Berserk: Causality

In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control; even over his own will.

In the manga Berserk, causality explains how every person's thoughts, feelings, and actions contributes towards a predetermined outcome. Their environment, conditions, and DNA all work towards a final endgame. 

In Berserk's world, demons terrorize, slaughter, and feast on humans. These demons were once regular humans, but had sacrificed their morality to gain unimaginable power. With their newfound power, the demons can realize the dark, hedonist desires that they could not as human. The demons are apostles of the Idea of Evil; the metaphysical representation of human agony and sorrow. This entity is the "God" of Berserk, which manipulates every being towards their an unknown plan. 

The rampage of demons creates more desperation, which drives people to take more extreme and immoral actions. This results in an escalating cycle of death and destruction; under the Idea of Evil’s influence, there is no free will.

Free Will (?)

Determinism is the philosophic belief that denies the existence of free will. Either from a scientific or religious view, everyone is put on a certain path that we follow to our graves. We may make our own actions and decisions on the way, but the choices had already been decided based on our history. 

Our experiences, DNA, and environment shape our consciousness and personality. But none of us chose when or where we born, or what our families would be like. Our lives were created by a specific chain of events, and we are just another part of the chain. As such, the first atomic orbit from the beginning of time had determined every event occurring until the end of existence.

The Struggler

Berserk's main character Guts is a man with immense strength and indomitable willpower to fight against all odds. Guts is a fan favorite not because he swings around a big sword, but because he has the immense mental strength to carry it. Guts is an ordinary human, so the only in-universe explanation for how he can swing these big swords is because he's really strong and tenacious. 

Guts sees how ugly the world is and takes action to change into a better one (for himself). His life is filled with trauma, betrayal, and conflict, yet he never surrenders. These struggles have only conditioned him to fight against greater and greater obstacles.

The impractically massive Dragonslayer sword is the visual representation of his strength, both physical and mental. He was raised since childhood to fight with swords since there are no child-sized swords. Guts wields his massive sword because it’s the only weapon to use against the monsters he fights. It’s a heavy burden he has to carry.

 

A leaping fish cannot affect the flow of a river.

Guts initially fights for his own survival, but later fights to protect those he loves. His devotion to this makes him cause pivotal actions to the world. Ultimately, these actions were planned by the Idea of Evil’s. Without any intention, Guts had just played another role in this unknown plan just from surviving his terrible struggles. Since nobody knows what this plan actually is, we can only live our life as we desire. 

Conclusion

While Berserk is a fantasy story, Guts is an admirable character and a respectable role model. Both characters in-story and readers admire Guts for his incredible physical and mental strength. While Guts fights literal demons, he also struggles with his own trauma and grief. He channels these intense feelings to become the juggernaut he is. We should all aspire to confront our social, financial, and career issues the way Guts does.

The existence of free will can never be verified, but that does not mean our actions are futile. We don't know what the universe’s "plans" are anyways, so they can't really impact our actions in the present. Since we can experience a single "timeline", we'll never know what other futures were posssible. Everything may unfold in a certain way, but it still depends on our actions to happen.