History Characters / BerserkKingdomOfMidland

* {{Abusive Parent|s}}: [[spoiler:He eventually tries to rape Charlotte.]]

* IllMan: After his mental breakdown, he suffers from rapid aging and a general decline in his health.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Even though he lost most of his sympathy after he betrayed both Griffith Charlotte and turned to madness, his death is depicted as more pitiful and sad as he dies cold and alone, his daughter refusing to see him even in his final moments.]]

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Creator/{{Chafurin}} (Japanese, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), Christian Collingwood (English, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Liam O'Brien (English, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), J. Ignacio Latorre (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'')

* DemotedToExtra: Her involvement in the 1997 anime is minimal to put it lightly. She appears before the Hawks alongside another unnamed maid in place of Charlotte and just guides them to the Tower of the Gods before departing, never to be seen again. She's depicted with her "strict" design and is only credited as "Woman".

* YoungerThanTheyLook: After his rapid aging, specifically. The king is probably in his 50s or 60s judging by his first appearance, as he has a wrinkled face and a receding hairline but has kept his black hair and is reasonably healthy for his age to begin with. His freak out over Griffith and Charlotte is what causes his body to fall to pieces: just one year later he could be mistaken for a centenarian, having become so prematurely decrepit and infirm that he needs page boys to help him walk.

* ActionDressRip: A variation. As it says above, she's no ActionGirl, but when she tagged along Guts and Co in the Griffith retrieval arc, she ripped off her dress so as to run and move more easily.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Kumiko Kizuki (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Ayako Takeuchi (Japanese, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'' and ''Anime/Berserk2016''), Stephanie Jacobs (English, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Creator/LisaOrtiz (English, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), Creator/CarmenCalvell (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc II - The Battle of Doldrey''), Yolanda Gispert (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc III - Advent'')

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Ayako Takeuchi (Japanese, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'' and ''Anime/Berserk2016''), Creator/LisaOrtiz (English, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), Creator/CarmenCalvell (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc II - The Battle of Doldrey''), Yolanda Gispert (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc III - Advent'')

* AdaptedOut: She's unincluded in the 1997 adaptation, her and Charlotte's meeting with the Hawks was instead given to two generic maids that quickly inform them of Griffith's location and otherwise disappear afterward.

The deformed torturer employed by the King of Midland who mutilates Griffith in the dungeons below the tower of Rebirth. Having been permitted by the King to mutilate Griffith to his heart's content as long as he kept him alive, he treats Griffith as the most valuable specimen he's ever been given. He admires both Griffith's perfect body and the stoic dignity that enables him to endure any torture without crying out even once. During one of these sessions he notices Griffith's Crimson Behelit and tries to take it for himself, but when it stares back at him he becomes alarmed and accidentally drops it down a floor grate, where the drainage current sweeps it away. When the remaining Hawks come to break Griffith out of jail, he locks them inside Griffith's cell and gloats to them about how he tortured Griffith for a year. This backfires on him by enraging Guts, who breaks down the door and brutally ends his life.

* DepravedDwarf: Stunted, hunchbacked and ''extremely'' depraved.

* GildedCage: During her captivity by Ganishka, she is allowed to keep her maid, maintain a luxurious room and is allowed to spend her days doing as she pleases.....but is still confined to said room and under guard.

* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: While the King's unattractiveness is more from his age than being particularly ugly, Charlotte looks nothing like him. Instead she's the spitting image of her beautiful mother.
* UnknownRival: Is completely unaware of the fact that Sonia is vying for Griffith affections against her and that Sonia hates her for being Griffith's fiancée.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Tamio Oki (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Nobuyuki Katsube (Japanese, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'' and ''Anime/Berserk2016''), Jeff Swarthout (English, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Christopher Corey Smith (English, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'' and ''Anime/Berserk2016''), Rafael Calvo (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc III - Advent'')

* BeingGoodSucks: All he ever got from sacrificing his personal happiness and devoting his life to the smooth running of the kingdom was disappointment and ungrateful people trying to mess up his plans. Finally he decides that he's fed up with being the good king, and descends into tyranny.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The King is first shown on a hilltop command post watching his troops being swept by the Black Ram Heavy Cavalry, and out of despair and frustration he says anyone will do if they can "stop these black devils of Chuder." Griffith and the Band of the Hawk swoop in to save the day, and immediately afterwards the King rewards Griffith with knighthood and ranking in court despite the grumbling of the entrenched nobles. Thus, we learn that in a story where AristocratsAreEvil more often then not, he is a rare ReasonableAuthorityFigure who is personally invested in protecting his subjects and rewards ability regardless of birth or social status.

The queen of Midland and Charlotte's stepmother. Some ten years ago she came from another country to be married to the King of Midland, whose first wife had died young. Finding that the King buried himself in work to escape his sadness and was unable to love or satisfy her, she entered into an affair with Count Julius. Being of like mind with Julius regarding the place of commoners, she disapproves of Charlotte's interest in Griffith and plots against him. Helped by Minister Foss and spurred to vengeance after [[spoiler: the assassination of Julius]], she assembles a noble conspiracy to have Griffith poisoned during his own victory celebration. [[spoiler:Her victory is short-lived, since Griffith only pretended to be dead and took advantage of all conspirators being together at the same place to have them die in a massive fire, including the queen herself.]]

* SmallRoleBigImpact: He is only around for a few chapters, but Guts' assassination of Julius and his son eventually leads to his leaving the Band Of The Hawk to do some soul searching and ultimately instigates Griffith's fall from grace and transformation into Femto. Besides that, the Queen plots to avenge his death and is killed herself, leaving nothing to stop Griffith wedding Charlotte, the last of the royal family.

* InnocentBlueEyes: In the film he has blue eyes, which fits his naive and innocent characterization. However, the 1997 anime depicted him with brown eyes.

* MoralityPet: Despite his machinations he cares about his daughter Elise more than any political ambitions, and seems to be a kind and doting father.

* [[TokenGoodTeammate Token Good Teammates]]: Pretty much the only members of Midland’s aristocracy who aren’t corrupt backstabbers, and whom clearly care about their people.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Even if we admit that Griffith is most charming and subtle, Charlotte deserves some blame for never once questioning the motives of a suitor with obvious political incentive to seduce her, and who unbeknownst to her even assassinated several of her family members (though two out of three deserved it). And she has no idea that now he's practically the DarkMessiah of the world, [[spoiler: as GodIsEvil in this story, Griffith ''does'' qualify as a Messiah]] who freaking ''created'' the mess the world is facing right now, and personally [[spoiler: raped one of her former guards, maimed another and killed all the rest]]. Oh, ''if only'' she knew!

* LadyAndKnight: She and Griffith are a zigzagged example. Charlotte fits the bright lady character type and Griffith acts as the knight who (literally) looks bright, but has dark intentions.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Her introduction in ''The Egg of the King'' is accompanied by the track, ''"L'Amour Impitoyable"'', which first comes in as a sweet, delicate piano solo that reflects her ProneToTears personality and the sense of LoveAtFirstSight between her and Griffith when they meet on the staircase. It comes back again during the hunt when Griffith teaches her how to play the leaf, signifying their growing connection. The title is an ominous bit of foreshadowing about how this ill-fated romance is going to turn out, since it means "Pitiless" or "Ruthless Love".

* PrincessClassic: As beautiful, kind, and innocent (mostly) as any fairy tale princess. Consequently her outfits qualify for the following tropes: ErmineCapeEffect, PrincessesPreferPink, PrettyInMink and PimpedOutDress. Subverted in that the fact that she's the consort of a Dark Messiah reduces the probability of her having a positive role in the end by a dramatic margin.
* ProneToTears: Has a very sensitive personality that makes her dislike soldiers and war. She is even upset by cruelty to animals, and cries easily.

* TheGoodKing: Deconstructed. He is initially portrayed as a very capable ruler who places little stock in tradition and ceremony, and values competence over birth. However his devotion to good rule has alienated him from his second wife, and he [[spoiler: lusts after Charlotte]] due to him having never gotten over the death of his beloved first wife and the stress of being a king. Eventually the rigors of rule cause him to snap and become TheCaligula, and [[spoiler:as he dies]] he realizes that he supported Griffith because he no longer wanted to be king.

* KnightTemplarParent: Pretty much threw the efforts of a century long war away and ruined his own kingdom just to get revenge on Griffith for deflowering Charlotte.

* NoNameGiven: To Charlotte he is simply "father", and to everybody else he is "The King of Midland".

* ParentsWalkInAtTheWorstTime: Or, near to the worst time. After Griffith is captured on the palace grounds, the king storms into Charlotte's room to confront her on the accusations. Charlotte tries her best to tell her father to go away, but when the king sees a trail of evidence left over by Griffith, it prompts him to lift up the bedsheets and - boom. [[OhCrap Blood stains of virginity.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He was able to acknowledge Griffith and the Band Of The Hawk's achievements for his country and willing to grant them titles for it despite the corrupt aristocracy criticizing him for doing so. Unfortunately, he became anything ''but'' reasonable after Griffith caused him to snap.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He is pragmatic and hardworking, and before his break with Griffith he is considered an effective ruler. He recognizes talent whether common or noble, doesn't stand on ceremony, and keeps Midland as a pretty good place to live. In his younger days he led from the front of the army, and now continues to command in the field although he is too old to take part in the fighting.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: From her first appearance, she gives off icy elegance and reserved poise. She warns her stepdaughter Charlotte against being too familiar with a lowborn man like Griffith and reminds her to act appropriately for her royal blood, establishing her a strict and detatched parent in contrast to Charlotte's doting father, as well as a pure elitist. Charlotte doesn't take it well and goes off in a huff, establishing that they have a poor relationship and don't see eye to eye. Lastly, the way she holds her fan over her mouth after Charlotte turns her back, with a VisibleSilence speech bubble and a KubrickStare, implies she's calculating and scheming.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Mahito Tsujimura (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Greg Miller (English, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Creator/TomomichiNishimura (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk2016''), Doug Stone (English, ''Anime/Berserk2016''), Antonio Moro (Spanish, ''Anime/Berserk1997'')

Laban and Owen are two Midland nobles who are close friends and confidants. Unlike most of Midland's aristocrats, they are willing to put aside the interests of their class for the good of the kingdom and are early supporters and admirers of Griffith. Laban speaks up before the King and noble generals in favor of Griffith's plan to recapture Doldrey, and between themselves, they agree that Griffith is Midland's best hope. At the victory ball afterwards, they discuss whether Griffith will be able to continue his rise in conditions of peace. When the kingdom begins collapsing because of the King's pursuit of Griffith, Laban and Owen do their best to alleviate the people's suffering. Owen concentrates on rescue missions, while Owen tries to wake up the Kingdom's corrupt and foolish politicians to the urgency of the situation.

* DepravedHomosexual: [[AmbiguouslyGay Implied]]. He brags about how he spent so much time with Griffith that they were almost like husband and wife, suggesting that he had sexually molested, or even ''raped'', Griffith, however the story leaves that ambiguous, for better or worse.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He appears just as Count Julius is fuming over Griffith's advancement. He seems like a smarmy, harmless little man, but right off the bat he gives a little winking KubrickStare that shows his ObfuscatingStupidity is a mask. He speaks about Griffith's achievements in a matter-of-fact manner, carefully provoking Julius' anger bit by bit. Then when he's got Julius where he wants him, he suggests that Julius arrange for Griffith to die in a HuntingAccident, not saying it outright but making a devious expression so that Julius can't escape his meaning. He smiles as Julius leaves, pleased that he's used manipulation to target an opponent without directly involving himself.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Creator/ToruOkawa (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Creator/HochuOtsuka (Japanese, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'' and ''Anime/Berserk2016''), Sean Elias-Reyes (English, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Creator/MarcThompson (English, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), Santi Lorenz (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc I - The Egg of the King''), Jordi Nogueras (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc II - The Battle of Doldrey'')

The Kushan Empire's sudden conquest of Midland forces Laban and Owen into exile along with many of Midland's nobles. The two temporarily split up, with Laban going to visit Minister Foss' resistance cell in occupied Windham, while Owen ends up in Vritannis trying to rally Midland's bickering exiled nobles and prevent the alliance from dividing up what's left of Midland among themselves. There he recognizes Guts and asks him of Griffith's whereabouts, but is told that Griffith is closer than he thinks. The next day he bears witness to Griffith's return along with Charlotte and the Pope, and convinces his peers to accept Griffith as their leader. Shortly afterward, Laban infiltrates Windham and rescues the city's women and children with Owen's support. Following the defeat of Emperor Ganishka and the founding of Falconia, Laban leads a patrol that rescues Rickert and Erica's refugee group and brings them inside Griffith's shining city. There Rickert also meets Owen, who has been made captain of the Falconian palace guard.

* BigDamnHeroes: Laban tries to save commoners from natural disasters and other perils, although often he arrives too late. Eventually he pulls off a huge rescue by [[spoiler:leading his Arklow Knights into Kushan-controlled Windham, and evacuating the ''entire'' population imprisoned there in one night.]]

* GreekChorus: Their role during the Golden Age arc is mostly to comment on Griffith's progress and discuss current events with each other from a relatively neutral perspective. Later in the story they continue to do this while taking a more active role in the action.

* OnlySaneMan: Among the Midland nobles, Owen and Laban seem to be the only ones actively trying to find solution to the kingdom's various crises (e.g. ThePlague, floods, worsening economy), especially after [[spoiler:The King]] [[SanitySlippage loses his mind]]. The rest all do nothing but concern themselves with self-preservation and other selfish desires.

* ThoseTwoGuys: During the Golden Age arc they are always seen together and have little direct influence on the plot. Afterwards, however, they grow out of this role both by splitting up and by taking a far more active role in the story's events.

!!! Lisa Ortiz (English, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), Takeuchi Ayako (''Anime/Berserk2016''), Creator/CarmenCalvell (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc II - The Battle of Doldrey''), Yolanda Gispert (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc III - Advent'')

* ArtEvolution: The author subtly changed how he was drawing her over the course of volume 10. At first she looks rather more haughty and strict, but he changed her lines to make her look more plain and humble.

* PolictallyIncorrectVillain: His enmity for Griffith mainly stems from his belief that commoners have no place in the Midland Royal Court and discourages his brother (the king) from personally conversing with a unit commander. He's completely aghast when Foss informs him of the Hawks' guard assignment to the autumn hunt usually assigned solely to his White Dragon Knights. There's also his deriding a trio of handmaidens as "gossiping hens" for negatively comparing the conservative statesmen to Griffith's social graces.

Believing adamantly in the superiority of nobles over commoners, he is outraged by Griffith’s rising prominence. Seeing Julius' anger, Minister Foss goads him into attempting to [[HuntingAccident assassinate Griffith during the royal hunt]]. The plan would have been successful, had not Griffith's Crimson Behelit miraculously prevented the poisoned crossbow bolt from even scratching him. Griffith traces the poison back to Julius and orders Guts to infiltrate his castle. During the mission, Guts sees Julius sparring with young Adonis and is reminded of his own childhood with Gambino. Guts succeeds in killing Julius, who recognizes Guts' face as he dies, and mistakenly kills Adonis who discovers his father's corpse. Julius' councilor Hassan weeps at the sight of father and son both dead, lamenting that Adonis never had a chance to make his father smile.

* AbusiveParent: Downplayed. He does subject his thirteen-year-old son Adonis to brutal [[TrainingFromHell training from hell]] in order to prepare him to take his place as general of the White Dragons, in which he cuts him pretty seriously on the arm and calls him weak. His methods remind Guts of his own abusive parent. Unlike Gambino, however, he seems to genuinely want what he thinks is best for his son. Outside of sparring he doesn't act particularly abusive to Adonis and even expresses some Saturnine love for him.

** In the manga his first line is to express outrage that Guts did not immediately kneel before the King; he objects to the King's permissive manner with them, and scoffs when Griffith introduces himself. Then when Griffith catches Charlotte as she trips, he ignores the fact that Griffith protected her and instead strikes his face for daring to lay a hand on the Princess. Thus, we learn that he is a reactionary noble who believes commoners should learn their place, and that he won't take a threat to aristocratic privilege lying down.
** The movie gives him a head start by introducing him in the Black Ram battle. While the King is impressed by the Hawks' performance, Julius dismisses the idea that a small group of common mercenaries could have turned the tide.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: He is only around for a few chapters, but Guts' assassination of Julius and his son eventually leads to his leaving the Band Of The Hawk to do some soul searching, and ultimately instigates Griffith's fall from grace and transformation into Femto. Besides that, the Queen plots to avenge his death and is killed herself, leaving nothing to stop Griffith wedding Charlotte, the last of the royal family.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: He has only a couple scenes and says only a handful of words before he dies. But the sheer guilt Guts felt from killing Adonis sets in motion the series of events that would lead to his decision to leave the Hawks, which would in turn have its own consequences.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Mahito Tsujimura (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Greg Miller (English, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Creator/TomomichiNishimura (''Anime/Berserk2016''), Antonio Moro (Spanish, ''Anime/Berserk1997'')

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: When Griffith reveals he has taken his daughter Elise hostage, Foss immediately switches sides to protect her, and after her release he is deeply grateful to see her safe and sound.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese, ''Anime/Berserk1997''), Creator/{{Chafurin}} (Japanese, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), Liam O'Brien (English, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc''), J. Ignacio Latorre (Spanish, ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'')

* ForWantOfANail: Just think for a sec, if his goon's poisoned arrow had hit anywhere else but the chest, Griffith would've died, none of the horror at the Eclipse would've happened, and the whole saga would've gone in a drastically different path. Unfortunately, the four members of the GodHand had special plans for Griffith, meaning no matter what, fate would be in his favor enough to keep him alive.

* VillainHasAPoint: While his enmity with Griffith is mostly based on his pride being wounded, he has been serving the kingdom far longer and the Falcon is hardly the most trustworthy guy to begin with. And that's not even mentioning what Griffith [[TranshumanTreachery eventually]] [[SatanicArchetype becomes]] [[MoralEventHorizon and does]] meaning in a sense Julius' attempt to kill him may have been better for everyone after all.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While his enmity with Griffith is mostly based on his pride being wounded, he has been serving the kingdom far longer and the Falcon is hardly the most trustworthy guy to begin with. And that's not even mentioning what Griffith [[TranshumanTreachery eventually]] [[SatanicArchetype becomes]] [[MoralEventHorizon and does]] meaning in a sense Julius' attempt to kill him may have been better for everyone after all.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The King is first shown on a hilltop command post watching his troops being swept by the Black Ram Heavy Cavalry, and out of despair and frustration he says anyone will do if they can "stop these black devils of Chuder." Griffith and the Band of the Hawk swoop in to say the day, and immediately afterwards the King rewards Griffith with knighthood and ranking in court despite the grumbling of the entrenched nobles. Thus, we learn that in a story where AristocratsAreEvil more often then not, he is a rare ReasonableAuthorityFigure who is personally invested in protecting his subjects and rewards ability regardless of birth or social status.

* AssholeVictim: He dies a brutal, yet very satisfying death at the hands, or in this case the sword, of Guts.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Dies by having a {{BFS}} thrust through his body, getting his tongue cut out, and being dropped down a presipice. Not that we feel very sorry for him.
* DepravedDwarf: Stunted, hunchbacked and ''extremely'' depraved.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Oh dear what an impact. Only appears phyically for a few panels before is killed off, but it was his cruel torture and disfigurement of Griffith that pushed him past the breaking point and caused him to sacrific his Band for power.

** JerkassRealization: After Hassan tells him not to be so hard on Adonis, Julius admits that he was taking out his anger about other matters on his son and went too far.

* JailBait: Depicted in a very explicit sex scene with Griffith despite her being seventeen at the time, which in some present day states or countries is under legal age of consent. Of course, since noble girls were often married off in their teens during the Middle Ages and Renaissance there could be some ValuesDissonance. Griffith actually ends up in jail more for the treasonous nature of his act and because of the King's jealousy.