Corkus

Corkus (コルカス, Korukasu) is a secondary character in Berserk and a non-playable character in Berserk and the Band of the Hawk.

Sometime before the main setting, Corkus led a small group of bandits. Like many others before him, he challenges Griffith and loses. Accepting the youth's potential, Corkus joins the Band of the Hawk soon after, with the hopes of gaining wealth, women, and fame through his sword alone. He commands his own unit which is famed to always come back from any battlefield alive. He hangs around Guts as the grumpy realist.

After Guts leaves, Corkus stays with the Band of the Hawk but becomes disillusioned with the hope of recovery. He assists Griffith's rescue and is subsequently sacrificed to the God Hand shortly after. During the Eclipse, he tries to run from the Apostles, the demonic monstrosities that are eating his comrades; realizing that there is no escape, Corkus is in shock and begins to deny the horrific massacre around him. In his daze, he spots a nude woman's body and tries to convince himself that he is dreaming by embracing her. The nude woman is actually bait used by an Apostle which kills Corkus soon afterwards; Guts later sees his decapitated head within its jaws.

Personality
Corkus is a man who always has an opinion on something; no matter how contrary it may be to others around him, he hardly censors himself. He is sarcastic towards anything that displeases him. He plays tiny jokes to entertain himself. His boisterous joy for victory, booze, and women are contagious. He fears anyone who he knows overpowers him. His slump over a lost dream is deafening. Corkus has preferences for everything, and he wants the world to know them.

He may seems like a tasteless thug with his behavior and appearance, but Corkus holds a solid code of ethics and an unbreakable bond of loyalty to the Band of the Hawk. If he criticizes a friend, he often does it as an act of tough love born from a well of personal experience. If he is petty about a certain detail, he is often highlighting a rational weakness. And, while he will inevitably complain about whatever their conditions on the battlefield may be, Corkus keeps his mouth shut for the fight and gets the job done. His perceptiveness, confidence, and practicality bolsters his strong authority within his unit.

Since Guts had killed one of his subordinates before joining the Band of the Hawk, Corkus starts out despising Guts and barely tolerates his presence. He barks at everything Guts does, talks bad about Guts behind his back or to his face, and calls him a plethora of insults. Even when Corkus softens towards Guts, his words remain bitter. In his anger over the betrayal he feels over Guts's departure, Corkus curses Guts as a man who will never live up to Griffith and claims that they're better without him. In actuality, Corkus worries and misses Guts while he is gone, and everyone else knows that Corkus is too proud to admit it when their comrade returns. Out of his comrades, Corkus is the nicest to Rickert, even if he does pick on him.