If Hell exists in Berserk, is there a Heaven?

O.K., I have a question: (I'm new, so bear with me): ::)

I know that you can't put religious-speculations or philsophies on a work like this, since the author is writing a story based on his imagination, perseptions, etc. This is not what I'm aiming at.

We already know that evil, "demonic" forces and "hell"or at least a type there of, has been present in the manga and anime. So, my question is this:

If hell exists in the Berserk world, is there a place or higher opposing force, that will show itself at some point in time to take on the "evil" present on the human race OR will they aid those already fighting against these forces (such as Gatts) ?

On another note of speculation, maybe that's what the skull knight is for. ???
 
It's hard to argue just what is good/evil at this point if what's going on is "fated" ...I think the conflict going on so far has been the fight against fate, with the demons/godhand/etc supposedly as products of man's darker ambitions... I remember reading somewhere that sacrifices (or was it Apostles who died?) ended up going to some hellish realm to endure eternal torment... but the presence of that place doesn't necessarily imply the presence of an opposite
 

Graywords

Bettychu, I choose YOU!
Berserk's hell:  Being endlessly tortured in a dark realm by all the souls you've wronged in your lifetime.  Your flesh is burnt slowly and ripped from your bones, but every day you would heal completely so the torture could begin anew (similar to the fate Prometheus once befell).  The beginnings of this were seen when the Slug Count was unable to sacrifice his daughter and dragged into hell by those he slaughtered to atone for eternity.

Berserk's heaven:  Being fed grapes by a naked Luca for all of eternity.  Every day starts off with her swinging her head around and saying, "EGADS my hair is godly!" then having mad monkey sex with you until evening.  Jerome is one character who's had a taste of Berserk's Heaven, but it is unknown whether he'll ever get to spend eternity there.  Also, the Skull Knight is thought to be on an eternal quest to seek out the truth behind Heaven.  Refer to the hidden episode in Danzaihen's Birth Festival chapter, Episode 162 1/2:  "Dokuro Kenshi ga Tengoku wo Ajiwau" (Skull Knight gets a taste of Heaven).  This episode was cut from the collected manga because Miura thought it "gave away too many of the countless secrets behind Berserk".

Here's a behind-the-scenes look:

skullyhappy.jpg


Anyway, there you have it.  Take this info with a grain of salt, and a shot of vodka. ^_^
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Hahahah! That picture made my day Graywords!

First of all, let me thank you for bringing the speculations section back to life. Its been rotting recently, being ignored by people and not getting posted on!!

Miura obviously has a strong liking to the Hellraiser series of movies and novels. The God Hand are excruciatingly similar to a series of characters in Hellraiser, as is the symbol of the Beherit to a certain summoning item in Hellraiser. In the Hellraiser series, it is made implicitly clear that there is only a Hell in the afterlife. While its going out on a limb and attempting to read the author's mind, it would make sense (since there is no evidence of a Heaven) that this follows suit in Berserk.

But to get more technical, there would be a heaven in Berserk, if happiness and loving feelings were prominent in the minds of the Berserk world's humans. However, since "hell"/ Idea was created through the abundance of negative feelings in humanity, (the negative feelings taking superiority over the positive) and its desire to have a controlling force, there cannot be a heaven.

If Miura unveils a Heaven, it'd be extremely uncalled for. There's no reason for one to exist. :-/
 

Graywords

Bettychu, I choose YOU!
Interesting idea...

Even more interesting if, mayhaps, Elfhame ends up being BRUTALLY SLAUGHTERED. ^_^ Then we'd know if they are truly in a world with no heaven... :p~

What was the quote from Trigun? "You don't need God to have miracles"?
 

biggerthanzodd

mmm...banana
In Hades Achilles said to Odysseus that he would rather be a slave and alive than to be the king of all the dead. There was no Heaven to Homer, though there was a Hell.
 

Kenoh-Sama

"What is love? Not that I want some or anythi
Earth is heaven. Anything but the Hell that was shown in book 13 is heaven. It's not perfect but nothing in Berserk is.

Heaven can also be Hell. The Apostles are called angels as well. I guess what's hell and what's heaven depends on who's telling the story.
 

Lamech

In darkness Lies truth
I would think that there was a heaven, or at least some "Good" counter part to the God Hand. It seems to me that theme of Fate is seen way to often to say that Guts and Skully have been on thier own. I think that if the God Hand claim to control the fate of Man, Which i would think to be only Evil underestimating the other forces at work. Purhaps the God hand only guides the fate of those with Dark intentions while some other force guids the good guides who choose to fight against the God Hand.

*Well if that makes any sense :D*
 
i never thought of the God Hand as being good OR evil, they just are. they help to weave the thread that binds fate together; what happens happens. they dont do anything that isnt meant to be done, and they certainly dont have any reason to be evil. they have no evil intentions to drive them.
thus, there can be no "counter part" of them.

just my take.
 

trapped_soul

"This is it. It's over."
i never thought of the God Hand as being good OR evil, they just are. they help to weave the thread that binds fate together; what happens happens. they dont do anything that isnt meant to be done, and they certainly dont have any reason to be evil. they have no evil intentions to drive them.
thus, there can be no "counter part" of them.

just my take.
y

Didn't Idea say something like "I'm the Idea of Evil"? Maybe I'm wrong, but i believe i recall it saying that. Furthermore one of the central themes of berserk is the evil coming out of human. I have to agree with you ranemaka when you say "they help to weave the thread that binds fate together". I think that's exactly what it is. The God Hand is just a symbol for the "evil" coming out of human. perhaps symbol is not the right word for it, but i hope you all know what i'm talking about. Evil itself will always exist in the world, the source for it hasn't to be some power beyond human just like GodHand, the source maybe lies deep in every human's soul.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Evil itself will always exist in the world, the source for it hasn't to be some power beyond human just like GodHand, the source maybe lies deep in every human's soul.
Thats pretty much what Idea tells Griffith in 83. Griffith also says that "this feeling" is familiar to him. Idea exists as a part of all humans. It has its hand in every bad thought and deed in the world.
 

roberto999

The Black Chick of Darkness
I think that the better approach would be the Moorcock way. At the end man should free himself of every god, good or evil how they can be. I don't know if there a heaven or a "good" force in Berserk. I don't think it is important since the story it is not about the fight between "good" and "evil" but the fight of a man against his fate.
 
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