Does Guts want to die, but is too good at fighting to do so?

The more and more I'm reading Berserk and to be fair I'm still on the Golden Age arc, but it seems like Gut's style of fighting is frankly rather suicidal/ If I recall correctly Griffith mentions that he's fighting like a man who wants to die while simultaneously desperately trying to survive. I wonder what other people on this board thought, sorry if this has been brought up. Anyways my main question i suppose is, does Guts throw himself into these combat situations hoping to die, but somehow his ability and instinct won't let him? Or do you think he's a just a fairly reckless young man sometimes.
Thanks for reading.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Sweval said:
does Guts throw himself into these combat situations hoping to die, but somehow his ability and instinct won't let him?

I don't think he hopes to die, no. This theme is addressed when he fights the wolves as a kid and during the "hundred man slayer" fight among others.
 
I'm not entirely sure, obvioulsy Guts and most of the characters from Berserk are far from one-dimensiona, and I have just started the series, I'll try to keep posting my thoughts but as of right now, Guts strikes me as a man who is too damn good at what he does to get the peace he wants, despite maybe not deserving it. Maybe its subconcious maybe it isn't, only Miura can really let us know
 
Griffith specifically says (in the Dark Horse translation): "But it seems that while intentionally exposing yourself to the risk of death, you're also struggling to make it out alive." Which means a world of difference. Guts is really more akin to an adrenaline junkie than someone with a death wish. As a child, going into battles and killing soldiers bigger than him was the only way he was ever able to get any sort of positive acknowledgement from Gambino, and that upbringing in turn made it the only way Guts was ever able to find any semblance of meaning in his life.

I don't know how far you are in the Golden Age, but Guts does a lot of musing later on why he lives and fights the way he does. But whatever the case may be, the one thing that is clear is that he doesn't want to die.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Sweval said:
I'm not entirely sure, obvioulsy Guts and most of the characters from Berserk are far from one-dimensiona, and I have just started the series, I'll try to keep posting my thoughts but as of right now, Guts strikes me as a man who is too damn good at what he does to get the peace he wants, despite maybe not deserving it. Maybe its subconcious maybe it isn't, only Miura can really let us know

Well I've been following the series assiduously for 15 years and I'm quite sure about it, so maybe you should trust me on this? Just a suggestion. :slan:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Yeah, and you can trust the text, which confirms the opposite, numerously referring to Guts a struggler, survivor, doesn't-want-to-die-er. I mean, it's a pretty large part of the foundation of his character from birth; this guy has every reason and opportunity to just give up and give in to his ultimate fate and just won't let it happen. It's not because his fast twitch muscles are too good.
 

scarredsword

Have you ever killed anyone?
Guts was content to die when the wolves attacked him, but his instinct made him fight back and survive. Guts has a deep seated life preservation instinct that overcomes even the deepest melancholies and causes him to keep fighting.
 
Sweval said:
The more and more I'm reading Berserk and to be fair I'm still on the Golden Age arc, but it seems like Guts style of fighting is frankly rather suicidal/ If I recall correctly Griffith mentions that he's fighting like a man who wants to die while simultaneously desperately trying to survive. I wonder what other people on this board thought, sorry if this has been brought up. Anyways my main question i suppose is, does Guts throw himself into these combat situations hoping to die, but somehow his ability and instinct won't let him? Or do you think he's a just a fairly reckless young man sometimes.
Thanks for reading.

Hello. I also found this interesting when re-reading Berserk. As Griffith mentions, Guts likes to go head first into seemingly impossible battles and challenges. It is clear that death is not his desire at this point in the story, but one have to wonder at previous encounters.

Another thing I couldn't stop thinking about, is how he succeeds when failure looks like the only outcome.. Maybe there is another force interfering to keep him alive? Causality/destiny? :carcus:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
YourFavoriteSpartan said:
Hello. I also found this interesting when re-reading Berserk. As Griffith mentions, Guts likes to go head first into seemingly impossible battles and challenges. It is clear that death is not his desire at this point in the story, but one have to wonder at previous encounters.

It seems pretty simple to me. Guts pushed his physical limits in taking on enemies more powerful than him. He had to fight dangerously, recklessly, putting himself in precarious circumstances to get an edge over his opponent.

Another thing I couldn't stop thinking about, is how he succeeds when failure looks like the only outcome.. Maybe there is another force interfering to keep him alive? Causality/destiny? :carcus:

Well Guts has been saved by Skull Knight on a few occasions, and Zodd has too -- do you mean something apart from that? Because that isn't exactly how causality works. It is not an active power wielded by god on a series of tight strings. It's a force that subjugates humanity by manipulating their subconscious minds over centuries. I suppose you could argue that because Guts was certainly instrumental in Griffith's rise and fall, it's likely that his existence is owed to causality, but I think relegating Guts' survival to divine intervention is going a bit too far.
 
Walter said:
It seems pretty simple to me. Guts pushed his physical limits in taking on enemies more powerful than him. He had to fight dangerously, recklessly, putting himself in precarious circumstances to get an edge over his opponent.

Well Guts has been saved by Skull Knight on a few occasions, and Zodd has too -- do you mean something apart from that? Because that isn't exactly how causality works. It is not an active power wielded by god on a series of tight strings. It's a force that subjugates humanity by manipulating their subconscious minds over centuries. I suppose you could argue that because Guts was certainly instrumental in Griffith's rise and fall, it's likely that his existence is owed to causality, but I think relegating Guts' survival to divine intervention is going a bit too far.

Thanks for clarifying. I am rather new to the series and still struggle to catch on all details, even major ones like causality within this story.

That being said, I suppose I meant Guts had a role to play for Griffith, (Rise and fall) and I questioned if he might still have a role to play. However, him being branded might mean that he still can/cant play part of causality? Just speculation. I remember SK talking about how Guts was a "Jumping fish" in the river of causality.

Once again, I apologize if I got the concept wrong. Just trying to understand! :farnese:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
YourFavoriteSpartan said:
Thanks for clarifying. I am rather new to the series and still struggle to catch on all details, even major ones like causality within this story.

No worries. Berserk is a pretty complicated series, so it takes some time to grasp everything.

YourFavoriteSpartan said:
However, him being branded might mean that he still can/cant play part of causality? Just speculation. I remember SK talking about how Guts was a "Jumping fish" in the river of causality.

No, as Skull Knight tells him in Volume 18, he and Guts are both still within the flow of causality. That's what the jumping fish analogy is about. Due to the brand and Guts having one foot in the astral world, Guts can disrupt things momentarily (in the analogy it's the fish's ripples distorting the moon's reflection, which symbolizes the incarnation ceremony), but like a fish, he always falls back into the water.
 
I don't think so. Guts actually wants to survive and it was mentioned many times. When he was a kid he was attacked by wolves and he killed them because "he wants to survive". Also when he was a kid he always sleep with his sword to defend himself because he heard in the military camp that they wanted to kill him .
He even mentioned that aftee defeating The Snake Baron. He said Humans want to live and of course Guts also refering to himself as well.
Guts is not the type of character who is always sad and depressed (emo). He actually have a sense of humor. He enjoys fighting. He suffered too much yet he still smiles sometimes.
 
Top Bottom