Berserk is known to be one of the darkest manga/anime in existence and for good reason. Not only does Guts have to face innumerable enemies, but he also has to power through inconvenient weapons. Kentaro Miura has shown the protagonist no mercy and that is evident even from the power-ups that Guts has been provided with.
The Berserker Armor, an exceptional weapon that has saved Guts’ life on multiple occasions, is also the reason behind his long-term suffering. The weapon is designed in a way that there is a huge payoff for using its powers.
The Berserker Armor Was Not Formulated at the Beginning of Berserk
Kentaro Miura admitted in an interview that the Berserker Armor was not invented right at the beginning of Berserk. In fact, it was thought of only once the story had progressed to a significant degree. The author also confessed that he was hesitant about introducing something so empowering in the series.
In fact, the world of manga is marked by inflation, with the arrival of ever more incredible enemies accompanied by ever more powerful weapons.
Miura was worried that once he introduced a strong power-up, he would have to keep doing it with every strong enemy that appeared. A ripe example could be Dragon Ball and the innumerable transformations that its protagonists go through. Thus, Miura made sure that he would not let the inflation increase more than it should. As the magical aspect of Berserk developed, Miura was forced to give Guts a supernatural powerup.
That’s when the author thought of the Berserker Armour since it could drive people crazy and fitted in perfectly with the dark theme of Berserk.
Kentaro Miura Created a Sadist of a Weapon
The author admitted that the Berserker Armor became even more necessary when Guts faced the toughest of his enemies. While other anime protagonists get a pretty new get-up and colored hair when they transform or attain a power-up, Guts receives an energy-sucking armor. To be more accurate, the Berserker Armour provides Guts with inhuman strength but at the cost of his own sanity.
However, the armor also has other damning features which could rival its primary one. The way the armor works is by suppressing the physiological and subconscious systems of the body. Without the armor, a person would never exert enough force that could hurt themselves. The armor eliminates the pain, because of which the body can keep going temporarily.
The armor also provides a boost in bloodlust, hate, fear, anger, and basically the whole plethora of negative emotions. If the wearer’s emotions are not in check, the armor can devour their psyche, creating a senseless feral monster. Guts also wears the armor to the point that it harms him later on.
A parallel weapon in the anime world is the Sandai Kitetsu, one of the swords that Zoro from One Piece carries. Zoro himself called the sword a “problem child” because of its bloodthirsty and eagerness to cut indiscriminately. Yet, Zoro never had to face the risk of holding the sword too long and overcoming to bloodlust. Guts’ luck is just that bad and the theme of Berserk requires that the protagonist receives a gut-wrenching power-up.
You can watch Berserk on Crunchyroll.
