Berserk is a series full to the brim with some of the most iconic characters in manga history. This is to be expected, given the fact that this manga is considered by many to be one of the most popular and influential works of fiction ever penned. It's easy to see why Kentaro Miura is considered by many to be such a legendary mangaka, and his presence in the industry will be sorely missed.

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One of the characters in Berserk who started out as a noble hero before turning into a vile and hated villain is Griffith, also known as Femto. This powerful human turned into an apostle to regain his strength at the cost of the entire Band of the Hawk and is the central villain of the series. Here are some things that most people don't know about this infamous character.

5 Miura's Friendship With Kouji Mori Inspired The Bond Between Guts and Griffith

Kentaro Miura, the creator of Berserk

Most of the major members of the Band of the Hawk were inspired by the friends that Miura had in high school. The exceptions to this were Guts, Casca, and Griffith. Since Miura didn't have a girl in his group of friends, he made Casca's character from scratch. However, when it came to the dynamics of the relationship between Guts and Griffith, Miura decided to draw from a bond he shared with another close friend in real life.

Miura was close friends with another mangaka called Kouji Mori. As per Miura himself, he considered a friend to be one of the closest bonds that any person could have. So, the very idea of getting angry at a friend was so powerful that he decided to use this emotion to craft the major conflict of the story between Guts and Griffith. It turned out to be a brilliant source of inspiration, with the rivalry between these two characters being one of the most iconic dynamics in anime history.

4 Griffith's Appearance Is Similar To A Girl From The Prototype Version Of Berserk

Frikka in Berserk The Prototype

Before Berserk was officially penned and released, Miura actually released another version of this manga called Berserk: The Prototype. There were several changes from the final product that could be seen from Guts' character design alone. For starters, this character had an eye path, with the Brand of Sacrifice present on his chest as opposed to the neck.

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One thing to note is that Griffith is completely absent from this story. Instead, Guts rescues a girl called Frikka who looks pretty similar to Griffith. This character is not part of the canon, but it's very possible that Miura used her design to create Griffith's character instead.

3 Griffith Wasn't Planned To Be Villainous Until The Third Volume

best-anime-villains-griffith-berserk

Given how Griffith was portrayed in the early volumes of the manga, it's surprising that this character became the central antagonist of Berserk. After all, he was immensely likable and even had a childlike innocence about him that made him a pretty endearing character. This, coupled with the bond he shared with the rest of the Band of the Hawk, made it clear that he would be on the side of good... only for later chapters to send this notion crashing to the ground.

It seems that even Miura himself wasn't planning on making Griffith a villain at all. He stated that this notion became a reality when he started penning the third volume, where Griffith started to show a darker side to his character. It's not uncommon for certain manga to craft the story as it goes along, and props should be given to Miura for deftly weaving this development into the story.

2 His Reason For Getting So Attached To Guts Is Significant

Guts and Griffith from Berserk

Given Griffith's immense beauty and massive charm, it was clear why so many people revered this character like a god. He had gained the unwavering loyalty of the Band of the Hawk through his actions and presence alone, with pretty much everyone in the group smitten by this character.

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However, Guts was the only person who treated Griffith like a normal person even after joining the Band of the Hawk. It was something different for Griffith, and one of the major reasons why he was so close to Guts compared to the other members of the mercenary group, including someone like Casca who constantly tried to gain his approval time and time again.

1 The Torture On His Face Was First Depicted In The Movie's Artwork

A Tortured Griffith in Berserk

After Guts left the Band of the Hawk to become Griffith's equal, the commander truly veered off the deep end. He slept with the princess of a powerful king and was subsequently caught and thrown in prison. Following this, he was tortured for a year in the most horrifying manner possible, with the extent of the damage on his face never being shown.

In fact, the first time Griffith's tortured face was shown came from a piece of artwork from the Berserk movies. The skin around his eyes and part of his left cheek had been ripped, which was a gruesome sight that even a gory manga like Berserk never really showed properly.

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