Berserk’s ‘God Hand,’ which is some of the world’s most powerful entities, has left fans with unanswered questions.
The ‘God Hand’ is a band of villains who plague Berserk. They are a limited group of angels and demons that are pure evil.
Even though they are the focus of Guts’ fury and the main force of destruction in the “Berserk” series, there are not many facts that are said explicitly about this team of evil.
The members of the God Hand were not always demonic and otherworldly, as we learn throughout the series. Each of them began life as a human, just like Griffith.
These designs, together with the fact that Kentaro Miura is a “Hellraiser” fan, suggest that God Hand and the Cenobites are both influenced by the same source.
The Cenobites in “Hellraiser” are heavily based on “The Hellbound Heart,” a novella. This influence is likely to be shared by God Hand.
It is not for nothing that they are known as God Hand. These evildoers took on the role of God’s hand, carrying out his will by any means necessary.
Even in the setting of manga or anime, this God is not the typical one that most people envision. This God is similar to the dark being from the “Fullmetal Alchemist” series. It is known as the Idea of Evil and serves as the series’ principal enemy.
What Is God Hand?
A powerful quintet of angels and demons that bend the laws of reality; the God Hand are the antagonists in the manga and anime “Berserk”, directly below the Idea of Evil in power and authority.
Their original purpose was to serve the Idea of Evil’s purpose of giving humanity a reason to suffer. To transcend their humanity, they each possessed and used crimson behelits known as the Egg of the King. The number of crimson behelits is unknown, as is whether they came to each of them in turn or if there are five in all.
While the origins of the God Hand are unknown, members of the group used a crimson behelit at the time of the solar eclipse every 216 years. They are then reborn as demonic angels and emissaries of the Idea of Evil once they do this. To achieve this, however, they must offer their loved ones in sacrifice with power in the Abyss where their souls will go to create a new form.
Over the years, the God Hand has overseen mankind shaping many events of human history and gaining new members, as well as gaining servants within humans who have become apostles and are subjects of the God Hand. Gus, the main character in the series, first encountered the God Hand when they offered Griffith the chance to join them in exchange for sacrificing each member of the Band of the Hawk.
Each member is equal, and they have their own purpose, but it appears that The Void is the “leader” since he’s the one who places the brands on people.
The God Hand consists of the five most powerful demons, so dominant that even the strongest of apostles are bound to obey them. Each one has specific abilities that alter reality, including spatial, that Void and Femto possess, physical, that Slan and Conrad possess, and metaphysical manipulation, that Ubik possesses. Although they are cognizant of causality’s flow and possess unprecedented foresight, they are not full-fledged gods, and cannot anticipate everything.
Since the God Hand’s proper forms were shaped out of swells of collective human negativity, it can exist anywhere in essence, in swells of negative human thought. When they manifest rudimentary forms elsewhere, their powers appear diminished, despite being extremely powerful within the divine domain of the Astral World. The Astral World’s Great Roar, however, allows them to manifest proper forms in Fantasia.
What Makes Them Pure Evil?
Void
The oldest of the God Hand, he is the de facto leader of the group. Upon summoning through the Behelit of a tortured soul, he personally marks the victims so that they may become Apostles.
Void was once a man with more of a human appearance. But as soon as he got caught up in the Idea of Evils, his head featured an exposed brain, stitches to close the eyes, and lips peeled back. There is a distortion to his cloak and body, and he is able to open an interdimensional portal at will. On top of that, he has six fingers on each hand.
Void sacrificed hundreds of his loved ones to become a member of the God Hand, at some point in the past.
It is implied that he played a significant role in Skull Knight’s past and the death of the Lady Priestess of the Cherry Blossoms, which led Skull Knight on a centuries-long quest for revenge against the God Hand.
It is he who brands the victims with the Brand of Sacrifice, an act that starts the ritual of humans sacrificing their loved ones to become Apostles and casts the souls of the victims to the Abyss. He has been doing this for at least 1,000 years and for every current God Hand member.
Since there were corpses with the Brand of Sacrifice engraved on their heads at the bottom of the Tower of Rebirth, it is likely that Void branded all the citizens of ancient Midland and had them sacrificed for some reason.
Using the image of the castle Griffith admired in his youth, Void convinces Griffith to sacrifice his comrades and urges him to accept his destiny and continue his dream of flying in the skies with raven-black wings. In a sense, Void’s words serve as one of Griffith’s last arguments for sacrificing the Band of the Hawk and becoming Femto.
Branding all the members of the Band of the Hawk with the Brand of Sacrifice, he initiates the Invocation of Doom, causing the Apostles to devour the Band of the Hawk and send their souls to the Abyss.
Guts and Casca were marked with the Brand of Sacrifice and would endure a fate worse than death; both of them would be haunted by evil spirits for the rest of their lives.
Although he acts more affable towards others than the God Hand and speaks in a philosophical manner, this behavior does not diminish his heinousness, nor does it make him a less atrocious character.
Conrad
Using rodents and other animals, he spreads plagues and diseases throughout the world.
Conrad’s body appears to be that of a massive woodlouse and the face of a puckered human. He is usually seen clasping his hands together, just like fellow God Hand member Ubik. The expression on his face rarely changes, with his mouth never moving and his eyes rarely opening.
He sacrificed hundreds of his loved ones at some point in the past in order to become a member of the God Hand, possibly by having them devoured by apostles and sent to the Abyss.
This God Hand member spreads misery and chaos throughout the world by transforming humans into Apostles to indulge in their darkest desires.
Griffith is separated from Guts during the Eclipse by Conrad, who uses his powers to build the tower that will serve as his rebirth chamber, giving the other God Hand the chance to corrupt Griffith and make him sacrifice the Band of the Hawk.
There is no affection or value attached to Conrad’s Apostles, as none of the other God Hand view Guts as a threat, despite him killing several Apostles.
With the help of the other God Hand members, Conrad attempts to persuade The Count to sacrifice Theresia to rejuvenate himself.
He spends his time spreading plagues and diseases around the world.
To prepare for the Incarnation Ceremony, he controls the rat population to cause a plague epidemic through Midland, killing several people and forcing survivors to flee to Albion. Therefore, all of the refugees forced into camps by Conrad’s plague are killed, their souls serving as fuel for Femto’s rebirth into the human world.
Ubik
Ubik’s role in manipulating the emotions of those with Beherits into sacrificing their loved ones to become Apostles.
It appears that he is a small floating figure wearing glasses fused into his face. As opposed to legs, he has fin-like tendrils that hang below him. In the God Hand, he is the smallest, and he never appears stationary or against any surface but always floats. His hands are usually clasped together, as he wears the same grin on his face.
Sometime in the past, Ubik chose to sacrifice a large number of his comrades and loved ones to be consumed by the Apostles in order to become a member of the God Hand.
He helps spread misery and chaos around the world as a member of the God Hand.
He manipulates Griffith by invoking visions of his past, appearing as an illusory form of the old woman who granted him the beherit and torturing him with the corpses of the Band of the Hawk. Ubik convinced Griffith that his only option was to continue piling up more bodies to fulfill his dream, which was his “true self,” which played a significant part in Griffith’s decision to sacrifice the Band of the Hawk and become Femto.
Ubik, together with the other members of the God Hand, tries to persuade The Count to sacrifice his daughter, Theresia, as a means of rejuvenation.
Ubik notes the loss of a few worthless servants as inconsequential when the Count refers to the Apostles killed by Guts, showing that he and the rest of the God Hand see the Apostles as nothing more than tools to carry out the will of Evil.
Theresia is horrified when he reveals her father’s decision to become an Apostle as well as her mother’s betrayal despite the Count’s pleas.
Slan
The sadomasochist Slan, thrives on cruelty and is intrigued by Guts’ overwhelming hatred and tenacity.
The succubus-like Slan has black leathery wings and vine-like hair. As one of her most distinguishing features, her wings are always with her.
The only piece of clothing she wears is a corset that covers only from her navel to below her breasts. This leaves her breasts exposed as well as her vulva, although she partially covers it up with her wings.
In the past, she sacrificed hundreds of her loved ones in order to become a member of the God Hand.
Being part of the God Hand, she helps spread misery and chaos throughout the world.
As the Goddess of Flame, she is worshipped in a pagan cult. Several blood rites and boiling children alive are part of the initiation rituals of this cult.
Watching Femto rape Casca, she cried tears of joy while Guts was forced to watch. She viewed the entire act as a thing of beauty.
Qliphoth, a wooded area corrupted by her, is home to creatures such as ogres and trolls who go into towns, consume people and kidnap women to impregnate them, ultimately killing them.
As she manifests in the realm of Qliphoth, she tortures Guts and takes pleasure in his pain and all his negative emotions.
Slan tries to influence Guts into becoming an Apostle in order to take revenge on Femto.
To kill Skull Knight, she creates a number of monsters.
Slan takes pleasure in Guts stabbing her, then forces herself upon Guts by kissing him.
Femto
Despite his lack of emotion, he is a cruel individual who is capable of causing all types of pain in the aftermath of things not going his way.
Femto has a rather peculiar appearance because, unlike Griffith, who looked slimmer and of medium stature, Femto is muscled and looks taller.
He sends hundreds of members of the Band of the Hawk on a sacrificial death brand, causing them to be devoured by apostles and their souls to be sent to the Abyss.
He also rapes Casca out of revenge for Guts’ leaving and obscuring his dream, which horrified Guts and psychologically harmed Casca for years so that even after she recovered, seeing Guts made her faint from the horrors of the Eclipse.
Casca was subjected to horrific physical pain throughout the ordeal, as anyone with the Branded Mark feels intense pain whenever they are near the God Hand.
It is his curse that makes Guts and Casca’s eclipse survival worse than death because their marks attract demons, placing their lives in a cursed danger every night until they die.
He corrupts Guts and Casca’s conceived child, which he makes his vessel to be reborn into the physical plane.
After the battle with Guts, he tries to persuade the Count to sacrifice his daughter in order to rejuvenate himself.
Then, when Guts confronts him concerning his feelings about the atrocious crimes and betrayals he committed, he replies that he will never betray his dream, commenting that he is free from all moral restraints and shows no remorse for any of his evil deeds.
Flora’s magic power threatens his future plans, so he sends his apostles to kill her.
When he triggers the Great Roar of the Astral World, he unleashes several astral creatures onto the world, killing countless people and forcing all of humanity into Falconia, under his rule.
The true feelings he has for Charlotte are not those of love; thus, she is as disposable as the Band of the Hawk in relation to Guts, who was in some ways viewed as a more personal sacrifice than Charlotte. Femto said he would never betray his dream, so if he had to get rid of Charlotte to pursue his dream, he would.