The form of Ganishka

[inkthinker]

Pillar of flame, or pillar of... like, a cyclone, wind and rain, a living storm? Is there a color image that's from the manga itself which settles that?

I don't recall him ever being exactly described either way, and I realised recently from looking at the recent chapters that, while I had assumed that he manifests as a wall of fire, the lightning implies more of a storm-aspect, and rising out of the bay like that, he might well be more of a collection of water-vapor and air.

Zodd catches flame after flying through him, but Zodd is also being repeatedly struck by lightning which could be igniting his flesh and fur.

It could be both, really, but which have you seen it as? Or have I just missed the line where someone says "Holy crap! A 100-foot tall talking pillar of fire with a face!!"

[Istvan]

I could be wrong, but my impression is that his body is made of mist. Remember a while back when the Hawks rescued Charlotte, and the entire city was covered in mist? And the emperor talked as if that were his body, so he could sense everything in the entire city (except Zodd, who flew above the mist). As far as Zodd being on fire goes, I'm pretty sure that's from being repeatedly struck by lightning.

The emperor was really awesome in this chapter, though. He has definately redeamed himself as the major power that he has always claimed himself to be.

[EvilDmitri]

Pillar of flame, or pillar of... like, a cyclone, wind and rain, a living storm? Is there a color image that's from the manga itself which settles that?

I don't recall him ever being exactly described either way, and I realised recently from looking at the recent chapters that, while I had assumed that he manifests as a wall of fire, the lightning implies more of a storm-aspect, and rising out of the bay like that, he might well be more of a collection of water-vapor and air.

Zodd catches flame after flying through him, but Zodd is also being repeatedly struck by lightning which could be igniting his flesh and fur.

It could be both, really, but which have you seen it as? Or have I just missed the line where someone says "Holy crap! A 100-foot tall talking pillar of fire with a face!!"

I was considering doing a coloring of one of his pages, and I would color him with a flowing orange and yellow with hints of red perhaps, the lightning being either yellow or a blue-white fade.

I could see him as a water or mist entity but it would be a bit more boring among the contrasts.

[Chaos]

I'm going to say thunder cloud. It would cover the whole misty thing, as well as the ability to spit out lightning at will.

[Shisho]

It's kind of strange to see an apostle of this caliber. Just used to Zodd being the strongest. You'd think his quest for a stronger fight would be headed towards to the emperor, but who knows yet.

[MrFelony]

I always assuemed he was the imbodiment of lighting/a storm...but i guess if he was refered to as a wall of fire...

[FightClub]

I'm going to say thunder cloud. It would cover the whole misty thing, as well as the ability to spit out lightning at will.

That would be fog my friend, low laying clouds, and yeah that should cover it, although I've never seen lightning come from fog.

[SONGSAN]

I kinda picture him as a talking cumulonimbus.

[Istvan]

It's kind of strange to see an apostle of this caliber. Just used to Zodd being the strongest. You'd think his quest for a stronger fight would be headed towards to the emperor, but who knows yet.

I think Zodd was looking for warriors, though. Zodd wants challenges, yes, but he's sort of the ultimate warrior, looking for foes like Guts, or other warriors, who can challenge him on the field of battle. The Emperor's powers seem much more along the lines of magical then fighting, so I'm not sure they're what he was looking for. Alternatively, he might not even have known about the Emperor, nothing says they all have to know one another. Plus, the Emperor may be fairly new, only showing up in the last hundred years or so, whereas Zodd is over 400, so he might just not have run into the Emperor until now.

[Starlore]

Humor me, I'm tired & daydreamy &...STILL at work...(& maybe this should go under the 276 thread?? But it stems from the theories here lol!)

I could be wrong, but with the different portrayals of The Emperor's state of being (like you've all posted), I was under the determination that he was taking the form of a more 'Elemental' type force generally, as opposed to any singular or specific designation. This may play into Shisho's comment regarding him being of a seemingly different caliber than most Apostles.

This is just conjecture, but when I think in terms of beings of this 'powerful', supernatural nature, 3 types come to mind:

~Zodd (above average Apostle)
~Skull Knight & Guts
~(average) Apostles

Please keep in mind that this is a very loose categorization. When you think in terms of what seperates them, or what makes them (in some ways) similar, I feel as if the difference lies in the truth of their being.

Apostles are given power in exchange for a sacrifice, but don't seem to be ambitious beyond that. With "Idea" being a factor, it almost makes sense that the ambitions, desires & otherwise, of humans, would actuate what they become beyond their lives in the Physical realm.

Skull Knight & Guts are a (partial) byproduct of trapsing the line between existances/realms & are driven completely by their insatiable individual desires. In the case of Skull Knight (going on the surmise that he is Gaiseric), he sought to quench his thirst for power by the usual exchange of sacrifices, but similarly to Griffith, his wishes were absolute...There was no wishy washy "I'll take whatever power I can get, limitations included!". It was simply another step in his quest, with the refusal to settle for anything less nor even believe anything less to be possible.

Zodd, though he has a strong volition & is driven by the promise of battle/hope of finding the ultimate warriors to challenge, seems to have
-chosen- loyalty to Femto & the Godhand of his own sense of 'honorable' belief. Still, there's no question that he too, would have been equally firm in his confidence, at being the best & only choice for the embodiement of what it is to be such a fierce warrior as to be unstoppable & in essence, 'Immortal'.

...if one believes firmly enough, their intentions, desires & dreams, may become manifest, under the 'law' of "Idea"

If the truth of one's conviction & intention, in their lives as humans, have a hand in this, perhaps The Emperor is of similar standing as Guts & Skull Knight, if nothing else, by the general notion that his personal will is stronger than that of your typical human that aspires to Apostlehood. Perhaps, considering the projection aspect, his spirituality adds to his Apostlic abilities...Seeing how spirituality itself ultimately raises the bar of the awareness & strength of one's self & soul, this would make sense in a way.

So is it possible that the strength of a soul's conviction, both pre-sacrifice & post, is ultimately the determining factor in which 'caste' of power they will become??

...Or maybe I'm just too damn tired to be making any sense at all, hah

[Istvan]

I would say that most all of the Apostles that we meet seem to have desires beyond just power, and these carry over to their life "post sacrifice". What varies is what those desires were. The elf-Apostle wanted to create elves in that forest, the slug Apostle (second we meet) wanted to rid his land of "heretics", and so on. All of the Apostles (and God's Hand) share the characteristic that they had a very strong beliefe/goal, and it was the complete destruction of that belief/goal that led them to make the sacrifice, as the only way left to them to achieve it. It may very well be that the strength of their desire shapes how much power they gain, though my guess would be more along the lines of the strength of their mind. The more power of pure evil that their mind can except during the transformation, the more powerful they ultimately become. This is, of course, pure speculation, but it would explain why the more powerful Apostles always seem to be so much stronger mentally, as well, and it would also explain the strength of their convictions (or volitions) since these will naturally be stronger in stronger willed individuals. That's my theory on the matter, anyway. Hopefully, eventually Miura will explain how it all works in somewhat greater detail.

[Eldo]

I couldn't be bothered reading any posts in this thread, but I just want to say that Ganshika's form at the end of chapter 276 looks like Femto's left nut. If you guys want to know what Femto's left nut looks like, check out that form.

[Istvan]

That's an... interesting idea, Eldo. And not, I freely admit, one that would have occured to me.

[Skullkracker]

how does he sit with the damn thing?!?!?

[Kaey-Shi]

i dont want to know.....

[hydra[vp]]

I was a bit surprised to see him shoot lightning all of a sudden. I always thought the dude was a pillar of massive flame.

But no doubt his strength is among the top, I wonder if even gatsu fully healed and with berserk power from his armor could match this guy.

So the only path the manga can take from now on is gatsu getting more strength
Maybe healing casca and making her the ultra 1337 demon pwner bitch.

[Sortep]

i don't want to see guts that much stronger... i like the fact that he's always the underdog and pulls the victory out of his ass...i remember 1st reading berserk and seeing that first chapter thinking "oh this is bullshit, i just started liking this guy and he's gonna die?" only to be proven wrong by guts' tenacity... so.. i have to say i don't want him too strong

[Eldo]

how does he sit with the damn thing?!?!?

zomg, you n00b. Everyone knows that Femto brings his own beanbag, if you catch my drift.

[Istvan]

But no doubt his strength is among the top, I wonder if even gatsu fully healed and with berserk power from his armor could match this guy.

I don't see how using a sword (no matter how well or powerfully) could ever have any effect on the Emperor. If Gut's party kills him, I'd put my money on Schierke, or a Schierke-Guts combo. By himself, I don't see what he could do, and, as Sortep pointed out, I don't know that I'd want Guts to be powerful enough to do it on his own. Part of the coolness of this series is how Guts is always battling against the odds.

[Eldo]

I personally want Guts to beat him via strategic means, not through matching his strength. Because throughout the series, he's been fighting against impossible odds and monsters that are ten times more powerful. Matching the opponents strength sounds incredibly bullshit to me in Berserk, that stuff belongs to shounen mangas like DBZ and Bleach. Although with the Thunder Emperor situation, I can't help but smile and recall the fight between Luffy and Eneru in One Piece.

[hydra[vp]]

Ok seems like the opinion is that gatsu shouldnt get any more dmg then

But like Ganishka said why not join him? Sure gatsu hates all the apostles but this guy actually wanna down griffith, that gotta count for something if you get my point. Griffith at a demigods strength versus gatsu and his party. So lets add gatsu+party+ganishka+SK = major asskicking!

Since honestly I don't see anyone being able to do any dmg to griffith even less killing him. Remember in the eclipse when he with a wave of his hand squashed like 5-6 apostles. Just imagine Femto pissed and serious.

[Khelegond]

Simply because that's not the point right now. Gatts wants to heal Casca, and that is more important than killing Griffith now. And Gatts sure hates Griffith, but he hates ALL apostles, equally

[Istvan]

But like Ganishka said why not join him? Sure gatsu hates all the apostles but this guy actually wanna down griffith, that gotta count for something if you get my point. Griffith at a demigods strength versus gatsu and his party. So lets add gatsu+party+ganishka+SK = major asskicking!

Since honestly I don't see anyone being able to do any dmg to griffith even less killing him. Remember in the eclipse when he with a wave of his hand squashed like 5-6 apostles. Just imagine Femto pissed and serious.

Also, I don't actually think that Guts is evil enough to accept all of the things that Ganshika does, and he's got enough willpower and integrity that he refuses to cheapen himself, even for his revenge. He wants revenge on Griffith, but he wants to get it his way.

And while the Apostle crushing was cool, I was actually even more impressed, in a way, by him shattering a cannonball by glaring at it when Guts shoots one at him.

[Eldo]

Guts had devoted his life to kill all apostles, and I don't think he would achieve that means by principle if he was to ally with an apostle. We saw Guts response. We know that it would probably be a wise decision to ally in order to even attempt to beat Griffith, but Ganshika has ulterior motives and also his own reason to defeat Griffith. Once Griffith is down, Ganshika is the new threat to the world and to Guts. From what we've seen of the Kushan, they aren't exactly a friendly bunch of people.

[Son of Socrates]

Well, I see the Kushan as the lesser of two evils. Sure, people flock to Griffith, but at least the Emperor of Terror is honest with what he is.