Guts (Berserk)

> "*Fuck you. I'm human, the real deal, down to the marrow of my bones. Don't lump me together with you freaks.*"
> ― Guts to Ganishka
>
>

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## Summary

**Guts** is the main character of the manga *Berserk* and all of its adaptations.

## Biography

### Early Life

Guts comes from a nearly entirely unknown background. It's unknown what his real name was, if he even had one. His true parents are almost entirely a mystery, too. All that is known is that he was born from the corpse of his mother, who had been hung from a tree. An unknown amount of time later, he was found by a travelling mercenary band, and taken in by Shisu, the mercenary leader's lover, who had lost her own child to miscarriage a few days prior. The mercenary leader, Gambino, allowed Shisu to adopt Guts, despite the unease of some of his men, who saw the circumstances of Guts' birth as having made him into a sort of bad omen. For 3 years, Shisu acted as Guts' surrogate mother, until she died of plague. From then on, Guts would look to the mercenary leader, Gambino, as a parental figure, a role he begrudgingly accepted at best. At the age of 6, Guts was taught to wield a sword by his surrogate father, resulting in the distinct nose scar he now bears. At age 9, he entered his first battle, surviving by the skin of his teeth. The little praise he received from Gambino at the battle's end was enough to encourage him to pursue the work of a mercenary with extra vigor. However, living with mercenaries was far harsher for Guts than simply tough love and the looming prospect of death in battle. Gambino was a drunkard, and prone to awful decisions made by the bottle. During one of these stupors, he prostituted Guts to one of his men, as his drunken train of thought led him to believe Guts, as a bad omen, had been responsible for Shisu's death. The experiences Guts was subjected to that night would emotionally scar him for the rest of his life. Gambino feigned ignorance and Guts got revenge on his assaulter, and the issue was swept under the rug for 2 years, until, during one battle, Gambino lost his leg. This event led to him being in a constant state of depression, and continuous attempting to drown his woes with alcohol, which led to his hatred for his adopted son coming out, and after confessing his involvement in Guts' assault and his hatred for the boy, attempted to kill Guts, and was slain by him in self defense. Afterwards, Guts, devastated at Gambino's betrayal and death, fled the mercenary band to wander on his own.

### Lone Wolf

After leaving Gambino's mercenary group, he works as a lone mercenary for about 4 years. Not much is known of this time, aside from one event when he was roughly 15 years old, in which, after being captured after a battle and imprisoned, he had his first encounter with a supernatural being, the flower spirit named Chitch, while in his jail cell. It was during this time that he also obtained his signature Golden Age helmet.

### Band of the Hawk

After killing the exceptionally strong general, Bazuso, Guts caught the eye of Griffith, the leader of a mercenary group known as the Band of the Hawk. After some of the members of the Band of the Hawk attempt to rob him, he is stabbed and loses consciousness due to blood loss after Griffith steps in to break up the fight. Waking up to find himself in the Band of the Hawk's care, he has a short talk with Griffith, before quickly losing his cool after Griffith attempts to befriend him and recruit him, despite having stabbed him prior. After continuing the conversation for a short while longer, Guts decides to wager himself on his sword: if Griffith can beat him, he'll join the Hawks. But if Guts wins, he kills Griffith. After a short and fairly even fight, however, Griffith dislocates Guts' shoulder, ending the fight and recruiting Guts.

### Wanderer

After defeating Griffith, Guts wanders off on his own. A few nights later, he is met by a mysterious figure clad in skeletal armor, who warns him of the impending Advent. Some time later, he meets the blacksmith Godo, and his adopted daughter, Erica. During this time apart from the Band of the Hawk, he becomes more relaxed and free-spirited, taking part in tournaments and the like, while also continuing to improve himself. During one tournament, however, he is informed the the Band of The Hawk is now considered a criminal organization, and that one purpose of the tournament is to rally up some recruits to help destroy them. Upon hearing this, Guts departs the tournament swiftly to track down his old comrades.

## Personality and Traits

### Early Years

Despite his upbringing, Guts was a fairly innocent child, simply seeking the approval of his adoptive father. However, after his assault at the hands of Donovan, he became more short-tempered and violent, and developed haphephobia. After killing Gambino in self-defense, he developed mental issues not dissimilar to post-traumatic stress.

### Lone Mercenary

The troubles of his upbringing are fully on display, and he regularly gets himself into exceedingly dangerous fights, attempting to find meaning in his existence by repeatedly jeopardizing it. However, he does retain some semblance of childhood innocence, as shown by his affection towards Chitch.

### Band of the Hawk

After joining the Band of the Hawk, Guts' disposition lightens a good deal. Making friends within the group, his fear of physical contact seems to decrease a good deal, as he isn't afraid of showing his friendliness and joviality physically when partaking in celebrations with his comrades. However, he isn't completely out of the woods. After learning that, according to Griffith's definitions, he doesn't qualify as Griffith's friend (after having done an assassination for him, and had been forced to kill a child during the mission, no less), Guts becomes more withdrawn, though he attempts to hide this. His addiction to battle persists, as do his anger issues, though they become markedly less prominent the later he gets in his Hawks career. By the time he fights Griffith for the right to leave the Hawks, he is more level-headed than ever, as his desire for freedom, and drive to achieve the individuality that he believes will make him a true friend to Griffith, give him a stable base.

### Pre-Eclipse

While he harbors some regret over his decision to leave the Hawks, Guts ultimately is more light-hearted than ever, actively engaging in festivities such as tournaments, and deriving joy in testing his skills in recreational combat and training. He also obtains something akin to a family after befriending the blacksmith Godo and his adopted daughter Erica. However, he takes on a more serious demeanor after joining the Hawks. While making love with Casca, he has a flashback to Donovan, and breaks down, revealing his past suffering to her. During the mission to rescue Griffith, he grows infuriated upon seeing the suffering his friend was subjected to, and he goes berserk for the firs time in over a year, viciously slaughtering anyone who attempts to impede Griffith's rescue. During his fight with Wyald he becomes enraged at Wyald's cruelty, his impeding of Griffith's rescue, and the interference of demonic forces in his life once again, causing him to inflict as much brutality on the demon as possible with any and all strikes he lands.

### Post-Eclipse

After the Eclipse, Guts' mental issues return in full force; his bloodlust heightened more than ever before to the point of sadism, and his haphephobia intense to the point that he'll even lash out at the touch of someone as innocent as a mere elf, such as Puck.

### Conviction Arc

After realizing Casca has gone missing, Guts becomes entirely no-nonsense, forgoing sadism and amassing an Apostle body count in favor of simply saving Casca. While not particularly interested in killing, he will nonetheless kill without reservations anyone who attempts to hinder him, as he threatens to do to Farnese.

### Millenium Falcon Arc and Onwards

Guts completely forgoes his quest for vengeance, and seeks only to protect Casca. However, a dark corner of his mind is still filled with rage and darkness, and willing to do whatever it takes to kill Griffith. However, with the aid of his travelling party, he is able to protect Casca and keep himself in check. After receiving the Berserker Armor, however, he becomes more dangerous to his group as his darker side slowly gains control and takes more of a toll on him. However, with conservative use of the Berserker Armor and the aid of Schierke when need be, his inner darkness is currently a manageable threat, though when it comes to a head, it will likely result in the most devastating loss of control he will ever experience.

## Relationships

### Griffith

Upon first properly meeting each other, Guts despises Griffith for acting amicable, despite having stabbed him near-fatally earlier. After their first battle together, however, and a candid speech from Griffith during baths the morning after, Guts gains some respect for Griffith, slated with cynicism though it may be. Over the next three years, however, Guts' disposition is skewed strongly toward complete respect for him, and he becomes Griffith's closest confidant, even more so than Casca. Upon overhearing Griffith's definition of a friend, Guts' feelings of respect and camaraderie drive him to seek a dream of his own, separate from Griffith's goal, so that he might finally be a true friend in his his eyes. Following this goal, he leaves The Hawks after the successful resolution of their campaign against Tudor, though Casca, Judeau, and Rickert try to talk him out of it, and Griffith tries to retain him by force. The next the two men meet, Guts finds Griffith in a dungeon, crippled, elinguated, and flayed. When Griffith comes to and sees Guts, he feebly attempts to strangle him in rage, but relents when Guts brushes his hand away and embraces him tearfully. From then, until Griffith's rebirth as Femto, Guts is highly protective of Griffith, willing on multiple occasions to put himself in mortal danger to keep him safe. After the birth of Femto and the demigod's subsequent assault of Casca, Guts sheds all affection for the former Griffith, and from then on has demonstrated nothing but hatred for him.

### Casca

Upon first encountering each other, Guts and Casca are bitter enemies, Guts having nearly killed her, and later becoming a fixation of Griffith's, making Casca very bitter and jealous towards him. This bitter attitude persists for years, with Griffith remarking that they fight like cats and dogs. During the Doldrey campaign against Tudor, however, the tension between Guts and Casca eases up, after Casca reveals the reasons for her attachment to Griffith and airs her grievances toward Guts, allowing the two to come to understand each other better.

## Statistics

**Name:** Guts

**Aliases/Titles:** Captain of the Band of the Hawk's Raiders, 100-Man Slayer, The Black Swordsman, The Branded Swordsman, Struggler (by Skull Knight) Kshatriya of Durga (by Daiba), Mad Dog (by Casca)

**Classifications:** Human, individual marked with the Brand of Sacrifice, Captain, Mercenary, Berserker

**Age:** 24 currently

**Hair Color:** Black

**Eye Color:** Brown

**Skin Color:** Light

**Height:** 6'8

**Weight:** 253.5 lbs

**Verse of Origin:** Berserk

## Powers and Abilities

**List of Abilities:** Passive Luck Manipulation (increases his survivability in near-death situations, and possibly affects him in other, albeit more minor, ways), Superhuman Physical Attributes, Adept Swordsman, Competent Brawler

 Same as before, Master Swordsman, Competent at Stealth, Adept Tactician, Enhanced Recuperation (recovered more swiftly from injuries sustained while fighting Zodd than Griffith did, despite sustaining significantly more injury)

Same as before, Resistance to Possession

Same as before, Grandmaster Swordsman, Skilled Marksman (crossbows and throwing knives)

Same as before, Regeneration Negation/Can Harm The Soul (via Dragonslayer)

Same as before, Berserker Mode, Night Vision, Immunity to Pain

## Notable Equipment

### Weapons

* Guts' Greatsword (pre-Band of the Hawk)
* Guts' Band of the Hawk Greatsword (original)
* Guts' Band of the Hawk Greatsword (replacement)
* Guts' Greatsword (post-Band of the Hawk)
* Dragonslayer
* Repeater Crossbow
* Cannon Arm
* Throwing Knives
* Miniature Bombs

### Armor

* Guts' Armor (pre-Band of the Hawk)
* Guts' Band of the Hawk Armor
* Guts' Armor (post-Band of the Hawk)
* Black Swordsman Armor (version 1)
* Black Swordsman Armor (version 2)
* Berserker Armor

## Feats

### Skill

* Defeated Bazuso, who has been said to have killed thirty men in a single battle, and killed a bear in single combat.
* Disarmed Nosferatu Zodd
* While fighting alone and previously injured, killed 100 enemies in a single battle.
* Defeated General Boscogn in single combat.
* Defeated Griffith with a single strike.
* Easily defeated Silat, twice.
* Survived the Eclipse with a knife, an Apostle's tusk, and a (broken) regular sword and no armor, with the only obviously life-threatening injury being his own self-amputation.

## Trivia/Notes

* Guts is shown to be a naturally gifted gambler, as shown by him easily beating several of his men in a game of dice even while distracted by conversing with Casca, and constantly wagering his life in pitched battles.
* He bears several accidental similarities to the character Ash Williams from the *Evil Dead* series, to the point that Kentaro Miura, the creator of *Berserk*, feared a lawsuit.
* Guts was one of the first characters to start the "BFS" trend in popular fiction (in which characters wield impossibly large swords, often weighing hundreds of pounds)
* Guts bears heavy similarities to the legendary Irish hero Cú Chulainn, in that they both are strong to that point that normal weapons can't handle their strength, have a strong symbolic bond with hounds/wolves (Guts' Beast of Darkness, Cú Chulainn's name meaning "Hound of Chulainn", Guts having slain wolves, Cú Chulainn having slain Chulainn's guard dog), and both having a highly volatile berserker rage (Berserker Armor in Guts' case, the riastrad in Cú Chulainn's)

## Other

### Notable Battles (Canon)

**Wins:** Bazuso, 100-Man Battle, Boscogn, Griffith, Silat, Wyald, Snake Baron, Slug Count, Rosine, Mozgus, Nosferatu Zodd (human form), Raid of Enoch Village, Grunbeld, Serpico, Ganishka, Sea God

**Losses:** Griffith, Nosferatu Zodd (Apostle form), Femto, Slan, Grunbeld

**Draws:**

**Inconclusive:** Serpico