7 Obscure Berserk Sword Facts You Haven’t Heard Before
What’s in this article?
Berserk fans are more than familiar with the swords featured in both the anime and manga, but even the most dedicated fans can miss obscure details about their favorite fictional weapons. That’s usually because these obscure facts about Berserk swords are hidden in the minor parts of anime adaptations and unrelated video games that were inspired by the manga.
Most facts about Berserk’s swords are really about Guts’
1. You Can Find a Berserk Sword in Elden Ring
The 2022 hit game Elden Ring had a hidden easter egg for fans of Berserk in the form of a massive
Like the
This reference likely exists in the game due to Hidetaka Miyazaki’s involvement in the Elden Ring as he was the director of Elden Ring and a vocal fan of Kentaro Miura, the manga artist behind Berserk.
2. The Dragon Slayer Sword Was Part of a Berserk Video Game Mechanic
It’s no secret that the Dragonslayer
For those unfamiliar with TTRPGs and RPGs, burden mechanics slow down your player character whenever they carry objects past a certain weight limit. This is typically calculated against their strength.
This meant that players equipping the Berserk Guts’ Dragon Slayer
3. The Berserk Anime Used Frying Pan Clangs for Its Sword Sound Effects
One of the weirder facts about Berserk swords is that the anime used frying pan sounds as sound effects for Guts’ Dragonslayer. To be clear, it wasn’t the 1997 adaptation, but the remake streamed by Crunchyroll in 2016 that had the frying pan sounds. Instead of hearing Dragonslayer slash and crush enemies, fans were enraged to hear that Guts’
The new adaptation was also criticized for its subpar voice acting, relative to the original adaptation that made the frying pan sound effect a clear sign of sloppy sound production.
4. Guts’ Dragon Slayer Sword Has Supernatural Properties and Deep Symbolism
It may seem like the Dragonslayer sword is only powerful because of Guts’ natural strength, but this is only true for the earlier parts of the manga. The
The
Frankly, there’s not a lot known about the
The
5. Even Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy Reference Berserk’s Swords
Legend of Zelda’s Master Sword is a cultural giant in its own right, but the video game franchise also pays homage to Berserk swords. The most recent installment of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, contains a club-like weapon named “Lynel Crusher” which has an attack of 36 and is described in its flavor text as “more accurate to call it a lump of metal than a weapon”.
While this seems relatively minor, it’s no big leap of logic to assume that BOTW’s creators are familiar with Berserk, especially since the game franchise comes from Japan and “lump of metal” is a common descriptor for Guts’ Dragonslayer that other weapon references have used to pay their respects to the manga.
A more obvious reference is Cloud Strife’s Buster
6. Dark Souls’ Artorias Copies Both Guts’ Armor and Sword
A lot of games made by Fromsoft as well as other smaller developers have been labeled as “Souls-like” because they draw very unsubtle inspiration from Dark Souls, but Dark Souls itself is best described as a Berserk-like video game for its obvious equivocation of Artorias and Guts.
Dark Souls features Artorias in a kneeling position in its cover art where he wears a suit of armor and holds his
Fans have also pointed out that Dark Souls’ Artorias borrows fighting movesets and overall visual language from Guts and his Dragonslayer
Dark Souls has also copied the Red Eye Orb, an item used to initiate PvP mode with other players from Berserk’s Behelit, red orbs with facial features that allow their users to access supernatural powers in exchange for a sacrifice.
7. Shounen Anime and Manga Aren’t Shy About Their Berserk Sword Copies
While big swords are a common trope in anime alongside katana swords, they all trace their origins to the Berserk manga and go as far as to make their wielders similar to Guts himself. Creators of popular shounen manga such as Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan have all credited Berserk for introducing fantasy anime to the mainstream and showed their appreciation in the form of massive swords.
For example, Bleach’s Ichigo Kurosawa carries a massive version of the Zangetsu sword in some parts of the manga and anime. Meanwhile, Black Clover’s Asta borrows the name and size of the
You Can Have Your Own Berserk Sword
While you’re not likely to get a massive fantasy
Wood
Wood is the most common material used for replica swords after stainless steel. Swords made of wood are able to bend during the creation process and keep their shape afterwards, making them ideal for replica samurai swords as well as real practice swords for kendo, a Japanese martial art that uses bamboo swords.
Most
Plastic
Plastic is another prominent
Cosplayers are able to make better use of plastic replica swords since they’re lightweight and low maintenance, however the chunkier look that some plastic swords have made them the least preferred option among detail oriented cosplayers.
Foam
Foam is the lightest of all replica
Conclusion
A lot of cool facts about Berserk’s swords are hard to pin down unless you’re familiar with anime, manga, and video games as a whole. That said, the cultural reach that Berserk has had in these forms of media means that we all get to enjoy supersized swords no matter what we watch, read, or play. The best part is that you can own a piece of pop culture history with a Berserk