>> Profile <<
Character Name: Guts
Character Series: Berserk the greatest Tragic Bromance ever told
Age: 21
Housing: Ari Apartment, room 502
Background & Personality [remember, I warned you about the length :|]: The man known as Guts has seen more hardship and tragedy in twenty-one years of life than hundred men ought to face in a lifetime. From the time he was discovered as a babe birthed from a hanged corpse into bloody mud, Guts' tale has been haunted by woe and suffering. But somehow he has struggled onwards, stubbornly defending a cursed life and his right to live it.
He was picked up from his dismal birthing place by a passing band of mercenaries; adopted by the woman of their leader, Guts was raised from that day to be a fighter. While the troop tolerated his presence, the only person to show him any true affection was Shizu, his adoptive mother. Still, Guts was fed, and housed, and educated in the way if his life's new direction. Though he was a solemn wee lad, he was content in a bland, neutral sort of way.
But this peace didn't last long. Shizu died when he was three. Without her, Guts had to search elsewhere for warmth. The focus of his now-drifting need for affection - both given and received - naturally became Gambino, Shizu's man, and by the time he reached his sixth birthday Guts would have done anything to win his approval. Gambino in his turn was brusque and gruff with the boy, though he took it upon himself to teach Guts the way of the sword. Despite Gambino's high standards and heavy-handed teaching methods, Guts idolized this man he somewhat shyly viewed as his father. Gambino had saved him from the horror he'd been born to; Gambino had given him a sword and the means to use it.
The boy participated actively in battle for the first time somewhere in his ninth year, though he'd been squiring since he was six. He did well considering his youth and inferior skill and experience, though Gambino had to come to his rescue as he stood staring at the first man he'd killed, slaying another attacker with the curt advice of 'Stand up and keep swinging your sword.' Somehow this later became Guts' life motto.
That night as Guts was sleeping and exhausted in his tiny tent, he was awakened by one of the troop's higher-ranked men standing over him. A huge, wall-eyed pig of a man, Donovan mercilessly pinned the youngster down, gagged him, and raped him. Guts was, of course, powerless to stop him; to add insult to injury, Donovan claimed that he'd already paid Gambino for this 'service.' Guts couldn't quite bring himself to confirm the truth of the matter the next morning.
A few skirmishes later he shot Donovan in the back with a crossbow bolt, making it look as if he'd been taken down by the enemy, and that was that.
For two more years Guts had relative peace, although Gambino lost a leg in battle and became surlier than ever; no matter how hard Guts worked, the things he accomplished never received a word of praise. At the tender age of eleven he was now as good a fighter as any full-grown man.
Guts toiled on anyway, assuming that Gambino's coldness was just an indication that he wasn't good enough yet. But then one night the man limped into his tent and attacked him. Confused and bewildered, Guts snatched up his own sword to defend himself, only to find that habit had prompted him to run Gambino through. As his 'father' died over Guts' on bedroll, the noise and commotion bought several man at the run. The horrified pre-teen bolted, taking a couple of them down before stealing a horse and making his escape. They chased him; a well-placed crossbow bolt took him off his mount and over a cliff. Guts picked himself up out of the pool of stagnant water that had really down nothing at all to cushion his fall, staggered onwards, fought off a wolf pack, and passed out amidst their massacred corpses.
And his life came full circle once again as a passing mercenary troop picked Guts up from a muddy, bloodied killing ground.
The next four years were much the same as the less-notable times of the eleven preceding them. Lacking any better motivation in his life Guts continued to fight as a mercenary, drifting from place to place depending on where his gory occupation took him. He continued to train himself mercilessly, eventually adopting a sword as tall as he was. He held to no particular troop or liege, just drifting and surviving. He would spurn offers of permanent placements - lands - gold - even minor titles. Guts had no interest in anything other than swinging his sword.
One particularly fateful afternoon he was trudging onwards from a victorious battle, purse heavy with his reward for taking down the enemy's champion, when he was attacked. A small group of men rode at him, obviously expecting to overwhelm the unmounted youth with ease, but Guts killed one and took an arm off another while they barely managed to wound him decently. He was perfectly prepared to kill the rest of them, too, until a youth around his own age rode to their aid. While this battle was slightly more challenging, Guts still managed to unhorse the girl (seriously...a girl?!) and was poised to deliver the finishing blow when she was rescued in turn.
Griffith was the most beautiful man - person - Guts had ever seen. He did his best to kill him anyway; Guts stabbed him through the chest with seemingly no effort at all. Three days later Guts awoke in a tent belonging to the Band of the Hawk, the famed and feared mercenary army - Griffith's army. For some reason he'd been doctored and looked after. It was unfathomable to him. Even more bewildering was the fact that Griffith wanted him to take a place with the Hawks, going so far as to 'win' Guts in a duel.
Despite his initial wariness and misgivings, Guts' years with the Band of the Hawk were the happiest of his life. From the time he single-handedly acted as rearguard on his first sortie with the troop hw was welcomed and accepted and given a place where he belonged. Before long his devotion to and love for Griffith was as absolute as any of them. Griffith promoted him every time he proved himself; by the time he turned eighteen Guts was the Raid Leader, in charge of a third of the force and one of Griffith's most trusted lieutenants. He'd finally found his life's calling. His brothers amongst the Hawks lived and idolized him and Guts had reopened his heart to them. Life was basically perfect.
One of the many, many reasons they all stood in such awe of Griffith was the sheet scope of his ambition: he was aiming for nothing less than a country if his own, and so far everything was going his way. The Hawks never lost a battle, steadily climbing higher and higher in the regard of the people; Griffith himself was a shining avatar of all that was good and beautiful in the world. Then came the day that the Hawks gallantly rode to the rescue of Midland's King, who rewarded Griffith by knighting him as a Marquis - something unheard-of for a common-born mercenary.
Midland was embroiled in what was referred to as the '100 Year War' with its neighbour, Tudor, and the Hawks were soon put to good use. Their flawless victory record was regarded as nothing short of miraculous. Between that and the tales spun about the brutally strong Raid Leader (which he felt was a bit of an exaggeration) and fearsome female soldiers (this one Guts agreed with; Caska's sharp tongue was scary when she was pissed at him, which was all the time) they were swiftly becoming a living legend.
Battle by battle the Band of the Hawk increased its winning record, taking on tasks denounced as 'impossible' and completing them anyway. In fact, between then Guts and Griffith even faced off against a man known as Zodd the Immortal, who revealed himself to be no less than an actual demon and would likely have killed them both had Griffith's strange 'Behelit' necklace not given him pause. Another battle finally began to close the cold gap between Caska and Guts when he fought off a hundred men to allow her to escape back to her place at Griffith's side. Things were going pretty well, all told.
Naturally, not everybody was entirely thrilled by the Hawk's ever-increasing status. Guts helped take care of two major attempts on Griffith's life - one that came with the Hawks were guarding the Royal Hunt, and one during a ball held in their honour. The first was orchestrated by the King's cousin and heir; Guts slipped into his keep within the capital and slew him. Unfortunately he failed at doing so quietly and would up having to hack his way out through the man's young son and most of his guard. Still, it was technically a success. When he went to report to Griffith, however, Guts overheard a certain conversation that may have been at least partially responsible for destroying the world: his leader was musing on what qualities a person required for him to consider them a friend and equal. Guts realised that not only did he not fit the bill, he really wanted to. Badly.
The second attempted Griffith-assassination was something they actually knew about in advance, thanks to a turncoat in the plotters' ranks. While Griffith took a toast from a goblet and collapsed 'dead' on the floor in the middle of the ball, Guts was already riding off to dispatch the server who had handed him the poisoned drink and the ruffians he and Griffith had hired to kidnap the turncoat informer's daughter for a hostage. Griffith burned the gloating conspirators as they met to celebrate their apparent success, watching as they all struggled within the flames. The Queen was amongst them. Neither Griffith nor Guts had any qualms in killing her.
A month later Guts quietly packed his things and slipped from the Hawks' barracks like a thief in the night, not even pausing to say goodbye as he embarked upon his quest to become a man Griffith would consider worthy of his friendship. He didn't get far before Caska chased him down, shortly followed by the cheerful, calm Judeau and ill-tempered Corkus. All three tried to convince him to stay in their own ways, but Guts had made up his mind. Judeau walked him to the city limits where they found Caska and Corkus waiting with a couple of other Hawks...and Griffith.
Griffith wasn't about to let Guts go so easily. He reminded his Raid Leader that he'd won him in their duel three years prior; if he wanted his freedom he'd have to take it back the same way. Reluctant but determined to follow his plan, Guts agreed to these terms. This time Griffith was the loser, and all of them could only watch as Guts took his freedom with a single blow that numbed Griffith's arm and drove him to his knees, utterly stunned.
Guts walked away without a backwards glance.
His first night was lonely and nervous; he'd become accustomed to having his brothers-in-arms around him. Guts questioned his decision to leave. Fate didn't give him long to dwell on it, though; as he brooded to the flames of his campfire he felt an aura terrifyingly similar to that of the demon Nosferatu Zodd. Guts found himself facing a skeletal, armoured figure mounted on an equally eerie steed. The Skull Knight gave him a cryptic, chilling prophecy and disappeared into the mist. It wasn't the last time that Guts would see him.
A year later Guts chanced upon some worrying news about the Hawks while competing in a tourney to test his skills; his informant claimed that they were a band of thieves and led by a woman. He tracked them to their camp, intending to see for himself what was going on, and arrived just in time to prevent Caska losing her head to a foreign man he'd beaten in the tourney earlier. Guts beat him again, although admittedly this time was a trifle more difficult, and the man took his troops and retreated.
Caska avoided Guts as the Band of the Hawk - the pitiful remnants of it - crowded around him joyfully. When they broke camp Guts rode with them, feeling as if he'd come home.
Except there was no sign of Griffith.
When the camp had gone to sleep that night Caska led him to a waterfall nearby so they could talk in private. After a tumultuous night which began with Caska fighting him and ended with the two of them wrapped in a desperate, passionate embrace, Guts learned that Griffith was being held prisoner in the most hideous dungeon in Midland. Apparently after Guts had left Griffith had grown melancholic and restless, although nobody was sure exactly what he'd done to warrant such punishment. Guts had to fit his mind around the fact that he'd ever had that much influence over the other man; he just couldn't fathom it.
The Hawks set out to rescue their imprisoned leader, having been preparing for it since he'd been taken. Caska and Guts took Judeau and a huge, silent man called Pippin as their strike squad while the rest secured their escape route. They reached Griffith's cell easily enough with the help of their palace insider - the young Princess Charlotte, no less - though Griffith was in shocking condition after a year in the torturer's care: his muscles were utterly wasted, his bones actually exposed in places, his tongue cut out.
Despite everything they got free, fighting off guardsmen at the gaol tower and all of the pursuers the maddened King sent after them. The leader of the last attack turned out to be a demon like Zodd, although this time around Guts was able to hold his own and take him down. When he later rose from where they thought they'd left him dead, none other than Nosferatu Zodd himself turned up to kill him properly, then left.
The Hawks were in panicked disarray, both from having not one but two demons show up and from realising that Griffith would likely never be fit to lead them ever again. Totally gutted, they all discussed what they'd do from there, though most of them got nowhere.
And then the crippled Griffith managed to take off in the wagon he'd been resting in. Guts immediately gave chase while Caska gathered the rest to do the same. Eventually Guts managed to catch up when Griffith's wagon hit a rock and he tumbled off into some kind of swamp. Worried and confused, Guts jumped down himself and ran to Griffith's side, the Hawks hot on is heels. As he reached out to help his leader - his friend, if only he'd realised that sooner! - to his feet he noticed that Griffith was clutching his old Behelit necklace. He hadn't had it when they'd taken him from the dungeons and--
--the Behelit was crying blood.
And then everything went to hell before Guts had a chance to figure out what was going on.
Where moments before there had been a wretched marshland, there was now a macabre landscape filled with demons and monsters. Guts and Griffith and the Band of the Hawk were trapped in a maelstrom of horror.
Things went rapidly downhill from there; a huge pillar formed in the shape of a hand suddenly shuddered up from what appeared to be corpses, and four things descended onto its 'fingers'. Worse, Griffith was on the 'palm' as it rose; Guts had been thrown off the side but used his dagger to haul himself to the top, terrified and determined to save the other man. He shouldn't have bothered. The four figures - the four so-called 'God Hand' - spoke to Griffith and gave him an offer he apparently couldn't refuse. He gave the entire Band of the Hawk up as Sacrifice, and became a god himself.
Guts went down off the tower again as the gathered monsters began their grisly feast, hunting the Hawks down now that Griffith had given them up. Guts killed as many as he could, but there were hundreds - thousands. All of his friends and comrades died before him, betrayed by the man they'd all loved so well. Judeau attempted to flee Caska to safety but died in the effort; the woman herself was captured and restrained as several monsters tore her clothing off with clearly unsavoury designs.
Berserk now with fear and rage, Guts tried to storm his way through to save her, but Griffith appeared on the scene, now transformed into the God Hand Femto. Guts was held down by demons, powerless, as Griffith raped Caska right in front of him. He made a break once by hacking off his left arm, but was caught again; he lost his right eye as he squirmed in impotent wrath.
He still doesn't really remember what happened after that, though he's been told that the Skull Knight appeared inside the maelstrom, somehow seized both Guts and Caska, and rode back out again to lay them at the feet of Rickert, the Hawk's youngest member, who was there purely by coincidence. Rickert had been travelling with a troupe of gypsies and performers and they'd let him off near the Hawks' rendezvous point; as a parting gift they'd handed him a bag of elf dust, and it was this which saved Guts and Caska's lives. As soon as he was done anointing them, the Skull Knight loaded all three onto his skeleton horse and took them to a 'safe place', which coincidentally turned out to be the place Guts had spent most of his year away from the Hawks, the home of the blacksmith Godo.
Over the next few weeks Guts recovered, adjusting to a life with a missing eye and arm, and with Caska reduced to feeble-mindedness. He also had to get used to life as a 'Branded Sacrifice'; the Skull Knight reappeared to tell him what that meant. Guts - and Caska - would forever be doomed to constant harassment by hungry ghosts and spirits, particularly at night. Caska also gave premature birth to a grotesquely deformed mocker of a child - his child, tainted into evil by Griffith's rape - although shortly after its birth it disappeared with the dawn.
Eventually Guts prepared to leave. Rickert helped him garb up, present him with an iron arm of Godo's making. However, before Guts could even make it past the threshold a demon attacked; in the process of killing it Guts destroyed the brand-new sword Godo had just given him, learned that his new fake arm had a hidden short-range cannon...and stumbled across something hidden in the back of Godo's forge.
It was more like a huge slab of iron than a sword. Godo had forged it to slay dragons, so 'Dragonslayer' was its name, but he called it simply 'Dragon' because it was to immense for a single person to manage. But Guts had long trained with large, heavy weaponry, and actually managed to wield it with one hand. As soon as he'd slain the demon Guts headed off, ignoring Rickert's plea for him to stay, the last of the Hawks all in one place; he was the Raid Leader, after all, and it was the Raid Leader's job to attack the enemy camp.
Even with that 'enemy' was now Griffith, and his 'camp' the depths of Hell itself.
Over the next couple of years Guts travelled the land, slaying the demons that appeared with increasing regularity to darken the world. He grew stronger, more ruthless, and notorious. Wherever he went, misfortune followed; he became known as 'The Black Swordsman', harbinger of death and destruction, because in the process of taking care of evil he would often have to sacrifice innocent lives. At one point he even killed children, transformed into evil little 'elves'. The rest of the world saw only the darkness surrounding him, unaware of the reason behind it. Guts didn't bother trying to explain himself. He just didn't care.
At some point he collected a true elf as a travelling companion. Puck attempted to act as Guts' conscience but generally failed. Despite Guts' apparent indifference to Puck's presence, he came to rely on the little guy...usually as a means to heal his frequently-horrific wounds. Puck also helped him escape when Guts was captured by the Knights of the Holy Iron Chain, the martial arm of the Church.
With Puck in tow Guts made his way back to Godo's place, acting on a disturbing vision from his/Caska's/Femto's 'child'; however when he returned he found that Caska had mindlessly escaped two months prior. He and Puck made for St. Albion Abbey, the only clue they had from the Child's vision. Guts unintentionally earned himself another follower in the form of the boy-thief Isidro, and while he didn't encourage the boy's presence he would make sure to protect him in his own rough-mannered way.
When they reached St. Albion and began their search for Guts' wayward once-lover they tracked her to a pagan ritual cave where she was being 'honoured' as a witch. Guts and Isidro managed to get her and another girl out as the pagans became possessed and engaged in a vicious fight with the Knights of the Holy Iron Chain. However, Guts stayed to fight off the pagan's leader and Caska was captured by the Church. She was taken to the Tower of Conviction for 'questioning' under the infamous Lord Mozgus, notorious for never leaving his 'informants' alive.
With the help of a prostitute who'd taken Caska under her wing, Guts managed to gain entrance to the Tower without having to barge his way in. When he got to the inquisition chamber Caska wasn't there; the Tower was rapidly being consumed by the pent-up despair of the souls killed there and she'd been 'taken' by it. Guts raced along in its wake and ended up facing off against Mozgus and his inquisitors, who were transformed into 'angels' by a sneaky demon-Apostle who lived under the Abbey. As Guts squared off against the subordinates, Mozgus took Caska and flew off to burn her at the stake.
Meanwhile, the Abbey and Tower of Inquisition were being subsumed by the manifest evil and began to fall. Guts was stuck trying to hack his way through and off the Tower as Caska's pyre was set alight; Isidro came to the rescue and pulled her back up to relative safety. Mozgus attacked them, determined to finish the job, but Guts took him down while the others - Isidro, Puck, and three knights of the Holy Iron Chain, including their figurehead female general - fought down the last remaining inquisitor-angels.
Then the evil rolled over the tower completely. They all banded together, fighting it off with burning brands until dawn's light dispersed. However, the dawn wasn't entirely welcome; with it came the invasion of the Kushan army.
It also revealed Griffith, reborn onto the mortal plane, Nosferatu Zodd kneeling submissively at his feet.
Guts had no option to try for his raging revenge, however; Caska's safety came first. He stole a Kushan horse and rode off with her while the other made their own escape. He took her back to Godo's mine, hoping to safely keep his beloved in the elfin-warded caves.
Griffith was there before him.
This time Guts charged furiously towards him, ending up in another duel with Zodd before Griffith calmly called him off and left. Unfortunately the fight destroyed the sanctity of the caves - now there was no refuge for Caska. Guts had no real choice but to take her with him and move on, since if they stopped in one place they'd be overwhelmed by evil spirits.
He quickly found that fighting to protect someone was far harder work than hilling simply for expediency; he couldn't take risks that might end in extreme injury, for his incapacitation would mean Caska's death. Guts was constantly exhausted and his 'Inner Beast' was always looking for a chance to possess him. When it succeeded he found himself over a naked Caska, a deep gouge on her breast from where he'd attacked her before coming back to his senses. She lost all trust from him after all; he realised that he couldn't do this by himself.
As fortune had it they came across Farnese - she who had once captured him as General of the Knights of the Holy Iron Chain - her adjutant, Serpico, and Isidro. Guts allowed them to travel with him and in return they helped him protect and look after Caska.
Their little party increased by two when they met an apprentice witch and her elf companion. Schierke and Evarella decided to travel with them after Griffith's forces attacked and burned the tree-mansion of Schierke's master, taking the witch Flora with it. Guts and the others fought the attackers to no avail. During the battle Flora 'gifted' Guts with a cursed set of armour - armour once worn by the Skull Knight, in fact. It was tremendously powerful, allowing Guts to ignore the pain of his injuries and even reinforcing his bones when broken, but it held him possessed by the Hellhound - his Inner Beast manifested - which left him unable to distinguish friend from foe. After one use he was left with a shock of white hair at his temple from the strain, and his senses had been dulled a little.
Fortunately Schierke was able to call his mind back then, and the subsequent times he was forced to use the armour's power on their journey, but it was never a sure thing. Guts and his party set out for Puck's island home, Elfhelm, in the hopes that the Elf King would be able to restore Caska's mind, avoiding battles where they could in a world going increasingly mad.
Personality: Guts is a Byronic-type hero who seems eternally fated to struggle against causality. Neither of these is a comfortable situation to be in; combined they have conspired to shape Guts into an exceedingly complex character.
He has never been a particularly social creature, although this is generally more the fault of circumstance than anything else - there are few places where Guts is truly accepted and welcomed, so he has a tendency to keep his heart hard. He has also lost virtually everybody he has ever cared about, one way or another; letting anybody else get that close to him seems to be psychological suicide, and Guts is unstable enough as it is. Still, he does enjoy the company of those who truly wish to be near him, and will defend those he cares about to death and worse.
He's fairly intelligent, although in a cunning, instinctual manner rather than scholastically; in a tight spot he'll quickly identify anything that he can use to his advantage and is generally pretty good at reading people. Guts also adapts very quickly to different situations and is very hard to throw off-balance - even losing a limb and an eye didn't slow him down appreciably. This is probably due to his stubbornness and the high standards of badassery he forces himself to live up to. If Guts hadn't been as strong-minded as he is he would have been killed years ago.
Despite his blunt, tactless manner and frequently short temper, Guts is oddly charismatic; once people stay around him for any length of time they generally seem to want to continue to do so. It's not something Guts really understands or consciously tries to cultivate. This magnetism might stem from his earnest, honest nature or the quiet and sombre dignity he holds himself with. Guts is clearly a man dedicating his entire being his chosen task, and he gives off the impression that he would shoulder the weight of the whole world if need be.
His single-mindedness is also a weakness at times. It can make him predictable to those who know him. Guts also has a self-destructive tendency to blame himself for everything that goes sour, even if he'll outwardly say or do something to the contrary. His formative years were so tragic and traumatic that he'll occasionally slip into self-loathing hallucinations when particularly stressed. Guts feels intimately responsible for anybody under his rough care, a trait which has intensified almost obsessively since his failure to save anybody from the Eclipse.
Guts' notoriety and status as a hunted exile are completely justified in his own eyes. He's done many horrible things - killed children, razed villages, knowing drawn evil spirits down among the innocent - and has no doubt that he'll do more in the future. He tends to display an 'ends justifies the means' attitude towards these things, but deep down he feels remorse and guilt for having to be this hard of a person. While Guts can be just and kind and caring when he has the leisure, he is not necessarily a nice person - merely a good one at heart. Most of the time he's okay with that, but every now and again it hits him right in one of his soul's many open wounds and he hates himself a little more.
Still, he is relearning how to be softer, always unconsciously yearning for the sense of family he'd found so blissfully amongst the Band of the Hawk. He is fond of Schierke and Isidro, taking an almost paternal interest in their progress at times, and has grown to care about the others in his impromptu traveling group as well. Caska, of course, he still loves to an almost tragic depth; she is his reason for living now, and he is terribly afraid of anything that might take him from her, be it a battle or his own misconduct or even the return of her memories. Still, Guts will do everything in his power to restore her, and take the consequences as they fall upon him.
Item Lost: The Berserker Armour.