Griffith's past before the Hawks

I searched the forum a bit and I couldn’t find a topic about this so here it goes...

In the manga, we are shown the past of the main characters and the relations they had with their families and interactions with other characters. For example, we get to learn Guts’ past before joining the Hawks, how his biological mother died while giving birth to him (or before, or after :p), how his adoptive mother died, his struggling relationship with Gambino, the one who taught Guts how to fight, the painful experiences (his rape, killing Gambino, the wolves’ attack, etc.) that shaped him into being the young man he was before he met Griffith, and so on...

Likewise, we get to see Casca’s past, what kind of family she had, the kind of life she was living with her family and the traumatic experience right before she met Griffith.
Also, more recently, we are shown Farnese’s and Serpico’s past, Schierke’s relationship with Flora, etc...
All these insights are very important as they help us understand the nature and treats of these characters, how they interact with each other, how they react to certain experiences, what leads them to make certain decisions, etc.

So lately I’ve been wondering why more of Griffith’s past (before creating the Hawks) isn’t revealed to us. All we see is Griffith’s flashback during the Eclipse. And it's not exactly a revelation of his past, Ubik was just manipulating him.
I know the Idea of Evil told Griffith in Episode 83 that it created the proper lineage and context that would bring forth a man like him. But I can’t help thinking that there has to have been something palpable, material that triggered Griffith’s dreams and ambitions. Sure, maybe some people are born more intelligent, ambitious or whatever than others, but wouldn’t you have liked to see what exactly determined Griffith to walk his path and set such high goals for himself? Maybe an influential parental figure (as is Guts’ case), or the poverty of his family, which made Griffith want to rise from it, an event, or something, I dunno...

Do you guys think that maybe Miura considered that revealing Griffith’s past was unnecessary and/or irrelevant? Or maybe he plans to do it in the future?

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
We see Guts' past in detail because he's the main character. Not "one of the main characters", the main character. So really, that can't be compared to the others. Other than that, sure, we're told what Casca's life was like, but it's very brief. In the same way, we're also told what matters about Griffith's childhood. He was poor and he dreamed of the castle. The rest can be left to the imagination.

Farnese & Serpico's past was necessary in order to better understand their relationship and personalities, so it was warranted. But we're shown practically nothing of Schierke's past. We just know she lived with Flora. Same for Isidro, it's very brief. Roderick, Magnifico, Azan... Not to mention Puck or Ivalera.

RaWManiac said:
I can’t help thinking that there has to have been something palpable, material that triggered Griffith’s dreams and ambitions. Sure, maybe some people are born more intelligent, ambitious or whatever than others, but wouldn’t you have liked to see what exactly determined Griffith to walk his path and set such high goals for himself?

Again, I think what we're shown in the manga is more than enough to get an idea of how it happened. He was from a poor family and was fascinated by the castle that towered over the city he lived in.

RaWManiac said:
Do you guys think that maybe Miura considered that revealing Griffith’s past was unnecessary and/or irrelevant? Or maybe he plans to do it in the future?

I believe we were shown what was needed. The rest is indeed unnecessary, and I don't think we'll see much more of it in the future.
 
I guess you're right, it wouldn't have been of great relevance to explore in detail Griffith's early life. Of course, there is no comparison between him and Guts, the latter's life and experiences must be seen to be believed :magni:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah, and in a way I think it's nice that it's mostly left to the reader's imagination. The beginning of the Band of the Falcon, such things. We're told just enough to get some context (e.g. how Carcus joined) but are free to picture the rest in our heads. It's actually something Miura does regularly: sometimes he'll depict certain things in detail for quite a while, and sometime he'll be brief with events that could have lasted longer.
 
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