How is the Dragonslayer hanging on Guts' back?

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Chiba

Proud owner of a Dragonslayer
One thing that has bothered me lately is how the Dragonslayer is actually hanging on Guts' back. I haven't yet found a drawing where this is clearly shown, and everything I found out so far is that he has this chain with a hook at its end, which I guess is used to hold the DS.
But I can't imagine how this should work since the hook is hanging so low that the DS would touch the ground when hanging on that hook. Also it must be pretty difficult to put the DS back on his back quickly after a fight.
Please enlighten me. :guts:
 
Hi Chiba,
here's my take on it: there is a link on the back of the DS that is placed on a hook almost betwen Guts' shoulderblades (maybe a bit higher). The chain you mentioned is used to sort of tilt the sword so that the handle is more to the right, which also ensures that the tip of the blade isn't dragging itself along the floor. As far as placing it back after a fight goes, I suppose it is not that difficult (apart from the obvious issues of size and Guts' condition after most of them) on account that the hook-link combo is rather accessible. I myself don't remember seeing him link the chain in place (to a leather padding on his left shoulder) but someone will probably come along to further clarify matters.
Hope this helps a bit.
 

Uriel

This journey isn't ov--AARGH!
Here is something I posted elsewhere back in 2003, so you'll all have to excuse me if it no longer applies to the current Dragon Slayer (I hate calling it a DS) -- it might be of some use to you though, Chiba.


Example One

Guts-Sword-01.jpg
As you can see, over Guts' left shoulder, a length of chain is fastened to his leather cross-straps. This is the longest part of the holster. It has a heavy worn leather section in the middle too, which is what the blade of the sword rests against, and therefore, most of the weight. At the very end of the thick chain, there is a hook. This hook is the main reason Gut's sword stays upright, because it is paired with another hook, which is located on the right shoulder. This leads me on to my second example.
Example Two

Guts-Sword-02.jpg
On each shoulder, there is a symmetric start to the chain. The only, obvious, difference in the chains is the length. On the right shoulder, we see a much shorter length of chain. However, this too has a hook at the end. Therefore it becomes apparent that the two hooks link together to form a loop. This looping chain is what holds the Dragon Slayer up. But, some people have been commenting if the length of the chain is long enough to cover the width of the sword. Well, the image below gives a very good idea of just how long the chain is.
Example Three

Guts-Sword-03.jpg
As you can see, the chain is long, but not too lengthy. There is a reason for this! If the chain were to be too long, then the Dragon Slayer would not be held tight to Gut's back. The Dragon Slayer is already a massive weight to handle, so having to pick it up every time her runs of goes to draw it would be a nuisance. The chain is the right length to hold close to Guts.

To reason for the hooks is simple. An upward force would push the left hook upward, therefore releasing it from the right hooks grip. This is what enables Guts to draw the sword. And why is the shorter part of the chain on the right shoulder? Simple. Because Guts is right handed and it's the easiest and shortest distance to draw it from.. not to mention his other hand is artificial. So, because of all these facts, he doesn't need his arms to be 7ft in length. He can pull the sword out at the angle he chooses.
 

Chiba

Proud owner of a Dragonslayer
Thanks for the great explanations so far.
I think the part with the chain is now pretty obvious to me, but I still don't really understand where the Dragonslayer itself is hung on Guts' back. vlad's explanations sounds pretty evident, but where should the hook for the Dragonslayer's link be located on Guts' back? I can't seem to see one on the images that Uriel posted. All the hooks I see there are for the chain to form a loop and hold the Dragonslayer in its position, if I interpret Uriel's explanation correctly.

All in all, this seems to be a quite complicated system, wouldn't it actually mean that Guts needs someone to help him reattach the hooks to each other if he wants to put his sword back on his back and fixate it there?
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
I think the explanations of Vlad and Uriel cover most of it.

Chiba said:
I think the part with the chain is now pretty obvious to me, but I still don't really understand where the Dragonslayer itself is hung on Guts' back. vlad's explanations sounds pretty evident, but where should the hook for the Dragonslayer's link be located on Guts' back? I can't seem to see one on the images that Uriel posted.

It's on the right on his back. You can see it in Uriel's second example, but I'll find a few other pictures later on if you want. In the meantime, here's a great representation of how it works, courtesy of Argon from the site Berserk-France.

DS-Attach01.gif
DS-Attach02.gif

Chiba said:
All in all, this seems to be a quite complicated system, wouldn't it actually mean that Guts needs someone to help him reattach the hooks to each other if he wants to put his sword back on his back and fixate it there?

Nope, he can do it alone pretty easily.
 

Chiba

Proud owner of a Dragonslayer
Awesome Aazealh, now I got it. :D

I imagined it a bit different and more complicated, this looks indeed quite easy to handle.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
No problem, and here's the hook the DS hangs onto from various angles, to complete Uriel's explanation.

DS-Hook.jpg

The middle image is cut unfortunately, but it's a close-up so I kept it in. That should help you see how it works.
 

Uriel

This journey isn't ov--AARGH!
Cheers for those images, Aaz. The images from Berserk-France were a great addition! Like I said, that was written a fair few years ago, so I was glad to have helped... but I mostly wanted to blow the dust off it!
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
Big props to Aaz, Uriel, and Vlad for the information they have given, and thanks to Chiba for starting this topic. This is very interesting stuff, indeed!
Excellent pics!
 

Chiba

Proud owner of a Dragonslayer
Yeah, this thread went from the question straight to several very good answers, without a big discussion. Maybe there should be a link from the encyclopedia to this thread. ;)
 
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