History YMMV / Berserk

** Many ''Berserk'' fans are also notably huge fans of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', ''especially'' the [[VideoGame/Doom2016 2016 reboot]]. [[JustForFun/SurprisinglySimilarStories It's easy to see why]], as both are about a gruff, macho badass armed with [[{{BFG}} huge]] [[{{BFS}} weaponry]] as they grind TheLegionsOfHell to a fine paste in vengeance of being robbed of what they love. As this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8uCAEjyq6w glorious Anime Music Video illustrates]] in it's comment section:

** Nina also gets hit with this, yes, she is an ill girl and her inner thoughts show how much she hates being a coward, but, the fact still remains that even at a hint of trouble, she will automatically throw someone under the bus to spare herself, even Mozgus' Disciples point out they didn't even do anything to her and she threw Casca under the bus calling her a witch, this was after the Eclipse, so Casca had the mind of a toddler, and Mozgus goes straight to the KillItWithFire approach to even Ninas clearly self serving false confession, she also almost got her boyfriend killed because he wasn't into joining a cannibal orgy cult.

** Sonia. Despite her youth and relative innocence gained a large amount of infamy by preventing the Midland army from experiencing a collective [[OhCrap realization]] that [[spoiler:Griffith might not be the virtuous hero he claims to be.]] However, many people do share a lot of love for her, whether it be in a "love to hate" sense akin to Griffith, because they enjoy her genuinely wholesome friendship with Schierke, or they believe that she would've been an otherwise good person had she not fallen victim to [[spoiler:Griffith's aura of charisma.]]

** [[FairyCompanion Puck]] is subject to a good deal of this, many fans (particularly [[AmericansHateTingle in the West]]) who [[SeriousBusiness have no patience for his antics]] despise him with a fiery passion for being an annoyance whose [[{{Moe}} childlike appearance]] and goofy attitude, not to mention a fair deal of fourth-wall breaking comedy moments, [[MoodWhiplash clash]] [[MoodDissonance horrendously]] with the grim, gritty action and deep gazes into the darkness of the human heart that ''Berserk'' is so acclaimed for. On the other hand, there are just as many fans who are happy to have him around due to Puck's moral goodness and role as Guts' MoralityPet keeping our hero from sliding into complete insanity, and bringing some welcome relief to a story whose unrelenting darkness would otherwise be unbearable. Then there are those who believe that Puck isn't necessarily a bad character, but his status as occasional comic relief overtook his status as Gut's moral anchor, especially since Schierke essentially claimed that role herself.

** You guessed it – Griffith. Although almost no one believes he's a bad character, people are quite divided on how evil he really is. On one side, you have the fans that admire him because of all of the outstanding things that he has done over the course of the story. They see him as a three-dimensional and complex character [[WhatIsEvil who can't quite be called "evil"]], making the argument that his LackOfEmpathy actually makes him AboveGoodAndEvil (and come on - [[{{Bishonen}} he's gorgeous looking!]]). But on the flip side, you have the fans that despise him (or at least, appreciate him as a ''villain'') because his actions are ones only the truly evil would commit. And then there's the third option, where he's condemned for his actions, but it's argued there's a complex, psychological backstory for Griffith's actions (at least leading up to the Eclipse), that explain them, if not absolve Griffith of them.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Holy shit. Berserk is considered one of the iconic manga already in its home country... and Western audiences ''love it even more''. It is of no wonder, as Berserk has elements that would be surefire hits in the Western audience: A DarkFantasy based on the Western setting [[CrapsackWorld which is bleak and full of suffering]], [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore adult hardcore protagonist instead of young pretty boy/cutesy moe thing that the Japanese are more known for]], [[RatedMForManly said adult hardcore protagonist is basically hacking through hordes of men and demons with his giant-ass sword, usually alone.]] It's as if Kentaro Miura tailored this to be a hit in the West moreso than his home country. Sure enough, when Creator/DiscotekMedia announced the license for the series and opened pre-orders for the blu-ray, it ''''immediately'''' [[https://twitter.com/MarcFBR/status/1747548220300100018 became the #1 best-selling blu-ray on Amazon]], to the point that it beat ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}.''

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Holy shit. Berserk is considered one of the iconic manga already in its home country... and Western audiences ''love it even more''. It is of no wonder, as Berserk has elements that would be surefire hits in the Western audience: A DarkFantasy based on the Western setting [[CrapsackWorld which is bleak and full of suffering]], [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore adult hardcore protagonist instead of young pretty boy/cutesy moe thing that the Japanese are more known for]], [[RatedMForManly said adult hardcore protagonist is basically hacking through hordes of men and demons with his giant-ass sword, usually alone.]] It's as if Kentaro Miura tailored this to be a hit in the West moreso than his home country.

** Slan is the most popular member of the Godhand because EvilIsSexy.

** Fans often joked that Casca would never regain her sanity while Miura lived, owing to her status as Guts main reason for going after Griffith. Miura's passing came quite close to her finally gaining her mind back.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Slan is as vamp as they come, and a vile monster, but damn if she isn't hot.
** Griffith is a very attractive {{Bishonen}} who also has fluffy hair, which enhances his sexiness even further and it's led to widespread DracoInLeatherPants status.

** Fans often joked that Casca would never regain her sanity while Muira lived, owing to her status as Guts main reason for going after Griffith. Muria's passing came quite close to her finally gaining her mind back.

* AudienceAlienatingEra: Pick an arc other than the Golden Age, chances are some subset of fans has declared it to be the weakest part of the story. A number of the most stubborn "fans" consider ''Berserk'''s story to consist of the Golden Age Arc[[note]] (which starts on the last chapter of Volume 3 and ends about ⅔ of the way through Volume 13 – some 10 volumes in total)[[/note]] and ''[[FanonDiscontinuity absolutely nothing else]]'', completely dismissing the rest of the story. As of volume 39 the Golden Age now makes up ''less than a third'' of the story's total length.

** Sonia. Despite her youth and relative innocence gained a large amount of infamy by preventing the Midland army from experiencing a collective [[OhCrap realisation]] that [[spoiler:Griffith might not be the virtuous hero he claims to be.]] However, many people do share a lot of love for her, whether it be in a "love to hate" sense akin to Griffith, because they enjoy her genuinely wholesome friendship with Schierke, or they believe that she would've been an otherwise good person had she not fallen victim to [[spoiler:Griffith's aura of charisma.]]

** What's Casca's race supposed to be, and does it matter that they made her lighter in the adaptations? Supposedly she's from a Midland border town, but it never specifies ''which'' border she's nearby. If it's the Kushan border then it would explain things, but for all we know she could be living beside Tudor.

** In general whenever an Apostle is brutally killed (if they aren't tragic), since they're [[EldritchAbomination absolutely inhumane monstrosities]] who [[ForTheEvulz greatly enjoy committing terrible acts of evil.]]
** Although it doesn't do much in the long run, [[spoiler: Rickert SLAPPING Griffith is absolutely a glorious sight to behold. It even resulted in Rickert becoming a MemeticBadass.]]

* TheChrisCarterEffect: Many fans expressed concern that the readers would give up on the series out of frustration if Guts and the gang didn't [[MemeticMutation get off the damn boat]] soon and get Casca's insanity plotline resolved after a seven- to eight-year wait. Upon the party ''finally'' arriving at Elfheim, and [[spoiler: Casca waking up, ''finally'' restored after Schierke and Farnese's efforts]], there has been much rejoicing, with people considering it ''long'' overdue.

** IT'S NOT "GATSU/GATTS"! IT'S "GUTS"! Since the official releases (both manga and anime) are widely considered to have good translations, fans who came into the series through shoddy scanslations are typically looked down upon for using incorrect character names. Nowadays though the phonetic spellings ("GATTSU"/"GURIFFISU") have instead became a meme.
** Don't call Berserk a {{Shonen}}, it's a {{Seinen}}, fans will shred you.

** A few fans glance over [[RRatedOpening Guts's grand debut]] on the first page of the story where he is having sex with a she-apostle, saying that [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness it clashed with his later development in the Golden Age arc]], particularly Guts's troubled backstory concerning intimacy issues and his fidelity toward Casca. That, and some fans wonder why Guts would even have needed to have sex with the apostle in the first place.

* FanPreferredCouple: Despite being little ShipTease between Serpico and Farnese and the [[spoiler:fact that they're half-siblings]], Serpico/Farnese is still a popular pairing within the Berserk fandom. Even though she's arranged to marry Roderick, there's not much approval for that pairing in the Berserk fandom (although it's important to note that this lack of approval [[EnsembleDarkhorse does not extend to Roderick himself]]).

** As mentioned in chapter 287 of the manga, Guts always seems to be saving Casca whenever she is near water. Whether this is supposed to mean something or just a RunningGag has not been explained yet...

* IronWoobie: Gut's life has been a constant ride of trauma, death and pain, with whatever brief moments of respite he is granted being cruelly ripped away from him, yet he continues struggling for existence and a place in the ruthless world he lives in. He's nowhere [[NominalHero near being a good person]], but his life has been so painful even in comparison to his wrongful actions that he doesn't even qualify as a JerkassWoobie.

** GUTS!!! TheBerserker (his love is like a truck), The Black Swordsman (not that skinny teen from ''Anime/SwordArtOnline''), The 100 Man-Slayer manga protagonist with a {{BFS}} who makes [[VideoGame/Doom2016 Doomslayer]] look like Princess Peach in comparsion. Fans consider Guts no less than a giga-chad who is simultaneously TheWoobie to the greatest degree. There's also his purse for when Guts wears it, the purse "[[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/915/061/637.jpg BECOMES A MANLY BAG]]".

*** We see that woman later on, [[spoiler: She was clearly tortured to insanity, and is still holding her infant, who is clearly long dead.]]
** As bad as those are, the worst has to be Emperor Ganishka. If you name it he has done it: ethnic cleansing, putting [=POWs=] on the front lines, wide spread torture, attempted rape (of Charlotte, ''again'') to more horrifying examples like turning the Midland capitol into a city of death, using black magic to conjure evil spirits to fight for him forcing pregnant women into pits of chained apostles to produce demon soldiers who tear their way out of their still living mothers and finally using an artificial means to becoming an even more powerful demon that would destroy everything. All the while bragging about making the world into hell. This guy was so evil that when Griffith faced off with him following [[spoiler:his reincarnation]], the fans rooted for Griffith.

** Subverted with Rosine. While she does some terrible things, namely kidnapping children and turning them into Apostle Spawn, she genuinely doesn't understand she's doing anything wrong. The Godhand has the nerve to hand out behelits to little girls like Rosine who cannot possibly be expected to fully comprehend what they are doing. For that matter, the Godhand made almost every one of the aforementioned MoralEventHorizon crossings possible: that's gotta count for something.

* OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow: Guts and his party will eventually have to fight [[DarkMessiah Griffith]], [[TheLegionsOfHell his army]], [[EnemyWithin The Beast]], [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils the four God Hands]], and possibly [[spoiler:[[CosmicHorrorStory The Idea of Evil]].]] Miura is going to have to do something to level the playing field. [[CrapsackWorld Then again,]] [[CosmicHorrorStory he might not…]]

** Everyone, everything, and every entity is out to get you in this world, so you really can't trust anybody but yourself to be extra safe. [[EnemyWithin And that's stretching it!]]

** [[TheGrotesque The Baby.]] It's one thing to be born into the [[CrapsackWorld Berserkverse]], it's a more horrifying thing to be born into it under the worst circumstances imaginable. If none of this had happened, he would have been a normal little kid growing up with his parents - and they probably would not have made bad parents either. This whole family is just one. Big. Woobie.

** Guts himself is debated a fair amount. Is he a troubled AntiHero who nevertheless remains a sympathetic protagonist because of his redeeming qualities, or is he an AxCrazy psychopath who's just as bad as the monsters he fights? Is the Beast of Darkness an artistic metaphor for the dark side of his personality, a hallucination caused by mental illness, or a {{tulpa}} created by his exposure to the interstice? Was Guts' [[spoiler: attempted rape of Casca]] in volume 23 an unforgivable crime that he was fully responsible for, or did the Beast of Darkness possess him to do it against his will? Is he a danger to himself and others who shouldn't be allowed near Casca, or can he control himself with the help of Schierke and his companions?

** [[FairyCompanion Puck]] is subject to a good deal of this, many fans (particularly [[AmericansHateTingle in the West]]) who [[SeriousBusiness have no patience for his antics]] despise him with a fiery passion for being an annoyance whose [[{{Moe}} childlike appearance]] and goofy attitude, not to mention a fair deal of fourth-wall breaking comedy moments, [[MoodWhiplash clash]] [[MoodDissonance horrendously]] with the grim, gritty action and deep gazes into the darkness of the human heart that ''Berserk'' is so acclaimed for. On the other hand, there are just as many fans who are happy to have him around due to Puck's moral goodness and role as Guts' MoralityPet keeping our hero from sliding into complete insanity, and bringing some welcome relief to a story whose unrelenting darkness would otherwise be unbearable.

** Sonia. Despite her youth and relative innocence gained a large amount of infamy by preventing the Midland army from experiencing a collective [[OhCrap realisation]] that [[spoiler:Griffith might not be the virtuous hero he claims to be.]] However, many people do share a lot of love for her, whether it be in a "love to hate" sense akin to Griffith, because they enjoy her genuinely wholesome friendship with Schierke, or they believe that she would've been an otherwise good person had she not fallen victim to Griffith's aura of charisma.

** What's Casca's race supposed to be, and does it matter that they made her lighter in the adaptations?

** '''The Skull Knight'''.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Holy shit. Berserk is considered one of the iconic manga already in its home country... and Western audiences ''love it even more''. It is of no wonder, as Berserk has elements that would be surefire hits in the Western audience: A DarkFantasy based on the Western setting [[TrueArtIsAngsty which is bleak and full of suffering]], [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore adult hardcore protagonist instead of young pretty boy/cutesy moe thing that the Japanese are more known for]], [[RatedMForManly said adult hardcore protagonist is basically hacking through hordes of men and demons with his giant-ass sword, usually alone.]] It's as if Kentaro Miura tailored this to be a hit in the West moreso than his home country.

* AmericansHateTingle: Although [[FairyCompanion Puck]] is well-liked in Japan, many American fans absolutely ''loath and despise'' him, especially the ones that have no patience for his particular brand of humor. The most likely and obvious reason being that he's a cute, androgynous, PluckyComicRelief fairy creature that comes across as [[MoodWhiplash hugely out of place]] in a series that prides itself on brutality and darkness. In Japan, a force of over-the-top cuteness like Puck is [[UsefulNotes/{{Kawaisa}} nothing strange or surprising]], but to many Americans, he's a bafflingly childish character whose inclusion clashes horribly with the [[CrapsackWorld grim]], [[{{Gorn}} graphic]] [[DarkFantasy tone]] of the story.

** The main ''franchise non grata'' of ''Berserk'' fans is ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''. Do NOT bring up the words "The Black Swordsman" if both members of these fandoms are present unless you want to start a fight.

** Longtime Berserk fans haven't appreciated being turned into strawmen by the ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' fandom just so the latter could defend their series from criticism.

** We see that woman later on, [[spoiler: She was clearly tortured to insanity, and is still holding her infant, who is clearly long dead.]]

* SacredCow: Never, ever say anything bad about ''Berserk'' and related media (the critically-panned 2016 anime is fair game, however), lest you be accused of being an oversensitive puritan with no taste. This also extends to the creator Creator/KentaroMiura, who painstakingly drew every inch of the series' trademark SugarWiki/AwesomeArt. Following his death, fans worldwide came together to mourn him.

** Wyald seems to be this for some (see FanonDiscontinuity) for having little to no characterization besides being a monstrous rapist and mass murderer (when the series before and after his arc has no shortage of villains with the same traits that were more interesting or plot-important), and having little actual role or purpose in the overall storyline besides trying to stop Griffith and his crew from escaping, [[TooDumbToLive and not even doing]] [[StupidEvil a very good job at it]]. Although [[HateSink this is also the intended reaction]], scenes involving Wyald are often complained about for being excessively violent, even considering the overall tone of the series, and his arc is criticized for unnecessarily slowing down the story during an already somewhat padded section. Notably, both the major animated adaptations of the Golden Age cut him out entirely.

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