History Berserk / TropesUToZ

* WouldHitAGirl: Justified. Guts has no compunction fighting aggressively with female enemies. To be fair, refusing to fight full-force against females like [[KillerRabbit Rosine]] and [[GorgeousGorgon Slan]] would only guarantee him a ''very'' painful death. To throw the guy a bone, Guts really isn't the type to backhand women and girls as he pleases - [[WifeBasherBasher and sticks up for them on occasion]] - but he has no reserves at sticking a knife to their throat (or in their mouth in Farnese's case) to get the [[IHaveYourWife upper hand in certain situations]]. However, there is an exception to the rule.

* UnbrokenVigil: Subverted. Guts leaves the insane Casca weeks after the Eclipse [[RevengeBeforeReason to pursue his revenge against Griffith]] after he saw no psychological change in her. This did not work out for the better, considering that there ''might'' have been a chance of Guts getting through to Casca early on in her recovery had he actually stayed to comfort her through the pain that they were both going through.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: A fatal mistake that many-a-mook make when confronting Guts, thinking that he's tired or out-numbered. If anything, [[UnstoppableRage those conditions just make him kill better.]]

** Guts wakes up naked and bandaged after his first fight with Griffith, with fuzzy memories of Casca also laying naked next to him. He's later told she was ordered to do so by Griffith since [[IntimateHealing Guts body needed to be warmed]] and that is a woman's job.
** Still in the "Golden Age" arc, Guts and Casca fall down a cliff into a river and he drags her unconscious body into a cave. He also has to strip her so she won't die of hypothermia. When Casca wakes up naked and realizes that it was Guts took her clothes off, [[NakedFreakOut she punches him in the face and drives him out]] by throwing bits of their equipment and armor at him in a [[TantrumThrowing rather cartoonish fashion]].

* UnprovokedPervertPayback: During the Millennium Falcon Arc, Schierke is wearing a ModestyTowel white trying to bathe Casca alone while Farnese is away. When [[InnocentFanserviceGirl Casca runs away in the buff in front of the guys]] Schierke is embarrassed on her behalf and tries her best to wrap a towel around her, only for Casca [[StrippingSnag to tear off Schierke's own towel]]. Schierke proceeds to have a NakedFreakOut, and attacks the innocent Guts who just happened to be in the room at the time.
* UnstoppableRage: Guts consciously seeks to black out all thought other than the urge to kill during emergencies, and the series is named after it.

* VagueAge: The ages of the characters--and especially of the three main ones--has been a pestering question among the fandom since the character designs can be deceptive and the sparse information given leaves much to interpretation. Guts' age, at least, can be known at certain points in the story based on the number of years time-skipped since his birth. Unfortunately, although Casca says that she was twelve when Griffith took her in, she does not say how long ago that was and Griffith's exact age is not mentioned at any time. Everyone's guesses vary widely both on specific ages and on seemingly simple questions such as who is older or younger than who. An official guide book released in 2016 included the ages of major characters as of episode 347 (Guts, 24; Griffith, 24; Casca, 24; Serpico, 20; Farnese, 19; Rickert, 19; Isma, 15; Isidro, 14; Schierke, 13), but this raises as many questions as it answers since it sometimes leads to ImprobableAge, goes against a characters' appearance and relationship with other characters, and/or leads to contradictions in the timeline. For example, if you accept that Guts is 24 now, then following the timeskips backward Farnese would have been 14 when she led to Holy Iron Chain Knights to the pool of blood left behind by the Eclipse. Not only did she look older than that, but the dialogue in the later flashback to her childhood establishes that she was 16 when she burned the Vandimion mansion and got banished to a convent, the event which led to her being put in charge of the [=HICKs=] in the first place. That would mean that she was leading them ''two years before she even joined them''. Because of this and other probelms, including speculation that these ages may have been decided by some editor rather than Miura himself, there's a risk that many fans will simply [[FanonDiscontinuity ignore the official ages]] and continue to bicker just as they've always done.
* VaguenessIsComing: in the Golden Age Arc, Nosferatu Zodd and the Skull knight each give ominous prophecies to Guts referencing the disaster that is going to befall the Hawks, but at this point they can't spoil too much for either the characters or the audience so they have to keep their warnings both threatening and vague:

** Zodd's warning is slightly more specific: he warns Guts that "if you think [[Griffith]] your friend, know" that when his ambition crumbles, Guts will face "a death you can never escape." At the end of the day it's not much more helpful.

* TheVerse: Even though ''Berserk'' is a single [[TheEpic epic]] with not a whole lot of spin-offs, so much goes on in this crapped up universe that it's often referred to as a single body. It's usually called it the Berserk-verse or the Berserkerverse.

** Zodd does this twice in the manga, first when Guts is about to get his head handed to him by General Boscone by throwing him a sword, and then the second time by stopping Wyald from ripping a crippled Griffith in two. He only does this in order to save the lot for the up and coming Eclipse.
** Silat ends up rescuing [[spoiler:Rickert]] because he needs an ally that knows Griffith's secrets.

* VisibleToBelievers: Fairies and elves. There's clearly a scene in which Puck is interacting with confused non-believers, who can't see him even though he's right before their eyes. Those that believe in fairies, however, can see him with no problem.

* WallBangHer: The sex scene between [[spoiler:Guts and Casca]] in the manga's Golden Age Arc starts with the former holding the later pressed against an obliging tree. This first part of their lovemaking takes place when they're caught up in the passion of the moment, but it also leads to Guts being too rough; an intermission follows, and when they resume it is in a different position that allows them to be more affectionate and tender.

* WaterIsWomanly: Schierke can summon the Lady of the Deep Water, who manifests as a female angel with dominion over the Undines. She was worshipped by the ancestors of the habitants of Enoch, but was forgotten when the church of Holy See was built in its sanctuary. In accordance with an ancient oath, she is summoned to cleanse evil spirits, drowning monsters in a flood of water.

* WeaponSpecialization: Even when offered a magical axe to carry, Guts sticks with the more or less non-magical Dragonslayer, since it's 'what his hand knows best.' (Schierke quickly realizes [[EvolvingWeapon it's the best weapon for him anyway]].)

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Guts and Griffith were the best of comrades when they fought together in the Band of the Hawk during the Hundred Years' War, risking their lives for each other time and again. Guts deeply admired Griffith for the ambition of his dreams, and Griffith held Guts in greatest confidence by sharing parts of his personality that he would never show to his other followers. However, Guts was shocked when he overheard Griffith say that he didn't consider any of his followers his friends, because a friend to him was someone who would pursue their own dream even if it meant opposing him. After a lot of thinking, Guts decided to leave the Hawks and find his own dream so that one day he could stand next to Griffith as an equal. Griffith felt betrayed, leading to a TragicMistake which caused his swift downfall, and by the time that Guts and the Hawks rescued him from his imprisonment, he all but despised Guts. Guts, however, still held on to his feelings for Griffith up until the Eclipse, in which Griffith's despair led him to commit the [[MoralEventHorizon monstrous]] [[FaceHeelTurn betrayal]] that would destroy the bond of friendship between the two of them forever. Now Griffith is TheHeavy and Guts' ArchNemesis in the story. Guts hates Griffith with the malice of a bloodthirsty wolf who holds a grudge forever, while Griffith professes to have [[LackOfEmpathy no feelings]] of ''any kind'' left for Guts or for the hundreds of followers he sacrificed.

** The first is at the very end of the fight against the Count. As Guts mocks Theresia and walks away as she vows to kill him, the audience is probably fully convinced that Guts is a complete asshole. Puck goes to admonish him for the terrible thing he just did... until he sees Guts on the ''verge of tears'', making a painfully anguished facial expression. This is the first big hint that Guts is a more complex character than he initially appeared to be, and that he does not take joy in the things he does.

--> [[spoiler: '''Skull Knight''']]: What you bore witness too was the end of [[spoiler: a foolish king]]… And the beginning of a [[spoiler: dead man stalking the endless night]].
* WhamShot: For this manga, there are so many, its more important to mention the top items...

* WorldWreckingWave: At the conclusion of the Millennium Falcon Arc, [[spoiler:Griffith uses the Skull Knight's dimension-warping attack to fuse the planes of existence together]], which is percieved by everyone as a wall of light expanding from the epicenter in all directions and washing over the entire globe so that it's visible from outer space. TheMagicComesBack all over the world, stirring benign and evil magical creatures in equal measure. While nobody is directly harmed by the wave, the world is thrown into chaos and everyone who can begins migrating to the only place that is safe from monsters: [[spoiler:Falconia, Griffith's ShiningCity at the foot of the World Tree]].
* WorfHadTheFlu: Casca became so disoriented when her time o' month came along in the midst of battling [[LargeHam General Adon]], and was fatigued for nearly two days because of it; she practically had to be saved and cared for by Guts [[spoiler:who she had a [[BelligerentSexualTension rocky relationship with at the time]]]] and nearly got raped. But after her cycles passed, Casca wiped the floor with Adon so hard that he was more dumbfounded than usual to finding out that her poor performance from their previous battle was only due to her being on her period. This led to hilarity when he announced it right in the middle of their fight, gaining the notice of ''every single'' soldier around them.

* WorldOfSnark: The predominate source of humor among the characters and seems to be the only thing that keeps spirits afloat in this world.

** Downplayed for Guts. He is not proud of the fact that he's sometimes harmed or endangered children in pursuit of his goals. In fact, he tends to be much more sympathetic toward children than he is toward adults because of his own abused childhood, and Jill is drawn to him despite the fact that he acts like a jerk in ''Lost Children'' because he's the only grown up who's ever protected her ''at all''. Just how much of a KickTheDog it comes across as and how Justified it seems depend on the situation:
*** The first time in his life that he caused the death of a child was his accidental killing of Adonis during the assassination of Count Julius, and his reaction to this was a horrified MyGodWhatHaveIDone that sent him into a HeroicBSOD. On the other hand he didn't raise any objections to participating in Griffith's plan to neutralize the queen, which involved blackmailing Minister Foss by [[IHaveYourWife taking his young daughter Elise hostage]], but Griffith kept his end of the bargain and returned her to her father unharmed afterwards.

*** Lastly, Guts is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in taking the gloves off when fighting monsters that [[WasOnceAMan used to be children]], but which are now trying to kill him and other humans. Rosine in ''Lost Children'', Nico in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheBerserkGutsRage'', and Charles in ''VideoGame/BerserkMillenniumFalconHenSeimaSenkiNoSho'' are all Apostles who became EnfantsTerribles after they were DrivenToVillainy by the mistreatment they suffered from adults. Guts hates them as he would any other Apostle, and makes it his mission to kill them. It's not as if he doesn't feel any guilt, however, even if he tries to supress those emotions behind his tough act: When he sees that Collette's corpse is possessed by an evil spirit in episode 2, "the Brand", he goes into a HeroicBSOD and doesn't strike her down until she's already stabbed him in the side. In ''Lost Children'', when the elf children he burned in a barn came back as crying ghosts at night, he lets himself go LaughingMad in order to get through the fight.

** Wile fighting Rosine, Guts is hindered a lot by this sentiment. After all: he is essentially trying to butcher a cute teenage girl...that has the combat abilities of a ''fighter jet'', but still isn't entirely evil. He ends up holding back every time he can land the killing blow, taking in insane amount of punishment himself. [[spoiler:This makes Guts completely give in to his bitter hatred, officially giving birth to the beast of darkness. It never leaves afterwards.]] Counts as a total [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction.]] And then there was ''another'' time that this happened during Guts' [[TookALevelInJerkass Black Swordsman days]], when he hesitates to kill the resurrected corpse of the daughter of the priest that he was traveling with. He takes a hit because of it before chopping off her head. He vomits afterward.

** The Skull Knight says that he and Guts seem to be outside the realm of fate (though after [[spoiler:[[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally merging the layers of reality for Femto/Griffith]] ]] it's unclear with this is true) and that because Guts was born from a hanged woman's womb and bears the mark of Sacrifice it's easier for his will to effect reality

** Guts does this often with Casca, usually because she is lacking clothes at the time so he either give her his shirt or cape to cover herself. One example is episode 174 when he does it to stop her shivering in the aftermath of the Tower's collapse. Deconstructed in volume 23, where Guts had a slight moment of being DistractedByTheSexy when he sees Casca's breasts peak from under his cape. Casca being an InnocentFanserviceGirl and Guts still yearning for Casca's intimacy, the Beast begins to tempt Guts from this point on.

* YouShallNotPass: A few times. Guts and Pippin singlehandedly facing down the Black Dog Knights to buy the rest of the Griffith rescue squad time to escape, until the bridge blows. Captain Azan of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, in his youth, holding a troup of knights at bay until a wounded old man can cross the bridge. And for a villain example, one could say that the first encounter with Nosferatu Zodd invokes this trope, as he massacred at least fifty members of the Raiders in a long hallway while fighting on the side of Chuder, delaying what would have been an easy victory for the Band of the Hawk. More famously Guts buying Casca time to flee in which he earns the nickname [[NamesToRunAwayFrom a hundred man slayer]] which inuniverse makes Guts as the Raid Leader of the Hawks a legendary figure

* UrExample: Likely of the revenge fantasy genre of anime, where a troubled, brutal AntiHero exacts revenge against the depraved individuals who betrayed him and subjected him and his former comrades to a horrible death amidst a CrapsackWorld. The difference from something like ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is that, instead of a HateSink VillainousPrincess, Guts's primary target is a is still a utterly depraved individual but he still has some moral complexity to him, the stakes are much higher and his enemies are much, more brutal, and there's no fanservice, fun and games, only FanDisservice and grimdark.

* UrExample: Likely of the revenge fantasy genre of anime, where a troubled, brutal AntiHero exacts revenge against the depraved individuals who betrayed him and subjected him and his former comrades to a horrible death amidst a CrapsackWorld. The difference from something like ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is that, instead of a HateSink VillainousPrincess, Guts's primary target is a utterfly depraved, yet morally complex former friend of his, the stakes are much higher and his enemies are much, more brutal, and there's no fanservice, fun and games, only FanDisservice and grimdark.

* UrExample: Likely of the revenge fantasy genre of anime, where a troubled, brutal AntiHero exacts revenge against the depraved individuals who betrayed him and subjected him and his former comrades to a horrible death amidst a crapsack world. The difference from something like ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is that, instead of a HateSink VillainousPrincess, Guts's primary target is a utterfly depraved, yet morally complex former friend of his, the stakes are much higher and his enemies are much, more brutal, and there's no fanservice, fun and games, only FanDisservice and grimdark.

* WeaponOfChoice: Even when offered a magical axe to carry, Guts sticks with the more or less non-magical Dragonslayer, since it's 'what his hand knows best.' (Schierke quickly realizes [[EvolvingWeapon it's the best weapon for him anyway]].)

* UnstoppableRage: Guts taps into this during emergencies, and the series is named after it.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Isidro thinks he's in a {{Shonen}} manga of which he's the main character. To be fair, he's been getting more and more useful as the series goes on.

* UncannyValley: [[invoked]] Discussed when he and Guts were up against Rosine's elves for the first time, Puck said that they looked similar to elves such as he, but that there was something "off" about them, and was quite disturbed by their presence. Later revealed that [[spoiler:the elves weren't real elves, but rather apostle spawn that were children that Rosine kidnapped.]]

* UnknowinglyInLove: Because Guts didn't want to get in the way of Casca and Griffith, he refused to acknowledge his feelings for the former ([[HoYay and probably]] [[ThreesomeSubtext the latter]]) were more than friendship and wished the two happiness after he was gone.

* WarElephants: The [[SimSimSalabim Kushan Empire]] uses large numbers of war elephants in battle, equipped with armor and carrying platforms for warriors and archers. The exotic animals seem like unstoppable monsters to the soldiers of Midland, and we are treated to graphic depictions of hapless infantry being trampled beneath their feet, though Rakshas also demonstrates that they can be easily terrified and made to stampede over their own forces. As if the regular elephants weren't enough, Daiba and his sorcerers have also provided the Empire with bipedal elephant-headed monsters armed with equally enormous weapons. Ganishka certainly prizes elephants as a sign of royal power, since we see him riding to and from Charlotte's prison on an elephant, and he commands the siege of Vritannis from a palace on wheels drawn by no fewer than sixteen elephants and surrounded by an escort of elephant cavalry.

* YouWouldMakeAGreatModel: The noble who approached Casca's family when she was twelve gave them the pretense that he wanted her as a servant for his castle. In reality he just wanted her body.

* UnfamiliarCeiling: [[spoiler:After being rescued by the Skull Knight while still unconscious during the Eclipse]] Guts wakes up in Godo's elf mine.

** IN chapter 362, [[spoiler:the Skull Knight wearing the Berserk Armor holding a lady who's been branded. Also, the Godhand. Not the Godhand we've known, but a different group composed of Void and four previously unseen members.]]

* WhamShot: For this anime, there are so many, its more important to mention the top items...

** Zodd’s metamorphoses in the Golden Age arc changes the genre from ‘medieval action’ to ‘dark fantasy.’ There are hints the series is dark fantasy before this scene, but this is the first time humans clearly go toe-to-toe with a non-human.
** Griffith’s stare.

** IN chapter 362, [[spoiler:the Skull Knight wearing the Berserk Armor, and a lady he holds clearly Branded. Also, the Godhand. But not the Godhand we known.]]

--> [[spoiler: '''Skull Knight''']]]: What you bore witness too was the end of [[spoiler: a foolish king]]… And the beginning of a [[spoiler: dead man stalking the endless night]].