Puck

File:Puck greater-than Guts.jpg

Puck doing his comic relief job. Read from Right to left.

Puck (aka Pak, Pac depending on translation) is, at last according to the order the chapters of the story are told, one of the earliest companions of Guts, the Black Swordsman. He's Elf of the Pisky race, decendants from the ancient Spirits of Wind, he's of the same race of Evarella, sharing with her the lighter, kind-hearted but nonsensical nature that according to Evarella is common to almost every member of their race. A former denizen of Elfhelm, the idyllic Elven realm of King Hanafubuku, he went away out of sheer boredom prior to the events told in the Golden Age story Arc, mixing his destiny with the branded warrior.

Life

The Black Swordsman

In the first three volumes, Puck is saved by Guts, as, forcefully taken away from the street artists community in which once performed, he's captured and tortured by the servant of the Snake Baron, in Koca. Puck, grateful, offers to follow Guts, sharing with him the powder left by his wings: a powder able to heal most wounds in almost no time.

Guts, far than impressed, repeatedly tries to send Puck away, and Puck himself, after witnessing his obsession with killing an revenge, and the harsh treatment he deals to Vargas, decides to leave him. Unable to save Vargas' life, he's instead captured by the Count, and given to Teresia as a pet.

There, he befriends the lonely child, promising her to find a way to let her escape the room in which her obsessed father closed her seven years ago. Unfortunately enough, Puck is able to help Teresia escape just in time to witness Guts savagely beat and maim the Count, and the Count himself calling upon the God Hand.

Upon seeing that even after such a crucible Guts has no words of confort and no kindness for the child, Puck once again blames the Black Knight, but finds him crying despite his cruel demeanor.

The Golden Age

Puck has no discernible appearances in the Golden Age arc, but it's strongly hinted, and later confirmed by the Skull Knight that the travelling artist with whom Puck worked are the same with whom once worked Judeau. As a parting gift, they left Judeau a little bag of elf powder: the same was used to save Guts' life after his battle with one hundred soldiers to save Casca. Skull Knights claims their destinies were since interwined.

Retribution Arc

The Black Swordsman, Again

Puck continues following Guts in his voyages, so that Guts is forced to accept the loudmouth elf living in his medicine pouch, agreeing that now the elf is the medicine itself, filling continuously his pouch with elfic powder.

Puck expertise about elves comes to use when Guts is forced in combat against a small gang of "elves", led by Rosine, a young girl turned Apostle as a humanoid Luna Moth. Puck is able to discern that Rosine's elves are in fact human children, embittered by war, famine and their mistreatment by adults.

Along with Guts, he's able to save Jill, abused child and friend of Rosine, from being turned in a humanoid insect, and conforts the dying Rosine by telling her about real elves once residing in the Misty Valley.

He later helps Guts escaping from the clutches of Farnese, rekindling their friendship in the process.

The Tower of Conviction

When Guts received a vision from the Child that Casca was being burned on a pole, he came rushing back to Godo's place, along with Puck. There, Rickert is happy to see him with Guts, claiming that Puck selfless friendship is the only thing keeping Guts from surrendering to his inner demons.

Following Guts to the Tower of Rebirth, Puck befriends Isidro, a young runaway hoping to be taught swordmanship by a real mercenary, as he sees Guts. Instead, he's "taken" as an apprentice from Puck himself, starting with the young boy a bossy, but friendly, relationship.

Millennium Falcon Arc

The Hill of Swords

With Griffith rebirth, and the sussequent battle between Zodd and Guts at the Hill of Sword, the elven mine in which Guts and Casca resided is utterly trashed. As two branded individual can only reside in holy places without being pursued by Apostles and demons, Puck proposes Guts to bring Casca to Elfhelm, the holy land of the Elves, in which they could live free.

The Witch of The Forest

As Guts travels with Casca, he has to depend more and more from outside help to keep her safe. So, his bond with Puck streghtens even more, as Puck is the only one able to bring them to Elfhelm.

Farnese, Serpico and Isidro rejoin soon, and they meet Flora, an old and dying witch, whose apprentice, Schierke, as an elven companion on her own, Evarella. As the witch and the female elf join the party, Puck form an antagonizing, bantering relationship with the less sophisticated and more serious Pisky.

Present

As Evarella reveales that King Hanafubuku may be able to cure Casca insanity, Puck's role remains leading the party to his former kingdom.

Characteristics

Puck is an empath, able to feel the emotions of others at the point of being overwhelmed by strong emotions and obsessions, like the revenge-obsession exibited sometimes by Guts. As many Pisky Elvers like him, Puck hides his caring and trustworthy side under a bubbly facade of silliness and nonsensical attitude, essentially acting as a comic relief character. This is reflected as, along with Evarella, Puck is very often, at least from the Retribution Arc onwards, as a superdeformed character, similar to a stylized chestnut. The Piskies secrete an healing powder from their wings, that's able to heal almost every wound in a shorter time than usual. However, deeper wounds may require continuing appliance of the curative powers for longer time.

Puck finds easy forming new friendship, and rekindling lost ones. However, he seems to divide his main affections between Guts and Isidro, likening them to "his dark castle" and a "vacation home", and spending many time trying to "teach" his wayward disciple, Isidro, mirroring the relationship betwen Evarella and Shierke.

With Guts, he acts essentially as a confident, keeping him sane from long months before Isidro, Farnese and Serpico came back to him.

He plays a joyful rivalry with Evarella, as the female elf feels to be more serious and less bubbly than the average Pisky, and Puck does his best to show Evarella how similar they really are.