Berserk - Was Guts Based on a Real Person!?

(Berserk) Was Guts Based on a Real Person!? Was Guts, the Black Swordsman, based on legendary knight Götz von Berlichingen!?
As strange as it sounds, some anime and manga characters were inspired and based on real people. Rock lee was based on bruce lee, Asimov and Katerina from Cowboy Bebop were based on Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, and countless One Piece characters were based on real people.
Now… was guts, the main character of berserk, based on a real person?
DeltaDashDash's video: • Berserk - Interview wi...
Burgfestspiele Jagsthausen's play • Götz von Berlichingen ...

[@SnowyJakub]

What if the dude was just a really big Berserk fan and went back in time to roleplay as his favourite character

[@weather9405]

Hm

[@justsomeguywithoutamustach8816]

A true die hard fan

[@bigfoot3866]

I will be this man. Almost done mastering time travel. It works different than you think. You need to project your consciousness into some other time it IS possible tp posess a human being. It requires DMT, psi affinity, and a series of bineral sounds. You "plank out" of space time. This post is not a joke the cia has released papers on it.

[@AbuRashidIbnArabi]

@@bigfoot3866 Sup Joe Rogan I see youre using your alt acc again

[@Yuseigo]

@@bigfoot3866 you've killed me 😂

[@epiczombiedoctor5961]

Gotz is a pretty cool guy even if he didnt inspire guts character

[@user-ns3nj1jr8h]

@Evaly FBI agent If you tell me that some guy in the medieval ages fought until the age of 80s and with a metal hand I’ll call it bs

[@richardhauer8391]

@@user-ns3nj1jr8h No, he retired with 64 years. And all the stories about him as a robin hood figure are from his autobiography. So he probably stole and started feuds for his own benefit. But he was a (late) medieval knight, who fought with an iron hand and died at 82 years.

[@johnnonamegibbon3580]

He's a pimp

[@VCMEntertainments]

​@@user-ns3nj1jr8h people were stronger back than. with a high child-mortality only 50% made it to adultness. With the lack of modern medicine you just have to rely on your body and faith to overcome plagues and sickness. Life was more physical demanding as no automation existed and every labor was handwork. It is something diffrent if you just hit the gym for an hour and heat your home with electric that comes from a plantation with high automated processing - or if you have to hack wood frequently to have enough to heat the stove in your hut. They needed no gym. That People in the medieval ages died earlier because of malnutrition and sickness. The part about the malnutriton is the crack though. There lived alot people in that era that easily reached an age of 90. And these people where often from higher stand, cleriks, Knights, nobles etc. off course they could rely on a rich nutrition with enough proteins and vitamins. Friedrich Barbarossa was 68 when he joined the Crusades and was still healthy enough to carry his full armor, for example. He still drowned though. Healthy or physical demanding lifestyle, good nutrition, no raffined or artificial chemicals in your food and no invention of pension. You work until you die. Compare the 80 year olds of a western civilized country. worked till 60 and then did nothing and then you get dementia or your body shuts down as you dont use it and fed it with modern junkfood most of the time. look at the 80 year olds in 3rd or 2nd world countries that have no pensionplan and still work. they are not as fit as a 20 year old but still mentaly and physically fit for their age because they need to work still. It all depends on lifestyle and food.

[@marvintimke3978]

GÖTZ

[@Anon26535]

I always got the feeling it was the Ziggy Effect. Miura probably heard about Gotz somewhere and forgot about it but the information was still hanging around in his subconscious.

[@Anon26535]

@@RADZ97 There's an episode of Seinfeld where Elaine sends a cartoon to the New Yorker. It turns out the joke was originally in a Ziggy comic that Elaine had seen but forgotten about.

[@RADZ97]

@@Anon26535 Very weird, that happens to me alot but I didn't know that's what it is called

[@jaskitstepkit7153]

Nah, it is often that people's ideas and fantasies can have similarities.

[@miss_bec]

It's more likely that the characteristics shared by Guts and Gotz are almost universally perceived as badass and larger than life, rather than the Ziggy effect. Individually they're fairly common tropes - prosthetic-wielding soldier, mercenary, vulgar - but combined they just happen to represent both Guts and Gotz. I tell stories through tabletop games like D&D all the time, and I often get my friends telling me they find a character or enemy similar to something in real life when they weren't intentionally based on anything specific.

[@richardnash6111]

Yeah I unknowingly do that myself. I think it's more common than people realize. I only notice when I go back and realize that I've quoted a long forgotten film or other media. I'm lucky I don't like mainstream media for the most part.

[@killertaco97]

He isn't based on anyone, he's just *Based*

[@Velkan1396]

Nice

[@theArab__]

Based

[@lalramdinavarte4987]

extra based desu

[@lucamckenn5932]

I really like the prototype guts. Specifically the version of him with an eye patch where he bangs demon ladies before blowing them away, and he drank alcohol and was generally more dour and dire. Kind of like a demon slaying duke nukem.

[@chadkingoffuckmountain970]

On what?

[@Nivmax]

Little tip from a German: Your pronounciation of Goethe should have also been how you pronounce Götz. Ö and oe make the same sound.

[@oscarlundberg7462]

As a Swedish person, I know this full well.

[@anotherranger2924]

Silence individualist

[@ComicAcolyte]

Goatsz then? Lol my brother soon to be a doctor in history and I mentioned this guy and he knows him and he pronounced better than me.

[@Nivmax]

@@ComicAcolyte For an Ö your mouth is formed like it is when you pronounce an O, but you press the tip of your tounge against your lower front teeth.

[@darthnihilusthebestsith]

Imagine actually calling put THIS channel on mispronunciation. Man has mostly wrong in English

[@justsomeguywithoutamustach8816]

Götz is pretty cool Can't wait for Griffith alternative

[@yakobi8434]

Griffith is easily one of the best 2 dimensional (2d just meaning that he doesn't change in the story much, not a bad thing) characters written. It's like his character is just a psychopath/narcissist that has amplified charm. He also has a self loathing thing going on whenever he loses control of a situation. I know this comment was joke but Griffith reflects traits of a lot leaders throughout history. As far as I read at least.

[@crios8307]

I don't know if it can be, but I see quite the similarity between Griffith and Lady Oscar LET ME EXPLAIN Miura read shoujo manga (and Versailles no bara is one of the most famous and tragic one), some say he even called his berserk a shoujo (as in "feminine emotion" over "masculinity rationalitu"). I find that Griffith has her same charisma, rank (generals), effeminate but strong presence, fair hair and luck with ladies (a princess in particular) and a cold demeanor with people they don't know/nobles in general. It can be a stretch of an inspiration, but in reality I don't see why it cannot be

[@malekbaroud1094]

Griffith is basically a manga version of prophet sulaiman Prophet sulaiman ruled the entire planet all creatures animals humans and even jinn(supernatural demonic creatures) obeyed him

[@malekbaroud1094]

@@fica1137 he is a prophet from islamic mythology just like mohammed and jesus

[@fica1137]

@@malekbaroud1094 Huh Bible doesn't mention anything about ruling the entire world

[@bjornsmith9431]

Kentaro Miura token influences cenobites Hellraiser the Godhands, Star War reference in Chapter 363 and Flesh and Blood Rutge Hauer movie.

[@cloudbloom]

Not to mention the names of the Godhand members being based on the titles of old sci fi books, and there are many other influences which Miura had taken inspiration from throughout berserk

[@anotherfacelesscomment989]

Ah yes the Millennium Falcon arc

[@NoxAtlas]

@@cloudbloom And now it's a weird mix of sci-fi, Nietzsche Philosophy and Bible references. But it works pretty good. Reminds me of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure which is basically just Araki's Spotify playlist. And it still managed to become one of the most popular series. Proves that references can make your work successful if you use it wisely

[@tahaelhour690]

Also Ash from the evil dead, Cobra, devil man and Conan the barbarian.

[@mirror8519]

Also from Phantom of Paradise.

[@DemonHerbaciany]

Its realy suprising that Guts weren't based on this character. Realy cool video, I would like to see more videos like that in the future. Maybe about Cassca or Griffith.

[@DemonHerbaciany]

@@spiritoffiction6844 Looking forward to that than :D

[@S3aCa1mRa1n]

I’m sure the creator must’ve skimmed a part of midevil German history that spoke about him. If not it’s a very interesting coincidence.

[@z55177]

@@spiritoffiction6844 Casca was based on the Casca Eternal Mercenary book series.

[@cloudbloom]

I've known about this coincidence for many years (because of the DVD interview haha) but I'm glad you made this video, I still see the question posed in berserk groups by people who find out about Götz

[@IGeorge94]

Which dvd can I find the interview?

[@c.galindo9639]

@@IGeorge94 it says in the video as well

[@stanleystanleystanley3140]

I know this may not be as exiting to many, but Guts’s past obviously loosely mirrors the childhood of Miyamoto Musashi.

[@civotamuaz5781]

Who dat?

[@Gobbostopper]

@@civotamuaz5781 one of the biggest badasses of feudal japan.

[@stanleystanleystanley3140]

@@civotamuaz5781 a master samurai that ran away from home and made his first kill in a duel at the age of 14 against an adult. He would go on to win 60 duels slaying the teachers and masters of Japan’s finest dueling academies. He also fought in several military skirmishes. He retired from fighting at age 26.

[@mybawzarerichie]

Considering that in the Berserk Prototype Guts was conceptualised by Miura as an exiled Samurai wondering a medieval landscape I could see this being an inspiration for Miura. Since without the eyepatch Prototype Guts and Serialised Guts look pretty much the same I imagine Miura kept this inspo.

[@bodhi8828]

Wow, what a synchronicity... It really seems like the archetype of Guts is manifesting itself in Miura's art and the real life completely unbeknownst to each other. Shows how deep this character really is.

[@LinkEX]

I didn't know about this interview until now and falsely assumed that Guts was based on Götz von Berlichingen. Which seemed especially likely to me at the time because Kentaro Miura was known to find inspiration in medieval European folklore and symbolism. If synchronicity is a thing, this sure is one example, haha.

[@LinkEX]

Too bad Miura didn't get to live up to 82 years like Götz did.

[@PSNSMANIACALMIND1st]

Was looking for the Jungian comment. Berserk as archetypal fiction is too true.

[@pomponi0]

Fun fact: Before I watched Berserk I read about Götz and wanted to make a story/character off him. He would have both arms at first but wearing jack chains, and he would later meet a HUGE Landsknecht who wielded a Zweihander and would give the main character a grimoire. When they came back to civilian life they would summon a demon, not to sell their souls but to basically scam it.

[@Stephen-so9oi]

The God Tyr

[@ShadowPa1adin]

"He was the man who invented the term 'kiss my ass.'" Yep, sounds like Guts to me.

[@maximumcockage6503]

Another important thing you forgot to mention. Gotz had an imperial ban on him. Twice. Essentially it meant anyone could kill him if they wanted with no consequences. Meaning he'd have to be extremely vigilant and continuously fight for his life. His first imperial ban lasted two years. Sound familiar? Guts' brand forced him to fight every single day for his life. For two years, until he met Schierke who could cover his brand mark. There's no way Miura didn't take inspiration from Gotz.

[@toblox3809]

bro thats a good point

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Outlawed basically and whats more bad ass is instead of say "I am done this Bandit, Mercenary stuff is done" he went "F that Noise"

[@NUCLEARDASH]

It is totally possible that miura didnt take inspiration from him. You see, we all share the collective unconcious, a lot of this happen everyday because of it

[@DrZombifiedZane]

facts

[@joeschmo4646]

He was kill on sight outside his own land but not on it. So he didn’t have it as bad as Guts but he’s still an awesome figure for many other reasons.

[@furanduron4926]

I think Guts is loosely based on amalgamation of real people and other ideas.

[@EmeraldEdge72]

A common problem when writing a story is that 99.99% of what you come up with has either already been made, thought of, or happened in reality or fiction somewhere on the planet. It is in no way a deterrent to stop you from making your own story it is just keep you grounded and down to earth. Many writers, artists, and developers go through this. This one time I pitched to a friend that it would be great to have a game where you kill humans and he said like that indie PS2 game destroy all humans. To which to my surprise existed despite me never ever coming across the game. Another time while learning to skateboard a friend who also skated asked me what I was trying to do one day. I told him I was trying to ride the skateboard upside down. For weeks and weeks he told e watch Daewon Song vs. Rodney Mullen round 3. I finally watched it, and saw how someone had already been able to do exactly what I had been trying to do which is called darkslide riding on the grip tape.

[@zzodysseuszz]

I’ve experienced this a lot with most of my characters except a few which are merely comparable to other characters but not identical or similar

[@rodactyl6807]

@@zzodysseuszz its funny how sometimes you can not even notice yourself doing it, step back for a few days and go "oh shit, thats just a mash up from like 3 comic book story arks " lol.

[@kekpriority66]

I also thought of creating a series where people fight with "beings coming out of them. These beings are made up of inner energy or inner determination". Then, a few years later, I discovered Persona, JoJo and HxH.

[@zzodysseuszz]

@@kekpriority66 since when did hxh have that idea??

[@kekpriority66]

@@zzodysseuszz netero's nen ability.

[@yohannbiimu]

The coincidences are very interesting, and having listened to the brief about Gotz's life it sounded to me that they were indeed coincidences. Guts from Berserk only fought for himself, well, for the most part, while the historic knight sounded really sounded like someone who fought for justice and honor in his society. They are two totally different characters.

[@thanquolrattenherz9665]

i dont think he fought for justice i think he was a hothead and just loved to declare war on entire cities on his own and get marked for dead by the emperoer for two times. true he helped his peasants but guts does this sometimes to.

[@richardnash6111]

Guts fought for the original Band of the Hawk, Casaca and his current group who are like a family to him... He fights for who he loves.

[@yohannbiimu]

@@richardnash6111 Yes, my opinion of Guts has changed since I wrote that. I agree with you.

[@cantinadudes]

Götz 100% did not fight for justice and honor lol, he was basically the drunk guy you see at a bar picking fights with randoms.. except the random dudes he picked fights with were entire cities and at some point even the holy roman empire itself

[@kalkisrevenge4841]

@@cantinadudes Cringe take

[@johnnonamegibbon3580]

Ironically, the picture of Gots at 6:43 looks like it was drawn by Miura. That looks straight out any war scene in the manga.

[@SM-zl4zd]

1:58

[@cornelims7441]

you sound like you've never seen a draw before until you discovered manga

[@johnnonamegibbon3580]

@@cornelims7441 lol I'm an artist. That specific piece looks extremely similar to how he draws knights. Considering the subject matter, it's very serendipitous (that's a ten dollar word for you) that the knight in question was draw nearly the same as Miura.

[@cornelims7441]

@@johnnonamegibbon3580 you mean the other way around buddy , and no since both the draws are different , one tries to make the face look less realistic , and the other tries to make the faces look similar to a real character and more realistic , and infact the story of gotz the iron hand is not similar to the story of guts , the only similarities between them is the arm

[@troganx1]

@@cornelims7441 You might oughta be less stubborn and take this less personally. I think he primarily is referring to the level of detail Miura puts in to shading, and how weighty the sets of armor he manages to draw look. Obviously they are not the exact same, as one was likely done at a point in time long before Miura (let alone any of us in the comment section) were born, and while you did correctly identify that Miura (shockingly) has his own art style, you can't completely deny the aesthetic similarities of both Miura and whoever had originally drawn that portrait of Gotz.

[@tenslein8977]

The author of Violence Jack, Go Nagai, outlived Kentaro Miura. Wtf.

[@Adam-js6mi]

mangaka life baby

[@RADZ97]

Also Nagai made Devilman which was some influence on Berserk

[@tenslein8977]

​@@RADZ97 I just watched a few minutes of it. It's somehow darker and gorier than Berserk. Berserk is more dramatic though imo. The monsters in Devilman look like Apostles in Berserk.

[@KnjazNazrath]

@@tenslein8977 >author >watched A film is not a book. You can't compare comics by comparing films.

[@RADZ97]

@@tenslein8977 you should read the original Devilman manga, its wild but tame compared to the Yuasa version

[@TheGuzeinbuick]

"Collective unconscious" I guess. For all we know, Miura saw something about Gotz when he was 4 years old, and the memory nestled itself into his subconscious. Or maybe just an uncanny coincidence. Who really knows for sure?

[@c.galindo9639]

Causality

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Not to mention, Midguard might aa well be Medieval to Early Modern Germany because the HRE was one of the more politically decentralised states, from Internal wars like the Hussite Wars to the European Wars of Religion to the Italian Wars, Northern Crusades, Wars with the Ottomans ect, the Pope and the Emperor even had a lot of Beef. In short, lots and lots of Feudal and Massive Wars until the Habsburgs and Austria settle things down after the Wars (becoming the central state in the HRE) and Prussia became a thing but even then there was tension until Napoleon ended the HRE.

[@anoninunen]

I've also heard that Bram Stoker didn't know about Vlad Tepes when he wrote Dracula. Historical fiction can bear an uncanny similarity to actual history.

[@christopherbaker8595]

That’s extremely unlikely

[@TheNaruciak11]

Yeah, that's basically impossible

[@christopherbaker8595]

@@TheNaruciak11 I’m trying to make out make sense in my head but it doesn’t. Lmao he what? Made up a name and location that was practically the same name and location of a real person. Yeah not buying that

[@TheNaruciak11]

@@christopherbaker8595 also, with a lot of simmilarities to a folk legend about a ruler that was dining in the forests of impaled people, drinking their blood, being called a "vampire" centuries ago. What a coincidence, right? :D

[@pillage_party_and_papacy]

@@christopherbaker8595 but Transylvania is a real place. It’s a county of Dacia in Romania

[@mudbutt234]

Obviously Miura WAS Gotz in a previous life. That's why there's a subconscious coincidence.

[@cRnVNu]

@Mudbutt23 Me: "So Gotz got Isekai'ed, as a Japanese Man, in mid Shōwa Era, Japan then some point, in life regained his, memories and decided writing, a loose picture word, book series?"

[@silentdep403]

I was a great knight, and I got reincarnated as a mangaka

[@thesunthrone]

Synchronicity at play. This ties into the age old mystery of where do our ideas come from, as there is no direct causality to imagination. Certainly, life experiences and knowledge of the world plays a very important part, as does all other forms of art and fiction, but ultimately, it is not uncommon at all for two people to have the same idea in different places of the world. The muses speak to everyone, regardless where they are, and it is the duty of the artists to listen and translate their message to the people of the world.

[@Teutius]

Exactly. Reality mimics fiction. And the far off past, or future, appears like the imagination of great works of fantasy.

[@zzodysseuszz]

I mean before I knew what berserk was I made a character who used a large sword (nowhere near as big as the dragon slayer) and has no left eye or left arm and wore a large jacket without the sleeves around his arms so it dangled from his back like a cloak. Safe to say I don’t really like the character too much just bc of how unoriginal he seems. Hell he even has demon souls sealed into his sword

[@daniellin1726]

@@zzodysseuszz And that is also similarly interesting, because this type of character is so common in their characteristics among a certain group of people. Missing limbs? Cool cape and curses? It had came up often enough that we have attributed its creation to certain groups: “something kids come up with”, “juvenile artists” and “edgelords”. Yet arguably so, across the world these people arrive at those similar characteristics in their creation. For example, the over-saturation of features, admiration of power, expression of typically rejected connotations, stigmas and attitudes. Is this a coincidence? Or simply a logical reflection of those people’s creative outlooks (in their circumstances)? The nature of naive creativity? Or simply a form of expression for people who adore those aesthetics? If so, what is common among those people? If I were to say for myself when I was a kid, I would simply attribute it to preferences and awe. But this phenomenon is implicit and easy to disregard.

[@foxsicle]

Morphogenetic Field.

[@c.galindo9639]

@@daniellin1726 Guts started the “edgelord” look and many copied it afterwards without knowing it. That’s how great Causality works

[@frozzytango9927]

As Bruce Campbell once said. "Groovy."

[@greenredmario]

1:23 AYO??! he's literally the chad wojak doe 😳

[@LinkEX]

This dude was so much of a chad, he literally manifested himself after death in not one but two positive manly archetypes of our time. (Bonus points for chad wojac commonly being involved in a time travel meme - the synchronicity is strong with this guy.)

[@johnnonamegibbon3580]

Guts is actually more similar to El Cid from Spain. He carried a giant sword around and was part of a band that eventually took over Valencia and made his own kingdom. He physically likely looked like Guts too.

[@TheLilbigBlack]

If you want an even deeper dive into Gotz, Count Dankula did a whole video about his whole life.

[@magtegi2]

Though im not so sure of the validity of this story Grutte pier was a frisian freedom fighter who had his family massacred by lansknecht mercenaries and weilded a massive sword that was 7 feet long in battle he was even stated to be strong enough to bend coins Edit: bend coins with his bare fucking hands

[@bloodypommelstudios7144]

Pier owned a giant sword, I'm not convinced he actually used it in battle. My suspicion is it was either a display piece or swung for strength training. I've trained with medieval weapons for nearly 10 years and as well as competed in both powerlifting and strongman but even my custom backsword is only 5% heavier than the standard model. Pier's sword is about double the weight of a regular greatsword or 4x heavier than a longsword, it's completely unnecessarily large. If you're strong enough to use that effectively you're going to be able to swing a regular sword faster for longer do crazy amounts of damage.

[@magtegi2]

@@bloodypommelstudios7144 from the stories i have read (on the internet so probably second hand and here say) he was a pirate so im not sure how effective such a large sword would be on the deck of a ship or even worse inside the confines of one. and considering he was not fighting alone but with his own army (according to the sources) i dont see him having much room to swing around a big sword anyway it would be more practical to use somekind of pole arm or well a regular sword. i think the sword was a symbol that he used to rally his men or maybe to show off his strength but i agree the big sword was probably not used in battle

[@S3aCa1mRa1n]

Interesting

[@thewanderingstruggler8601]

@@magtegi2 I disagree with both of you. He was 7’1 according to records and probably weighed around 300 ish pounds or so of muscle. The dude was strong and probably trained with greatswords his whole life. Yeah is the sword huge? Absolutely. Unfeasible? For us yes, but we forget our ancestors were far stronger and sometimes taller than us.

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

@@thewanderingstruggler8601 I mean, if we're talking averages, our ancestors tended to be smaller than us due to stressors during their growth period, such as malnutrition, diseases, and even less major stuff like exposure to harsh weather without modern heaters and air conditioning, or smoke exposure (keep in mind, effective chimneys weren't used in houses until the 12th century, so before that there was a lot more smoke in houses from cooking and heating.) The more energy your body has to put into keeping you alive when it encounters these stressors, the less it has left to put into growth. Now some people still managed to do just fine in spite of this, and some places and eras got hit harder than others, but again when you look at the averages, a lot of people weren't. As for whether they were stronger, that's a lot more debatable. If we're talking brute strength then, yes, since historically most people did some sort of labor intensive job, most of them were probably stronger than your average modern person who doesn't have a labor intensive job. If we're just talking general ability to not die, that's a lot harder to assess. On one hand, most of us today will probably live longer than our ancestors because we live less harsh lives; on the other hand, you could argue that our ancestors' ability to survive in spite of all the world threw at them indicates that they're stronger. Then if you look at it from a genetic standpoint, in most the youngest generations generally outperform their ancestors because of natural/artificial selection (though a sudden reduction of selection pressure could potentially reduce this effect.) That's why dairy cows today produce way more milk than dairy cows from 100 years ago (though admittedly, some of that's do to improved husbandry and medical advancement as well.)

[@Velkan1396]

As a History student I really appreciate that u included a good amount of period art in your video to illustrate the story of Götz. Really noice.

[@gabrielrodriguez6936]

82 in the time of knights is insane. My gosh, considering they threw their excrement in the streets, it was amazing that he even survived after losing his arm.

[@ominousbiscuit]

I mean they do that in India today and those people have bullet-proof immune systems, and some of them live to be pretty old. Hell their doctors all have to come to America to find work. I think we should throw our poo in the streets again

[@captaingreyeye7461]

@@ominousbiscuit based

[@thanquolrattenherz9665]

@@ominousbiscuit there is actually an american city were they store their poop on the streets but the major started a pooppatrol to counter it.

[@aevvah_flxwer8550]

@@thanquolrattenherz9665 What's the name of this city?

[@thanquolrattenherz9665]

san francisco

[@bloodypommelstudios7144]

It seems like a big coincidence at first but the name is a single syllable where only half the letters match and that's after being translated to English. He was far from the only person in the time period to have an iron prosthetic too and if any group of people is likely to be over-represent in needing one it would be mercs.

[@TheGuzeinbuick]

True. Now if he wielded an overly-sized greatsword and also had his right eye missing I'd start believing in aliens.

[@cjfamily5838]

They have a pillar in Chile looking like a hand coming out of the ground I swear it resembles the god hand in Beserk the fingers are even matched y'all should go check it out I bet it was not even thought of by Miura(Rip Kentaro) or inspired but an unknown coincidence just like this character resembling the German warrior

[@Alucia0]

Very interesting and informative video. It really got me thinking about other characters that have similarities to other real world people. I wonder if this guy was also a very loose basis for Edwared Elric. Metal hand, fighting the powerful and corrupt and eventually against his formed "masters" and based in Germany and had a massive mouth and both soldiers from a very young age.

[@Rtoir]

Great that you bring up Berserk's topics and themes that others don't talk about. I found you by accident through your video about Wyald, that randomly popped on my main page. I wish you all the best and hope that you'll get to that point where other "berserktubers" are, because the quality of your content is definitely on par with them.

[@noahmorales411]

I've heard some people compare guts to Hercules and the 12 labors Were Hercules must fight ancient beasts, monsters in order to complete his 12 labors A little similar were guts must fight monsters and demons in order to survive

[@ginke1996]

Götz may have inspired many characters in literature who have an iron/prosthetic hand who may have inspired characters like Luke Skywalker and Ash Campbell who may have inspired Guts

[@theearthisnotflat4398]

Are we gonna ignore that prosthetic hand that is literally better than prosthetics available now for amputees

[@thanquolrattenherz9665]

yeah this blacksmith was probably ahead of his time by some years.

[@TotinosOtherBoy]

Gotz was thr inspiration for Giant Dad

[@mtlacunae8659]

The legend never fucking dies.

[@TotinosOtherBoy]

@@mtlacunae8659 the legend never dies, he just gets back up and pwns them

[@Catto217]

Miura is Guts himself, considering the harsh life of Mangaka in Japan, he's the real struggler.

[@lucas_rafns]

Before I learned about Gottfried, I believed that Guts had some inspiration in Pier Gerlofts Donia also know as "Grutte Pier" ( Big Pier ) who was a mercenary that walked around Europe with a 7 ft sword.

[@glasbolyas9549]

Was skull knight(King Gaiseric) inspired by the vandal King Gaiseric?

[@S3aCa1mRa1n]

I feel more Alexander the Great vibes tbh. He conquered most of the land and even has the a similar style helmet.

[@deepee3025]

@@S3aCa1mRa1n that sounds more like Griffith

[@S3aCa1mRa1n]

@@deepee3025 Nahh I men’s physically speaking it sounds like gaiseric him and Alexander wore a lion helmet with a plum to signify Hercules. His attire looks Greek in general with the short.l sleeves.

[@delta2372]

It's a mix of charlemagne and a few others, berserk is set in an alternate version of our world and takes place in a fictional version of europe, king gaiserics empire is a parralel of charlemagnes but in personality he is more like the real like gaiseric

[@MMA7warrior]

funny Skull knight and Alexander from Fate Zero share same JP voice actor.

[@mrmanju6989]

Another youtuber pointed out that there is fiction series called THe Eternal Champions. In that series the protagonist apparently loses his left arm, his right eye, travels with his love on a boat to some sort of magic island in order to heal her. Possible that Miura never did hear of Gotz but instead read Eternal Champions...idk?

[@SigismundSonOfDorn]

I mean.... "Of the Iron Hand" is easily one of the most amazing titles ever

[@Mannnnnnnn]

It kinda sucks how rare it is to be that badass now

[@apollomars1678]

Goethe: *copy-strikes all berserk videos on you-tube from his tomb. KZbin: ahhh yes, perfection.

[@Rahnonymous]

What educators think language was like back in the medieval age: "Would'st thou dropeth thine weapon?!?" What it actually was like: "Kiss my a$$!"

[@windhelmguard5295]

a more literal translation would be "lick my rear"

[@zzodysseuszz]

I’m inclined to take Miura’s word for it. Since I’ve made characters who have had extremely suspicious similarities to other characters without knowing

[@EmeraldEdge72]

There is a character Consistency across all folklore, tales, fables, mythology, fiction and religion. However there is no character Codex. That is what I am working on.

[@Borderose]

Same here. It got troubling at times, but I learned to get over it.

[@rohithp5201]

Rip Kentaro Miura

[@MinkDaddy]

It's these kinds of stories that remind me just how innovative mankind can be. I always laugh when people just assume that everyone was stupid back then or in ancient history. "No, there's no way! IT HAD TO BE ALIENS!"

[@cerocero2817]

I recall reading that the cannonball was shot by a friendly cannon.

[@mcawesomeytyo3312]

GRIFFITH!!!!!!

[@legitname8567]

Goddamn what a fucking badass, and that title, “Gotz of the iron hand”, just menacing

[@marcusholtzheimer9316]

In Celtic mythology the King of the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann named Nuada loses his arm in battle and therefore has to retire his crown over Ireland. The new king Bres was tyrannical and after 7 years with the help of a doctor and a metalworker named Credne they fashioned Nuada a working arm of silver with which he led the Dananns into battle against Bres. They won and established dominance of Ireland for another 150 years but King Nuada was killed during the fighting. I mean guts wouldn’t have died but they’re pretty damn close

[@adamthetired9319]

His story about losing a hand and retiring from his position reminds me of Tyr. Indo-European connection, I guess.

[@lionheart6176]

Fun fact Gotz is the first man in recorded history to say "kiss my ass"

[@Gatzlocke]

I suspect he forgot about the historical figure. Remember, Berserk was made in 1989. Well before the internet was everywhere. Artists generally need reference material for creating art and collecting ideas for writing. Muira's artwork is well detailed and he'd need to go to a library or buy books on medieval Europe, look at the armor and castles and he'd even need to look at prosthetics. Most likely, he sketched the iron hand of Gotz without really thinking about the name. Maybe the name say in his head, forgetting where it came from. As for the history portion of Gotz, I doubt he looked into it too much. He just mostly remembered the reference sketches. Regardless, we can't further probe his mind, as this great artist has passed away. RIP Kentaro Miura

[@natesavage3576]

Great video Spirit

[@Nerevarine420]

So well researched I had to subscribe

[@TEG13]

I knew about him from the movie adaptation of Goethe's play with Henning Baum, which was also briefly included in this video.

[@подэмерон]

There is no coincidences, miura could heard of this knight but Just forget, but the idea was deep down in his head

[@MichaTheLight]

I'am from that area. Ppl grow fucking tall many men 6'2 and above as myself. We had also wars enduring decades like the 100 year midland war in the anime. And before secularization we had also all the crap with an insane and torturous church leading to the formation of protestant church in Thuringia and Saxony. That was in the 16th century the spread of Protestantism lead to a war in the 17th century which endured 30 years and killed 20 to 50% of all ppl in the different German lands. War was normal in that area many duchys and lords were fighting about power. Mercenary bands were common and endured over decades. In whole this gruesome phase of German history span over three centuries just to enter the even worse phase of industrial war. Ppl couldn't imagine a world with out war, plunder and violence. It is like a miricale that now over 8 decades peace is in the German lands. Berserk overall is a quite authentic depection of the Middle age in German lands cause like midland the German lands were in the center of the continent sourounded by neighbors often with malecious intend. PS: Also Skull knight or king Gaeseric has its equivalent in history as an east germanic king with the same name ruling over what is today parts of eastern Europe.

[@celebral_pelosi]

The obvious parallel is ash from the evil dead who got his iron hand after he travels time to the middle ages. He also fights literal demons that haunt him and posses humans. Also mad max (not Kenshiro which is inspired by mad max, too), rudger hauer in flesh and blood, the rest of the evil dead movies and hellraiser.

[@Gat720Dua]

It's an interesting coincidence. I have a friend who came up with a character who's a black samurai only to find out that there actually exist a black samurai and served Oda Nobunaga himself.

[@dudemanbroguy3464]

That anime they made for that historical figure is really shit.

[@jonathanmarth6426]

I mean "black Samurai" is a lot more broad a concept than "mercenary with a prosthetic arm and a name that sounds almost identical to Guts". Now if your friends character had been named "Yosuke" or something like that, that would've been uncanny.

[@Gat720Dua]

@@jonathanmarth6426 I don't think a black samurai is that broad of a concept. I can only count 1 aside from Yasuke.

[@jonathanmarth6426]

@@Gat720Dua There's Huey Freeman, Kumano Jinzaemon and an anime literally called "Afro Samurai". But by "broad" I don't necessarily mean "frequently seen". Samurai are the most well known warrior class except for knights. Making one of them black isn't very outlandish in terms of creativity. Historically of course Yasuke is very much outstanding.

[@Gat720Dua]

@@jonathanmarth6426 Yeah Afro Samurai I was counting. Samurai's are famous but foreign Samurai's are rather rare and doesn't nearly get as much attention.

[@davidemesturino2341]

I've always thought Guts was inspired by Pier Gerlofs Donia.

[@MegaDoomi]

"Raubritter Götz mit der eisernen Faust"

[@Blitzkrieg_Wolf]

I'm here from Count Dankula's video, a lot of people seem to have the same sentiment.

[@Unbottled.Water23]

You know what Guts should grow a Beard

[@tritonewt3344]

The real Venom Snake

[@animagi6844]

I kinda recall aside from hellraiser, evil dead's ash as also one of his inspirations which probably where the weaponized prosthetic idea came from R.I.P. miura

[@DrDolan2000]

Just imagine making a character with all these different traits, a certain ideology, and physical characteristics and then you find out "wow, they're are a LOT like Daniel Boon" Life is just oh, so quaint

[@shotgater]

Very interesting info. I always thought in my head (since its fantasy) that's Guts was like a half German half Japanese person haha

[@nazishhussain2712]

I would could relate to guts for the rage and scars and haunts my past

[@fuzzelz502]

i rly hope that someone will continue the manga...

[@Old_Harry7]

Although I believe to be yet another coincidence it's interesting to mention that *Griffith* shares a lot of similarities with *John Hawkwood* an English mercenary who fought in Italy under a griffon banner and used his wits to in the end obtain a small castle in Tuscany, in Italy he is known as *Giovanni Acuto*. Maybe you could make a video about it.

[@scarecrow2097]

Learning of this theory and this knight through Berserk was a suprise. But a pleasant one.

[@saschafeld5528]

Fisto from MotU has an iron hand too. And looks a bit like a knight.

[@izzymosley1970]

Sometimes reality can prove to be just as or even more ridiculous than fiction

[@CeramicShot]

I notice that none of the historical sources are cited here anywhere in the video. Then I looked at the wikipedia page for this guy, and lo and behold, practically all the historical "facts" are paraphrased from there and the dubious external links.

[@DaylenAmell]

At 7:51, I think the English translation is erroneous. I'm pretty sure he was saying that he wasn't sure whether it was "synchronicity", and was not saying anything about shooting arrows.

[@megahasbeentakenanims]

-burns down a couple of houses -tells people to kiss his ass -refuses to explain further Extreme ultra chad

[@jakeilano6821]

I'm watching this video because I just saw this guy Gotz on the show Mysteries of the Unknown and I just realized how similar he is to Guts from Berserk. And that's the reason I'm watching this video because if Gotz was the inspiration of Guts.

[@jakeilano6821]

But it looks like Guts wasn't based off Gotz. It looks like one of the world's biggest coincidences or I would say a big coinkadink if I do say so myself.

[@SKULLKR3W]

probably heard about it and forgot that happens all the time

[@equimosis1]

I've never been so glad of being clickbaited.

[@crozraven]

I think Luke Skywalker & Guin have more inspirations towards Guts character. Remember that Miura was an avid Star Wars fan. He also likely inspired by his own previous works of King of Wolves (Isekai Genghis Khan).

[@FemboyHasu]

meh, it would be more interesting if he was based on him, because now, when w can't have more information about guts we could read about Götz von Berlichingen of the Iron Hand to know more about guts.

[@atmas1337]

No way you can convince me of that, not even Miura saying it himself, it must be a subconscious thing.

[@johnvonshepard9373]

Maybe Miura just doesn't want to get sue lol

[@Majin_Sophax]

At 8:19 What inspiration do you mention there? I can't find any sources on "Gwyn from Green Saga"

[@hokyinchong8719]

Guin saga

[@kevinolega1]

Miura has a similar response to Ash from the Evil Dead franchise. That's another Gutz like character.

[@charlieweaver6322]

Great video. If you believe in reincarnation, it's possible that Kentaro Miura lived in Germany around the same time as Gotz and even met him. Or possibly even was him. Or it could be pure coincidence. Either way it's pretty interesting, and thanks for making me aware of this man. RIP Kentaro Miura.

[@FuckYoutubeAndGoogle]

Or he could have lied, which is much more likely.

[@SKULLKR3W]

@@FuckKZbinAndGoogle for real lol reincarnation

[@asiatevonnebenan4851]

Something is missing here in this comment section... when Deutschland is mentioned

[@thanquolrattenherz9665]

when? we video is about a citizen of the holy roman empire of german nations and some dude from mid land not of the bundesrepublik deutschland.

[@arepi2067]

I doubt it. Cause the author had the idea for berserk since he was a teenager.

[@yakirshohat2156]

I do believe that Miura's 'Guts' character was actually inspired and barrowed a lot from Moorcock's 'Corum' character from 1971. Let's go over the checklist: 1. Dark fantasy setting - check 2. Lost his eye - check 3. Metal arm - check 4. Scarlet robe - check 5. Fighting the Gods - check 6. Powerful sword - check I'm not saying Miura copied it, but I do believe that there were a few elements that helped inspire the character creation (Just like Geralt of Rivia seems to be heavily inspired by another Moorcock creation: Elric of Melnibone). Don't take my word for it - read for yourself en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corum_Jhaelen_Irsei P.S Kojima's Metal Gear Solid character, 'Venom Snake' is clearly inspired by Mirua's Guts character. It's awesome.

[@ovidiuvergil]

What were his inspirations? Kenshiro, Jack and who?

[@yubalhelfer4548]

Guin saga

[@tahaelhour690]

And Cobra.

[@obsoletetortoise4785]

You could have just played that 25 second clip of kentaro instead of making a whole KZbin vid about this, felt like kinda a waste of time to sit through this video if there is absolutely no connection between Kentaros Guts and this historical dude.

[@theodoresherman5707]

Gotz lived to be 82 bc no earthly man could kill him

[@mr.midnight1997]

The REAL black swordsman

[@Ciaramae7]

You mean GOTs the IRON knight

[@jdmathys1]

Into his 80's... during the 16th century... and coined the term "kiss my ass". I hope I'm related to this guy.

[@marksanders573]

Why does everyone ignore the interview where Miura says Guts was directly inspired by Rutger Hauer’s character Martin from Flesh + Blood? I’m sure Götz added to it, but… we literally know where the inspiration came from🤷🏼‍♂️

[@tylertrouts5137]

this also has similarities to snake in metal gear solid v as well , maybe kojima used this has inspiration as well

[@chandlerbrown3041]

John Hawkwood is this to Griffith

[@HIMMBelljuvo]

Götz is just as badass as Guts. Dat's dope

[@DraculaVladȚepeșReal]

You can say guts is maybe based on Ash from Evil Dead he had a iron hand

[@kevinolega1]

I suspect the influence is third party. Miura's influences might have been influenced by the German knight or Ash may have been. The Hound from GoT may not have been but the armor designer or the editors or storyboard creators may have seen berserk or the other way around.