What if Berserk's ending was like in the Bible?

[AStrugglerNamedSlickBack]

Here’s a theory:

Griffith = Lucifer. Name meaning “Light-Bringer”, “Shining one” etc. Griffith & Lucifer have the same personality and the same goals (ever “longing”). Lucifer has a gang of fallen angels just like Griffith’s apostles. There’s a nice paragraph on Lucifer (after his fall) that correlates well with Griffith:

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?"

Guts = Jesus/Michael
Lucifer is known as the serpent or ”dragon” (he was in the form of a dragon when defeated by St. Michael), meanwhile Gut’s has an aptly named “Dragon Slayer”. In some interpretations, St. Michael, is also Jesus (Jesus being his form on earth).
People also see Parallels between Griffith and the Antichrist. Miura has always been deliberate in portraying Gut’s as Griffiths antithesis. Obviously the antithesis to the antichrist, is christ.
Jesus sacrifices himself for others (opposite of GH/Apostles). When he dies he goes to Hell, where he releases all of Hell’s captives. Which is one way for the IoE to be defeated I guess. Somehow purifying the vortex of dark souls (Maybe with some elf magic) could’ve been a thing. Send Guts into that heart like a Trojan horse, strapped with a nuke of “goodness”. I’m half-joking.

If I use this theory I can almost see a full conclusion to Berserk. Obviously here Guts dies. But avoids suffering in the Vortex. Knowing who the Fifth King is would’ve helped. If we go by the directions it’s the Center (i.e Void), which binds all the other elements (King of the East, King of the West, King of the Void?). Three plausibilities are Void, IoE, unknown Spirit. It’s also possible Void is using the Fifth like a familiar/posession. But I don’t see how the GH can die when they hang around “formless”, are essentially already ”masses of negative thoughts”, born from the vortex, and will probably just come right out if sent there. IoE has to fall.

 

[manvsdestiny]

Here’s a theory:

Griffith = Lucifer. Name meaning “Light-Bringer”, “Shining one” etc. Griffith & Lucifer have the same personality and the same goals (ever “longing”). Lucifer has a gang of fallen angels just like Griffith’s apostles. There’s a nice paragraph on Lucifer (after his fall) that correlates well with Griffith:


Guts = Jesus/Michael
Lucifer is known as the serpent or ”dragon” (he was in the form of a dragon when defeated by St. Michael), meanwhile Gut’s has an aptly named “Dragon Slayer”. In some interpretations, St. Michael, is also Jesus (Jesus being his form on earth).
People also see Parallels between Griffith and the Antichrist. Miura has always been deliberate in portraying Gut’s as Griffiths antithesis. Obviously the antithesis to the antichrist, is christ.
Jesus sacrifices himself for others (opposite of GH/Apostles). When he dies he goes to Hell, where he releases all of Hell’s captives. Which is one way for the IoE to be defeated I guess. Somehow purifying the vortex of dark souls (Maybe with some elf magic) could’ve been a thing. Send Guts into that heart like a Trojan horse, strapped with a nuke of “goodness”. I’m half-joking.

If I use this theory I can almost see a full conclusion to Berserk. Obviously here Guts dies. But avoids suffering in the Vortex. Knowing who the Fifth King is would’ve helped. If we go by the directions it’s the Center (i.e Void), which binds all the other elements (King of the East, King of the West, King of the Void?). Three plausibilities are Void, IoE, unknown Spirit. It’s also possible Void is using the Fifth like a familiar/posession. But I don’t see how the GH can die when they hang around “formless”, are essentially already ”masses of negative thoughts”, born from the vortex, and will probably just come right out if sent there. IoE has to fall.

personally i think the moonlight boy would be jesus hes truly an innocent and pure being and griffith is the fake a evil being trying to look good,remember when we first saw the moonlight child he looked like an ugly evil creature but his true nature is benelovent the opposite of griffith beautiful and cruel.Also it would make sense for him to defeat femto the son of god vs the devil

 

[Aazealh]

These comparisons to the Bible aren't pertinent. There are some similarities like the notion of incarnation or the general idea of a false messiah, but overall there's no direct counterpart for any of the key elements in both stories. Guts isn't Jesus and Femto isn't the Devil.

Knowing who the Fifth King is would’ve helped. If we go by the directions it’s the Center (i.e Void), which binds all the other elements (King of the East, King of the West, King of the Void?). Three plausibilities are Void, IoE, unknown Spirit. It’s also possible Void is using the Fifth like a familiar/posession.

There's no fifth elemental king that we know of, nor are the four elemental kings subservient to the God Hand or anything like that. They operate on different levels.

 

[Walter]

If I use this theory I can almost see a full conclusion to Berserk.

I can understand how someone would make a Lucifer/antichrist comparison with Griffith. Superficially, I see it. Do I think Miura gleaned such a thing directly from Christian myth? No, but as someone who grew up under that belief structure, that is where my mind goes. I can't not consider it, even if I'm unconvinced.

Whatever the truth, one thing to make clear is that Miura was not beholden to follow the individual beats for how any myth goes, even if he did use it as a starting point. Similarly, one could loosely correlate the book of revelations' "mark of the beast" to the brand in Berserk, only the way it's used is completely different. So it's meaningless to draw correlations in an attempt to extract the next story beats.

Miura took concepts from all over history and mythology and used them to flesh out the story he was trying to tell, not paint according to the beats of someone else's story.

 

[AStrugglerNamedSlickBack]

I can understand how someone would make an antichrist comparison with Griffith. Superficially, I see it. Do I think Miura gleaned such a thing directly from Christian myth? No, but as someone who grew up under that belief structure, that is where my mind goes. I can't not consider it, even if I'm unconvinced.

Whatever the truth, one thing to make clear is that Miura is not beholden to follow the individual beats for how any myth goes, even if he did use it as a starting point. Similarly, one could loosely correlate the book of revelations' "mark of the beast" to the brand in Berserk, only the way it's used is completely different. So it's meaningless to draw correlations in an attempt to extract the next story beats.

Miura takes concepts from all over history and mythology and uses them to flesh out the story he's trying to tell, not paint according to the beats of someone else's story.

I wanted to preface the post with basically your last paragraph, but didn’t just to keep it short. I think their may be some deliberate inspirations from Lucifer/antichrist for Griffith, in Gut’s case regarding Mikael/Jesus, I think it‘s just a coincidence/unintentional. But nonetheless it paints a nearly coherent whole to the story (that I haven’t even really gone into, because this wasn’t meant as a thread).

I have a question. Do you think the IoE needs to be rid of for a proper conclusion of Berserk? Though it may depend on whether or not you assume it was made by a guy like Void, or is a natural occurrence in the Vortex.

 

[Aazealh]

I think their may be some deliberate inspirations from Lucifer/antichrist for Griffith, in Gut’s case regarding Mikael/Jesus, I think it‘s just a coincidence/unintentional. But nonetheless it paints a nearly coherent whole to the story (that I haven’t even really gone into, because this wasn’t meant as a thread).

Christian mythology played no part in the creation of either Femto or Griffith as a character. That's well-documented in various interviews. More broadly, the parallels you're making are also completely incompatible with Berserk's story, contrary to what you're saying. I trust it you realize that "sending Guts strapped with a nuke to the Idea of Evil" is not a plausible scenario for the story's ending.

I have a question. Do you think the IoE needs to be rid of for a proper conclusion of Berserk? Though it may depend on whether or not you assume it was made by a guy like Void, or is a natural occurrence in the Vortex.

There's really no reason to believe the God of the Abyss was created by a single person, and in fact it seems impossible. While you weren't asking me, I don't believe any single person could destroy it, nor do I think its destruction is necessary for the story to have a proper conclusion. There are other ways that its influence could be lessened.

 

[AStrugglerNamedSlickBack]

Christian mythology played no part in the creation of either Femto or Griffith as a character. That's well-documented in various interviews.

You mean because he said it’s based off his friends, it can’t have any inspiration from other things.

More broadly, the parallels you're making are also completely incompatible with Berserk's story, contrary to what you're saying.

Are they?

I trust it you realize that "sending Guts strapped with a nuke to the Idea of Evil" is not a plausible scenario for the story's ending.

True enough.

There's really no reason to believe the God of the Abyss was created by a single person, and in fact it seems impossible. While you weren't asking me, I don't believe any single person could destroy it, nor do I think its destruction is necessary for the story to have a proper conclusion. There are other ways that its influence could be lessened.

If it was deliberately man-made, I wouldn’t guess a single person neither. Maybe a large group of branded folk. Can you give a few examples of the “other ways”?

 

[Aazealh]

You mean because he said it’s based off his friends, it can’t have any inspiration from other things.

It goes a little further than that. Note that I cited the two elements about Griffith that most clearly evoke Christianity, albeit superficially, in my first response. If you have more specific claims you'd like to make, we can go through them if you wish.

Are they?

Yes. It's easy to miss contradictions when you're focused on something you think is similar, but there's a litany of differences, starting with the fact Guts is neither the son of God, nor invested with holy power. Griffith is not a fallen angel, nor wants to dethrone god. He is not the Antichrist as there is no Christ.

If it was deliberately man-made, I wouldn’t guess a single person neither. Maybe a large group of branded folk. Can you give a few examples of the “other ways”?

Why assume it was deliberately created? It's clearly not what Miura had in mind when he conceived it from what we see in the non-canon episode 83. Also, I don't see how or why branded people would or could create the Idea of Evil. What makes the most sense to me is still the notion that the dark side of mankind's collective consciousness basically became sentient. That's supported by what we know from the story.

And by the same token, nudging mankind towards a more hopeful future may suffice to lessen its grasp. If we're really bold, we can also imagine a uniquely qualified being, like Guts and Casca's son, appealing to it so that it would stop scheming. But that's assuming Miura would have shown it again in the first place, which he had made clear was not at all guaranteed. In any case, wicked souls would still exist, and still be divided according to their karma in that great ocean. That is the nature of Man.

 

[Gambler]

I also had this feeling within the Conviction Arc, it also felt pretty ironic that the "Messiah" (who links to Jesus in real life) is actually a demon (Lucifer) that raped and slaughtered people. It's a pretty old theory that Guts will somehow activate his behelit and slaughter the God Hand and the souls in the Vortex

As people said, Miura used many references in philosophy and religion, but just as inspirations to do his own story. But I do believe it's possible that some things will eventually play out as they happen in the bible, considering the Holy See is heavily inspired by christianity

 

[Aazealh]

It's a pretty old theory that Guts will somehow activate his behelit and slaughter the God Hand and the souls in the Vortex

This is explained to be impossible by Flora in volume 24.

But I do believe it's possible that some things will eventually play out as they happen in the bible, considering the Holy See is heavily inspired by christianity

Except the Holy See is shown to be clueless as to what's going on. And what's left of it is now just the spiritual arm of Griffith's government, it exists only to serve him.