Yuki Tabata, the creator of Black Clover, is one of the few mangaka who has gone through the hell of weekly serialization and survived. His creation has also passed with flying colors and is considered one of the most popular Shonen manga. In an interview with a French magazine, the author revealed the biggest inspiration behind his work, Berserk.
Ever since Black Clover‘s schedule changed, new chapters were released just four times a year. This has admittedly dampened the hopes of fans, but everyone prioritizes the health of Tabata-sensei over Black Clover chapters, though they are quite juicy themselves.
Yuki Tabata’s Biggest Influence, Berserk, Inspired a Character in Black Clover
An interview with Yuki Tabata by Le Point magazine revealed how big of a Berserk fan the Black Clover author is. According to the article, the mangaka’s workshop has hundreds of manga arranged in order, but there is one series that is present on each of the tables in the room. This particular manga is Berserk, by Kentaro Miura, the series that has taken over the seinen genre.
It is Tabata’s ambition to create his own version of Berserk that can be read by the Shonen audience. However, the biggest obstacle in his vision is that Berserk is a severely R-rated manga that has graphic depictions of gore, sexual assault, massacre, and torture. The Shonen genre, on the other hand, is targeted mostly towards teenage boys.
Whether for its settings, its fights or its history, this series remains an important source of inspiration for me, reminds Yuki Tabata. I wanted a manga in that spirit, but in the shonen style.
But Yuki Tabata is relentless in his goal, and he admitted that a character in Black Clover, William Vangeance, is actually inspired by a major antagonist in Berserk, Griffith. But how is the sweet captain of the Golden Dawn squad of the Magic Knights inspired by the cruel and heartless villain of Berserk? On closer observation, a few similarities between the characters do pop up.
Similarities Between William Vangeance and Griffith
William Vangeance is the former captain of the Golden Dawn squad in the Clover Kingdom. He commands extreme loyalty from his men while maintaining a mysterious aura. Griffith is also the former leader of the Band of the Falcon, an elite assassin taskforce. His followers used to worship him and were extremely loyal to him (that is, until he sacrificed his men for his own benefit).
Vangeance used to cover his expression with a mask, which is quite similar to the one Griffith wore once he became Femto. Vangeance used a mask to cover up the terrible burn marks that scarred most of his face. While Femoto’s reason behind wearing a mask is unexplained, many fans theorize that it is because he had lost his humanity, and had to hide his inner monster.
Both the characters had equally difficult childhoods. William was an illegitimate child and was ostracized as a cursed individual. His foster mother loathed his appearance due to his scars and abused him frequently. Griffith was a poverty-stricken child who lived on the streets and could rarely even obtain a slice of bread. It is apparent that he had a rough childhood and had to fight to survive.
Yet, both the characters had higher ambitions, which they eventually achieved. The major difference between them is that while William chose to help his kingdom despite the abuse he faced since childhood, Griffith chose the dark path and committed the most heinous acts in Berserk.
Black Clover is available to read on Viz Media. Both Black Clover and Berserk are currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
