From Edgy To Entrusting: How Guts Changes Throughout Berserk

From Edgy To Entrusting: How Guts Changes Throughout Berserk

Berserk is a highly praised dark fantasy Japanese manga written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. The manga centers around Guts, the protagonist of the story, who is looking for revenge against a former friend who betrayed him. Guts is one of the best protagonists in manga history; he has everything a good protagonist needs. He is also very unique compared to the typical “good guy” as he is an anti-hero. He goes through many changes throughout Berserk’s arcs but I will be focusing on the ones where he changes the most. For those who do not know, an “arc” is a series of chapters that deals with the same conflict. Berserk is a manga with one of the best characters in manga history, who goes through many changes as the manga goes on.

The first arc of Berserk is called the Black Swordsman arc. This arc immediately throws the reader into the action, rather than providing Guts’s backstory. At first, Guts is presented as an unlikeable, edgy character. For example, he says he just wants to see everyone die. Some people stop reading Berserk because of this, as they think Miura is trying too hard to make Guts seem cool. Making Guts an unlikeable character was actually done on purpose, as it makes the reader wonder, “How did Guts end up like this? Why does he seem to hate everyone? Why does he refuse to make any friends?” These questions are all answered in the next arc, called the Golden Age.

The second arc of Berserk, named the Golden Age, is a flashback of Guts’s life. Here, he is portrayed as an actual human being who has many friends in a mercenary band he joins. When we see Guts being happy in this arc, it adds to the reader’s curiosity about what might have happened to Guts that made him the bloodthirsty, selfish killer he is in the Black Swordsman arc. However, there are many hints that lead up toward the event that changes Guts forever. 

Next is the Millennium Falcon arc, which takes place a bit after the Black Swordsman arc. In this section of the story, we see Guts start to trust other people. For example, in Chapter 191, Guts allows two other people, named Serpico and Farnese, to join him in his journey. Serpico and Farnese were so impressed by Guts’s persistence and strength that they wanted to accompany him in his adventure. We also see a child, who is an aspiring swordsman named Isidoro, follow Guts because he too is impressed by his strength. Isidoro dreams to be the best swordsman of all time. If these three characters had asked if they could follow Guts during the Black Swordsman arc, he would have definitely said no; this is the first time since the Golden Age arc that we see Guts start to open up. 

In conclusion, if you are a manga or comic fan, I highly recommend that you check out Berserk. Berserk was one of the most influential manga of all time, because of its amazing art, plot, and characters. Guts, the main character of Berserk, is one of the greatest manga characters of all time and he goes through various changes throughout the arcs of Berserk. The reader first sees him as an unlikeable and edgy character. Then, we learn about Guts’s backstory and he is portrayed more as a human being than a merciless killing machine. After we learn his backstory, we start to see Guts open up more and trust other people, a clear sign of his character development among the arcs.