Berserk is a medieval-inspired grimdark anime with fantasy elements. It follows Guts, who was born from a hanged woman. Griffith sees the potential in Guts’ battle prowess, and convinces him to join his Band of the Hawk. Griffith is a charismatic leader who convinces his followers to help him achieve his dream of seizing imperial power.

Berserk is a classic anime for many reasons: it’s a beautifully written dark fantasy with a creative and terrifying magic system, and it has a cast of compelling characters. Even the characters that the audience is meant to hate are well-written. Each person, from page boy to king, plays a pivotal role in Berserk.

Berserk characters like Puck and Father Mozgus feature designs that represent the apex of Kentaro Miura’s creative talents.

10The King of Midland Has Twisted Motivations

The King Favors the Hawks for a Short While

Political maneuvering and battle strategy is a huge element in Berserk. Griffith is a talented but precocious leader, and many politicians and royals dismiss him. They don’t understand why the King of Midland seems to favor him. It would be a mistake to think that the King of Midland is a kind man, though; he’s capable of great cruelty, especially to his poor daughter, Princess Charlotte who he terrorizes in secret.

The King of Midland gives Griffith and the Band of the Hawk a chance because it suits his own aims. He’s a very well-written politician, because he seems fair at first, but he will only bend so far. He’s only as gracious as far as it benefits his own, secretly twisted, aims. When Griffith pushes too far and seduces Princess Charlotte, the King of Midland doesn’t make Griffith his son-in-law like the warrior hoped. The King of Midland turns on Griffith and relishes the torture he orders.

9Moonlight Boy Is a Mysterious Figure

Moonlight Boy Has a Strong Connection with Guts & Casca

The Moonlight Boy represents Guts’ and Casca’s pain in Berserk. He’s a compelling and mysterious figure who has oddly hopeful moments. He’s the soul of Casca and Guts’ unborn child, who was never truly born because of Griffith’s betrayal on the night of the Eclipse. Though Moonlight Boy, Guts, and Casca, are never granted the family life that they deserved, Moonlight Boy still loves his parents.

Moonlight Boy expresses his love in ethereal ways. He reaches Casca when she’s utterly broken, and their bond is deep and instantaneous. Moonlight Boy is also the only person who can reach Guts when he’s at his darkest moment. He’s an enigmatic and tragic symbol of a parent and child’s love.

8Rickert Keeps True to Himself in the Face of a Persuasive Leader

Rickert’s the Youngest of the Band of the Hawk

If Berserk were rewritten, characters like Theresia might get to spend more time with Guts and could make great members of his party.

Griffith is no stranger to employing child soldiers. He takes in Casca when she’s a young girl, and Rickert is the youngest Band of the Hawk member. He promises to be a great talent in engineering, and his blacksmithing skills are vital in a medieval setting.

Rickert is one of the few survivors from the Eclipse. He’s also one of the few people to ever see right through Griffith, even as the angelic-looking Falcon of Light. It’s poignant that he would see past Griffith’s charisma and emotionally-driven relationships with his warriors. Rickert even goes as far as slapping the fallen warrior in the face, rejecting his “dream.”

7Locus Is Different from the Other Apostles

Locus Has Self-Control & an Analytical Mind

The most beautiful things tend to be the most evil in Berserk. Locus is an apostle knight called the Moonlight Knight, and he’s undefeated in battle. He seeks out Griffith along with a few other apostles, and pledges himself to him in the Millennium Falcon arc, which is well after Griffith’s evil deeds on the night of the Eclipse.

Many of the apostles in Berserk are depicted as mindlessly evil brutes, like cardinal sins personified. Locus is insidious because his evil is meticulously thought-out. He keeps himself from indulging in total depravity, yet he devotes himself to an evil man. He’s a keen strategist, self-contained, and calculative. He’s incredibly loyal to Griffith, who is one of the most depraved characters of all.

6The Idea of Evil Represents the Worst Parts of Humanity

The Idea of Evil Is a Cruel God of Fate & Choice

Also called the God of the Abyss, the Idea of Evil is a collective unconscious manifested into a dark god. The entity represents every evil impulse in humanity, and it pulls the strings of fate, skewing the scales of justice. The Idea of Evil is so much more than an antagonistic character, it’s a huge philosophical symbol.

The Idea of Evil has some of the most complex lines of dialogue in the entire series. It explores how evil begets itself, and its effect on other people. The god of evil describes the nature of humanity, and how Griffith’s selfish actions tear his soul apart.

5Skull Knight Wars Against Demonkind

Skull Knight Saves Guts & Casca

Berserk’s manga has a reputation for being especially brutal and intense, meaning the anime adaptation had to make some pretty big omissions.

Skull Knight has a frightening, eldritch appearance, but his actions are noble. He devotes himself to warring against demonkind. The 1997 anime makes the mistake of deleting Skull Knight from the series, but he’s the one who saves Guts and Casca from certain death in the Eclipse. Skull Knight has had his eye on Guts and Griffith for a long time.

Skull Knight is over a thousand years old, and he allies himself with Guts and his Black Swordsman party. Where Guts is the counterbalance to Griffith/Femto, Skull Knight is the counterbalance to the Apostles and the God of the Abyss. Skull Knight further underlines how beautiful things tend to be the most evil in Berserk, as he has a grisly visage, but he’s a constant friend, he saves everyone that he can manage to, and he’s capable of great love. He has his sight on the overall picture in the battle of good versus evil.

4Puck Is a Great Counterbalance to Guts’ Moroseness

Puck Is Guts’ Constant Companion

Berserk is a dark fantasy anime with the kind of plot and setting where things can only get worse. Guts never had many illusions or naïveté, but he only grows more haunted and disillusioned as his life continues. Puck is a small elfin creature who couldn’t be more different from Guts, and he ends up being a wonderful friend to Guts.

Puck is a counterbalance to Guts, and a source of levity as he enjoys annoying the warrior. Most people in Berserk are out for themselves, and even more of them are victimized. Puck wants to believe in people’s inherent goodness, and his perspective is another layer in the philosophical themes of good and evil in Berserk.

3Guts Fights to Hold on to His Humanity

Guts Is a Tortured Anti-Hero

Swordsmen and women are an iconic staple of shonen anime, and these are some of the finest blade wielders ever animated.

Guts starts out as a young and angry warrior; he’s been betrayed and taken advantage of by every person who should have been there to help him since early childhood. Griffith convinces Guts to join the Hawks, and that’s a landmark event for Guts who tries to be a loner. Guts slowly works his way up in the Band, earning his fellow warriors’ respect as they earn his trust.

The Golden Age arc sets Guts up to feel some level of safety and happiness, even as he fights in brutal wars. It’s worth it to him, because he finally has companionship and trust with Casca and Griffith. When Griffith betrays Guts and Casca in the worst way possible, Guts is sent into a physical and spiritual tailspin, but he tries so hard to hold on to his humanity. He may have a rough manner, but his willingness to battle evil and his inner demons is admirable.

2Casca Works Hard to Be an Excellent Warrior & Leader

Casca Tries to Be Noble in a Callous World

Like Guts, Casca’s identity is deeply intertwined with the Band of the Hawk. She’s a highly competent strategist, and it’s significant that she worked her way up to the higher ranks of the Hawks because Berserk incorporates a lot of stratified gender roles from the medieval era. Her character seems to draw a lot from the secular elements of Joan of Arc, but she’s not afraid to shed blood.

Casca doesn’t tolerate foolishness in the Hawks; she’s a very experienced warrior, and she goes above and beyond fulfilling her duty. She talks about her feelings sometimes, and Guts observes that she had to fight tenfold for everything that she has. Casca has high ideals, works through insecurities similar to Guts’ own insecurities, and is a stalwart and honest ally.

1Griffith Is More Than He Seems

Griffith Breaks His Friends’ Hearts

Griffith is one of the most compelling villains in all anime. He never fails to bring out a lot of emotions in audiences and devout fans. Griffith’s fall from grace is heavily foreshadowed from the very beginning, juxtaposed against his seemingly sincere friendship with his Hawks. Casca and Guts lead very brutal lives ever since they were children, and they find a home with Griffith, who seems to really care for them. He uplifts his warriors in society, he’s patient with them, and he believes in them.

Griffith puts on an interesting balance in his facade; he feigns humility to even his closest friends while still vying for social and political glory. He’s self-effacing and self-sacrificing, and acts like his “dream” is some saintly burden, when really all he wants is to just be another king or emperor. All he wants is power, and he acts like it’s his sacred duty. His self-sacrificing nature isn’t noble; it’s just part of his willingness to sacrifice everything and everyone around him for his hollow “dream.”