Kentarou Miura's Berserk is the benchmark for any seinen manga. With its dark yet gripping story, Berserk has become one of the most famous manga series, and it has inspired other anime, manga, games, etc. The manga has some of the most well-written characters in the medium. One of the most recognized and popular main characters in the series is Griffith, the captain of Band of Hawk.
The Berserk fanbase is divided in their opinion about Griffith. The majority of the fan base believes that Griffith is a heinous villain, who does not have a moral code whatsoever, however, there are some who are more lenient on him despite his terrible actions. This split has sparked countless debates, and it is about time that it was addressed. So, did Griffith really do nothing wrong?
What He Did
After Guts left the Band of Hawk, Griffith was devastated, and he decided that sharing the bed with Princess Charlotte was going to free his troubled mind. This decision backfired massively when the workers in the castle informed the King about what had happened.
The King was furious with Griffith and ordered the latter to be thrown inside prison, where he was to be tortured on a daily basis. Being estranged from his army and his best friend took a serious toll on Griffith's mental health. In the meantime, Casca and Guts rallied the remaining troops to break out Griffith from the prison. Their attempt was successful, but they were mortified after seeing Griffith's awful condition.
They managed to free Griffith, but deep inside they knew that Griffith's days as a soldier were over. When Griffith got the opportunity, he used the Behelit's power to summon the God Hand and start the eclipse. It was extremely simple, Griffith was ready to sacrifice the lives of his comrades in exchange for keeping his own dream alive. This allowed him to be reborn as Femto, the fifth member of the God Hand. Griffith casually gave up the lives of his comrades and to make matters worse, Griffith assaulted Casca in front of Guts.
How Griffith Is Defended
So the main point of argument for fans of Griffith is that he had always been keen on gaining more power and after gaining a massive amount of power, Griffith would try to help the world. Basically, they believe that becoming Femto would allow Griffith to change the world for the greater good.
Another point that is brought up during arguments is the flashback that Griffith saw caused him mental damage. This led to Griffith plummeting further into a state of distress. The depression caused by the flashback made him sacrifice the Band of Hawk. So, the blame goes on the God Hand for trying to make Griffith's mental health worse. Griffith always wanted to have a kingdom of his own, and seeing his dream fading away pushed him over the edge. These are the main reasons that are presented in Griffith's defense.
Why Griffith Is Monster
First things first, Griffith is just hungry for power. He wanted the power so that he could keep pretending that he was indeed the "Savior of Midland." The Band of Hawk had accepted that they could die while fighting alongside Griffith. It would be a stretch to think that they would willingly die for Griffith's sake, which is still acceptable. However, they were not ready to be mutilated by monsters in order to help Griffith gain godly strength. What Griffith did to Casca was done purely out of spite, making it all the worse.
Griffith wanted to hurt Guts as much as he could. There was absolutely no other reason for Griffith to do what he did other than spite and animosity towards his old friend. He believed that doing such a horrendous thing to Casca would break Guts mentally. Since Casca was not branded, she was supposed to die along with the rest, but Griffith's decision to commit such a monstrous act left her deeply traumatized and a shell of her former self. Griffith did all of this just to prove to Guts that he was better. Finally, after being reborn, Griffith gave the order to destroy Schierke's home. Griffith wanted to remove any possible obstacle, which would hinder his plans for Falconia, and since Flora had knowledge about the God Hand and the astral realm, Griffith decided to destroy her. Once again Griffith showed his inhumane side, where he would eliminate any threat to his authority.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no way that Griffith had any moral principles. He did not care about his friends and his comrades. All Griffith wanted was to gain more power even if it meant walking on a pile of corpses. Griffith is a great antagonist, who will not stop until he has achieved his dream, but to say that he is a good person is a blatant lie.
Each one of Griffith's actions were ultimately self-serving. Even Falconia was just a means for him to satisfy his lifelong dream of owning his kingdom. After Guts left, Griffith became so resentful that he wanted to hurt him in every possible way. Griffith's terrible actions towards the end of the Golden Age arc immensely outweigh any good he'd done earlier in the series. So, it is quite apparent that Griffith is a self-centered individual, who is willing to comprise the lives of innocent people without any hesitation.