Template:Serpico
I am a man generally dissociated from intense emotion. I adapt to my circumstances and fill the role I am given. That is my style.
– Serpico[1]
Serpico (セルピコ Serupiko?) is one of the main characters of the series. He is a servant and illegitimate son of the noble Vandimion family who would join Guts' Traveling Party along with his half-sister Farnese.
Personality
Despite his miserable upbringing, Serpico stands out as polite, gentlemanlike and sincere. He is very protective of Farnese, his half-sister, and caters to her every whim, viewing her as a guardian angel for saving him from his old life on the streets. In spite of Farnese abusing Serpico in the past, her safety and well-being is Serpico's highest priority. Serpico had developed a dislike of how much Farnese looks up to Guts, fearing that his inner darkness would be the death of his half-sister. However, after rejoining Guts' party and sailing to Elfhelm, Serpico has soon learnt to trust the Black Swordsman and the rest of the group, fighting alongside the group and frequently conversing with them and empathizing with their struggles. His relationship with Farnese changed ever since his prolonged adventure with his party and the arrival of Roderick.
Serpico learned at a young age that vengeance begets vengeance, and avoids creating situations of conflict as much as possible. Farnese would sometimes force him into duels with other nobles that insulted his honor, but, though he was always far better than his opponent, he chose to purposefully end it in a draw, being well aware that the nobles would come to hate him and attempt to redeem themselves through revenge. Due to a troubled upbringing, he has grown to hide his emotions up his sleeve, often disguising his true nature behind a facade of incompetence and naivety.
When dropping his act and becoming serious, Serpico holds a calculating and careful presence to him, even threatening his soon-to-be comrade Guts on numerous occasions. He becomes cold and emotionless, justifying his less moral acts through the means of protecting those he cares for.
Despite his skill and sometimes forbidding personality, Serpico is extremely uncomfortable around fire, as well as disliking the sight of blood, making him an unlikely warrior. His fear of fire stemms from Farnese forcing Serpico to burn his mother at the stake to prove that he was not the son of a witch.
Abilities
Physical Abilities
Serpico is an exceptionally skilled and deft fencer, falling just behind Guts in terms of swordsmanship. Farnese states that he could defeat nobles in fencing with one hand tied behind his back, and was angered that he held back in order to keep both combatants alive. At first, he doesn't seem a threat at all, but when Guts heads for Farnese during the Black Swordsman hunt, it seems that Serpico is responsible for throwing a branch at Guts' arrow wound to immobilize him. However, Serpico's great skill is not enough to make him a match for Guts in a head-on fight, leading him to tip other factors in his favor to keep ahead. However, the Sylph Cloak and Sylph Sword make him much more agile and boost his offensive capabilities.
Serpico is also a very good cook and the group often looks forward to the meals he prepares. Serpico has fought apostles every day alongside Guts and the others, thus gaining more combat experience. He was quick enough to save Farnese and lift her up with one hand from falling off the Tower of Conviction.
Tactical Abilities
Serpico has a habit of acting docile, incompetent, or both in order to drop enemies' guards. In truth he is neither and is rather intelligent. He acts fast and is a cunning strategist; the first time he and Guts clash, he is able to survive from a direct hit, and the second time, he cleverly puts Guts in a tight situation where he cannot draw his sword and is able to escape by quickly grabbing a miniature bomb from Guts and using it to cover his getaway.
Equipment
- Rapier: Serpico is shown to use this several times on humans, as Farnese's bodyguard he's very adept at fencing.
- Sylph Sword: Given to him by Schierke, along with the "Wind Cloak", it can cut Trolls, Daka or any other regular sized beings easily, by sending wind. Can send more than one wave to dispose of many enemies. However, even under a full moon, which is said to increase the power of the weapon's magic, it was not able to cut off a Sea Slug's main tentacle.
- Sylph Cloak: The same origin and properties as the "Wind Sword", it makes his light body more buoyant thus increasing his jumping height in a way that is comparable to flight, air maneuverability, mobility, etc. and can summon strong winds to deflect attacks and projectiles. It synergies very well with the wind sword as both responsibly made a wind pressure barrier able to disperse a lightning strike from Ganishka. It has the same kind of Sylph spirit and the pair of items have a somewhat strong attachment to Serpico as when Schierke offered him the items again, it jumps to him (controlled by the wind spirits).
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
Serpico is a playable character in the 2016 game Berserk and the Band of the Hawk. Like Griffith and Casca, Serpico is lightning-fast, but lacks heavy-hitting options and has little in the way of defense. Serpico can have problems breaking enemy guards, due to most of his more damaging attacks being repeat slashes. Serpico's sub-weapon abilities include the Crossbow, which holds 30 bolts, Lightning Cut, a slash that can pierce defense, Wind Vacuum, which creates a field of wind that sucks in all nearby enemies, and Sylph's Blessing, which increases his defense for a short time.
Serpico's repeating slash (X/X/X/X/△) can cut down enemies quickly, and his tornado (X/X/X/X/X/△) does decent damage and can slay upwards of forty enemies at once, sucking them into its range and carrying them off. Serpico's Frenzy mode draws the Sylph Sword and expands his range and damage, and for his Deathlow, Serpico jumps up and assaults the enemy with a flurry of powerful slashes before finishing them off with a tornado.
In the Endless Eclipse, Serpico typically appears as a boss, but can appear as an ally on certain missions. Certain characters can also be given one of his missions, in which he desires to master magic to protect Farnese. His final five bosses on Layers 96--100 are Guts, an Ogre, a Kelpie, Mozgus, and Femto in that order. Serpico's reward for defeating Femto on Layer 100 of the Endless Eclipse is the outfit Helmed Holy Iron Chain Knight, which dresses Serpico in his Chain Knight outfit and places his fox helmet on his head.
Notes
- The name "Serpico" is related to "Serpe" – "wyvern" – in Italian and Portuguese.[2]
- Kentarou Miura has compared Serpico to Andre from The Rose of Versailles, as both men are intended to be a female reader's "dream".[3]
- Despite Federico being his father, Serpico is not recognized as a member of the de Vandimion family and is seen as merely a servant to Farnese. This is due to Federico's wish to the relation a secret to avoid further family squabbling, making sure he'd be granted a title of nobility and cared for in exchange.
- In Berserk Musou, Serpico will use the Sylph Sword when entering Frenzy mode in his boss fights, even when he should not have access to it early in the story.