typhonblue
Feminism--making the world safe for bigotry
I've been thinking about the future of Gatt's character arc and the plot of Berserk. Berserk, while a unique series, is following a number of classic myth conventions. One of which is the life stages of the hero:
1. Orphan
2. Wanderer
3. Warrior
4. Wizard
5. Transcendant
Joseph Campbell said the mythic hero cycles through these stages throughout the story, going from the last stage back to the first but at a higher level.
Gatts seems to be stuck in Orphan-Wanderer-Warrior mode. Each time he seems to be advancing past warrior, something happens to pitch him back into orphanhood. Fer example, post-Gambino: Gatts starts out a wanderer, becomes a warrior when he decides to swing his sword for Griffith, then retreats back into being a wanderer when he gets hurt. (Wanderer is his safe place, apparently.) Griffith does the whole "I will never forgive you" eclipse thing, Gatts is back to being an orphan: No Hawks, no Griffith and no Casca, really. So he retreats again into being a wanderer. When he saves Casca from the Inquisition, he advances to being a warrior. I don't think he's going back to wanderer, since he's seemed to have clued in and is finally taking care of Casca *before* trying to fight Griffith. I think he's going forward to Wizard.
And by Wizard I don't mean purple robes and wands Wizard, I mean a man in charge of his own energies. Gatts is an almost super-human fighter but he still isn't in full control of himself, as evidenced by the Beast taking control. The Wizard stage is about reconciling with the Beast. Learning to use all aspects of oneself to further one's goals...
Which leads me to my speculation. I imagine the beast is both ID and intuition. The repressed aspects of Gatts unconscious self. In learning to accept and work with his dark half he will gain the abilities of his dark half, the abilities of the unconscious.
There are already some hints of other worldly abilities: The Benhilit responded to Gatts by opening it's eyes (how often does that happen?), Gatts was able to sense both Zoddo and Skull Knight, Skull Knight *before* he appeared, Skull Knight explains that Gatts is _not_ like Casca so he is able to withstand an astral attack. But *how* is he unlike her? They both have courage and guts, Casca even is cool-headed in a crisis, both are branded, both are warriors. Silke shows that size and physical strength mean nothing in the Astral plane. So what's the reason?
I imagine Silke will be an invaluable tool during this time. And that from her Gatts will learn mastery of the astral realm. If it aids him in his quest, he'll use it, no doubt.
I see Gatts' non-physical abilities explored more in the Wizard phase. Perhaps he'll learn to replace his eye and arm with astral equivalents (humans can manifest on the astral plane easily. It's one of the abilities of the projected double that sends most negative astral wildlife packing.) Plus all this jazz will lead up to his Transcendant stage, when he'll truly be able to kick some God Hand ass.
And further on the discussion about Gatts' dream... Some of the best stories are ones in which the what of a hero's dream stays the same, but the *why* changes immeasurably. :)
Looking forward to the "pansy-assed wizard" comments!
1. Orphan
2. Wanderer
3. Warrior
4. Wizard
5. Transcendant
Joseph Campbell said the mythic hero cycles through these stages throughout the story, going from the last stage back to the first but at a higher level.
Gatts seems to be stuck in Orphan-Wanderer-Warrior mode. Each time he seems to be advancing past warrior, something happens to pitch him back into orphanhood. Fer example, post-Gambino: Gatts starts out a wanderer, becomes a warrior when he decides to swing his sword for Griffith, then retreats back into being a wanderer when he gets hurt. (Wanderer is his safe place, apparently.) Griffith does the whole "I will never forgive you" eclipse thing, Gatts is back to being an orphan: No Hawks, no Griffith and no Casca, really. So he retreats again into being a wanderer. When he saves Casca from the Inquisition, he advances to being a warrior. I don't think he's going back to wanderer, since he's seemed to have clued in and is finally taking care of Casca *before* trying to fight Griffith. I think he's going forward to Wizard.
And by Wizard I don't mean purple robes and wands Wizard, I mean a man in charge of his own energies. Gatts is an almost super-human fighter but he still isn't in full control of himself, as evidenced by the Beast taking control. The Wizard stage is about reconciling with the Beast. Learning to use all aspects of oneself to further one's goals...
Which leads me to my speculation. I imagine the beast is both ID and intuition. The repressed aspects of Gatts unconscious self. In learning to accept and work with his dark half he will gain the abilities of his dark half, the abilities of the unconscious.
There are already some hints of other worldly abilities: The Benhilit responded to Gatts by opening it's eyes (how often does that happen?), Gatts was able to sense both Zoddo and Skull Knight, Skull Knight *before* he appeared, Skull Knight explains that Gatts is _not_ like Casca so he is able to withstand an astral attack. But *how* is he unlike her? They both have courage and guts, Casca even is cool-headed in a crisis, both are branded, both are warriors. Silke shows that size and physical strength mean nothing in the Astral plane. So what's the reason?
I imagine Silke will be an invaluable tool during this time. And that from her Gatts will learn mastery of the astral realm. If it aids him in his quest, he'll use it, no doubt.
I see Gatts' non-physical abilities explored more in the Wizard phase. Perhaps he'll learn to replace his eye and arm with astral equivalents (humans can manifest on the astral plane easily. It's one of the abilities of the projected double that sends most negative astral wildlife packing.) Plus all this jazz will lead up to his Transcendant stage, when he'll truly be able to kick some God Hand ass.
And further on the discussion about Gatts' dream... Some of the best stories are ones in which the what of a hero's dream stays the same, but the *why* changes immeasurably. :)
Looking forward to the "pansy-assed wizard" comments!