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| “ | I should have known. A commoner by blood, IS A COMMONER TO THE END! After all the times I've favored you, THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! IT'S OVER FOR YOU AND YOUR HAWKS! YOU HEAR ME?! | „ |
| ~ The King of Midland showing his rage to Griffith while torturing him. |
The King of Midland is a major antagonist of in the Berserk franchise, specifically serving as the main antagonist of the Golden Age Arc.
He was Midland's king and Charlotte's father. He appeared as a trusting supporter to Band of the Hawk until the second half of the Golden Age Arc, in which he became the main antagonist and threatens the Band of the Hawk's survival.
He was initially portrayed as a benevolent king who looked after his kingdom and his people, but under crushing stress due to tremendous responsibility as a king bearing down on him, he was later revealed to possess a tyrannical and perverted side, which he repressed for years until Griffith's affair with Charlotte broke him.
He is voiced by Nobuyuki Katsube in Japanese, and by Christopher Corey Smith in the English version.
Personality[]
Initially, the King of Midland was a fair and admirable ruler, generously allowing the Band of the Falcon into Midland’s noble ranks and rewarding them for their victories. He thought very highly of Griffith and the Band, recognising their talents and reliability unlike many of the other nobles.
At a point point during his rule in the past, The King started to view his status and power as a burden and resented the stresses and pressures of his position as ruler of Midland. This would create The King’s dark secret which would ultimately lead him down a path of madness; a suppressed lust and perversion for his daughter Princess Charlotte. The King sought happiness and resolution through his daughter who he genuinely loved and viewed as the only good thing in his life. However, this love turned to lust and he would ultimately attempt to rape her. Because this caused Charlotte to begin deeply despising him, The King was driven into insanity and despair, recognising he committed a horrible and disgusting act.
Upon finding out about Griffith sleeping with Charlotte, The King’s genuine respect for the knight would become contempt and hatred, deciding to personally vanes out his hatred for Griffith by lashing him in his dungeon. And after Griffith deduced his incestuous lust for his daughter, The King would become a frenzied, unforgiving and cruel man, ordering the excruciating daily torture of Griffith and even threatening his guards with the execution of their whole families if they repeat to anyone what Griffith said. He’d become obsessed with Griffith, blaming him for “stealing” Charlotte away, and for two years would even dispatch seven tenths of his entire military in order to peruse and kill him.
In his dying moments, having succumbed to illness, The King would still show a deep love for Charlotte, wishing to see her. Upon having a vision of Griffith in the form of a Falcon of Light, The King realizes the true reason he supported Griffith was that he hoped he’d be able to take his place and free him from the burden of ruling from his throne.
History[]
The elderly ruler of Midland, who had been fighting a century long war with the neighboring kingdom of Chuder. Burdened by the demands and responsibilities of his throne, the King's only comfort was his daughter Charlotte, whom, to him, was the sole source of warmth in his existence.
Five years before the manga's beginning, the King responded to the shortage of soldiers for the war by issuing a command drafting all prisoners into a special squad of Knights known as the Black Dogs. Without warning, an inhuman looking prisoner, no one remembered arresting, stood up, introduced himself as Wyald and announced he should take charge as the strongest. After spectacularly killing his sole rival for general of the Black Dog Knights, the King made Wyald the leader of the Black Dog Knights.
Under Wyald's leadership, the Black Dog knights became a vicious force on the battlefield, however they committed so many atrocities that they were sent to the furthest corner of Midland and only brought out when the King was desperate.
Due to the Band of the Hawk's victories on the battlefield, the King supported Griffith despite his common heritage and the disapproval of the nobility and eventually bestowed upon him command over all of Midland's armies.
However, after Griffith slept with Charlotte, the king became utterly distraught and ordered that Griffith be imprisoned. He also ordered an attack on the leaderless Band of the Hawk, resulting in the Band's numbers being drastically reduced over the following two years. Driven to the brink of insanity by the fear of losing his only comfort, the king then proceeded to sexually assault Charlotte, who barely managed to fight him off. Afterwards, the guilt over what he had nearly done caused the King's health to slowly degrade to the point that his hair turned white and his body wasted away to skin and bones.
When Griffith was rescued a year later by Guts and the surviving members of the Hawks, the king sent a group of five Bākiraka, and then the Black Dog Knights led by Wyald to kill Griffith.
Shortly before Griffith was reincarnated on Earth, the King's health had further faded to the point that he was unable to leave his bed anymore. In his final moments, he demanded to see his daughter, but Charlotte no longer recognized him as her father and refused to see him. Before he died, the King had a final vision of Griffith being reunited with Charlotte, whereupon he realized the real reason he had supported Griffith was his hope that Griffith would take his place and free him from the cold loneliness of the throne.
Gallery[]
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 Villains
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God Hand Apostles Apostle Spawn Band of the Hawk Holy See Kingdom of Midland Kushan Empire Chuder Empire Others Prototype | ||