Beherits,[expl 1] also referred to as "primed droplets leading to the otherworld" (異界への呼び水),[expl 2] are highly spiritual stone objects that act as keys linking a deep layer of the Astral World to the Physical World. It is said that they govern the fate of humanity.[2] They are used primarily for summoning the God Hand and facilitating sacrificial ceremonies.[3][4][2] The Crimson Beherit is unique among beherits, appearing only to individuals preordained to be reborn as a member of the God Hand.[5]
Elaboration
An active beherit.
Beherits are created in the Abyss as "droplets of ideas that have spilled from [that] sea to eternity".[6] The fate associated with a beherit "rests in the hands of its master who sent it".[2] A beherit belongs to a specific owner and, regardless of circumstances, will always find its way to them when the owner's desire is great enough.[2] Spatial separation between the individual and the beherit does not matter: according to Vargas, the beherit belonging to the Count came to him after he purchased it from a caravan of merchants who found it in an antiques market in some Eastern town.[3]
A beherit resembles an egg, covered with human facial features arrayed across its surface, giving it a rather disconcerting appearance.[3] While seemingly inanimate most times, occasionally, one of a beherit's eyes may open and stare at an observer.[7] Furthermore, when mishandled, a beherit may give off notable expressions of discomfort.[8][9] Upon activation, a beherit rearranges its facial features, forming a distressed face that sheds tears of blood and emits a low scream before creating an interdimensional space.[8][10][11][12] Beherits will also shake and rearrange their features in resonance with a sudden influx of great evil power, such as the voices of Albion's restless dead desiring the "new world" realized through Griffith's incarnation,[13] Slan's appearance in the Qliphoth,[14] and Ganishka's emergence as "Shiva".[9]
Beherits are not rendered null after activation. An owner's desperate desire for life may reactivate a beherit, summoning the God Hand again and permitting the owner to offer another sacrifice in exchange for new life.[8]
Crimson Beherit
The Crimson Beherit (真紅のベヘリット), also known as the "Egg of the King" (覇王の卵), is said to grant one the world in exchange for the owner's flesh and blood,[15] only falling into the hands of those bearing the requisite qualities to become a member of the God Hand.[5] Once every 216 years,[16] during the Eclipse, an owner of the Crimson Beherit is granted an audience with the God Hand. As preordained by causality, an owner will offer a precious sacrifice in exchange for being reborn as a member of the God Hand.[5]
It is unknown whether there exist several different crimson beherits or if the same beherit came to each of the God Hand members in turn.
Notes
The beherit featured in Berserk: Millennium Falcon Arc - Flowers of Oblivion Chapter illustrated by Kentarou Miura for Berserk Visual & Story File.
- As evidenced by the Count, who could not bring himself to sacrifice his daughter Theresia, dying apostles who activate a beherit a second time without offering a sacrifice are dragged into the Abyss' Vortex of Souls once they die.[17]
- The Skull Knight has ingested a number of beherits from slain apostles, which he uses to create his Sword of Beherits.[18]
- Guts currently possesses the beherit that belonged to the Count,[3] which he took as a means of reaching the God Hand.
- Puck affectionately refers to this beherit as Becchi[21] and considers it his own.[2][22]
- Kentarou Miura typically depicted it as green or blue-green.[23][24][25] Similarly, in the 1997 Berserk anime and Berserk: Millennium Falcon Arc - Holy Evil War Chapter, it is green. In the 2016 Berserk anime, it is depicted as gray.[26]
- The 2016 Berserk anime depicts the unidentified roaming apostle's beherit with a yellow-green hue and the Egg of the Perfect World's with a gray one.
- A blue beherit appears in Berserk: Millennium Falcon Arc - Flowers of Oblivion Chapter, originally belonging to Niko, passing multiple hands before ultimately coming into the possession of Balzac who uses it to become an apostle. Following Balzac's defeat by Guts, the Skull Knight comes across the beherit in Balzac's throneroom and ingests it.
- Mobile game collaborations involving Berserk have typically featured common beherits with a gray hue.[27][28][29]
- The first Berserk: The Golden Age Arc film used promotional beherits in all colors used in various media until then (crimson, green, gray, and blue) plus brown.[30]
Gallery
.png "Berserk anime setting 125 (beherit).png (350 KB)")
.png "Berserk anime setting 126 (activated beherit).png (656 KB)")
Explanations
- ^ While "behelit" (an alternative spelling popularized by mainstream Western sources) has no meaning beyond the context of Berserk, "Béherit" is listed as a Syriac word for "(the) Devil" by British historian James Charles Wall in his book Devils—Their Origins and History (page 20, 1904; see here and on Google Books).
- Furthermore, ベヘリット (beheritto) is the original name in Japanese, wherein the letters "R" and "L" are interchangeable.
- ^ Beherits are referred to as 異界への呼び水 by the Idea of Evil in the original volume 13 version of episode 82, which translates to "primed droplets leading to the otherworld".
References
- ^ Berserk :: Volume N/A, "God of the Abyss (2)"
- ^ a b c d e Berserk :: Volume 24, "Magic Stone"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 2, "Guardian Angels of Desire (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 20, "Unknown One at the Bottom of the Deep"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 12, "All the Inhuman Monsters"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 13, "God of the Abyss (1)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 9, "Tournament"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 3, "Guardian Angels of Desire (4)"
- ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 33, "Roaring Heavens"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 12, "Eclipse"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 16, "Firefly"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 34, "Backlighting"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 21, "Falling Sky"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 26, "Vicinity of Hell"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 5, "Golden Age (8)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 12, "Promised Time"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 3, "Guardian Angels of Desire (5)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 26, "Companions"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 16, "Beast of Darkness"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 20, "Omen"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 15, "Girl I Remember"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Great Gurus"
- ^ Green colored beherit in the 1998 Berserk calendar.
- ^ Berserk Illustrations File :: Blue-green colored beherit artwork.
- ^ Turquoise colored beherit in Berserk dust jacket artwork.
- ^ Berserk (2016 anime) :: Gray colored beherit.
- ^ (ja) 4Gamer.net :: Berserk-Dragon Poker collaboration info
- ^ (ja) altema.jp :: Berserk-Elemental Story collaboration info
- ^ (ja) cryuni.com :: Berserk-Crystal of Reunion collaboration info
- ^ (ja) berserkfilm.com :: Egg of the King advance ticket sale info
Appendices
| Aggressive
Axe of the Gnomes · Berserker Armor · Cannon Arm · Dragon Slayer · Flamethrower Pump · Golem · Miniature Bomb · Repeater Crossbow · Rocket Launcher · Salamander Dagger · Silver Dagger · Sword of Beherits · Sylph Sword · Throwing Knife · Wicker Man |
| Passive
Beherit · Corridor of Stone Pillars · Man-Made Beherit · Seahorse · Silver Surcoat · Sylph Cloak · Wing Stone · Witch's Broom |