When I first saw Void, I was thinking: what kind of horrific torture did this dude endure to look like that? Then when I started reading and looking at him more it became more clear. Aside from that, the fact that Void was the one who said those iconic words in the beginning of the 1997 anime was cool. Indeed he’s one of the great mysteries of Miura’s work.
They definitely like exposed the guys brain like skinned his (void as a human) whole face sewed his eyes removed his lips…god even talking about it is creepy
@jayqueuescontent8075 yes he was in total despair probably ditched his faith or hope in mankind and then made a sacrifice as we see in The Skeleton Knight's flashback
I think it's pieced together that skull knight was gaiseric, and void was the sage who worked with the king, biggest mystery is how the riff between skull knight and void get to such an extreme point, I do hope one day we get a flashback to that, that would be glorious
I seen an article back in the day about how Kentaro would write the story chapter by chapter, he didn't really plan forward but instead he would think of ideas after a chapter (makes sense seeing how the story has close to no plot holes and how far each chapter is released from each other the past couple years). I do hope we get an original explanation though.
Allegedly it was and his assistants have the framework for the whole story and know how it is supposed to end. They only produced a couple of chapters after he died before stopping though.
@@bigfax24 I saw that as well, but I saw somewhere else that he reached a point where he felt (knew as it turned out) that he would not live to see Berserk completed and started writing ahead until he finished the story itself.
According to his lifelong friend and current director of berserk Miura already had the entire story planned out after the eclipse and had shared it with him. The story is in safe hands and recent chapters have been amazing
The real tragedy of the eclipse for me is that the band's loyalty and love for Griffith is what lead them after him and into their unwilling sacrifice.
From a naive perspective, it seems that Griffith is a narcissist of the utmost kind. Narcissists use their relationships with others to obtain narcissistic supply - admiration and attention. Griffith fostered their loyalty and love precisely so that he could obtain narcissistic supply and to eventually abuse them as all narcissists eventually do. The victims of a narcissist have no choice but to love them because of the manipulations of the narcissist, who does not love them in return and ultimately ruins them if they do not distance themselves in time.
Given my first exposure to Beserk was Death Battle which broke down the Band of the Hawk's fate and it's even sadder because you do get those hints here and there what Griffith would do to achieve his ends. Even Zodd tells tells Guts out of respect to leave Griffith as those closest to him will meet a terrible fate one day.
@@general_electricsyou aren’t wrong. But narcissism is the least of his traits lol Narcissist is just a buzz word these days. But you 100% are correct. Just don’t wanna let my fellow narc’s to get a bad name lol Basically just uber selfish. I think capitalism rewards sociopathic and narcissistic for sure, tendencies. Yet we spend more time away from family at work and expect it not to be causing some of the cognitive dissonance we see in at least modern, American, society.
Considering when we got the blood vision of Skull Knight’s past, and Void was the only original god hand member while all the others are (relative to the overall story anyway not his actual age or whatever) relatively new, that reaaaally says something about how important, strong, and scarily smart void is. He’s the only OG God Hand left, while all the others are nowhere to be seen. Can’t wait for Koji to reveal his backstory. I’ve been dying to see how he’s related to Skull Knoght and exactly what he did to him too ever since 2004.
Pretty sure the Godhand members with Void in the Skull Knight vision were Void’s predecessors, and that ritual was was the ritual that made Void a member of the Godhand. I dunno if that qualifies him as OG technically.
He was SK's right hand man. Void is the last member of the previous god hand, and the first member of the current god hand. The roles are the same, the players change.
@Etticos he was the last member of that god hand, and the first member of the current god hand. After using the red behelit, the final member of thengod hand will have a normal behelot fall into their ownership. Evidenced by Griffith getting a second, normal behelit. It's hiw the god hand restars for the next cycle.
It's either that. Or there was no Godhand when void transcended his humanity. Like this theory suggests -granted, it could be incorrect-. Maybe the four we saw with void in SK's memory were the manifestations of the four elementals Schierke refers to as gods of the world -Keep in mind that we never see a physical vision of said elementals in the series. Only silhouettes in their elemental construct-. And so, maybe the Godhand was created in response to Gaiseric's actions while he was king. Seemingly disregarding the natural order of the world, and life itself. Maybe they came into existence as guardians in some way. As to keep humanity in check so that another Gaiseric situation doesn't happen again. Of course, non of this is confirmed. But this video does display some compelling evidence to support the theory. It would be a wild narrative. And would fit perfectly in the Berserk universe.
I love the duality of Berserk, black and white, good and evil, with Griffith having white clothes as angel, and Guts having a black armour, but their roles become reversed as the story progress, the same thing with the Sage and the Emperor, the Sage denouncing the Emperor debauchery in his zealot in torture, and the Emperor becoming a shadow of his former self, but now the Sage become corrupted by the same forces that he denounced and the Emperor is actually fighting all the darkness and death that he caused.
All mangas and animes are following this trend the good darkness and the bad/evil light the evil angels and the good demons or even bad evil god and good misunderstood satan coinsedance!? I think not
@@ghost-writer007 Actually this is nothing new. You never read John Milton? Paradise Lost? Berserk, The Devil Advocate, Lucifer, both the TV Show and the source material of Neil Gaiman. all have a more secular view of religion, and originally in the bible, Satan wasn't an antagonist of God, but an advocate, later writer added more to his character and make good points against God and Heaven, for all the good teachings of Christ, Heaven is not a good place, not if you like your free will and autonomy. So like Berserk. Who are the angels and who are the demons? Or both are the same thing? Also The Idea of Evil is a very old philosophic idea, popularise by Niche, that we created God, not the other way around, also discussing another philosophical ideas like humanity is incapable of living in a totally happy Utopian world, because isn't in our nature, we are selfish, arrogant and violent creatures, everything that we create, is to kill each other, we cant live without pain and misery, Berserk is not doing nothing new, other than Muira giving his own take of this concepts.
Bet: Gaserick went debaucherous because of some relation to the fairy/elf forest witch... locked up the sage for wtv happened & went mad dog mode till the collapse. bet he was constantly revoking destiny that maybe HE wasn't the true "king" who'll untie the lands for whatever matter
As someone who has been a rabid Berserk fan since 2005, this is the best explanation and insight on events as a whole. Bravo, when you do put all the clues together and I mean all of them, the concept of Void being the 5th elemental God and the first Godhand member as one being that is certainly barking up the right tree if nothing else. Also the 4 "Godhand" that show up in the blood memory not being Godhand members at all, has got the wheels turning in a new direction thank you so much for keeping Berserk fun.
imho void is the holy man who was tortured by king gyseric and ended up sacrificing his Kingdome. it also explains why skull knight attacks void directly every time they meet.
The only thing that gets me is why would he sacrifice the kingdom? The kingdom wasn't his tether to humanity it was the Supreme kings. The holy man's religion is the only thing he had to sacrifice. What if we have it backwards?
@@tim6454 now that is a good question. I think and this is just my theory that he sacrificed his conviction in god. that at the moment of the activation of voids behlet he was having a "father why has thou forsaken me" moment and so became the first dark apostle or angel of the dark god born of human desire. and that like the egg apostle in conviction arc was able to transpose the sacrifice onto all who were in the area because they forsook existence itself. This is also why void has his name and talks of causality is because he is an empty void a person who no connections or convictions other than understanding in causality, like religious nihilism.
@@charlesballiet7074 and these type of interactions are why I love berserk so much. Nobody knows for sure but the mystery makes us discuss our takes on what's being told
@@charlesballiet7074 10 months late, but I think the Father that was an apostle who told the story to Farnese, mentioned that the Sage (Void) was the person who was actually running the kingdom for King Gaiseric, and that he loved his kingdom dearly. In other words, the kingdom itself is what matters to the sage to most like his family, and thus it was used for the sacrifice. Much like the Band of the Hawk is in no blood relation to Griffith, he's always been using them to achieve him own selfish dream, but it was also the most important thing to Griffith as they were basically his family.
Schierke explained about the layers of meditation. She also said that no one came back from the deepest layers. Maybe the fact the main information about the prisoned guy is that he was a sage, and Void have that big brain appearence, he probably meditate, aproach the vortex and came back.
No idea why but even after watching the anime and movies, when I read berserk all of Void's lines get James Earl Jones' voice. More Vader than Mufasa just less mechanical sounding lmao
It would be such a punch to femtos face if by what void meant when he called him chosen it was because he was chosen to be the catalyst that makes Guts who he is and Voids ultimate endgoal is the end of the godhand and causality and ultimately the hands controlling fate. And femto was once again just a stepping stone for guts.
No that makes no sense guts is human he literally means nothing in the grand scope of things. Griffth has been chosen thousands of years b4 the eclipse to be the vanguard for the godhand in the physical realm gits is just a fish who got lucky nothing more hell if it wasn't for skeleton knight (aka the real main protagonist) he would have been DOA mutiple times 1st eclipse 2nd From Slan guts I'd a plot device in his own story 😆
@@mcbdllc2848 zodd and skull knight are legit seen by many as counterparts to guts paths. How are you going to call skull knight the main protagonist then say the character he guided to the berserk armor meaningless. Guts whole thing is implied to be that he could follow a lonely path of skull knight or a vicious path or zodd but he’s developing to follow a path where he relies on others and finish what skull knight couldn’t. He’s not just a meaningless human. That’s literally the point of him lol. He’s the embodiment of struggling against the odds to overcome.
Ok but I want to know the stories of the God Hand BEFORE this set of God Hands. You only saw them once, but their forms were even crazier and darker and twisted. I WISH we’d see them and get their stories. Like a prequel.
I wonder if Void possessed a deeper connection/understanding of the flow of causality than his other comrades; maybe he gained a greater power over them as a result and killed them? Or, it could have been a Count situation; they encountered something that reminded them of their days as humans and, even if just for an instant, yearned to cast aside their godly powers and go back then BOOM cast into the Abyss.
I still personally believe that the original four figures (including Void) we see in the blood vision are God Hands and that three of them have either been slain or permanently altered due to Skull Knight. Perhaps that's what helped him forge the Sword of Beherits and become powerful enough to no longer need the Berserk armor, maybe that's why Ubik has a particular fascination over Guts survivability and desires as it's akin to Skull Knight's in a past life. There are already established connections between Guts and Skull Knight so it would make sense that some if not all of the God Hand are aware of those similarities.
It's unfortunate that we don't get more from void, aka the high priest, for the idea of evil. That's probably why he picked the idea of evil. It seems to choose people for a certain reason
That is if Void is actually the high priest, sage or in some translations holy man. It would seem that the story wants us to believe Skull Knight is Gaiseric and Void was the High Priest. But I believe it is a red herring..
Skull Knight is described being affect by time differently. He cuts Guts off as he says "the end". The angels we see in the memory are different to the ones we know, supposedly having changed hands 4 times within 300 years, something we know impossible because of the eclipse only happening every 216. Muira himself says it's a 1000 year story, but never says in which direction. What if Skull Knight isn't from the past but the future?
It would have to go back 1000 years since King Gaiseric is a big key to the story and Skull Knight says how fated events are cyclical in nature so it all would still make sense.
If this theory is true and Skull Knight isn't King Gaiseric, Then I theorize that Skull Knight, is Guts, from a future where he gave in to the rage, and lost against Griffith, From a future where Griffith's plan became successful, He returned to make sure that he won't lose, Griffith won't win, and humanity will never have to suffer.
In addition to Skull Knight being possibly being from the future and all of this being a thousand-year occurrence, what if this is a prequel to how King Gaiseric became a king? We know nothing about his origins and how he became this great warrior... what if Guts is actually King Gaiseric? "Guts" could be a cover-up name for plot twisting reasons.@@southindianv1nce662
Something interesting to note is that each elemental has other godlike beings that are at their side or are "lesser", so what if Void and the apostles are just that? Like maybe the magic was considered too taboo and dangerous so it's members and worshippers were very few in number. Then upon the inception of Void, the ritual that took place empowered the magic and replaced the old kings of magic. That could also explain why the other creatures have nearly zero mark on the physical world, but the godhand has the most influence.
Yeah I was thinking something similar, the holy see worships void as the sage and we know gaiseric was knowledgeable of the astral world and such So if there actually is a direct conflict with void opposing the other gods and Gaiseric sharing good relationships with them I wouldn't doubt void tried to weaken peoples believes in them, maybe even killed & replaced them warping magic with his influence The old godhand also just looks less abstract, like one is straight a lion making a cute face
Also griffith is the same as void the fifth, most powerful apparently, member of the god hand Maybe they'll cycle now or griffiths kingdom will be sacrificed for something even bigger
My theory: Void was a powerful magic user from ElfHelm who worked alongside King Gaiserric, in a high position within Gaiserric's empire. He also carried a behelit. When Gaiserric fell to vanity and hedonism, Void started calling him out on it as he cared for the kingdom's wellbeing. King Gaiserric sent him to be tortured at the top of the tower of Albion (this mirrors how Griffith was tortured in the deepest dungeon) to shut him up, but he didn't stop. He endured being tortured and mutilated including having his eyes stitched shut, his cranium cut off exposing his brain and his skin around his mouth being peeled back, eventually giving up at his lowest point, causing his behelit to activate and summoning the godhand. He offered the entire kingdom as a sacrifice, every citizen and also the kingdom itself was branded and destroyed by the 4 members of the old godhand. Partway through the destruction, Void's transformation was complete and he joined in destroying the kingdom, (this is why there's uncertainty whether there were 4 or 5 angels). King Gaiserric's woman was killed during the onslaught, which caused Gaiserric's berserk armor to consume him and kill him. Later, Flora somehow found them, and broke sacred taboo by bringing the woman back to life and transmuting Gaiserric's soul into a suit of armor. Let me know what you think. Are there any holes in this theory?
@@cryo2156 The likelihood you come up with a LARGE-SCALE (DETAIL ORIENTED) descriptive theory that is word for word the same as Ryan’s is pretty low …. Also he came out with the theory 2 years ago lul buddy
It 10000% is telling he's the only one who is in both groups of Godhand. He's the only "real" member of the Godhand. He "cultivates" Godhand members and then sacrifices them to the Evil Heart thing lol 😂😂😂 Why else would there be a completely different Godhand only a 1000 years ago?
@@ZaiDrizzleDrop Fair point. Think that's why he has a higher or older status who clearly little bit or maybe younger even by higher or certain demonic status.
His presence, his 97 voice, his role. Void is definitely my favorite of the God Hand. ^_^ Also, I will say that at least SK's love didn't suffer the same fate as Casca. Femto was a disgusting petty prick, but Void got his new body and just handled his business. XD
I started reading the manga last week and had no idea it was unfinished. So far I'm at the point where the festival begins and my god is it dark and messed up. Hell of a read though.
@@scytheviper2748 as in the manga or just in general? The manga I found on a website but years ago I remember seeing clips from the remake of the anime in movie form and thought it looked interesting. When I looked into it I saw there was the original from 1997 and since then I've been meaning to read it and finally started a couple weeks ago.
@slackerofhell My apologies for not seeing you're answer. Don't rush through is probably the best advice you can get, savor every panel. How's the read coming along?
They should just write a berserk origins story. Thank you for the video and I agree with your connections. Love everyone in the comments and all berserk fans.
29:58 This guru guy was also around at the time of King Gaeseric's empire. He spoke about having audience with the King -- which SK recognizes the younger guru present with his father. There's more to uncover here and it could reveal more about who the man Void was.
So Void is a permanent member of the God Hand? The latest appearance of the god hand in the memory scene was truly unexpected but i think it was the very same situation as Femto's Eclipse, that time Void was the new guy. In between the two passed 864 years and the god hand completley changed the for older member vanished and their place took by conrad, ubrik, slann and femto. I think there were allways five angel whose guide the flows of causality, and when the time comes, one; likley the eldest fades away and make place for a new angel. - The Eclipse happens in every 216 years - Around that time the crimson beherit appears in the mortal realm and it waiting that the other angels guide the plot as it new holder take it, and soon after the youngest angel arise. I think the next who vanish will be Void, if Guts not break the wheel of causality, and slay the god hand achieve humanities freedom from destiny.
I think skull knight could have killed 4 of the god hand when he fought his way to death using the berserker armour, it's been hinted that Flora has something to do with skull knight being the animation he is now using some sort of taboo magic so she must have found him after which means he drove them off or escaped with him if she was also present in the eclipse
@@stephenallen4635 I could totally imagine Flora helping SK with the berserker armor just like Schierke helps Guts; dive deeper and deeper while retaining his sanity.
Yup. Skull Knight is already dead. His likeness or incarnation is being bound together by his current armor, which is likely possible through a spell Flora contrived for him. He met his end and became "a wraith wandering through an endless night." That is why he fears the same for Guts, that he'll end up dying in that armor and become a hopeless shell fighting for nothing other than a phantom-like existence.
That is the accurate translation from Japanese. Hawk and Falcon are the same “word”, or Kanji in Japanese. It’s The Band of the Falcon, not Hawk. The reason it’s persisted over the years is because the English translation messed it up a long time ago, and as such it would have been too jarring to suddenly swap. Either works really. Hawks and Falcons are birds of prey, so it comes down to preference on the non Japanese side of things.
My main issue with the theory that Void is the sage is that in what way does the kingdom matter to him to such an extent that it would be considered worthy of a sacrifice? Also, what's with the woman in the flashback having the brand on her shouler? If it's from that time when the empire fell then shouldn't the brand be on her forhead like the corpses at the bottom of the tower of rebirth? I think there really isn't enough to paint a full picture as of yet, and I hope that Miura had discussed this with Mori, otherwise it will remain a mystery...
I agree, I also think that the four beings surrounding void were in fact the godhand at that time and that they are cycled over time wether they are defeated or step down from their position. I also always questioned the skulls in the bottom of the tower of rebirth because sacrifices are eaten by apostles, for all of their branded heads to remain after the ceremony is definitely weird (I know things can be left over from being in the interstice like the human bodies of slayed apostles and body parts of sacrifices, like the lake of blood that was left after the eclipse, still though) definitely need more to go off of
@@xxxdevin247 Fair point . Think their old _ cycled or former God ✋ Hands that step down or were defeated before new or different members were chosen to add to your point.
My head cannon is that the Sage was a close friend of Skull Knight and someone who helped him build the empire, and watched him lose himself to his own beast of darkness to create his perfect kingdom. So when he tried to tell him hes doing things wrong, he gets tortured for who knows how long. Then the sacrifice makes sense. The other 4 dudes were previous God Hand members, and that was going to show they are killable. And Skull Knight got 4. But wasnt able to stop more from being made. Hes a struggler against fate, and the God Hand are Fated to be.
@@williamcortelyou9072 well said I essentially believe in this interpretation, however I didn't think of it a the beast of darkness so that's a new thought, makes sense as he was in the armor during this flashback and likely wore it often before then to gain his reputation
I believe you get a brand on your forehead if your already dead possibly? Maybe he loved the people of the kingdom, or they loved him as a Sage/priest kinda like how everybody loves griffith in falconia who knows
Fucking amazing analysis and explanation. You were not only supreme in diction and theory, but charismatic and well-spoken. Truly, truly, well done, my friend. :)
If the story is 1000years long, at the beginning of that, someone should have been incarnated most likely Void. Why did he lost his physical body is pivotal to understand the story.
I do believe Void is the main antagonist here. He was a skilled sage and I believe those 4 entities he is stood with were infact the elemental kings, they answered a humans plea. Everything beyond that is Voids doing, the eclipse, the behelits, the creation of a faux group of angels.
It’s crazy how all these mythologies and texts come back to the original stories of human organs . This sounds so familiar to the Sumerian texts on which the Bible and other scriptures or derived from . Really listen to the text
The way Skull Knight instantly blocked his own attack in the film was epic. He instantly knew where it would come from so he just protects his back while keeping his eyes on Void... dude... EPIC!
The scope of this story and grand philosophical themes really have me intrigued. Having different generations of people playing similar roles across time in a spiraling battle between good and evil really conjures up Xenogears and Final Fantasy X for me.
I personally do not think this story is about battle between good and evil, but rather it makes you wonder what is good and what is evil. It's about how life really sucks most of the time. The stronger ones navigate through this mess and finds their way of living, while the weaker ones who cannot see through the madness of the world becomes just another pawn for the powerful. It tells us that the world is connected in ways we would never imagine, and that the things you do can cause a ripple effect that could last for a very long time. Because when you sit down and really think about it, who in this story is actually good at the bottom of their hearts? Every person has their own selfish reasons to move forward. The helpful young witch Schierke actually doesn't want to help, she's just extremely fascinated by Guts and wants to follow him. Her fairy Ivalera is not that kind either, she only cares about the well being of Schierke and nobody else. Farnese is on a constant guilt trip so she's doing everything she can to cleanse her own sin, while Serpico's only purpose is to protect Farnese at all necessary cost, even if it's betrayal. The kid Isidro is getting braver as the story goes, but he never helps anyone not in their group out of his kindness. Puck would literally watch you suffer while he pretends nothing happened. And Guts.... well, this whole story is about Guts getting his revenge, taking anyone and anything down in his way.
They truely look Immaculate and beautiful almost like what original Angel's look like something humans should have no right to fathom truely menacing and beautiful at the same time.
Small note, the brand of sacrifice, which void embeds on his foes, is the same symbol as the “crucifix” of the holy sea. If you check the churches and the holy men, they worship a similar symbol to the brand of sacrifice. The brand, and the cross, depict three entities struggling, 2 serpents entwined and a bird rising. Perhaps this image describes the “law of causality” or story which plays out all through time, the key element which void knows about and manipulates. Gieseric, void, and the fey princess went through a similar experience as guts, Griffith, and casca. One ascends to heaven while the other two writhe and struggle trying to devour. Void would see himself as a sort of angel, even calls himself such. He presents Griffith as the Hawk of light, and uses the Holy Sea in order to do it. Seems like void must be the ancient sage who called down the angels.
All we really know is that void is to skullknight what Griffith is to guts. And all that by one simple action with no dialouge. Of all the God hand skullknight attempts to strike he singles out void. I love the show done tell story telling.
This theory is amazing! I wasn't sure when I started watching it. Especially when you referred to the "fate of man" speech as something specific to the anime. When it's in the Manga as well. But when I got into it. The evidence is incredibly convincing! And I think you guys might really be on to something! Definitely got the gears turning in my brain in regards to Berserk. Wonderful job!
I have always been curious about the appearance of Void beneath his cape, particularly after observing the remarkable length and flexibility of his arm during the eclipse.
I'm currently reading the manga. Just read through the part where Femto is born. Sad what happened that day, so brutal. I got a feeling of hopelessness just reading it.
One tiny nitpick to your video but the hand of god speech said at the beginning of every episode of the 1997 anime isn't an anime exclusive speech that speech is literally ripped from the first page of chapter 1 of the manga
0:20, this is actually written in the first page of chapter 001, it's Miura's writing. Also it's the beginning of the story after context is given to Guts in the black swordsman arc, and his childhood in the golden age.
I personally always thought that the 4 angel are really just the god hand but people spoke of them as Legends and there for they believed them to be angels. (Since i do believe I've heard angles originally doesn't looks like what we think Angels looks like today) I also believe that the 4 creatures standing next to Avoid in the past really just is former members of the god hand, that for one reason or another died. Be it by skull knight or other means. Which would also explain why there were only 4 when they recruited Griffith. Meaning there was an empty spot that needs to be filled. It might not be the deepest theory but sometimes simple is the best. Tho i really did like this theory alot to!
@@tuff3jayhe existed in a time where magic creatures were common ofcourse he had help holding back the armour so it doesn't fully consume him and yes he failed at some point and when he died inside the armour it consumed him and he lived his life as a spectre
Love the contrast between Guts & Griffith. & the God Hand/Void & the Skull Knight. Griffith has this holy look to him with light features blue eyes and a flowing hair yet he’s the embodiment of evil & Guts is in all black, aggressive & powerful yet he is more or less kind, protective & driven to destroy evil. Like the void who is called “The God Hand” yet he is the evil & torturous & the skull knight who looks like death itself yet he saves guts and longs to destroy the god hand and it’s evil
I think the Lady Priestess we see in Skull Knight's memory could have been the catalyst for Void's transformation. Perhaps he loved her but she spurned him in favor of the Skull Knight? In despair he sacrificied her and Skull Knight? I think it may have been a love triangle similiar to what we saw with Griffith, Guts, and Casca.
@@mebansharaisantasticokhong7312If Griffith didn't have some form of love and connection to the band of the hawk he wouldn't be able to sacrifice them like that.
i dont get it quite right, why are the corpses with the brand of sacrifice in the literal foundation of the tower of rebirth when they should be consumed after the invocation of doom? either the ritual failed and thats why king gaiseric is a wraith? or void as the sage used his magical powers to stop the eclipse of skull knight/gaiseric and transformed him into the wraith
Hmm not sure we will ever get to know what was Kentaro's backstory of Void. The theory of being the fifth elemental king is plausible. However, i agree more with other comments that the previous godhand members were taken out by skull knight and Kentaro showed them to prove that the god hand can be killed and replaced as they are also just servants of the idea of evil. Also, considering the paralellisms between Guts and Skull Knight, i think skull knight was never the king, but rather just a warrior. It was more probably Void who was the king or the most esteemed knight of the king (kind of like Griffith to the Midgar king) and skull night was his friend. The discussion of Casca and Judea about the 4 or 5 angels was probably referring to the eclipse, which is when 1 angel is born (and we saw that was when the fifth god hand was born). After all thr only ones who would be able to talk about angels after the event for the legend to be fabricated would have been survivors of such event, a.k.a. apostles or god hand members. Another thing is that eclipses happen and the god hand appears when the owner of the behelit falls into despair, but not necessarily when the owner is wounded. If i remember correctly, when the count becomes the slug he was not wounded right? he was just tormented by the emotions and the behelit was activated with the blood of the orgy participants. I think there are still too many wholes in the theories.
Hm idk, the cycle theme is present but just like in reality events do not happen exactly the same, every time small differences happen. I still think skull knight was the king and that the debauchery hes accused of is perhaps greatly exaggerated, losing youre sense can drive you mad (we have sensory deprivation rooms and people that stay in them too long can experience anxiety, weird thoughts, depression and hallucinations now imagine losing them forever) In an insane attempt to get his senses back skull knight mightve done something iredimable to his friend Void and imprisoned him and tortured him, perhaps thats what dove void to go to the deepes levels of the astral world where the idea of evil was present. Im still not sure about the previous 4 who were there before void, they dont look like elements outside of the crystal looking dude which can represent earth idk but this isnt really whats important I dont think griffith abandoned humanity, rather humanity is just a concept, we are animals after all and our selfish atitude is what drives us to get better and make the world better. You can argue that heroes like superman have a selfish drive in their heroism because ive seen supermen in comics end the lives of creatures that dont resemble his definition of inteligence, and whats to say humans dying isnt good for the rest of all living organisms on this planet, also it seems to me that life doesnt have just 2 goals, but 3 which are codependent on one another: multiplication, survival and domination Man im just rambling at this point does any of this even make sense?
Dope video. I wrote a big ass theory on the Berserk reddit a year or so ago regarding Void and the SK flashback. To boil it down, I was trying to establish that those were 2 separate flashbacks, one of Void's Eclipse and the other of an Incarnation Ceremony. If you're interested look up "The Previous Incarnation Ceremony". I put Chapter references to everything. But what's more interesting, a dude in the comments said that Void was Gedfring's father. Cause SK says to Gedfring that he remembers him and his father Vid visiting his kingdom and vid or vide in french (i think) means empty or emptiness. I had my suspicions, but that pretty much confirmed it for me.
"The four element model of the west" except the west doesn't have a 4 element model, but a 5 element model. I mean, MAYBE for Democritus it was four element but for most of the western alchemists it was 5: fire earth wind water and Ether. Likewise in India it was also 5 tattvas: fire, earth, air, water and akasha.
LOL MEGA MIND love it. Glad I found your channel. Keep it up. Do you guys also do 40k? I think that would be right up your alley and you guys have good voices for different factions.
Much seems plausible. Though if you ask me, Void is actually a mere messenger of the true power behind it all. For they say the Godhand follow a will from the deepest abyss. Something that Miura himself never had the chance to reveal. Still, he left a large scope of how things will play out to his apprentices. But it's now up to them to fill in the blanks.
For the Sage’s backstory, there’s nothing to suggest he was a good person. Every apostle we have seen was not a good person prior to their ceremony. Also, history is written by the victor and Skull Knight was defeated at Voids eclipse. From this we can assume that King Gaeseric probably ran a good kingdom and that the Sage was jealous of him or something and plotting to destroy his kingdom. He was caught and imprisoned/tortured. Btw void gives me mozgus vibes so he was probably like that before his ceremony.
RIP Kentaro Miura. Thank you for creating such an amazing piece of fiction.
What if this sh*t isn't fiction?
Amen 🙏
The only Manga that makes me feel truly terrible and lost. What a masterpiece
🙏
@@yongamangculu9505 that is a scary thought.
When I first saw Void, I was thinking: what kind of horrific torture did this dude endure to look like that? Then when I started reading and looking at him more it became more clear. Aside from that, the fact that Void was the one who said those iconic words in the beginning of the 1997 anime was cool. Indeed he’s one of the great mysteries of Miura’s work.
They definitely like exposed the guys brain like skinned his (void as a human) whole face sewed his eyes removed his lips…god even talking about it is creepy
@jayqueuescontent8075 yes he was in total despair probably ditched his faith or hope in mankind and then made a sacrifice as we see in The Skeleton Knight's flashback
@@mcbdllc2848 0
Void is spongebob in helloween episode
I think it's pieced together that skull knight was gaiseric, and void was the sage who worked with the king, biggest mystery is how the riff between skull knight and void get to such an extreme point, I do hope one day we get a flashback to that, that would be glorious
I just hope all of Miura's knowledge and storyboard was passed town to his successor. It would be a shame to not see this story play out to fruition
I seen an article back in the day about how Kentaro would write the story chapter by chapter, he didn't really plan forward but instead he would think of ideas after a chapter (makes sense seeing how the story has close to no plot holes and how far each chapter is released from each other the past couple years). I do hope we get an original explanation though.
@@bigfax24I love skull night so much he is the best character ever. And he is the biggest Chad and such a good person I’m glad he exists
Allegedly it was and his assistants have the framework for the whole story and know how it is supposed to end. They only produced a couple of chapters after he died before stopping though.
@@bigfax24 I saw that as well, but I saw somewhere else that he reached a point where he felt (knew as it turned out) that he would not live to see Berserk completed and started writing ahead until he finished the story itself.
According to his lifelong friend and current director of berserk Miura already had the entire story planned out after the eclipse and had shared it with him. The story is in safe hands and recent chapters have been amazing
The real tragedy of the eclipse for me is that the band's loyalty and love for Griffith is what lead them after him and into their unwilling sacrifice.
From a naive perspective, it seems that Griffith is a narcissist of the utmost kind. Narcissists use their relationships with others to obtain narcissistic supply - admiration and attention. Griffith fostered their loyalty and love precisely so that he could obtain narcissistic supply and to eventually abuse them as all narcissists eventually do. The victims of a narcissist have no choice but to love them because of the manipulations of the narcissist, who does not love them in return and ultimately ruins them if they do not distance themselves in time.
@@general_electricsthat’s not necessarily what happened
They could have done that maybe a year earlier.
Given my first exposure to Beserk was Death Battle which broke down the Band of the Hawk's fate and it's even sadder because you do get those hints here and there what Griffith would do to achieve his ends. Even Zodd tells tells Guts out of respect to leave Griffith as those closest to him will meet a terrible fate one day.
@@general_electricsyou aren’t wrong. But narcissism is the least of his traits lol
Narcissist is just a buzz word these days. But you 100% are correct. Just don’t wanna let my fellow narc’s to get a bad name lol
Basically just uber selfish. I think capitalism rewards sociopathic and narcissistic for sure, tendencies.
Yet we spend more time away from family at work and expect it not to be causing some of the cognitive dissonance we see in at least modern, American, society.
Considering when we got the blood vision of Skull Knight’s past, and Void was the only original god hand member while all the others are (relative to the overall story anyway not his actual age or whatever) relatively new, that reaaaally says something about how important, strong, and scarily smart void is. He’s the only OG God Hand left, while all the others are nowhere to be seen. Can’t wait for Koji to reveal his backstory. I’ve been dying to see how he’s related to Skull Knoght and exactly what he did to him too ever since 2004.
18 years ago... my age.
Pretty sure the Godhand members with Void in the Skull Knight vision were Void’s predecessors, and that ritual was was the ritual that made Void a member of the Godhand. I dunno if that qualifies him as OG technically.
He was SK's right hand man. Void is the last member of the previous god hand, and the first member of the current god hand. The roles are the same, the players change.
@Etticos he was the last member of that god hand, and the first member of the current god hand. After using the red behelit, the final member of thengod hand will have a normal behelot fall into their ownership. Evidenced by Griffith getting a second, normal behelit. It's hiw the god hand restars for the next cycle.
It's either that. Or there was no Godhand when void transcended his humanity. Like this theory suggests -granted, it could be incorrect-. Maybe the four we saw with void in SK's memory were the manifestations of the four elementals Schierke refers to as gods of the world -Keep in mind that we never see a physical vision of said elementals in the series. Only silhouettes in their elemental construct-. And so, maybe the Godhand was created in response to Gaiseric's actions while he was king. Seemingly disregarding the natural order of the world, and life itself. Maybe they came into existence as guardians in some way. As to keep humanity in check so that another Gaiseric situation doesn't happen again. Of course, non of this is confirmed. But this video does display some compelling evidence to support the theory. It would be a wild narrative. And would fit perfectly in the Berserk universe.
I love the God Hands design especially Voids.
Yeah but Slan is thiccc
@@calculatedrage2819 UberCoomer
@@calculatedrage2819 Slan is f@cking gorgeous
You must love hellraiser too then ?
@@calculatedrage2819 Slan is hot but Conrad tho 🥵🥵🥵
I love the duality of Berserk, black and white, good and evil, with Griffith having white clothes as angel, and Guts having a black armour, but their roles become reversed as the story progress, the same thing with the Sage and the Emperor, the Sage denouncing the Emperor debauchery in his zealot in torture, and the Emperor becoming a shadow of his former self, but now the Sage become corrupted by the same forces that he denounced and the Emperor is actually fighting all the darkness and death that he caused.
Karma at its finest. I love it.
All mangas and animes are following this trend the good darkness and the bad/evil light the evil angels and the good demons or even bad evil god and good misunderstood satan coinsedance!? I think not
@@ghost-writer007 Actually this is nothing new. You never read John Milton? Paradise Lost? Berserk, The Devil Advocate, Lucifer, both the TV Show and the source material of Neil Gaiman. all have a more secular view of religion, and originally in the bible, Satan wasn't an antagonist of God, but an advocate, later writer added more to his character and make good points against God and Heaven, for all the good teachings of Christ, Heaven is not a good place, not if you like your free will and autonomy. So like Berserk. Who are the angels and who are the demons? Or both are the same thing? Also The Idea of Evil is a very old philosophic idea, popularise by Niche, that we created God, not the other way around, also discussing another philosophical ideas like humanity is incapable of living in a totally happy Utopian world, because isn't in our nature, we are selfish, arrogant and violent creatures, everything that we create, is to kill each other, we cant live without pain and misery, Berserk is not doing nothing new, other than Muira giving his own take of this concepts.
Bet: Gaserick went debaucherous because of some relation to the fairy/elf forest witch... locked up the sage for wtv happened & went mad dog mode till the collapse. bet he was constantly revoking destiny that maybe HE wasn't the true "king" who'll untie the lands for whatever matter
@@nassports8 Hope that's true, i'm not a fan of the good guy role that the elves currently have in the story, doesn't fit the themes.
As someone who has been a rabid Berserk fan since 2005, this is the best explanation and insight on events as a whole. Bravo, when you do put all the clues together and I mean all of them, the concept of Void being the 5th elemental God and the first Godhand member as one being that is certainly barking up the right tree if nothing else. Also the 4 "Godhand" that show up in the blood memory not being Godhand members at all, has got the wheels turning in a new direction thank you so much for keeping Berserk fun.
That's the same year I discovered and became a Berserk fan. Nice.
@@katra777 the berserk community is so peaceful compared to other anime communities, I love the wholesomeness. We just want the lore😂
Yeah that blew me away too
Bro that's the year I was born
@0:37 It's clear Miura was influenced by "Hellraiser" for his depiction of Void, but Void also looks like the aliens from "Mars Attack" lol
Mars Attacks is from 1996 while berserk started in the 80s.
@@therealistintheboot8822 Mars Attacks is based on trading cards from the 1960's.
The more I look into this franchise the greater it gets. Can't wait to finish it all.
is it finished?
...
Bad news boyos
See you in 50 years
I love his EN voice in the old Berserk anime! I also never skip the intro lines, sounds so good
What about the outro lines?
It's sad the og anime was never continued. Shit was perfect.
ive rewatched it about 5 times and this means a lot because i seldom rewatch anything.
imho void is the holy man who was tortured by king gyseric and ended up sacrificing his Kingdome. it also explains why skull knight attacks void directly every time they meet.
The only thing that gets me is why would he sacrifice the kingdom? The kingdom wasn't his tether to humanity it was the Supreme kings. The holy man's religion is the only thing he had to sacrifice. What if we have it backwards?
@@tim6454 now that is a good question. I think and this is just my theory that he sacrificed his conviction in god. that at the moment of the activation of voids behlet he was having a "father why has thou forsaken me" moment and so became the first dark apostle or angel of the dark god born of human desire. and that like the egg apostle in conviction arc was able to transpose the sacrifice onto all who were in the area because they forsook existence itself. This is also why void has his name and talks of causality is because he is an empty void a person who no connections or convictions other than understanding in causality, like religious nihilism.
@@charlesballiet7074 and these type of interactions are why I love berserk so much. Nobody knows for sure but the mystery makes us discuss our takes on what's being told
@@charlesballiet7074fire theory
@@charlesballiet7074 10 months late, but I think the Father that was an apostle who told the story to Farnese, mentioned that the Sage (Void) was the person who was actually running the kingdom for King Gaiseric, and that he loved his kingdom dearly. In other words, the kingdom itself is what matters to the sage to most like his family, and thus it was used for the sacrifice. Much like the Band of the Hawk is in no blood relation to Griffith, he's always been using them to achieve him own selfish dream, but it was also the most important thing to Griffith as they were basically his family.
This channel is just _pumping out_ Berserk vids this past week. Jeez. Not that I'm unhappy - Berserk deserves all the attention in the world.
Funny seeing you here! Lol makes sense you like Berserk, true horror fan!
It’s weird because I just got into beserk
Schierke explained about the layers of meditation. She also said that no one came back from the deepest layers. Maybe the fact the main information about the prisoned guy is that he was a sage, and Void have that big brain appearence, he probably meditate, aproach the vortex and came back.
Yeah, he seems obsessed with idea of enlightment/nirvana, but end up become envoy of darkness/void
Void is the old version of Griffith. Skull Knight is Guts. Void is the first member of this God Hand, and the last member of the previous godhand.
I think guts is void and Griffith is the skull knight.
Very big difference between void and Griffith because void only Sacrificed but Griffith.......
No idea why but even after watching the anime and movies, when I read berserk all of Void's lines get James Earl Jones' voice. More Vader than Mufasa just less mechanical sounding lmao
thulsa doom, you mean.
It would be such a punch to femtos face if by what void meant when he called him chosen it was because he was chosen to be the catalyst that makes Guts who he is and Voids ultimate endgoal is the end of the godhand and causality and ultimately the hands controlling fate. And femto was once again just a stepping stone for guts.
Crap, yeah, that fits the themes and spiraling arcs of the series. It's both predictable and surprising, at the same time.
No that makes no sense guts is human he literally means nothing in the grand scope of things. Griffth has been chosen thousands of years b4 the eclipse to be the vanguard for the godhand in the physical realm gits is just a fish who got lucky nothing more hell if it wasn't for skeleton knight (aka the real main protagonist) he would have been DOA mutiple times 1st eclipse 2nd From Slan guts I'd a plot device in his own story 😆
@@mcbdllc2848 zodd and skull knight are legit seen by many as counterparts to guts paths. How are you going to call skull knight the main protagonist then say the character he guided to the berserk armor meaningless. Guts whole thing is implied to be that he could follow a lonely path of skull knight or a vicious path or zodd but he’s developing to follow a path where he relies on others and finish what skull knight couldn’t. He’s not just a meaningless human. That’s literally the point of him lol. He’s the embodiment of struggling against the odds to overcome.
@@Justicejuice179 Guts has a sword that can harm astral beings and Femto incarnate can be hit, so.
Yeah I think that matters.
@@nouhorni3229the problem is a sword swing did nothing to Griffith
Ok but I want to know the stories of the God Hand BEFORE this set of God Hands. You only saw them once, but their forms were even crazier and darker and twisted. I WISH we’d see them and get their stories. Like a prequel.
That set of Godhand are so intriguing. They seem so much more primal in design, almost prehistoric.
Yeahh the current God Hands looks like a bunch of nerds but it still has a twisted looks
According to this guys those 4 are the elemental kings that love humans and not the previous god hand. Interesting theory.
I wonder if Void possessed a deeper connection/understanding of the flow of causality than his other comrades; maybe he gained a greater power over them as a result and killed them? Or, it could have been a Count situation; they encountered something that reminded them of their days as humans and, even if just for an instant, yearned to cast aside their godly powers and go back then BOOM cast into the Abyss.
Are you sure that was the previous god hand, and not a god hand from the future?
Skull knight is soo cool he parried himself
The VA from 97 anime indeed is terrifying. But with all due respect, I wonder what kind of outcome when Giancarlo Esposito become VA of Void
Giancarlo Esposito or James Earl Jones would be perfect VAs for Void!
Nah Keith David
True, but John Avner is the only Void I know.
I still personally believe that the original four figures (including Void) we see in the blood vision are God Hands and that three of them have either been slain or permanently altered due to Skull Knight. Perhaps that's what helped him forge the Sword of Beherits and become powerful enough to no longer need the Berserk armor, maybe that's why Ubik has a particular fascination over Guts survivability and desires as it's akin to Skull Knight's in a past life. There are already established connections between Guts and Skull Knight so it would make sense that some if not all of the God Hand are aware of those similarities.
It's unfortunate that we don't get more from void, aka the high priest, for the idea of evil. That's probably why he picked the idea of evil. It seems to choose people for a certain reason
That is if Void is actually the high priest, sage or in some translations holy man. It would seem that the story wants us to believe Skull Knight is Gaiseric and Void was the High Priest. But I believe it is a red herring..
@@jenothemississippianofmand5202 agreed. They're obviously linked but I never bought into the Gaiseric/High Priest backstory.
@@jstos3675why? Any wholes?
The God Hand seemed to want Griffith to become Femto way more than he did. They kept having to talk him into it.
Because of Guts. He was the one keeping Griffith anchored in reality, no one else has ever been able to do that.
I think you nailed Void Origins and i believe you 100%
Skull Knight is described being affect by time differently. He cuts Guts off as he says "the end". The angels we see in the memory are different to the ones we know, supposedly having changed hands 4 times within 300 years, something we know impossible because of the eclipse only happening every 216. Muira himself says it's a 1000 year story, but never says in which direction. What if Skull Knight isn't from the past but the future?
Ouuuu good one, never thought of skull knight being from the future
It would have to go back 1000 years since King Gaiseric is a big key to the story and Skull Knight says how fated events are cyclical in nature so it all would still make sense.
If this theory is true and Skull Knight isn't King Gaiseric, Then I theorize that Skull Knight, is Guts, from a future where he gave in to the rage, and lost against Griffith, From a future where Griffith's plan became successful, He returned to make sure that he won't lose, Griffith won't win, and humanity will never have to suffer.
In addition to Skull Knight being possibly being from the future and all of this being a thousand-year occurrence, what if this is a prequel to how King Gaiseric became a king? We know nothing about his origins and how he became this great warrior... what if Guts is actually King Gaiseric? "Guts" could be a cover-up name for plot twisting reasons.@@southindianv1nce662
Something interesting to note is that each elemental has other godlike beings that are at their side or are "lesser", so what if Void and the apostles are just that? Like maybe the magic was considered too taboo and dangerous so it's members and worshippers were very few in number. Then upon the inception of Void, the ritual that took place empowered the magic and replaced the old kings of magic. That could also explain why the other creatures have nearly zero mark on the physical world, but the godhand has the most influence.
Yeah I was thinking something similar, the holy see worships void as the sage and we know gaiseric was knowledgeable of the astral world and such
So if there actually is a direct conflict with void opposing the other gods and Gaiseric sharing good relationships with them I wouldn't doubt void tried to weaken peoples believes in them, maybe even killed & replaced them warping magic with his influence
The old godhand also just looks less abstract, like one is straight a lion making a cute face
Also griffith is the same as void the fifth, most powerful apparently, member of the god hand
Maybe they'll cycle now or griffiths kingdom will be sacrificed for something even bigger
My theory:
Void was a powerful magic user from ElfHelm who worked alongside King Gaiserric, in a high position within Gaiserric's empire. He also carried a behelit. When Gaiserric fell to vanity and hedonism, Void started calling him out on it as he cared for the kingdom's wellbeing. King Gaiserric sent him to be tortured at the top of the tower of Albion (this mirrors how Griffith was tortured in the deepest dungeon) to shut him up, but he didn't stop. He endured being tortured and mutilated including having his eyes stitched shut, his cranium cut off exposing his brain and his skin around his mouth being peeled back, eventually giving up at his lowest point, causing his behelit to activate and summoning the godhand. He offered the entire kingdom as a sacrifice, every citizen and also the kingdom itself was branded and destroyed by the 4 members of the old godhand. Partway through the destruction, Void's transformation was complete and he joined in destroying the kingdom, (this is why there's uncertainty whether there were 4 or 5 angels). King Gaiserric's woman was killed during the onslaught, which caused Gaiserric's berserk armor to consume him and kill him. Later, Flora somehow found them, and broke sacred taboo by bringing the woman back to life and transmuting Gaiserric's soul into a suit of armor.
Let me know what you think. Are there any holes in this theory?
You copied this theory from Real Life Ryan UA-cam channel
@@FOREVERAMBIANCE Yeah bro there's no way that more than one person could ever think of the same thing, literally impossible.
@@cryo2156 The likelihood you come up with a LARGE-SCALE (DETAIL ORIENTED) descriptive theory that is word for word the same as Ryan’s is pretty low …. Also he came out with the theory 2 years ago lul buddy
@@FOREVERAMBIANCE so then it's almost as unlikely as you getting a girlfriend?
@@cryo2156 just own up to it bro this is a random hill to die on
It 10000% is telling he's the only one who is in both groups of Godhand. He's the only "real" member of the Godhand. He "cultivates" Godhand members and then sacrifices them to the Evil Heart thing lol 😂😂😂
Why else would there be a completely different Godhand only a 1000 years ago?
Honestly I think that he was the same as griffith, he was the NEW godhamd member of the old group, and now he is the oldest of the new group
@@ZaiDrizzleDrop Fair point. Think that's why he has a higher or older status who clearly little bit or maybe younger even by higher or certain demonic status.
That or maybe somehow someone found a way to kill them but void just happened to be too strong
Skull Knight killed them all
i figured it was probably because skull knight killed them. And i also think that void was the one who sacrificed skull knight
His presence, his 97 voice, his role. Void is definitely my favorite of the God Hand. ^_^ Also, I will say that at least SK's love didn't suffer the same fate as Casca. Femto was a disgusting petty prick, but Void got his new body and just handled his business. XD
I started reading the manga last week and had no idea it was unfinished. So far I'm at the point where the festival begins and my god is it dark and messed up. Hell of a read though.
How did you come across the series?
@@scytheviper2748 as in the manga or just in general? The manga I found on a website but years ago I remember seeing clips from the remake of the anime in movie form and thought it looked interesting. When I looked into it I saw there was the original from 1997 and since then I've been meaning to read it and finally started a couple weeks ago.
Don't rush it. Take it slowly.
@slackerofhell My apologies for not seeing you're answer. Don't rush through is probably the best advice you can get, savor every panel. How's the read coming along?
@@slackerofhell take your time because of u read the hole thing up to the current chapter u will get mad and be ready to make a sacrifice for more
They should just write a berserk origins story. Thank you for the video and I agree with your connections. Love everyone in the comments and all berserk fans.
So I was critical of some of the other origin videos, but this was genius. Great work.
29:58 This guru guy was also around at the time of King Gaeseric's empire. He spoke about having audience with the King -- which SK recognizes the younger guru present with his father. There's more to uncover here and it could reveal more about who the man Void was.
So Void is a permanent member of the God Hand? The latest appearance of the god hand in the memory scene was truly unexpected but i think it was the very same situation as Femto's Eclipse, that time Void was the new guy. In between the two passed 864 years and the god hand completley changed the for older member vanished and their place took by conrad, ubrik, slann and femto.
I think there were allways five angel whose guide the flows of causality, and when the time comes, one; likley the eldest fades away and make place for a new angel. - The Eclipse happens in every 216 years - Around that time the crimson beherit appears in the mortal realm and it waiting that the other angels guide the plot as it new holder take it, and soon after the youngest angel arise. I think the next who vanish will be Void, if Guts not break the wheel of causality, and slay the god hand achieve humanities freedom from destiny.
I think skull knight could have killed 4 of the god hand when he fought his way to death using the berserker armour, it's been hinted that Flora has something to do with skull knight being the animation he is now using some sort of taboo magic so she must have found him after which means he drove them off or escaped with him if she was also present in the eclipse
@@stephenallen4635 I could totally imagine Flora helping SK with the berserker armor just like Schierke helps Guts; dive deeper and deeper while retaining his sanity.
Yup. Skull Knight is already dead. His likeness or incarnation is being bound together by his current armor, which is likely possible through a spell Flora contrived for him. He met his end and became "a wraith wandering through an endless night." That is why he fears the same for Guts, that he'll end up dying in that armor and become a hopeless shell fighting for nothing other than a phantom-like existence.
I believe Griffith is destined to usurp or replace Void.... Considering their similarities in choice of attire.
I winced every time he called it the "Band of the Falcon."
That is the accurate translation from Japanese.
Hawk and Falcon are the same “word”, or Kanji in Japanese. It’s The Band of the Falcon, not Hawk.
The reason it’s persisted over the years is because the English translation messed it up a long time ago, and as such it would have been too jarring to suddenly swap.
Either works really. Hawks and Falcons are birds of prey, so it comes down to preference on the non Japanese side of things.
@@scoticvsgossage9378 isn't that also true for the words green and blue? I remember hearing that somewhere.
in cambodian. green and blue are the same word
Keep this Berserk content coming.
My main issue with the theory that Void is the sage is that in what way does the kingdom matter to him to such an extent that it would be considered worthy of a sacrifice? Also, what's with the woman in the flashback having the brand on her shouler? If it's from that time when the empire fell then shouldn't the brand be on her forhead like the corpses at the bottom of the tower of rebirth? I think there really isn't enough to paint a full picture as of yet, and I hope that Miura had discussed this with Mori, otherwise it will remain a mystery...
I agree, I also think that the four beings surrounding void were in fact the godhand at that time and that they are cycled over time wether they are defeated or step down from their position. I also always questioned the skulls in the bottom of the tower of rebirth because sacrifices are eaten by apostles, for all of their branded heads to remain after the ceremony is definitely weird (I know things can be left over from being in the interstice like the human bodies of slayed apostles and body parts of sacrifices, like the lake of blood that was left after the eclipse, still though) definitely need more to go off of
@@xxxdevin247 Fair point . Think their old _ cycled or former God ✋ Hands that step down or were defeated before new or different members were chosen to add to your point.
My head cannon is that the Sage was a close friend of Skull Knight and someone who helped him build the empire, and watched him lose himself to his own beast of darkness to create his perfect kingdom. So when he tried to tell him hes doing things wrong, he gets tortured for who knows how long. Then the sacrifice makes sense. The other 4 dudes were previous God Hand members, and that was going to show they are killable. And Skull Knight got 4. But wasnt able to stop more from being made. Hes a struggler against fate, and the God Hand are Fated to be.
@@williamcortelyou9072 well said I essentially believe in this interpretation, however I didn't think of it a the beast of darkness so that's a new thought, makes sense as he was in the armor during this flashback and likely wore it often before then to gain his reputation
I believe you get a brand on your forehead if your already dead possibly? Maybe he loved the people of the kingdom, or they loved him as a Sage/priest kinda like how everybody loves griffith in falconia who knows
miura's concept/understanding of evil to such depths is fascinating and not just a little scary
Once these origin videos are done I plan on getting into Berserk. This seems very interesting.
I would honestly just read it now and watch these as you go. having some mystery to the characters is what makes them interesting in the story
Fucking amazing analysis and explanation. You were not only supreme in diction and theory, but charismatic and well-spoken. Truly, truly, well done, my friend. :)
I think void is Berserk version of Pinhead from Hellraiser but I know berserk was heavily inspired by hellraiser.
If the story is 1000years long, at the beginning of that, someone should have been incarnated most likely Void. Why did he lost his physical body is pivotal to understand the story.
0:18 this dialogue is also in the manga as well, it's not exclusive to the 97 anime, it's canon.
I honestly dont remember
@@beluga1258well I remember you can google it
At first I thought "Ack Ack", but then he was all like "We have such sights to show you"
I do believe Void is the main antagonist here. He was a skilled sage and I believe those 4 entities he is stood with were infact the elemental kings, they answered a humans plea. Everything beyond that is Voids doing, the eclipse, the behelits, the creation of a faux group of angels.
It’s crazy how all these mythologies and texts come back to the original stories of human organs . This sounds so familiar to the Sumerian texts on which the Bible and other scriptures or derived from . Really listen to the text
Void is an Alien from the movie "Mars Attacks". Change my Mind...
OMG berserk in Marvelous videos.. YESS !!!!!
The way Skull Knight instantly blocked his own attack in the film was epic. He instantly knew where it would come from so he just protects his back while keeping his eyes on Void... dude... EPIC!
Mr. Miura, thank you for this fucking wild Rollercoaster of emotions 😎 my favorite manga of all time
It's weird, I always loved this kind of designs.
Just like nemesis and lickers from resident evil.
some of those demon designs and the design of the other dimension makes me think the artist really liked Hellraiser II
The scope of this story and grand philosophical themes really have me intrigued. Having different generations of people playing similar roles across time in a spiraling battle between good and evil really conjures up Xenogears and Final Fantasy X for me.
I personally do not think this story is about battle between good and evil, but rather it makes you wonder what is good and what is evil. It's about how life really sucks most of the time. The stronger ones navigate through this mess and finds their way of living, while the weaker ones who cannot see through the madness of the world becomes just another pawn for the powerful. It tells us that the world is connected in ways we would never imagine, and that the things you do can cause a ripple effect that could last for a very long time.
Because when you sit down and really think about it, who in this story is actually good at the bottom of their hearts? Every person has their own selfish reasons to move forward. The helpful young witch Schierke actually doesn't want to help, she's just extremely fascinated by Guts and wants to follow him. Her fairy Ivalera is not that kind either, she only cares about the well being of Schierke and nobody else. Farnese is on a constant guilt trip so she's doing everything she can to cleanse her own sin, while Serpico's only purpose is to protect Farnese at all necessary cost, even if it's betrayal. The kid Isidro is getting braver as the story goes, but he never helps anyone not in their group out of his kindness. Puck would literally watch you suffer while he pretends nothing happened. And Guts.... well, this whole story is about Guts getting his revenge, taking anyone and anything down in his way.
They truely look Immaculate and beautiful almost like what original Angel's look like something humans should have no right to fathom truely menacing and beautiful at the same time.
Small note, the brand of sacrifice, which void embeds on his foes, is the same symbol as the “crucifix” of the holy sea. If you check the churches and the holy men, they worship a similar symbol to the brand of sacrifice. The brand, and the cross, depict three entities struggling, 2 serpents entwined and a bird rising. Perhaps this image describes the “law of causality” or story which plays out all through time, the key element which void knows about and manipulates. Gieseric, void, and the fey princess went through a similar experience as guts, Griffith, and casca. One ascends to heaven while the other two writhe and struggle trying to devour. Void would see himself as a sort of angel, even calls himself such. He presents Griffith as the Hawk of light, and uses the Holy Sea in order to do it. Seems like void must be the ancient sage who called down the angels.
Oh yuh another origins video Let’s Goo!
All we really know is that void is to skullknight what Griffith is to guts. And all that by one simple action with no dialouge. Of all the God hand skullknight attempts to strike he singles out void. I love the show done tell story telling.
Oh men I hope Miuras friend lives long enough to finish this epic!
Im thinking Void is the sage that was tortured in the tower. At least that's what I had deduced at first. Great video.
This theory is amazing! I wasn't sure when I started watching it. Especially when you referred to the "fate of man" speech as something specific to the anime. When it's in the Manga as well. But when I got into it. The evidence is incredibly convincing! And I think you guys might really be on to something! Definitely got the gears turning in my brain in regards to Berserk. Wonderful job!
Void is yakub
Void is the evil man yakub
Yakub is Void
And his magic is tricknology
I have always been curious about the appearance of Void beneath his cape, particularly after observing the remarkable length and flexibility of his arm during the eclipse.
I'm currently reading the manga. Just read through the part where Femto is born. Sad what happened that day, so brutal. I got a feeling of hopelessness just reading it.
Attack from mars the movie. He must be their leader and deity
Ack ack
@@Mr.ThunderMan ack at at ack ack at!
One tiny nitpick to your video but the hand of god speech said at the beginning of every episode of the 1997 anime isn't an anime exclusive speech that speech is literally ripped from the first page of chapter 1 of the manga
0:20, this is actually written in the first page of chapter 001, it's Miura's writing. Also it's the beginning of the story after context is given to Guts in the black swordsman arc, and his childhood in the golden age.
I personally always thought that the 4 angel are really just the god hand but people spoke of them as Legends and there for they believed them to be angels. (Since i do believe I've heard angles originally doesn't looks like what we think Angels looks like today)
I also believe that the 4 creatures standing next to Avoid in the past really just is former members of the god hand, that for one reason or another died. Be it by skull knight or other means. Which would also explain why there were only 4 when they recruited Griffith. Meaning there was an empty spot that needs to be filled.
It might not be the deepest theory but sometimes simple is the best.
Tho i really did like this theory alot to!
I think the "debauchery" Void was talking about was the fact that Gaiseric was intermingling with magical entities.
I don't even want to know what kind of horrific shit happened to Void for him to look like that.
What if King Gazrick literally wore the Berserker armour when going to battle
Wouldn't the armor have killed him after multiple uses?
@@tuff3jayhe existed in a time where magic creatures were common ofcourse he had help holding back the armour so it doesn't fully consume him and yes he failed at some point and when he died inside the armour it consumed him and he lived his life as a spectre
He did only sometimes
Love the contrast between Guts & Griffith. & the God Hand/Void & the Skull Knight.
Griffith has this holy look to him with light features blue eyes and a flowing hair yet he’s the embodiment of evil & Guts is in all black, aggressive & powerful yet he is more or less kind, protective & driven to destroy evil.
Like the void who is called “The God Hand” yet he is the evil & torturous
& the skull knight who looks like death itself yet he saves guts and longs to destroy the god hand and it’s evil
I think the Lady Priestess we see in Skull Knight's memory could have been the catalyst for Void's transformation. Perhaps he loved her but she spurned him in favor of the Skull Knight? In despair he sacrificied her and Skull Knight? I think it may have been a love triangle similiar to what we saw with Griffith, Guts, and Casca.
Griffith does not love anyone he only wants to own everyone
@@mebansharaisantasticokhong7312If Griffith didn't have some form of love and connection to the band of the hawk he wouldn't be able to sacrifice them like that.
i dont get it quite right, why are the corpses with the brand of sacrifice in the literal foundation of the tower of rebirth when they should be consumed after the invocation of doom? either the ritual failed and thats why king gaiseric is a wraith? or void as the sage used his magical powers to stop the eclipse of skull knight/gaiseric and transformed him into the wraith
Hmm not sure we will ever get to know what was Kentaro's backstory of Void. The theory of being the fifth elemental king is plausible. However, i agree more with other comments that the previous godhand members were taken out by skull knight and Kentaro showed them to prove that the god hand can be killed and replaced as they are also just servants of the idea of evil.
Also, considering the paralellisms between Guts and Skull Knight, i think skull knight was never the king, but rather just a warrior. It was more probably Void who was the king or the most esteemed knight of the king (kind of like Griffith to the Midgar king) and skull night was his friend. The discussion of Casca and Judea about the 4 or 5 angels was probably referring to the eclipse, which is when 1 angel is born (and we saw that was when the fifth god hand was born). After all thr only ones who would be able to talk about angels after the event for the legend to be fabricated would have been survivors of such event, a.k.a. apostles or god hand members.
Another thing is that eclipses happen and the god hand appears when the owner of the behelit falls into despair, but not necessarily when the owner is wounded. If i remember correctly, when the count becomes the slug he was not wounded right? he was just tormented by the emotions and the behelit was activated with the blood of the orgy participants.
I think there are still too many wholes in the theories.
Hm idk, the cycle theme is present but just like in reality events do not happen exactly the same, every time small differences happen. I still think skull knight was the king and that the debauchery hes accused of is perhaps greatly exaggerated, losing youre sense can drive you mad (we have sensory deprivation rooms and people that stay in them too long can experience anxiety, weird thoughts, depression and hallucinations now imagine losing them forever) In an insane attempt to get his senses back skull knight mightve done something iredimable to his friend Void and imprisoned him and tortured him, perhaps thats what dove void to go to the deepes levels of the astral world where the idea of evil was present.
Im still not sure about the previous 4 who were there before void, they dont look like elements outside of the crystal looking dude which can represent earth idk but this isnt really whats important
I dont think griffith abandoned humanity, rather humanity is just a concept, we are animals after all and our selfish atitude is what drives us to get better and make the world better. You can argue that heroes like superman have a selfish drive in their heroism because ive seen supermen in comics end the lives of creatures that dont resemble his definition of inteligence, and whats to say humans dying isnt good for the rest of all living organisms on this planet, also it seems to me that life doesnt have just 2 goals, but 3 which are codependent on one another: multiplication, survival and domination
Man im just rambling at this point does any of this even make sense?
Why does everybody call skull knight your majesty
@@emv1309 yes
This video just feels like a recap of the eclipse…almost nothing to do with the title
I found this show in a comic book store basement, they let me rent it and i copied it all on vhs
I once described Void to a friend who had never seen/read any of Berserk as "Megamind, but he's 200ft tall and has no skin."
So I guess Void was the BIG BRAINS behind it all.
IF ONLY GUTS KILLED GRIFFITH BEFORE THE AULTER WAS MADE. AMAZING VIDEO, VERY INFORMATIVE.
Dope video. I wrote a big ass theory on the Berserk reddit a year or so ago regarding Void and the SK flashback. To boil it down, I was trying to establish that those were 2 separate flashbacks, one of Void's Eclipse and the other of an Incarnation Ceremony. If you're interested look up "The Previous Incarnation Ceremony". I put Chapter references to everything.
But what's more interesting, a dude in the comments said that Void was Gedfring's father. Cause SK says to Gedfring that he remembers him and his father Vid visiting his kingdom and vid or vide in french (i think) means empty or emptiness. I had my suspicions, but that pretty much confirmed it for me.
I am getting Doug Bradley vibes
The Skull Nights human death is insane.
I can't get enough of this anime i watched all the episodes movies nownitsbtime to read the manga
"The four element model of the west" except the west doesn't have a 4 element model, but a 5 element model. I mean, MAYBE for Democritus it was four element but for most of the western alchemists it was 5: fire earth wind water and Ether. Likewise in India it was also 5 tattvas: fire, earth, air, water and akasha.
I’d guess the story was just distorted. The same way that Griffith made everyone dream of a hawk of light when in reality he is the hawk of darkness
LOL MEGA MIND love it. Glad I found your channel. Keep it up. Do you guys also do 40k?
I think that would be right up your alley and you guys have good voices for different factions.
Much seems plausible. Though if you ask me, Void is actually a mere messenger of the true power behind it all.
For they say the Godhand follow a will from the deepest abyss. Something that Miura himself never had the chance to reveal.
Still, he left a large scope of how things will play out to his apprentices. But it's now up to them to fill in the blanks.
Anyone else enjoy introducing golden age movies to people just to see their reaction to the end🤣
For the Sage’s backstory, there’s nothing to suggest he was a good person. Every apostle we have seen was not a good person prior to their ceremony. Also, history is written by the victor and Skull Knight was defeated at Voids eclipse.
From this we can assume that King Gaeseric probably ran a good kingdom and that the Sage was jealous of him or something and plotting to destroy his kingdom. He was caught and imprisoned/tortured.
Btw void gives me mozgus vibes so he was probably like that before his ceremony.
woah this is really good this would explain those things in the beserk armor people were
Do we know if Kentaro had the ending of Berserk already planned out, he just never got to finish writing it?
Doubt it
Lop he wrote himself into a hole
"In this world, a man held a tiny red object for a very, very long time"
What I've always found to be kind of silly is that the other God Hand members have pretty cool names. And then here comes CONRAD.
I don't think Ubik is a cool name, 😄
Damn😳 had no idea the backstory was this elaborate
Nice video, however the censorship on this platform is utterly ridiculous.
That’s true. They do look at each other like
“You?”
“Me, bitch!”
He's definitly big brains