Evil Genius

The conclusion has always been the most important part of any story to me, and I would guess most others. Unfortunately it is usually the part most horrendously butchered. Here are a few things which I think would either be cop-outs or otherwise shitty ways to end Berserk:

1) [spoiler]As seen in the missing chapter, there is a benevolent collective subconscious-like being controlling the Berserk universe, that is the manifestation of negative feelings. It would be trite and a complete betrayal of the rest of the series to have all the people in Midland (or the world) somehow lay down their negative feelings, and thus rob the 'god' of it's power.[/spoiler]
2) Guts finding some long-forgotten, God-hand-slaying weapon, forged in the fire of Mt. MacGuffin. [spoiler]Or similarity, the Skull Knight's deepthroating sword Behelit technique, which has failed at least twice now, somehow defeating the Godhand.[/spoiler] Variations of either of these swords have been used time and again in most mediocre fantasy epics, and would cheapen Berserk.
3) Puck surviving. I do not think much explanation is needed.

This list is not by any means exhaustive, simply what I would find most offensive. What cliche(s) would piss you off the most to see in the conclusion of Berserk?

griffith suicides due to guilt, and taking the other god hands with him in some grand final attack, or even worse taking down the "idea of evil" in that attack

or the god hands being defeated by the four magical great ones due to some magical spell

Everyone lives.

Gutts accepts some kind of higher power that transforms him into a demon or angel or something other than human in order to have the power to defeat Griffith. Even the Skull Knight claims to have a human heart. I think it would be a cop out if Gutts defeats Griffith with anything but his own power (even if it's amplified with the Berserker armor, it's still his own strength).

Personally, I would object to anything I saw as "cliche." Berserk has been an amazing epic, doing things I've never seen any other anime/manga do, and I would hate to see Berserk loose the very things that make it so amazing.


On a side note:
[spoiler]

As seen in the missing chapter, there is a benevolent collective subconscious-like being controlling the Berserk universe, that is the manifestation of negative feelings. It would be trite and a complete betrayal of the rest of the series to have all the people in Midland (or the world) somehow lay down their negative feelings, and thus rob the 'god' of it's power.

I don't think the word "benevolent" means quite what you seem to think it does. [/spoiler]

1. Kentarou Miura dies before finishing.

2. Guts sacrifices everyone in order to kill Griffith.

3. Miura starts drawing stick figures for a couple of chapters and ends the series with a very detailed picture of a turkey.

lon3vvolf wrote:1. Kentarou Miura dies before finishing.

2. Guts sacrifices everyone in order to kill Griffith.

3. Miura starts drawing stick figures for a couple of chapters and ends the series with a very detailed picture of a turkey.

I...can't argue with that. Any of those endings would be seriously upsetting.

Sadly #1 seems depressingly likely...

lon3vvolf wrote:3. Miura starts drawing stick figures for a couple of chapters and ends the series with a very detailed picture of a turkey.

What is this strange new feeling? Am I...Am I actually wishing for this to happen?
I couldn't possibly be doing that, a ending like that would destroy everything that Berserk is, yet...

I nominate this for BEST POST OF 2010.
No sarcasm, not even a trace of irony, no nothing. This, gentlemen, is pure literary genius.
lon3vvolf, you beautiful beast, you have done it.


EDIT: Leslie Nielsen is dead.
Who cares, right?
[spoiler]Well, I do.
Holy shit, I can't believe he's dead! The naked gun, that plane movie...gone! The insanity, the madness, the absurd, gone forever.
I need to lay down now.
I know it's just an actor dying, but no, dammit! That character was awesome! I just can't picture him dead.
He always had that mildly surprised, kinda confused, somehow detached expression while doing the most outrageous things. *Sniff*
And the worst part is that, in retrospective, those movies were fucking terrible. Dammit.
It's like seeing an archetype die. It's just not supposed to happen.[/spoiler]

Way I Do Not Want Berserk To End:

Guts decides to get even with Griffith for raping Casca by raping Slan. Of course, since Slan is far too kinky to rape in the conventional sense-- she'd only enjoy that-- what Guts does is he takes her out to a nice seafood dinner with wine and candles, makes witty and enjoyable small talk throughout the evening, walks her home, and kisses her on the cheek on her doorstep. On the third date, he formally asks permission before making timid and passionless love to her. By about the fifth date, frustrated by the constant anticipation of a brutal raping that's never going to come, Slan cheats on him with the corpse of the Phil. And that's how Guts gets his revenge.

hbi2k wrote:Way I Do Not Want Berserk To End:

Guts decides to get even with Griffith for raping Casca by raping Slan. Of course, since Slan is far too kinky to rape in the conventional sense-- she'd only enjoy that-- what Guts does is he takes her out to a nice seafood dinner with wine and candles, makes witty and enjoyable small talk throughout the evening, walks her home, and kisses her on the cheek on her doorstep. On the third date, he formally asks permission before making timid and passionless love to her. By about the fifth date, frustrated by the constant anticipation of a brutal raping that's never going to come, Slan cheats on him with the corpse of the Phil. And that's how Guts gets his revenge.

wow well thought out... ok the way I dont want it to go is... Guts dieing... that will suck :Evil:

Yeah, Guts dying by the hand of those pirates would be a big anticlimax =p

a robert jordan "ending"

Not to speak ill of the departed, but to be perfectly honest it's only since Brandon Sanderson took over for Jordan that I've found myself looking at a new Wheel of Time book with actual anticipation as opposed to a sort of resigned, "Well, I've come this far, I suppose I have to read the next one." If we were to assume that A.) Miura has the ending planned out such that the story would be substantially the same and B.) someone (or more likely a team of someones) could be found to take over the art in a similar style, I think worse things could happen than having the reigns of Berserk handed to someone who might actually be inclined to stick to a sane release schedule.

Call me crazy.

hbi2k wrote:Not to speak ill of the departed, but to be perfectly honest it's only since Brandon Sanderson took over for Jordan that I've found myself looking at a new Wheel of Time book with actual anticipation as opposed to a sort of resigned, "Well, I've come this far, I suppose I have to read the next one." If we were to assume that A.) Miura has the ending planned out such that the story would be substantially the same and B.) someone (or more likely a team of someones) could be found to take over the art in a similar style, I think worse things could happen than having the reigns of Berserk handed to someone who might actually be inclined to stick to a sane release schedule.

Call me crazy.

Good luck finding someone/a team of someones capable of a reasonable approximation of Miura's artwork. I'll be impressed if you can.

there are other artworks on par with berserk, like vagabond or the ravages of time... but sure there are not that many, but its probably not entirely impossible if they have a team where each guy is specialized in sth

Now i do agree about Brandon Sanderson taking over, other then a few minor problems with a few characters "voices" (like matt in the gathering storm) i am very happy with everything Sanderson has written and have him ranked as one of my favorite authors. putting aside the off chance of some very talented person taking over for it though, can you imagine how you would feel after all the time spent reading this series and waiting for the releases only to have Miura die before the end would, for me at least, create a volatile combination of rage and depression.

even if it was finished by someone else, if it didn't live up to your expectations, be it Miura's intended ending or not, you would always have the doubts of what if he managed to finish this series?

peacefull, happy ending, starting happy family... you'll get what i mean flowwers and rainbow style... if that happens im so pissed

ending i hate to see:
1. Not finding out each past of the God Hand, finish up Skull Knights (if he really was the original king of midland)
2. Griffith having some sort of redemption.
3. Caska is still fkn retarded.
and finally,
I wouldnt mind a "happier" ending, as Gattsu life has been one hell after another, so I wouldnt mind seeing an end where he has lost a leg (now has a prosthetic) and is chilling at cottage with his black haired kid running around and Caska is like how she was in Griffith's dream. That would be fine to me. As long as there is an epic battle between Gattsu and Griffith before hand where he eventually drives his broken Dragonslayer through Griffith's chest in one big bloodfest similar to the Eclipse. ---only way I can imagine it ending.

I will destroy the world if its all a dream.

Starnum wrote:I wouldn't mind seeing a happy ending either, just because it seems so unlikely. Predictable endings suck, but I'm not really expecting a happy ending with Berserk. I imagine Guts defeating Griffith, but also dieing in the process, which I'd rather not see happen because it's predictable and overdone. Though that's most likely going to be the case. A happy ending, where Griffith redeems himself, that's actually what I would like to see. I mean, who can really say they think that's what will happen. Even if I thought it was possible, which I suppose it is, it would still surprise me. I like being surprised, most of the time.

A happy ending where Griffith redeams himself would really disapoint me. I like being surprised by the ending also, but that kind of ending would strike me more as cliche and not worthy of Berserk. The kind of surprise ending I like is one that you totally never saw coming, and that's amazing. Even more amazing because you could have never predicted it. A "Griffith redeams himself in the end and everything ends up with a happy ending" situation would strike me more as surprising simply because it was so disapointing. I could never predict it simply because I could never imagine Miura doing something that pathetic.

I'd also have a real hard time believing in such an ending simply because it doesn't seem to fit with any of the main characters; I can't see them acting that way.

Starnum wrote:Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm just a sucker for a happy ending, though it would feel very inappropriate, so maybe it wouldn't be that great. *shrugs* The ending that you totally don't see coming (As long as it's not some funky BS) would definitely be the best. That's what I'm hoping for, and honestly I have faith that Miura will come through. I'm expecting the ending where Guts sacrifices himself to achieve his goals and destroy the God Hand, but I'm also not putting it past Miura to totally surprise us in a good way.

Yeah, exactly. I wouldn't be opposed to an awesome happy ending, though I don't expect one, I'd be opposed to a sappy cliche happy ending, where Griffith sees the errors of his ways, redeams himself, etc. etc.

Well, whatever happens, I don't want Griffith to survive in any way, shape or form.

I've never been so infuriated over any fictional event in my life as I was after seeing the Eclipse.

There's no way he can redeem himself. He has to die. Horribly.
It'd be beyond awesome to see Griffith fall by Guts' hand and return to his pre-demonic state (broken body before the eclipse, same way as Wyald died) before finally being taken by the vortex to suffer for eternity.

Superboi wrote:I will destroy the world if its all a dream.

I'd burn every volume I own if it was.
Berserk: Guts' Ladder.
Everything since Gambino died and guts fell off the cliff with an arrow in his chest has been a dying hallucination/dream.