The Mentality of Guts from Berserk.

 

Berserk is one of the most well-written manga. Created by Kentaru Miura and Koji Mori, it tells the tale of ambition, suffering, tragedy, rage, sacrifice, and hope. 

It tells the story of Guts, who has a very, very traumatic childhood. During his teenage years, he starts working alone as a mercenary until he meets a group of bandits called The Band of the Hawks. Here, Guts meets their leader, Griffith. Griffith sees that Guts is an excellent swordsman and challenges him to a duel. After Griffith easily beats Guts, who had never lost before, Guts asks for a rematch after getting knocked out. Griffith accepts, but only if Guts loses the rematch; then, Guts would join The Band of the Hawks. Guts accepts and proceeds to lose. This is the beginning of his camaraderie with Griffith. Guts stays with these bandits for about 3 years total. Here they went on multiple missions, and Guts eventually became the captain of a group of them. Griffith is a very charismatic leader, very strategic and calculated; he is the most ambitious character in the story. After a mission, Griffith is talking to a princess, and Guts overhears the conversation. Griffith said, “A friend would not just follow another’s dream. A friend would find his reason to live. If someone were to shoulder his burden and stake his life for his dream... I might call him a friend.” This reveals how Griffith views friendships, not based on affection, loyalty, or trust but on shared equality of ambition and purpose. This makes guts realize that he was never truy Giffiths friend, he was only his follower, because guts never truly had his purpose, all he knew was the sword, all he wanted was to accomplish Griffiths goals and he wanted him to be his equal and for this to happen he would need to find his purpose. Guts then proceeds to leave the band of the Hawks. After Guts leaves, Griffith spirals, feeling his dream slipping away. In desperation, he seduces Princess Charlotte, gets imprisoned and tortured, and the Band of the Hawk is nearly destroyed. When Guts returns and rescues him, Griffith, broken and hopeless, sacrifices his comrades, killing every single one of them, during the Eclipse to become a godlike being. He then did some horrific things to Guts' love interest, which gave her trauma, and she could never look at Guts again. That betrayal turns Guts into his sworn enemy. 

One of Guts' biggest strengths is his relentless willpower. No matter how bad his life gets, no matter the hardships or the battles, he keeps moving forward, he teaches us that even if it hurts, we have to keep moving forward. Discipline isn't about comfort, it's about refusing to surrender. At first, he was driven by revenge and hatred, and pure rage; he then evolves into finding a deeper meaning for purpose. This teaches us not to let hate or pain define us, search for our purpose, not just survival. Guts also doesn't avoid pain; he embraces the pain, he walks through it, and becomes stronger because of it. We should also learn to embrace pain, it will suck, it will be uncomfortable but at the end of the tunnel you will find hope and strength. Guts is proof that even in a world consumed by darkness, a man can forge forward with nothing but his will, his sword, and a flicker of hope. He teaches us that strength isn’t the absence of pain, but the courage to endure it and keep moving. In choosing to fight his fate, Guts becomes more than a survivor; he becomes unstoppable.