Guts

Guts (ガッツ, Gattsu) is the main protagonist of Berserk and the initially available character of Berserk and the Band of the Hawk. Players will have to use him to unlock the rest of the game's playable cast in Story Mode.

Raised all his life to be a warrior, Guts has rarely lived far from the battlefield. After his foster father's death, Guts had a lonely life as a mercenary. It is due to one of his jobs that he is coerced by Griffith to join the latter's mercenary unit, the Band of the Hawk. Despite their rocky start, Guts is gradually accepted by the group, and he eventually appreciates and befriends his new comrades. After they gain prestige with their royal benefactors by winning a regional war, Guts feels confident enough to carve his own path in life and leaves the Band of the Hawk.

Guts believes that he left on amicable terms, but he is unaware that his departure dealt a deafening blow to Griffith's pride and psyche until a year later. Although he returns to try to make amends, Guts and the rest of the Band of the Hawk are sacrificed by Griffith to the God Hand, the evil entities of the setting. During the dark ritual, the Eclipse, the Band of the Hawk are branded as food for the Apostles, or demonic monstrosities of the setting, to feed Griffith's ascension into the God Hand. Due to Skull Knight's intervention, Guts and Casca are the only survivors of the Eclipse.

Having lost an eye and an arm to the ordeal, Guts recovers and initially embarks on a quest for vengeance. He mercilessly hunts and slays Apostles posing as humans within the mortal realm, leading to his infamous moniker The Black Swordsman (黒い剣士, kuroi kenshi). In the bloody path built by his blind rage towards Griffith and himself, Guts nearly loses touch with his own humanity; it takes time and deep moments of self-reflection for him to regain it. Once he does, Guts focuses his energies on protecting Casca with his own band of comrades. The goals of his current journey are to restore Casca's sanity and to stop Griffith. To fight against the stronger Apostles, he eventually dons a suit of Berserker Armor; though dangerous for his mind and body to wear, it grants him inhuman durability and strength.

Personality
Guts was taught by his foster father to be ruthless and brutal, to chip his humanity away for a mercenary life. Mercenaries are tools that should only care about two things: killing as many people as possible and getting paid. As a child, Guts is afraid and reluctant to accept these principles, only doing so with the hopes of gaining his parent's approval and to survive in the battlefield. When he accidentally makes himself an orphan, however, Guts relies on a gruff and crass exterior to try to suppress his guilt over his foster father's death. Without it, he feels defenseless, scared, and alone. While he has befriended others during his childhood with moments of youthful curiosity and mischief, the harsh realities of his world conspire against him throughout his life.

In his teenage years, the Band of the Hawk grants him a new home. At first, Guts isn't used to being part of a group and handles social interactions badly; he snarls when someone grabs his shoulder as a friendly gesture or charges in alone without concern for others. Yet, as the other members begin to respect and warm up to him, Guts softens and slowly learns how to accept and express friendship. The once distant loner turns into a quiet and thoughtful companion with a close circle of trusted comrades, making him feel welcome for the first time in his life. Listening to their aspirations has Guts become self-aware of his own inadequacies. He isn't artful, and he has no other talents besides his strength and fighting. Rather than dreaming of his own ambitions, Guts had considered himself an unthinking sword in battle. With time, he consciously contemplates his own worth in life, a question that lingers into his adulthood.

Losing everything dear to him has him temporarily fall back on his old habits. In his grief over his trauma, he tries to bury it with his raw hate and anger. His failure to save anyone causes him to be cynical towards idealized heroism; he gains new pleasure from killing and torturing Apostles, making sure they suffer slow and agonizing deaths. Even so, Guts's natural hardiness keeps him from completely losing sight of himself. He has never forgotten the will and hearts of his lost companions. It is through his memories with them and his eventual restored belief in human compassion that he resolves to use his strength to protect those around him from the hellish Apostles.

Griffith is the first person to challenge Guts's seasoned perceptions of war and life; many of his impressions regarding Griffith are smashed thoroughly as the story progresses. Guts first believes the man in white to be too "girly" to fight or command until proven otherwise. He then believes that, since Griffith treats him as an equal peer, that they are best friends who can freely enjoy one another's company. During his time in the Band of Hawks, Guts empathizes with the other members' admiration for Griffith's charisma, and he believes his friend to be a fair leader. When he is entrusted by Griffith for covert assassinations, Guts is sickened to kill a child under his command and begins to distance himself from Griffith to focus on his own desires; but, even then, Guts believes that his friend will always remain wise and steadfast to his own ambition. He openly mourns his friend's resulting depression and crippled body, but Guts believes in Griffith, and he tries to save Griffith during the Eclipse. Even when Griffith becomes Femto and rapes Casca, a small part of Guts wants to believe that his friend still has some humanity or remorse left within him. Upon discovering that nothing remains from the man he once knew, Guts has nothing but seething resentment for Griffith.

For Guts, Casca is his love at first sight. Although he criticizes her for trying to "do a man's job" in his youth, Guts is initially attracted to her strong will and piercing eyes. His early attempts to talk to her are met with her unchecked disdain towards him. It isn't until he saves her from a deadly fall and inquires about her past that he deepens his respect for her and her loyalty to the Band of the Hawks. Everyone in the group can see her obvious love for Griffith, so Guts believes for years that there is no room for him in her heart. He reserves himself from acting on his feelings for her for his friends' happiness and treats her with warm esteem as a honored comrade. Guts is oblivious to Casca's change of heart until he returns to the Band of the Hawks; only then does he accept her as his lover and bond with her through their vulnerability. Though their romance is tragically short-lived due to the Eclipse and he is broken by what happens to her, Guts still treasures the woman he loves and hopes to free her from her madness.

Quotes

 * "I won't lose this fight!"
 * "With my life."
 * "Pursue!"
 * "Just get crushed, like the maggots you are!"
 * "So, who wants to be cut in half first?"
 * "Haven't you heard of the Black Swordsman?"
 * "This will suffice for a warm up."
 * "I don't have any time to waste on you fellas!"
 * "I don't find it flattering, being so popular with all these freaks."
 * "I don't care to count how many I have cut."
 * "Since it came to this, there's no other choice but to go on. Prepare yourselves!"
 * "Don't worry, I'm made of sterner stuff. I'll give it my all!"

Band of the Hawk

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Repeating crossbow - Bombs -
 * Sub-weapons
 * Throwing knives -


 * Ferocity Mode passive effect
 * Further boosts attack power and attack range
 * Guts first plants his sword in the ground, creaks his arm, takes his sword and jumps forward, then slams his sword down causing a fiery explosion to blowback enemies.


 * Mounted Moveset
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Black Swordsman

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Repeating crossbow - same as before Bombs - same as before Prosthetic arm cannon -
 * Sub-weapons
 * Throwing knives - same as before


 * Ferocity Mode passive effect
 * Further boosts attack power and attack range
 * Guts takes his sword near his face, spins and does a powerful slash right through enemies.


 * Mounted Moveset
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 * Transformation
 * Berserker Knight Guts - unlock by completing "Familiar" in Story Mode


 * Transformation passive effect
 * Further boosts attack power and attack speed
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 * Guts throws his sword into the ground, then jumps forward and flies around whacking at several enemies while juggling them, then finishes by igniting a massive explosion.
 * Guts throws his sword into the ground, then jumps forward and flies around whacking at several enemies while juggling them, then finishes by igniting a massive explosion.


 * Sub-weapon
 * Cannon - fires from a massive cannon to the front of him.

Accessories
Clearing floor 100 of Eclipse Mode with Guts additionally unlocks his Dark Beast costume. If Guts is wearing this costume, he will automatically transform into Berserker Knight Guts for his Killer Technique.

Unlock his helmeted mercenary outfit by completing 10% of Eclipse Mode. Unlock his helmeted Band of the Hawk outfit by completing 50% of Eclipse Mode.