Schierke is a young 'witch-in-training', and was once a disciple of the witch Flora. She is a member of Guts' Traveling Party.
Appearance[]
Schierke has dark green hair and is slim and small in stature, standing at roughly the same height as Isidro. Her regular attire consists of a robe and a typical witch's hat – both purple in coloration. Although these items of clothing cause her to stand out in a crowd, she prefers them over anything else, as they were hand-made and given to her by her mistress, Flora, and serve as a memento of her.[1] In addition, Schierke has stated that she performs her magic best when wearing her witch garb, as she finds it easier to concentrate. Usually, she carries a wooden staff which spirals toward the top, curling around completely at the end. Her shoes and her bag, which is slung over her shoulder, match the color of her staff. She is accompanied by an Elf - Ivalera - who usually sits atop her hat.
Personality[]
Schierke is mature for her age, quiet, and withdrawn. As a disciple, she was very respectful toward her mistress and was deeply saddened upon her demise. Presently, she gets along well with most of Guts' party, as well as with total strangers such as Sonia and Isma. As a result of being rather sheltered throughout her childhood, she is disdainful toward the human world and the Holy See's religion, but finds life outside of the forest bearable while traveling with her companions.
Although kind and usually friendly, she is often unsettled and annoyed by Isidro's behavior. She sees Isidro as an incompetent monkey and regularly mocks his intelligence, causing some friction between the two and frequently lends itself to comical situations. Initially, Schierke held a disliking for Guts due to his gruff and direct nature. However, time and circumstance have seen her develop an infatuation with him akin to a crush. Guts, aware of this due to an instance of Ivalera teasing Schierke, seems to simply ignore it and essentially treats her like a younger sister.
Guts is protective of Schierke, and the young girl recognizes this. When Schierke's garments are sullied by an intoxicated man during their brief stay at a nearby tavern, Guts punishes him for "staining their girl's nicest clothes," and when Sonia extends an offer to join the Band of the Falcon (Reborn), Schierke thinks of Guts before declining.[2] Furthermore, Schierke is the only person to consistently succeed in bringing Guts out of the trance induced by the Berserker Armor, but she herself notes that the danger and difficulty of achieving this will undoubtedly increase should Guts continue to rely on it. When Roderick asks Guts if Casca is his woman, Schierke hears the answer and feels uneasy.[3] Nevertheless, Schierke recognizes that she has something with him that no one else does: only she can keep him sane under the influence of the Berserker Armor.
Abilities[]
Witchcraft[]
Schierke has spent most of her life studying witchcraft under the immensely powerful witch Flora, and thus is highly accomplished in it for her age. This training made her a very powerful asset in the Black Swordsman Party who is valued by everyone. She has helped the group in some of their most dire encounters with the apostles and is able to fight the demons that plague Casca's mind. She played a great part in the Enoch Village and Qliphoth fights against trolls. Schierke has demonstrated the following abilities:
- Od sensing and manipulation: Schierke is in tune with the flow of od within her surroundings, allowing her to track people and interact with them. Following this, Schierke is also capable of redirecting od, usually to the aim of redirecting a person's attentions.
- Thought transference: by using her hair as a catalyst and bestowing one on someone she wishes to communicate with, Schierke can do so telepathically over long distances. She can also use this to open a visual link, allowing her to see what the person on the other end is seeing.
- Astral projection: Schierke can separate her astral body from her physical one and travel about the astral world this way. This presents the danger of losing her way and going adrift in the astral world, so she must be careful to keep attached to her physical body, represented by a glowing cord. Schierke can accomplish various contextual tasks this way, such as interacting with the Berserker Armor and infiltrating it, allowing her to pry Guts loose from his insane killing sprees.
- Talismans: though not as adept as her master, Schierke is capable of drawing a protective seal over the Brand of Sacrifice, which weakens its attraction of monsters and spirits.
- Fire spell: Schierke uses her hair as a catalyst on the flow of od to generate fire. She blows her hair in the air, and every hair burns and transforms into thin fire elementals.[4]
- Elemental casting (四方の王の陣): Schierke has the ability to beseech elementals for aid and bind them to herself, allowing her to wield their powers. In order to cast these spells however, Schierke must be allowed a considerable amount of uninterrupted time for concentration and contacting them. She can become quite the destructive force depending on what spirit she calls forth, such as flooding the town of Enoch and washing away the trolls with the Lady of the Deep Water and incinerating daka with the Wheel of Fire.
- Astral barrier (四方の守護天使): by asking assistance from the Four Cardinal Kings (四方の王), Schierke is, with time, capable of creating barriers that repel astral beings and disintegrate any caught inside. While of great power against beings that originate from the astral world, like trolls, its effectiveness is limited against physical objects and beings that have a physical body as well, such as pishacha.
- Mind alteration: by waving the tip of her staff, Schierke can make people more malleable to her requests. She temporarily makes Isidro fall into a monkey-like state,[4] and she makes two Vritannis guards disclose the reasons behind the death of Kushan slaves.[5]
Equipment[]
- Witch's hat and robe: sewn for her by her mistress Flora, Schierke is highly attached to these and feels more in tune with her magic while wearing them.
- Witch's staff: a wooden staff with a gnarled end, Schierke uses this staff to aid in her casting of magic.
Story[]
Her full story unknown, Schierke spent most of her life in the forest under Flora's tutelage.
Millennium Falcon Arc[]
Having observed the actions of Griffith from afar[6], Schierke first appears before Guts' group when Farnese and Isidro are ambushed by trolls while protecting Casca. She told the group to huddle around her to create a barrier to keep the trolls from lunging at them, then using a fire-imbued hair strands to drive the creatures off. Schierke then tells the group to leave while they can, hypnotizing Isidro to assume himself as a monkey when he unintentionally groped her in his attempt to keep himself from tripping.[4] Watching the group from afar as Guts and Serpico find them, Schierke assumes their ability to see her magic may stem from the overlapping of layers while noting the strange presence she senses from Guts and Casca.
The group stumbles upon Schierke's house as Morgan sought Flora's help.[7] The young witch attempted to drive them off with golems before Flora telepathically instructed Schierke to stop attacking their guests and give them entry into the mansion.[8] Though Schierke did not trust the group, she ends up being sent by her mentor to help them deal with the trolls attacking Enoch Village, giving Guts' allies magical relics to protect themselves.[9] Once at the village, Schierke uses her power to summon the Four Kings of the World to protect the villagers after they take shelter in a Holy See church.[10] She later participates in the rescue operation to retrieve Casca and Farnese from Qliphoth, the home of the trolls. In the process, she summons a spirit of darkness to protect herself and her allies from the trolls, and is alarmed to sense the sudden presence of the Skull Knight flying past her, followed by the sudden appearance of something powerful and evil surfacing where Guts is.[11]
But when Schierke returns to the Mansion of the Spirit Tree, she finds it under attack by the apostles serving in Griffith's band [12] Schierke is forced to leave Flora to her fate to guide Guts to the Berserker Armor her mistress has been preparing for him.[13] When Guts loses control of himself, Schierke astral projects herself into his mind to save him and learns of his pain as consequence.[14] With no home to return to, Schierke remains by Guts' side to help him control the Berserker Armor with her magic.
Schierke is greatly disturbed by the happenings at the Spirit Tree, but remains a confident ally. When the group travels to the beaches outside Vritannis, she is present to hear the Skull Knight's warning to Guts about the negative effects of the Berserker Armor[15], and later helps defend against an attack by several Kushan pishacha.[16] She later witnesses the Moon Child's appearance on the full moon and the aid this renders.[17]
When the group reaches Vritannis, Schierke renders assistance to the group in finding Farnese, who has traded her freedom for a boat for them to get to Elfhelm.[18] When Vritannis is attacked by the Kushan invasion, Schierke contributes to the fight by summoning the fire elemental, the Wheel of Flame, and torching a horde of Daka.[19] She later summons the same spirit to protect Guts from the Kundalini's water beam, aiding in the defeat of it and its master Daiba.[20]
Fantasia Arc[]
Schierke resumes teaching Farnese magic at her request[21], and assists in the mission to wipe out the Sea God, inhibiting several tentacle beasts and accompanying Guts on his expedition to its heart. Schierke mainly provides defense for Guts while he clears out the many internal monstrosities with the Sea God.[22]
When the group reaches Elfhelm, Schierke's experience with magic helps the party navigate the many barriers in their way[23] and to combat the beings that Molda and her group send their way.[24] She later forms a budding friendship with several witches on the island, Kukka in particular.[25] She is later selected by the Flower Storm Monarch to aid her in delving into Casca's mind and restoring her sanity.[26] Schierke and Farnese survey Casca's dreamscape, having arrived in a plane strongly resembling the Eclipse. Schierke decides to head off immediately for whatever part of Casca's psyche awaits them, realizing the realm is a immaterial – dreamscape, not reality, and what they seek will be found once they decide on it.
They soon after happen upon a black hound chained to and dragging a falcon-crested coffin through the wasteland. After helping fend off spear-wielding, bat-like creatures attacking the dog, Schierke realizes the dog represents Guts and, feeling equally suspicious of the coffin it drags, opens it. Opening the coffin, they see a heavily-fragmented doll bearing the brand and Casca's overall image, representing her current regressed state. Schierke draws Farnese's attention to something else: inside the doll, a small figure resembling Casca. The two sorceresses wonder what to do and where to go next, promptly being directed by Danan in the form of cherry blossom petals floating on the wind. They accept her guidance, and Schierke invites the hound to join them, as it too has Casca's well-being in-mind.[27] Schierke and Farnese follow a trail of flower petals to a campfire, which they discover is a fragment of Casca's memories. The memory image then turns into a piece of broken porcelain, which the hound picks up and returns to Casca's doll. Thus, a part of the doll is repaired in accordance with the laws of Casca's dream world. They realize that to heal Casca, they have to gather the pieces of Casca's memories scattered across the wasteland and mend the doll.
Suddenly, cloak monsters appear again to impede their progress. Schierke reveals two items in her purse she brought from her own dream – a golem doll and an eye amulet – and uses them to ward off the monsters.[28]
Schierke and Farnese approach a sword and helmet, and upon making contact with them, witness Guts and Casca's first meeting from the latter's perspective. With the ending of the memory, the two notice the coffined doll has been repaired further. The two trek on through the dreamscape, experiencing Casca's various memories and feelings from the Band of the Falcon's gilded years, as well as Griffith's rescuing of Casca from a lustful nobleman in her pre-teen years and the period before the Eclipse. Schierke and Farnese begin feeling as if they have wandered for "a month... maybe even a year", while also feeling as if their journey hasn't even lasted a day. Schierke notes that only a few pieces of doll remain missing.
They notice an ominous mountain peak in the distance, hovered by a solar eclipse. Schierke concludes that the primary cause of Casca's regression is situated there and acknowledges the perils that await them. After reassuring the miniature Casca, Farnese hears a tiny voice, and both she and Schierke realize the miniature Casca is speaking: "There is someone I want to see." The two resolve to take the tiny avatar to the person and make their approach toward the miasmic peak.[29]
Schierke and Farnese venture through a forest strewn with corpses and needling pine trees; Schierke remarks that any experience capable of etching such a grisly sight on one's mind is surely enough to break their psyche. Deeper into the forest, the two sorceresses are ambushed by more repulsive monsters conceived by Casca's mind. With the assistance of golems, as well as the Lady of the Depths, Rotting Root Lord, and Wheel of Flame, Schierke and Farnese are able to circumvent the monsters and continue on toward the mountain. They soon after find themselves under attack yet again, this time by phallic creatures of the dreamscape. Farnese uses a fetish bearing Mozgus' head likeness to make way for the sorceresses' escape. While embarking up the mountain, the two acknowledge the increasing hostility of the dreamscape relative to their nearing proximity to Casca's final memory fragment; Schierke theorizes that Casca is seemingly rejecting their continued efforts to restore her mind, in an attempt to remain as she is. After a strenuous climb, the sorceresses eventually reach the mountain's summit and arrive at the final, thorn-encased memory fragment of Casca's fractured mind.[30]
Before they can retrieve it, they are attacked by a large, black bird monster – noted to be the guardian of the final fragment and sovereign of the dream's demons – and other manifested apostle-like creatures. Schierke summons her elemental fetishes to defend herself and her companions against the monsters, but the group is soon overwhelmed and the bird manages to grab Casca's coffined doll and the hound in its talons. While Farnese caught the coffin and the hound acquired armor,[31] Schierke and Farnese are given an opening to retrieve the coffin. When the hound fights the bird, the two sorceresses find themselves overwhelmed by the countless demonic spawn of the bird's miasma. Just as they are surrounded, Flora flows out from Schierke's hat, reuniting with her pupil in the realm of dreams as she said they would and returning to bestow the young witch with a blessing: manifesting her younger, fire-like form, Flora tells Schierke and Farnese to continue on to the roots of the final fragment, as she then clears the area of the surrounding apostles with her magic. Upon reaching the roots and ascending to the elevation of the final fragment, the two witches are shocked to see that within the thorned casing floats a misshapen child.[32]
The two are then met by Casca's experience of the Eclipse. Schierke encourages Farnese to keep sight of herself. Ultimately, Casca's memories of the horrific event condense into thorns wrapped around a heart – her final fragment. Schierke states the heart's shape is indicative of a curse, and suggests that what broke Casca was the unimaginable pain caused by her horrible memories and sense of self conflicting. The young witch is then reminded of the Skull Knight's warning: that what Guts wants may not be what Casca wants.
With the bird approaching to attack the group, Farnese puts the thorned heart inside Casca's coffined doll, causing the bird to disappear. A light then shines within the dream, as it ends. In the real world, Casca wakes up as do Schierke and Farnese shortly after.[33] Returned to her former self, Casca greets and expresses gratitude to Farnese, Schierke, and Ivalera.[34]
Schierke and Farnese go to see Guts, who is hiding behind a tree nearby, having decided to avoid Casca due to the horrifying response he elicited from her before. Danan arrives and remarks that it is up to Casca to decide how to handle her deep wounds. Schierke later tended to Casca she began remembering the events of the Eclipse.[35]
Schierke and Farnese later head to the orchard, where the mages of Elfhelm await to assess the abilities of the foreigners. Schierke then summons a spirit of darkness from a nearby tree hollow. When asked how she can perform such magic without traditional methods. Schierke explains that during her group's journey, they lacked the time to carve runes or draw magical symbols, compelling her to develop the ability to perform magic intuitively by creating mental correspondences. She adds that she learned to draw strength from whatever spirits were present at a given moment, honing her sense for finding them. Gedfring inquires if she is interested in communing with daimons; among which Flora is one. An eager Schierke accepts Gedfring's offer of tutelage.[36] Later Schierke struggles to take flight on a broom for her first time. Molda tells her she will learn much faster if someone flies her, and so takes flight with Schierke on her own broom. In their flight, the two see Gedfring, the Skull Knight, and Guts making their way into the depths of Skellig where the island's gloomier inhabitants reside.
While tailing the three, Schierke and Molda meet Volvaba, Molda's teacher and "a master of curses and manipulation of departed souls" by Molda's description. Schierke introduces herself and informs Volvaba that she is Flora's pupil. Receiving directions from Volvaba, the two sorcerers make their way into the stone forest of the dwarves. As they depart, Volvaba ponders the coinciding arrivals of a pupil of Flora's and the Skull Knight, surmising that the prognostications of Elfhelm's gurus are coming true. Schierke and Molda arrive just as the three they are following begin conversing with Hanarr.[37] When the Berserker armor activates, Schierke notes that the memory resonates with Guts' own trauma as he attempts to free himself. Schierke takes advantage of Guts' preoccupation with the phantasm to restore his mental state to normal.[38] While Skull Knight takes the group to the resting place of the "Lady Priestess of the Cherry Blossoms", Gedfring reveals to Schierke that Flora served the Lady Priestess until she was exiled from Elfhelm for violating a taboo after "the day the black sun shone upon the world".
Later, when Guts find and brings the Moonlight Boy to his companions, Schierke theorizes that the boy is Danan in an assumed form. This theory is quickly disproven when Danan herself arrives, embarrassing her in the process.[39]
Fall of Elfhelm[]
At night, when the Moonlight boy transforms into Griffith, Schierke, in her luminous body, observes Griffith's astral presence as an immensely powerful maelstrom pulling in everything around him. Farnese intervenes in her own luminous body, preventing Schierke from being pulled further into the maelstrom.[40] However, as Schierke and Farnese tend to a passed out Casca, Griffith leaves with Zodd and spirits Casca away. As the island begins to fall apart, Roderick's crew bring a manage to bring the party aboard the Seahorse. Onboard, Molda appears and rallies the group, taking Farnese and Schierke to use their healing magic on the wounded. In addition, she informs them that Guts survived and was brought aboard, but was last seen unresponsive and mumbling to himself, locking himself within a room. Schierke goes then to find Guts.[41]
Schierke projects her luminous body to reach Guts, where she observes his growing mental anguish at his loss of Casca. She observes that his mind is inundated with memories of his Dragon Slayer and many of the enemies he has felled with the sword. Furthermore, she sees his reminiscence of Griffith and growing rancor toward such, culminating in the increasing mental manifestation of his inner darkness. Upon viewing an abstract image of Guts sinking into the deepest fathoms of his own despair, Schierke is taken aback to such an extent as to sever the astral projection of her luminous body.[42] Schierke, in her luminous body, attempts to searches for Casca, and briefly encounters Guts' luminous manifestation.[43][44]
Portrayal[]
Japanese Voice Actor(s)[]
- Yukana: Berserk: Millennium Falcon Arc - Holy Evil War Chapter
- Chiwa Saitō: Berserk (2016 Anime)/Berserk Musou
English Voice Actor(s)[]
Notes[]
- The Berserk Official Guidebook states that circa the Fantasia Arc, Schierke is 13 years old, 120 cm, and 31 kg. (NOTE: The Berserk Official Guidebook is highly questionable in its veracity.)
- Schierke (meaning "unspoilt wood", from Low German schier, "bright, pure" and diminutive suffix "-ke"; cf. English sheer) is the name of a village located in the Harz Mountain range of Northern Germany. In the present day it is part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and is now considered part of the town of Wernigerode. Schierke lies below the highest mountain in the region - the Brocken - which for uncounted centuries has been connected to legends and fairy tales concerning witches, devils and other supernatural beings. The summit of the Brocken is held as the traditional place of revelry for witches on Walpurgisnacht - the 30th of April. Modern-day Schierke is host to a festival every year on Walpurgisnacht.
- The name Schierke is a homonymn of Circe, an enchantress from Ancient Greek mythology who was involved in a number of epic tales, most notably the Odyssey.
- Whilst the incantation Schierke uses to summon the Four Kings comes from the Kabbalistic Cross, the spell she uses to fend off the trolls is a part of the Formulation of the Pentagrams, Hermetic incantations of the various Hebrew Kabalistic names of God. Both are a part of the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram.
- In the 2016 anime, Schierke sensed the spiritual disturbances caused during the fifth Eclipse and then the Incarnation Ceremony years later.
- According to a Kouji Mori interview for the Spanish news media EFE, the first time he heard about Berserk's story, Schierke was not in it.[45]
References[]
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 28, "Garrison"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 29, "Meager Supper"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 33, "Bubbles of Futility"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 24, "Witch"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 28, "City of People"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 22, "War Cry of the Wind (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 24, "Mansion of the Spirit Tree (1)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 24, "Mansion of the Spirit Tree (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 24, "Elementals"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 25, "Arcana of Invocation"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 26, "Companions"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 26, "Flames (1)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 26, "Flames (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 27, "Depths of Hellfire"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 28, "Proclaimed Omen"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 28, "Familiars"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 28, "Boy in the Moonlight"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 29, "Colonnade Chamber"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 31, "Blaze Rod"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 31, "Bursting Flames"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 32, "On Board"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Sea God (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 38, "Landing"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Blazing Puppet"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Village of Witches"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Flower Storm Monarch"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Gloomy Wasteland"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Corridor of Dreams"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Fragments of Memories"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 40, "Forest of Corpses and Thorny Cedars"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 40, "Main Cause"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 40, "Final Fragment"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 40, "Awakening"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 40, "Beneath Sun-Dappled Trees"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 41, "Barrier"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 41, "Cherry Orchard"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 41, "Ravine"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 41, "Vision of Death"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 41, "Teardrop of Morning Dew"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 42, "Eye of the Maelstrom"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 42, "Refugees on the West Sea"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 42, "A Dying Light in the Pitch Black Night"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 42, "Rusty Iron Rings That Bind"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume TBA, "Water's Wavering Surface and War's Shadow"
- ^ EFE :: La gesta de Kouji Mori y Studio Gaga para completar el legado del icónico manga ‘Berserk’ de Kentaro Miura
Appendices[]
Groups |
Mages
Schierke · Flora · Farnese · Gedfring · Ginnar · Thraein · Skirbil · Molda · Kukka · Theuene · Iony · Volvaba · Lady Priestess of the Cherry Blossoms |
Elves
Flower Storm Monarch · Puck · Ivalera · Peekaf · Puck's Relatives |
Other Spirits
Hanarr · Isma · Isma's Mother |
Magic Items-Only Users |
Interstitial Characters
Guts · Casca · Moonlight Boy · Skull Knight |