Changes: Snake Lord

Revision as of 20:37, 9 February 2020

Gold... Prisoners... I don't care about such things. All I wish to see are humans within a fiery apocalypse. Trying to escape. All I wish to hear is the sound of snapping bones crushed under the hooves of horses. I don't even need an excuse. None at all...
– The Snake Lord^[1]

The Snake Lord^{[expl 1]} was the apostle ruler of Koka, residing in the town castle. He demanded provisions of gold and human cattle for food from the town mayor, in exchange for not turning his malice towards the entirety of the town's residents. He was eventually hunted down, defeated, and left for dead by Guts.^[1]

Personality

As the oppressive ruler of Koka, the Snake Lord possessed a demeanor of calmness and dominance, and was unapologetically sadistic in nature. He reveled and took pride in the fear he induced in the hearts of men, and bore a strong disdain for humanity, believing humans were nothing more than morsels for apostlekind and longing to see them die in a fiery chaos.^[1]

When in battle, he glorified himself as an all-powerful being due to his status as an apostle. He was very confident in his abilities, tending to underestimate his opponents, as shown when Guts quickly unhorsed him and sent his base form flying through a building. After assuming his true form, his confidence increased significantly and his contempt for humanity became even more expressive. However, when the Snake Lord was incapacitated and defeated by Guts, his demeanor warped to that of a pitiable beggar as he pleaded for his life and was left to burn to ashes.^[1]

Story

Golden Age Arc

The Snake Lord is one of numerous apostles who embark on a pilgrimage to take part in the fifth Eclipse.^[2]

Black Swordsman Arc

File:Manga E0A Snake Lord Glare.png

The Snake Lord turns his rancor towards the town.

While having a meal of human flesh, the Snake Lord is informed of the Black Swordsman's arrival in Koka and attack on his henchmen in a town tavern, leaving him to ponder who the aggressor is. The Mayor of Koka then arrives, having placed the swordsman in jail and offering more gold and human cattle for forgiveness. The Snake Lord, however, accuses the mayor of fearing for his own life more than those of the townspeople. Afterwards, he reveals that he does not truly care for gold or prisoners, and would prefer to see humans in a fiery apocalypse and listen to the snapping of their bones under the hooves of horses. As his henchmen take the mayor away, the Snake Lord dons his battle armor, having resolved to lay waste to Koka.^[1]

File:Manga E0A Guts Defeats Snake Lord.png

The Snake Lord is defeated by the Black Swordsman.

Soon after, the Snake Lord and his henchmen begin killing all townspeople in their path and setting Koka ablaze. Having escaped confinement prior to the onslaught, the Black Swordsman halts their slaughter and dispatches several of the Snake Lord's henchmen before facing the apostle himself. Confident in his own abilities, the Snake Lord accepts Guts' challenge, attempting to ram the swordsman through with his halberd before being shot off his steed and then into a nearby building. In retaliation, he assumes his true form and begins voicing his intent to eat Guts alive. The Snake Lord proceeds to overpower the swordsman before picking him up by his right arm to further degrade him and humanity as weaklings. Guts uses the moment to fire his cannon arm and blow off half of the Snake Lord's face, creating an opening to bisect the apostle with the Dragon Slayer. Reduced to a torso, the Snake Lord is unable to defend himself from being shot and tortured by Guts. While pleading for his life, he recognizes Guts as a survivor of the Eclipse upon noticing the swordsman's Brand of Sacrifice. When questioned about the God Hand's whereabouts, he reveals he has no idea where they are, before he is left to die, buried alive beneath the burning debris of Koka.^[1]

Notes

The Snake Lord is the first primary antagonist in real world Berserk chronology.
In the 1997 anime, the Snake Lord assumes the Slug Count's role as the apostle whose beherit is taken by Guts upon defeat.
The Snake Lord does not make an appearance in the 2016 anime adaptation.
In Berserk Musou, the Snake Lord is named the "Lord of Thieves".

Explanations

^ Kentarou Miura dubs the Snake Lord such in an interview for the Berserk Official Guidebook, referring to the apostle as ヘビ首領, in which ヘビ means "snake" and 首領 is a generic term for "leader", "chief", "boss", etc.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lua error in Module:Qref at line 19: attempt to index local 'episode' (a nil value). Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content
^ Berserk :: Volume 10, "Sparks from a Sword Tip"

Template:Supernatural Beings

[expl1-2] Kentarou Miura dubs the Snake Lord such in an interview for the Berserk Official Guidebook, referring to the apostle as ヘビ首領, in which ヘビ means "snake" and 首領 is a generic term for "leader", "chief", "boss", etc.

[e0A-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lua error in Module:Qref at line 19: attempt to index local 'episode' (a nil value). Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "e0A" defined multiple times with different content

[e48-3] Berserk :: Volume 10, "Sparks from a Sword Tip"

[1]

[expl 1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Infobox/Character
-{{Parent Tab Template
+|image=
-|backcolor           = #7285ce
+<gallery>
-|altbackcolor        = #000000
+Manga E0A Snake Lord Armored.png|Base Form
-|textcolor           = #000000
+Manga E0A Snake Lord Transformed.png|True Form
-|alttextcolor        = #FFFFFF
+</gallery>
-|maxwidth            = 15
+|ename=Snake Lord
-|height              = 2.3
+|jname=ヘビ首領
-|tab1                = Overview
+|rname=Hebi Shuryō
-|tab2                = Image Gallery}}
+|first={{ep|0A}}
+|last={{ep|0A}} (death)<br>{{ep|348}} (flashback)
-{{Character/Infobox
+|other names=
-|name= Snake Baron
+|traits=
-|image= <tabber>
+|allies=[[Koka Thugs|Thug henchmen]]
-Human Form=            {{Picture Switch
+|highlights=
-                   |[[File:Snake Baron Manga.jpg|260px]]
+}}
-                   |[[File:Snake Baron Portrait.png|260px]]
+{{Quote|Gold... Prisoners... I don't care about such things. All I wish to see are humans within a fiery apocalypse. Trying to escape. All I wish to hear is the sound of snapping bones crushed under the hooves of horses. I don't even need an excuse. None at all...|The Snake Lord{{qref|e0A}}}}
-                   }}
+The '''Snake Lord'''<ref group="expl" name="expl1" /> was the [[apostle]] ruler of [[Koka]], residing in the town castle. He demanded provisions of gold and [[human]] cattle for food from the [[Mayor of Koka|town mayor]], in exchange for not turning his malice towards the entirety of the town's residents. He was eventually hunted down, defeated, and left for dead by [[Guts]].{{qref|e0A}}
-|-|
-Apostle Form=            {{Picture Switch
-                   |[[File:Snake Baron.jpg|260px]]
-                   |[[File:apsotleformep1.png|260px]]
-                   }}
-</tabber>
-|kanji=
-|rōmaji=
-|also known as= Lord of Koka Castle<br>Lord of Thieves (PS4 video game)
-|manga debut= Episode A0<br />''[[Episode A0 (Manga)|The Black Swordsman]]''
-|anime debut= '''(1997 Anime)'''<br>Episode 1<br />''[[Episode 1|Black Swordsman]]''
-|japanese voice= [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0865808/ Kan Tokumaru] (1997 Anime)
-|english voice= Lex Watus (1997 Anime)
-|gender= Male
-|eyes= Yellow
-|hair= Black
-|status= Deceased
-|affiliation= [[God Hand]]
-|previous affiliation=
-|occupation= Ruler of Koka
-|previous occupation=
-|image gallery= yes
-|species = Apostle<br>Human (formerly)}}
-The '''Snake Baron''' is an [[Apostle]] of the [[God Hand]]. He has made himself the local ruler of the town of [[Koka]], in place of the [[Lord Mayor of Koka]] and feeds on the local prisoners. He is the first real demonic antagonist that Guts faces in the manga and the first anime proper, and as such, his cruel and monstrous nature helps set the tone for monsters and villains to come in the series.
-== Appearance ==
-[[File:Snake Baron Anime.jpg|thumb|left]]
-A large man in human form, the Baron is depicted much like [[Wikipedia: Count Orlok|Count Orlok]] with a long, pale face containing sharp, yet separated teeth. His hair is of a dark, slicked back black and his eyes pale as can be while resembling a snake's. He is also shown to be fairly tall, yet very skinny and wears the dress of a noble, a dark open trench coat of sorts with a white furred trim running from the base to the collared hood, the result bears semblance to a cobra. Beneath that he wears a red linen, button down shirt and dark pants. True to his name, the Baron wears a suit of snake-like armor that is heavily plated in gold decoration with claws on the tops of the gauntlets and an armored hood that looks like the head of a cobra. He is equipped with a halberd and rides upon a fine dark horse, adorned in armor itself. The armor also has a flowing black cape.
-In his true form, his size increased greatly, the Snake Baron resembles a massive king cobra with long, muscular arms and legs. His entire body is coated in hard scale and the only feature left from his human form is his face situated within the mouth of his cobra head with the snake-tongue protruding from where his mouth should be. In this form, the Snake Baron can use his tail as a weapon.
 == Personality ==
+As the oppressive ruler of Koka, the Snake Lord possessed a demeanor of calmness and dominance, and was unapologetically sadistic in nature. He reveled and took pride in the fear he induced in the hearts of men, and bore a strong disdain for [[human]]ity, believing humans were nothing more than morsels for [[apostle]]kind and longing to see them die in a fiery chaos.{{qref|e0A}}
-When first shown, he appears to be a calm man and doesn't reprimand the leader of [[Snake Baron's Bandits|the bandits]] that caused trouble in the bar earlier but instead moves on to the Mayor and shows his true colors as a vile, despicable man who couldn't care less for human life, and in fact actively takes pleasure in committing evil acts against it. He viewed human beings as food and objects to be torn apart and eaten at his leisure, and gleefully demanded women and children be sent to him to be eaten in order to keep the town from being overrun by thieves.
-When in battle, he glorifies himself as an all-powerful being due to his species as an Apostle and will stop at nothing to prove that. He's also very confident in his abilities; and as a result, he tends to underestimate his opponents (typically humans) as shown with Guts who quickly unhorses him and sends his human form flying through a building. After taking on his Apostle form, his confidence rises to a godlike demeanor and he treats Guts more and more like a weakling human than he did before, telling him that humans are nothing more than morsels and that food should act like food while Guts continues fighting on. However, when the Baron loses most of his body due to several attacks by Guts, his attitude goes from confidence to begging for mercy at a pitiful level. He made himself out to be a higher Apostle than he actually was but in the end, he admitted to Guts that a lowly Apostle like himself knows nothing of the whereabouts or workings of the God Hand. In the very end, he shows intense fear of dying like most Apostles near death, and therefore dies a weakling after condemning so many as weak themselves.
+When in battle, he glorified himself as an all-powerful being due to his status as an apostle. He was very confident in his abilities, tending to underestimate his opponents, as shown when Guts quickly unhorsed him and sent his base form flying through a building. After assuming his true form, his confidence increased significantly and his contempt for humanity became even more expressive. However, when the Snake Lord was incapacitated and defeated by Guts, his demeanor warped to that of a pitiable beggar as he pleaded for his life and was left to burn to ashes.{{qref|e0A}}
-== History ==
+== Story ==
 === Golden Age Arc ===
+The Snake Lord is one of numerous [[apostle]]s who embark on a pilgrimage to take part in the fifth [[Eclipse]].{{qref|e48}}
-While his background is unknown, the Snake Baron was among the Apostles that attended the [[Eclipse]] that would make [[Griffith]] the last member of the [[God Hand]] as he was seen from a distance by two hunters in the forest cutting a tree. Sometime after, the Snake Baron came to the town of Koka and placed the town under his control by forcing the mayor to send him the village's maidens for his nourishment to keep him from destroying the town. This allows the Snake Baron's bandit underlings, apparently unaware of his true nature, to run the town for him.
 === Black Swordsman Arc ===
-[[File:Snake Baron Portrait.png|thumb|left|The Snake Baron learning of the Black Swordsman]]
+[[File:Manga E0A Snake Lord Glare.png|thumb|left|The Snake Lord turns his rancor towards the town.]]
-While having a meal created from one of his victims, the Snake Baron receives news that the [[Guts|Black Swordsman]] has attacked his lackies at a tavern in Koka while leaving a survivor to tell the Baron that he is coming for him. He then proceeds wonder who this man is when the Mayor has arrived, having placed the troublemaker in jail and offering more gold and people for forgiveness. But the Baron accuses the mayor for fearing his life more that his people, revealing he preferred to see people succumb to chaos as he reveals his intention of burning the town in somewhat of a poetic manner before ordering the mayor away. Soon after, the Baron and his bandits lay waste to Koka, killing all its people before proceeding to set the town on fire.<ref name="Chapter A0">''Berserk'' manga; [[Chapter A0]]</ref>
+While having a meal of [[human]] flesh, the Snake Lord is informed of the [[Guts|Black Swordsman]]'s arrival in [[Koka]] and attack on his [[Koka Thugs|henchmen]] in a town tavern, leaving him to ponder who the aggressor is. The [[Mayor of Koka]] then arrives, having placed the swordsman in jail and offering more gold and human cattle for forgiveness. The Snake Lord, however, accuses the mayor of fearing for his own life more than those of the townspeople. Afterwards, he reveals that he does not truly care for gold or prisoners, and would prefer to see humans in a fiery apocalypse and listen to the snapping of their bones under the hooves of horses. As his henchmen take the mayor away, the Snake Lord dons his battle armor, having resolved to lay waste to Koka.{{qref|e0A}}
-[[File:Baron Dying.png|thumb|right|Guts standing above the dying Snake Baron.]]
+[[File:Manga E0A Guts Defeats Snake Lord.png|thumb|right|The Snake Lord is defeated by the Black Swordsman.]]
-But Guts, having escaped confinement prior to the slaughter, makes his move and kills the Baron's henchmen before facing the apostle himself. Confident, the Baron accepts Guts' challenge as he attempts to ram the swordsman through with his halberd before being knocked off his steed. From there, the Baron assumes his true form while voicing his intent to eat Guts alive. The Baron proceeds to overpower before picking him up by his right arm to further degrade him as a human with more speeches. But Guts uses that moment to fire his prosthetic and blow half of the Snake Baron's face off, leaving open to be bifurcated by Guts. Reduced to a torso, the Baron is unable to defend himself from being shot by Guts' bolts. The Baron pleas for his life while recognizing Guts as a survivor of the Eclipse upon seeing his "[[Brand of Sacrifice]]". The Baron reveals he has no idea where the God Hand are, with Guts leaving him to die in the fire he started as the apostle is buried alive in burning debris.<ref name="Chapter A0"/>
+Soon after, the Snake Lord and his henchmen begin killing all townspeople in their path and setting Koka ablaze. Having escaped confinement prior to the onslaught, the Black Swordsman halts their slaughter and dispatches several of the Snake Lord's henchmen before facing the [[apostle]] himself. Confident in his own abilities, the Snake Lord accepts Guts' challenge, attempting to ram the swordsman through with his halberd before being [[Repeater Crossbow|shot]] off his steed and then into a nearby building. In retaliation, he assumes his true form and begins voicing his intent to eat Guts alive. The Snake Lord proceeds to overpower the swordsman before picking him up by his right arm to further degrade him and humanity as weaklings. Guts uses the moment to fire his [[Cannon Arm|cannon arm]] and blow off half of the Snake Lord's face, creating an opening to bisect the apostle with the [[Dragon Slayer]]. Reduced to a torso, the Snake Lord is unable to defend himself from being shot and tortured by Guts. While pleading for his life, he recognizes Guts as a survivor of the [[Eclipse]] upon noticing the swordsman's [[Brand of Sacrifice]]. When questioned about the [[God Hand]]'s whereabouts, he reveals he has no idea where they are, before he is left to die, buried alive beneath the burning debris of Koka.{{qref|e0A}}
+== Notes ==
-== ''Berserk and the Band of the Hawk'' ==
-The Snake Baron, here called the Lord of Thieves, appears as a boss in the 2016 game '''''[[Berserk and the Band of the Hawk]]'''''.
+* The Snake Lord is the first primary antagonist in real world ''[[Berserk (Manga)|Berserk]]'' chronology.
+* In the [[Berserk (Anime)|1997 anime]], the Snake Lord assumes the [[Slug Count]]'s role as the apostle whose [[beherit]] is taken by Guts upon defeat.
+* The Snake Lord does not make an appearance in the [[Berserk (2016 Anime)|2016 anime adaptation]].
+* In ''[[Berserk Musou]]'', the Snake Lord is named the "Lord of Thieves".
+== Explanations ==
-His initial appearance in Story Mode is in the chapter "The Eclipse". However, he can't be defeated here and acts more as a distraction to the player as they attempt to defeat Apostles to progress.
+<references group="expl">
+<ref group="expl" name="expl1">[[Kentarou Miura]] dubs the Snake Lord such in an interview for the ''[[Berserk Official Guidebook]]'', referring to the apostle as ヘビ首領, in which ヘビ means "snake" and 首領 is a generic term for "leader", "chief", "boss", etc.</ref>
-He appears as a beatable boss in the chapter "The Brand's Guidance". Contrary to the short fight in the original manga, the Lord of Thieves is quite the difficult fight here. He has three health bars and is quite fast, and has an aggravating habit of using his tail swipe attack often, stunlocking the player and, unless avoided, running them into a corner to be swiped to death. He yields a Beherit upon defeat.
+</references>
-The Lord of Thieves also appears in the ''Endless Eclipse''. Players will find him on Layer 50. He also appears as the boss of Layer 97 of Guts' Endless Eclipse.
-== Notes ==
-* In the [[Berserk (Anime)|1997 anime series adaption]], the Snake Baron assumes the [[Count]]'s role of being the Apostle whose [[Beherit]] was taken by Guts upon his death. The Snake Baron does not make an appearance in the [[Berserk (2016 Anime)|2016 anime adaptation]].
-* For his entire appearance, his face is almost never shown clearly without shadow. Without the mask, there is always a side angle or some deep shadow covering the character, most likely to install a sense of mystery and darkness to him. With the mask on, his face is typically shown hidden in blackness with glowing white eyes and sometimes his teeth shining through. Guts shares this style during certain times where he's in a Berserk rage, making himself almost appear as a demon.
-* The Baron doesn't officially have a name of his own, but this is what he is referred to, and, as such, keeps the title.
-** In the video game ''[[Berserk and the Band of the Hawk]]'', the Snake Baron is listed as the Lord of Thieves.
 == References ==
 <references />
-== Appendices ==
 {{Supernatural Beings}}
 [[es:Barón Serpiente]]
+[[Category:Black Swordsman Arc Characters]]
 [[Category:Apostles]]
-[[Category:Male Characters]]
+[[Category:Supernatural Beings]]
 [[Category:Deceased Characters]]
-[[Category:Supernatural Characters]]
+[[Category:Minor Antagonist]]
-[[Category:Black Swordsman Characters]]