Berserk Moms

I thought Vixen Comics' idea to talk about love in Berserk on Valentine's Day was a really good one, so I'm going to take a page from her book and take the opportunity to talk about moms in Berserk on Mother's Day.

There are lots of moms or mother figures in Berserk. They're all very different and interesting characters. I've listed the ones I could think of, but I probably left some out.

Theresia's mom – We don't know much about her mothering skills, just that she was a heretic who cheated on her husband with a whole room full of people. Makes me wonder if Theresia was really even the count's daughter.

Shisu – Her care early in Guts' life is probably a large part of the reason Guts is as good a person as he is.

Queen of Midland – Not the most loving step-mom, but does try to keep Charlotte on the straight and narrow, as she sees it, even if it means murder! (I know she had other reasons for trying to kill Griffith, too, but not wanting Charlotte to make a romantic choice that she deemed inappropriate/scandalous was part of it.)

Casca – Clearly cares about her child, has done her best to protect him even in her confused state, and loves to be with him.

Jill's mom – She loves Jill, but is pretty beat down by Jill's dad and has a hard time protecting herself, let alone Jill from him and his friends.

Luka – Very protective and holds her group together like a family, even deals out spankings when necessary (and not just to paying customers).

Flora – Very much a mother figure for Schierke, teaches her to be a wise and kind witch.

Lady Vandimion (Farnese's mom) – Extremely neglectful during Farnese's childhood, but does manage to come through for her daughter at a time when she really needs her.

Isma's mom, the merrow – Absent for most of Isma's life, but she does leave behind a powerful charm that protects her family from harm. Now that they have been reunited she is proving to be a pretty good mom, saving Isma's life and teaching her about being a merrow.

What are your thoughts on the moms and mother figures of Berserk? Do you have a favorite? Are there any “mom moments” in the story that you found particularly touching or interesting?

It's hard for me to pick a favorite, but I really like when Isma and her mom reunite and I found the moment when they sing together to fight the sea god really cool! :ubik:
 

puella

Berserk forever
This is a really good approach to Berserk. :ubik:
I often think about "Berserk Dads". I think it can be a good counterpart to this thread, and there is a lot to discuss.
I want to add Ganishka's mother to the list, who tried to kill him to put his brother on the throne.
To me Farnese' mother was interesting. Yeah, she's definitely a neglectful mother but she knows her daughter better than anybody else.
I think many noble ladies were like her historically.
Personally I wonder how Schierke would be if she became a mother. Would she raise her child as a witch or wizard? :ganishka:
 
puella said:
I often think about "Berserk Dads".

We all love Gambino don't we? :ganishka:

puella said:
I want to add Ganishka's mother to the list, who tried to kill him to put his brother on the throne.

Parenting in Berserk leaves err.... a lot to be desired :troll:
 
I think Casca epitomizes the essence of motherhood. Even in the mentally retarded state, she is able to protect the moonchild effectively. She instinctively realizes who the child is and nurtures her. I don't want to sound bogus or anything but it exemplifies a sort of instinct or a sense a mother has for her child. This is why I love the entire relationship between Casca and the moonchild in the first place.
 
puella said:
I often think about "Berserk Dads". I think it can be a good counterpart to this thread, and there is a lot to discuss.
Definitely! There are lots of really interesting Dads in Berserk. That would be a good one for Father's Day.

puella said:
I want to add Ganishka's mother to the list, who tried to kill him to put his brother on the throne.
How could I forget her? Her attempt on Ganishka's life was his first introduction to the world of suspicion and backstabbing that he apparently inhabited. I love how his backstory is drawn, with the characters as these dark, menacing-looking forms. I wonder if Miura drew it in that way to show how Ganishka views the world, as everyone being a threat.

puella said:
To me Farnese' mother was interesting. Yeah, she's definitely a neglectful mother but she knows her daughter better than anybody else.
I think many noble ladies were like her historically.
She is a cool character. That's true, I guess in those times most ladies would hand their kids off to be raised by a nurse or nanny. Given what Farnese's mom later expresses, about how she admires and respects Farnese's wild, untamed nature it makes me wonder if it was only a matter of her mom being neglectful or if she deliberately let Farnese grow up in the way she did, with very little discipline or supervision, in order to foster that unaffected, primal wild side. Now that I think about it, from what her mom says and how astute she is shown to be, it's pretty clear that she was aware of how her daughter was growing up, not just ignoring it. I think her mom enjoyed that Farnese frightened her father, too. :serpico:

puella said:
Personally I wonder how Schierke would be if she became a mother. Would she raise her child as a witch or wizard? :ganishka:
I think Schierke would be a great mom! :guts: From watching her be such a good teacher to Farnese and proving to be a faithful and caring friend to Guts and the rest, plus her compassionate nature, it all makes me think that. She can handle Isidro pretty well, too, so even if she had a naughty kid I think she could still manage ok. :schierke: LOL I definitely think she would train her kids in the ways of magic. She would have some little witches and wizards running around the house!

hearTes said:
Parenting in Berserk leaves err.... a lot to be desired :troll:
It's true that there are a lot of questionable, or even downright bad examples of parents in Berserk, but there are good examples, too. That's part of what I like so much about Miura's work. He makes his world and characters varied enough to have lots of different approaches to thinking and ways of life. :ubik:

ambientshanks said:
I think Casca epitomizes the essence of motherhood. Even in the mentally retarded state, she is able to protect the moonchild effectively. She instinctively realizes who the child is and nurtures her. I don't want to sound bogus or anything but it exemplifies a sort of instinct or a sense a mother has for her child. This is why I love the entire relationship between Casca and the moonchild in the first place.

I agree. Casca isn't hung up by rational thinking, like people in a normal state of mind would be, but instead just does what a mother would naturally. Another of my favorite mom moments is when Casca finds the moonlight boy on the beach in volume 28. When her companions find them, the two of them are just sitting and being together, something so simple that this mother and son haven't had a chance to do. I thought it was really touching. :casca:
 
puella said:
Personally I wonder how Schierke would be if she became a mother. Would she raise her child as a witch or wizard? :ganishka:

This makes you think about how Farnese would raise her child. Would she teach her child magic or not?
 
hearTes said:
This makes you think about how Farnese would raise her child. Would she teach her child magic or not?
As much as Farnese has come to love magic and how much of a part it's had in making her life better, I think she would for sure. :serpico:
 
Is Rosine a Berserk Mom?
I'm not sure if making pseudo-Apostles counts as child rearing but the effort going into the 'elves' seemed quite enormous.
There was a cocooning period and an 'emergence chamber,' all of this being very different from how other pseudo-Apostles are created. Is this in any way a valid stretch?
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
TwoPumpWarrior said:
Is Rosine a Berserk Mom?
I'm not sure if making pseudo-Apostles counts as child rearing but the effort going into the 'elves' seemed quite enormous.
There was a cocooning period and an 'emergence chamber,' all of this being very different from how other pseudo-Apostles are created. Is this in any way a valid stretch?

I don't think it applies, because all she did was transform pre-existing creatures. Not quite the same thing bearing a child and raising them. But, one thing's for sure: She cared for her "children" about as much as an insect queen would.
 
TwoPumpWarrior said:
Is Rosine a Berserk Mom?
I'm not sure if making pseudo-Apostles counts as child rearing but the effort going into the 'elves' seemed quite enormous.
There was a cocooning period and an 'emergence chamber,' all of this being very different from how other pseudo-Apostles are created. Is this in any way a valid stretch?
In the sense that Rosine created the fake elves and how they emerge from the cocoons, kind of like being born into their new forms, I can see how it could be viewed that way.
The way I saw it, Rosine's perspective of the situation was that she and the fake elves were all children, herself just being the one in charge. It didn't seem like she viewed herself as their mother to me. Misty Valley was all about Rosine creating the fantasy she was so enamored with and about kids doing whatever they wanted with basically no rules or adult supervision. They were all “free”. Even when Guts was wreaking havoc and all the fake elf cocoons were being destroyed and the forest was burning I got the sense that Rosine was more upset about the end of her little world she had created than she was about the fake elves themselves dying. I think she viewed them more as a part of her made up world than as her children. It was almost like Misty Valley was a very elaborate and sinister game of let's pretend.
 
Some additional moms I failed to include the first time around :

Pilgrim mom - Shown traveling with her child when they notice the eclipse of the sun and pray because it's a bad omen. The Holy Iron Chain Knights ride past and Serpico mentions her beauty, teasing Azan about being single.

Rosine's mom - was raped when their town was attacked by an invading force. Her husband questions whether Rosine is really his daughter because of this. Rosine's mom, much like Jill's, is the victim of domestic abuse at his hands, as is Rosine herself.

Refugee mom - The desperate mom who participates in trying to raid the temple's supply wagon. Food supplies and conditions are so poor in the refugee camp that her child is near death, being too weak to even nurse. She begs the Holy Iron Chain Knights for help and is answered by Mozgus. While her child's life is saved (Mozgus says he will be made to "bear the weight of payment" later), the mother is lead to the torture chamber and it seems pretty unlikely that she would have survived her "trial provided by God", as Mozgus puts it.

Serpico's mom - (I had to give myself a big old facepalm when I realized I'd forgotten her!) She was a servant who had a tryst with Lord Vandimion, resulting in Serpico's birth. She is very ill, completely dependent on Serpico for support, and they live in poverty. Only a child himself, Serpico struggles to provide for them both while being held to unrealistic standards of having a noble demeanor by his mother, who still hopes that one day his father will come for them. Serpico resents his mother and thinks of her as a "melancholy monster" that he is relieved to escape when he becomes Farnese's servant, but he does seem to feel guilt about his attitude towards her. His mom's mental condition deteriorates and she has to be put in a sanitarium. She becomes so disconnected from reality that when Serpico goes to visit her, she no longer even knows who he is and thinks he's his father. In a horrific turn of events the sanitarium where his mother lives is targeted as a den of heretics and she is rounded up with the rest. With strong insistence from Farnese, Serpico participates in burning his mother at the stake in order to avoid being implicated as a heretic by association with her (thereby being condemned to death as well) and it seems also to prove his loyalty to Farnese. The guilt of his mother's fate is a burden Serpico carries.

I don't think she's a good mother because she seems to care more about herself and about Lord Vandimion's opinion than about her own child's wellfare and happiness. I'm not sure if it's partly because of a disconnect with reality due to her condition or not, but she doesn't even seem to wonder or care about what Serpico's going through and what a toll it's taking on him to support them when he's a child. For example, when Serpico comes in (his mother's dinner in hand) after a difficult day of foraging on the streets for their food and getting beat up by other kids to keep it, all his mother has for him are complaints about her own suffering, no thanks or even a welcome back, and then proceeds to berate him for fighting because she thinks he should be acting like a noble. I didn't see any instances where she shows warmth or affection to Serpico himself. She seems to view Serpico as her hope of impressing Lord Vandimion instead of showing care for her son. It's as if she views Serpico as some kind of offering to please his father. I thought what she said when she's about to be burned at the stake summed up her attitude pretty well. She sees Serpico and thinks he's his father. She doesn't ask about how Serpico is, she just wants to know if he's been “of use” and to check that he hasn't done anything that displeased his father. It's really pretty sad and I think it's one of the more complex relationships between a mother and child in Berserk.
All that being said I still can't help but feel sorry for this character. It's pretty tragic that she waited so long hoping to see the man she loved again and he never shows. I guess at least she thought she got to see him since she mistook Serpico for his father after her confusion got bad enough. Anyway, she's just another example of Miura's great character development. There are hardly any characters that are pure black and white and you can sympathize with most on some level.
 
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