It is hard to believe how little fans of Berserk know about the Apostles, yet there are a lot of things they do not know.
Berserk is a world filled with unimaginable atrocities. In their midst are Apostles, mutated, inhuman beings who prey on the helpless and do as they please. These animals, which were once human, stay faithful to the God’s Hand but are eventually discarded.
Each Apostle takes on a different form, such as mutant animals or insects. They are all filled with ravenous bloodlust and will turn on their family and friends without hesitation while they are in this miserable state. Guts and his gang have been pursued by Apostles on a near-constant basis since the Eclipse. Their powerful weaponry and magic, on the other hand, are sufficient to repel the attacks, but some Apostles are more powerful than others, possibly due to their resolve.
What Are Apostles?
The Apostles are the central antagonists in the manga series Berserk and its anime adaptation. These creatures are former humans who have, in a moment of despair, used Behelits, a spiritual item used to bridge the Astral and Physical realms, sacrificing someone or something they loved in order to transcend their humanity, becoming monster-like servants of the God Hand.
The Apostles receive demonic bodies that can be transformed. At the chosen place for the Eclipse, they gather every 216 years to feed off of sacrifices.
If a God Hand member is within an Apostle’s presence, they feel a strong urge to obey and are drawn to them.
Wyald and Emperor Ganishka are two Apostles who have defied the God Hand’s will, either because of their unruly nature or because of their desire for power. Even though all Apostles are bound by the same “commandment,” “Do as thou wilt,” their actions are not protected by that commandment. Faithful Apostles can therefore retaliate against rebellious Apostles who are unfaithful to the God Hand.
The physical appearances of each of the Apostles vary greatly, ranging from warped animal forms to demonic, headless monstrosities with human forms appearing anywhere on the body. In general, not all apostles are much larger than average men; the strongest, like Irvine and Locus, is shorter.
Oftentimes, their true form can be seen in the features of their human form; for example, Wyald’s face is ape-like. His grotesque appearance reflects the unspeakable acts he committed throughout his life, including rape, war crimes, and mass destruction. Locus, Irvine, and Grunbeld are among the more refined Apostles who have maintained most of their former human lives. Only Rosine and the so-called Egg of the Perfect World prefer non-human forms. When an Apostle is killed, their bodies revert back to their original human forms from before they became Apostles. All their injuries remain just like the injured areas on their Apostle bodies.
While most Apostles appear in the series in human form, they can transform into something bigger than their previous form. It doesn’t seem to be painful to any Apostle in the slightest and differs from Apostle to Apostle. Some changes are instant, while others may require a special stance or action. As demonstrated by Zodd frequently, changing form is not permanent, and Apostles can always return to their human states at any time.
How Does One Become An Apostle?
All Apostles were once human until they were pushed to the point of no return and prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice after using the behelit, an inanimate spiritual object that bridges the Astral and Physical worlds, to summon the God Hand and sacrifice what was most precious to them in order to become an Apostle.
Something or someone they hold most dear in the whole world must be this sacrifice. They take the lives of their loved ones, friends, or even entire kingdoms, full of innocents, in order to save their own lives or accomplish their own selfish goals. The greater the sacrifice, the stronger the apostle.
It is the sacrifice of life and love that God’s Hand wants, and then a person gets the power of an apostle. The beheilt is drawn to people like this, and through fortune and chance, it will be brought to them at some point in their lives, just like how Griffith lost him and then it was returned to him.
The behielit appears in one’s life through causality until they are at the crossroads of whether or not to make the sacrifice. It is almost as if evil knows whether they will sacrifice or not, and only the ones who sacrifice will receive the behielit, which illustrates causality.
In the case of Griffith, who had lost all hope of ever reigning over a kingdom, he used the behelit to sacrifice his entire Band and initiate the Eclipse. During this terrifying ritual, almost the entire group is slaughtered, and Griffith is reborn into the role of a God Hand.
Apostles Abilities
In the beginning, all apostles are humanoids but are able to assume their true forms at any time. In their true forms, apostles possess immense powers and strength that surpass those of most humans. They are stronger and have better reflexes than the average human, even in their human form. Despite being untrained in combat, Wyald easily mutilates Barbo and keeps up with a trained swordsman like Guts, thanks to his monstrous strength.
The size of an apostle does not guarantee power, and while many of them are incredibly terrifying due to their monstrous appearance, those whose abilities are not immediately apparent are especially dangerous. Rosine, for instance, can fly at speeds high enough to make sonic booms, and Irvine, whose self-made arrows are highly refined and specific.
As his body is already slippery and malleable, the Count is able to sustain numerous injuries from Guts and still functions normally until he is decapitated. Amorphous in body, Rakshas boasts a similar power.
A group of apostles are able to produce spawn called pseudo-apostles, also known as ‘pseudos.’ They are humans that, upon being exposed to the spawn of an apostle, transform into monstrous beings similar to that of the host. Under the host’s control, these pseudo-Apostles have supernatural strength and sensitivities. Pseudo-apostates, like true apostles, revert to human form after death.
As an example, one could consider the ability of the Apostle, known as the Egg of the Perfect World. Similar to a large behelit, it is relatively weak but can use tendrils to inject its power into other beings. They take on forms representing their faith, with Mozgus, one of the most famous pseudos, assuming an angelic form with large feathered wings.
Although it is a biological quality rather than a commonly used ability, apostles possess Abyss-fueled evil power flowing through their bodies; as a result, they can have various effects on people contacted with them. As Apostles, their bodies become a vessel for the abhorrent powers of the Abyss to flow through. Known as ‘hell’ by some, the Abyss is the deepest and darkest level of the Astral realm. An unending vortex of souls is said to be gathered into a pool of incarnate evil.
When an Apostle dies, this borrowed power is sucked from the wound and carried back to the Abyss where it came from, leaving a withered body behind. And, if a human has been marked with the Brand of Sacrifice, they can also see the chain of the Abyss. Spirits and Apostles haunt the remaining Band of Hawk, which has these brands.