Berserk Plot Summary

The Black Swordsman

At the start of the Berserk anime we see a mysterious man who calls himself the Black Swordsman (a.k.a. Guts) entering a town, seeking to battle the town's ruler. In a rage, and to draw Guts to him, the evil ruler starts burning the town and slaughtering people. Guts shows up and seemingly kills the ruler. However, the ruler then turns into a huge serpent monster and proceeds to beat Guts to within an inch of his life. Just as Guts looks to be dead, he blows a hole in the monster with a hidden arm-cannon. Guts then grabs his huge sword and cuts the monster in half.

Griffith and the Band of the Hawk

Berserk's story then flashes back some years to a castle which is under siege. The castle is occupied by a group of young mercenaries (the Band of the Hawk) led by a young man named Griffith. Defending the castle's entrance is a huge knight called Bazuso. A young Guts shows up and kills Bazuso in one on one combat to collect the reward money. This soon leads to the end of the castle's occupation.

Later we see Guts walking alone when he is ambushed by some of the Hawks. Although outnumbered, Guts easily defeats them. Griffith, who is watching, orders his second in command, Casca, a young woman, to go and fight Guts. Guts nearly kills Casca but Griffith intervenes and defeats Guts instantly.

Guts Joins the Hawks

A wounded Guts wakes up in the Hawks' camp and goes looking for Griffith to get his revenge. Guts wants to kill Griffith in a duel but Griffith makes him promise to join the Hawks if he loses. Eventually Griffith wins, forcing Guts to join.

In his first mission with the Hawks, Griffith gives Guts a role of great responsibility. Guts is very successful in his role, winning the support and respect of the members of the Hawks. However, he does not win over Casca who dislikes Guts a great deal. As time goes on the two argue bitterly. Casca, who loves Griffith, does not know what he sees in Guts and thinks that Guts' recklessness only jeopardizes Griffith's goal of rising to power and becoming a king.

Guts' Childhood

In a plot flashback we see how Guts began life. A group of mercenaries find Guts as a baby, newly born from the corpse of his dead mother. The wife of Gambino, a mercenary, takes Guts in as her son. Years later she dies, leaving Gambino to raise Guts. We see Guts learning to fight alongside the mercenaries even though he is just a child and his sword is as big as him.

Although Guts loves Gambino as a father, Gambino is cruel and harsh towards Guts, believing the child to be cursed and blaming him for his wife's death. One night Gambino attacks Guts in a rage and Guts accidentally kills him in self-defense. The mercenaries run Guts out of the camp, trying to kill him. Although just a boy, Guts must now survive on his own.

Rise of the Hawks

Berserk's plot flashes forward and we see that as time has gone on, the Hawks have had great success and their status has become legendary. The Hawks even earn recognition from the King of Midland, the country where the Hawks live. Griffith is knighted for the help the Hawks give Midland in the war against the neighboring country of Tudor.

In one battle Guts meets a huge monster called Zodd the Immortal. Guts nearly dies but Griffith comes to rescue him. Zodd notices a strange egg-shaped object (a behelit) on the necklace Griffith wears, and after warning Guts that Griffith will cause Guts' own death, Zodd flies away.

"If you think this man your friend then know this. When you regard one another as brother and this man's ambition crumbles, it is your destiny to face your death. You cannot escape your fate!" - Zodd to Guts

Following another great victory, Griffith is promoted to Count. Griffith plans to win the heart of the King's daughter, the Princess, and one day marry her, as he knows this will be the simplest way to one day become King. Meanwhile, jealousy of Griffith's fast rise to power is arising among the Midland nobles. General Yurius, the King's brother, conspires with a minister to assassinate Griffith. However, Griffith survives the assassination attempt, and in response secretly sends Guts to assassinate General Yurius.

In another battle against Tudor, Guts and Casca become separated from the Hawks. They end up spending some time alone together and talking, as they have to hide in a cave overnight to survive. Casca tells of how Griffith took her into the Band of the Hawk when she was alone as a young girl. Guts and Casca are then ambushed by a 100 man Tudor army. Guts protects Casca and stays and fights so that she can escape and bring reinforcements. However, when the reinforcements arrive they find that Guts has killed the 100 men on his own.

Later at camp Guts and Casca talk and Guts reveals his feelings of one day wanting to leave the Hawks. He feels like it has always just been him and his sword and that fighting is all he's ever known. He does not want to just follow another's dream forever.

End of the Hundred Year War

The Hawks achieve a great victory which brings about the end of the Hundred Year War against Tudor. Because of this, Griffith is promoted to General and given supreme command of the Midland Army. Also because of this, another assassination is conspired, this time with the involvement of the Queen. Again the attempt is foiled and Griffith kills the conspirators in revenge, including the Queen.

Feeling that the Hawks have achieved their aim, Guts attempts to leave. Casca is shocked as she realizes how much she wants Guts not to leave. Griffith refuses to allow Guts to leave and forces him to win his freedom in a duel, just as Griffith won him with a duel at the beginning. Guts wins the duel and leaves the Hawks.

Griffith Imprisoned

Devastated by Guts' departure, Griffith goes to the bedroom of the Princess, who has now fallen in love with him, and seduces her into sleeping with him. Griffith is captured by the King's guards and imprisoned for this.

Guts lives with the blacksmith who made his sword and the blacksmith's daughter. After a long time Guts learns of Griffith's imprisonment and that the Hawks are now led by Casca. He aso finds out that the Hawks have been declared outlaws and are on the run. Guts comes to their aid as they are being attacked and saves Casca's life.

Casca is angry at Guts for deserting them, blaming him for Griffith's imprisonment, and she attacks him with her sword. She then tries to fall off a cliff but Guts saves her. She then kisses Guts and confesses to him the feelings she realized she had for him the day that he left. They plan to leave the Hawks together after they have rescued Griffith.

Casca and Guts break into the castle's dungeon and rescue Griffith. However, Griffith has been badly tortured and his body is so broken that he cannot even speak anymore. Back at the camp the Hawks begin to fall apart as they realize that Griffith can never lead them again. At this moment Guts realizes that being with the Hawks was what he had wanted all along after all.

The Eclipse

A despairing Griffith hallucinates and tries to kill himself but his blood falls onto his magical behelit and triggers a supernatural eclipse. Next thing the Hawks are all in hell, or somewhere that looks a lot like it. They are surrounded by monsters and four beings known as members of the God Hand. Apparently Griffith is the fifth and final member of the God Hand. To be reborn as one of the God Hand, Griffith must sacrifice all of the Hawks' lives. A giant hand rises up out of the ground taking Griffith with it.

Griffith sees a vision of himself as a child wanting to go visit the castle. As he gets closer to the castle he sees that the path is made up of dead bodies. An old woman tells him that the only way to the castle is to walk on the path made of the bodies. To complete the path, he must sacrifice more lives. At this moment he sees Guts. We hear Griffith's thoughts that out of all the tens of thousands of comrades and enemies, Guts was the only one who ever obscured his vision of his dream. Nevertheless, Griffith declares he will sacrifice the Hawks. The hand then closes up with Griffith inside.

The monsters all begin to devour the Hawks. Eventually only Casca and Guts are left alive. Just as Casca is about to be killed the giant hand opens up and Griffith, reborn as a winged demon called Femto, flies out and lands before Guts. Griffith then rapes Casca in front of Guts. Enraged, Guts tries to rush forward to stop Griffith but is held down by the monsters. A claw of one of the monsters digs into Guts' right eye, making blood flow from it and partially blinding him. Guts screams.

Aftermath

After Berserk's credits we see Guts leaving the blacksmith with a new sword. Things have now come full circle, as he looks like he did in the first episode of Berserk as the Black Swordsman.

Berserk Manga / Anime

Berserk Characters

Ninja Scroll Plot

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