Berserk Setting Crossover

[Dagda Mor]

Sometime in the near future, I plan to start writing a series of fanfiction pieces set in a combination of the Berserk and Fullmetal Alchemist mangas. Although there are alot of readily apparent differences between the two settings, there are also a number of interesting areas in which they have some common ground. (Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, and by extension some of the anime. It also won't make much sense if you don't know the manga. Berserk spoilers too, but that's assumed).

The world:
The world of this setting can be divided into roughly four parts: Amestris, Midland, The Great Desert and Xing.

Amestris is a powerful nation-state to the west, a military nation that has expanded throughout its long history of border skirmishes. Amestris's military is technologically superior, with a large number of Knight-Alchemists and their development of primitive firearms (The arquebus and early muskets). Their technology is roughly on par with early 16th century Europe.

To the north, the region of Midland has long been composed of countless warring kingdoms. However, in the past ten years many conflicts have been resolved through diplomacy or force, and a tenuous peace now exists (albeit one fraught with political infighting). Two important factors in the creation of this situation was a common enemy in the form of Amestris' increased expansion and the heroic efforts of a mercenary company known as the Band of the Hawk to check this unwanted enroachment. Midland has not been this united since Emperor Gaiseric's rule of the realm half a century ago.

To the east is the region known as Xing, home of the mysterious and powerful Kushan Empire. Little is known about Kushans or their rumored military might, but the rest of the world will soon have a firsthand education...

To the south, the great desert is said to once have been home to the mighty city-state of Xerxes. However, the only sign of such a city today is a series of desert ruins hinting at some great catastrophe. The great desert is occupied by the Ishvalans, a people composed of scattered tribes which have been exploited by Amestrians and Kushans alike.

The Cosmology:
Humans subconciously influence their surroundings. As a whole, they determine the shape of the world. This influence is in a way responsible for the presence of "hell", or the nether realm filled with tormented souls. Alchemy, then, draws upon the power of the nether realm to influence our own world; and the nether realm itself draws its power from the suffering and death of humans. Although normally separate worlds, the two planes are linked together through The Gate.

The gate appears as an ornate construction, possibly of Xerxesian origin, which stands alone in a blank, white emptiness. On the other side lies the nether realm. Depending on the circumstances, one of several things may happen. First off, the gate always appears when one dies. The doors swing open, and a torrent of souls reach out towards the deceased. Some, unwilling to die even after the fact, decide not to enter and instead wander off into the blank emptiness, seeking a way to return to their world. This is how ghosts come to be.

The second way for the gate to appear requires the use of the philosopher's stone. Philosopher's stones, or as the Ishvalans call them, Behelits, are legendary items; translucent red egg-shaped stones in the shape of a human face, which grant vast alchemical power and even provide instinctive insights into the fundamental working of alchemy. According to the rumors, only the most skilled of philosophers can create a perfect stone; but even flawed stones are still quite powerful. In reality, all Behelits are "imperfect." They can achieve their perfect form in order to open the gate, but only when certain criteria are met. They must be in contact with the blood of the one who holds the stone, and that person must subconciously offer to make a deal with the nether realms despite possessing an instinctive comprehension of the terrible price to be paid. In this case, when the gate is called it remains closed but one or more of the god hand will appear to offer the deal to the behelit's wielder, usually obscured as a silhouette. If the person accepts the term and sacrifices those who were dear to them, then the power of the nether realms will be bestowed upon them and they will become an apostle.

The third way to call the gate is through alchemy. When an alchemist attempts to access the nether realm, usually by trying to bring the dead back to life, they find themselves at the gate like to those who use a behelit. However, in this case the god hand is far more open in their negotiations- and the hapless alchemist has none of the instinctive clues as to the danger of their situation. While they can make the alchemist into an apostle, they can also grant other requests for other prices. The most common form of this is to open the gate only a fraction, giving the alchemist a momentary glimpse- enough to gain instinctive insights into the secrets of alchemy, but not enough to understand the full horror that lies beyond. The price of this is usually some part of the alchemist's body, which the God Hand can use in the creation of homunculi.

The God Hand have two ways of manifesting themselves in the material world. They may create a termporary form out of whatever is present at the site- intestines, dead rats, etc. The only other option is to come into this world as a Homunculus. This is an extremely elaborate process requring a living body in the nether realm (Usually composed of parts given by foolish alchemists, though there are other methods) and an event duplicating the eclipse in the material realm. Currently, three of the seven members of the God Hand are manifest as homunculi: Femto and the two rebellious members, the Skull Knight and Ganishka.

Character Changes:
> or <: The 'greater' character is largely unchanged, but also occupies a role similar to the one their 'lesser' counterpart does in the other manga.
=: The two characters will combine their characteristics.
For your reference: Berserk Characters and Fullmetal Alchemist characters.

Guts>Scar: The brand on gut's neck is part of an elborate pattern burned across his back, shoulder and right arm, although thankfully the rest of the pattern doesn't bleed. His vendetta against monsters also includes alchemists somewhat.
Isidoro<Edward Elric: Only recently a Knight-Alchemist, Ed is still inexperienced, especially emotionally. His travels with Guts will be a large part of his emotional development. His automail is less streamlined, but still quite functional.
Azan=Major Armstrong: Still wears armor and accompanies Farnese, although the helmet design is rather distinctively Armstrongian in shape, including the mustache.
Godo=Dominic: He lives in a secluded area and rarely makes automail, but he's damn good at it.
Erica>Paninya: The little girl does have automail legs, and doesn't quite realize how hard her kicks are.
Mozgus>Father Cornello: Still an inquisitor of the church, but he takes a more active roll in managing the camps around the tower.
Farnese>Rose: Ed interacts with farnese in a similar fasion to Rose.
Silat=Ling Yao: More easygoing than Silat, less lackadaisical than Ling. Doesn't have that whole thing with Greed occur. Prince of a disgraced clan, which of course alters his motivation.

The God Hand/The Truth/The Heralds of Sin, in order of creation:
Void>Pride
Skull Knight>Wrath
Emperor Ganishka>Greed
Conrad>Gluttony
Slan=Lust
Ubik>Sloth
Femto>Envy

Caska: Like Guts, also branded in a more elaborate fashion.
King Bradley: An apostle, albeit a damn strong one.
Winry Rockbell: Apprenticed to Dominic/Godo.
Roy Mustang: Fought the old Band of the Hawk, and was defeated. Currently serves on the field, but will end up joining the Neo-Band of the Hawk with his unit when he sees the threat the Kushans pose. Is actually being groomed to become an apostle by sacrificing his men. . .
Riza Hawkeye: Guns in this period have very poor accuracy. She uses a bow.

Where you guys come in:
I welcome whatever feedback and questions you guys have on the choices I've made, of course, but at this point I also have two major topics. First, there is the matter of the cosmology. My understanding of the workings of the berserk universe aren't exactly 100%, and I suspect certain details I'm using from there aren't spot-on either. The second, big one is the issue of which members of the God Hand should be associated with which of the seven deadly sins. Personally, I felt like Griffith should be Envy, but there are several other interpetations (such as Pride).

(I believe this is an appropriate thread for the berserk forum, but if not please feel free to move it to the manga section. I'm just trying to reach more people).

P.S: Plot points coming soon, including an outline of the Chapter of the Birth Festival.

[Skullkracker]

well...hmmm...good for you...

anyone wnat to comment on the idea?
I don't know Fullmetal alchemist at all

[Femto]

Why don't you create your own story?

[LordMune]

Why don't you create your own story?

[psi29a]

Why don't you create your own story?

fanfictions are the suck.

[Albator]

They also infamously lead to the apparition of Doujinshi. I'm wish I could think of a way to savagely nuke anything related to it. They are like cancer.

/rant

But trying to do a crossover might be a good exercise to hone one's skills, before moving on a more personal story.

[psi29a]

Should it stay or should it go?

[Albator]

Far as I'm concern it can go, didn't even read the thing. I stopped after crossover FMA/Beseks. Too.....much......goddamn....words!

[Dagda Mor]

Why don't you create your own story?

I've done a few stories in the past. I just find this idea really interesting, even if it requires a large amount of background knowledge.

And yes, I know there are tons of staggeringly crappy fanfics out there. Trying to find good material on fanfiction.net is like trying to find good AMVs on youtube.

[Deathbringer]

And yes, I know there are tons of staggeringly crappy fanfics out there. Trying to find good material on fanfiction.net is like trying to find good AMVs on youtube.

I´ve found a couple.


About fanfictions, most of them are shit simple as that, and a crossover fanfiction has a even greater chance of sucking so good luck with that.

[Dagda Mor]

Well, I'm certainly going to try not to suck. That's why I posted here, to see if my basic interpetations were sound.

Let me try a different tack. The seven deadly sins are Sloth, Gluttony, Pride, Wrath, Lust, Greed and Envy. If you were to assign these sins among the God Hand, Emperor Ganishka and the Skull Knight, which would you assign to whom? For example, I would assign Femto the sin of envy above all the others (I saw him as envying Guts and Caska for their relationship and physical well-being), but arguments can also be made for pride, lust, greed, etc.

[Skullkracker]

OK, I'll go along with this one:

Let's give pride to Skull Knight
wrath to Ganishka
Lust...guess who?
gluttony and greed to those chubby little monks
sloth to Void (he is too damn lazy to grab a bite to eat for crying out loud!)

so what's left?
well waddya know! ran out of deadly sins


newborn Griffith gets gheyness!!!

now that I think about it, we can also give greed to Femto! or envy to Void!

[Chris]

Wall of text crits you for 5000 damage. You die.

[Brainpiercing]

Wall of text crits you for 5000 damage. You die.

Good one.

My take on this: If you want to write your story, DO. But don't expect people here to be overly helpful. It's not our way, you'll find it very hard to win us over, there's simply too much stupidity being shoved our way. But don't let that discourage you, because, after all, it's YOUR idea. And I can see you put some thought into it, and you're not stupid. Deluded, maybe? Just kidding .

Once you have a draft, I'll read it, and I'll give you my opinion, but I don't think participating in this will be my thing.

[Istvan]

It looks interesting, and if after you've developed it a bit you want some feedback, I'd be willing to offer suggestions, but right now there's barely an outline, so there's not all that much to help with. I'd personally make Griffith pride, but it can certainly be argued either way. It looks like it could be very interesting, so go for it.

[Starnum]

Wall of text crits you for 5000 damage. You die.

Good one.

My take on this: If you want to write your story, DO. But don't expect people here to be overly helpful. It's not our way, you'll find it very hard to win us over, there's simply too much stupidity being shoved our way. But don't let that discourage you, because, after all, it's YOUR idea. And I can see you put some thought into it, and you're not stupid. Deluded, maybe? Just kidding .

Once you have a draft, I'll read it, and I'll give you my opinion, but I don't think participating in this will be my thing.

Yeah, what he said.

I've never been to keen on Fanfics. However, if you actually write this one, I'll read it when it's done and give you my opinion on it.

[psi29a]

Then the thread stays.

You make it, I'll read it. Don't expect us to go soft on ya though.

[Istvan]

Frankly, anyone who expects us to go easy on anyone or anything, is either dreaming or in denial.

[ryusenka]

Frankly, anyone who expects us to go easy on anyone or anything, is either dreaming or in denial.

This is the truth about them.

[Fuji Nagase]

im really not a fan of FMA, but since i love berserk oh so much, ill read it too, and give u some feedback. if you can change my mind about not liking FMA..like at ALL, then you got some talent kid. go for it!

[Starnum]

Have you read the FMA manga? It's pretty damn good. A hell of a lot better than the anime.

[FightClub]

Write one about the users of this forum, the majority of them are so fucking vain that they'll read it just to see their names, and how badness they are.

[Femto]

Write one about the users of this forum, the majority of them are so fucking vain that they'll read it just to see their names, and how badness they are.

Do it, at least it'll be original.

I'm sorry, but I don't see the point of doing this.

[Istvan]

Point? Point? Who says there has to be a point? Besides having fun and keeping ourselves amused, of course. Amusing ourselves is the point.

[Starnum]

Yes, it is. However, I reserve the right to write about Starnum tm. And in fact, often have.