Template:Featured Article "The Immortal" Nosferatu Zodd (不死のゾッド, Nosuferatō no Zoddo) is a legendary sword master. Any battle in which he participates results in mountains of dead. Zodd is a powerful Apostle who travels from battlefield to battlefield seeking ever-stronger opponents. He is a known rival of the Skull Knight.
Appearance
Zodd is a 10-foot-tall barbarian warrior when in human form. Interestingly, some of Zodd's facial features, hair, and pointed ears resemble Guts' appearance. It is not yet clear if this has any significance.
In his Apostle form, Zodd becomes a Behemoth-like beast and can sprout wings to take flight. After his confrontation vision with Griffith, Zodd loses one of his horns which reflects on a scar on his human form's forehead.
Personality
Zodd is a fearless Apostle who has devoted his existence to combat. His urge to fight stronger opponents and relish in the fight has left mountains of the dead in his wake. He is ferocious and does not show mercy, even when an opponent is clearly outmatched. Above all, he seeks a challenge.
Despite his keenness for battle, Locus has said Zodd was a man of great depth. Unlike most Apostles, he does not eat human flesh, is neither sadistic nor cruel, and does not enjoy torturing humans nor having to kill weaklings. He doesn't kill for its own sake, only for the thrill of battle. Indeed, more than once Zodd has expressed great melancholy in his choice to become an Apostle as it made him too strong to find a challenge. For those who survive their first encounter with him, and thus prove themselves worthy opponents, Zodd has nothing but respect. He respects anyone who can harm or even defend against him, such as Guts and the Skull Knight. It is implied that Zodd greatly respects Guts for being a formidable match while still being human.
Abilities
History
Golden Age Arc
Zodd transforming after being cut by Guts' sword.
A mystery, Nosferatu Zodd lived for three centuries prior to offering his services to the Tudor kingdom during its war with Midland. He is considered by many mercenaries as the "god of the battlefield", having fought countless battles without equal. Zodd first met Guts when he slaughtered 49 soldiers that stormed the stronghold he was guarding while fatally wounding one to live long enough to escape to tell the rest of the Band of the Hawk of what happened. Guts enters the stronghold before finding Zodd along with the disembodied remains of his men. When Guts begins to charge towards him, Zodd knocks him back by throwing the bodies of two soldiers at him with a swing of his sword.[1] Zodd then advances on Guts and complimenting his swordsmanship before Guts manages to cut the top half of Zodd's blade clean off while cutting his right shoulder. Zodd commends Guts for being the first human to ever injure him in a long time as he grabs Guts's sword while transforming into his true form to fight at his full potential.[2]
Zodd expresses disappointment in Guts to even attempting to fight him and was about to reluctantly kill him when finds himself attacked by an arrow volley from the Hawks as they are charged in after their raid leader. After shrugging off the arrows attack, Zodd sees the Hawks' interference in his fight as unforgivable and begins attacking the Hawks before confronting Guts and Griffith who were attempting to escape while insisting them to fight.[3] Though expresses some delight that he found another who can hurt him, Zodd expresses regret that has to kill an unconscious Griffith along with Guts. But Zodd stays his hand upon seeing the seeing the Crimson Behelit around Griffith's neck, shocked yet amused about the God Hand's sense of humor. Knowing full well the significance of Griffith's destiny, Zodd decides to take his leave by punching through the keep's roof to take flight. Before leaving, Zodd cryptically tells Guts that he will face an inevitable death in a time when Griffith's dream is shattered.[4]
Nosferatu Zodd impales Wyald.
From that point, Zodd observe the Hawks' actions from afar like in the Battle of Doldrey when he observed the duel between Guts and Boscogn until deciding to throw his sword to Guts to deliver the final blow. He rides soon after knowing the Eclipse would occur soon.[5] A year later, Zodd took offense to his fellow apostle Wyald for acting against the God Hand's will and killed him for grabbing the weakened Griffith to use as a hostage.[6] As Wyald dies, Zodd cryptically tells Griffith that his Crimson Behelit will return to him while not answering Guts's questions but instead explaining that all will be revealed soon as he flies off.[7]
Zodd halting the Skull Knight
As the Eclipse begins, having no interest in feasting on the Hawks that his fellow apostles are devouring, Zodd is the only apostle to remain in the physical world to await the Skull Knight despite the figure believing that he is guarding the portal to the Interstice where the Eclipse is being held.[8][9] Eventually, Zodd is forced to let the Skull Knight pass to find and reattach his limbs before seeing him emerge from the portal with Guts and Casca. As Skull Knight requests a postponing of their battle until a more convenient time, shocked to find Guts still alive while amused of this turn of events, Zodd accepts Skull Knight's request and allows him to flee with the two sacrifices and Rickert while the rest of his kin were still in the interstice. While watching them leave, Zodd expresses anxiousness to see what kind of life Guts will have in his newly darkened reality.[10]
Conviction Arc
Zodd's vision of the Hawk of Light.
Two years after the Eclipse, having just slaughtered three-hundred mercenaries, Zodd has become bored of constantly fighting weaker opponents while eager to face Guts after learning how many apostles he has killed. It was at that time that Zodd finds himself having a vision of the Hawk of Light that has appears in everyone's dreams as of late. Zodd assumes his apostle form to fight the apparition in stand-off that resulted in his defeat as he comes to and finds the severed left horn of his apostle form before him and a gash on his forehead. He stares up at the crow-filled sky before hearing a disembodied voice beckoning him to travel to St. Albion where "He" will come. After the city's destruction as a consequence of the Incarnation Ceremony, Zodd arrives to find the end-product of the ritual: A reconstituted Griffith. Zodd proceeds to take his new master to safety from the Kushan soldiers surround the area.
Hawk of the Millennium Empire Arc
Zodd facing a more experienced Guts.
After taking Griffith to the where Rickert is, passing over a forest along the way, Zodd finally gets his chance to battle Guts on the snow-covered Hill of Swords.[11][12] Expressing his excitement to fight Guts, Zodd explains his intention to protect Griffith from the swordsman as the two battle each other.[13] After Zodd commends Guts for having grown strong since their last fight, Zodd assumes his true form and the battle reaches a climax that resulted in the destruction of the elvish cave near Godo's home. At that time, Griffith orders Zodd to cease fighting and instead carry him off to begin his campaign.[14][15]
Zodd with reinforcements.
Zodd later appears in armor when Griffith makes his initial attack on the Kushan invasion force that took over Midland, massacring numerous Kushan soldiers alongside numerous apostles that would be the foundation of Griffith's new Band of the Hawk.[16][17]
Trivia
- In the Berserk Film Trilogy, his humanoid form has yellow eyes.
- His first name, Nosferatu, is a direct reference to the 1922 German expressionist film, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror). In the movie the word Nosferatu is a Romanian term synonymous with vampire, though this is not the case in real life.
- The Street Fighter character Akuma bears a resemblance not only in appearance but personality as both want to fight powerful opponents. They also constantly seek to oppose the protagonist in order to test their strength.
- Zodd is shown to know about the Berserker Armor as he looked at it with surprise and even fear after seeing Guts using it. That was the only time he showed a sign of surprise and fear.
References
Template:References
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 2
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 3
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 4
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 5
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 27
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 68
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 69
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 79
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 80
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 88
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 177
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 178
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 179
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 180
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 181
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 183
- ^ Berserk manga; Chapter 184