A one-eyed swordsman?

Ok, don't blast me off the face of the forums if this has already been asked. I searched, no related threads. Just a thought I've always asked myself, even though I KNOW its a fictional story...

What are you guys n gals thoughts/ideas about Gutz being a beyond amazing swordsman, yet doing it all with just one eye? With one eye, you don't really have any ability to perceive depth as well, if at all, than someone with both. I wonder how such a person would be able to fight? I assumed having a bigass weapon is the best way to go for such a character haha

If it cant be explained, I guess it just gets the old "It's FICTION!!! STOP ASKING THESE QUESTIONS!!!" answer :guts:
 

SaiyajinNoOuji

I'm still better than you
Rayne said:
Ok, don't blast me off the face of the forums if this has already been asked. I searched, no related threads. Just a thought I've always asked myself, even though I KNOW its a fictional story...

What are you guys n gals thoughts/ideas about Guts being a beyond amazing swordsman, yet doing it all with just one eye? With one eye, you don't really have any ability to perceive depth as well, if at all, than someone with both. I wonder how such a person would be able to fight? I assumed having a bigass weapon is the best way to go for such a character haha

If it cant be explained, I guess it just gets the old "It's FICTION!!! STOP ASKING THESE QUESTIONS!!!" answer :guts:
His fighting instinct and prowess is just extraordinary. That and it is a fictional story like you mentioned. Also if you haven't noticed... when gut is taken over by the beast and goes "Berserker Beast" form Gut's when we see from "it's" perspective, it looks like he has full functionality of both of his eyes.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
SaiyajinNoOuji-Trading Cards said:
when gut is taken over by the beast and goes "Berserker Beast" form Gut's when we see from "it's" perspective, it looks like he has full functionality of both of his eyes.
:beast:

What's you point though, Saiya?
 

Herald of Yama

"It is pure Potential"
To reiterate what Saiya said, Guts has an uncanny sense of presence. An example of this, post-Eclipse, is in vol. 14. Another notable instance of Guts' sense of presence was in vol. 9 when Skull Knight blindsided him, and Guts commented on it. And that was when he still had both eyes.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Rayne said:
What are you guys n gals thoughts/ideas about Guts being a beyond amazing swordsman, yet doing it all with just one eye? With one eye, you don't really have any ability to perceive depth as well, if at all, than someone with both. I wonder how such a person would be able to fight?

Cover one of your eyes and try hitting something with a stick. Can you do it? Yes? Then that's your answer. Not having depth perception (or rather, having less of it) isn't the end of the world. His reduced field of vision is as much if not more bothering. Aside from Guts' super instinct and senses, e.g. using hearing to compensate for the loss of his eye, you have to consider the fact that he's an extraordinary man in every sense of the term, and that being one-eyed isn't a crippling handicap in the first place.
 

Stream

Inousha
And of course, there are monocular as well as binocular signs for depth.

So, Guts can perceive depth with his one eye, it's just that it's harder, but heck he surely makes it up with his motivation, skill and decisiveness...
 
Plus, if you're blinded at one eye while you had normal sight before in your life, your brains just fill in the dept after a while when you're used to it.

Your brain does this because you know what dept is if you had normal vision once.
I guess it's like the same with watching in the dark, to see in the dark your brain shuts down the colored cones in your eyes so you can focus more on contrast but you brain goes coloring things. E.G: You're in your room at the middle of the night, no lights on or anything and you see your (green) computer, your eyes don't actually see it as green but because you know it's green your brain goes filling in some colors.
 

Dirty Dog

Avatar by CnC ^^
Not to mention, you notice how damn long the DS is?
He doesn't need depth perception to swing that thing around and kill someone...
 

Aazealh

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Dirty Dog said:
Not to mention, you notice how damn long the DS is?
He doesn't need depth perception to swing that thing around and kill someone...

But it's not like he needs a big weapon to hit things, he's effectively able to strike where he wants very precisely. It's not just a case of having a big weapon and swingly wildly/uncontrollably to hit his target.
 

FotiX

[b]Enjoyment and excitement![/b]
Trashcan said:
To reiterate what Saiya said, Guts has an uncanny sense of presence. An example of this, post-Eclipse, is in vol. 14. Another notable instance of Guts' sense of presence was in vol. 9 when Skull Knight blindsided him, and Guts commented on it. And that was when he still had both eyes.
I agree. Not only his sense of presence. All of Guts's senses are extraordinary (maybe except taste - all things taste like sand to him). Even if Guts was completely blind he could continue kicking ass. 8)
 

Walter

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FotiX said:
I agree. Not only his sense of presence. All of Guts's senses are extraordinary (maybe except taste - all things taste like sand to him). Even if Guts was completely blind he could continue kicking ass.
Guts' UNCANNY, EXTRAORDINARY senses won't be around very long at this rate. The armor's degeneration of his senses has already taken its toll. The loss of taste was only one of the early signs. And with further use, it's only going to get worse.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
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chaoscontrol said:
Does that mean he'll become dependant of the armor?

That just means he'll lose his senses. He's already depending quite heavily on the armor to travel and fight, due to his astral wounds.

chaoscontrol said:
If so, what will he do after he doesnt have the armor anymore?

Well given the way the armor works, he's supposed to die fighting while wearing it. Of course that's not going to happen because we're talking about Guts, but whether the bad side effects of using it would disappear or not is unknown at this point. I don't believe it'd be the case without exterior help, like from the Elf King for example. In any case it's a bit early to be talking about him not using the armor anymore, and for all we know he could learn to use it better and more safely in Elfhelm, somehow lessening the toll it's taking on his body.

chaoscontrol said:
(Will he become like SK?)

No one can know for sure at this point, but I personally think it's unlikely.
 

Pesmerga

This is going to be one hell of a party
Aazealh said:
I don't believe it'd be the case without exterior help, like from the Elf King for example. In any case it's a bit early to be talking about him not using the armor anymore, and for all we know he could learn to use it better and more safely in Elfhelm, somehow lessening the toll it's taking on his body

Yeah, for sure the Elf king will be a BIG BIG help for Guts, surely Caska and i think the others too. If the king can help Guts to take full potential of the armor on his own without bad effect, it will be a big step forward. But not enough for challenging Griffith. Maybe the Elf king reserve to us a lot of surprises.
 

LadyCs

Not all memories are meant to be remembered
To me Guts I think has a 6th sense at reading his enemies. He feels alot of it as well as sees it. Even if he is weilding this huge slab of iron and has one eye he still does have depth perception just not as well.

Gomen I'm butting into the convo but I don't think Guts will become dependant on it. By "it" I'm referring to his armor not the "beast" which in a way he's always used but now its manifested himself. Anyways he knows he can't let that happen that's why he basically tries to train himself to make it not take over. Not only that but I doubt he wants to become like the Skull Knight at all.

LOL Hopefully the Elf King will be impressive. After all of this what might end up happening he'll act like Puck or something XD. It be abit of a let down but very funny
 
Well, I do think Guts relies on his armor for sheer power and the boost that it gives his fighting ability. I mean without it, right around when he first got it he was almost killed by Grunbeld and I think if he didn't receive the armor, its a good chance he would have been killed.
 

Scorpio

Courtesy of Grail's doodling.
EndlessSky said:
Well, I do think Guts relies on his armor for sheer power and the boost that it gives his fighting ability. I mean without it, right around when he first got it he was almost killed by Grunbeld and I think if he didn't receive the armor, its a good chance he would have been killed.

All the power Guts has is his own, the armor just lets him work his body a little harder, since his subconscious doesn't limit his strength and he has no fear.
 
I just though I'd add this thought in, since it somewhat applies to the topic at hand - has anyone else noticed that seemingly for every physical handicap Guts has received, where it should have been a massive bane to survival, it has actually become in some way a boon, esp. in battle?

Let me break down: Guts receives the Brand of Sacrifice, meaning he will attract evil spirits and the like for the rest of his existence (albeit this has been muted a bit by Flora). In turn, Guts has used this brand as an indication of how close "evil" is to him and while I won't say it works like a radar, it definitely does has benefits in battle.

Then there is the loss of his arm - something that should have damned him to a quick death. Instead, this gives him access to is trademark prosthetic arm/ cannon. Seriously, if Guts hadn't lost his arm in the eclipse, he probably wouldn't have even defeated the Snake Baron all the way back in Vol. 1 (okay, since he's the main character, he probably would have, but you get what I'm saying).

Then most recently, his recent injuries from the Apostles and Slan and this leading to his current dependence upon the Berserker armor. Granted, this armor is slowly degrading his senses, but this armor is one of the main factors (outside of his obvious skills o the battlefield and the assist of one Nosferatu Zodd) as to how he was able to stand up against Daiba and Ganishka. Seriously, even if he was in perfect health when that night began - after fighting a slew of demon tigers, walrus-elephants-things, and who knows who many Daka, even with the help of his comrades, without the Berserker armor how long would he have actually lasted?

In short, I feel one of the underlying ideas behind Guts is that through sacrifice, he is becoming more and more of a force against the apostles and the Godhand. Note I said "force," not yet a threat - he still has aways to go I'd wager before he can confront Griffith and the Godhand once again without being totally obliterated in under four seconds. Still, he's on his way...

So.... looooong stretch back to the original topic on the missing eye... One can say it's 6th sense. One can say it just manic swinging of his sword into herds of baddies. One can it's just his amazing battle skills. Really, why not any of them under certain circumstances? But one thing is certain- it hasn't slowed him down all too much. :guts:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
That's a lot of text for Nietzche's famous line: "That which does not kill you makes you stronger."
 
Walter said:
That's a lot of text for Nietzsche's famous line: "That which does not kill you makes you stronger."

Heh, I suppose, but at the same time I would be hesitant to say what Guts has been going through has made him "stronger," as it has made him more dangerous than anything. Granted, he now has a pretty useful arm cannon, the Berserker Armor, and an increasingly dangerous Dragonslayer, but look how much it has cost Guts at least in the physical sense. How much longer will it be before the Guts we know no longer exists and in its place stands a much more powerful creature? No, that doesn't mean I think he'll become an apostle, nor do I think he'll turn out like the Skull Knight, but through this constant physical sacrifice, it truly feels he's becoming something else the longer he resides within the interstice.
 
Darquenaut said:
Then there is the loss of his arm - something that should have damned him to a quick death. Instead, this gives him access to is trademark prosthetic arm/ cannon. Seriously, if Guts hadn't lost his arm in the eclipse, he probably wouldn't have even defeated the Snake Baron all the way back in Vol. 1 (okay, since he's the main character, he probably would have, but you get what I'm saying).

As has been pointed out in other threads, Guts has rebuilt his tactics to rely on the cannon, and without it he'd probably fight just as effectively in a different way. And on the quick death comment - you've probably seen this before, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Götz_von_Berlichingen - (formerly) living proof that a one armed swordsman can still make himself a career.
 
Rayne said:
With one eye, you don't really have any ability to perceive depth as well, if at all, than someone with both. I wonder how such a person would be able to fight?

Well he loses peripherical vision for that eye, so he needs to be more careful and "sensitive"
I think not much sense of depht is lost
But it would be quite hard to throw daggers and fire the crossbow and cannon.
 
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