"Are people truly in control of their lives, or is it some transcendental entity or law that decides? Two will struggle to persist, to fight an unwinnable battle against forces of god-like power."
Harry Potter and the Berserker
is a Berserk/Harry Potter crossover fic by deathbearABC123.
Halloween, 1990. Harry Potter is locked up in his cupboard while Dudley goes trick-or-treating as an overweight Superman. Wishing to be away from his abusive relatives, Harry is spirited away to the land of Midland by a being known as the Skull Knight, and dropped off right outside the camp of a mercenary group called the Band of the Hawk. Starving, he tries to steal some food, but is caught by the group's strongman, Guts. Left without much of a choice, Harry joins the group, unaware of the fantastic and terrifying consequences of his decision. Meanwhile, the Order of the Phoenix struggles to find a way to get their prophesied savior back, while a certain Dark Lord plots from the shadows.
It stands, completed, at 75 chapters.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Adaptational Attractiveness: After sacrificing his Horcruxes, Voldemort undergoes a transformation that gives him the appearance of a middle-aged, yet still relatively handsome man.
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed heavily with Griffith, as he still crossed the Moral Event Horizon, but when Harry meets him again in Limbo, Griffith seems genuinely happy to see him. Right before Harry leaves, Griffith asks if "his" sacrifice was worth it in the end. While it proves that Griffith hasn't really learned anything or felt remorse for his actions, the fact that he asks someone else if it amounted to something rather than insisting upon it himself is quite surprising.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Since Harry ended up in the world of Berserk before going to Hogwarts, any friendships and relationships that he would've had in canon are nonexistent. Even after winding back in the school later on, any relationships that he would've had in canon are nonexistent, spending most of the time with the faculty of the school to heal Casca's damaged mind.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: After Harry fatally wounds him, Voldemort begs Zodd for help. Zodd kills him instead.
- Ambiguous Situation: The epilogue is deliberately vague over whether Guts is still barely alive or passed on after siring a second child with Casca.
- An Arm and a Leg:
- Guts loses an arm (and an eye) and Harry nearly loses a leg during the Eclipse.
- Lucius Malfoy gets his wand hand (or, more specifically, all of the fingers of said hand, minus the thumb) cut off by the Skull Knight.
- In Chapter 73, this happens twice: Femto destroys Guts' mechanical hand, and Guts severs Femto's arm to prevent him from killing Casca after she fatally stabs him.
- Anti-Villain: The Malfoys are not nice people, but as the story goes on, it's clear they just want to survive the coming apocalyptic war.
- Asshole Victim: Dolores Umbridge.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Voldemort gains the giants' allegiance by defeating their leader.
- Avenging the Villain: Sirius manages to kill Bellatrix... and Voldemort incinerates him with Fiendfyre mere moments later in retaliation.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Chapter 48, in which Harry, Farnese, and Schierke use a special ritual involving a pensieve to dive into Casca's mind in order to restore Casca's memories and sanity. Especially the last part, where they, together with a vicious hound that represents Guts, have to fight off a horde of demons led by a giant black hawk (representing Femto) long enough to fully reconstruct a life-saved porcelain statue of Casca that represents her being. Fortunately, they pull it off.
- Big Badass Battle Sequence: Chapter 56's Cliffhanger ending features one, in which Voldemort and his army attack Hogwarts during the Third Task, and Harry and his friends get involved. The final scene depicts Guts about to square off with Voldemort right after killing a dragon.
- Chapter 57 continues where the previous chapter left off. Everybody gets a chance to shine. Even Dumbledore pulls off two Big Damn Hero moments, saving Guts from being Zerg Rushed by Voldemort's followers and later using a Patronus to ward off the Dementors Umbridge had sent to attack the group.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Subverted. The God Hand are simply using Voldemort, who is stupid enough to think he can backstab them and steal their power.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Voldemort desperately wants to be the top villain, but against the sheer power and malevolence of the God Hand, he just can't compare.
- Big Good: Deconstructed. Dumbledore isn't portrayed as evil or inept, but his leaving Harry with the Dursleys sets the rest of the plot in motion (and not in a good way), and he is ultimately curb-stomped by a pseudo-Apostle Voldemort.
- Bittersweet Ending: The God Hand and Voldemort are gone, Guts and Casca can finally live out their lives with their son, and the remaining apostles will no doubt be mopped up. However, many good people died, Harry can no longer use magic and is stuck as a royal advisor, Guts' natural lifespan has been greatly diminished due to his use of the Berserker Armor, the God Hand believe that history will inevitably repeat itself, and relations between Midland and Magical Britain will take time to properly smooth over.
- The epilogue adds on to this: Guts and Casca managed to have another baby, but it's left ambiguous as to whether Guts is still alive, and judging from Casca's internal monologue, life was apparently not pleasant for him due to his premature aging. In addition, Queen Charlotte has no intention of marrying and having children, her intent being to leave the throne to either Gaiseric (Casca and Guts' son), or the first child Harry and Schierke have after they get married. Such an act will no doubt cause a political uproar that will be difficult to quench.
- Bloodier and Gorier: The fanfic contains more violence than other Harry Potter stories since it is a crossover with Berserk
- Broken Pedestal: Princess Charlotte's opinion of Griffith goes down the drain after Harry shows her what happened during the Eclipse.
- Brought Down to Normal: Harry reveals that destroying the source of the God Hands' power caused him to lose his ability to use magic.
- The Bully: Snape tries to be this in Chapters 43 and 44, insulting Harry and trying to discredit him. Harry is not impressed, and Guts hits him on the shoulder as a warning. When Snape tries to start again, Dumbledore (and later Sirius) tell him to either shut up or leave, cowing him.
- Bullying a Dragon:
- Voldemort's pseudo-Apostle Death Eaters pick a fight with Nosferatu Zodd, believing that he is weak because he doesn't possess magic. He curb-stomps them without even needing to use his Apostle form.
- Snape is really lucky to be alive by this point, since he's gone out of his way to antagonize Harry and his friends ever since their arrival. Guts even notes that the Beast of Darkness would urge him to rip Snape's throat out every time the Potion's Master opened his mouth.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: A rare heroic example regarding Harry's enmity with Voldemort. To the Dark Lord, Harry is his destined opponent; but to Harry, Voldemort and his followers are just typical Apostles who are getting in his and his friends' way of dealing with their real enemies—the God Hand.
- Call-Back: During the Eclipse, Guts' arm is bitten by an apostle as he tries to save Casca from being raped by Femto, forcing Guts to amputate his arm in order to break free. In Chapter 69, Casca struggles against Locus and the same apostle tries to stop Guts from helping her in the exact same way... except Guts uses the automail's built-in cannon to force it to release him, then brutally kills it with Dragonslayer.
- Cain and Abel: The Skull Knight and Void—AKA Geiseric and Gunderic, respectively—are brothers in this story.
- Celebrity Is Overrated: Harry is outraged to learn that the Wizarding World is treating him like a messiah.
- Character Death: Dumbledore succumbs to the curse Voldemort inflicted on him mid-way through Chapter 63.
- The Conscience: Thanks to using the Demon Child to reincarnate himself in the physical world, Femto is forced to let the Phantom Child be this to him, no matter how much he dislikes it. He confront the child in Chapter 46 and tells it to send a message to Harry and Guts—that if they and their companions agree to stay away from Falconia, he'll leave them alone.
- Cool Big Sis: Casca was this to Harry before the Eclipse happened.
- Cool Sword:
- Harry gets a magic sword from Godot after the Eclipse.
- In Chapter 56, Casca obtains the Sword of Gryffindor.
- Cruel Mercy: Harry spares Rosine so that she can live out the rest of her life knowing that her dreams are in tatters.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Once Guts dons the Berserker Armor in Chapter 57, he mops the floor with Voldemort's army, and would have killed them all had Voldemort not decided to retreat.
- Dark Fic: Since the fanfic is a crossover with Berserk, there's a lot more violence and sexual content than your typical Harry Potter story.
- Death by Adaptation: The apostle that kills Gaston—a small, slug-like creature that killed him from the inside—escaped Guts' attempt to kill it with Gaston's sword in canon. Here, while it does evade Guts, Harry shows up and kills it before it can flee.
- Demographic-Dissonant Crossover: A British fantasy children's book series crosses over with a graphically violent Japanese seinen manga.
- Determinator: Dolores Umbridge, of the Bullying a Dragon variant. She is obsessed with one-upping the protagonists to even the smallest, pettiest degree that she is perfectly happy to commit capital crimes just to have some measure of victory over them. It ultimately gets her killed in the last chapter.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Harry and Voldemort duel in Chapter 70, with the latter being convinced that they're in an Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. When Harry bluntly admits he does not share this feeling and sees Voldemort as nothing more than an obstacle, Voldemort is quite annoyed and sics his Death Eaters on him.
- Entitled Bastard:
- When Harry returns, the Wizarding World assumes he's going to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, enroll in Hogwarts, be their savior, and possibly fall in love with a random Hogwarts witch-in-training. He has zero interest in doing any of these things, aside from dealing with Voldemort, and even then, it's not at the top of his to-do list.
- Dolores Umbridge tries to see Harry in Chapter 48, behaving as though she has a right to see him while threatening anyone who tries to obstruct her with legal consequences. An unimpressed Guts breaks her wrist and punches her lights out. She never learns, and keeps antagonizing the protagonists until her death.
- Cornelius Fudge falls into this in Chapter 55, stating Harry has a civic duty to serve the Wizarding Community as well participate in the Triwizard Tournament, threatening to send aurors to arrest him and his party should he fail to comply.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
Word of God is that if Snape knew about the Eclipse, he'd be less keen to bully Harry. - Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Femto declares that he can't understand why Griffith valued Guts so much.
- Face Death with Dignity: The God Hand, bar Femto, regard their defeat and ultimate deaths with a casual "Oh well, we tried."
- Fallen Hero: VOID. He went from a noble prince who considered slavery as a special kind of evil and scoffed at the concept of fate to the cynical, fatalistic leader of the God Hand.
- Faux Affably Evil: Femto, at least when he's using his human disguise.
- Forced to Watch: Harry and Guts are brutally pinned down by a horde of demons and made to witness Casca's brutal rape at the hands of Femto.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- With Harry missing, it ultimately falls to Dumbledore to protect the Sorcerer's Stone and kill the Basilisk with Godric Gryffindor's sword.
- Wormtail is exposed mere months after the Chamber of Secrets incident, and though he still manages to flee back to Voldemort, Dumbledore manages to obtain enough evidence to secure Sirius's release from Azkaban.
- Barty Crouch, Jr.'s disguise is exposed not long after the champions of the Triwizard Tournament are announced. With the real Moody in need of medical treatment, Remus Lupin is recalled to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for the rest of the year.
- Following his descent into paranoia (which happens much sooner than in the books), Cornelius Fudge bribes Ludo Bagman into making Dolores Umbridge a judge for the Triwizard Tournament.
- Harry's absence also means that Dobby is still stuck with the Malfoys. He gets a job at Hogwarts after Lucius is exposed as a Death Eater.
- Because Harry got transported to the world of Berserk before going to Hogwarts, he didn't get the chance to build a relationship with anyone in the school, viewing the few people he meets as acquaintances with common goals and strangers at worst. More often than not, he spent more time with the faculty of Hogwarts since they have the means to repair Casca's damaged mind from the Eclipse and barely got to meet any of the students. Thanks to the aforementioned Adaptational Relationship Overhaul, he ends up being an Official Couple with Schierke instead of Ginny, the two never meeting one another thanks to the change in circumstances.
- An off-hand comment from the Skull Knight in Chapter 64 implies that, were it not for the Skull Knight's interference, Harry may well have become the God Hand's enforcer; since that failed, they selected Voldemort instead.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Voldemort sports a massive scar after his unpleasant encounter with Guts.
- Hope Spot: Think Harry's presence is going to prevent the Eclipse from happening? You thought wrong.
- After Guts defeats Griffith and leaves, Harry pursues him and convinces Guts to return, but by the time they get back, Griffith has already left to bang Princess Charlotte.
- During his year-long imprisonment, Griffith has an epiphany, realizing that his current situation is his own fault and how stupid it was of him to seduce Princess Charlotte—in stark contrast to his canon self, who blamed Guts for everything. It's not enough, though, as he still thinks about his dream and how it is now in tatters.
- During the Eclipse, Harry gets a bit farther than Guts and actually is poised to strike down the demon holding Casca. He gets tackled by another demon before he can and, like Guts, is Forced to Watch as Femto rapes Casca.
- Hypocrite: Snape berates Sirius and Lupin for using a forbidden ritual to bring Harry and his friends back to their world, but he's a former Death Eater who pulled a Karma Houdini by agreeing to be Dumbledore's mole. Dumbledore calls him out on this in Chapter 46.
- Implausible Deniability: In Chapter 38, Slan asks why Harry and Guts bear a grudge against her, as she wasn't the one who raped Casca. Of course, she was likely just trying to piss them off for the fun of it.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- The Eclipse still happens, with everything that entails. The only real differences are a particularly cruel Hope Spot that ends with Harry suffering a severe leg injury similar to how Guts loses his arm; and the demon that killed Gaston is slain.
- On a happier note, Hermione Granger is still saved from the mountain troll; and Dumbledore defeats Quirrell and rescues Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets after killing the Basilisk.
- On a sadder note, Sirius still dies.
- In the Back: How Femto kills Azan...
- ...and how Casca kills him.
- Jerkass: Snape is just as mean-spirited and insulting as ever towards Harry.
- Ironic Hell: The souls of the people who became the God Hand are stuck in a limbo area with no one but each other to converse with. They're pretty chill about it, but it's not an ideal situation, and Harry is unsympathetic.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch:
- After Harry fatally wounds him and decides to leave, Voldemort begs Zodd for help. Zodd seems to acquiesce... and then crushes his skull instead before offering Harry a ride.
- Void brutally kills Umbridge in the last chapter.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: As of the epilogue, a number of apostles, including Rosine and Irvine, have decided they stand a better chance of surviving by reigning in their bloodlust and killing off their more rowdy brethren in service of Midland.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Voldemort initially doesn't take Guts seriously at all. And then Guts draws blood from him, at which point the Dark Lord stops playing around. He still gets his ass kicked once Guts dons the Berserker Armor, and would have been slain had he not called it quits and fled.
- Meaningful Name: Gut's BFS is called "Dragonslayer". Guess what's the first thing he kills when Voldemort decides to make his move.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Casca gives the Phantom Child the name Gaiseric in Chapter 64.
- Name and Name: Sort of. The fanfic's title refers to Harry Potter himself while the "Berserker" part describes Guts' role as a rage-driven warrior that goes berserk on his enemies.
- No Body Left Behind: Sirius's fate, courtesy of Fiendfyre.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: The Sword of Gryffindor will appear whenever a person showing the traits of "a true Gryffindor" (true bravery, trying to defend the weak) touches the Sorting Hat while needing a weapon to defend themselves or others. As Casca can testify, the wielder doesn't actually have to be a Gryffindor, or even a wizard.
- Pragmatic Hero: Tracy Davis. She's not an outright Jerkass like most Slytherins, but she can be rather conniving when in pursuit of her goals.
- Rape as Drama: Poor, poor Casca.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Dumbledore. While Harry isn't what he thought he'd be, the old headmaster still resolves to help him, and even defends him from the Ministry's meddling.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni:
- Guts and Harry, with the former being a rage-filled juggernaut and the latter a more morally upstanding (but still occasionally cold-blooded) Squishy Wizard.
- Astoria Greengrass is the cheerful, friendly red to her sister's stoic, icy blue.
- Screw Destiny:
- When Dumbledore attempts to explain the prophecy to Harry about his enmity with Voldemort, Harry interrupts him before he can give any details, saying that he doesn't believe in destiny.
- Guts invokes this trope while fighting Voldemort in Chapter 57, angrily stating that the latter should stop trying to confront Harry Because Destiny Says So and focus on what's right in front of him.
- Harry invokes this against Voldemort as well in Chapter 70, declaring that he just views the Dark Lord as another obstacle to dispose of before sarcastically apologizing for saying so.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Umbridge tries to use this trope in Chapter 48. Too bad for her, Guts couldn't care less about that.
- She's Back: Casca's sanity is restored at the end of Chapter 48. The subsequent chapter reveals that her memories are back, too
- Ship Tease: Between Harry and Schierke. As of the epilogue, they're an Official Couple.
- Spanner in the Works: Thanks to Voldemort's deal with the God Hand, Harry no longer has a psychic connection to him.
- Spared By Adaptation:
- Wyald does not attack the Band of the Hawk after they rescue Griffith, so he avoids being executed by Zodd. Subverted later on, as Harry kills him after the Eclipse.
- Severus Snape, Cedric Diggory, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks (and, presumably, her dad), Amelia Bones, Rufus Scrimgeor, Fred Weasley, and Colin Creevey all survive.
- Stepford Smiler: Sirius and Lupin go to the Dursleys' house to acquire something of Harry's so they can bring him back. While there, they proceed to berate the Dursleys for their behavior, even reading Petunia the riot act for mistreating her sister's son and pointing out that, had she and Vernon died and Dudley wound up in the custody of the Potters, they would never have treated him the same way the Dursleys treated Harry—all while sporting the goofiest grins imaginable.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Gunderic, AKA Void, killed his father by mixing poison into his wine. He confessed this deed to his brother, King Gaiseric (AKA Skull Knight), but the latter let it slide because their father was a lunatic.
- That Man Is Dead: As far as the author is concerned, Griffith and Femto are two separate characters.
- The Skull Knight does not consider himself to truly be Emperor Gaiseric.
- Token Good Teammate: Astoria Greengrass and Tracy Davis are the only decent Slytherins shown so far. The latter even befriends Neville Longbottom.
- Took a Level in Badass: Following her recovery, Casca takes several levels in badassery. To wit, in her first post-recovery fight, she slays a giant with the Sword of Gryffindor, which she is later permitted to keep, and gains a set of goblin-made armor.
- Tranquil Fury: Dumbledore is enraged when he learns how the Dursleys have been treating Harry, but he keeps his cool. Professor McGonagall, by contrast, has to be restrained from attacking them.
- Undignified Death: After losing to Harry, Voldemort begs Zodd for help. The Black Lion snaps his neck instead.
- Unwitting Pawn: Princess Charlotte to Femto.
- Villainous Rescue: Void brutally kills Dolores Umbridge just as she's about to cast a Memory Charm on the protagonists.
- Villain Takes an Interest:
- Zodd is very impressed with the progress Harry and Guts have made, and really enjoys fighting them.
- Even before Harry got fully involved in the Berserk story, Slan seemed to be the only member of the God Hand who found him intriguing, noting that he already had a rather "colorful" destiny awaiting him.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: Slan declares that, if she was still human, she would have gladly taken either Guts or Harry as a husband.
- Wham Line: The end of Chapter 48.Guts: "What happened to Casca?"Casca: "Casca? That's me."
- What the Hell, Hero?: A restored Casca is shocked and outraged to learn that Guts has a Behelit, though he convinces her not to dispose of it by pointing out that it would either find its way back to him or end up in the hands of someone else.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Chapter 58, in which we learn how the Skull Knight, then King Gaiseric, met Flora, and how his brother, Gunderic, became Void.
- Worthy Opponent:
- Downplayed. Femto regards Guts as little more than a tenacious annoyance, but he seems to pay attention to Harry's development. During their first encounter since the Eclipse, "Neo-Griffith" makes note of Harry's progress as a wizard; and while conversing with Voldemort in Falconia, he gives a mocking smile when the latter dismisses Harry as having no magical talent and casually rattles off a few of Harry's more noteworthy accomplishments (holding his own against Zodd more than once, making creative use of his magic, surviving an up-close encounter with Slan), leaving Voldemort speechless.
- Zodd regards Guts, and later Harry, as this. The feeling is mutual.
