Berserk: Top 10 Strongest Characters in the series

Berserk is one of the greatest manga ever and one of the greatest dark fantasy ever written in any medium. Berserk is a story filled with action, fantasy, emotions, amazing characters, and a great plot.

It is difficult to rank the strongest characters in Berserk as there are several ways power is exhibited and we don’t have that many individual fights apart from Guts. There are mages, apostles, demons, mythical creatures, angels, etc and each of them has its own unique abilities. I have tried to arrange the strongest characters as objectively as possible without speculation and headcanons. Still, it is a list based on inference of the events in the series, so you may not agree with the list.

Honorable Mentions:

• Rakshas
• Count
• Rosine
• Danan
• Mozgus
• Wyald
• Sea God
• Scheirke

10. Irvine

Irvine is a follower of Griffith, captain of the archers of the Band of the Falcons, one of the strongest apostles, and a great marksman. He is very calm, introverted, and quiet who tends to spend his time alone.

His full strength is unknown as we haven’t seen him in a serious fight yet. He is a very skilled marksman as he can target ranges that are impossible for ordinary humans. In his apostle form, he is very quick. He even managed to defeat war demons in close range proving he can manage direct combat too.

The reason he has been chosen ahead of other apostles is that he is one of the leaders of the Band of Falcons which contains many apostles.

Powers and Abilities:

• He can shoot multiple arrows at once with monstrous strength.
• He has an insane speed as shown when he outran Kushan forces.
• He can create arrows from his own fur which expands into thorny masses once shot in an opponent.
• His beast apostle form allows the horns to be used as a ballistic weapon.

9. Locus

Locus is one of the followers of Griffith, one of the strongest apostles, and acts as a captain of Lancers in the Band of the Falcon. He even indulges in political affairs as an auxiliary to Griffith. He is a stoic, intelligent, and calculative character and also physically really strong. Even before joining the band of the falcon, he was known as Moonlight Warrior and was considered a living legend.

He uses a lancer as his weapon which he displayed in the battle against Kushans. Unfortunately unlike Zodd and Grunbeld, we haven’t seen him combat a top-tier fighter and hence it is difficult to gauge his true strength.

Similar to Irvine, the reason he has been chosen ahead of other apostles is that he is one of the leaders of the Band of Falcons which contains many apostles.

Powers and Abilities:

• He struck down several enemies in a single stroke of his lance.
• Ganishka even acknowledged him by singling him out.
• His apostle form looks like a horse and he is insanely agile and quick.
• He is a calm and calculative tactician, unlike other apostles.

8. Daiba

Daiba is a powerful Kushan sorcerer, an advisor of Ganishka, and the leader of the Phisacha in the Kushan army. Daiba is a frail old man who has no physical power but his magical powers are one of the best we have seen.

Daiba’s powers give a glimpse of the potential of a mage in the world and give an insight as to why Griffith wanted Flora gone as soon he was reborn. Daiba could summon creatures like Kundalini, Garuda, Makara, and several low-level Phisacha. His summoning even astonishes Schierke who knows a great deal about magic.

It is tough to compare magicians with physical fighters since Daiba will lose to anyone in a fistfight. But his sorcery skills are so amazing that I feel he could defeat most apostles on his own.

Powers and Abilities:

• Guts, Serpico and Schierke fought together to take down Kundalini, a water serpent he summoned. Scheirke even likened it to a god.
• He also has other summonings like Makara and Garuda which aren’t easily defeatable.
• His lifelong achievement is a Man-made Behelit which gave Ganishka immense power. Apart from him, only Skull Knight has manipulated Behelit to a new form.
• He is capable of thought transference and can breathe underwater for few minutes.
• He managed to stay alive after being hit by lightning by Ganishka.

7. Guts

Next on the list is Guts, who is the protagonist of the series. Guts known as the Black Swordsman, is a former mercenary, a former member of the Band of the Hawks, and a branded struggler. He is without doubt the strongest human character in the series.

He has killed several apostles including strong ones like Count, Rosine, etc. Even Pre-Eclipse Guts was really strong as he along with Griffith managed to wound Zodd. Then he managed to defeat Wyand even before obtaining Dragon Slayer or Berserker Armor.

After the eclipse, he took Dragon Slayer as his weapon and his strength increased during which he defeated strong apostles. After obtaining the Berserker Armor, he was able to hold off the strongest apostles like Grunbeld very well on his own. Current Guts can defeat most apostles single-handedly and only the strongest few apostles can give him problems.

Powers and Abilities:

• Before the eclipse, he was the strongest member of the famous Band of the Hawks.
• He even wounded Zodd teaming with Griffith.
• He defeated Wyald who is one of the most renowned fighters in the world before the Dragon Slayer days.
• Post-Eclipse and Pre-Berserker Guts defeated Count, Snake-Apostle, Rosine, Mozgus, etc.
• Post-Berserker Guts managed to injure Grunbeld and Ganishka.
• He killed Sea God, Kundalini, and several other powerful foes during their journey.
• Dragon Slayer was said to be not usable by a human but Guts has mastered it to an unimaginable level.
• Berserker Armor takes a great toll both physically and mentally on the wearer and Guts has managed to use it well despite facing several aftereffects.
• His achievements are endless to list here.

6. Grunbeld

Grunbeld is one of the strongest apostles and a member of the newly formed Band of the Falcon. He is a loyal follower of Griffith. He has a giant structure and has a bestial face even in human form. He has a warrior pride and only wanted to fight those who are strong.

He has a dragon form as an apostle with crystalline armor stronger than steel and can even breathe fire. He uses a war hammer as his weapon and also has a great shield that contains two swords. Even among apostles, he is portrayed as one of the strongest alongside Zodd, Irvine, etc.

His battle with Guts gave great insight into his powers and I currently put him above Guts though it is debatable.

Powers and Abilities:

• His skin is made of corundum, a crystalline material stronger than steel and even the scar he got from Guts disappeared the next time we see him.
• His apostle form is a Giant Dragon that can spit fire.
• He uses a war hammer for smashing opponents and has armor.
• He also has a shield that is capable of repelling cannonball and can shoot one itself. The shield also conceals two blades.

5. Nosferatu Zodd

Nosferatu Zodd is one of the strongest apostles and also a loyal follower of Griffith. He has a great thirst for battle and is always looking for a fight. Zodd is different from typical apostles as he isn’t shown to kill weaklings, assault women, or do other despicable things that other apostles usually do. His only aim is to find strong opponents who he can fight.

Throughout the series, Zodd is always shown to be one of the strongest apostles. He can fight other apostles easily as Ganishka is the only known apostle who we can say is definitely stronger than him. He acts as the right-hand man of Griffith as he does the most important tasks for Griffith.

Even in a group containing several strong apostles, Zodd is always portrayed as the strongest among them.

Powers and Abilities:

• He is a long-spanning rival to Skull Knight which is a great achievement by itself.
• He can fly, is a swordsman, and is also a great physical fighter, showing that he is a versatile fighter.
• He has great regenerative power as his injuries are cured immediately.
• He managed to take several lightning attacks from Ganishka when other apostles died from a single attack.
• He was known as the god of the battlefield and in 300 years, Guts and Griffth are the only ones to even wound him.

4. Flora

Flora was a powerful mage who seemingly lived for several years and was also the mentor of Schierke. She was the one who taught Schierke the magic, od, and other associated things. After her physical death, she became a Daemon meaning she is now living in the deeper layer of the Astral world.

It is difficult to judge her actual abilities as we haven’t seen a lot of her in the series. But there are certain clues we can use to rank her. First, we need to take into consideration the capabilities of other Mages we see in the series. Schierke is a very skillful mage who has shown several amazing things through her magic and she was even praised for her abilities in the Elf Island which had several other mages. Flora being her master has to be several times stronger than her.

Another mage we encounter is Daiba, as we discussed earlier is one of the primary reasons for the strength of Kushan. But Griffith never considered him a dangerous foe enough to send his army to destroy him. But Griffith sent several Apostles including Zodd and Grunbeld to take care of Flora. So I think that fact is enough to give her the fourth position.

Powers and Abilities:

• Only advanced mages can become Daemon and Flora achieved it implying her great powers.
• She is known to have lived for a long time even called Skull Knight a friend.
• Griffith considered her a great threat enough to send a troop of apostles even when she didn’t provoke him suggesting her great threat level. Griffith practically didn’t even care that much about Guts, Ganishka, Daiba, etc.
• She has immense knowledge about magic which can be seen through Schierke.
• She created a massive wall of fire to stop the apostles from following Guts and the group and this wall of fire even stopped Grunbeld.

3. Ganishka

Ganishka was a Kushan emperor and was probably the strongest apostle in the series. His goal was to control the whole world by extending his territory. He was a unique apostle as he is the only one who chose to not take Griffith as his master.

He was an extremely powerful apostle that even strong apostles like Zodd couldn’t defeat. His apostle body is just made of fog and seemed intangible unless touched by objects that can wound astral beings like Dragon Slayer, Behelit, etc.

His second reincarnated form from man-made behelit is even stronger than the previous but at the expense of his own sanity and sense of self. His second form made him so huge that he could trample cities with just his feet.

Powers and Abilities:

• His foggy Apostle body is intangible to normal attacks and even apostles like Zodd was useless against him.
• He can produce lightning and he could fight several apostles at once.
• He can manifest the moisture foggy-like form from afar at will.
• His second form’s power was so great that he effortlessly destroyed cities and several people by just walking.
• He can spawn pseudo apostles from the people he crushed beneath his feet.

2. Skull Knight

Skull Knight is the self-proclaimed foe of the Inhumans. He has been seemingly living for several hundred years. He is the one who saved Guts and Casca during the birth of Femto in the Eclipse. He has a vast knowledge of events surrounding the world. He is also used to be a king of some kingdom in the distant past and also is a friend of Flora.

He has the Sword of Behelits which is a sword made of Behelit which can cut through dimension itself and he made it to kill Godhand itself. He has a long-standing rivalry with Zodd which in itself suggests that he is insanely powerful physically. He has gone directly against Godhands on several occasions and is still alive which makes this high place deserved.

Powers and Abilities:

• Skull Knight is a master swordsman and has been able to kill several Apostles pretty easily as seen during Eclipse and other areas throughout the series.
• He even managed to cut Zodd’s hand and Rickert explicitly stated that Skull Knight fought better than Zodd.
• His Sword of Behelit has power to reach into the deepest depths of the Astral World and also open portals which acts like Teleportation in physical world.
• This sword is the one which actually destroyed Ganishka’s twice reincarnated form which brought forth the Great Roar of the Astral World.
• Even the Godhands try to dodge his attacks and he is the only character that made them defend themself.

1. God Hands

If we had to put each Godhands separately they would occupy the top 5 spots and it would make this list uninteresting. Also, we don’t have enough info to even gauge them separately and rank them between them. Godhands reign over all other demons and apostles as their masters. They offer the Behelit holders powers and make them an apostle in exchange for a sacrifice. They are themselves once humans and became a God Hand using Crimson Behelit.

Current God Hands are Femto, Void, Ubik, Slan, and Conrad. Also, there were four different God Hands in the vision of Skull Knight’s memories.

Powers and Abilities:

• They possess abilities to alter space itself. Femto displayed it during his encounter with Guts while Void displayed it when Skull Knight encountered him.
• They seemingly possess great foresight into most future events but they aren’t omnipotent. They didn’t anticipate Guts and Casca getting saved during Eclipse.
• They seem to live really long but it’s not clear how long one is able to remain Godhand. We see different God Hands in the Skull Knight’s memories.
• Even the strongest apostles are subservient to them and it is pretty clear that they are the strongest characters in the series.

Agree with the list, do share your thoughts in the comments.

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