Main article: Guts (Berserk)
Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna (Japanese, 1997 anime), Hiroaki Iwanaga (Japanese, movies, 2016 anime and Berserk and the Band of the Hawk), Marc Diraison (English, 1997 anime and movies), Kaiji Tang (English, 2016 anime), Michael Bell (English, Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage)
Guts (ガッツ, Gattsu, sometimes romanized as Güts) is a mercenary who travels from company to company so he is always fighting. After meeting Griffith, Guts is defeated in battle by Griffith and is forced to join the Band of the Hawk. Guts has also appeared in every Berserk video game. Guts is a Byronic hero who is born as one who may be able to struggle against causality, but who is unable to maintain it indefinitely. His childhood and adolescence is defined by his growing up in a mercenary band after being adopted by a motherly prostitute named Shisu and later the band's leader Gambino, and his later joining of, and departure from, the Band of the Hawk.
The dynamic and turbulent relationship between Guts and Griffith, the leader of the Band of the Hawk, forms the primary focus of the manga for the first thirteen volumes. After the events of the Eclipse, during which he loses his left forearm and right eye, Guts seeks revenge on Griffith, who is now Femto. In the process, he is reunited with Casca after a separation of two years. Following the Incarnation Ceremony at Albion, Guts travels with a new group of companions.
Guts can be seen as the exact opposite of Griffith in just about every way. In appearance, he is a tall, muscular warrior with short black hair, a body full of scars and wields a monstrous weapon while dressed in cursed armor, whereas the latter is of average height, thin, has long white hair, no physical scars and wields a delicate sabre. Guts wears tattered black clothing and, though incredibly skilled, fights like a barbarian; winning by any means necessary. Griffith wears white armor and has a much more refined style resembling fencing. In addition they usually have the exact opposite effect on everyone they meet. Most people are naturally drawn to Griffith upon first meeting him and would die for him without hesitation whereas Guts is usually feared and detested by just about everyone he comes across until they get to know him, after which he will usually end up being revered as a hero by those same people. This extends to their morals and actions as well. Guts maintains the image of a callous warrior who manages to protect the people around him while Griffith puts up a somewhat idealistic facade but is also willing to sacrifice anybody without exception to further his ultimate goal. And while Guts unhesitatingly chooses to battle his way through enemies, Griffith refrains from excessive participation in combat, preferring to manipulate anyone in his way.
Main article: Griffith (Berserk)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese, 1997 anime), Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese, movies and 2016 anime), Kevin T. Collins (English, 1997 anime and movies), Steve Cannon (English, 2016 anime)
Griffith (グリフィス, Gurifisu) is originally the founding leader of the mercenary unit known as the Band of the Hawk, both the group and his title "White Hawk" named for his helmet forged in the shape of a Hawk's head. Extraordinarily charismatic, intelligent, handsome, and ambitious, Griffith's skill with his sabre and tactics gave him and his band a reputation of invincibility, making him the favored choice of the Midland King, who was locked in a century long war with the Empire of Tudor. Believing that he is destined for greater things, Griffith is willing to sacrifice everything for the dream of his own kingdom and only values others who are of use to him. The source of his ambition is a Crimson Behelit given to him by a fortune teller who claims it to be an "Egg of the King" that would lead an average person to become a great ruler.
The only two people Griffith truly trusted were Guts and Casca, who were his confidants in private moments. There are several hints in the series that Griffith has feelings for Guts, expressing an obsessive want for the swordsman's strength as he bested him in a duel to force his servitude. When the Hundred Year War ended, Griffith learned of Guts's intention to leave the Band of the Hawk and resolves to kill his friend if he cannot keep him by his side. But Guts instantly defeats Griffith in their second duel by breaking his sabre, leaving Griffith in disbelief with his morale crushed. Later that night, Griffith coldly seduces Princess Charlotte and is later discovered, leading to his imprisonment and torture by the Midland King who labels his group wanted criminals. A year later, now a broken and hateful shell of his former self, Griffith is rescued by Casca, Guts, Judeau, and Pippin. After Wyald's attack and the further realization of his current state from a year of crippling torture, Griffith triggered the Crimson Behelit in an act of desperation. Griffith and the Hawks are drawn into an Interstice known as the Nexus where the God Hand offer him a position among them if he sacrifices his followers to the apostles that have gathered for the Eclipse. With Ubik's powers convincing him that a few more deaths will not matter as long as he fulfills his dream, Griffith agrees to the God Hand's terms and transcends into an incorporeal demon in dark hawk armor with cape-like wings. Rechristened Femto (フェムト, Femuto), no longer bound by human ties and seeing the destiny laid before him by the Idea of Evil, Griffith rapes Casca as an act of malevolence towards Guts. Two years later, Griffith is brought back to the physical plane after The Egg of the Perfect World orchestrated the millennial Incarnation Ceremony at Albion, using the body of Casca's malformed child as a vessel with Griffith's mind subverted during the night of a full moon. Griffith creates a new Band of the Hawk composed of Apostles and humans that are drawn to him as the original Hawks were, making himself the sole military leader of Midland's armies. Griffith also wins the loyalty of the Holy See, with its pontiff regarding him as the Hawk of Light incarnate and willing to oversee his marriage to Charlotte. After leading the defeat of the Kushan Empire, using Ganishka's death to establish a worldwide interstice, Griffith establishes the city of Falconia as both a haven for remaining humans and as capital of a new Midland Empire. Despite Falconia's utopian appearance, it has a strong totalitarian undercurrents from Griffith establishing himself as the unquestionable ruler of Midland with any detractors either executed by the Holy See on heresy charges or being secretly murdered by Rakshas.
As Femto, Griffith is capable of flight via his wings and, like other members of the God Hand, can perceive the flow of causality, and manipulate matter and distort space.
Voiced by: Yūko Miyamura (Japanese, 1997 anime), Toa Yukinari (Japanese, movies and 2016 anime), Carrie Keranen (English, 1997 anime and movies), Karen Strassman (English, 2016 anime), B. J. Ward (English, Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage)
Casca (キャスカ, Kyasuka) was the only female member in the original Band of the Hawk and is behind only Griffith and Guts in swordsmanship. Her ambivalent relationship to both of them makes her moody and capricious. Casca joins the Hawks after Griffith empowers her to save herself from a sexual assault by a nobleman who bought her from her parents, and since that time harbors feelings towards Griffith which most of their comrades are aware of. While Casca was against Guts joining the Hawks, her hostility towards him gradually waned as she came to accept him as a comrade for saving her life multiple times while developing feelings for him. When Guts is preparing to leave the band, Casca attempts to convince him to stay, but to no avail. After Griffith is imprisoned, Casca becomes the leader of the Band of the Hawk, as they are forced to go into hiding, having been branded as outlaws by Midland. After Guts returns to aid them when they are under attack, Casca falsely blames Guts for Griffith's capture and then laments her perceived failures as a leader before attempting suicide. Guts saves her yet again and the two finally consummate their mutual feelings for one another, embarking on a rescue mission to recover Griffith the following day.
The rescue of Griffith is successful, but his broken spirit leads him to sacrifice the Hawks during the Eclipse. Casca is forced to watch their comrades being slaughtered before being violated by Griffith after his rebirth as Femto. The ordeal emotionally scarred Casca; her mind broke and mentally regressed to a childlike state while losing all her memories as a self-defense measure from the trauma. In addition to being branded with a sacrificial mark on her breast and thus becoming a target for fell creatures on a nightly basis, Casca prematurely gives birth to her child with Guts after it has been corrupted from Griffith's rape. Casca was entrusted to Godo's care. But Casca wandered off to St. Albion two years later, saved from Holy See fanatics by Guts as he attempts to protect her on his own despite the more dangerous spirits attracted by their brands in close proximity. Guts's attempt to protect Casca ultimately resulted in losing her trust when he attacked her while under the influence of his inner darkness. As Casca travels, completely oblivious to her surroundings, Guts and company keep a close watch over her. She has put herself in grave danger many times but Guts' group has yet to fail to come to her rescue and protect her. She seems to slowly be warming up to Guts again even coming to his side when he is unconscious to watch him. Casca's well-being is the driving force for Guts to keep himself from reverting to a revenge-obsessed wanderer. While outside Vritanis, the Skull Knight revealed that her mental state may be cured by the Elvish queen Hanafuku while cryptically warning Guts that "What [Casca] wishes for may not be what [Guts] wish[es] for". When Farnese and Schierke enter the world within Casca's mind as part of Hanafuku's ritual once they reach Elfhelm, the two realize that Casca did not want her mind restored as it would mean dealing with the pain from her ordeal in the Eclipse. But the two restore Casca anyway, with Farnese promising to help her cope with her pain. But Casca, still reluctant to be near Guts due to her traumatic ordeal, is abducted by Griffith.
