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* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: When in {{badass}} {{action girl}} mode, Casca has short, cropped hair, but when she goes [[{{GoMadFromTheRevelation}} insane]] after the Eclipse, her hair gradually grows out, representing how she shifted from {{Lady of War}} to {{The Ophelia}}.
to:
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: When in {{badass}} {{action girl}} {{Badass}} ActionGirl mode, Casca has short, cropped hair, but when she goes [[{{GoMadFromTheRevelation}} [[GoMadFromTheRevelation insane]] after the Eclipse, her hair gradually grows out, representing how she shifted from {{Lady of War}} LadyOfWar to {{The Ophelia}}.TheOphelia.
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* {{Hannibal Lecture}}: Subverted when Farnese captures Guts thinking that he is the [[TheAntichrist anti-Christ]], even though he's only really a [[TheBigGuy towering]], [[DarkIsNotEvil dark]], [[WalkingTheEarth loner]] {{Jerkass}}, who [[WalkingDisasterArea leaves a path of destruction and gore behind him wherever he goes]]. He tells her that she and her entire religious order has no idea how the real world works. [[WhipItGood Farnese is not amused by this insolence]]. She continues to be unamused when she witnesses the horror of the real world first hand.
to:
* {{Hannibal Lecture}}: Subverted Even when Farnese captures chained up in a dungeon, both Guts thinking and Griffith demonstrate the ability to deliver a BreakingSpeech to their interrogator that he is the [[TheAntichrist anti-Christ]], even though he's only really a [[TheBigGuy towering]], [[DarkIsNotEvil dark]], [[WalkingTheEarth loner]] {{Jerkass}}, who [[WalkingDisasterArea leaves a path of destruction and gore behind him wherever he goes]]. He tells her that she and her entire religious order has no idea how the real world works. [[WhipItGood Farnese is not amused by this insolence]]. She continues to be unamused when she witnesses the horror of the real world first hand.makes them completely loose their composure.
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* FantasyGunControl: Averted hard. In a setting where magic can reshape the landscape in a matter of moments and swordsmen often end a fight scene on a literal mountain of bodies, gunpowder weapons are still the ultimate trump card, pulled out to overcome things that nothing else can touch with sheer brute force. While few characters outside the main party carry firearms themselves, everyone immediately recognizes them for what they are and what they can do when they're produced.
to:
* FantasyGunControl: Averted hard. In a setting Berserk's fantastic setting, where magic can reshape the landscape in a matter of moments and strong swordsmen often sometimes end a fight scene on a literal mountain of bodies, the exclusion of firearms from the story is heavily [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. On one hand, just about all armies and navies make extensive use of cannons, to the point where the objective of the first raid that Griffith makes Guts participate in is to set the enemy's gunpowder weapons are stores on fire, and he sets his own artillery as an ambush for the enemy. Guts and Grunbeld each have a miniaturized cannon as part of their personal weaponry, and use their explosive power as a devastating trump card against hordes of enemies or powerful monsters, to which can be added Rickert's [[spoiler:portable rocket launcher]] and the miniature bombs he made for Guts. The big caveat that makes the trope still the ultimate trump card, pulled out to overcome things present is that nothing else can touch besides these characters, warfare is still universally waged with sheer brute force. While few characters outside arrows from massed bowmen and crossbowmen, and even the main party carry countries whose large number of cannons suggest the technological capacity to mass-produce hand firearms themselves, everyone immediately recognizes them for what they are and what they can do when they're produced.their troops continue to rely on old-fashioned archery without a hand gun in sight. The fact that Rickert also invented an AutomaticCrossbow for Guts that fires faster than any gun suggests that bows won't become obsolete any time soon.
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* FantasyGunControl: Averted hard. In a setting where magic can reshape the landscape in a matter of moments and swordsmen often end a fight scene on a literal mountain of bodies, gunpowder weapons are still the ultimate trump card, pulled out to overcome things that nothing else can touch with sheer brute force. While few characters outside the main party carry firearms themselves, everyone immediately recognizes them for what they are and what they can do when they're produced.
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* {{Egopolis}}: [[spoiler:Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, but the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
to:
* {{Egopolis}}: [[spoiler:Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then than you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, but the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
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It would be inaccurate to say that Guts \"violated\" her in the sense of rape; that Apostle initiated sex him with the intention of eating him while they were doing it, and he played along with her trap so that he could kill her when she transformed. The act itself was mutually cooperative (consent seems like the wrong word for this) until the point where they both made their move to kill each other, at which point the sex act was quite literally \'terminated\' by her death.
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** The first three volumes feature (if you can believe it) Guts acting much darker than in later arcs, such as violating a female apostle.
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** The very first three volumes feature (if you can believe it) panels of volume one are an RRatedOpening in which Guts acting much darker than in later arcs, such as violating a is having sex with the unnamed female apostle.Apostle, and kills her when she transforms and tries to eat him. Given that Guts is later established to have a lot of hang-ups about sex, and is also very faitful to Casca, a lot of fans consider this out-of-character for him.
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** The first three volumes feature (if you can believe it) Guts acting much darker than in later arcs, such as violating a female apostle.
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* {{Egopolis}}: [[spoiler:Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, But the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
to:
* {{Egopolis}}: [[spoiler:Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, But but the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
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More folder action.
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Those aren\'t homages, those are shout outs.
* FantasticAesop: For all of ''Berserk'': humanity shouldn't blame all of its problems on some abstract concept they have no control over [[spoiler: because that will create an unstoppable God with an unlimited army of rape monsters that will kill everyone]].
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* {{Homage}}: The names of the Godhand demons are all references to classic science-fiction books. These books are ''Destination: Void'' by Creator/FrankHerbert, ''Literature/{{Slan}}'' by Creator/AEVanVogt, ''And Call Me Conrad'' by Creator/RogerZelazny, and ''Literature/{{Ubik}}'' by Creator/PhilipKDick.
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* {{Homage}}: The names of the Godhand demons {{Homage}}:
** Chapters 311-314 areall references to classic science-fiction books. These books are ''Destination: Void'' by Creator/FrankHerbert, ''Literature/{{Slan}}'' by Creator/AEVanVogt, ''And Call Me Conrad'' by Creator/RogerZelazny, and ''Literature/{{Ubik}}'' by Creator/PhilipKDick.''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'' [[RecycledInSpace in Midland!]]
** Chapters 311-314 are
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* EnemyMine: Guts and Zodd pull this off to defeat Ganishka's projection in Vritannis. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome It's about as awesome as you might expect]].
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* EnemyMine: Guts and Zodd pull this off to defeat Ganishka's projection in Vritannis. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome It's about as awesome as you might expect]].
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* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Guts and Casca actually don't count, since she's tall for a woman despite looking small next to him, but during his post-Eclipse adventures he does always seem to have at least one small girl hanging around with him, be it Jill or Schierke. Not in a weird way, they just seem to like him. He tends to treat them like an AloofOlderBrother, when he's not trying to chase them off (for their own good) with his JerkAssFacade, but every now and then he can be [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming surprisingly]] [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4-16_BNFHC-142-copy-jpg_8038.jpeg sweet to them]].* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
to:
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Guts and Casca actually don't count, since she's tall for a woman despite looking small next to him, but during his post-Eclipse adventures he does always seem to have at least one small girl hanging around with him, be it Jill or Schierke. Not in a weird way, they just seem to like him. He tends to treat them like an AloofOlderBrother, when he's not trying to chase them off (for their own good) with his JerkAssFacade, but every now and then he can be [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments surprisingly]] [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4-16_BNFHC-142-copy-jpg_8038.jpeg sweet to them]].them]].
* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
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* HumanPincushion: During her CrowningMomentOfAwesome, Casca gets shot at with five arrows when the Midland army ambushed the Hawks shortly after Griffith was arrested for high treason. And yet, Casca continued to fight her way through the barrier and led the Hawks to safety.
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* HumanPincushion: During her CrowningMomentOfAwesome, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, Casca gets shot at with five arrows when the Midland army ambushed the Hawks shortly after Griffith was arrested for high treason. And yet, Casca continued to fight her way through the barrier and led the Hawks to safety.
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* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: The trolls of Qliphoth are all male, and reproduce by abducting and raping human women, who become pregnant .
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* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: The trolls of Qliphoth are all male, and reproduce by abducting and raping human women, who become pregnant .pregnant with troll fetuses that tear their way out of their mother's body.
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* {{Flanderization}}: During The Black Swordsman Arc Puck was noticeably less silly.
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* {{Flanderization}}: During The Puck has always been rather goofy, but during the Black Swordsman Arc Puck and Lost Children Arcs he was noticeably less silly.mostly occupied with trying to be Guts' conscience and keeping him from losing his humanity. Once Guts acquires a new adventuring party, his role as comic relief has increasingly been the dominant part of his characterization.
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* FlayingAlive: .... Oh, Griffith.... This was otherwise used in the Retribution Arc with a priest of the Holy See. (Poor Griffith...)
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* FlayingAlive: .... Oh, Griffith.... This was otherwise used in FlayingAlive: During his yearlong imprisonment under the Retribution Arc with Tower of Rebirth, [[spoiler:Griffith]] has parts of his skin peeled off by the royal torturer, who nonetheless makes sure to keep him alive. In the Conviction arc, heretics leave the flayed skin of a priest they killed swaying on a tree in the middle of the Holy See. (Poor Griffith...)refugee camp, which only increases the wrath of Bishop Mozgus.
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* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Guts and Casca.
** It's not even that she's especially small, it's just that ''any'' woman who wasn't a giant herself would look small next to Guts.
* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
** It's not even that she's especially small, it's just that ''any'' woman who wasn't a giant herself would look small next to Guts.
* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
to:
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Guts and Casca.
** It's not even thatCasca actually don't count, since she's especially small, it's just that ''any'' tall for a woman who wasn't a giant herself would look despite looking small next to Guts.
him, but during his post-Eclipse adventures he does always seem to have at least one small girl hanging around with him, be it Jill or Schierke. Not in a weird way, they just seem to like him. He tends to treat them like an AloofOlderBrother, when he's not trying to chase them off (for their own good) with his JerkAssFacade, but every now and then he can be [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming surprisingly]] [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4-16_BNFHC-142-copy-jpg_8038.jpeg sweet to them]].* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
** It's not even that
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moving \"hey it\'s that voice!\" to trivia page
Deleted line(s) 252,267 (click to see context) :
* HeyItsThatVoice
** On the Japanese side:
*** Guts shares his voice with a bunch of {{Badass}}es such as [[Anime/{{Macross7}} Basara]], [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Nnoitra]] or [[SoulSeries Maxi]].
*** Griffith is several different [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white haired]] villains including Bashou (Hun) and Mikuri (Wallace) in {{Anime/Pokemon}} and Sephiroth from VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII, as well as the Fourth Hokage in Franchise/{{Naruto}}. When there's a new Berserk movie, ironically, he is [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]].
*** Judeau is Garra and [[Franchise/HarryPotter Tom Riddle]].
*** Rickert is VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon
*** Void is Horatio Caine, [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Professor Oak]], [[Franchise/{{Naruto}} Zabuza]], [[Anime/CowboyBebop JetBlack]], and [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Van Hohenheim]]
*** Casca is [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]]. In the new movie, she is instead [[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma Bullet]].
*** Slan is [[GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]].
*** The Skull Knight in the movies is [[Franchise/MetalGear Solid Snake]].
** On the English side:
*** You can tell that Guts' voice is the same as 4Kids' [[Franchise/OnePiece Roronoa Zoro]].
*** "[[HilariousOuttakes So which one]] [[Creator/SeanSchemmel of you guys is]] [[Anime/DragonBallZ Goku]]?"
*** Princess [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Misty]]...I mean, Charlotte, [[Creator/RachaelLillis is pretty recognizable too]].
*** Fans of Anime/SonicX will immediatly recognize [[Creator/MikePollock Adon's]] voice.
*** Casca's English voice actor is [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami Tomoe]].
** On the Japanese side:
*** Guts shares his voice with a bunch of {{Badass}}es such as [[Anime/{{Macross7}} Basara]], [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Nnoitra]] or [[SoulSeries Maxi]].
*** Griffith is several different [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white haired]] villains including Bashou (Hun) and Mikuri (Wallace) in {{Anime/Pokemon}} and Sephiroth from VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII, as well as the Fourth Hokage in Franchise/{{Naruto}}. When there's a new Berserk movie, ironically, he is [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]].
*** Judeau is Garra and [[Franchise/HarryPotter Tom Riddle]].
*** Rickert is VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon
*** Void is Horatio Caine, [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Professor Oak]], [[Franchise/{{Naruto}} Zabuza]], [[Anime/CowboyBebop JetBlack]], and [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Van Hohenheim]]
*** Casca is [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]]. In the new movie, she is instead [[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma Bullet]].
*** Slan is [[GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]].
*** The Skull Knight in the movies is [[Franchise/MetalGear Solid Snake]].
** On the English side:
*** You can tell that Guts' voice is the same as 4Kids' [[Franchise/OnePiece Roronoa Zoro]].
*** "[[HilariousOuttakes So which one]] [[Creator/SeanSchemmel of you guys is]] [[Anime/DragonBallZ Goku]]?"
*** Princess [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Misty]]...I mean, Charlotte, [[Creator/RachaelLillis is pretty recognizable too]].
*** Fans of Anime/SonicX will immediatly recognize [[Creator/MikePollock Adon's]] voice.
*** Casca's English voice actor is [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami Tomoe]].
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Guts and Casca weren\'t going to elope, on the contrary they were breaking up and Griffith didn\'t take it well because it meant that Guts would leave again.
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* {{Elopement}}: This was Guts and Casca's plan in context, but then Griffith figured out their intentions and [[FromBadToWorse didn't take it very well.]]
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* GrievousHarmWithABody
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* GrievousHarmWithABodyGrievousHarmWithABody: Zodd smacks Guts using his own severed arm after it gets chopped off. During the Black Dog Knights' pursuit of the Hawks, Wyald threw his spear with the body of the girl he raped and killed earlier still impaled on it.
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* HealingHands: Puck.
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* HealingHands: Puck.Puck and Ivalera produce magical dust that can heal other people's wounds. Puck often uses his hands in order to apply it, giving him a sort of healing touch.
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* HellOnEarth: [[spoiler:What happens when someone summons the God Hand and the Eclipse]].
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* HellOnEarth: [[spoiler:What happens when someone summons [[spoiler:The weakening separation between the God Hand Astral world and the Eclipse]].mundane one lead to horrors such as Trolls running loose, and after Griffith merges the physical and astral worlds with his defeat of Ganishka the potential for this has only gotten worse.]]
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* HeroWorshipper: Isidro
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* HeroWorshipper: IsidroIsidro idolizes Guts and follows him because he wants to learn from him and become a {{Badass}} MasterSwordsman himself, but he isn't good for much besides gawking at Guts' heroics and the occasional IndyPloy before he TookALevelInBadass during the fight in Qliphoth.
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The Egg Mac Guffin trope is apparently only for actual creature\'s eggs from which something hatches, not egg shaped artifacts of doom like the behelits.
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* EatingTheEyeCandy: A few times, with Guts as the eye candy.
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* EatingTheEyeCandy: A few times, with Guts as There are a couple of times in the eye candy.story where a female character can't help staring at some part of Guts' chiseled body that they find attractive.
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** While reapplying a protective seal to a shirtless Guts, [[PrecociousCrush Schierke]] pays special attention to his large back, and starts blushing.
* EggMacGuffin: The Behelits take on the shape of an egg.
* {{Egopolis}}:[[spoiler: Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, But the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
* EggMacGuffin: The Behelits take on the shape of an egg.
* {{Egopolis}}:[[spoiler: Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, But the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
to:
** While reapplying a protective seal to a shirtless Guts, Guts' neck, [[PrecociousCrush Schierke]] pays special attention to his large back, and starts blushing.
*EggMacGuffin: The Behelits take on the shape of an egg.
* {{Egopolis}}:[[spoiler: Griffith's{{Egopolis}}: [[spoiler:Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, But the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
*
* {{Egopolis}}:[[spoiler: Griffith's
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* EmergingFromTheShadows: How Guts revealed himself to Casca and the Hawks after the year time skip.
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* EmergingFromTheShadows: How Right after Guts revealed himself to saves Casca and the Hawks after the from Silat in chapter 42, having returned from his one year absence from the Band of the Hawk, he looms over her while covered in shadow for a moment until the light hits his face and Casca recognizes him. This is far from the only time skip.a character does this.
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* TheEmpire: The Kushan Empire and the Tudor Empire earlier on.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: A lot of fans argue that Guts isn't a normal human anymore due to the effects that the Nexus has on him. If this is the case, then congratulations, Guts. You have attained yet ''another'' badge of {{badass}}ery.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: A lot of fans argue that Guts isn't a normal human anymore due to the effects that the Nexus has on him. If this is the case, then congratulations, Guts. You have attained yet ''another'' badge of {{badass}}ery.
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* TheEmpire: The Kushan Empire and the Tudor Empire earlier on.
and especially the Kushan empire are large, powerful, and autocratic states that seek to dominate their neighbors through conquest.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: A lot of fans argue that Guts isn't a normal human anymore due to the effects that theNexus Interstice has on him. If this is the case, then congratulations, Guts. You have attained yet ''another'' badge of {{badass}}ery.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: A lot of fans argue that Guts isn't a normal human anymore due to the effects that the
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* TheEpic
* EroticAsphyxiation: Subverted. In the midst [[spoiler: of their lovemaking]], Guts strangles Casca [[spoiler: after suffering from some post dramatic stress after reliving his childhood rape. Guts most likely does this not out of some twisted eroticism that he developed from his abuse, but because [[SurvivorGuilt he blamed himself]] for not being able to defend himself from Donovan, and sought to punish his younger self by killing it. And unfortunately Casca was in his former self's place.]]
** However, later on when Guts kidnaps Farnese as a hostage and she gets possessed by an evil spirit, she puts on a rather, um, revealing display in front of Guts and starts strangling him.
* EroticAsphyxiation: Subverted. In the midst [[spoiler: of their lovemaking]], Guts strangles Casca [[spoiler: after suffering from some post dramatic stress after reliving his childhood rape. Guts most likely does this not out of some twisted eroticism that he developed from his abuse, but because [[SurvivorGuilt he blamed himself]] for not being able to defend himself from Donovan, and sought to punish his younger self by killing it. And unfortunately Casca was in his former self's place.]]
** However, later on when Guts kidnaps Farnese as a hostage and she gets possessed by an evil spirit, she puts on a rather, um, revealing display in front of Guts and starts strangling him.
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* TheEpic
TheEpic: ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' fits all of the criteria of an Epic work of fiction. It is a longer-than-average story with a vast setting and huge cast of characters. It depicts events such as wars, catastrophes, and adventures spanning a world and multiple planes of existence and happening over long periods of time. In the middle of all this the main subject is the ([[AntiHero anti]])heroic protagonist, Guts, who together with his companions goes on an arduous quest in which they perform great deeds and have numerous distinct adventures. As an added bonus it fits some of the guidelines of the classical Greek and Roman epics, as the manga and anime both begin In Medias Res, subsequently showing in flashback HowWeGotHere, and all versions include at least one trip to the realm of the dead. All that it's missing is an invocation of the artists' muse at the beginning.
* EroticAsphyxiation:Subverted. In the midst [[spoiler: of their lovemaking]], Guts strangles Casca [[spoiler: after suffering from some post dramatic stress after reliving his childhood rape. Guts most likely does this not out of some twisted eroticism that he developed from his abuse, but because [[SurvivorGuilt he blamed himself]] for not being able to defend himself from Donovan, and sought to punish his younger self by killing it. And unfortunately Casca was in his former self's place.]]
** However, later on whenWhen Guts kidnaps Farnese as a hostage during his escape from captivity and she gets possessed by an evil spirit, she puts on a rather, um, revealing display in front of Guts strips naked, straddles him, and starts strangling him.choking him with a cord while encouraging him to "split her open" with his sword. Farnese, the one doing the strangling, found it sexually thrilling in her possessed state, but Guts was not the least bit aroused and on the contrary wanted her off of him as soon as possible.
* EroticAsphyxiation:
** However, later on when
Changed line(s) 33,34 (click to see context) from:
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The Count.
** A peculiar example, but worth a mention: [[spoiler: the deformed embryo of Guts and Casca's child is described by the Skull Knight to have become evil due to the infection of Femto's semen. 80% of its appearances however are of it protecting Casca's life.]]
** A peculiar example, but worth a mention: [[spoiler: the deformed embryo of Guts and Casca's child is described by the Skull Knight to have become evil due to the infection of Femto's semen. 80% of its appearances however are of it protecting Casca's life.]]
to:
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The Count.
Several ruthless villains and antagonists such as Rosine, the Count, and Minister Foss turn out to have friends or family members whom they truly love and would do anything to protect. Guts [[IHaveYourWife takes advantage of this]] on more than one occasion.
** A peculiar example, but worth a mention: [[spoiler: the deformed embryo of Guts and Casca's child is described by the Skull Knight to have become tainted by evildue to the infection of Femto's semen.because its mother was raped by Femto. 80% of its appearances however are of it protecting Casca's life.]]
** A peculiar example, but worth a mention: [[spoiler: the deformed embryo of Guts and Casca's child is described by the Skull Knight to have become tainted by evil
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* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Caska in the victory parade after the battle for Doldrey.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: ''Everyone'' wants Griffith.
* EverybodysDeadDave: How the Band of the Hawk arc ends.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: ''Everyone'' wants Griffith.
* EverybodysDeadDave: How the Band of the Hawk arc ends.
to:
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Caska in During the victory parade after the battle for Doldrey.
of Doldrey, Casca gets flowers and cheers from crowds of young women who consider her cool and beautiful.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: ''Everyone'' wantsGriffith.
Griffith, no matter how straight they otherwise be. Numerous presumably straight men including Owen and Laban get strange feelings around him because of his beauty and charisma, and even Guts isn't completely immune to this.
* EverybodysDeadDave:How Guts wakes up four days after the Band Eclipse missing his right eye and left hand and finds that every last one of his comrades are dead, except for Casca who was driven insane, Rickert who wasn't there, and Griffith who was the Hawk arc ends.one that betrayed all of them. Once he gets over his FreakOut, he is forced to start again from scratch.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: ''Everyone'' wants
* EverybodysDeadDave:
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* ExtremeDoormat: Farnese and Serpico respectively, though in both cases it's subverted. Serpico was seen being walked over by Farnese when they're first introduced, displaying a goofy face, no combat skills, and being a bit of a clutz - until it was revealed that he was merely a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with some killer instinct. Farnese appears to become more of a doormat when she [[TookALevelInKindness leveled up in kindness]], allowing her father to talk down on her and almost letting her brother manipulate her into marrying his best friend for his own ploys. However, she does certainly have goals and ambition and she doesn't want to be seen as [[TheLoad a burden]] to the rest of the group. Her mother is actually aware of this and fore warns her brother that she can't be easily manipulated.
to:
* ExtremeDoormat: Farnese and Serpico respectively, though in both cases it's subverted. Serpico was seen being walked over by Farnese when they're first introduced, displaying a goofy face, no combat skills, and being a bit of a clutz klutz - until it was revealed that he was merely a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with some [[ObfuscatingStupidity all an act]] and that in addition to killer instinct.instincts he has a spine and will sometimes refuse to obey Farnese if her orders are too self-endangering. Farnese appears to become more of a doormat when she [[TookALevelInKindness leveled up in kindness]], allowing her father to talk down on her and almost letting her brother manipulate her into marrying his best friend for his own ploys. However, she does certainly have goals and ambition and she doesn't want to be seen as [[TheLoad a burden]] to the rest of the group. Her mother is actually aware of this and fore warns her brother that she can't be easily manipulated.
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* EyesAlwaysShut: Pippin and Serpico. Not to mention Void, whose eyelids are sewn together.
** The few times that Pippin does open his eyes, you know that things just got '''serious'''.
** Also, Guts partially plays to this trope after losing his right eye.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: A good half of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s presented in Berserk have eyeball where they just should not be. Special mention goes to Wyald, who has a three big-ass eyeballs (two on each shoulder and one on his chest), the Sea God, and [[spoiler: the Idea of Evil itself.]]
* FaceDoodling: [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/308/10 Hi-larious.]]
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: How the trolls of Qliphoth reproduce...
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Griffith]]. And how!
** Everyone who used a behelith. No exeptions. [[spoiler: Because in order to make the deal you need to sacrifice someone you honestly care for.]]
** The few times that Pippin does open his eyes, you know that things just got '''serious'''.
** Also, Guts partially plays to this trope after losing his right eye.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: A good half of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s presented in Berserk have eyeball where they just should not be. Special mention goes to Wyald, who has a three big-ass eyeballs (two on each shoulder and one on his chest), the Sea God, and [[spoiler: the Idea of Evil itself.]]
* FaceDoodling: [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/308/10 Hi-larious.]]
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: How the trolls of Qliphoth reproduce...
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Griffith]]. And how!
** Everyone who used a behelith. No exeptions. [[spoiler: Because in order to make the deal you need to sacrifice someone you honestly care for.]]
to:
* EyesAlwaysShut: Pippin and Serpico. Not to mention Void, whose eyelids Serpico are sewn together.
** The few times that Pippinboth drawn with their eyes always shut, and only open them when they are really getting ''serious''. Guts does open his eyes, you know that things just got '''serious'''.
** Also, Guts partially plays to this tropea downplayed version after losing his right eye.
eye by not wearing an eyepatch, and simply keeping his right eyelids closed. Void is the most extreme example, as his eyelids are actually sewn together.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: A good half of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s presented in Berserk have eyeball where they just should not be. Special mention goes to Wyald, who has a three big-ass eyeballs (two on each shoulder and one on his chest), the SeaGod, God who has a heart covered with eyes, and [[spoiler: the Idea of Evil itself.]]
* FaceDoodling: One time while Schierke is in a trance on the ship, Isidro and Puck draw clownish pirate make-up on her face and get punished for it with some irate magic when she wakes up. Ivalera didn't try to stop them because she thought it would be funny. [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/308/10 Hi-larious.]]
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong:How the The trolls of Qliphoth reproduce...
are all male, and reproduce by abducting and raping human women, who become pregnant .
* FaceHeelTurn:[[spoiler: Griffith]]. And how!
** Everyone who used a behelith. No exeptions. [[spoiler: BecauseMany villains in order to make the deal you need series were not that way when their stories began:
** Griffith may have been a morally ambiguous character before the Eclipse, but at least he always felt a duty tosacrifice someone you honestly take care for.]]of his followers. Sacrificing every one of them to be devoured by demons and then [[spoiler:raping Casca while forcing Guts to watch]] were the acts that turned him into a villain who cared about nothing but his own power.
** [[spoiler:The King of Midland starts the Golden Age arc as a [[TheGoodKing benevolent]] and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable ruler]], but he turns into an [[TheCaligula insane tyrant]] after Griffith provokes his DisproportionateRetribution.]]
** Rosine was once only an adventurous child who wanted to escape her parent's abuse and find a place where she could be happy. When she sacrificed her parents to become an Apostle, she became a sadistic insect queen who turned kidnapped children into monsters, terrorized her home village, and created a false utopia where her elves senselessly fought each other to the death for amusement.
** The few times that Pippin
** Also, Guts partially plays to this trope
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: A good half of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s presented in Berserk have eyeball where they just should not be. Special mention goes to Wyald, who has a three big-ass eyeballs (two on each shoulder and one on his chest), the Sea
* FaceDoodling: One time while Schierke is in a trance on the ship, Isidro and Puck draw clownish pirate make-up on her face and get punished for it with some irate magic when she wakes up. Ivalera didn't try to stop them because she thought it would be funny. [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/308/10 Hi-larious.]]
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong:
* FaceHeelTurn:
** Everyone who used a behelith. No exeptions. [[spoiler: Because
** Griffith may have been a morally ambiguous character before the Eclipse, but at least he always felt a duty to
** [[spoiler:The King of Midland starts the Golden Age arc as a [[TheGoodKing benevolent]] and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable ruler]], but he turns into an [[TheCaligula insane tyrant]] after Griffith provokes his DisproportionateRetribution.]]
** Rosine was once only an adventurous child who wanted to escape her parent's abuse and find a place where she could be happy. When she sacrificed her parents to become an Apostle, she became a sadistic insect queen who turned kidnapped children into monsters, terrorized her home village, and created a false utopia where her elves senselessly fought each other to the death for amusement.
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** Roderick's expression during Magnifico's EpicFail moment.
* FamedInStory: The Band of the Hawk.
* FamedInStory: The Band of the Hawk.
to:
** Roderick's expression during Magnifico's EpicFail moment.
of announcing Farnese's engagement to Roderick.
* FamedInStory: Especially strong mercenary bands, armies, and heroes can gain reputations that cross international borders. Nosferatu Zodd is spoken of in hushed whispers by mercenaries the world over, while every knight's son knows of Locus, the Moonlight Knight. TheBand of the Hawk.list only begins there.
* FamedInStory: Especially strong mercenary bands, armies, and heroes can gain reputations that cross international borders. Nosferatu Zodd is spoken of in hushed whispers by mercenaries the world over, while every knight's son knows of Locus, the Moonlight Knight. The
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* FetalPositionRebirth: Happens twice with Griffith [[spoiler: once when his body is being reconstructed as Femto, and second when he is being reincarnated into the physical world through the Child's body]]. Also, Jill is briefly seen in this position when she [[spoiler: [[WeCanRuleTogether almost took Rosine's offer.]]]]
to:
* FetalPositionRebirth: Happens twice with Griffith [[spoiler: once has undergone this twice so far: [[spoiler:once when his body is being reconstructed as Femto, and second when he is being reincarnated into the physical world through the Child's body]]. Also, Jill is briefly seen in this position when she [[spoiler: [[WeCanRuleTogether almost took Rosine's offer.[[spoiler:[[WeCanRuleTogether got transformed into an "elf" by Rosine.]]]]
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* FieldOfBlades: [[spoiler: The Hawk memorial.]]
to:
* FieldOfBlades: [[spoiler: The Hawk memorial.]]When Guts comes back from his two year demon hunt, he finds that Rickert forged swords for each member of the Hawks and has planted a field of blades on a hill as a memorial to the fallen.
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* GainaxEnding: The ending of anime was comprised of a NoEnding, [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole adaptation induced plot holes]], a CliffHanger, and the GeckoEnding as mentioned below, not to mention the ForegoneConclusion that opened the animated series in the first place. And all of this was wrapped in a package full of [[{{DownerEnding}} downer]].
to:
* GainaxEnding: The ending of anime was comprised of a NoEnding, [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole adaptation induced plot holes]], a CliffHanger, and the GeckoEnding as mentioned below, various unresolved loose ends, not to mention the ForegoneConclusion that opened the animated series in the first place. And all of this was wrapped in a package full of [[{{DownerEnding}} downer]].DownerEnding package.
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* GardenOfEvil: Qliphoth.
* GeckoEnding: We all know how horribly ''this'' was averted in the anime...
* GeckoEnding: We all know how horribly ''this'' was averted in the anime...
to:
* GardenOfEvil: Qliphoth.
Qliphoth is a strange dimension where all forms of life are corrupted, evil, and extremely deadly.
* GeckoEnding:We all know Averted by the anime which, instead of creating a new ending to tie up the loose ends created by the unfinished original, abruptly stopped at the single most depressing part of the manga with no explanation of how horribly ''this'' was averted in Guts and Casca escaped the anime...Eclipse or what happened to Rickert, and simply showed Guts leaving on his demon Hunt as a stinger after the credits.
* GeckoEnding:
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* GiantMook: Many, starting with Bazuso and getting progressively bigger.
** Even before that, during the same time frame but a different arc (the Boyhood Arc), Guts had to fight a "mini" giant mook in the form of a lord's brutish son, whom he intended for Guts to get killed by in order to boost the boy's courage for an impending battle. The odds were not in the son's favor.
** Even before that, during the same time frame but a different arc (the Boyhood Arc), Guts had to fight a "mini" giant mook in the form of a lord's brutish son, whom he intended for Guts to get killed by in order to boost the boy's courage for an impending battle. The odds were not in the son's favor.
to:
* GiantMook: Many, Many especially large Mooks appear, starting with Bazuso and getting progressively bigger.
** Even before that, during the same time frame but a different arc (the Boyhood Arc), Guts had to fight a "mini" giant mook in the form of a lord's brutish son, whom he intended for Guts to get killed by in order to boost the boy's courage for an impending battle. The odds were not in the son's favor.bigger.
** Even before that, during the same time frame but a different arc (the Boyhood Arc), Guts had to fight a "mini" giant mook in the form of a lord's brutish son, whom he intended for Guts to get killed by in order to boost the boy's courage for an impending battle. The odds were not in the son's favor.
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* GodIsEvil
to:
* GodIsEvilGodIsEvil: [[spoiler:The Idea of Evil [[InvertedTrope inverts]] this. Instead of the supreme deity or creator of the world being evil, the idea of evil itself was turned into a God by the wishes of the people for an explanation for their suffering.]]
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* {{Foil}}: Guts and Griffith. They even have distinguishing colors, Griffith is the "Hawk of Light" while Guts is the "Black Swordsman."
to:
* {{Foil}}: Guts and Griffith. They even have distinguishing colors, Griffith serve as foils whose character traits contrast with each other. Guts is a loner, suspicious of other people, while Griffith draws other people to himself. Guts has NoSocialSkills, while Griffith has great charisma and charm. Guts is an uncultured manly man, while Griffith is a sophisticated {{Bishonen}}. Guts lives in the "Hawk of Light" moment, focusing on living another day, while Griffith has a grand dream and always looks toward the future. Guts relies on his strength and toughness to fight, while Griffith prefers speed and finesse. After his reincarnation, Griffith is a VillainWithGoodPublicity who is universally worshiped by his army and the people and associated with light and the color white, while Guts is a HeroWithBadPublicity associated with darkness and the "Black Swordsman."color black who is [[WalkingDisasterArea feared]], hated, and shrouded in mystery.
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* GambitRoulette: Griffith's plan to capture Doldrey involves a legitimate BatmanGambit, but it also works flawlessly in spite of a factor that could have ruined the plan that Griffith simply left up to chance. [[spoiler:After Griffith lures Gennon's forces away from the castle, Casca and her group simply ride in through the castle's front gate which has been left wide open despite a battle being in progress. While this stroke of luck was caused by the idiocy of whoever was in charge of the castle's defense (Adon Corbowitz, we're looking at you), Griffith did not even know that this would happen and was not shown to have had a plan for Casca getting past the gate if it had been closed. It could not have been because he knew from spies or other sources that Adon had an ill-conceived plan to let the attackers in and ambush them, because the ambush came as a complete surprise to Casca, who surely would have been told by Griffith.]] The anime version has this flaw in Griffith's plan as well. The film adaptation fixes this by Griffith having an actual plan to [[spoiler:get Casca inside, by having her group [[DressingAsTheEnemy disguised in the armor of Adon's Blue Whale Knights]] and using Adon--who they captured in the woods in this version--as a TrojanHorse so that the defenders would let them in.]]
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*** Guts shares his voice with a bunch of {{Badass}}es such as [[{{Macross7}} Basara]], [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Nnoitra]] or [[SoulSeries Maxi]].
to:
*** Guts shares his voice with a bunch of {{Badass}}es such as [[{{Macross7}} [[Anime/{{Macross7}} Basara]], [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Nnoitra]] or [[SoulSeries Maxi]].
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* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: The pagan cults really aren't any better than the Church, since they seem to be worshipping the Godhand by different names, [[spoiler: and of course the Godhand is subservient to the Idea of Evil.]]
to:
* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: The pagan cults really aren't any better than the Church, since what with the whole [[EatsBabies cannibalism and implied infanticide]] thing. On top of that, the deities they worship seem to be worshipping the Godhand going by different names, [[spoiler: and of course the Godhand is subservient to the Idea of Evil.]]names.
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wrong wick - God Hand is also a work
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** The GodHand
to:
** The GodHandGodhand
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* FranchiseZombie: Possibly even more terrifying than the possibility of AuthorExistenceFailure, there have been recent allegations that Miura has simply ''lost the drive to continue Berserk'' and he fears that he might never finish on his own accord.
** This might have narrowly been [[AvertedTrope averted]], as WordOfGod spoke in a recent mini series that he wasn't planning on giving up on ''Berserk'' just yet.
** This might have narrowly been [[AvertedTrope averted]], as WordOfGod spoke in a recent mini series that he wasn't planning on giving up on ''Berserk'' just yet.
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** GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: The pagan cults really aren't any better than the Church, since they seem to be worshipping the Godhand by different names, [[spoiler: and of course the Godhand is subservient to the Idea of Evil.]]
to:
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The Idea of Evil cosmically, it's on the very top of the Berserk-verse as far as evil is concerned, but it has little to do with Guts' quest.]]
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*** Don't forget that even before that, Casca was really jealous of the attention that Guts got from Griffith.
to:
*** Don't forget that even Even before that, Casca was really jealous of the attention that Guts got from Griffith.
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* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Happens quite often to the Mooks that Guts faces, thanks to the [[{{BFS}} Dragon Slayer]] being easily capable of hacking them in two.
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Changed line(s) 258 (click to see context) from:
*** Griffith is several different [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white haired]] villains including Bashou (Hun) and Mikuri (Wallace) in {{Anime/Pokemon}} and Sephiroth from FinalFantasyVII, as well as the Fourth Hokage in Franchise/{{Naruto}}. When there's a new Berserk movie, ironically, he is [[FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]].
to:
*** Griffith is several different [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white haired]] villains including Bashou (Hun) and Mikuri (Wallace) in {{Anime/Pokemon}} and Sephiroth from FinalFantasyVII, VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII, as well as the Fourth Hokage in Franchise/{{Naruto}}. When there's a new Berserk movie, ironically, he is [[FinalFantasyVII [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]].
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** Cap'n Bonebeard delivers, for absolutely no reason, the lines "Come on-a my house!" and "[[BarackObama Yes we can!]]"
to:
** Cap'n Bonebeard delivers, for absolutely no reason, the lines "Come on-a my house!" and "[[BarackObama "[[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Yes we can!]]"
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Added DiffLines:
** While making their way through the dungeon to rescue Griffith, the characters discuss a legend involving four angels of darkness. Someone interjects that he thinks there are actually five. Guess how many members of the Godhand we start out with, and how many we end up with after the Eclipse.
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* FourIsDeath: There are four members of the Godhand initially. [[spoiler:Averted when [=Griffith/Femto=] makes five.]]
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Naemspace
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*** Fans of Anime/SonicX will immediatly recognize [[MikePollock Adon's]] voice.
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*** Fans of Anime/SonicX will immediatly recognize [[MikePollock [[Creator/MikePollock Adon's]] voice.
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* EarlyBirdCameo: In the second film, Farnese and Serpico appear briefly at the ball, and Puck shows up in a wagon that passes Guts on the road near the tail-end of the film.
to:
* EarlyBirdCameo: In the second film, Farnese and Farnese, Serpico and Azan appear briefly at the ball, and Puck shows up in a wagon that passes Guts on the road near the tail-end of the film.
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* EarlyBirdCameo: In the second film, Farnese and Serpico appear briefly at the ball, and Puck shows up in a wagon that passes Guts on the road near the tail-end of the film.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Berserk: Prototype, which is included in Volume 14. Its style and general aesthetic is a little more comical and reminiscent of a {{Shounen}}, of which the manga was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally envisioned as]]. It also has several wildly different plot points from the manga.
** Guts had a [[EyepatchOfPower badass eyepatch]] and acts more like his mercenary self than his Black Swordsman persona, Puck is still Puck..well, kinda girly, but still Puck, Griffith is a ''young girl'' (not named Griffith, but they share the same face), and his crossbow is a normal one instead of the repeating crossbow from the main series.
** In the first few volumes, Puck is definitely not InvisibleToNormals as he is later on. Not to mention that he's never in his EyesAlwaysShut ArtShift-ed mode like he is these days.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: A few times, with Guts as the eye candy.
** After [[ATasteOfTheLash thrashing him with a cat o'nine tails]], Farnese gets momentarily distracted at the sight of Guts' bloody and muscular chest.
** While reapplying a protective seal to a shirtless Guts, [[PrecociousCrush Schierke]] pays special attention to his large back, and starts blushing.
* EggMacGuffin: The Behelits take on the shape of an egg.
* {{Egopolis}}:[[spoiler: Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, But the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
* EldritchAbomination: Most Apostles and Qliphoth monsters.
** The Godhand, although [[spoiler: The Idea of Evil]] might fit better.
** Oddly, more powerful Apostles are exceptions. Zodd is a kickass winged beast with feline and bull features, Grunbeld is a crystalline ''dragon'', and Locus is a metallic centaur lancer. Instead of being disgusting and alien, they look ''awesome''. Scary, but ''awesome''.
*** Griffith, Zodd, Grunbeld and Locus are the BigBad and his CoDragons. They are meant to be more awesome than scary.
*** And then there's Shiva, the name given to whatever the hell Ganishka just turned into... [[spoiler: He's so gigantic he makes Midland's capital look like a tiny maquette. ''Then he starts walking''...]]
*** And for those of you who like aquatic themes, The Sea God. An actual sentient wacky pirate crew (complete with pirate ship) is among its countless tentacled appendages. And that's just what it's like on the outside. It's insides almost qualify as an EldritchLocation with a ton of nasty creatures calling it home. And it only gets worse once you reach its heart.
* EldritchLocation: Being a LayeredWorld, the Berserkerverse has no end to the weird ass locations, but weirdest of them all (or out the places already presented to us) is the Vortex, which is where the Godhand and the [[spoiler: Idea of Evil]] hangout. The whole landscape is made up of faces - which are ''alive''. And of course the waterscape is blood.
** It may not look like it but [[spoiler: Falconia]] is definitely one of these as well.
* ElementalPowers: Special note goes to Serpico, who is represented by [[BlowYouAway wind]] and Isidro, who is represented by [[PlayingWithFire fire]]. Other characters play with various elements, both classical and atypical. Examples include Ganishka's use of [[ShockAndAwe lightning,]] the Child's appearance during the [[{{Lunacy}} full moon]] as well as his [[SoulPower power over demons,]] Puck's [[LightEmUp healing and light abilities,]] Femto's power over [[RealityWarper the friggin' space/time continuum]], and Schierke just zigzags in and out of ''everything.''
* {{Elopement}}: This was Guts and Casca's plan in context, but then Griffith figured out their intentions and [[FromBadToWorse didn't take it very well.]]
* EmergingFromTheShadows: How Guts revealed himself to Casca and the Hawks after the year time skip.
* EmotionalTorque: Volume 13. This was THE turning point in the fandom where fans had to make a choice: either drop this series altogether and [[BrainBleach try their damnedest to forget it,]] or stick it to the end just to see how Miura was going to resolve all of this. Dare we say that if you didn't feel ''anything'' while reading volume 13 (whether you thought it was a necessary evil or if you felt downright disgusted) you probably just didn't get it.
* TheEmpire: The Kushan Empire and the Tudor Empire earlier on.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: A lot of fans argue that Guts isn't a normal human anymore due to the effects that the Nexus has on him. If this is the case, then congratulations, Guts. You have attained yet ''another'' badge of {{badass}}ery.
* EndOfAnAge: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Symbolically speaking,]] the demise of the first Band of the Hawk and the dramatic change in our three protagonists signified the end of their glory days once [[ProlongedPrologue the prologue ended.]] Hence, the reason why the arc covering this plot was called "[[FridgeBrilliance The Golden Age Arc.]]" (The fact that such a [[TheDungAges Dung Ages]] CrapsackWorld was dubbed "The Golden Age" is very much an intentional irony and only serves to foreshadow [[FromBadToWorse just exactly how much worse things can get]].)
* EnemyMine: Guts and Zodd pull this off to defeat Ganishka's projection in Vritannis. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome It's about as awesome as you might expect]].
* EmpathicWeapon: The Berserker Armor changes shape to match its wielder, taking on a skull facade for Skull Knight and turning into a face similar to the Hellhound for Guts.
* TheEpic
* EroticAsphyxiation: Subverted. In the midst [[spoiler: of their lovemaking]], Guts strangles Casca [[spoiler: after suffering from some post dramatic stress after reliving his childhood rape. Guts most likely does this not out of some twisted eroticism that he developed from his abuse, but because [[SurvivorGuilt he blamed himself]] for not being able to defend himself from Donovan, and sought to punish his younger self by killing it. And unfortunately Casca was in his former self's place.]]
** However, later on when Guts kidnaps Farnese as a hostage and she gets possessed by an evil spirit, she puts on a rather, um, revealing display in front of Guts and starts strangling him.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Guts is formally introduced in a tavern in the castle town of Koka - and by "formally", we of course mean that he brutally maims and cleaves a bunch of the Snake Baron's mooks with little to no effort or qualms. This scene not only presents Guts as a total badass, but also as a ruthless man. It only makes the audience question, "why is he like this?"
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Guts leaving him]] is what causes Griffith to throw his dreams away.
** Not to mention how his backup plan was demolished when he found out that [[spoiler:Casca had chosen Guts as her lover.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The Count.
** A peculiar example, but worth a mention: [[spoiler: the deformed embryo of Guts and Casca's child is described by the Skull Knight to have become evil due to the infection of Femto's semen. 80% of its appearances however are of it protecting Casca's life.]]
* EvenTheDogIsAshamed: A dog that Gambino took in after he was crippled looks notably mortified at the latter's continued abuse of Guts. [[KickTheDog He promptly kicks it for that]].
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Caska in the victory parade after the battle for Doldrey.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: ''Everyone'' wants Griffith.
* EverybodysDeadDave: How the Band of the Hawk arc ends.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Judeau sees the growing attraction between Guts and Casca and tries to push them in the right direction [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy for the sake of their happiness]]. [[TheyDo It eventually pays off]].
* EveryonesBabySister: Casca is more like Everyone's Big Sister in the Golden Age arc: she's a capable soldier and the Hawks' second-in-command, but everyone is still more protective of her than anyone else. Later on, Schierke fits this role (like when Guts starts a BarBrawl when a drunk gets too close to her), and Casca (having regressed to a childlike state due to the events of the Eclipse) is even more like this.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Ever since getting branded, this has very much been the case for both Guts and Casca. Every night, ghosts and specters attack them, either directly, or by possessing whatever happens to be nearby: people, animals, corpses, [[{{Snowlems}} mounds of snow]], [[WhenTreesAttack trees]]...the list is endless.
* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: [[AvertedTrope It ain't]] when it's shown [[spoiler: during a graphic rape.]] God, only you Mr. Miura...
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning:
** SpinAttack: Guts does an awesome spin attack to save Casca from the pagans who wanted to rape her. He slaughters all of them in gory maelstrom - but not a single hair is harmed on Casca, who is smack dab in the middle.
** TornadoMove: The Kushan sorceror attacks Vritanis during a storm, so waterspouts are already forming naturally. He manipulates one to take the form of a giant watersnake.
* EvilAlbino: One of Mozgus' torturers is an albino. Notably subverted in that he actually does suffer from the medical complications of albinism rather than simply being white haired, and that those complications actually led to him following Mozgus. Though certainly not a HeroicAlbino, he's much more of a PunchClockVillain than anything else.
* EvilGloating: Many [[{{SmugSnake}} lesser baddies]] have tried this against Guts. All of them had it backfiring explosively right in their faces...[[{{ArmCannon}} literally.]] Naturally, Guts will then gladly [[{{NoHoldsBarredBeatdown}} return the favor.]]
* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: The apostles after making a sacrifice in order to become one.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Tower of Conviction.
* EvolvingWeapon: The Dragon Slayer was just a normal {{BFS}}, but once Guts started slaying demons with it, it became ''more effective against them''.
* ExoticWeaponSupremacy: Averted after Guts easily beats Silat, despite his many exotic weapons.
* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: Guts is fighting a regenerating demon (an offspring of the Count who possesed a knight who swore to kill Guts after he got his ass handed to him) whose wounds heal as fast as they're inflicted. The demon taunts him by saying that it can regenerate endlessly as long as its head is intact. Guts chops the demon's head in half and thanks it for telling him. [[spoiler: Then the demon's head try to possess Guts. Who reacts by ''smashing it into a wall with his BFS''.]]
** In volume 9, Silat [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this trope during his second confrontation with Guts at the Hawks' hideout, first trying to decipher how Guts was able to strategically counter the trajectory of his chakram. Guts [[DefiedTrope defies]] this by nonchalantly saying that he guessed, more or less.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: When in {{badass}} {{action girl}} mode, Casca has short, cropped hair, but when she goes [[{{GoMadFromTheRevelation}} insane]] after the Eclipse, her hair gradually grows out, representing how she shifted from {{Lady of War}} to {{The Ophelia}}.
* {{Expy}}: Guts. Yes. Think about it for a moment: an aloof, jaded and apparently lonely warrior, CoveredWithScars, travelling with two kids, one HypercompetentSidekick and a former leader woman, driven by his desire of revenge on one side and his longing to retrieve the woman he loves on the other side. [[FistOfTheNorthStar Doesn't it sound familiar?]]
** [[spoiler:Femto's]] design looks like that of Franchise/{{Batman}}, ''specially'' when he's "flying".
* ExtremeDoormat: Farnese and Serpico respectively, though in both cases it's subverted. Serpico was seen being walked over by Farnese when they're first introduced, displaying a goofy face, no combat skills, and being a bit of a clutz - until it was revealed that he was merely a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with some killer instinct. Farnese appears to become more of a doormat when she [[TookALevelInKindness leveled up in kindness]], allowing her father to talk down on her and almost letting her brother manipulate her into marrying his best friend for his own ploys. However, she does certainly have goals and ambition and she doesn't want to be seen as [[TheLoad a burden]] to the rest of the group. Her mother is actually aware of this and fore warns her brother that she can't be easily manipulated.
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: After seeing Griffith's [[spoiler: mutilated body]], Guts goes so [[UnstoppableRage apeshit insane on the Midland soldiers]] that his comrades are more shocked than usual at how he's [[LudicrousGibs utterly slaughtering the soldiers]] and Guts can [[LimpAndLivid barely stand when they get away.]] Only [[LoveInterest Casca's]] touch can cool him down after it all.
* EyeCatch: A rather minimalist version, just an all-black title card with a less than 1/4-screen version of the show's logo appearing in opposite corners.
* EyeRemember: A zigzagged variant. Guts's last memory in his right eye while it got clawed out were the last moments of [[spoiler: Casca's horrific rape.]] He sometimes recalls what the last sight of his right eye was in order to remind himself exactly why [[BerserkButton he hates Griffith so much]]. It's scary when others remind him of his last sight, [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/122.132/171 but when he reminds himself]] - eep.
* EyeScream: Guts gets his right eye clawed out by a demon during the finale. And worse, his remaining eye is repeatedly threatened in several following arcs.
** Not to mention the fact that eyes tend to be targeted with disturbing regularity. Arrows go through skulls taking the eyeball with them, heads are crushed causing the eyes to protrude like a real-life version of those squeeze toys, chakrams cut eyes in half, one of Bishop Mozgus' [[TortureTechnician disciples]] uses red-hot pliers to pull eyeballs out... You get the idea.
*** You forgot to mention that during his fight with the albino disciple, not only is his left eye in danger of being poked out, but his right eye gets ''re-stabbed'' by one of the disciple's talons. They just won't lay off that eye even AFTER it's gone, won't they!?
** It's not terrible in the anime, but in the manga, it happens so ridiculously often that it almost becomes a bit much for some.
*** Special mention goes to when Ganishka's transformation vaporizes the Kushan animals... Their eyeballs fly away intact as the rest of their bodies disintegrate.
** Don't forget about Casca stabbing one of her would-be rapists in the eye with a stick and then the same guy gets his remaining eye gouged by one of Judeau's knives a moment later (only in the anime). Of course, the guy had it coming, but still. * shudder*
* EyesAlwaysShut: Pippin and Serpico. Not to mention Void, whose eyelids are sewn together.
** The few times that Pippin does open his eyes, you know that things just got '''serious'''.
** Also, Guts partially plays to this trope after losing his right eye.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: A good half of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s presented in Berserk have eyeball where they just should not be. Special mention goes to Wyald, who has a three big-ass eyeballs (two on each shoulder and one on his chest), the Sea God, and [[spoiler: the Idea of Evil itself.]]
* FaceDoodling: [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/308/10 Hi-larious.]]
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: How the trolls of Qliphoth reproduce...
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Griffith]]. And how!
** Everyone who used a behelith. No exeptions. [[spoiler: Because in order to make the deal you need to sacrifice someone you honestly care for.]]
* FacePalm: Guts does this when Casca has a moment of, er, PottyFailure in volume 23.
** Roderick's expression during Magnifico's EpicFail moment.
* FamedInStory: The Band of the Hawk.
* FamousLastWords: Lots of death, lots of last words:
** "Black Swordsman! I beg of you! Hold up this devil's severed head before us, once and for all! '''''Hold it up before us!"''''' [[spoiler: Vargas.]]
** '''''"Theresia!"''''' [[spoiler: The Count.]]
** ''"You killed...Sys...."'' [[spoiler: Gambino.]]
** "Get going! You heard me, run! Get out of here while you still can!" [[spoiler: Pippin.]]
** "A woman? Here in Hell? Now I know I'm dreaming! Oh, damn it, I'm a sucker for a beautiful woman. Damn it." [[spoiler: Corkus]]. And said woman? [[spoiler:A female Apostle that proceeds to transform and eat him alive.]]
** "You cry a lot when you're alone...don't you, Casca?" [[spoiler: Judeau, trying and failing to confess his love to her.]]
** "... Don't watch..." [[spoiler: Casca's last words as a sane person before she passes out after her rape.]]
** "I'm going home..." [[spoiler:Rosine, to Jill just before her final flight.]]
*** "I'm hungry... I wonder...what's for supper...?" [[spoiler:Rosine, on her final flight. *sniff*]]
** "Maybe so... maybe I wished for you... on the throne... the king on the throne... Griffith..." [[spoiler: The King of Midland.]]
** "... But above all I am grateful to you... to have let me meet [[spoiler: Lord Mozgus.]]" [[spoiler: Mozgus' chief inquisitor.]]
** "And with our last breath of flame... let this fiend be incinerated!" [[spoiler: Lord Mozgus]]
** "Ah... the light... is overflowing..." [[spoiler: The Behelit Apostle.]]
** "May there be blessings on your new course, my beloved child." [[spoiler: Flora.]]
** "The light... envelops me..." [[spoiler: Emperor Ganishka.]]
* FanDisservice: If Volume 13 arouses you, seek psychological help. And that's only the ''worst'' example.
** Let's not forget the sexual tortures taken straight from the Spanish Inquisition era that were depicted in high detail in...well, most of the Retribution arc.
** Slan uses troll intestines to appear before Guts at Qilphoth and torment him.
* FanService: While the above trope is correct in how much disturbing sex violence there is in the manga, the cultist orgy in volume 18 is almost straight up hentai. And shortly thereafter, a teenage prostitute gets a severe spanking from another prostitute, which would certainly appeal to some.
** Volume 9 is pretty notorious for its fanservice as well.
*** The sex scene between [[spoiler: Griffith and Charlotte]] is fairly pornographic.
*** Not to mention Guts and Casca's love scene - which is also pretty graphic - offered up a rare instance of [[FemaleGaze female-targeted]] fanservice, since the MaleFrontalNudity of the cultists [[FanDisservice wasn't really pleasant to look at]], but Guts's [[MaleFrontalNudity MFN]] moment, with his [[HeroicBuild ripped]], [[ShirtlessScene sweaty]], [[CoveredWithScars scar-covered]] body.... *drool*
* FantasyCounterpartCulture:
** The Kushan Empire resembles real life south Asia, specifically [[SimSimSalabim India]], with some [[ArabianNightsDays Middle Eastern]] thrown into the mix.
** [[spoiler: Griffith's kingdom of Falconia is looking a lot like [[AncientGrome Rome]] here.]]
** There's subtle hints to the real-life counterparts of various countries mentioned by Serpico briefly in one chapter, as well as clothing choices and character names hinting at nationality. Midland has been confirmed to be the Berserk world's version of Denmark by Miura, and Chuder's "Holy Empire" seems to relate to the real German Holy Roman Empire. Farnese and Serpico coming from a fantasy version of Italy (port-based, mercentile, money-lending, seat of the Vatician). Surprisingly, most of the courtly dress rarely worn by by the various protagonists [[ShownTheirWork is quite accurate to the vaguely 15th century Europe that Berserk seems to take place in.]]
** There's also all of the traces of Scandinavian/Norse mythology about, which makes sense since Denmark is part of Scandinavia. Of course we're talking about the persistence of the berserker imagery.
** Judging by the name of the location and inhabitants (such as Skellig and Puck), and the general mythology around it, Elfhelm sound to be inspired by the [[{{Scotireland}} British Isles.]]
* FantasyKitchenSink: Yep. The Berserk-verse pretty much has everything, especially now that the magic has come back to the world, not just [[TheUsualAdversaries apostles]] (not to mention how some apostle forms are stand-ins for other supernatural creatures like [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves,]] [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaurs,]] and [[ALoadOfBull minotaurs]]) and elves ([[OurFairiesAreDifferent though they're really faeries]]) and how other apostles seem to have [[LooksLikeOrlok vampiric]] [[{{Dracula}} motifs]]): {{Unicorn}}s, [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons and their kin,]] more trolls, ogres, [[HellishHorse kelpies,]] [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent gremlin-thingies,]] [[TheUndead the walking]] [[{{Pun}} dead]], sucubi (which are really weird BlobMonster things), [[GhostPirate monster pirates,]] [[McNinja Kushan ninjas,]] WizardsAndWitches, {{golem}}s, [[ArmCannon low-tech mechanized]] humans, merfolk, telepaths, [[HornyVikings vikings]] at one point in history... oh, and [[spoiler: the evil god]]... [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/306/1 You gotta see it to believe it.]] [[TemptingFate What's Miura gonna throw at us next?]]
* FatAndSkinny: The last two members of Rosine's forest guardians while in their human form. In their demonic forms, they become a giant rhinoceros beetle and praying mantis respectively.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Being branded is the single worst fate anyone can suffer, even in [[{{CrapsackWorld}} this already 100% hostile universe]]. Not only does it make you a priority target of every demon and evil spirit in existence, it allso guarantees your ticket to the lowest pits of hell making your living flesh the last line of defense against an ocean of insanity waiting to consume your kicking and screaming soul forever. It doesn't matter how nice you have been in your life, you will end up down there. In fact, being a good person makes you a very likely target for the brand since the one sacrificing you must love you with all his heart.
* FauxActionGirl: Farnese, who is initially presented as a KnightTemplar warrior, but is just a figurehead for the Holy Iron Chain Knights.
* FavorsForTheSexy: Played for laughs in the second movie, where in Casca's unwanted menagerie of noblemen was one man who was willing to ''serenade her''. Casca didn't know how to respond, so she ran away.
* FetalPositionRebirth: Happens twice with Griffith [[spoiler: once when his body is being reconstructed as Femto, and second when he is being reincarnated into the physical world through the Child's body]]. Also, Jill is briefly seen in this position when she [[spoiler: [[WeCanRuleTogether almost took Rosine's offer.]]]]
* FetusTerrible: Guts and Casca's baby, though it is subverted; see LoveRedeems below.
* FieldOfBlades: [[spoiler: The Hawk memorial.]]
* FilkSong: The PowerMetal band Battle Beast are big ''Berserk'' fans -- their first album, "Steel" - "Band of the Hawk", about the eponymous band; "Iron Hand", about Guts; and "Victory", about the heroics of the Hawks. Their self-titled album also has the instrumental "Golden Age" as well as "Kingdom", about Griffith's murderous ambition and [[spoiler:ascension into the ranks of the God Hand]], and "Fight, Kill, Die", also about Guts.
* FindTheCure: Guts's journey to [[spoiler: Elfhelm, where Casca's post-eclipse madness may be cured]].
* FineYouCanJustWaitHereAlone: Used to a similar effect during the Griffith rescue operation, when Charlotte and her maid tag along to the Tower of Rebirth. Charlotte gets frightened quite easily, to the point where she can't even walk on her own. Begrudgingly, Guts offers to carry the princess on his back and if she didn't like it, she could just wait at the top. She accepts (Casca didn't like it very much, though).
* [[FinishingMove Finishing Move]] Guts kills almost every major Apostle villain with the same move: blast it with the [[ArmCannon arm cannon]] and then while it's reeling from that, cleave it in half with the Dragon Slayer. If he's feeling especially sadistic, such as during his Black Swordsman days, he'll torture the demon with either a dagger or his repeating crossbow.
* FireForgedFriends: Almost all of the friendships in this series are like this. Guts and Casca take the cake. [[spoiler: Surviving being literally dragged trough hell together tends to leave a mark.]]
** [[spoiler: After the Eclipse Casca doesn't even remember Guts, so this doesn't really apply post-Eclipse.]]
* FireAndIceLoveTriangle: Casca and her feelings toward Guts and Griffith. Pretty obvious on [[RedOniBlueOni who's the fire and who's the ice.]]
* FistOfRage: Guts clenches his fist in anger upon realizing his [[MyGreatestFailure great failure]] of not recognizing that [[RevengeBeforeReason Casca was more important than revenge,]] and then triumphantly clenches his fist during his [[MyGreatestSecondChance second chance resolve.]]
* FiveBadBand
** New Band Of The Hawk
*** DarkMessiah - [[spoiler:Griffith]]
*** TheDragon - Zodd
*** TheJuggernaut - Grunbeld
*** PerkyFemaleMinion - Sonia who doubles as the DarkChick
*** NobleDemon - Locus who is also TheFettered
*** TheQuietOne - Irvine
*** EnigmaticMinion - Rakshas
** The GodHand
*** DarkLord - Void
*** DarkMessiah - Femto
*** TheVamp - Slan
*** ThoseTwoBadGuys - Ubik and Conrad who also double as RedOniBlueOni, literally.
* FiveStagesOfGrief: Not quite a straight example, but the three main characters all represent some stage in dealing with grief and despair. Guts best represents the anger stage, only feeling better [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge for short bursts when he is in the heat of battle,]] but it never lasts long. Because of this, he also has traces of the denial and the depression stage when he left Casca. Griffith represents the depression stage, since after his year of torture, he just gave up all hope of attaining his dream. Alas, we find out that Griffith also stands for the bargaining stage, to [[FaceHeelTurn a very]] [[DealWithTheDevil horrific]] [[MoralEventHorizon degree.]] And Casca represents the denial stage, especially so after her traumatic ordeal of the Eclipse, where we have not seen her true self for over two years and it has been suggested by Skull Knight that Casca simply does not want to face the world after her experience. Arguably only Rickert manages to make it to the acceptance stage, mourning his fallen comrades and working through his grief [[ThereAreNoTherapists as best he can]].
* {{Flanderization}}: During The Black Swordsman Arc Puck was noticeably less silly.
* FlashbackEcho: Happens a few times to Guts. The first time was during he and Casca's first night together, when [[spoiler: he has flashbacks of his childhood rape while he's trying to make love to her (conveniently when he begins having sex with her from behind), and he almost strangles her as a result of the post-traumatic stress.]] A second time comes during the Conviction Arc, when [[spoiler: Farnese is pinned down and is about to get raped by a possessed horse, and the horrifying sight bears an uncanny resemblance to the time when Casca was raped by Femto]]. This triggers Guts' BerserkButton BIG TIME.
** Also, the only time insane Casca has any recollection of her past life is when she is about to be assaulted... which triggers an onslaught of horrifying images [[spoiler: of her assault and rape during the eclipse.]] The end result has varied, from her remaining [[DamselInDistress virtually defenseless]] until someone comes and saves her, or when she flies into a hysterical rage and goes AxCrazy [[DamselOutOfDistress on her assailants.]]
* FlayingAlive: .... Oh, Griffith.... This was otherwise used in the Retribution Arc with a priest of the Holy See. (Poor Griffith...)
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: How Serpico and Farnese met. After getting beat up by some local bullies and left in the snow, Farnese finds Serpico and brings him back to her family's mansion. She begins to nurse him back to health... but says that [[MistressAndServantBoy he has to be her servant boy from then on.]]
* FlowerMotifs: The morning after sleeping with her Griffith leaves Charlotte the pendant she gave him before a major battle and a piece of Lily of the Valley which represents returning happiness.
* FoeTossingCharge: Guts loves this trope, [[JustifiedTrope and rightly justified too]] since it was his job in the Hawks as raiding commander. Except for that one time during the Eclipse, where, well, [[HopeSpot you know what happened.]]
* {{Foil}}: Guts and Griffith. They even have distinguishing colors, Griffith is the "Hawk of Light" while Guts is the "Black Swordsman."
* ForcedToWatch: One of the most heinous examples in anime. Guts is forced to watch Casca be [[spoiler: brutally raped to the point of insanity]] by [[spoiler:Griffith [[FaceHeelTurn turned]] Femto]]. He tries to reach her [[spoiler: by chiseling off his own arm which was trapped in the jaws of a demon]] only to be dogpiled by more demons and was forced to watch [[spoiler: the rape as a demon clawed out his right eye]].
* ForcefulKiss: One of the supreme examples of FanDisservice in the series was when Femto kisses Casca [[spoiler: right after he got done molesting her and before he began raping her in front of Guts.]] As a finale to this heinous act, he forcefully tongue kisses her as he [[spoiler: explicitly rapes her from behind, making sure Guts sees EVERY DETAIL of what he's been doing to her.]]
** Guts also forcefully kissed Casca when [[spoiler: his EnemyWithin [[NearRapeExperience almost drove him to rape her]].]]
** And then Slan kisses Guts in Qliphoth. Imagine softly kissing your lover's tender lips - [[FanDisservice which are made of troll guts.]] [[{{Squick}} Hm.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: A lot of it takes place within Berserk, from [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Guns]] to [[VaguenessIsComing prophetic bombshells.]] One particularly disturbing piece of foreshadowing is presented in volume two, where [[spoiler: Vargas's description of how he was ForcedToWatch his family get tortured and eaten by the Count and how he was mutilated in the act alluded to how Guts was forced to watch Casca's rape at Femto's hands and how he [[LifeOrLimbDecision mutilated himself]] while trying to save her.]]
** [[spoiler: Shortly before the eclipse there is a scene in wich a crippled and helpless Griffith desparately throws himself at Casca. It upsets her very much and is disturbing by itself, but when he forces himself on her again as Femto...]] [[{{HarsherInHindsight}} Yeah, creepy...]]
** Currently, a popular theory within the fandom is that [[spoiler: Puck's persistent interaction with the Behelit is foreshadowing that he will be the next to activate it.]]
** Another interesting one during one of Guts and Griffith's first encounters. Griffith tells Guts that he "wants him", making Guts ask if he's gay, though Griffith meant as a soldier. Later however it's revealed that Griffith developed some pretty strong feelings for Guts, that may have gone beyond simply friendship.
*** You can take this in another context of foreshadowing where Griffith tells Guts the usual "You belong to me" lecture after their naked water fight, but then he adds that ''he'' would determine the place and time of Guts' death. [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot Hmmmmm...]]
**** In the end, this all wraps up to some pretty [[FridgeHorror creepy]] FridgeBrilliance when the Eclipse happens [[spoiler: when Griffith brands Guts, Casca, and the Hawks. The brands marks those who are chosen as sacrifice by the apostle-to-be, and it is later revealed that a branded sacrifice can't be sacrificed by any one else, only the apostle who branded them in the first place. Basically, so long as they're branded, Guts and Casca literally belong to Griffith.]]
* ForegoneConclusion: Since so much of the manga is a flashback, you already know that [[spoiler:Guts loses an arm and an eye, gets a prosthetic arm and a BFS, gets marked with the symbol of sacrifice, ends up becoming an embittered wanderer who has lost almost everything and, oh yeah, you know that Griffith becomes the BigBad after sacrificing Guts for power.]]
* ForgingScene: Guts has maintenance done on his [[{{BFS}} Dragonslayer]] via this.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: While Casca didn't die and Guts remembers what happened to her ''[[ForcedToWatch very vividly]]'', which drove him to {{Revenge}} the most, he forgot about the pain she suffered during the Eclipse and left her for two years to waste away in his own pain and sadness, sometimes forgetting that he wasn't the sole survivor of the Eclipse. This led to his WhatTheHellHero lecture from Godo and to his MyGreatestFailure revelation later.
* FormFittingWardrobe: [[MrFanservice Guts]] and [[MsFanservice Casca]] have clothing that make sure to give detail to every curve and muscle on their body.
* FranchiseZombie: Possibly even more terrifying than the possibility of AuthorExistenceFailure, there have been recent allegations that Miura has simply ''lost the drive to continue Berserk'' and he fears that he might never finish on his own accord.
** This might have narrowly been [[AvertedTrope averted]], as WordOfGod spoke in a recent mini series that he wasn't planning on giving up on ''Berserk'' just yet.
* FromBadToWorse: Has pretty much been the hallmark of the series in general. The Eclipse was only the beginning. For reference, this is a series that ''started'' with [[spoiler:the main character's adoptive father arranging to have him raped, then trying to murder him, forcing the kid to kill him]]. And yes, it gets worse from there. The world and the characters get hit with this so much that the series might as well be called "FromBadToWorse: The Series."
* FullFrontalAssault: Casca does this quite often, since she won't let the threat of rape keep her from prevailing over her those who attempt to do so. Sorta mixed with a heroic and a villainous example in the latest scenario in volume 23, where [[spoiler: some bandits strip her naked and try to gang rape her, but Casca grabs a sword and kills them all, covering herself in their blood. The display is quite erotic, but the fact that she is genuinely AxCrazy at this point due to [[FlashbackEcho traumatic flashbacks]], adding the part that Guts saw this and became aroused to the point that he almost raped her himself, takes away from that aspect.]]
** In the third movie, [[spoiler: Guts assumes such a position against the Skull Knight, since Skull Knight's introduction scene is merged with Guts and Casca's love scene.]] Of course, this is a heroic variant.
** Can't forget ol' Zodd during his introduction. Clearly villainous.
* FunctionalMagic: Schierke's magic seems to be a cross of Theurgy and Rule Magic, elves and demons have innate talent, and there are magic items like behelits and the cursed armor.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Usually involving Puck and/or Isidro and later Magnifico.
** The pirates get one when discussing their captain's latest idiot plan while he's trying to make an impressive speech to the heroes. He casually reaches for a rope and pulls, [[AmusingInjuries tightening nooses around their necks and hauling them up]] without breaking his stride.
* FutileHandReach: Add SayMyName and you have a typical Guts-saves-Casca scenario.
* GainaxEnding: The ending of anime was comprised of a NoEnding, [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole adaptation induced plot holes]], a CliffHanger, and the GeckoEnding as mentioned below, not to mention the ForegoneConclusion that opened the animated series in the first place. And all of this was wrapped in a package full of [[{{DownerEnding}} downer]].
* GameBreakingInjury: Guts first encounters the Holy Iron Chain Knights after getting the hell smacked out of him by Rosine. He still manages to kill several of them before getting knocked out.
* GardenOfEvil: Qliphoth.
* GeckoEnding: We all know how horribly ''this'' was averted in the anime...
* GenreDeconstruction: Berserk pretty much takes common fantasy and anime tropes, then makes Guts chop them up into little pieces with his {{BFS}}. More specifically, Berserk deconstructs the entire {{Shonen}} genre and bits of the HighFantasy genre, since Berserk itself is the [[{{Seinen}} direct]] [[LowFantasy opposite.]]
* GenreShift: Lately, ''Berserk'' seems to have switched from being a [[GrimDark gritty]], [[DarkFantasy dark]], [[GothicHorror almost gothic,]] [[LowFantasy low fantasy]] [[CosmicHorrorStory horror story]] to a more whimsical [[HeroicFantasy heroic fantasy]] adventure. Don't get too relaxed though...
** Also worth mentioning that Miura first intended that ''Beserk'' be done in the {{Shonen}} style of story-telling during his EarlyInstallmentWeirdness with ''Berserk the Prototype.''
* GeometricMagic: Schierke casts a lot of her spells by drawing runes and magic circles. The charms that she draws over Guts and Casca's brands to dampen their effect are an example of this.
* GiantMook: Many, starting with Bazuso and getting progressively bigger.
** Even before that, during the same time frame but a different arc (the Boyhood Arc), Guts had to fight a "mini" giant mook in the form of a lord's brutish son, whom he intended for Guts to get killed by in order to boost the boy's courage for an impending battle. The odds were not in the son's favor.
* GibberishOfLove: It's really the only way to describe Guts' speech pattern toward Casca during the ball.
* GodIsEvil
** GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: The pagan cults really aren't any better than the Church, since they seem to be worshipping the Godhand by different names, [[spoiler: and of course the Godhand is subservient to the Idea of Evil.]]
* GoGoEnslavement: When Casca and Nina were captured by the pagans, Nina was stripped naked and intended to be used as a sacrifice, while Casca was dressed in a poncho that barely covered her, and was intended to become the Great Goathead's, er, "[[MaritalRapeLicense bride]]".
* GoingCommando: [[ArcWords In this world]], undergarments do not seem very common, [[ClothingDamage especially for the ladies]]. This could be some TruthInTelevision, since, due to the level of modesty in the era, people didn't talk about their underwear in the Middle Ages much, nor could organic clothing last for centuries, so we have very little to base this on and can only speculate what people wore for underwear back then [[http://historymedren.about.com/od/clothingandfabric/ss/underwear.htm based on pictures]]. Schierke and Isma are clearly seen using underwear in the latest volumes, which look a bit like 19th century bloomers, but that's measured against countless examples to the contrary.
* GoldfishPoopGang: The pirates. Bandits in general really.
** Then you have the holy iron chain knights who wear fancy armor but are actually a bunch of sheltered rich boys with no fighting skills whatsoever who make other {{Mooks}} look competent.
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: [[spoiler: While being imprisoned in a deep, dark dungeon, his sole human contact being with the [[RedRightHand deformed little man]] who is responsible for torturing him for a year]] Griffith wonders if he will go insane - or if he has already gone off the deep end.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Half of what contributes to Casca's madness after the Eclipse.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Although they had some slight difficulties in the beginning [[spoiler: what with Guts having some traumatic flashbacks of his child rape and nearly choked Casca because of it]] Guts and Casca are really the only two people who have had good sex in this series (''really'' good sex considering that [[spoiler: [[IntimatePsychotherapy Guts was relieved of his trauma because of he and Casca's moment]]]]). All other sex scenes in ''Berserk'' have either been {{squick}}, [[RapeAsDrama rape]], or [[NauseaFuel squick AND rape...]] Though, a close second would be [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Luca]] and [[NiceGuy Jerome]], but he did still pay her since she was a prostitute on duty.
* {{Gorn}}: Kentaro Miura seems to have a penchant for massive head injuries that borders on the erotic...
** To say nothing for combining scenes of brutal torture and dismemberment with scenes of brutal rape--two horrible tastes that go even worse together. Sometimes one actually results in the other--and not always in a specific order, either.
** GoryDiscretionShot: And funnily enough, this was used in the first episode of the anime, since [[LighterAndSofter the anime toned down on the gorn.]]
*** The trope also appeared in the second episode when Guts defeated Bazuzo (in the manga, it shows Guts splattering his head in two with his [[EyeScream eyeball popping out]] at a bonus).
* GothicHorror: ''Berserk'' certainly had the archetypical atmosphere in the Black Swordsman Arc, the Retribution Arc, and in ''The Prototype''. Traces of the genre are found throughout the series though, since it tends to overlap with DarkFantasy.
* GrandRomanticGesture: Roderick, upon proposing to Farnese, gave her a balcony full of roses. Oddly enough, he actually didn't like the idea, saying that roses represented petty and snobbish women when he thought Farnese was nothing like that.
* GratuitousEnglish: The opening ''and'' ending theme songs.
** Wyald's motto of "Enjoy exciting!"
** Cap'n Bonebeard delivers, for absolutely no reason, the lines "Come on-a my house!" and "[[BarackObama Yes we can!]]"
* GrayRainOfDepression: Played straight when Guts has his FreakOut post-Eclipse.
* GreekChorus: [[ThoseTwoGuys Sir Owen and Sir Laban]] fit this role, especially in the Golden Age Arc, always seen together and commenting on Griffith's role in the court, but never actually interacting with the primary characters.
* GreenEyedMonster: Several instances of this:
** First, and perhaps the biggest example, pre-Eclipse Griffith grows ''green with envy'' when he notices that Guts and Casca have become an item, KubrickStare and all. It is unclear who he envies more due to his [[AmbiguouslyGay ambiguous sexual orientation]]. It's possibly [[DepravedBisexual both]].
*** Don't forget that even before that, Casca was really jealous of the attention that Guts got from Griffith.
** Averted with Judeau. Despite his [[UnrequitedLove unrequited]] crush on Casca, he knows he has no chance whatsoever, noticing the bound she and Guts had formed, even before either of them would realize it. Preferring to lose with honour, he helps a lot in the cementing of Guts and Casca's relationship, even going as far as [[spoiler: encouraging Guts to take Casca away with him, by force if necessary]].
** During the Griffith rescue operation, Casca had the GreenEyedMonster attitude toward Princess Charlotte for a bit, since she admitted that she was still worshiping Griffith like before, even after [[spoiler: she and Guts made love for the first time earlier.]] She tried reconciling to herself, but ended up saying the wrong thing to Guts about the matter, which succeeded in pissing Guts off [[spoiler: even though HE admitted to himself that he couldn't take his mind off Griffith.]] But don't worry - they made up later.
** Then, post-Eclipse, there's the unspoken rivalry between Sonia and Charlotte. Charlotte is Griffith's MealTicket, but is too smitten and [[NaiveEverygirl naïve]] to realize it. Sonia is a faithful servant to Griffith, gifted with clairvoyance, and as such considers herself the only girl worthy of him. Sonia is very jealous of Charlotte but her nascent and reciprocated bond with [[TheQuietOne Irvine]] might wash it all out.
** There's also the jealousy Farnese feels for Casca for being the object of Guts's affection. Farnese is technically betrothed to Roderick, who is himself quite handsome, but she definitely has a crush on Guts who doesn't see her beyond being Casca's caretaker. Farnese even breaks down in front of Casca, telling her that she's really ungrateful to ignore Guts after all he did for her but Casca being insane and retarded, it doesn't do shit, although Casca seems to understand Farnese's distress.
*** This might actually have played out for the best [[spoiler: or, knowing this series, worst]] concerning Guts's relationship with Casca in her present state, since it would appear that after her scolding from Farnese, Casca has been slowly warming up to Guts again and was in a room with him alone [[spoiler: except for Puck and Evarella]] and seemingly unafraid of his presence. So, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero nice job fixing it]], [[TheLoad load girl]].
** Finally, there's Schierke's PrecociousCrush on Guts but, unlike Farnese, Schierke only has shades of this and knows deep down that she's way too young for Guts (he is more than twice her age). Plus, her PuppyLove moments with Isidro also seem to drop some hints about who she may eventually like.
* GrievousBottleyHarm: During a BarBrawl, Schierke manages to knock one lecherous drunk out cold with a bottle.
* GrievousHarmWithABody
* GutPunch: [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot Guess.]] Oww...
* {{HamToHamCombat}}: Mozgus (who constantly tells Guts how the lord is swiftly going to smite him) versus Guts (who in turn tells Mozgus to take his religion and shove it where the sun won't shine) is as much about talking smack as it is about actual violence.
* HandOnWomb: It's debatable, but some fans believe that [[spoiler: Casca knew about her pregnancy before the Eclipse]] as one possible giveaway is in volume 12 where she is seen [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/071/14/ resting her hand on her stomach.]]
* {{Hannibal Lecture}}: Subverted when Farnese captures Guts thinking that he is the [[TheAntichrist anti-Christ]], even though he's only really a [[TheBigGuy towering]], [[DarkIsNotEvil dark]], [[WalkingTheEarth loner]] {{Jerkass}}, who [[WalkingDisasterArea leaves a path of destruction and gore behind him wherever he goes]]. He tells her that she and her entire religious order has no idea how the real world works. [[WhipItGood Farnese is not amused by this insolence]]. She continues to be unamused when she witnesses the horror of the real world first hand.
* HappilyAdopted: Guts's early childhood is a rather nasty subversion of this trope.
** Godo's young daughter Erica.
* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom: A Hawk soldier who got a third of his body bitten off stumbles out of the castle that Guts's party was raiding and warns them of Nosferatu Zodd.
** Guts acts as this in the beginning of the manga toward a priest and his daughter who offer him transport, saying that evil spirits are following him and that it would be [[WeirdnessMagnet unwise to be near him]]. The priest dismisses it, saying that he has "good spirits" on his side ([[FalseReassurance Puck]])... Too bad the priest didn't know that [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism this attitude]] is InherentInTheSystem.
* HarmfulToMinors: Guts has had it ''rough'' as a kid. On a related note, he is also this himself due to [[spoiler:killing a noble's child who witnessed a murder of his]] and for just putting various small children in harms way, but hey, so long as they don't ''die''...
* HatesBeingTouched: Guts, quite vocally at the beginning, [[spoiler:as a result of being raped as a child.]]
** This trope is applied to post-Eclipse Casca as well, after [[spoiler:''she'' gets raped.]]
* HealingHands: Puck.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Guts. Big time. Ever since [[spoiler: the Eclipse's aftermath, his one true soulmate Casca, due to her [[TheOphelia unfortunate condition]], just can't reciprocate anything he feels for her. And, to make it worse, the Beast's urgings almost got him to [[NearRapeExperience rape]] her. Consequently, Casca now fears Guts and outright refuses to be around him.]] (But the quest to Elfhelm might change this...)
** However, this might come at a price, since [[spoiler: even though the Skull Knight said that there was a chance for Casca to be cured, which truly lifted Guts's spirit for the first time in a long while, the Skull Knight also said that what Guts wishes for might not be what Casca wishes for. When thinking back on this, [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/237.246/44 Guts really looks frustrated and heartbroken again]].]] To stick to the optimism, Casca seems to be warming up to Guts little by little after Farnese scolded her, [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/296/4 since it appears that she]] [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/296/5 can at least handle being in the same room as Guts is in]] [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/296/6 without the others.]]
* TheHeartless: [[spoiler: The Idea Of Evil is basically one giant heartless of '''humanity itself''', as humans needed a reason for suffering and the [[CrapsackWorld general crapsackiness of Midland, and well, everywhere else.]] It sometimes seems as if Apostles also derive some of their power from the suffering they inflict.]]
** Also, the Beast ([[HellHound mentioned below]]), who doubles as Guts' EnemyWithin AND his SuperPoweredEvilSide, as it was born out of all of the negative emotions that Guts gained after the Eclipse, and it disturbingly lived in harmony with Guts for two years. But when Guts decided to put [[PowerOfHate hate]] aside for [[PowerOfLove love]], that's when things got nasty.
* HeldGaze: Guts and Casca do this at least twice to each other at the end of volume 8, when Guts was preparing to leave the Hawks, but he was still grappling with [[ObliviousToLove the feelings that he was developing for Casca.]] In fact, the whole event on the hill was more or less orchestrated by Casca because of ''her'' [[LoveEpiphany growing feelings for Guts.]] Then they do it a few more times when Guts comes back after a year, but this time around, [[RelationshipUpgrade the end result was more favorable.]]
* HellHound: The Beast. Easily one of the most vicious and evil entities in the series, and that is saying something. The worst part? It's the SuperPoweredEvilSide Guts is trying so hard to suppress and that [[spoiler:tries constantly to goad Guts into killing Casca so it could take full control of Guts's mind and turn him into a being of pure hatred.]]
* HellOnEarth: [[spoiler:What happens when someone summons the God Hand and the Eclipse]].
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Several characters wear them, but they always find their way off their heads halfway through battle. And then everyone just stops wearing them.
* [[HereThereWereDragons Here There Were Elves]]: Puck and Schierke have both mentioned that back in the day, it was very common place for people to seek the aide of witches and wizards, elves were just about everywhere, and the majority of people believed in pagan worship, coming down to the fact that even though the planes weren't merged, the natural world was very much aware of the supernatural world. But with the rise of [[CrystalDragonJesus the Holy See]], the old ways have all but been either forgotten or pariahed. But never fear, for [[spoiler: Femto's [[TheMagicComesBack reality warping powers are here!]]]] Of course, it might not be the ''best'' thing [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore to happen to the world...]]
* HeroWorshipper: Isidro
* TheHerosJourney: Or ''Berserk: The Epic of Guts.'' Guts' story seems to be following the basic guidelines of the archetype, starting with:
** Unusual Birth: Guts Was born from the corpse of a hanged woman.
** The Ordinary World: His early life takes place in a roaming mercenary band in a CrapsackWorld.
** Need for Adventure: When he is cast out from his home band, Guts roams from battlefield to battlefield and works for numerous companies, but doesn't know what he wants for himself.
** CallToAdventure: [[IncitingIncident Guts' fight with Bazuzo]] was witnessed by Griffith and he was later initiated into the Hawks. This serves as Guts' first taste of the strange world, since adjusting to a life with the Hawks was a bit odd for him (a group made up of younger members who had strong bonds with one another, not to mention how they were {{Weirdness Magnet}}s themselves).
** First SupernaturalAid: Nosferatu Zodd gives Guts a chilling prophecy of things to come.
** Crossing the First Threshold: Guts leaves the Hawks in order to find meaning to his own dream, and defeating Griffith, who takes the place of the [[ThresholdGuardians threshold guardian]], allows him access to achieving this. Guts receives a second prophetic warning from the [[MysteriousProtector Skull Knight]] which serves as his second supernatural aid in his journey.
** The BellyOfTheWhale: When he returns to the Hawks a year later, the tragic Eclipse happens. His flesh is seared and scattered, and he is "reborn" as a new man with [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge a burning vengeance.]] He is now fully initiated into the strange world, and is given further supernatural aids (the Dragonslayer and possibly his cursed brand).
** Right now, Guts' story seems to be set in the Road of Trials segment: he is struggling out of his personal and dark abyss that was created from the events of the Eclipse after [[MoralityChain finding his light]] (who is Casca, in place of [[HerosMuse the goddess figure]]) [[WorthLivingFor and a new meaning to his life,]] yet there are many obstacles that [[TheCorruptible threaten to pull him into that darkness]] (examples: his EnemyWithin, or his encounter with [[TheVamp Slan]]). This also overlaps with the Night Sea Voyage, first where Guts had [[RescueArc to rescue Casca from the Tower of Conviction,]] and currently he is crossing the vast sea in order [[FindTheCure to retrieve a cure for her insanity.]] Since Miura [[LongRunner isn't planning on ending the series anytime soon]], and with the suggestions of the rest of the guidelines, [[{{WMG}} the possibilities are endless of what is in store for Guts next.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Griffith has one of these [[spoiler: after losing ownership of Guts]] in a duel which ended with his sword getting shattered.
** Happened a lot more than that. First instance happened with Guts after he assassinated Duke Julius' son by mistake. During the Eclipse, Guts almost lapses into this as a result of [[spoiler: Griffith's betrayal]], but snaps out of with rage. The most severe case in the series by far is what happened to Casca, who experienced physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional trauma so horrifying during the Eclipse that she is now ''[[GoMadFromTheRevelation mentally gone]].''
* HeroicResolve: When Guts was surrounded by the apostles who were taunting him with the half-eaten remains of his comrades and friends during the Eclipse, he gave an angry shout that was almost as if in defeat. But when he saw his lover helpless and in danger, '''[[UnstoppableRage he got pissed the fuck off.]]'''
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Judeau]], without a doubt.
** Likely [[spoiler: Pippin]], as well.
* HeroicSecondWind: Guts had one of these moments during his battle with Wyald (ironically after he had a HeroicResolve moment when he saved Casca). After being thrown into a tree and left dangling there within an inch of life, Wyald approaching to finish the job, Guts has a flashback of when he was living with Godo and Erica. Erica questioned Guts about why he would put himself into such brutal situations, even while training, and Guts answered her by saying that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours he wants to get strong enough]] to defeat a monster whose strength was beyond any that he could imagine. Erica asked Guts if he would lose, to which he replied that he didn't know; she asked him if he would win, and he gives the same answer; then she asked him what would happen if he loses or wins... and that apparently gave Guts the strength to inflict some damage on Wyald in order to escape, giving Guts ample time to formulate a plan in order to defeat him.
* HeroicWillpower: Although its cursed, Guts is able to wear the Berserker Armor to its full potential [[spoiler: by "full potential" it still increases his endurance by minimizing the amount of pain he feels]] without being completely taken over by his SuperPoweredEvilSide, with the help Schierke.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Guts, obviously, for quite some time. It got to the point that some of the more sympathetic Apostles (ie, Rosine) are outright ''terrified'' of him. The Knights of the Holy Iron Chain are wrong in believing that the Black Swordsman is a mass-murdering psychotic, but their reasons for thinking so are entirely justified.
** And Emperor Ganishka. He wants to defeat [[spoiler: Griffith and his army of Apostles]], and in doing so [[spoiler: becomes a titanic monstrosity and sacrifices virtually all of his human soldiers.]] Somewhat subverted in that [[spoiler: he was an Apostle before he waged war on Griffith.]]
** The Skull Knight, though we've never been definitively told his backstory. All that's certain is that he sacrificed his humanity to fight against Apostles and the God Hand.
* HeyItsThatVoice
** On the Japanese side:
*** Guts shares his voice with a bunch of {{Badass}}es such as [[{{Macross7}} Basara]], [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Nnoitra]] or [[SoulSeries Maxi]].
*** Griffith is several different [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white haired]] villains including Bashou (Hun) and Mikuri (Wallace) in {{Anime/Pokemon}} and Sephiroth from FinalFantasyVII, as well as the Fourth Hokage in Franchise/{{Naruto}}. When there's a new Berserk movie, ironically, he is [[FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]].
*** Judeau is Garra and [[Franchise/HarryPotter Tom Riddle]].
*** Rickert is VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon
*** Void is Horatio Caine, [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Professor Oak]], [[Franchise/{{Naruto}} Zabuza]], [[Anime/CowboyBebop JetBlack]], and [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Van Hohenheim]]
*** Casca is [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]]. In the new movie, she is instead [[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma Bullet]].
*** Slan is [[GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]].
*** The Skull Knight in the movies is [[Franchise/MetalGear Solid Snake]].
** On the English side:
*** You can tell that Guts' voice is the same as 4Kids' [[Franchise/OnePiece Roronoa Zoro]].
*** "[[HilariousOuttakes So which one]] [[Creator/SeanSchemmel of you guys is]] [[Anime/DragonBallZ Goku]]?"
*** Princess [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Misty]]...I mean, Charlotte, [[Creator/RachaelLillis is pretty recognizable too]].
*** Fans of Anime/SonicX will immediatly recognize [[MikePollock Adon's]] voice.
*** Casca's English voice actor is [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami Tomoe]].
* HiddenDepths: Lots of characters, Guts, Casca, Farnse, and even minor character Pippin gets a moment. Probably the biggest would be the manga itself which for the first two volumes seems very much like its just going to be volume after volume of ONLY sex and violence and then...character development, story, questions of morality, and so on enter the picture.
* HiddenElfVillage: Elfhelm, the home of the elves, witches, and wizards of the world that is located on the island of Skellig might be a straight example of this, but since we have yet to physically encounter it, Schierke and Flora's home in the spirit tree is the closest thing, as both are on the Interstice, locations that are between the natural and the supernatural worlds that cannot be located by normal humans. Young Schierke displays the typical [[NoSocialSkills isolationist]] tendencies as an inhabitant of such a village.
* HighPressureBlood: In SPADES.
* HilariousOuttakes: Including Griffith's actor bursting into song at hilarious moments.
* HisQuirkLivesOn: After [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot The Eclipse]], Guts adds [[spoiler:throwing knives]] to his arsenal, modeled after [[spoiler:Judeau]].
* HistoryRepeats: During the Conviction Arc at the showdown at the Tower of Punishment, Casca is caught by Mozgus and is handed over to the mob to be burned at the stake as a witch. All the while, [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot the sun is getting covered up]], [[RedRightHand the tower is crumbling in an uncanny resemblance of a hand]], and Guts is once again struggling and fighting his way through hoards of evil spirits so he can make it to Casca in time to save her. Yep. A mock eclipse is happening, and Guts fears that he won't be able to save Casca again.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: There are some examples
** Guts: GotzVonBerlichingen (1480–1562), a German knight, was the leader of a band of mercenary soldiers and attained the reputation as a Robin Hood figure. In 1504, his right arm was struck by enemy cannon fire and a prosthetic iron arm was developed to replace it. Guts' iron arm, in his original character concept, is very similar to Götz's iron arm kept in the Nüremberg Museum. However, [[WordOfGod Miura stated in an interview]] that he created Guts independently and that he did not find out about von Berlichingen until after several volumes of the manga had been published, so this appears coincidental.
** Emperor Gaiseric: The Emperor Gaiseric alluded to in volume 10 was based on the actual King Genseric who ruled the Vandals' kingdom in Europe in the 5th century. He was famed as a brilliant general who was seen as a threat even to the Roman Empire. In the manga, Gaiseric is said to have created a vast empire, similar to the Romans, that was destroyed by God's wrath. He banded together his small tribe and brought them great fame as a kingdom that exercised its authority in the Mediterranean region.
*** [[spoiler:It is hinted that Emperor Gaiseric survived his fallen empire in the form of the Skull Knight, a recurring character who aids Guts and stands in opposition to the God Hand]].
** Emperor Ganishka: The Emperor Ganishka, working as Griffith's enemy in Berserk, was based on King Kanishka, who ruled over the actual Kushan Empire, a vast empire in India and Central Asia during the 2nd century. He was also a profound Buddhist and adorned his empire with its respective figures and promoted it vigorously. Like his real-life counterpart, Ganishka also decorates his palace with famous Buddhist and Hindu figures, but has demonized them to suit his nature.
** Mozgus appears to be based on Ivan the Terrible, due to his daily routine of slamming his face into the ground during prayer and his biblical methods of execution.
* HoldingHands: Daaaah! They're so cute together, Guts and Casca! ... Too bad!
** IntertwinedFingers: And of course, this happens during their love scene.
* HoldingYourShoulderMeansInjury: Justified in the case of Casca in volume 8, where she gets shot by a poison dart in the shoulder during her fight with Adon.
* HollywoodMagnetism: Guts is able to grasp his {{BFS}} with his prosthetic hand thanks to magnets.
* HolyBacklight: Griffith presents himself in this manner quite a few times, especially after his [[spoiler: reincarnation.]] The stark contrast of [[EmergingFromTheShadows how Guts introduces himself.]]
* HollywoodPersonalityDisorders: Insanity seems to be one of the many underlying themes in ''Berserk'' with a chunkful of the characters having a range of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything insinuated psychological problems.]]
** Guts' personality highlights ''paranoid personality disorder.'' Ever since his [[spoiler: childhood rape]] Guts has trouble forming bonds with people, has a hard time trusting them, [[PillowPistol and always sleeps with his sword.]]
** Griffith's personality highlights ''narcissistic personality disorder'' as he would normally [[ItsAllAboutMe put his interest before those of others]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing even if he seemed well-intentioned.]]
** Emperor Ganishka ''might'' have started out having paranoid personality disorder ever since [[spoiler: his mother tried to poison him]], but it quickly became ''antisocial personality disorder'' when he became an apostle, since according to him, everyone is out to get him.
** Apostles such as the Snake Baron, Wyald, and the Count show signs of ''sadistic personality disorder''.
** Farnese's earlier behavior is a candidate for ''borderline personality disorder'' as she was seen being sympathetic and professional one moment and then totally out of line and hysterical the next.
** Nina has shades of ''dependent personality disorder.'' She is seen being very dependent on Luca and can't seem to function properly without her guidance to an extreme.
** [[{{Muggles}} In the eyes of other]], Schierke would have ''schizotypal personality disorder,'' what with her otherworldly philosophy, her [[RobeAndWizardHat magical getup]], and her [[NoSocialSkills lack of social experience]] (and the fact that she actually practices magic). Sonja could count too.
* {{Homage}}: The names of the Godhand demons are all references to classic science-fiction books. These books are ''Destination: Void'' by Creator/FrankHerbert, ''Literature/{{Slan}}'' by Creator/AEVanVogt, ''And Call Me Conrad'' by Creator/RogerZelazny, and ''Literature/{{Ubik}}'' by Creator/PhilipKDick.
** Miura also makes many visual homages to various paintings, including the works of M.C. Escher and Hieronymus Bosch.
* HopeIsScary: We all know the general mood that Guts has been in since the Eclipse, but in volume 28, Guts is given a glimmer of hope when the Skull Knight suggests that Casca might be cured of her insanity once and for all if Guts can get her to Elfhelm. The message is so paralyzing that [[WhenHeSmiles Guts actually smiles a real smile]] at the thought of Casca being returned to normal... that is, IF that's what she truly wants, so says the Skull Knight. Now, Guts is more worried over the Skull Knight's cryptic message than whether Casca can be cured at all.
* HopeSpot: People think that Mozgus is an angel sent from God. They can only watch him fight Guts who they perceive as evil during a sacrifice and are absolutely convinced that Mozgus will deliver them from evil. Guts then brutally kills him and they all have a few moments of absolute horror before the demons consume them (except a scant few who manage to cluster around his corpse, which protects them).
** And ironically, as monstrous as he might have been, Mozgus was doing a decent job of that. He and his disciples were fighting off the demons pretty well, and even after his death, Mozgus' body is consumed in the flames he was able to breathe, and those keep back the demons from killing the few people who huddle around his body thinking him a fallen angel/saint.
** At the beginning of the Eclipse ceremony, we see Griffith in a moment of hesitation about whether he really wants to go through with this or not, making the audience believe for a brief second that [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules Griffith wasn't going to sell out his friends and comrades.]] [[ForegoneConclusion Oh, wait.]] [[FaceHeelTurn Nevermind.]]
** The HopeSpot that got all of our hopes up in a very shitty way was when [[spoiler: Guts sees Casca in the hands of demons and tries to rescue her, only to have his arm chomped down on by a demon. Then Femto comes along and starts [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty having his way with Casca]], so Guts takes a last resort at saving her by [[LifeOrLimbDecision chiseling off his own arm]] in order to free himself from the demon. Seeing that he's mere feet away from Femto and Casca, it seems as though Guts will at least be able to save Casca from what was happening to her already and kill Femto.... it doesn't happen. [[ForcedToWatch And we all know what ensues after Guts gets dog-piled by demons moments after freeing himself from one]].]]
*** This is amped up in the third movie, with Guts being thwarted not twice, but '''thrice'''. Once Guts was done, [[spoiler: in this version, ''ripping the rest of his arm off'', Guts charged toward Femto and Casca with the broken sword and actually DID get within striking range to end Femto. However, Guts could never land a blow because Femto used his reality warping power to [[DeflectorShields put up a force field between he and Guts]], and despite all of his willpower ([[TheDeterminator in which Guts managed to edge a bit closer to Femto]]), it's not enough and Guts is sent flying several meters back away from Femto and Casca.]] After that, Guts tries ''again'', but then the infamous DogPileOfDoom happens.
** In addition, Casca briefly regains her sanity at the end of the non-canon Dreamcast game before she reverts to her child-like state.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Luca. She's also one of the few genuinely good characters here.
* HornedHumanoid: Zodd.
* HornyDevils: Slan and the demon-chick from the opening pages
** Wyald and many other male apostles also qualify when they are in the presence of a human female.
* HotSpringsEpisode: Against all odds there is one when Guts and his new crew visit Flora's mansion, which must be the nicest place in the entire CrapsackWorld. It's especially soothing since A: The ladies [[{{Fanservice}} can be naked without someone or something trying to rape them.]] and B: [[{{Fridge Horror}} Guts really, REALLY needed a bath after two years of uninterrupted demon slaying.]]
* HotterAndSexier: Again, given that ''Berserk'' is being presented in a whole new medium with brand new special effects, a lot more elements can be exaggerated, such as sex scenes. Unfortunately, since the movies also [[BloodierAndGorier played up violence]], and most sex scenes in ''Berserk'' are rape or near rape, most of these scenes [[NauseaFuel aren't very delightful to watch.]]
* HowDareYouDieOnMe: When she thinks Guts got pummeled to death by the Apostle Wyald, Casca goes into a tearful rage and starts slapping the shit out of Guts's face.
** She tried this again during the Eclipse on [[spoiler: Judeau.]] Unfortunately, [[KilledOffForReal it was not as effective.]]
** Gambino mutters something like this about Sys in his delirium after his leg got blown off. Implied that he tried to get back to her time as she lay dying, but he was too late. Possibly the '''ONLY''' time [[PetTheDog one can possibly shed a tear for this man.]]
* HowManyFingers:
--> '''Guts''': "'V' for 'Victory'?"
* HowWeGotHere: Most of the Band of the Hawk Arc is one big Flashback leading up to Guts's current circumstances. Basically what happened before everything literally went to hell.
* HuddleShot: Happens when [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/268/17 the group clusters around knocked out Schierke]] in chapter 268.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Guts and Casca.
** It's not even that she's especially small, it's just that ''any'' woman who wasn't a giant herself would look small next to Guts.
* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Justified - it's because that's the only way to survive. Again, life in Midland '''sucks'''.
** Also, ''all'' demons used to be humans who made a DealWithTheDevil.
** ALSO, the "devil" in question is [[spoiler: a manifestation of humanity's collective unconscious]]. Basically, there's NO evil [[ArcWords in this world]] (one that's [[CrapsackWorld stuffed to the gills with evil]], mind) that can't be traced back to [[HumansAreBastards human bastardry]].
* HumansAreFlawed: The the source of all problems everywhere in this story is human weakness, not inherent evil. One must keep in mind that a rotten person who would love to have some demonic powers to be a more effective asshole would be unable to use a behelit because he doesn't care about anything but himself.
* HumanPincushion: During her CrowningMomentOfAwesome, Casca gets shot at with five arrows when the Midland army ambushed the Hawks shortly after Griffith was arrested for high treason. And yet, Casca continued to fight her way through the barrier and led the Hawks to safety.
** Played [[{{Pun}} painfully straight]] during the beginning of Griffith's torture, where the torturer sticks several large metal needles into Griffith's flesh.
----
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Berserk: Prototype, which is included in Volume 14. Its style and general aesthetic is a little more comical and reminiscent of a {{Shounen}}, of which the manga was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally envisioned as]]. It also has several wildly different plot points from the manga.
** Guts had a [[EyepatchOfPower badass eyepatch]] and acts more like his mercenary self than his Black Swordsman persona, Puck is still Puck..well, kinda girly, but still Puck, Griffith is a ''young girl'' (not named Griffith, but they share the same face), and his crossbow is a normal one instead of the repeating crossbow from the main series.
** In the first few volumes, Puck is definitely not InvisibleToNormals as he is later on. Not to mention that he's never in his EyesAlwaysShut ArtShift-ed mode like he is these days.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: A few times, with Guts as the eye candy.
** After [[ATasteOfTheLash thrashing him with a cat o'nine tails]], Farnese gets momentarily distracted at the sight of Guts' bloody and muscular chest.
** While reapplying a protective seal to a shirtless Guts, [[PrecociousCrush Schierke]] pays special attention to his large back, and starts blushing.
* EggMacGuffin: The Behelits take on the shape of an egg.
* {{Egopolis}}:[[spoiler: Griffith's very own magical dreamland version of this trope, Falconia, is even more pompous and shiny then you would imagine from him. It looks like paradise to the much plagued Midlanders, But the readers only see an obvious deathtrap.]]
* EldritchAbomination: Most Apostles and Qliphoth monsters.
** The Godhand, although [[spoiler: The Idea of Evil]] might fit better.
** Oddly, more powerful Apostles are exceptions. Zodd is a kickass winged beast with feline and bull features, Grunbeld is a crystalline ''dragon'', and Locus is a metallic centaur lancer. Instead of being disgusting and alien, they look ''awesome''. Scary, but ''awesome''.
*** Griffith, Zodd, Grunbeld and Locus are the BigBad and his CoDragons. They are meant to be more awesome than scary.
*** And then there's Shiva, the name given to whatever the hell Ganishka just turned into... [[spoiler: He's so gigantic he makes Midland's capital look like a tiny maquette. ''Then he starts walking''...]]
*** And for those of you who like aquatic themes, The Sea God. An actual sentient wacky pirate crew (complete with pirate ship) is among its countless tentacled appendages. And that's just what it's like on the outside. It's insides almost qualify as an EldritchLocation with a ton of nasty creatures calling it home. And it only gets worse once you reach its heart.
* EldritchLocation: Being a LayeredWorld, the Berserkerverse has no end to the weird ass locations, but weirdest of them all (or out the places already presented to us) is the Vortex, which is where the Godhand and the [[spoiler: Idea of Evil]] hangout. The whole landscape is made up of faces - which are ''alive''. And of course the waterscape is blood.
** It may not look like it but [[spoiler: Falconia]] is definitely one of these as well.
* ElementalPowers: Special note goes to Serpico, who is represented by [[BlowYouAway wind]] and Isidro, who is represented by [[PlayingWithFire fire]]. Other characters play with various elements, both classical and atypical. Examples include Ganishka's use of [[ShockAndAwe lightning,]] the Child's appearance during the [[{{Lunacy}} full moon]] as well as his [[SoulPower power over demons,]] Puck's [[LightEmUp healing and light abilities,]] Femto's power over [[RealityWarper the friggin' space/time continuum]], and Schierke just zigzags in and out of ''everything.''
* {{Elopement}}: This was Guts and Casca's plan in context, but then Griffith figured out their intentions and [[FromBadToWorse didn't take it very well.]]
* EmergingFromTheShadows: How Guts revealed himself to Casca and the Hawks after the year time skip.
* EmotionalTorque: Volume 13. This was THE turning point in the fandom where fans had to make a choice: either drop this series altogether and [[BrainBleach try their damnedest to forget it,]] or stick it to the end just to see how Miura was going to resolve all of this. Dare we say that if you didn't feel ''anything'' while reading volume 13 (whether you thought it was a necessary evil or if you felt downright disgusted) you probably just didn't get it.
* TheEmpire: The Kushan Empire and the Tudor Empire earlier on.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: A lot of fans argue that Guts isn't a normal human anymore due to the effects that the Nexus has on him. If this is the case, then congratulations, Guts. You have attained yet ''another'' badge of {{badass}}ery.
* EndOfAnAge: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Symbolically speaking,]] the demise of the first Band of the Hawk and the dramatic change in our three protagonists signified the end of their glory days once [[ProlongedPrologue the prologue ended.]] Hence, the reason why the arc covering this plot was called "[[FridgeBrilliance The Golden Age Arc.]]" (The fact that such a [[TheDungAges Dung Ages]] CrapsackWorld was dubbed "The Golden Age" is very much an intentional irony and only serves to foreshadow [[FromBadToWorse just exactly how much worse things can get]].)
* EnemyMine: Guts and Zodd pull this off to defeat Ganishka's projection in Vritannis. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome It's about as awesome as you might expect]].
* EmpathicWeapon: The Berserker Armor changes shape to match its wielder, taking on a skull facade for Skull Knight and turning into a face similar to the Hellhound for Guts.
* TheEpic
* EroticAsphyxiation: Subverted. In the midst [[spoiler: of their lovemaking]], Guts strangles Casca [[spoiler: after suffering from some post dramatic stress after reliving his childhood rape. Guts most likely does this not out of some twisted eroticism that he developed from his abuse, but because [[SurvivorGuilt he blamed himself]] for not being able to defend himself from Donovan, and sought to punish his younger self by killing it. And unfortunately Casca was in his former self's place.]]
** However, later on when Guts kidnaps Farnese as a hostage and she gets possessed by an evil spirit, she puts on a rather, um, revealing display in front of Guts and starts strangling him.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Guts is formally introduced in a tavern in the castle town of Koka - and by "formally", we of course mean that he brutally maims and cleaves a bunch of the Snake Baron's mooks with little to no effort or qualms. This scene not only presents Guts as a total badass, but also as a ruthless man. It only makes the audience question, "why is he like this?"
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Guts leaving him]] is what causes Griffith to throw his dreams away.
** Not to mention how his backup plan was demolished when he found out that [[spoiler:Casca had chosen Guts as her lover.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The Count.
** A peculiar example, but worth a mention: [[spoiler: the deformed embryo of Guts and Casca's child is described by the Skull Knight to have become evil due to the infection of Femto's semen. 80% of its appearances however are of it protecting Casca's life.]]
* EvenTheDogIsAshamed: A dog that Gambino took in after he was crippled looks notably mortified at the latter's continued abuse of Guts. [[KickTheDog He promptly kicks it for that]].
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Caska in the victory parade after the battle for Doldrey.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: ''Everyone'' wants Griffith.
* EverybodysDeadDave: How the Band of the Hawk arc ends.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Judeau sees the growing attraction between Guts and Casca and tries to push them in the right direction [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy for the sake of their happiness]]. [[TheyDo It eventually pays off]].
* EveryonesBabySister: Casca is more like Everyone's Big Sister in the Golden Age arc: she's a capable soldier and the Hawks' second-in-command, but everyone is still more protective of her than anyone else. Later on, Schierke fits this role (like when Guts starts a BarBrawl when a drunk gets too close to her), and Casca (having regressed to a childlike state due to the events of the Eclipse) is even more like this.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Ever since getting branded, this has very much been the case for both Guts and Casca. Every night, ghosts and specters attack them, either directly, or by possessing whatever happens to be nearby: people, animals, corpses, [[{{Snowlems}} mounds of snow]], [[WhenTreesAttack trees]]...the list is endless.
* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: [[AvertedTrope It ain't]] when it's shown [[spoiler: during a graphic rape.]] God, only you Mr. Miura...
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning:
** SpinAttack: Guts does an awesome spin attack to save Casca from the pagans who wanted to rape her. He slaughters all of them in gory maelstrom - but not a single hair is harmed on Casca, who is smack dab in the middle.
** TornadoMove: The Kushan sorceror attacks Vritanis during a storm, so waterspouts are already forming naturally. He manipulates one to take the form of a giant watersnake.
* EvilAlbino: One of Mozgus' torturers is an albino. Notably subverted in that he actually does suffer from the medical complications of albinism rather than simply being white haired, and that those complications actually led to him following Mozgus. Though certainly not a HeroicAlbino, he's much more of a PunchClockVillain than anything else.
* EvilGloating: Many [[{{SmugSnake}} lesser baddies]] have tried this against Guts. All of them had it backfiring explosively right in their faces...[[{{ArmCannon}} literally.]] Naturally, Guts will then gladly [[{{NoHoldsBarredBeatdown}} return the favor.]]
* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: The apostles after making a sacrifice in order to become one.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Tower of Conviction.
* EvolvingWeapon: The Dragon Slayer was just a normal {{BFS}}, but once Guts started slaying demons with it, it became ''more effective against them''.
* ExoticWeaponSupremacy: Averted after Guts easily beats Silat, despite his many exotic weapons.
* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: Guts is fighting a regenerating demon (an offspring of the Count who possesed a knight who swore to kill Guts after he got his ass handed to him) whose wounds heal as fast as they're inflicted. The demon taunts him by saying that it can regenerate endlessly as long as its head is intact. Guts chops the demon's head in half and thanks it for telling him. [[spoiler: Then the demon's head try to possess Guts. Who reacts by ''smashing it into a wall with his BFS''.]]
** In volume 9, Silat [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this trope during his second confrontation with Guts at the Hawks' hideout, first trying to decipher how Guts was able to strategically counter the trajectory of his chakram. Guts [[DefiedTrope defies]] this by nonchalantly saying that he guessed, more or less.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: When in {{badass}} {{action girl}} mode, Casca has short, cropped hair, but when she goes [[{{GoMadFromTheRevelation}} insane]] after the Eclipse, her hair gradually grows out, representing how she shifted from {{Lady of War}} to {{The Ophelia}}.
* {{Expy}}: Guts. Yes. Think about it for a moment: an aloof, jaded and apparently lonely warrior, CoveredWithScars, travelling with two kids, one HypercompetentSidekick and a former leader woman, driven by his desire of revenge on one side and his longing to retrieve the woman he loves on the other side. [[FistOfTheNorthStar Doesn't it sound familiar?]]
** [[spoiler:Femto's]] design looks like that of Franchise/{{Batman}}, ''specially'' when he's "flying".
* ExtremeDoormat: Farnese and Serpico respectively, though in both cases it's subverted. Serpico was seen being walked over by Farnese when they're first introduced, displaying a goofy face, no combat skills, and being a bit of a clutz - until it was revealed that he was merely a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with some killer instinct. Farnese appears to become more of a doormat when she [[TookALevelInKindness leveled up in kindness]], allowing her father to talk down on her and almost letting her brother manipulate her into marrying his best friend for his own ploys. However, she does certainly have goals and ambition and she doesn't want to be seen as [[TheLoad a burden]] to the rest of the group. Her mother is actually aware of this and fore warns her brother that she can't be easily manipulated.
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: After seeing Griffith's [[spoiler: mutilated body]], Guts goes so [[UnstoppableRage apeshit insane on the Midland soldiers]] that his comrades are more shocked than usual at how he's [[LudicrousGibs utterly slaughtering the soldiers]] and Guts can [[LimpAndLivid barely stand when they get away.]] Only [[LoveInterest Casca's]] touch can cool him down after it all.
* EyeCatch: A rather minimalist version, just an all-black title card with a less than 1/4-screen version of the show's logo appearing in opposite corners.
* EyeRemember: A zigzagged variant. Guts's last memory in his right eye while it got clawed out were the last moments of [[spoiler: Casca's horrific rape.]] He sometimes recalls what the last sight of his right eye was in order to remind himself exactly why [[BerserkButton he hates Griffith so much]]. It's scary when others remind him of his last sight, [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/122.132/171 but when he reminds himself]] - eep.
* EyeScream: Guts gets his right eye clawed out by a demon during the finale. And worse, his remaining eye is repeatedly threatened in several following arcs.
** Not to mention the fact that eyes tend to be targeted with disturbing regularity. Arrows go through skulls taking the eyeball with them, heads are crushed causing the eyes to protrude like a real-life version of those squeeze toys, chakrams cut eyes in half, one of Bishop Mozgus' [[TortureTechnician disciples]] uses red-hot pliers to pull eyeballs out... You get the idea.
*** You forgot to mention that during his fight with the albino disciple, not only is his left eye in danger of being poked out, but his right eye gets ''re-stabbed'' by one of the disciple's talons. They just won't lay off that eye even AFTER it's gone, won't they!?
** It's not terrible in the anime, but in the manga, it happens so ridiculously often that it almost becomes a bit much for some.
*** Special mention goes to when Ganishka's transformation vaporizes the Kushan animals... Their eyeballs fly away intact as the rest of their bodies disintegrate.
** Don't forget about Casca stabbing one of her would-be rapists in the eye with a stick and then the same guy gets his remaining eye gouged by one of Judeau's knives a moment later (only in the anime). Of course, the guy had it coming, but still. * shudder*
* EyesAlwaysShut: Pippin and Serpico. Not to mention Void, whose eyelids are sewn together.
** The few times that Pippin does open his eyes, you know that things just got '''serious'''.
** Also, Guts partially plays to this trope after losing his right eye.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: A good half of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s presented in Berserk have eyeball where they just should not be. Special mention goes to Wyald, who has a three big-ass eyeballs (two on each shoulder and one on his chest), the Sea God, and [[spoiler: the Idea of Evil itself.]]
* FaceDoodling: [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/308/10 Hi-larious.]]
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: How the trolls of Qliphoth reproduce...
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Griffith]]. And how!
** Everyone who used a behelith. No exeptions. [[spoiler: Because in order to make the deal you need to sacrifice someone you honestly care for.]]
* FacePalm: Guts does this when Casca has a moment of, er, PottyFailure in volume 23.
** Roderick's expression during Magnifico's EpicFail moment.
* FamedInStory: The Band of the Hawk.
* FamousLastWords: Lots of death, lots of last words:
** "Black Swordsman! I beg of you! Hold up this devil's severed head before us, once and for all! '''''Hold it up before us!"''''' [[spoiler: Vargas.]]
** '''''"Theresia!"''''' [[spoiler: The Count.]]
** ''"You killed...Sys...."'' [[spoiler: Gambino.]]
** "Get going! You heard me, run! Get out of here while you still can!" [[spoiler: Pippin.]]
** "A woman? Here in Hell? Now I know I'm dreaming! Oh, damn it, I'm a sucker for a beautiful woman. Damn it." [[spoiler: Corkus]]. And said woman? [[spoiler:A female Apostle that proceeds to transform and eat him alive.]]
** "You cry a lot when you're alone...don't you, Casca?" [[spoiler: Judeau, trying and failing to confess his love to her.]]
** "... Don't watch..." [[spoiler: Casca's last words as a sane person before she passes out after her rape.]]
** "I'm going home..." [[spoiler:Rosine, to Jill just before her final flight.]]
*** "I'm hungry... I wonder...what's for supper...?" [[spoiler:Rosine, on her final flight. *sniff*]]
** "Maybe so... maybe I wished for you... on the throne... the king on the throne... Griffith..." [[spoiler: The King of Midland.]]
** "... But above all I am grateful to you... to have let me meet [[spoiler: Lord Mozgus.]]" [[spoiler: Mozgus' chief inquisitor.]]
** "And with our last breath of flame... let this fiend be incinerated!" [[spoiler: Lord Mozgus]]
** "Ah... the light... is overflowing..." [[spoiler: The Behelit Apostle.]]
** "May there be blessings on your new course, my beloved child." [[spoiler: Flora.]]
** "The light... envelops me..." [[spoiler: Emperor Ganishka.]]
* FanDisservice: If Volume 13 arouses you, seek psychological help. And that's only the ''worst'' example.
** Let's not forget the sexual tortures taken straight from the Spanish Inquisition era that were depicted in high detail in...well, most of the Retribution arc.
** Slan uses troll intestines to appear before Guts at Qilphoth and torment him.
* FanService: While the above trope is correct in how much disturbing sex violence there is in the manga, the cultist orgy in volume 18 is almost straight up hentai. And shortly thereafter, a teenage prostitute gets a severe spanking from another prostitute, which would certainly appeal to some.
** Volume 9 is pretty notorious for its fanservice as well.
*** The sex scene between [[spoiler: Griffith and Charlotte]] is fairly pornographic.
*** Not to mention Guts and Casca's love scene - which is also pretty graphic - offered up a rare instance of [[FemaleGaze female-targeted]] fanservice, since the MaleFrontalNudity of the cultists [[FanDisservice wasn't really pleasant to look at]], but Guts's [[MaleFrontalNudity MFN]] moment, with his [[HeroicBuild ripped]], [[ShirtlessScene sweaty]], [[CoveredWithScars scar-covered]] body.... *drool*
* FantasyCounterpartCulture:
** The Kushan Empire resembles real life south Asia, specifically [[SimSimSalabim India]], with some [[ArabianNightsDays Middle Eastern]] thrown into the mix.
** [[spoiler: Griffith's kingdom of Falconia is looking a lot like [[AncientGrome Rome]] here.]]
** There's subtle hints to the real-life counterparts of various countries mentioned by Serpico briefly in one chapter, as well as clothing choices and character names hinting at nationality. Midland has been confirmed to be the Berserk world's version of Denmark by Miura, and Chuder's "Holy Empire" seems to relate to the real German Holy Roman Empire. Farnese and Serpico coming from a fantasy version of Italy (port-based, mercentile, money-lending, seat of the Vatician). Surprisingly, most of the courtly dress rarely worn by by the various protagonists [[ShownTheirWork is quite accurate to the vaguely 15th century Europe that Berserk seems to take place in.]]
** There's also all of the traces of Scandinavian/Norse mythology about, which makes sense since Denmark is part of Scandinavia. Of course we're talking about the persistence of the berserker imagery.
** Judging by the name of the location and inhabitants (such as Skellig and Puck), and the general mythology around it, Elfhelm sound to be inspired by the [[{{Scotireland}} British Isles.]]
* FantasyKitchenSink: Yep. The Berserk-verse pretty much has everything, especially now that the magic has come back to the world, not just [[TheUsualAdversaries apostles]] (not to mention how some apostle forms are stand-ins for other supernatural creatures like [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves,]] [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaurs,]] and [[ALoadOfBull minotaurs]]) and elves ([[OurFairiesAreDifferent though they're really faeries]]) and how other apostles seem to have [[LooksLikeOrlok vampiric]] [[{{Dracula}} motifs]]): {{Unicorn}}s, [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons and their kin,]] more trolls, ogres, [[HellishHorse kelpies,]] [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent gremlin-thingies,]] [[TheUndead the walking]] [[{{Pun}} dead]], sucubi (which are really weird BlobMonster things), [[GhostPirate monster pirates,]] [[McNinja Kushan ninjas,]] WizardsAndWitches, {{golem}}s, [[ArmCannon low-tech mechanized]] humans, merfolk, telepaths, [[HornyVikings vikings]] at one point in history... oh, and [[spoiler: the evil god]]... [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/306/1 You gotta see it to believe it.]] [[TemptingFate What's Miura gonna throw at us next?]]
* FatAndSkinny: The last two members of Rosine's forest guardians while in their human form. In their demonic forms, they become a giant rhinoceros beetle and praying mantis respectively.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Being branded is the single worst fate anyone can suffer, even in [[{{CrapsackWorld}} this already 100% hostile universe]]. Not only does it make you a priority target of every demon and evil spirit in existence, it allso guarantees your ticket to the lowest pits of hell making your living flesh the last line of defense against an ocean of insanity waiting to consume your kicking and screaming soul forever. It doesn't matter how nice you have been in your life, you will end up down there. In fact, being a good person makes you a very likely target for the brand since the one sacrificing you must love you with all his heart.
* FauxActionGirl: Farnese, who is initially presented as a KnightTemplar warrior, but is just a figurehead for the Holy Iron Chain Knights.
* FavorsForTheSexy: Played for laughs in the second movie, where in Casca's unwanted menagerie of noblemen was one man who was willing to ''serenade her''. Casca didn't know how to respond, so she ran away.
* FetalPositionRebirth: Happens twice with Griffith [[spoiler: once when his body is being reconstructed as Femto, and second when he is being reincarnated into the physical world through the Child's body]]. Also, Jill is briefly seen in this position when she [[spoiler: [[WeCanRuleTogether almost took Rosine's offer.]]]]
* FetusTerrible: Guts and Casca's baby, though it is subverted; see LoveRedeems below.
* FieldOfBlades: [[spoiler: The Hawk memorial.]]
* FilkSong: The PowerMetal band Battle Beast are big ''Berserk'' fans -- their first album, "Steel" - "Band of the Hawk", about the eponymous band; "Iron Hand", about Guts; and "Victory", about the heroics of the Hawks. Their self-titled album also has the instrumental "Golden Age" as well as "Kingdom", about Griffith's murderous ambition and [[spoiler:ascension into the ranks of the God Hand]], and "Fight, Kill, Die", also about Guts.
* FindTheCure: Guts's journey to [[spoiler: Elfhelm, where Casca's post-eclipse madness may be cured]].
* FineYouCanJustWaitHereAlone: Used to a similar effect during the Griffith rescue operation, when Charlotte and her maid tag along to the Tower of Rebirth. Charlotte gets frightened quite easily, to the point where she can't even walk on her own. Begrudgingly, Guts offers to carry the princess on his back and if she didn't like it, she could just wait at the top. She accepts (Casca didn't like it very much, though).
* [[FinishingMove Finishing Move]] Guts kills almost every major Apostle villain with the same move: blast it with the [[ArmCannon arm cannon]] and then while it's reeling from that, cleave it in half with the Dragon Slayer. If he's feeling especially sadistic, such as during his Black Swordsman days, he'll torture the demon with either a dagger or his repeating crossbow.
* FireForgedFriends: Almost all of the friendships in this series are like this. Guts and Casca take the cake. [[spoiler: Surviving being literally dragged trough hell together tends to leave a mark.]]
** [[spoiler: After the Eclipse Casca doesn't even remember Guts, so this doesn't really apply post-Eclipse.]]
* FireAndIceLoveTriangle: Casca and her feelings toward Guts and Griffith. Pretty obvious on [[RedOniBlueOni who's the fire and who's the ice.]]
* FistOfRage: Guts clenches his fist in anger upon realizing his [[MyGreatestFailure great failure]] of not recognizing that [[RevengeBeforeReason Casca was more important than revenge,]] and then triumphantly clenches his fist during his [[MyGreatestSecondChance second chance resolve.]]
* FiveBadBand
** New Band Of The Hawk
*** DarkMessiah - [[spoiler:Griffith]]
*** TheDragon - Zodd
*** TheJuggernaut - Grunbeld
*** PerkyFemaleMinion - Sonia who doubles as the DarkChick
*** NobleDemon - Locus who is also TheFettered
*** TheQuietOne - Irvine
*** EnigmaticMinion - Rakshas
** The GodHand
*** DarkLord - Void
*** DarkMessiah - Femto
*** TheVamp - Slan
*** ThoseTwoBadGuys - Ubik and Conrad who also double as RedOniBlueOni, literally.
* FiveStagesOfGrief: Not quite a straight example, but the three main characters all represent some stage in dealing with grief and despair. Guts best represents the anger stage, only feeling better [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge for short bursts when he is in the heat of battle,]] but it never lasts long. Because of this, he also has traces of the denial and the depression stage when he left Casca. Griffith represents the depression stage, since after his year of torture, he just gave up all hope of attaining his dream. Alas, we find out that Griffith also stands for the bargaining stage, to [[FaceHeelTurn a very]] [[DealWithTheDevil horrific]] [[MoralEventHorizon degree.]] And Casca represents the denial stage, especially so after her traumatic ordeal of the Eclipse, where we have not seen her true self for over two years and it has been suggested by Skull Knight that Casca simply does not want to face the world after her experience. Arguably only Rickert manages to make it to the acceptance stage, mourning his fallen comrades and working through his grief [[ThereAreNoTherapists as best he can]].
* {{Flanderization}}: During The Black Swordsman Arc Puck was noticeably less silly.
* FlashbackEcho: Happens a few times to Guts. The first time was during he and Casca's first night together, when [[spoiler: he has flashbacks of his childhood rape while he's trying to make love to her (conveniently when he begins having sex with her from behind), and he almost strangles her as a result of the post-traumatic stress.]] A second time comes during the Conviction Arc, when [[spoiler: Farnese is pinned down and is about to get raped by a possessed horse, and the horrifying sight bears an uncanny resemblance to the time when Casca was raped by Femto]]. This triggers Guts' BerserkButton BIG TIME.
** Also, the only time insane Casca has any recollection of her past life is when she is about to be assaulted... which triggers an onslaught of horrifying images [[spoiler: of her assault and rape during the eclipse.]] The end result has varied, from her remaining [[DamselInDistress virtually defenseless]] until someone comes and saves her, or when she flies into a hysterical rage and goes AxCrazy [[DamselOutOfDistress on her assailants.]]
* FlayingAlive: .... Oh, Griffith.... This was otherwise used in the Retribution Arc with a priest of the Holy See. (Poor Griffith...)
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: How Serpico and Farnese met. After getting beat up by some local bullies and left in the snow, Farnese finds Serpico and brings him back to her family's mansion. She begins to nurse him back to health... but says that [[MistressAndServantBoy he has to be her servant boy from then on.]]
* FlowerMotifs: The morning after sleeping with her Griffith leaves Charlotte the pendant she gave him before a major battle and a piece of Lily of the Valley which represents returning happiness.
* FoeTossingCharge: Guts loves this trope, [[JustifiedTrope and rightly justified too]] since it was his job in the Hawks as raiding commander. Except for that one time during the Eclipse, where, well, [[HopeSpot you know what happened.]]
* {{Foil}}: Guts and Griffith. They even have distinguishing colors, Griffith is the "Hawk of Light" while Guts is the "Black Swordsman."
* ForcedToWatch: One of the most heinous examples in anime. Guts is forced to watch Casca be [[spoiler: brutally raped to the point of insanity]] by [[spoiler:Griffith [[FaceHeelTurn turned]] Femto]]. He tries to reach her [[spoiler: by chiseling off his own arm which was trapped in the jaws of a demon]] only to be dogpiled by more demons and was forced to watch [[spoiler: the rape as a demon clawed out his right eye]].
* ForcefulKiss: One of the supreme examples of FanDisservice in the series was when Femto kisses Casca [[spoiler: right after he got done molesting her and before he began raping her in front of Guts.]] As a finale to this heinous act, he forcefully tongue kisses her as he [[spoiler: explicitly rapes her from behind, making sure Guts sees EVERY DETAIL of what he's been doing to her.]]
** Guts also forcefully kissed Casca when [[spoiler: his EnemyWithin [[NearRapeExperience almost drove him to rape her]].]]
** And then Slan kisses Guts in Qliphoth. Imagine softly kissing your lover's tender lips - [[FanDisservice which are made of troll guts.]] [[{{Squick}} Hm.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: A lot of it takes place within Berserk, from [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Guns]] to [[VaguenessIsComing prophetic bombshells.]] One particularly disturbing piece of foreshadowing is presented in volume two, where [[spoiler: Vargas's description of how he was ForcedToWatch his family get tortured and eaten by the Count and how he was mutilated in the act alluded to how Guts was forced to watch Casca's rape at Femto's hands and how he [[LifeOrLimbDecision mutilated himself]] while trying to save her.]]
** [[spoiler: Shortly before the eclipse there is a scene in wich a crippled and helpless Griffith desparately throws himself at Casca. It upsets her very much and is disturbing by itself, but when he forces himself on her again as Femto...]] [[{{HarsherInHindsight}} Yeah, creepy...]]
** Currently, a popular theory within the fandom is that [[spoiler: Puck's persistent interaction with the Behelit is foreshadowing that he will be the next to activate it.]]
** Another interesting one during one of Guts and Griffith's first encounters. Griffith tells Guts that he "wants him", making Guts ask if he's gay, though Griffith meant as a soldier. Later however it's revealed that Griffith developed some pretty strong feelings for Guts, that may have gone beyond simply friendship.
*** You can take this in another context of foreshadowing where Griffith tells Guts the usual "You belong to me" lecture after their naked water fight, but then he adds that ''he'' would determine the place and time of Guts' death. [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot Hmmmmm...]]
**** In the end, this all wraps up to some pretty [[FridgeHorror creepy]] FridgeBrilliance when the Eclipse happens [[spoiler: when Griffith brands Guts, Casca, and the Hawks. The brands marks those who are chosen as sacrifice by the apostle-to-be, and it is later revealed that a branded sacrifice can't be sacrificed by any one else, only the apostle who branded them in the first place. Basically, so long as they're branded, Guts and Casca literally belong to Griffith.]]
* ForegoneConclusion: Since so much of the manga is a flashback, you already know that [[spoiler:Guts loses an arm and an eye, gets a prosthetic arm and a BFS, gets marked with the symbol of sacrifice, ends up becoming an embittered wanderer who has lost almost everything and, oh yeah, you know that Griffith becomes the BigBad after sacrificing Guts for power.]]
* ForgingScene: Guts has maintenance done on his [[{{BFS}} Dragonslayer]] via this.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: While Casca didn't die and Guts remembers what happened to her ''[[ForcedToWatch very vividly]]'', which drove him to {{Revenge}} the most, he forgot about the pain she suffered during the Eclipse and left her for two years to waste away in his own pain and sadness, sometimes forgetting that he wasn't the sole survivor of the Eclipse. This led to his WhatTheHellHero lecture from Godo and to his MyGreatestFailure revelation later.
* FormFittingWardrobe: [[MrFanservice Guts]] and [[MsFanservice Casca]] have clothing that make sure to give detail to every curve and muscle on their body.
* FranchiseZombie: Possibly even more terrifying than the possibility of AuthorExistenceFailure, there have been recent allegations that Miura has simply ''lost the drive to continue Berserk'' and he fears that he might never finish on his own accord.
** This might have narrowly been [[AvertedTrope averted]], as WordOfGod spoke in a recent mini series that he wasn't planning on giving up on ''Berserk'' just yet.
* FromBadToWorse: Has pretty much been the hallmark of the series in general. The Eclipse was only the beginning. For reference, this is a series that ''started'' with [[spoiler:the main character's adoptive father arranging to have him raped, then trying to murder him, forcing the kid to kill him]]. And yes, it gets worse from there. The world and the characters get hit with this so much that the series might as well be called "FromBadToWorse: The Series."
* FullFrontalAssault: Casca does this quite often, since she won't let the threat of rape keep her from prevailing over her those who attempt to do so. Sorta mixed with a heroic and a villainous example in the latest scenario in volume 23, where [[spoiler: some bandits strip her naked and try to gang rape her, but Casca grabs a sword and kills them all, covering herself in their blood. The display is quite erotic, but the fact that she is genuinely AxCrazy at this point due to [[FlashbackEcho traumatic flashbacks]], adding the part that Guts saw this and became aroused to the point that he almost raped her himself, takes away from that aspect.]]
** In the third movie, [[spoiler: Guts assumes such a position against the Skull Knight, since Skull Knight's introduction scene is merged with Guts and Casca's love scene.]] Of course, this is a heroic variant.
** Can't forget ol' Zodd during his introduction. Clearly villainous.
* FunctionalMagic: Schierke's magic seems to be a cross of Theurgy and Rule Magic, elves and demons have innate talent, and there are magic items like behelits and the cursed armor.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Usually involving Puck and/or Isidro and later Magnifico.
** The pirates get one when discussing their captain's latest idiot plan while he's trying to make an impressive speech to the heroes. He casually reaches for a rope and pulls, [[AmusingInjuries tightening nooses around their necks and hauling them up]] without breaking his stride.
* FutileHandReach: Add SayMyName and you have a typical Guts-saves-Casca scenario.
* GainaxEnding: The ending of anime was comprised of a NoEnding, [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole adaptation induced plot holes]], a CliffHanger, and the GeckoEnding as mentioned below, not to mention the ForegoneConclusion that opened the animated series in the first place. And all of this was wrapped in a package full of [[{{DownerEnding}} downer]].
* GameBreakingInjury: Guts first encounters the Holy Iron Chain Knights after getting the hell smacked out of him by Rosine. He still manages to kill several of them before getting knocked out.
* GardenOfEvil: Qliphoth.
* GeckoEnding: We all know how horribly ''this'' was averted in the anime...
* GenreDeconstruction: Berserk pretty much takes common fantasy and anime tropes, then makes Guts chop them up into little pieces with his {{BFS}}. More specifically, Berserk deconstructs the entire {{Shonen}} genre and bits of the HighFantasy genre, since Berserk itself is the [[{{Seinen}} direct]] [[LowFantasy opposite.]]
* GenreShift: Lately, ''Berserk'' seems to have switched from being a [[GrimDark gritty]], [[DarkFantasy dark]], [[GothicHorror almost gothic,]] [[LowFantasy low fantasy]] [[CosmicHorrorStory horror story]] to a more whimsical [[HeroicFantasy heroic fantasy]] adventure. Don't get too relaxed though...
** Also worth mentioning that Miura first intended that ''Beserk'' be done in the {{Shonen}} style of story-telling during his EarlyInstallmentWeirdness with ''Berserk the Prototype.''
* GeometricMagic: Schierke casts a lot of her spells by drawing runes and magic circles. The charms that she draws over Guts and Casca's brands to dampen their effect are an example of this.
* GiantMook: Many, starting with Bazuso and getting progressively bigger.
** Even before that, during the same time frame but a different arc (the Boyhood Arc), Guts had to fight a "mini" giant mook in the form of a lord's brutish son, whom he intended for Guts to get killed by in order to boost the boy's courage for an impending battle. The odds were not in the son's favor.
* GibberishOfLove: It's really the only way to describe Guts' speech pattern toward Casca during the ball.
* GodIsEvil
** GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: The pagan cults really aren't any better than the Church, since they seem to be worshipping the Godhand by different names, [[spoiler: and of course the Godhand is subservient to the Idea of Evil.]]
* GoGoEnslavement: When Casca and Nina were captured by the pagans, Nina was stripped naked and intended to be used as a sacrifice, while Casca was dressed in a poncho that barely covered her, and was intended to become the Great Goathead's, er, "[[MaritalRapeLicense bride]]".
* GoingCommando: [[ArcWords In this world]], undergarments do not seem very common, [[ClothingDamage especially for the ladies]]. This could be some TruthInTelevision, since, due to the level of modesty in the era, people didn't talk about their underwear in the Middle Ages much, nor could organic clothing last for centuries, so we have very little to base this on and can only speculate what people wore for underwear back then [[http://historymedren.about.com/od/clothingandfabric/ss/underwear.htm based on pictures]]. Schierke and Isma are clearly seen using underwear in the latest volumes, which look a bit like 19th century bloomers, but that's measured against countless examples to the contrary.
* GoldfishPoopGang: The pirates. Bandits in general really.
** Then you have the holy iron chain knights who wear fancy armor but are actually a bunch of sheltered rich boys with no fighting skills whatsoever who make other {{Mooks}} look competent.
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: [[spoiler: While being imprisoned in a deep, dark dungeon, his sole human contact being with the [[RedRightHand deformed little man]] who is responsible for torturing him for a year]] Griffith wonders if he will go insane - or if he has already gone off the deep end.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Half of what contributes to Casca's madness after the Eclipse.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Although they had some slight difficulties in the beginning [[spoiler: what with Guts having some traumatic flashbacks of his child rape and nearly choked Casca because of it]] Guts and Casca are really the only two people who have had good sex in this series (''really'' good sex considering that [[spoiler: [[IntimatePsychotherapy Guts was relieved of his trauma because of he and Casca's moment]]]]). All other sex scenes in ''Berserk'' have either been {{squick}}, [[RapeAsDrama rape]], or [[NauseaFuel squick AND rape...]] Though, a close second would be [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Luca]] and [[NiceGuy Jerome]], but he did still pay her since she was a prostitute on duty.
* {{Gorn}}: Kentaro Miura seems to have a penchant for massive head injuries that borders on the erotic...
** To say nothing for combining scenes of brutal torture and dismemberment with scenes of brutal rape--two horrible tastes that go even worse together. Sometimes one actually results in the other--and not always in a specific order, either.
** GoryDiscretionShot: And funnily enough, this was used in the first episode of the anime, since [[LighterAndSofter the anime toned down on the gorn.]]
*** The trope also appeared in the second episode when Guts defeated Bazuzo (in the manga, it shows Guts splattering his head in two with his [[EyeScream eyeball popping out]] at a bonus).
* GothicHorror: ''Berserk'' certainly had the archetypical atmosphere in the Black Swordsman Arc, the Retribution Arc, and in ''The Prototype''. Traces of the genre are found throughout the series though, since it tends to overlap with DarkFantasy.
* GrandRomanticGesture: Roderick, upon proposing to Farnese, gave her a balcony full of roses. Oddly enough, he actually didn't like the idea, saying that roses represented petty and snobbish women when he thought Farnese was nothing like that.
* GratuitousEnglish: The opening ''and'' ending theme songs.
** Wyald's motto of "Enjoy exciting!"
** Cap'n Bonebeard delivers, for absolutely no reason, the lines "Come on-a my house!" and "[[BarackObama Yes we can!]]"
* GrayRainOfDepression: Played straight when Guts has his FreakOut post-Eclipse.
* GreekChorus: [[ThoseTwoGuys Sir Owen and Sir Laban]] fit this role, especially in the Golden Age Arc, always seen together and commenting on Griffith's role in the court, but never actually interacting with the primary characters.
* GreenEyedMonster: Several instances of this:
** First, and perhaps the biggest example, pre-Eclipse Griffith grows ''green with envy'' when he notices that Guts and Casca have become an item, KubrickStare and all. It is unclear who he envies more due to his [[AmbiguouslyGay ambiguous sexual orientation]]. It's possibly [[DepravedBisexual both]].
*** Don't forget that even before that, Casca was really jealous of the attention that Guts got from Griffith.
** Averted with Judeau. Despite his [[UnrequitedLove unrequited]] crush on Casca, he knows he has no chance whatsoever, noticing the bound she and Guts had formed, even before either of them would realize it. Preferring to lose with honour, he helps a lot in the cementing of Guts and Casca's relationship, even going as far as [[spoiler: encouraging Guts to take Casca away with him, by force if necessary]].
** During the Griffith rescue operation, Casca had the GreenEyedMonster attitude toward Princess Charlotte for a bit, since she admitted that she was still worshiping Griffith like before, even after [[spoiler: she and Guts made love for the first time earlier.]] She tried reconciling to herself, but ended up saying the wrong thing to Guts about the matter, which succeeded in pissing Guts off [[spoiler: even though HE admitted to himself that he couldn't take his mind off Griffith.]] But don't worry - they made up later.
** Then, post-Eclipse, there's the unspoken rivalry between Sonia and Charlotte. Charlotte is Griffith's MealTicket, but is too smitten and [[NaiveEverygirl naïve]] to realize it. Sonia is a faithful servant to Griffith, gifted with clairvoyance, and as such considers herself the only girl worthy of him. Sonia is very jealous of Charlotte but her nascent and reciprocated bond with [[TheQuietOne Irvine]] might wash it all out.
** There's also the jealousy Farnese feels for Casca for being the object of Guts's affection. Farnese is technically betrothed to Roderick, who is himself quite handsome, but she definitely has a crush on Guts who doesn't see her beyond being Casca's caretaker. Farnese even breaks down in front of Casca, telling her that she's really ungrateful to ignore Guts after all he did for her but Casca being insane and retarded, it doesn't do shit, although Casca seems to understand Farnese's distress.
*** This might actually have played out for the best [[spoiler: or, knowing this series, worst]] concerning Guts's relationship with Casca in her present state, since it would appear that after her scolding from Farnese, Casca has been slowly warming up to Guts again and was in a room with him alone [[spoiler: except for Puck and Evarella]] and seemingly unafraid of his presence. So, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero nice job fixing it]], [[TheLoad load girl]].
** Finally, there's Schierke's PrecociousCrush on Guts but, unlike Farnese, Schierke only has shades of this and knows deep down that she's way too young for Guts (he is more than twice her age). Plus, her PuppyLove moments with Isidro also seem to drop some hints about who she may eventually like.
* GrievousBottleyHarm: During a BarBrawl, Schierke manages to knock one lecherous drunk out cold with a bottle.
* GrievousHarmWithABody
* GutPunch: [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot Guess.]] Oww...
* {{HamToHamCombat}}: Mozgus (who constantly tells Guts how the lord is swiftly going to smite him) versus Guts (who in turn tells Mozgus to take his religion and shove it where the sun won't shine) is as much about talking smack as it is about actual violence.
* HandOnWomb: It's debatable, but some fans believe that [[spoiler: Casca knew about her pregnancy before the Eclipse]] as one possible giveaway is in volume 12 where she is seen [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/071/14/ resting her hand on her stomach.]]
* {{Hannibal Lecture}}: Subverted when Farnese captures Guts thinking that he is the [[TheAntichrist anti-Christ]], even though he's only really a [[TheBigGuy towering]], [[DarkIsNotEvil dark]], [[WalkingTheEarth loner]] {{Jerkass}}, who [[WalkingDisasterArea leaves a path of destruction and gore behind him wherever he goes]]. He tells her that she and her entire religious order has no idea how the real world works. [[WhipItGood Farnese is not amused by this insolence]]. She continues to be unamused when she witnesses the horror of the real world first hand.
* HappilyAdopted: Guts's early childhood is a rather nasty subversion of this trope.
** Godo's young daughter Erica.
* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom: A Hawk soldier who got a third of his body bitten off stumbles out of the castle that Guts's party was raiding and warns them of Nosferatu Zodd.
** Guts acts as this in the beginning of the manga toward a priest and his daughter who offer him transport, saying that evil spirits are following him and that it would be [[WeirdnessMagnet unwise to be near him]]. The priest dismisses it, saying that he has "good spirits" on his side ([[FalseReassurance Puck]])... Too bad the priest didn't know that [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism this attitude]] is InherentInTheSystem.
* HarmfulToMinors: Guts has had it ''rough'' as a kid. On a related note, he is also this himself due to [[spoiler:killing a noble's child who witnessed a murder of his]] and for just putting various small children in harms way, but hey, so long as they don't ''die''...
* HatesBeingTouched: Guts, quite vocally at the beginning, [[spoiler:as a result of being raped as a child.]]
** This trope is applied to post-Eclipse Casca as well, after [[spoiler:''she'' gets raped.]]
* HealingHands: Puck.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Guts. Big time. Ever since [[spoiler: the Eclipse's aftermath, his one true soulmate Casca, due to her [[TheOphelia unfortunate condition]], just can't reciprocate anything he feels for her. And, to make it worse, the Beast's urgings almost got him to [[NearRapeExperience rape]] her. Consequently, Casca now fears Guts and outright refuses to be around him.]] (But the quest to Elfhelm might change this...)
** However, this might come at a price, since [[spoiler: even though the Skull Knight said that there was a chance for Casca to be cured, which truly lifted Guts's spirit for the first time in a long while, the Skull Knight also said that what Guts wishes for might not be what Casca wishes for. When thinking back on this, [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/237.246/44 Guts really looks frustrated and heartbroken again]].]] To stick to the optimism, Casca seems to be warming up to Guts little by little after Farnese scolded her, [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/296/4 since it appears that she]] [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/296/5 can at least handle being in the same room as Guts is in]] [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/296/6 without the others.]]
* TheHeartless: [[spoiler: The Idea Of Evil is basically one giant heartless of '''humanity itself''', as humans needed a reason for suffering and the [[CrapsackWorld general crapsackiness of Midland, and well, everywhere else.]] It sometimes seems as if Apostles also derive some of their power from the suffering they inflict.]]
** Also, the Beast ([[HellHound mentioned below]]), who doubles as Guts' EnemyWithin AND his SuperPoweredEvilSide, as it was born out of all of the negative emotions that Guts gained after the Eclipse, and it disturbingly lived in harmony with Guts for two years. But when Guts decided to put [[PowerOfHate hate]] aside for [[PowerOfLove love]], that's when things got nasty.
* HeldGaze: Guts and Casca do this at least twice to each other at the end of volume 8, when Guts was preparing to leave the Hawks, but he was still grappling with [[ObliviousToLove the feelings that he was developing for Casca.]] In fact, the whole event on the hill was more or less orchestrated by Casca because of ''her'' [[LoveEpiphany growing feelings for Guts.]] Then they do it a few more times when Guts comes back after a year, but this time around, [[RelationshipUpgrade the end result was more favorable.]]
* HellHound: The Beast. Easily one of the most vicious and evil entities in the series, and that is saying something. The worst part? It's the SuperPoweredEvilSide Guts is trying so hard to suppress and that [[spoiler:tries constantly to goad Guts into killing Casca so it could take full control of Guts's mind and turn him into a being of pure hatred.]]
* HellOnEarth: [[spoiler:What happens when someone summons the God Hand and the Eclipse]].
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Several characters wear them, but they always find their way off their heads halfway through battle. And then everyone just stops wearing them.
* [[HereThereWereDragons Here There Were Elves]]: Puck and Schierke have both mentioned that back in the day, it was very common place for people to seek the aide of witches and wizards, elves were just about everywhere, and the majority of people believed in pagan worship, coming down to the fact that even though the planes weren't merged, the natural world was very much aware of the supernatural world. But with the rise of [[CrystalDragonJesus the Holy See]], the old ways have all but been either forgotten or pariahed. But never fear, for [[spoiler: Femto's [[TheMagicComesBack reality warping powers are here!]]]] Of course, it might not be the ''best'' thing [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore to happen to the world...]]
* HeroWorshipper: Isidro
* TheHerosJourney: Or ''Berserk: The Epic of Guts.'' Guts' story seems to be following the basic guidelines of the archetype, starting with:
** Unusual Birth: Guts Was born from the corpse of a hanged woman.
** The Ordinary World: His early life takes place in a roaming mercenary band in a CrapsackWorld.
** Need for Adventure: When he is cast out from his home band, Guts roams from battlefield to battlefield and works for numerous companies, but doesn't know what he wants for himself.
** CallToAdventure: [[IncitingIncident Guts' fight with Bazuzo]] was witnessed by Griffith and he was later initiated into the Hawks. This serves as Guts' first taste of the strange world, since adjusting to a life with the Hawks was a bit odd for him (a group made up of younger members who had strong bonds with one another, not to mention how they were {{Weirdness Magnet}}s themselves).
** First SupernaturalAid: Nosferatu Zodd gives Guts a chilling prophecy of things to come.
** Crossing the First Threshold: Guts leaves the Hawks in order to find meaning to his own dream, and defeating Griffith, who takes the place of the [[ThresholdGuardians threshold guardian]], allows him access to achieving this. Guts receives a second prophetic warning from the [[MysteriousProtector Skull Knight]] which serves as his second supernatural aid in his journey.
** The BellyOfTheWhale: When he returns to the Hawks a year later, the tragic Eclipse happens. His flesh is seared and scattered, and he is "reborn" as a new man with [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge a burning vengeance.]] He is now fully initiated into the strange world, and is given further supernatural aids (the Dragonslayer and possibly his cursed brand).
** Right now, Guts' story seems to be set in the Road of Trials segment: he is struggling out of his personal and dark abyss that was created from the events of the Eclipse after [[MoralityChain finding his light]] (who is Casca, in place of [[HerosMuse the goddess figure]]) [[WorthLivingFor and a new meaning to his life,]] yet there are many obstacles that [[TheCorruptible threaten to pull him into that darkness]] (examples: his EnemyWithin, or his encounter with [[TheVamp Slan]]). This also overlaps with the Night Sea Voyage, first where Guts had [[RescueArc to rescue Casca from the Tower of Conviction,]] and currently he is crossing the vast sea in order [[FindTheCure to retrieve a cure for her insanity.]] Since Miura [[LongRunner isn't planning on ending the series anytime soon]], and with the suggestions of the rest of the guidelines, [[{{WMG}} the possibilities are endless of what is in store for Guts next.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Griffith has one of these [[spoiler: after losing ownership of Guts]] in a duel which ended with his sword getting shattered.
** Happened a lot more than that. First instance happened with Guts after he assassinated Duke Julius' son by mistake. During the Eclipse, Guts almost lapses into this as a result of [[spoiler: Griffith's betrayal]], but snaps out of with rage. The most severe case in the series by far is what happened to Casca, who experienced physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional trauma so horrifying during the Eclipse that she is now ''[[GoMadFromTheRevelation mentally gone]].''
* HeroicResolve: When Guts was surrounded by the apostles who were taunting him with the half-eaten remains of his comrades and friends during the Eclipse, he gave an angry shout that was almost as if in defeat. But when he saw his lover helpless and in danger, '''[[UnstoppableRage he got pissed the fuck off.]]'''
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Judeau]], without a doubt.
** Likely [[spoiler: Pippin]], as well.
* HeroicSecondWind: Guts had one of these moments during his battle with Wyald (ironically after he had a HeroicResolve moment when he saved Casca). After being thrown into a tree and left dangling there within an inch of life, Wyald approaching to finish the job, Guts has a flashback of when he was living with Godo and Erica. Erica questioned Guts about why he would put himself into such brutal situations, even while training, and Guts answered her by saying that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours he wants to get strong enough]] to defeat a monster whose strength was beyond any that he could imagine. Erica asked Guts if he would lose, to which he replied that he didn't know; she asked him if he would win, and he gives the same answer; then she asked him what would happen if he loses or wins... and that apparently gave Guts the strength to inflict some damage on Wyald in order to escape, giving Guts ample time to formulate a plan in order to defeat him.
* HeroicWillpower: Although its cursed, Guts is able to wear the Berserker Armor to its full potential [[spoiler: by "full potential" it still increases his endurance by minimizing the amount of pain he feels]] without being completely taken over by his SuperPoweredEvilSide, with the help Schierke.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Guts, obviously, for quite some time. It got to the point that some of the more sympathetic Apostles (ie, Rosine) are outright ''terrified'' of him. The Knights of the Holy Iron Chain are wrong in believing that the Black Swordsman is a mass-murdering psychotic, but their reasons for thinking so are entirely justified.
** And Emperor Ganishka. He wants to defeat [[spoiler: Griffith and his army of Apostles]], and in doing so [[spoiler: becomes a titanic monstrosity and sacrifices virtually all of his human soldiers.]] Somewhat subverted in that [[spoiler: he was an Apostle before he waged war on Griffith.]]
** The Skull Knight, though we've never been definitively told his backstory. All that's certain is that he sacrificed his humanity to fight against Apostles and the God Hand.
* HeyItsThatVoice
** On the Japanese side:
*** Guts shares his voice with a bunch of {{Badass}}es such as [[{{Macross7}} Basara]], [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Nnoitra]] or [[SoulSeries Maxi]].
*** Griffith is several different [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white haired]] villains including Bashou (Hun) and Mikuri (Wallace) in {{Anime/Pokemon}} and Sephiroth from FinalFantasyVII, as well as the Fourth Hokage in Franchise/{{Naruto}}. When there's a new Berserk movie, ironically, he is [[FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]].
*** Judeau is Garra and [[Franchise/HarryPotter Tom Riddle]].
*** Rickert is VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon
*** Void is Horatio Caine, [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Professor Oak]], [[Franchise/{{Naruto}} Zabuza]], [[Anime/CowboyBebop JetBlack]], and [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Van Hohenheim]]
*** Casca is [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]]. In the new movie, she is instead [[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma Bullet]].
*** Slan is [[GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]].
*** The Skull Knight in the movies is [[Franchise/MetalGear Solid Snake]].
** On the English side:
*** You can tell that Guts' voice is the same as 4Kids' [[Franchise/OnePiece Roronoa Zoro]].
*** "[[HilariousOuttakes So which one]] [[Creator/SeanSchemmel of you guys is]] [[Anime/DragonBallZ Goku]]?"
*** Princess [[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Misty]]...I mean, Charlotte, [[Creator/RachaelLillis is pretty recognizable too]].
*** Fans of Anime/SonicX will immediatly recognize [[MikePollock Adon's]] voice.
*** Casca's English voice actor is [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami Tomoe]].
* HiddenDepths: Lots of characters, Guts, Casca, Farnse, and even minor character Pippin gets a moment. Probably the biggest would be the manga itself which for the first two volumes seems very much like its just going to be volume after volume of ONLY sex and violence and then...character development, story, questions of morality, and so on enter the picture.
* HiddenElfVillage: Elfhelm, the home of the elves, witches, and wizards of the world that is located on the island of Skellig might be a straight example of this, but since we have yet to physically encounter it, Schierke and Flora's home in the spirit tree is the closest thing, as both are on the Interstice, locations that are between the natural and the supernatural worlds that cannot be located by normal humans. Young Schierke displays the typical [[NoSocialSkills isolationist]] tendencies as an inhabitant of such a village.
* HighPressureBlood: In SPADES.
* HilariousOuttakes: Including Griffith's actor bursting into song at hilarious moments.
* HisQuirkLivesOn: After [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot The Eclipse]], Guts adds [[spoiler:throwing knives]] to his arsenal, modeled after [[spoiler:Judeau]].
* HistoryRepeats: During the Conviction Arc at the showdown at the Tower of Punishment, Casca is caught by Mozgus and is handed over to the mob to be burned at the stake as a witch. All the while, [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot the sun is getting covered up]], [[RedRightHand the tower is crumbling in an uncanny resemblance of a hand]], and Guts is once again struggling and fighting his way through hoards of evil spirits so he can make it to Casca in time to save her. Yep. A mock eclipse is happening, and Guts fears that he won't be able to save Casca again.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: There are some examples
** Guts: GotzVonBerlichingen (1480–1562), a German knight, was the leader of a band of mercenary soldiers and attained the reputation as a Robin Hood figure. In 1504, his right arm was struck by enemy cannon fire and a prosthetic iron arm was developed to replace it. Guts' iron arm, in his original character concept, is very similar to Götz's iron arm kept in the Nüremberg Museum. However, [[WordOfGod Miura stated in an interview]] that he created Guts independently and that he did not find out about von Berlichingen until after several volumes of the manga had been published, so this appears coincidental.
** Emperor Gaiseric: The Emperor Gaiseric alluded to in volume 10 was based on the actual King Genseric who ruled the Vandals' kingdom in Europe in the 5th century. He was famed as a brilliant general who was seen as a threat even to the Roman Empire. In the manga, Gaiseric is said to have created a vast empire, similar to the Romans, that was destroyed by God's wrath. He banded together his small tribe and brought them great fame as a kingdom that exercised its authority in the Mediterranean region.
*** [[spoiler:It is hinted that Emperor Gaiseric survived his fallen empire in the form of the Skull Knight, a recurring character who aids Guts and stands in opposition to the God Hand]].
** Emperor Ganishka: The Emperor Ganishka, working as Griffith's enemy in Berserk, was based on King Kanishka, who ruled over the actual Kushan Empire, a vast empire in India and Central Asia during the 2nd century. He was also a profound Buddhist and adorned his empire with its respective figures and promoted it vigorously. Like his real-life counterpart, Ganishka also decorates his palace with famous Buddhist and Hindu figures, but has demonized them to suit his nature.
** Mozgus appears to be based on Ivan the Terrible, due to his daily routine of slamming his face into the ground during prayer and his biblical methods of execution.
* HoldingHands: Daaaah! They're so cute together, Guts and Casca! ... Too bad!
** IntertwinedFingers: And of course, this happens during their love scene.
* HoldingYourShoulderMeansInjury: Justified in the case of Casca in volume 8, where she gets shot by a poison dart in the shoulder during her fight with Adon.
* HollywoodMagnetism: Guts is able to grasp his {{BFS}} with his prosthetic hand thanks to magnets.
* HolyBacklight: Griffith presents himself in this manner quite a few times, especially after his [[spoiler: reincarnation.]] The stark contrast of [[EmergingFromTheShadows how Guts introduces himself.]]
* HollywoodPersonalityDisorders: Insanity seems to be one of the many underlying themes in ''Berserk'' with a chunkful of the characters having a range of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything insinuated psychological problems.]]
** Guts' personality highlights ''paranoid personality disorder.'' Ever since his [[spoiler: childhood rape]] Guts has trouble forming bonds with people, has a hard time trusting them, [[PillowPistol and always sleeps with his sword.]]
** Griffith's personality highlights ''narcissistic personality disorder'' as he would normally [[ItsAllAboutMe put his interest before those of others]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing even if he seemed well-intentioned.]]
** Emperor Ganishka ''might'' have started out having paranoid personality disorder ever since [[spoiler: his mother tried to poison him]], but it quickly became ''antisocial personality disorder'' when he became an apostle, since according to him, everyone is out to get him.
** Apostles such as the Snake Baron, Wyald, and the Count show signs of ''sadistic personality disorder''.
** Farnese's earlier behavior is a candidate for ''borderline personality disorder'' as she was seen being sympathetic and professional one moment and then totally out of line and hysterical the next.
** Nina has shades of ''dependent personality disorder.'' She is seen being very dependent on Luca and can't seem to function properly without her guidance to an extreme.
** [[{{Muggles}} In the eyes of other]], Schierke would have ''schizotypal personality disorder,'' what with her otherworldly philosophy, her [[RobeAndWizardHat magical getup]], and her [[NoSocialSkills lack of social experience]] (and the fact that she actually practices magic). Sonja could count too.
* {{Homage}}: The names of the Godhand demons are all references to classic science-fiction books. These books are ''Destination: Void'' by Creator/FrankHerbert, ''Literature/{{Slan}}'' by Creator/AEVanVogt, ''And Call Me Conrad'' by Creator/RogerZelazny, and ''Literature/{{Ubik}}'' by Creator/PhilipKDick.
** Miura also makes many visual homages to various paintings, including the works of M.C. Escher and Hieronymus Bosch.
* HopeIsScary: We all know the general mood that Guts has been in since the Eclipse, but in volume 28, Guts is given a glimmer of hope when the Skull Knight suggests that Casca might be cured of her insanity once and for all if Guts can get her to Elfhelm. The message is so paralyzing that [[WhenHeSmiles Guts actually smiles a real smile]] at the thought of Casca being returned to normal... that is, IF that's what she truly wants, so says the Skull Knight. Now, Guts is more worried over the Skull Knight's cryptic message than whether Casca can be cured at all.
* HopeSpot: People think that Mozgus is an angel sent from God. They can only watch him fight Guts who they perceive as evil during a sacrifice and are absolutely convinced that Mozgus will deliver them from evil. Guts then brutally kills him and they all have a few moments of absolute horror before the demons consume them (except a scant few who manage to cluster around his corpse, which protects them).
** And ironically, as monstrous as he might have been, Mozgus was doing a decent job of that. He and his disciples were fighting off the demons pretty well, and even after his death, Mozgus' body is consumed in the flames he was able to breathe, and those keep back the demons from killing the few people who huddle around his body thinking him a fallen angel/saint.
** At the beginning of the Eclipse ceremony, we see Griffith in a moment of hesitation about whether he really wants to go through with this or not, making the audience believe for a brief second that [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules Griffith wasn't going to sell out his friends and comrades.]] [[ForegoneConclusion Oh, wait.]] [[FaceHeelTurn Nevermind.]]
** The HopeSpot that got all of our hopes up in a very shitty way was when [[spoiler: Guts sees Casca in the hands of demons and tries to rescue her, only to have his arm chomped down on by a demon. Then Femto comes along and starts [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty having his way with Casca]], so Guts takes a last resort at saving her by [[LifeOrLimbDecision chiseling off his own arm]] in order to free himself from the demon. Seeing that he's mere feet away from Femto and Casca, it seems as though Guts will at least be able to save Casca from what was happening to her already and kill Femto.... it doesn't happen. [[ForcedToWatch And we all know what ensues after Guts gets dog-piled by demons moments after freeing himself from one]].]]
*** This is amped up in the third movie, with Guts being thwarted not twice, but '''thrice'''. Once Guts was done, [[spoiler: in this version, ''ripping the rest of his arm off'', Guts charged toward Femto and Casca with the broken sword and actually DID get within striking range to end Femto. However, Guts could never land a blow because Femto used his reality warping power to [[DeflectorShields put up a force field between he and Guts]], and despite all of his willpower ([[TheDeterminator in which Guts managed to edge a bit closer to Femto]]), it's not enough and Guts is sent flying several meters back away from Femto and Casca.]] After that, Guts tries ''again'', but then the infamous DogPileOfDoom happens.
** In addition, Casca briefly regains her sanity at the end of the non-canon Dreamcast game before she reverts to her child-like state.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Luca. She's also one of the few genuinely good characters here.
* HornedHumanoid: Zodd.
* HornyDevils: Slan and the demon-chick from the opening pages
** Wyald and many other male apostles also qualify when they are in the presence of a human female.
* HotSpringsEpisode: Against all odds there is one when Guts and his new crew visit Flora's mansion, which must be the nicest place in the entire CrapsackWorld. It's especially soothing since A: The ladies [[{{Fanservice}} can be naked without someone or something trying to rape them.]] and B: [[{{Fridge Horror}} Guts really, REALLY needed a bath after two years of uninterrupted demon slaying.]]
* HotterAndSexier: Again, given that ''Berserk'' is being presented in a whole new medium with brand new special effects, a lot more elements can be exaggerated, such as sex scenes. Unfortunately, since the movies also [[BloodierAndGorier played up violence]], and most sex scenes in ''Berserk'' are rape or near rape, most of these scenes [[NauseaFuel aren't very delightful to watch.]]
* HowDareYouDieOnMe: When she thinks Guts got pummeled to death by the Apostle Wyald, Casca goes into a tearful rage and starts slapping the shit out of Guts's face.
** She tried this again during the Eclipse on [[spoiler: Judeau.]] Unfortunately, [[KilledOffForReal it was not as effective.]]
** Gambino mutters something like this about Sys in his delirium after his leg got blown off. Implied that he tried to get back to her time as she lay dying, but he was too late. Possibly the '''ONLY''' time [[PetTheDog one can possibly shed a tear for this man.]]
* HowManyFingers:
--> '''Guts''': "'V' for 'Victory'?"
* HowWeGotHere: Most of the Band of the Hawk Arc is one big Flashback leading up to Guts's current circumstances. Basically what happened before everything literally went to hell.
* HuddleShot: Happens when [[http://www.mrsmanga.com/Berserk/268/17 the group clusters around knocked out Schierke]] in chapter 268.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Guts and Casca.
** It's not even that she's especially small, it's just that ''any'' woman who wasn't a giant herself would look small next to Guts.
* HumanSacrifice: The various pagan cults, not to mention the Sacrifice necessary to become a demon or [[spoiler:another Godhand]].
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Justified - it's because that's the only way to survive. Again, life in Midland '''sucks'''.
** Also, ''all'' demons used to be humans who made a DealWithTheDevil.
** ALSO, the "devil" in question is [[spoiler: a manifestation of humanity's collective unconscious]]. Basically, there's NO evil [[ArcWords in this world]] (one that's [[CrapsackWorld stuffed to the gills with evil]], mind) that can't be traced back to [[HumansAreBastards human bastardry]].
* HumansAreFlawed: The the source of all problems everywhere in this story is human weakness, not inherent evil. One must keep in mind that a rotten person who would love to have some demonic powers to be a more effective asshole would be unable to use a behelit because he doesn't care about anything but himself.
* HumanPincushion: During her CrowningMomentOfAwesome, Casca gets shot at with five arrows when the Midland army ambushed the Hawks shortly after Griffith was arrested for high treason. And yet, Casca continued to fight her way through the barrier and led the Hawks to safety.
** Played [[{{Pun}} painfully straight]] during the beginning of Griffith's torture, where the torturer sticks several large metal needles into Griffith's flesh.
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