight Knight Locus, he's a living legend. Mule says that anyone who grew up as a warrior's son has heard of his exploits.
• The Fettered: Because of his knightly code, he is also the Apostle with the strictest moral standards.
• Hellish Pupils: The only sign that betrays his non-human nature in his human form, something Rickert quickly catches on.
• Knight Errant: Before joining the new Band of the Hawk, he was a mysterious lone knight who went from place to place seeking tournaments and adventures. He was drawn to Griffith's cause as a noble adventure that he would gladly lend his strength for.
• Knight in Shining Armor: A noble knight who values honor and courtesy, making him an Anti-Villain at least.
• Knight Templar: Although he is clearly on the side of evil, he believes that all what the Neo-Hawks do is for the greater good.
• Knightly Lance: In human form, he uses a lance befitting his reputation as a knight errant. In Apostle form it turns into a Double Weapon.
• The Lancer: He is Griffith's second-in-command, and for bonus points he wields a lance.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Rickert is shown to be sincerely doubtful of whether Griffith truly is a bad person and begins to wonder if his actions are justified. It's at that point that Locus shows Rickert the fortress of Pandemonium, where the Apostles dwell, in an attempt to make it clear how Griffith has managed to gather even demons to his banner and put them to constructive use. Instead, Rickert is stunned at the brutality that the Apostles display behind closed doors, and it serves as a reminder to him that Griffith has done and continues to do horrible things in the name of achieving his perfect little utopia.
• Noble Demon: Even though he's in the service of Griffith and has a certain ruthless attitude, he does not believe in unnecessary cruelty and is fettered by his strict moral code.
• One-Hit Polykill: His Signature Move, impaling half a dozen enemies at once on his lance like bits of meat on a kebab.
• Our Centaurs Are Different: His apostle form is a gleaming, centaur-like creature made out of faceted metal.
• Spikes of Villainy: His armor has spiked shoulders and he's loyal to the villainous Griffith. This trope is a bit ironic for him since his apparent benevolence speaks otherwise.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Tall, dark-complexioned, dark-haired and handsome, he fits a certain old-fashioned standard of male attractiveness.

Rakshas

Rakshas (ラクシャス, Rakushasu)

Voiced by: Masashi Nogawa (Japanese, Berserk (2016)), Frank Todaro (English, Berserk (2016))

"One day, I'll get your pretty head."

The most mysterious of all the Neo Hawks' Apostles, Rakshas seems to have no form other than that of a swirling black-cloaked phantom wearing a strange mask decorated with three eyes. Apparently a Kushan, he is an exiled former member of the Bakiraka and has some sort of connection with the Bakiraka chief, Silat. He claims that he joined Griffith's army so he could take his head and that until that time he will not allow anyone else to harm him. He appears able to change his shape at will, squeezing and shrinking himself to enter tight spaces or hide in shadows, and is thus a master of eavesdropping and making surprise appearances. He can also wrap his cloth into tentacle-like appendages, each tipped with a single claw, in order to ensnare and attack opponents.

His Apostle form is a massive flying wraith superficially similar to his human form, with longer and more powerful tentacles capable of smashing through rock and slicing targets into half.

---

• Bedsheet Ghost: Looks very much like this except the sheet is black and there's something truly unnerving about him. The sheet itself seems to be part of his biology.
• Cool Mask: His face is covered by a mask painted with three eyes, and the Bakiraka recognize him because of it. After his mask is broken by Silat, he gets a second, more ornate one.
• Combat Tentacles: He can wrap his cloth into tentacle-like appendages to ensnare opponents.
  • When he enters Apostle Form his tentacles are the more traditional type, smashing through a house and slicing a horse into half with a scythe-like appendage.
• Dance Battler: When finally forced to engage in direct combat he uses the same acrobatic, break-dancing fighting style as Silat with great skill.
• Dark Is Evil: Dressed entirely in black save for his mask, and is portrayed as the most sinister of the Neo-Hawks.
• Dramatic Unmask: Silat forcibly unmasks Rakshas by stabbing him in the face, with the two halves of his mask falling dramatically to the ground. Rakshas remains unscathed because his head wasn't behind his mask at the time.
• Eldritch Abomination: His One-Winged Angel form is still more badass than hideous, but as a massive tentacled wraith, he falls into this trope.
• Enigmatic Minion: Very little is known about him and he seems to have his own mysterious agenda.
• The Faceless: Rakshas' face is completely concealed by his mask at all times, leading to speculation about what he's hiding with it. Turns out, nothing. And that makes it somehow creepier than if he had a true monstrous face.
• Fake Weakness: Surprisingly, he does have a real head, but he can move it around so it's nowhere near where his mask would indicate.
  What looks like a face, is not guaranteed to be.
• Faux Affably Evil: A remorseless and sadistic killer who revels in his bloodshed, but he always speaks with soothing words.
• The Hedonist: Silat describes him as this when speaking about his killing habits. He is a sadist who toys with his prey and loves a good chase, so much that he rarely ever lets a target escape no matter how much they run.
• Implacable Man: Silat says that once Rakshas decides to kill someone, he will never stop pursuing them until they're dead. At the same time his Apostle powers make him very difficult to harm, and even attacks that would destroy a normal human can barely slow him down.
• Laughably Evil: Despite his unambiguous villainy, his peculiar behavior and twisted sense of humor can be quite funny.
• Lodged-Blade Recycling: Pulls a crossbow bolt out of his mask and throws it right back at Rickert.
• Man on Fire: The Tapasa light him on fire using a torch and a water pump repurposed to spray oil. The shock causes him to enter his Apostle form, and he proceeds to douse himself by bisecting a horse and drenching himself in its blood.
• Meaningful Name: Named after the Rakshasa, a type of demon in Hindu mythology.
• Minor Injury Overreaction: When Silat destroys his mask, Rakshas gets seriously crestfallen and wanders off, promising to attack again after he finds a "new face."
• Mysterious Watcher: For the most part, he seems content to watch things from the shadows. By hiding under Zodd's wing, he even secretly witnessed Femto's merging of the physical and astral planes.
• No Face Under the Mask: Beneath his mask, Rakshas's face still looks like it's covered by his cloak, with merely the faintest impression of a nose and eye sockets where his face should be. It's seriously creepy.
• Off with His Head!: When Rakshas pursues the group's escape in flight, he gets just close enough to watch Rickert pull out a handheld rocket launcher and point it at him. He jerks out of the way, but the rocket still hits his neck and blows his head off of his body. With him being a very amorphous Apostle and Griffith being on the scene nearby, it's unknown if this will stick.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He claims he joined the New Band of the Hawk so that he could take Griffith's head when the time is right. Until then, he won't allow any harm to come to him.
• Out of the Inferno: In a typically ominous sense, he emerges from the fire that the Tapasa douse him in full Apostle form.
• Psycho for Hire: He is quite sadistic and has no motivation to fight except killing for his own amusement, stating that he is joining Griffith so that he can take his pretty head someday. Silat hates this attitude, saying that Rakshas' sadism is unbecoming of a former assassin of the Bakarika.
• Psychopathic Manchild: His exact age is anyone's guess, but for a dreaded apostle-assassin he has a childlike, idiosyncratic air about him, and has rather peculiar priorities. For example, he gloomily complains to Silat about his (entirely ornamental) mask being smashed, and calls off their fight just to go fetch another one.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: He just loves showing up out of nowhere and scaring people.
• Token Evil Teammate: Downplayed insofar as his teammates are Noble Demons at best, but he's the only named leader who lacks any redeeming virtues and is depicted as a mere psychopath.
• Underestimating Badassery: He sorely underestimates Rickert and the Bakarika, causing him to fall into Rickert's trap, allowing Silat to strike his actual body, and the Tapasa to set him on fire using Rickert's water-spraying device. He escapes, however, when he enters his Apostle form.
• Weakened by the Light: Funnily enough, when he's set on fire, the fact that he's on fire doesn't seem to bother him so much as the light and heat coming from it specifically. Given his shadowy nature, this is likely due to the antagonistic relationship present.
• Wild Card: His goals and desires except for taking Griffith's head are almost completely unknown, and he seems to act on his own agenda.
• Would Hurt a Child: He very nearly ripped Erika to pieces when he needed to use her blood to quench the fire that was burning him.

Sonia

Sonia (ソーニャ, Sōnya)

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjo (Japanese, Berserk (2016)), Skyler Davenport (English, Berserk (2016))

Guidebook Stats:^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 140 cm (4 ft, 7 in); Weight: 42 kg (92 lb, 9.5 oz); Age: 15

"That night I had a dream. A dream in which a kite and an owl were playing by the moonlight."

A young blonde girl born with the gift of clairvoyance, Sonia acts as Mission Control for the new Band of the Hawk. She has a generally cheerful disposition and is infatuated with Griffith. She doesn't fear the Apostles, and has even bonded with the distant Irvine. She highly resents Charlotte for being Griffith's Love Interest since she considers herself the only being able to understand his true nature and feelings.

Griffith has assigned the young knight Mule to act as her escort. She has also struck a friendly relationship with Schierke upon meeting her in Vritannis and relates to her feeling of not belonging among humans.

---

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Be it Griffith or Irvine, she does have a thing for morally questionable guys.
• Ambiguous Innocence: On one hand, she has the attitude of a cheerful, carefree, and sometimes bratty child. On the other, she is disturbingly unaffected by the Apostles' obvious inhumanity and taste for human flesh, and her feelings for Griffith and his crusade can become very twisted whenever they are not played for laughs.
• Animal Motifs: She likes comparing people to birds: she's a kite, Griffith's a hawk, Schierke's an owl and Mule almost got his own species as well (a mallard) at one point. Other than that, Midlanders are ducks and Apostles are dragons. The only time she broke the bird theme was when she agreed with Schierke that Isidro was a monkey.
• Anti-Villain: She's working for Griffith and the villain team, but you don't see her going around kicking puppies.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Towards Griffith, even if etiquette means she cannot do it openly.
• Conveniently an Orphan: According to one of the female prisoners, Sonia saw her parents burned to death by the Kushan occupiers before Griffith came. This conveniently answers the question of what such a young girl is doing as part of a demon army and whether her parents approve.
• Creepy Child: She seems a little too easy around Obviously Evil Apostles. At one point, she even offers to sneak a corpse to one that moments ago was considering eating her.
• Death Glare: Due to Charlotte's role as Griffith's consort, Sonia just can't act against her. Therefore, she limits herself to glowering at her whenever she shows up around Griffith in her presence, especially since the instatement of Falconia.
• Entitled to Have You: The very Rare Female Example and a strange variation at the same time. Due to being a psychic and having telepathic abilities, she believes herself the only female worthy of Griffith, hence her grudge towards Charlotte who she considers useless and stupid.
• Forehead of Doom: Has an unusually large forehead, emphasizing her mental powers.
• Green-Eyed Monster: She is very jealous of Charlotte's relationship with Griffith.
• The Ingenue: Subverted. She only looks like one but there's hardly any ounce of naïveté in her, with the exception of how she relates to Griffith whose goals and past she hardly knows. Or cares about.
• Irony:
  • Despite believing herself superior to regular humans (calling them "ducks" for being loud and stupid) and thinking that she has found a soulmate in Griffith (at least until Irvine came into the picture), her helmet is shaped like a duck's bill...
  • As a seer she claims to be able to see the world better than anyone else, yet willingly blinds herself to the true natures of the monsters she fights with, ignoring how, in spite of her claims otherwise, the demons are as monstrous on the inside as they are on the outside.
• Lady and Knight: Plays the lady to Mule's knight.
• Mission Control: Having no fighting skills to speak of, Sonia mostly uses her telepathy to help coordinate the Band of the Hawk's forces in battle.
• Mystical Waif: She's a young and frail orphan girl gifted with clairvoyance.
• The Nicknamer: She has a tendency to give people pet names such as "Mr. Black Lion" to Zodd or "Hunter" to Irvine or "Wild Mallard" to Mule.
• Nightmare Fetishist: She is not even remotely unnerved by the demonic Apostles, their appetite for human flesh, or even the threatening (or lewd) intent they display to her.
• Occult Blue Eyes: Blue eyes may indicate her magical powers.
• Oracular Urchin: A small, slightly otherworldly girl who is magically tuned in to shifts in the world. She often gives cryptic predictions to people she likes.
• Perky Female Minion: She's always smiling and welcoming to everyone even though she looks down on regular humans, derogatorily calling them "ducks."
• The Pollyanna: Always looks on the bright side of everything and never once angers, except at the onset of the battle against Ganishka.
• Precocious Crush: She's a bit young to be crushing on Griffith, but is convinced he's the only man for her.
• Psychic Powers: The full extent of her powers remains to be seen but so far she's been able to create a Psychic Link to other people, can use Telepathy to communicate (it is not known if she can read minds), can scry the near future, make people see what she sees and can sense other people's auras.
• Rank Up: In Falconia, she seems to have attained a very high clerical position.
• Rescue Romance: There does appear to be shades of this between her and Irvine when he rescues her from one of Ganishka's crushing blows.
• The Resenter: Deeply resents Charlotte for taking Griffith away from her.
• Rousing Speech: When the human troops see the true forms of Griffith's Apostles for the first time and balk at fighting alongside demons, Sonia gives them an epic tongue-lashing and exhorts them to put aside their differences to fight for Griffith.
• Running Gag: Since volume 29 she keeps trying to childishly interrupt Charlotte's quality time with Griffith out of jealousy, much to Mule's exasperation. On top of that she still can't help mooching off of Charlotte's delicious cooking, claiming that Mule would like some too. You can see him wanting to tear his hair out in frustration.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: Same deal as Charlotte towards Griffith, but in an even more immature way.
• Smug Super: Ever since her Rank Up in Falconia, Sonia has begun acting way more condescending towards regular humans. When Laban and Owen marvel at being able to travel through the Tree of Life's branches, Sonia turns to them in utter scorn and tells them that they can only do this because Griffith and she allow them to, otherwise regular people like them would never have been able to do anything like that.
• Support Party Member: Her main role in the Hawks, aside from being a Mission Control, is being Griffith's PR and spreading his influence.
• Token Human: Aside from her clairvoyant powers, Sonia is the most important human character in Griffith's organization.
• Unknown Rival: The animosity between her and Charlotte is very one-sided since the latter doesn't know just how smitten Sonia is of Griffith.
• Wounded Gazelle Warcry: Charges blindly onto the battlefield to fight with Ganishka's Apostle form, despite being by far the weakest of the Neo-Hawks, and is rescued in extremis by Irvine. Turns out she did so to motivate Midland's troops into helping Griffith's army defeat Ganishka.

Mule

Mule Wolflame (ミュール, Myūru)

Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese, Berserk (2016)), Griffin Burns (English, Berserk (2016))

Guidebook Stats:^note As of Chapter of Elf Island Height: 150 cm (4 ft, 11 in); Weight: 48 kg (105 lb, 13 oz); Age: 17

"This isn't about royal devotion, or my honor as a noble... All of you follow me! Rescue our subjects!!"

Mule is a teenage member of minor Midland nobility, whose father was lord of the small fiefdom of Lumias. Left as the last of his bloodline after his father and brothers died defending their castle against the Kushan invasion, Mule and his small force of retainers escaped and laid low. Mule was about to be destroyed along with his retainers in a brave but hopeless attack against a Kushan army of 5,000 when Griffith and his new Band of the Hawk appeared and saved them. Moved by gratitude, Mule pledged his sword to Griffith and received his knighthood on that same night. As a member of the new Band of the Hawk, Mule's main concern is the protection of the young seeress Sonia.

---

• Anti-Villain: He doesn't even know that he's working for the bad guys, and has nothing but heroic intentions.
• Big Damn Heroes: Mule has a tendency to attempt to pull this off to save someone else, only to find himself in over his head and need rescuing himself. At least he puts up a pretty good fight at first and may have even bought time for the bigger heroes to arrive.
• Blue Blood: Comes from a proud old noble house and comports himself as an aristocrat, but downplayed in that he is from a lesser noble family who didn't even have the privilege of entering the royal palace.
• Distressed Dude: He was in dire straights against a Kushan army when the new Band of the Hawk intervened and might have fared badly against Captain Bonebeard if Isidro had not jumped back into the fray.
• Dork Knight: He's skilled, noble, good-looking, idealistic... and yet Sonia walks all over him.
• Establishing Character Moment: When we first see him he is about to attack a vastly superior Kushan army because he can't stand to see his family's honor being trampled, even though Saritus begs him to preserve his forces to fight another day. When told that there is an army resisting the Kushan rumored to be led by Griffith he seriously begins to consider it, but as soon as he sees a group of refugees being attacked by the Kushan he is determined to protect them despite overwhelming odds. This establishes that despite his devotion to the royal family and his own family honor, his subjects' lives are what's really most important to him.
• Generation Xerox: He is a clear-cut counterpart to Rickert in the Neo-Hawks and is just as clueless about Griffith's true nature.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A blonde boy who's decent, good, and honorable.
• Hero Antagonist: What he tries to be, but he's still a teenager and is quite inexperienced.
• Honor Before Reason:
  • In his establishing character moment, he wants to attack a much stronger Kushan army even though he will certainly lose, simply because as a noble who is expected to serve the royal family and protect his people he cannot stand to see the enemy Rape, Pillage, and Burn with impunity.
  • After the fight with Bonebeard's men on the docks, when Isidro throws him a sailor's cutlass to replace the one he dropped in the water, Mule blanches at accepting a stolen sword. Isidro pointedly asks him whether he thinks he can protect Sonia and the Kushan orphans if he's unarmed.
• I Am X, Son of Y: He introduces himself to Griffith as Mule Wolflame, son of Valagar Wolflame.
• Impoverished Patrician: Implied by his circumstances. His noble family was small and unimportant to begin with, and since his lands were occupied by the Kushan Empire he presumably has nothing except what he could carry.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Blue eyes symbolize his naïve idealism.
• I Owe You My Life: Mule is deeply grateful to Griffith for rescuing him, and perhaps more importantly his retainers and the civilians. As a result, he pledges his sword to Griffith and puts up with the duty of protecting Sonia.
• Knighting: When he kneels and offers his sword to Griffith, he receives the tap on the shoulder from the White Hawk himself. It's so awesome that when a group of Kushan assassins take aim from the bushes to shoot Griffith, Rakshas appears behind them and admonishes them not to spoil the moment.
• Knight in Shining Armor: A noble-born knight-in-training who believes in a rigid code of morals and champions the weak. He does also have a very shiny suit of armor.
• Lady and Knight: His job is protecting Sonia, even though she has almost as much contempt for him as she does other humans. At one point, she even says that if he actually took part in battle, the "best" he'd contribute is to be a "wild duck." (However, at least one translation has this line as "Wild Drake." Drake is the term for a male duck, but it is also another name for dragons, implying that she would consider him on the same level as the Apostles, if in name only).
• Last of His Kind: With the death of his father and brothers, he is the last of his noble bloodline.
• Manly Tears: When he first comes face to face with Griffith, Mule is surprised to find himself moved to tears at the sight of such a splendid hero.
• Master Swordsman: Downplayed. He's well-schooled in the orthodox fencing style of the nobility, as he demonstrates by efficiently dispatching several pirates and initially holding his own against Captain Bonebeard, but at the same time his lack of rough and tumble experience makes him vulnerable against someone like Bonebeard who's a Combat Pragmatist.
• Meaningful Name: Mule is stubborn and set in his ways like a mule, and tends to get metaphorically used by Sonia as a beast of burden. At the same time it's an Ironic Name, since mules have a strong instinct for self-preservation whereas Mule has a habit of leaping before he looks.
• Naïve Newcomer: Readers are introduced to the new Band of the Hawk through Mule's eyes, since he joins them with no prior knowledge of their organization. Sonia and Sir Locus give him a tour of the camp and deliver a large amount of exposition for both his and the audience's benefit.
• Old Retainer: Saritus serves as one for Mule, having served his father before him and remained at Mule's side even in bad times. He isn't afraid to speak up and question Mule's plan, but he does it all out of loyalty.
• Pretty Boy: Quite the good-looking pretty boy. When Captain Bonebeard gets him in his clutches in Vritannis, he remarks that he could sell Mule as a male Sex Slave to some Kushan harem for a hefty price.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a scathing one to Isidro while fist-fighting with him in Vritannis, although Isidro fires some barbs in return. He also receives a short one from Captain Bonebeard during their fight on the docks, who tells him that the experience gap between them made his loss a foregone conclusion.
• Satellite Character: Although he has his own personality and characterization, his role in the story revolves around his interactions with Sonia and Griffith.
• Token Human: Along with Sonia, he's the only major human in the Neo-Band of the Hawk, even if Griffith and his lieutenants were formerly human.
• The Team Normal: Mule is not an Apostle, nor does he have psychic gifts like Sonia. He's nonetheless a noteworthy supporting player in the group.
• Unwitting Pawn: Serves Griffith loyally but, unlike any other big name of the Hawks, he doesn't know his true nature.

Volkov (Borkoff)

Click ^here for his Apostle transformation.

A minor Apostle knight that served in Locus's Demon Lancer charge against the Daka and Kushan forces. He is also the very Apostle that forced Guts to remove his arm during the Eclipse.

---

• Dub Name Change: In the English translation, his name was misinterpreted as Borkoff.
• The Faceless: His human face is not seen. His apostle form's is, however.
• Karma Houdini: Despite participating in the Eclipse and forcing Guts to amputate his own arm by biting down on it while Femto raped Casca, he doesn't get any consequences for his actions, and later participates in a gladiator battle against an ogre.
• Minor Major Character: While his face is not shown, he has no dialogue, and he is barely in the manga, he was the one that tore off Gut's arm.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: His Apostle form has two, one of them is very large and toothy, perfect for biting down on human arms.
• Mauve Shirt: Inverted: He's a minor Apostle of the Band of the Hawk, but he lives.
• The Voiceless: He never speaks.

---