History Berserk / TropesAToD

* AmbiguouslyBrown: In the world of ''Berserk'' there seems to be two "races" under this category: individuals such as Pippin and Donovan have more [[DarkestAfrica African features,]] while people like Silat and Jarris (Griffith's new chief engineer) have more [[SimSimSalabim south Asian features.]] The former is played straight as they are less prevalent, especially in recent arcs, but the latter group has been subverted as they come from a country that is based off of south Asia called Kushan. Special mention goes to Casca, in which she is implied to be Kushan, but it is never outwardly stated and [[FacialProfiling she has generic phenotypes that could make her belong to either group]], leading fans to categorize her in a real world context, ranging from Indian, African, Middle Eastern, mulatto, even ''Tibetan.''

* CurbStompBattle: After the [[spoiler: hundred man slaying incident]] groups of human enemies ,no matter how well trained or numerous, just stopped being a problem for Guts (as long as he is in sufficient fighting shape of course). An especially awesome example comes when a group of Kushan assassins try to kill Guts...who just had his sword upgraded and was eager to give it a try...[[spoiler: After seing the resulting pile of gore, Silat wisely decided not to waste his best mooks on an unwinnable battle.]]

** One of the Golden Age Arc's main themes is that even the smallest of your actions can have an unpredictable effect on other people, and that progress that you have spent your entire life building can be ruined if you take one reckless action without thinking of the consequences. For example, Griffith never thought that his speech to Princess Charlotte about what a friend is would be overheard by Guts and cause him to quit the band of the Hawk, and Guts wouldn't have expected that his departure would cause Griffith to have a breakdown and throw out all the Hawks' work by [[spoiler:sleeping with Charlotte. Granted, it who would expect the King to over react that drastically without knowing that he had the hots for his own daughter?]] and incurring the King of Midland's wrath. The King at the same time decides to pursue revenge against Griffith at the cost of ruining his own kingdom and wasting the effort of a 100 year war that was supposed to win peace and prosperity for his subjects.

* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: It's actually done realistically by Guts on an unconscious Casca. She gurgles up the water and everything.
** The presence of CPR in a [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy medieval-inspired]] world does bring on some FridgeLogic though...

** Although going through ''the'' most horrible experiences, Casca was pretty lucky for this convenience, considering how most [[DeathByChildbirth women give birth]] [[ChestBurster to demonic spawn]] in this series. You can thank PlotArmor for that.

*** Of course there is also Guts hypocrisy in saying so. The people who "made him laugh" had absolutely zero chance of saving Thomas, so "unlocking their doors" would have led to nothing more then them dying together with the child. However, Guts had a choice, and CHOSE to use Thomas in the trap. So the anger the villagers felt towards Guts is perfectly reasonable. The fact that Guts wasn't even wiling to CONSIDER that he might have done it another way to be a better man is telling.

* DeconstructorFleet: The series primarily deconstructs traditional {{Shonen}} tropes, but also delves into deconstructions of religion, fate, destiny, camaraderie, and revenge.

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The Black Dog Knights are a branch of Midland's military consisting of the kingdom's worst convicted murderers, rapists, and hardened criminals. They RapePillageAndBurn wherever they go, and their leader Wyald is so evil in depraved that even ''they'' are terrified of him.

** If you hurt a kid, Guts will end you. It's tied back to his own childhood and not wanting to see a kid suffer like he did. Guts himself is particularly infuriated when kids die [[spoiler:at his own hand, being broken and disillusioned when he accidentally kills Prince Adonis, and vomiting and going into a terrifying rampage when he instinctively bifurcates the possessed corpse of the dead Collette.]]

** One of the Golden Age Arc's main themes is that even the smallest of your actions can have an unpredictable effect on other people, and that progress that you have spent your entire life building can be ruined if you take one reckless action without thinking of the consequences. For example, Griffith never thought that his speech to Princess Charlotte about what a friend is would be overheard by Guts and cause him to quit the band of the Hawk, and Guts wouldn't have expected that his departure would cause Griffith to have a breakdown and throw out all the Hawks' work by [[spoiler:sleeping with Charlotte]] and incurring the King of Midland's wrath. The King at the same time decides to pursue revenge against Griffith at the cost of ruining his own kingdom and wasting the effort of a 100 year war that was supposed to win peace and prosperity for his subjects.

* AnyoneCanDie: And boy howdy, do we mean ''ANYONE.'' [[MenAreTheExpendableGender Men,]] [[NoWomansLand women,]] [[InfantImmortality children and babies,]] [[InvulnerableHorses horses and other animals,]] [[SacrificialLion secondary characters]] - NOBODY is immune to dying a horrible and grisly death in ''Berserk.'' While we're at it, we mind as well add that being a main character does ''not'' exempt you from any degree of suffering, only getting by with a set of PlotArmor that might as well be made out of glass.

** If you hurt a kid, Guts will end you. It's tied back to his own childhood and not wanting to see anyone suffer. Guts himself is hard on himself when kids die [[spoiler:at his own hand, being broken and disillusioned when he accidentally kills Prince Adonis, and vomiting and going into a terrifying rampage when he instinctively bifurcates the possessed corpse of the dead Collette.]]

* CryingAfterSex: Gut cries the first time he has sex with Casca because doing so triggers the memories of his [[RapeAsBackstory childhood abuse]].

* CurbStompBattle: After the [[spoiler: hundred man slaying incident]] groups of human enemies ,no matter how well trained or numerous, just stopped being a problem for Guts (as long as he is in sufficient fighting shape of course). An especially awesome example comes when a group of Kushan assassins try to kill Guts...who just had his sword upgraded and was eager to give it a try...[[spoiler: After seing the resulting pile of gore, Silat wisely decided not to waste his best mooks on an unwinnable battle.]]

** TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Invoked by the Beast and enforced by the Berserker armor. The armor itself is [[PowerAtAPrice a mixed blessing at best]], [[CursedWithAwesome as it has great potential to the wearer]] [[BlessedWithSuck but comes with a plethora of baggage]], one that includes causing the wearer to gradually lose their mind and quite possibly fragment their memory. Now just add an already present SuperPoweredEvilSide who [[TheCorrupter constantly goads]] the [[ByronicHero morally-divided hero]] to succumb to complete and total darkness so that [[SplitPersonalityTakeover it can take over his soul]] to the picture and just think of what might possibly happen.

** DarkIsNotEvil: ...But it's not always the case. Some spiritual beings look creepy but are otherwise fairly benign, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly named]] Skull Knight largely devotes his time to fighting the forces of evil, and the Black Swordsman himself, SuperpoweredEvilSide aside, is the hero of the story.

* AnnoyingArrows: This is a ZigZaggingTrope. How much of a danger arrows represent to a character depends on whether they're a human or Apostle, how {{Badass}} they are, and who's doing the shooting. Because ArmorIsUseless in this story for human {{Mooks}} and RedShirts, a volley of arrows from a mass of archers or Guts' repeating crossbow will penetrate their helmets and breastplates, killing them instantly. The Apostle Irvine is probably the deadliest archer in-universe, since he can ''decapitate'' multiple human targets with one MultiShot of his longbow from at least a mile away. For Apostles on the other hand, who are usually enormous monsters and at least far tougher than humans, any amount of arrows from RedShirt archers is merely TheWorfBarrage since such small projectiles [[JustifiedTrope cannot hope to reach their internal organs]]. If it's Guts, on the other hand, he might be able to at least shoot them in the eyes for significant damage. As for how our heroes fare, Guts is usually able to dodge volleys of arrows or use a dead mook as a BulletProofHumanShield. In the anime version of the Hundred Man Fight he even deflects some incoming arrows by a mere swish of his cape: "[[WebVideo/BerserkAbridged And now, just in case you had any faith left in humanity]]...[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCyujnxaMYs#t=4m30s know that someone, somewhere, thought that THIS made sense]]". The ''Golden Age'' movies also have some instances of heroes like Casca swatting away arrows with their swords, and in later manga chapters Guts is able to use the incredibly broad flat of his BFS to shield himself. When a main character actually gets hit, the trope will usually apply in a [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] form. Guts gets hit in the hand during the Hundred Man Fight, and snaps it in two with the same hand in a show of bravado. That said, it prevents him from using it to grip his sword and he has to one-hand it for the rest of the fight. He is also significantly weakened by previous arrow wounds in his fight with the Holy Iron Chain Knights, contributing to his collapse and capture. Casca, who is not as much of a tank as Guts, gets hit with ''five'' crossbow bolts when the Hawks get ambushed by the Midland Army, which is treated as very serious since she was wearing no armor and they hit her mainly in the torso. She spends three days and nights in a comatose state near death, but miraculously she survives and makes a full recovery within a year.

** Guts is a grizzled and stoic {{badass}}, who failed to protect someone before and is out for revenge. Jill in the Lost Children Chapter is an early adolescent in constant danger whose parents, while living, cannot or will not protect her. Jill follows him around as he goes to hunt Rosine, her childhood friend-turned-monster. Even though he tries to scare her away for her own safety, she trusts him completely and stubbornly believes in his inner goodness.

* BadassCrew: The Band of the Hawk was a mercenary company of unrelated {{Badass}} individuals as tightly knit as a family, united by their admiration of their charismatic leader Griffith. Everyone gets their turn to have a moment of awesome, and they are loyal to each other. Eventually, Guts' new party grows to the same level of membership, capability, and closeness, except for a few hangers-on like Magnifico who can't do anything useful.

** If God exists, does man have to submit to him [[GodIsEvil no matter what?]] And can a single man [[{{Badass}} push himself]] to the point of [[RageAgainstTheHeavens stopping said God?]]

* CutlassBetweenTheTeeth: Guts uses his teeth in order to use other weapons when he's incapable of using his own two hands, such as when he used his teeth to pull the trigger to his cannon arm when he was incapacitated by the Snake Baron. On some occasions such as the fight with the Count, he can even swing the frickin [[{{BFS}} Dragonslayer]] with his teeth when he has no other way to do it and a demon absolutely, positively needs to be cut in half. Ok, that is [[{{WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief}} just flat out impossible]], but [[{{RefugeInAudacity}} lets not think about it too much.]] It's [[{{Badass}} Guts]] and he gets away with it. But you most definitely [[{{DontTryThisAtHome}} WILL NOT.]]

%%* AssholeVictim: Plenty and PLENTY of examples. Among the standouts in this series includes Gambino, Guts' abusive father; Donovan, the man who rapes Guts, (and gets killed by him later); and the unnamed torturer who is the catalyst for Griffith's descent into madness (or at the very least sped up the process).

* DudeShesLikeInAComa: Guts played with trope when he was with unconscious Casca in the cave. It was insinuated that he briefly thought about having his way with the her, but he mentally slapped himself for it. Still, the most that he did was gently brush Casca's hair, while the rest of the night was spent [[IntimateHealing holding Casca so that she wouldn't freeze to death.]] This probably served as the first subtle hint that Guts found Casca physically attractive, but at least it wasn't as disturbing as [[ParentalIncest the King of Midland's scene with his daughter.]]

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[[Berserk/TropesAToD Tropes A-D]] | [[Berserk/TropesEToH Tropes E-H]] | [[Berserk/TropesIToP Tropes I-P]] | [[Berserk/TropesQToT Tropes Q-T]] | [[Berserk/TropesUToZ Tropes U-Z]]

* BadDreams / NightmareSequence: Guts has a lot of these, [[FlashbackNightmare first due to his childhood trauma]], and then after the events of the Eclipse. What's worse is when people, specifically Puck and Schierke, go into Guts' inner memories, they are bombarded with horrific images of the Eclipse. Also, in the non-canonical game ''Sword of the Berserk'', when [[spoiler: Casca briefly regains her sanity, she said that she was having bad dreams.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: Man, it's hard enough having to make reference to the event so often, let alone having to actually admit and say, "Guts lost - ''[[MyGreatestFailure really]]'' [[MyGreatestFailure lost.]]" At least, [[CutShort as far as the '97 anime and the movies go]], that is.

* DeathWail / TheScream: Played for tragedy during the Eclipse. First, [[spoiler: Guts screams in rage, anger, and sadness after seeing the slaughtered remains of his friends and comrades in a lake of blood. Then, after going through the immense horror of being forced to watch Casca get raped by Femto, Guts howls a scream that we can only describe as ''[[EmotionalTorque sheer pain]]'' when he watches her fall limp and broken after Femto is done with her.]]
** Although she tends to scream a lot in her insanity, newly insane Casca gives a truly painful and mournful scream when [[spoiler: she miscarries her deformed child and it disappears at daybreak.]]

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: DoubleSubverted. Guts and Casca conceive their child around that point in the story where their relationship is taking a happier turn and they're optimistic that the Band of the Hawk will bounce back from its difficulties. Then their hopes are dashed in the Eclipse, and Femto's rape of Casca causes the child to be born misshapen and tainted by evil. To Guts this seems like the last insult after everything he and Casac have been through, and at first he rejects their offspring as a demon. Even the Skull Knight initially says "It would be best to kill it [...] someday it will bring woe upon you both." Yet fate works in mysterious ways indeed: the child ends up becoming more of a miracle for them than they could ''ever'' have imagined. First, when Casca strays from the safety of the cave and gives birth to him, his presence prevents the evil spirits from harming her. Then two years later, during the Conviction Arc, he warns Guts that Casca is in danger and protects her using his strange powers until Guts can reach her. Another time, [[spoiler:when Schierke can't free Guts' ego while he's swept up in the Berserker Armor's blind rage, the Child reaches through to him instead. He's even the one who helps guide a battered Guts to the merrows who pull him from the Sea God's sinking body, thereby rescuing him from drowning.]] It's safe to say that right now Guts and Casca wouldn't be together ''or'' alive without him!

* {{Backstory}}: There's a lot of it. Eleven volumes, in fact.

* BabiesEverAfter: How Griffith envisioned life with Casca if his original plans did not go accordingly [[spoiler: right before he activated his crimson behelit via DespairEventHorizon when he saw Casca in love with Guts.]] Subverted in that [[spoiler: it's heavily implied that the baby in that vision was Guts', not Griffith's.]]
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Subverted in Guts and Casca's relationship. Guts and Casca conceived their child right around that point in the story where things take a strange optimistic turn in their relationship... and of course, it does not last. When [[FetusTerrible that baby]] was born, [[OffingTheOffspring Guts was not happy.]] Also subverted when [[spoiler: Griffith chooses to sacrifice the Hawks rather than lead a semi-ordinary life raising a child with Casca]] (see BabiesMakeEverythingBetter above).

* DisappearsIntoLight: This is what recently happened to [[spoiler: Ganishka]].