Berserk spoilers are below. Griffith apologists please proceed with caution: you're not welcome here! (joking ... maybe)
My first exposure to Berserk was in the 2000, through the Sega Dreamcast (RIP *snif*) release known as Sword of the Berserk: Guts Rage.
Even though the game received lukewarm reviews in the US, I was hooked. Sure, the gameplay might not have been the best, but I had a Gameshark (remember those?) and was therefore unfazed by the odd camera and collision detection in the game.
But gameplay aside, the story grabbed me enough to get excited about the 2002 DVD release of the 1997 anime series, and that series introduced me to Griffith.
Griffith, who lead the Band of the Hawk to amazing victories on the battlefield.
Griffith, who had such noble dreams.
Griffith, who many looked up to as a leader.
Griffith, who I've grown to hate more than pretty much any other videogame, anime, or manga villain I've encountered.
Griffith ....
*Inhales* GRIFFITH!!!!!!
A little Berserk background
Written by Kentaro Miura since the 1980s, Berserk is a long running manga that has spawned several anime and videogame adaptations.
Although all the Berserk games aren't available worldwide (holding out hope that I can one day get my hands on PS2's Millennium Empire Arc), the manga and anime are.
It's an understatement to say that the manga is popular. Having run since the 80s, it's gained its fair share of fans. However, the anime is another story. Berserk has had several renditions of anime come out, and not all have been well received (arguably due to production choices, like the use of CG).
But that being said, one thing runs constant through all of the renditions of Berserk: Griffith is a terrible, terrible person, and has earned the hatred of many fans.
But surely there have been worse villains in anime/manga history? Why do so many people hate him so much?
Here's why
You start off by looking up to him
Griffith begins the series as the established leader of a mercenary band, and takes the main character (Guts/Gattsu/Gatts) under his wing.
Not only that, but he's a brilliant tactician that does not come from a noble background. Consequentially, this means that he's fighting the man (or in this case, the established system of nobility and born titles which defined the worth of many by birth in the medieval ages), and he's doing this by "pulling himself up by his own bootstraps" (I hate that phrase).
Throughout the start of the series, we not only see Griffith lead the Band of the Hawk to victory, we see him upset the established order of the world (well, Midland, in this case).
And above all else, he's extremely charismatic. We look up to him.
He quickly gains our trust
Throughout the beginning of the story, we see many references where members of the Band of the Hawk go on and on about how amazing Griffith is. Everybody fawns over him.
He's like the popular kid in school (only with a lot more tactical knowledge). Sure, the other generals in the Band are looked up to by their troops (even that little shit Corkus (video)), but none are anywhere near as well loved as Griffith, and for good reason. He organized them, lead them to victory, treated them well, and put them on a path of being recognized for their skills as opposed to their birth (or he just gave them the spoils of war as per the norm - whatever). He seems to authentically care for those that work closely with him, and even worked to save Guts from a nasty predicament or 2 (ZOD!) during their time together.
We root for him
He's also not someone to be screwed with. Griffith knows how to plan on and off of the battlefield. All of his moves are calculated. This is already admirable on its own, but the execution of his plans are what really make us want to root for him. We see how the nobility plans against him, and we want Griffith to succeed. We want him to shove it in their stupid, cake-eating noble faces that a common-born man is better than they are. We want to see his goals realized, in the beginning of this story.
We admire him for everything that he does, and for his dream.
He ruins everything
...but then we figure out how far he'll really go to achieve this dream.
Griffith betrays our trust, and not in any lighthearted way. This is why he's such a well written villain. He doesn't just forget to show up to our party, or stop responding to our texts. All those people that look up to him? He literally lets all but 2 of them get eaten alive. Eaten alive, or torn apart in horrific ways.
Of the 2 that don't die, one is mutilated (Guts), and one is raped into a near-catatonic state (Casca).
In this one action, for many fans Griffith goes from a Christ-like figure to a character akin go the Devil himself.
Why does this matter?
No matter how good of a reputation you have, your actions define you. One misdeed, regardless of the reasoning behind it, can mar your reputation beyond repair.
In Dante's Inferno, the center of hell is reserved for traitors. Right next to Satan are several of them, including Judas and Cain (two characters who are forever remembered by one key decision they made).
Being a traitor doesn't put you in anyone's good graces, and many people see Griffith as a traitor.
So what? There are plenty of traitors in manga/anime, right? Why should Griffith get more hate than them for betraying everyone?
- Because of what he represents.
- Because of who he betrays.
- Because of what this means.
What Griffith represents, originally, is something that a lot of us can identify with. His ideals and his dreams contrast greatly with the chaos and horror of Berserk's world. Griffith doesn't want a castle - he wants to break society's limitations, cast away entitlement, and achieve greatness through actions, not through a station in life. Many of us want this as well.
During the actions of the eclipse, Griffith betrays what he represents to many of us. He also betrays several characters that we've grown to love.
That really pisses off a lot of fans, especially because it was Griffith's conscious choice to do this.
What does this mean?
This means we have to come face to face with watching one of our heroes fall short.
What if it was Corkus that betrayed everyone? Or one of the noblemen? Maybe the king, or some secondary character that they were allied with? Yeah, we'd hate them, but that hate would be nowhere near the level of that reserved for Griffith. We could make peace with the other characters being traitors.
Not Griffith, though. Watching Griffith betray us stings. Griffith was never supposed to be a traitor.
That's why we hate Griffith so much: because we loved him, and he turned out to be something else than what we thought, in terrible fashion.
But hey, who knows. Perhaps Griffith is really playing 4D chess, and this is all just a long game to save the world from the God Hand?
Would that really matter?
Note: this last picture is from Mr. Lemesh, who appears to have
deleted his entire portfolio. :(
All prior pictures are linked to their respective artist.
deleted his entire portfolio. :(
All prior pictures are linked to their respective artist.
Agree? Disagree? Comment below. Share your Griffith theories.