umop_3pisdn said: I've tended to read those as being the same, like Griffith's individual unfettered will is like a microcosm for the Idea of Evil, or something, I tried to make that sound elegant but it didn't really work.



My thought was more that Griffith's motives must have been at one point 'humanistic', and subtracting that must change the landscape. But I'd also argue that his dream as offered to him after he went crazy had already gone through a similar kind of corruption, just on the human level. And not that his will was untainted before, as much as I think human Griffith was a genuine kind of idealist he was clearly no saint, but he had to be driven mad for a reason. Granted it's just an intuition, but I can't see his dream not changing in somewhat of a meaningful way throughout all of that. Click to expand...

The unique thing about Berserk and part of the major strength of it's writing is that despite the deep look we get into the mind of Griffith, he can be interpretted in a number of ways.My interpretation was thus: Griffith always came off as somewhat of a manchild to me. He wanted to have a castle and be king even as a kid. I doubt that he was trying to break away from the bonds of class injustices or anything. His happy and carefree expression at the time suggested to me that it was similar to any of the hundreds of other daydreams any given child has over being a king, or a dragonslayer, or an astronaut, or whatever.THe only difference is that Griffith never let go of that dream, while being the special prodigy who excelled at anything he tried. If anything, those two aspects of his personality drove each other. So Griffith tried to lead his idealized vision: Cool, intelligent, badass that was in total control of his emotions and unbound by petty morality. Femto existed long before the eclipse ever happened because always wanted to be him. But for all his talent....he couldn't. He had to prostitute himself to gain finances for his army and is ashamed. He feels immense guilt for the people he's killed to get as far as he has. And most importantly, he thought he kept a distance between himself and Caska, the foolish girl who loved him even though he barely paid her attention, and Guts, the hulking mercenary who he wants himself to believe is merely an extraordinary useful pawn. He didn't. He loved them, but was too immature to acknowledge that love for what it is.Griffith was trying to be what an adolescent thought of as the ultimate badass, but he couldn't because for all his talents, he was human. And he when he found out that Guts won't merely be his pawn and Caska won't merely be his fangirl, that's what flipped his shit. He was hurt, emotionally, by the best friend he ever had leaving him, and did not know how to react. Then, he was humbled by the torture. He wasn't driven quite insane. He reacts thankfully to guts and everyone for saving him. He even has a daydream where he is just living out his life as a cripple, with Caska as his faithful wife serving him, and they have a kid. That's a far more humble life that he could accept....and then he sees Caska kissing Guts. She has found a real, meaningful relationship with someone who recuperates and his fantasy where Caska is just this serventile woman he can use for pleasure and comfort is shattered. And it's not because of the torture or how he looks or anything shallow. Caska still would have taken care of him, hell Caska still fought through 3 years of hell for him, but Guts is the one now loves. And not in sense that she idealizes him as a hero, but because they are in an equal partnership of mutual love and affection. She found something real with Guts, while Griffith never developed a meaningful relationship with Caska, because he wanted to continue living his fantasy of being a stoic badass that has women fawning over him, while he is cool and detached.So, between Griffith the Commander and Griffith the Tortured, I feel the essence of his dreams were fairly the same. He wanted to be King of a whole country in the former, but when that's denied, he wants to be King of a Cottage. It's a smaller kingdom for him, but in both cases, he's thinking that he's going to get adoration just because he's that good, and doesn't need to work at a real relationship to get what he wants. In the former case, he tries to ignore the evidence that reality is contrary to his image (his shame, his guilt, his attachments) until he is unable, and in the latter, the first piece of contrary evidence he sees (the kiss between Guts and Caska) is enough to break his vision by itself.Then Enters Conrad.Conrad is a character that pushes him to the edge by using illusions to place him back into his fantasy zone. Oh, you feel guilty about all those people you killed to achieve your dream? Well, think about it like this...if you don't kill however many more you need to to get that big shiny castle, then all the people who are already dead have died for nothing! So, really, it's only right for you to slaughter whoever else you need to to get what you want, I feel. And what about this body. Yeah, it's pretty pathetic. No king is a king of he can't even stand up, right? Tell you what, I got a brand new body, just for you, for the itty bitty price of all your friends souls!Conrad is actively working to erase any doubts and have him slip back into his fantasy zone as much as he can. Which is why the fact that this is the moment of Griffith's greatest hesitation is evidence of how much Griffith, against his will, has grown as a person. He doesn't entirely buy Conrad's arguments, however convenient they may be. But him coaxing his mind, reminding him of what an incredible badass he used to be...and could be again, if he only didn't give a shit about the people who cares about him is obviously still tempting. That's why I think, seeing guts in that particular moment, is what pushes him over the edge. At that moment, he is longing to be the Cool, Detached, Bishonen badass he used to be, and wondering why he isn't that....and here enters guts, and it's clear. He got attached. "You're the only one who made me forget my dream." This wasn't just in reference to the castle, but the entire self image that he strived to be. He cared...and he didn't want to. He had formed a real bond with Guts, and such a bond hurt his sense of superiority because by admitting he cared about gut, that's admiting he wasn't merely a pawn. He was his friend and that breaks the fantasy he wants to live in. It is in that moment where he forsaken his bonds for the final time and entered his idealized fantasy persona again.And the Eclipse? The Eclipse didn't 'transform him' so much as made that state permanent. Femto is what Griffith always wanted to be: Capable, intelligent, powerful, unbound by morality or empathy, yet still adored as a hero by crowds of millions, for he is the Good King that has united the land in peace and prosperity, even finding a safe area for the demonic Apostles and establishing a peace between them and the rest of mankind. He is the ultimate badass of Griffith's adolescent mind. There is no longer any such thing that he feels as shame or guilt or attachments. I feel his rape of Caska is him reveling in that new found freedom to permanently stay in his sociopathic persona. And his actions henceforth....well, to address the original point of what his 'dream' is now, it's hard to say. All we can say now is that he is living the dream he always wanted. Perhaps he's doing it as part of a greater scheme, or pershaps he's merely reveling, similarly to his actions at the eclipse.To the extent of his character development, certainly, he's transformed in many respects. Perhaps the more superficial aspects of his dream have changed, similar to how he was willing to go from being the ruler of a kingdom to merely a household, perhaps now that he's a godhand, he wants to be ruler of ethereal space or whatever. But I would say the essence of his dream, to just have the highest position that can be offered just because that's what he views as being 'the best', is the most consistant quality about him. Perhaps that's changed with Femto, but...we'll see.But this is why Rickert striking Femto is important. Since his return, this is his first failure. This is the first time his fantasy has been falsified. This isn't like Guts or the Kushan emperor. Worthy enemies to be defeated are part of the fantasy of being a King. But Rickert, he wanted him to come back into the fold and he rejected him. The panels shown in this chapter are ambiguous as to how Griffith is reacting. He could not give a shit, or he might be a bit peeved. The whole 'hair hiding eyes' thing in emotional tense moments is a trope to hid character expressions to make their true feelings a mystery. And even knowing, we still can't use it as huge evidence for either or in judging Femto's personality, becuase....well, what Rickert did is badass, but it's just a slap, ultimately. It's not Guts crashing down the walls of Falconia and rendering him powerless. Rickert is small enough to ignore, whatever the true state of Femto's mind is. Certainly, it will suggest one thing or another (if the next chapter gives more insight into this), but it won't be conclusive for a long time yet.