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| name = Moonlight Boy
 
| name = Moonlight Boy
 
| kanji = 月下の少年
 
| kanji = 月下の少年
| romaji = ''Gekka no Shōnen''
+
| hepburn = ''Gekka no Shōnen''
 
| first = "[[Episode 238 (Manga)|The Boy in the Moonlight]]"
 
| first = "[[Episode 238 (Manga)|The Boy in the Moonlight]]"
 
| traits = Black hair, dark eyes; mysterious Od different from that of most [[human]]s{{qref|e238}}{{qref|e328}}
 
| traits = Black hair, dark eyes; mysterious Od different from that of most [[human]]s{{qref|e238}}{{qref|e328}}

Revision as of 20:10, 23 October 2017

Template:Character Infobox The Moonlight Boy is a thus far mute child who appears to Guts and his party on nights of a full moon and disappears by the following morning. Where he goes otherwise remains unknown.

He possesses the ability to reach and free Guts' mind when the swordsman is lost to the Berserker Armor.[1][2] Schierke has noted that the boy's Od is different from that of a normal human.[3]

Personality

E238-Casca with Child-Manga

The Moonlight Boy and Casca immediately form a strong connection.

By virtue of never speaking, the Moonlight Boy's personality is largely unknown. What can be observed, however, is that he and Casca quickly form a close bond upon meeting,[3] and their relationship resembles that of a mother and son. The Moonlight Boy appears to have a sense of curiosity, playfulness, as well as seriousness. He first averts his gaze from Guts' after they lock eyes only to then climb onto the swordsman's back when the latter is not looking.[3] Aboard the Seahorse, he quickly takes to the rigging, only to be restrained by a concerned Casca,[2] and chews Isma's newly formed merrow tail.[4] Nevertheless, he often gazes on at situations or individuals quietly and with serious intent.[5][2]

A boy-shaped figure of light noted to be reminiscent of the Moonlight Boy appears in Guts' consciousness several times.[1][2][6] This figure will speak to Guts in a serious manner to sooth the influence of the Berserker Armor and remind the swordsman of who his friends are. However, in both incarnations the Moonlight Boy does not answer Guts' questions as to who he is.[2]

History

Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc

Casca, having wandered away from Farnese, initially encounters the naked Moonlight Boy along the sea shore of Vritannis. The rest of Guts' traveling party find her gazing out at sea while holding the boy, having wrapped her clothes around him to protect him from the cold. When they approach, Schierke senses a mysterious Od emanating from the child, and the group decides to bring him back to their beach cabin.[3]

File:E238-Like a Family-Manga.png

The Moonlight Boy briefly unites Guts and Casca.

Casca begins to care for the Moonlight Boy, including feeding him. He initially appears afraid of Guts, clutching Casca tightly, only to surprise Guts by later climbing on his back. Casca immediately rushes to take him away, and the resulting scuffle nearly causes the child to fall on Guts' throwing knives. Together, Casca and Guts catch the Moonlight Boy. Isidro and Puck note that the three seem like a family, though Casca, agitated, quickly withdraws from her close proximity to Guts with the child in tow.[3]

That night, Casca and the Moonlight Boy sleep like mother and child, the sight prompting Guts to remember Casca's instinctual bond with the Demon Child. Guts recalls his last encounter with him at the Tower of Conviction, and suspects that the malformed entity is still out alone in the night.[3]

Later, when crocodile familiars attack the group's cabin,[7] the Moonlight Boy watches in silence alongside Casca as the others defend themselves. When one familiar attempts to enter the cabin, the Moonlight Boy glances at it, with the creature then ceasing its approach and leaving.[5] Later, when Guts activates the power of his Berserker Armor to defeat a makara, he loses the ability to tell friend from foe. As he sets his gaze on his companions, a boy-shaped figure of light appears in his consciousness, yelling "Stop!" and reminding the swordsman that the individuals before him are friends. When the figure reaches out and touches the Berserker's helm, Guts begins regaining control, allowing Schierke to reach and free his mind. Afterwards, the group realizes that Moonlight Boy is no longer among them. Guts begins to ponder who or what the boy-shaped light was and, having felt a similarity between it and the Moonlight Boy, questions if they are the same. From a distance, standing with the Moon behind him, the Moonlight Boy silently watches Guts and his companions leave.[1]

Fantasia Arc

File:E316-Guts Pacified-Manga.png

The boy-like figure of light pacifying the Berserker.

During a fight against the Sea God on the Solitary Island, Casca suddenly runs from Farnese to embrace and protect the again naked Moonlight Boy.[8] As Guts is enthralled by the Berserker Armor's Od, he hears a voice command him to focus his attention on Casca. He then sees a brilliant light in her arms, as the boy-shaped light again manifests and touches his helm, disrupting the armor's hold on the swordsman. Schierke notices Guts suddenly resisting the armor's influence and uses the opportunity to reach and quell his mind. The Moonlight Boy is then surrounded by the party members, who begin questioning his nature. As Schierke surmises that he appears with the full moon, Guts considers the figure he saw in the armor, directly asking the boy if he was responsible. The boy merely clutches onto Casca.[2]

He accompanies the group aboard the Seahorse, displaying a fascination with the rigging while Casca tries to prevent him from climbing.[2] Guts dons his Berserker Armor, accompanied by the astral projection of Schierke, to engage the Sea God. The Moonlight Boy silently watches and then appears to notice something in the distant sea, pointing to a crag from which the Sea God's heart bursts forth.[9]

During his battle inside the Sea God, Guts becomes separated from the astral projection of Schierke. Returned to her body on the ship, she calls on her companions, along with Isma's mother and the rest of her merrow, to search for Guts, who is lost in the body of the felled Sea God. In the darkness of the dying Sea God's body, as Guts begins accepting his impending demise, the boy-shaped figure of light comes to the swordsman's aid yet again and ushers him towards the inner lining of the Sea God's heart chamber, allowing Guts to pierce open a puncture by which merrow enter and rescue him. As Guts is brought back to the Seahorse, the Moonlight Boy stares intently in Casca's arms.[6]

The following morning, Casca wakes to find the Moonlight Boy no longer in bed with her. Farnese, Schierke, Serpico, Puck, and Ivalera hear her sad cries and find her agitated and searching. Puck realizes the Moonlight Boy has gone missing, and despite his search of the ship is unable to locate him. Schierke realizes she can no longer sense his Od. She notes that during the full moon, beings associated with the Astral World are allowed to "run rampant", also suggesting that the boy might be an emissary of Skellig come to investigate them, or even a manifestation of the Flower Storm Sovereign. Resting in his bunk, Guts notices what appear to be branches across the Moon, to his confusion. The Moonlight Boy stands on one before the full moon, watching the sailing Seahorse. He then enters the branch and passes through it as a streak of light, appearing as a shooting star in the night sky.[10]

Abilities

Despite appearing completely human, the Moonlight Boy seems to have the ability to detect and exercise some form of persuasive control over astral creatures. When the crocodile familiars attack the cabin that Guts and his group are staying in for the night, the Moonlight Boy simply stares at the one entering the broken door. The familiar meets the boy's gaze and then suddenly withdraws.[5] In his subsequent appearance, he points to a bluff from which the Sea God's heart then bursts forth, having detected its presence.[9]

Guts suspects that the Moonlight Boy has the power to appear to him personally in his consciousness in the guise of a boy-shaped figure of light. The figure has appeared to Guts in his consciousness, and has greatly aided him three times thus far: twice to disrupt the Berserker Armor's influence on the swordsman,[1][2] and again inside the dying Sea God to guide Guts through darkness.[6]

The Moonlight Boy also has the ability to interact with and "ride" the branches of the World Spiral Tree, an ability that currently only he has demonstrated.[10]

Notes

  • Along with his mysterious Od, during their first encounter, Schierke additionally notices hostility within the Moonlight Boy – an emotion she states is no longer detectable upon their second encounter.[2]


References

  1. ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 28, "Jñānin"
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Berserk :: Volume 36, "Full Moon (2)"
  3. ^ a b c d e f Berserk :: Volume 28, "Boy in the Moonlight"
  4. ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Merrow (1)"
  5. ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 28, "Mysterious Fog"
  6. ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 37, "Surfacing"
  7. ^ Berserk :: Volume 28, "Familiars"
  8. ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Full Moon (1)"
  9. ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 36, "Booming Heart"
  10. ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 37, "Shooting Star"

Appendices

Template:Supernatural Beings