The Unifying Theory of The Skull Knight [April Fool's 2015]

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Let's start from the top, shall we?

sk32.jpg
sk8.jpg


NO DEBATE NEEDED.

OK, so we're assuming Skull Knight was once Gaiseric, but what REALLY happened to his empire?

Branded, sacrificed, but by whom? There are only 3 theories that go from here, each are respectable, but one, i tend to lean towards more often than not.

1> Gaiseric sacrificed his own empire to become more powerful, perhaps he wasnt satisfied with only half the world. And so from that path, Gaiseric became a god hand, perhaps even the leader. But many years later, perhaps Gaiseric realized that his choice was folly, and disbanded from God Hand...but how does one simply LEAVE a group as god-like as the God Hand? Think of the current issues, with the rebirth of griffith through the eclipse that happens every 1000 years. Perhaps what Griffith/Femto's position is now, is something not unlike where Gaiseric was, 1000 years ago... And then there is the matter of Void. ah yes, Void, the true X factor in all this. What is it that Void did that made Skull Knight seek such vengeance? Is he only after Void because he is the leader of God Hand, and SK intends to 'nip it in the bud' so to speak? Methinks no, i think its more personal than that.... On to Theory 2

for clarity issues:

normal eclipse (red Beherit)= 216 yrs

"transformation" eclipse = 1000 yrs

2> The second theory of how Gaiseric became Skull Knight is a bit more simple. This theory relies on the possibility that it was Void who sacrificed the empire. I have heard rumors that Void was once i high magistrate to Gaiseric, or something of an advisor. Such a betrayal would surely spawn such a hatred. If this is the case, then Gaiseric was branded, not unlike Guts. But along what point did he don the armor? Is it merely the armor that seperated Skull Knight from Guts? I think not, i think that Skull Knight is something else, some other factor that hasnt been played yet.

3> The third theory is the most recently discovered one. This one was brought on by a recent converstation with a member of this forum.

-1000 years ago, Gaiseric incarnates himself.( which is assuming that Gaiseric was at one time, a God Hand ) Now that he is of the flesh, he is so powerful that he succeeds in putting all wars to an end and becomes King of a united territory, Midland. He's now known as "Gaiseric the Conqueror".

134 years later,

-866 A Wiseman imprisoned by Gaiseric uses the Crimson Beherit and becomes a God Hand. The four Other God Hands appear and he sacrifices Midland, Gaiseric's town. Gaiseric tries to fight back, and that makes him look like a fifth angel. He kills the God Hands, expect for Void, the new one.

IN CONCLUSION

I personally think the mystery of the SK/Void conflict is one of the most intriguing plots of Berserk. I am a total Skull Knight fan. And when the day comes that we finally learn the origins of that thorned rose that enblazons his shield, and we finally learn what happened on that day 1000 years ago, i just might shed a few tears of joy.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Walter said:
1> Gaiseric sacrificed his own empire to become more powerful, perhaps he wasnt satisfied with only half the world.

That doesn't really fit his character, but more importantly it goes against every single thing that was ever implied in the story regarding his past, like the similarity between his fate and what Guts is currently going through. Other than that, since he already had conquered the entire continent, it's doubtful getting more land was a proper motivation for him to sacrifice... his empire, which is what he supposedly wanted to expand. If anything that seems counterproductive. By the way, the "empire" wasn't sacrificed. The capital city of the empire was destroyed, and we know that some people there were branded. That's all. You can't just extrapolate wildly from that single point.

Walter said:
And so from that path, Gaiseric became a god hand, perhaps even the leader. But many years later, perhaps Gaiseric realized that his choice was folly, and disbanded from God Hand...but how does one simply LEAVE a group as god-like as the God Hand?

How and also why? It sounds rather unlikely that any member of the God Hand would ever come to regret their choice. That should probably tell you something about the unlikeliness of what you're proposing. Your entire proposition is built on "perhaps".

Walter said:
Think of the current issues, with the rebirth of griffith through the eclipse that happens every 1000 years. Perhaps what Griffith/Femto's position is now, is something not unlike where Gaiseric was, 1000 years ago...

I thought Gaiseric had sacrificed his empire to become a member of the God Hand? Whereas Femto, a member of the God Hand, was incarnated into flesh (a new Griffith body) so that he could build that empire. That's, like, the opposite. Pretty incoherent if you consider the goals of the God Hand as a whole.

Walter said:
And then there is the matter of Void. ah yes, Void, the true X factor in all this. What is it that Void did that made Skull Knight seek such vengeance? Is he only after Void because he is the leader of God Hand, and SK intends to 'nip it in the bud' so to speak? Methinks no, i think its more personal than that....

What is this based on? Feels like pure conjecture to me. In the past the Skull Knight has stated that he stands against the God Hand, not specifically against Void. And while he attacked him during the Eclipse, he also attacked Femto on top of Ganishka...

Walter said:
On to Theory 2

The gift that keeps on giving.

Walter said:
for clarity issues:

normal eclipse (red Beherit)= 216 yrs

"transformation" eclipse = 1000 yrs

That's... not very clear. During the Eclipse an actual transformation occurs: from human to member of the God Hand, with cosmetic changes and and transition to the Astral World. During the Incarnation ceremony, which mirrored the Eclipse but did not actually feature the occultation of an astral body, no transformation occurred (save that of the Demon Child, but that's not what you meant), Femto was simply incarnated into a body of flesh.

Walter said:
2> The second theory of how Gaiseric became Skull Knight is a bit more simple. This theory relies on the possibility that it was Void who sacrificed the empire. I have heard rumors that Void was once i high magistrate to Gaiseric, or something of an advisor.

Lol, rumors? That's... not a very good basis for an argument. Currently there's no solid proof in the story that Void and the Skull Knight knew each other when they were human.

Walter said:
Such a betrayal would surely spawn such a hatred.

Hatred is hardly a trait exhibited by the Skull Knight.

Walter said:
If this is the case, then Gaiseric was branded, not unlike Guts. But along what point did he don the armor? Is it merely the armor that seperated Skull Knight from Guts? I think not, i think that Skull Knight is something else, some other factor that hasnt been played yet.

The question of when he wore the Berserk's armor is interesting, but we can't answer it at this point. As for his current armor, I think it's a given it occurred after his demise, assuming it all happened like that. Not sure what other factor there would be, except time.

Walter said:
3> The third theory is the most recently discovered one. This one was brought on by a recent converstation with a member of this forum.

-1000 years ago, Gaiseric incarnates himself.( which is assuming that Gaiseric was at one time, a God Hand ) Now that he is of the flesh, he is so powerful that he succeeds in putting all wars to an end and becomes King of a united territory, Midland. He's now known as "Gaiseric the Conqueror".

134 years later,

-866 A Wiseman imprisoned by Gaiseric uses the Crimson Beherit and becomes a God Hand. The four Other God Hands appear and he sacrifices Midland, Gaiseric's town. Gaiseric tries to fight back, and that makes him look like a fifth angel. He kills the God Hands, expect for Void, the new one.

That makes no sense whatsoever. First off, that would make six members of the God Hand, which is just not how it goes. Because a member is incarnated does not remove him from the God Hand... But beyond that, it's reaaaaaaally really unlikely that members of the God Hand would oppose each other, especially going so far as to destroy each other. They're ruled by a higher entity and serve a common goal, as has been demonstrated in the story, and this would be absolutely counter-productive. In fact, why would there be a need for a new member of the God Hand if they were already ruling the land?

Walter said:
I personally think the mystery of the SK/Void conflict is one of the most intriguing plots of Berserk.

You don't say.

Walter said:
I am a total Skull Knight fan. And when the day comes that we finally learn the origins of that thorned rose that enblazons his shield, and we finally learn what happened on that day 1000 years ago, i just might shed a few tears of joy.

Amen to that! :badbone:
 
First of all great topic. Polished slate of fleshed out theories. The most intriguing character in the series is SK. His relationship with void is something I'm as excited to see resolved as cascas fate.

I personally like theories 2 and 3. Though all would be fun something about him being a godhand member leaves me with the impression that griff might back out and try to undue his ill deeds as well.

In any case I'm sure Miura will make the reveal as pleasing as we can imagine.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Aazealh said:
That doesn't really fit his character, but more importantly it goes against every single thing that was ever implied in the story regarding his past, like the similarity between his fate and what Guts is currently going through.

That's true, but Gaiseric also has parallels to Griffith, who has a ceaseless ambition in him. So I think there's grounds for it to also be within Gaiseric.

Other than that, since he already had conquered the entire continent, it's doubtful getting more land was a proper motivation for him to sacrifice... his empire, which is what he supposedly wanted to expand. If anything that seems counterproductive.

That's presuming we knew what his goals were. What we know about Gaiseric is that he had a strong desire to unify the land under one rule. But why? Maybe it was similar to why Griffith is doing it now for Falconia -- a nefarious reason.

By the way, the "empire" wasn't sacrificed. The capital city of the empire was destroyed, and we know that some people there were branded. That's all. You can't just extrapolate wildly from that single point.

Yeah, I meant just the capital city.

How and also why? It sounds rather unlikely that any member of the God Hand would ever come to regret their choice. That should probably tell you something about the unlikeliness of what you're proposing. Your entire proposition is built on "perhaps".

That's what Speculation Nation is all about!

I thought Gaiseric had sacrificed his empire to become a member of the God Hand? Whereas Femto, a member of the God Hand, was incarnated into flesh (a new Griffith body) so that he could build that empire. That's, like, the opposite. Pretty incoherent if you consider the goals of the God Hand as a whole.

Fate is a circle, not a spiral.

What is this based on? Feels like pure conjecture to me. In the past the Skull Knight has stated that he stands against the God Hand, not specifically against Void. And while he attacked him during the Eclipse, he also attacked Femto on top of Ganishka...

Ganiskha? He's not relevant here.

That's... not very clear. During the Eclipse an actual transformation occurs: from human to member of the God Hand, with cosmetic changes and and transition to the Astral World. During the Incarnation ceremony, which mirrored the Eclipse but did not actually feature the occultation of an astral body, no transformation occurred (save that of the Demon Child, but that's not what you meant), Femto was simply incarnated into a body of flesh.

The reason I was stating the years was to give an understanding that time had to pass between the incarnation and the birth of the first God Hand member.

Lol, rumors? That's... not a very good basis for an argument. Currently there's no solid proof in the story that Void and the Skull Knight knew each other when they were human.

More than rumors: You forgot about the sage, Aaz! Word on the street is that Void could be the sage/wiseman from Volume 18. And seeing as that's one of the only specific parables about Gaiseric, it calls into question why a single person was put into focus for that scene. Why call attention to it if that person wasn't to have significance later in the story? It makes sense for that person to be Void. If the sage were described as tubby though, it might also be Conrad or Ubik.

Hatred is hardly a trait exhibited by the Skull Knight.

1,000 years ago, Aaz! :SK:

The question of when he wore the Berserk's armor is interesting, but we can't answer it at this point. As for his current armor, I think it's a given it occurred after his demise, assuming it all happened like that. Not sure what other factor there would be, except time.

Yeah, time's a big factor though. Did you forget? It's what helped Andy escape at the end of Shawshank Redemption.

That makes no sense whatsoever. First off, that would make six members of the God Hand, which is just not how it goes. Because a member is incarnated does not remove him from the God Hand... But beyond that, it's reaaaaaaally really unlikely that members of the God Hand would oppose each other, especially going so far as to destroy each other. They're ruled by a higher entity and serve a common goal, as has been demonstrated in the story, and this would be absolutely counter-productive. In fact, why would there be a need for a new member of the God Hand if they were already ruling the land?

I don't think it's unheard of for there to be six God Hand. Afterall, we know very little about the state of the world 1,000 years ago.

Amen to that! :badbone:

Hear, hear!
 
As a long-time viewer I've always wondered, Walter: as a legendary Skull Knight fan around here, do you personally want to see Gaiseric's face and for all intents and purposes, his full resplendant human glory, when Miura serves us the banquet we've all been waiting for? It seems to me in volume 10 Miura specifically chose to leave Gaiseric's face in darkness twice - only showing us an eye on the panel you've posted above. I admit the darkness masking what appears to be Gaiseric’s face could be attributed to the presence of his helmet, but we’ve seen sufficient facial details beneath helmets in the past – enough to gauge a character’s full appearance by, I would say. Clearly not for the likes of Bazuso, and the situation for tortured Griffith was purposefully played with, but by and large!

Would viewing the Skull Knight this way detract from his character at all for you? Would it feel out of place – perhaps even uncomfortable, for a figure we’ve come to know and love as essentially a metallic skull visage? Do you believe Miura will purposefully continue to keep us in the dark when the inevitable history is recounted – or do you believe Miura will use a similar artistic tactic as he did with Ganishka’s origins? (Although the Skull Knight's past is much longer and likely much richer to boot) :troll:

This is by no means an analogy, but I liken this situation and the reader’s impression to the unknown horror lurking beneath Griffith’s torture helmet also seen in volume 10. Something so vile and hideous it’s left to our imagination to brood on; something that, if drawn and openly illustrated, would lose its impact. I’ve always considered the Skull Knight to be a rather cold character, but with enough subtle nuances and moments to breathe life into his well-loved husk nonetheless. In other words, would showing Supreme King Gaiseric in his original human form provide a sort of human warmth that could be detracting to the bone-clad figure we see today? Or, perhaps, would Gaiseric be cold and terrifying enough as a mere man to make no significant difference?

I apologise if this is tangential, and I would’ve liked to have prepared a more detailed post/thread about this topic and the storytelling/artistic direction Miura may take (or rather - the one we readers would prefer!), but this seems like the best opportunity to ask within the last few years. Really, this question has only spawned from my musings about when we’ll be in Elfhelm (at a guess!) and the skeletons suddenly come tumbling out of Skully’s closet – to me, and perhaps me alone, suddenly seeing Gaiseric as this flesh-and-blood character charging on horseback, shouting, commanding, laughing and generally being… a mortal man. Well, thinking about it, it just feels… odd. :schnoz:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
badtothebone-fools.gif
April Fool's!
badtothebone-fools.gif


Who would have thought Aaz would end up using his powers of quotation against one of Walter's precious Skully theories?! Et tu, Aazé?!

The source for this gag stems from the very, very beginning of this site. Before it was home to a forum, before it was even Skullknight.NET, it was "Walter's Sanctuary of Berserk" hosted on 50megs.com, a free hosting site. At the time, very few people had access to the actual manga. Almost all fans had seen the anime and that's about it. So, to bring people up to speed, my site hosted scans of the events directly after the Eclipse and a few key scenes between Vol 14-18 to give people a taste of what else was happening in the series. The fandom grew exponentially just a few years later.

walters-sanctuary.jpg


The site also housed a speculations section, which I created while learning HTML and CSS in high school. It featured a few of my CHOICE teenage Berserk thoughts!

The result was this monstrosity: http://www.skullknight.net/spec/spec.htm part of which is what Aaz just thoroughly debunked -- an 18-year-old Walter's precious Skull Knight theory!
 
I have seen numerous theories regarding Skull Knight origin some sound others not so much. I recall one of the more radical theories that Guts was somehow SK who had learned to travel through time which makes no sense considering his inability to take down members of ths god hand. The theories offered by Walter are less radical however I do not much care for the idea of SK once being part of the god hand simply because I believe the tant of evil would signal Guts' brand. Aaz once mentioned a theory regarding SKs armor stating that it could have been forged by the Elves for the soul purpose of perserving his form and essence, apolgies if I didnt capture all the specifics. I like this theory because if SKs death and the fall of his empire was caused by the eclipse perhaps the Elves believed that the only way to perserve the world from being completed engulfed by the evil of the god hand was to somehow revive him. That being said I do think Walters theory regarding void and SKs past has relevance because ,and you can regard me as simplistic for stating this, when SK attacks void during the eclipse but fails the two gaze upon each other in a way that seems a lot more personal than what Im use to seeing from SK. Either way ill be happy to see the truth unravel in the next 1 or 2 decades.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
TripleJMaster3 said:
I have seen numerous theories regarding Skull Knight origin some sound others not so much. I recall one of the more radical theories that Guts was somehow SK who had learned to travel through time which makes no sense considering his inability to take down members of ths god hand. The theories offered by Walter are less radical however I do not much care for the idea of SK once being part of the god hand simply because I believe the tant of evil would signal Guts' brand. Aaz once mentioned a theory regarding SKs armor stating that it could have been forged by the Elves for the soul purpose of perserving his form and essence, apolgies if I didnt capture all the specifics. I like this theory because if SKs death and the fall of his empire was caused by the eclipse perhaps the Elves believed that the only way to perserve the world from being completed engulfed by the evil of the god hand was to somehow revive him. That being said I do think Walters theory regarding void and SKs past has relevance because ,and you can regard me as simplistic for stating this, when SK attacks void during the eclipse but fails the two gaze upon each other in a way that seems a lot more personal than what Im use to seeing from SK. Either way ill be happy to see the truth unravel in the next 1 or 2 decades.

You did see the post above where this was all a gag, right? :badbone:
 
Walter said:
badtothebone-fools.gif
April Fool's!
badtothebone-fools.gif


Who would have thought Aaz would end up using his powers of quotation against one of Walter's precious Skully theories?! Et tu, Aazé?!

The source for this gag stems from the very, very beginning of this site. Before it was home to a forum, before it was even Skullknight.NET, it was "Walter's Sanctuary of Berserk" hosted on 50megs.com, a free hosting site. At the time, very few people had access to the actual manga. Almost all fans had seen the anime and that's about it. So, to bring people up to speed, my site hosted scans of the events directly after the Eclipse and a few key scenes between Vol 14-18 to give people a taste of what else was happening in the series. The fandom grew exponentially just a few years later.

walters-sanctuary.jpg


The site also housed a speculations section, which I created while learning HTML and CSS in high school. It featured a few of my CHOICE teenage Berserk thoughts!

The result was this monstrosity: http://www.skullknight.net/spec/spec.htm part of which is what Aaz just thoroughly debunked -- an 18-year-old Walter's precious Skull Knight theory!

I love this kind of april fools joke, its a great prank and then when the reveal comes it feels like a beautiful celebration of through pranking.

thumbs way up for the content
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Bobss said:
As a long-time viewer I've always wondered, Walter: as a legendary Skull Knight fan around here, do you personally want to see Gaiseric's face and for all intents and purposes, his full resplendant human glory, when Miura serves us the banquet we've all been waiting for? It seems to me in volume 10 Miura specifically chose to leave Gaiseric's face in darkness twice - only showing us an eye on the panel you've posted above. I admit the darkness masking what appears to be Gaiseric’s face could be attributed to the presence of his helmet, but we’ve seen sufficient facial details beneath helmets in the past – enough to gauge a character’s full appearance by, I would say. Clearly not for the likes of Bazuso, and the situation for tortured Griffith was purposefully played with, but by and large!

Would viewing the Skull Knight this way detract from his character at all for you? Would it feel out of place – perhaps even uncomfortable, for a figure we’ve come to know and love as essentially a metallic skull visage? Do you believe Miura will purposefully continue to keep us in the dark when the inevitable history is recounted – or do you believe Miura will use a similar artistic tactic as he did with Ganishka’s origins? (Although the Skull Knight's past is much longer and likely much richer to boot) :troll:

This is by no means an analogy, but I liken this situation and the reader’s impression to the unknown horror lurking beneath Griffith’s torture helmet also seen in volume 10. Something so vile and hideous it’s left to our imagination to brood on; something that, if drawn and openly illustrated, would lose its impact. I’ve always considered the Skull Knight to be a rather cold character, but with enough subtle nuances and moments to breathe life into his well-loved husk nonetheless. In other words, would showing Supreme King Gaiseric in his original human form provide a sort of human warmth that could be detracting to the bone-clad figure we see today? Or, perhaps, would Gaiseric be cold and terrifying enough as a mere man to make no significant difference?

I apologise if this is tangential, and I would’ve liked to have prepared a more detailed post/thread about this topic and the storytelling/artistic direction Miura may take (or rather - the one we readers would prefer!), but this seems like the best opportunity to ask within the last few years. Really, this question has only spawned from my musings about when we’ll be in Elfhelm (at a guess!) and the skeletons suddenly come tumbling out of Skully’s closet – to me, and perhaps me alone, suddenly seeing Gaiseric as this flesh-and-blood character charging on horseback, shouting, commanding, laughing and generally being… a mortal man. Well, thinking about it, it just feels… odd. :schnoz:

Definitely some great ideas here, but please make a new thread!
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
ApostleBob said:
This was great. Was Aaz in on it? He seemed thoroughly annoyed by some of these wild speculations.

The whole point of the joke was me debunking Walter's old theory.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Ahh, the great tradition continues. I was sure that there wouldn't be an april fools this year because I was monitoring the recent threads and didn't see anything suspicious all week. Surely they wouldn't pull an april fools ON aprils fools day. That's TOO obvious!

Some neat Skullknight history though. Interesting.
 
I know this is a bit off-topic, but I wanted to join in on the skullknight and the God Hand discussion.

Do we actually know Gaiseric had a beherit? Since Void is part of the god hand (and I believe a 'friend' of Gaiseric in life.) and that Beherits always return to their owners when they need them.
Could it be, that if Gaiseric had the beherit, it still 'returned' to Void and he then sacrifices everyone because he has been living under Gaiserics shadow or his dream was destroyed, perhaps Gaiseric wanted to get rid of him because his friend, who I believe was a priest, started to research the occult? Perhaps discovering Beherits and the idea of evil.

At this point it's just guessing, that's all we can do now. But Flora (Or SK himself said that, can't remember) called guts journey a spiral compared to Skullknight's journey. I think that can mean that SK also escapes his sacrifice and not him sacrificing others and then changing his mind. (I don't believe it works like that.)
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
jackalj said:
Do we actually know Gaiseric had a beherit?

Nope.

jackalj said:
Since Void is part of the god hand (and I believe a 'friend' of Gaiseric in life.) and that Beherits always return to their owners when they need them.

As a matter of fact, there is nothing concrete linking Gaiseric and Void, it's just a series of inferences on our part based on a wordless exchange and a couple of lines. Not saying it wasn't the case, just that there's a lack of hard evidence for it at this point.

jackalj said:
Could it be, that if Gaiseric had the beherit, it still 'returned' to Void and he then sacrifices everyone because he has been living under Gaiserics shadow or his dream was destroyed, perhaps Gaiseric wanted to get rid of him because his friend, who I believe was a priest, started to research the occult? Perhaps discovering Beherits and the idea of evil.

Putting aside the speculation about Void, since we don't know enough to make a sure guess, you should understand that beherits don't really have "owners". For example, someone could carry one for years (like Guts is doing) without ever using it, and someone might never have seen one before, but when the moment's right, it will be there (like the Slug Count). Like Flora explains, the true owner of all beherits is none other than the Idea of Evil. So bearing that in mind, it's possible that person A found a beherit and person B used it, that's nothing special.

jackalj said:
Flora (Or SK himself said that, can't remember) called guts journey a spiral compared to Skullknight's journey. I think that can mean that SK also escapes his sacrifice and not him sacrificing others and then changing his mind. (I don't believe it works like that.)

It's a bit different: they were referring to the Berserk's armor, with the Skull Knight saying it's causality that Guts and co. would follow the same path he and Flora did. Flora then told him it wasn't so, that causality is a spiral, not a circle, and that they weren't limited to the same choices. But to get to the point, yes, that exchange and others between SK and Flora strongly hints at the fact that SK and Guts have had similar experiences.
 
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