The Elves of Misty Valley were Rosine's pseudo-apostles, created in cocoons from children taken captive from various towns around Misty Valley.[1]
Appearance[]
At first glance, these pseudo-apostles were quite similar to real elves and it was easy to mistake one for the other, but there were several visual differences. All of the Misty Valley elves had pitch black eyes and three insect ocelli. They all appeared as small humanoids that glowed faintly, with insect wings on their backs and antennae on their foreheads, along with bee-like abdomens situated on their lower backs.[2][3][4]
These pseudo-apostles were capable of mutating when threatened, resembling more dangerous insect-like monsters, though they were still small and relatively harmless on their own. Their insect mutations were varied and individual, but many resembled wasps and hornets.[4]
After their death, they revert back to their human forms as children, causing the townspeople and the Holy Iron Chain Knights, who had been tracking Guts, to think that he is a mass murderer.[5][6]
Personality[]
The elves of Misty Valley were dangerous, moving on the orders of Rosine, and agreeing with her every statement.[5][7] They held back from attacking Jill as Rosine seemed fond of her.[5] Similarly, they didn't oppose Rosine when she told them that Jill was allowed to be in the Misty Valley.[8]
Outside their vicious temperament toward humans and adults in particular, the elves were fairly child-like and loved to play.[3][9]
Their play games of "war", however, revealed a horrific side to them; not knowing any better, the elves imitated human wars by attacking and slaughtering one another, in one instance holding others down and violating them with wasp stingers, crying "Adult attack!".[10]
They shared Rosine's idea of "playing human" for amusement: massacring and feasting on humans and livestock was seen by them as an acceptable thing to do, as "new friends" would be readily available - unlike what they had in human villages, where suffering and boredom remained.[1]
Abilities[]
These elves could fly like real ones, but had nothing of real elves' temperament or understanding. Individually, they were not so dangerous, but could chew through anything in their path, including wooden doors. Moving in swarms, these elves were able to reduce humans and animals to bloody messes in seconds.[3]
The elves mutated when angered or playing war, manifesting more insect-like features that usually included stingers.[4][8]
Story[]
The Elves of Misty Valley are first thought to be actual, real elves, but Puck finds it strange when he hears that they have plundered and massacred nearby towns as well as carried off children, causing the townspeople to fear elves in general. In the end, Guts is the one who confirms that they are not real elves at all, as the Brand of Sacrifice on his neck bleeds in their vicinity, which makes the swordsman call them "something else".[3]
As they attack Jill's village, Guts uses Thomas, a kid who was running away from the elves after having witnessed his family's demise, as bait to lure the elves to a single place (a barn) and incinerate them.[4] More of them appear alongside Rosine when the apostle comes to the village [5] and meets Jill later on.[11] Rosine and the elves fly to the Misty Valley after their encounter with Guts.[8] More elves greet the two girls as they reach the Misty Valley, and Puck meets some of them as he "infiltrates" the place.[9]
Soon afterward, Puck and Jill witness their brutal ways of "playing war", killing and raping one another. Once they offer the girl a corpse for her to eat, Jill slaps them and runs away, noticing how those who died in the games have reverted to their human forms.[10] Puck and Jill reach the emergence grounds, where children are cocooned and turned into elves. Shortly afterward, Guts sets the cocoons on fire. Leading up to his battle with Rosine, Guts fights many of the "elves", killing them in the process - including those that were undergoing metamorphosis.[1] [7]
Apparently, the remaining elves of Misty Valley died due to the widespread fire.[12]
Notes[]
The elves of Misty Valley are the third category of pseudo-apostles to be seen in the series, the first being the Count's[13] and second being Rosine's own guardians before the Eclipse.[14]
References[]
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 15, "Cocoons"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 14, "Elves of Misty Valley"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 14, "Coming By Flight"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 14, "Evil Insect"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 15, "Queen"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 15, "Pursuers"
- ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 16, "Monster"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 15, "World of the Winged Ones"
- ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 15, "Misty Valley (1)"
- ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 15, "Misty Valley (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 15, "Girl I Remember"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 16, "Beast of Darkness"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 2, "Guardian Angels of Desire (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 10, "The Eve (2)"
Appendices[]
| God Hand |
| Apostles
Zodd · Wyald · Unidentified Roaming Apostle · The Count · Borkoff · Rosine · Unidentified Female Apostle · Snake Lord · Egg of the Perfect World · Rakshas · Locus · Grunbeld · Irvine · Ganishka |
| Pseudo-Apostles
Zondark · Elves of Misty Valley · Great Goat · Mozgus · Mozgus' Disciples · Ganishka's Spawn |
| Phenomena
Abyss · Brand of Sacrifice · Sacrificial Ceremony (Eclipse · Incarnation Ceremony) |
| Others
Beherit · Man-Made Beherit · Sea God · Daka · Dead Spirit · Demon Child (in essence) |