The Skull Knight - Facts, Speculation and Theories

[Umbra Wolf]

Well in the „Guts’ Behelit“-Thread many good arguments about the Skull Knight were given and then I begun to wonder why there isn’t an own thread about this character.
Well I start off with the few given facts; I don’t want to give reference by now, but please correct me if I get anything wrong.

FACTS:
- Lives like Guts in the Interstice and is at least several hundred years old
- rides a horse that bears a woman as crest
- Slan calls him "Ou-sama" which means "king" literary
- Fought several time with Nosferatu Zodd (on and surely off screen)
- He can kill ordinary monsters easily and can fight with a released Zodd equally
- He wore the (maybe A) berserk armor at some point in the past though it’s unclear if he was the last bearer of the armor
- He has great knowledge about Guts’ fate meaning he knows of consequences (possibly awareness of the “flow of causality” or personal experience)
- Was/is befriended with the witch Flora for who was ready to fight although he was kind of harsh to her in their last conversation
- Collects Behelits to create a space altering sword which is very likely a weapon designed to fight with God’s hand. Full capacity and abilities of the sowrd are currently unknown
- Seems to be especially interested in Void and/or Slan of the five angels


COMMON SPECULATION:
- Is or was the emperor Gaeseric
- Is / was a sacrifice but he doesn't have to be branded or sacrificed
at all

Because of the high possibility that Gaeseric and Skull Knight are connected I will list all known facts and common knowledge in Berserk’s world about Gaeseric as well.

FACTS:

- He imprisoned a "wiseman" (possibly wizard) which might
summoned God's Hand

Mozgus: In this tower a wise man was once imprisoned by Gaiseric the Conqueror.

Mozgus: They say that in the midst of all kinds of torture he continued to implore God to punish the crimes of the King, until finally some angels appeared.

- Was not known until he united midland to install this kingdom. I stress that this is a great similarity between Gaeseric and Griffith and was clearly stated as such (also see above)
- His insignia was his skull helmet
- It is said that God sent five (!) angels (possibly God’s hand) to punish him for his sins
- His imperium fell´apart after his death

These are all the given facts I currently was able to collect. Please feel free to prove me wrong and correct me. Any input is welcomed.

My personal view:
I am sure that the Skull Knight is somehow related to Gaeseric and the Skull Knight was born approximately 1000 years when Gaeseric “died”. We are able to track parts of his journey that are almost identical to Gut’s so far yet we don’t know how he became what he was.
He could have been a sacrifice (for Void becoming a member of God’s Hand for example) of he did sacrifice in fact. We don’t know for sure yet.
On the Other hand we don’t know what the Skull Knight exactly is. He might be an apostle yet I don’t see the necessity to use the Berserk armor but at least we can be sure that he is not a normal human.

I dare to make a random guess:
Skull Knight is NOT Gaeseric but a very close aquintance like Guts is to Griffith and vice versa. Gaeseric got his hand on a Behelit and called upon God or the former God's Hand and became Void. Skull Knight was his or one his sacrifices but somehow escaped. It's not far-fetched to say that Void's sacrifice was his whole kingdom since the imperium fell apart after Gaeseric's dead. It's possible if we asumme that there were less apostles then nowadays and Skull Knight was at least a skillful fighter as Guts. Maybe Void let him live just to torture him further; possibly they parted their ways and Gaeseric hated Sk therefore like Guts and Griffith continued onward alone.
The rest of the branded Skull Knight's journey should be nearly exacly like Gut's: He fought several apostles, met Zodd, aquired the Berserk amor and built his own "fellowship".

The interesting part is to explain Skull Knight's appeareance and his way to aquire his powers.
Well the Berserk armor takes the form of the user's inner beast, the Hellhound in Gut's case and the skull surely is the Skull Knight's inner beast. Concluding from the above statements that does make sense: Gaeseric's former loyal and then betrayed and sacrificed servant who only wants to take revenge is haunted by the sign of his former master's insignia of power. A bit problematic since Guts is not haunted by a hawk/falcon but it would make sense.

Yet I can't explain how Gaeseric's "Guts" became the being Skull Knight. Behelit and gaining the power of a apostle is a possible solution. I doubt hat this happened since apparetly Sk declared war aginst the God's Hand and wouldn't use their services. The berserker armor might have influenced him; possibly he merged with the armor somehow. This point is the most mysterious until now but time will tell.

So thank you for reading if you made this far. Feel free to discuss anything connected to the Skull Knight. I'm glad if you discuss my statement and prove me either right or wrong and help me to complete the "Facts" and "Speculation" parts.

 

[Jack Van Burace]

Nice post. I think you might find the woman figure in his horse's chest to be somehow meaningful. Afterall, he is a representation of his own psiche, and if he has a horse and a woman on it, that is also a symbol of what matters to him.

I have wondered if he actually wasn't really Gaiseric and became a sacrifice for Slain, his wife. She would have been the one to acquire the power to rule a kingdom by using the red behelit, and Gaiseric became her sacrifice after all was done. Perhaps a lover who was really loved by Gaiseric but was very disturbed and twisted by traumatic experiences, and sacrificed him for whoever knows why...

I think SK showed much more acquaintance to Slain in the cave than when he targeted Void (when rescuing Guts from the nightmare). To me it seemed more like a diversion attack than an actuall attempt to hurt Void, while he really had emotions going when encouraging Guts to cut Slain.

 

[Umbra Wolf]

You've got a point there and Iadded it in the list.
I have to confess that I just jumped on the "Skull Knight wants to kill Void" train. You just read it so often it must have burned into my mind and I took at as semi fact.

Well the scene with Slan is peculiar in many ways.
When I read it for the first time I just understood it to show Skull Knights hate for God's Hand. After all is was "them" (unknown if Gaiseric's and our God's hand are exactly the same) who distroyed his (whoever he is) rich and just kingdom. It appeared at least to me that he wants to win Guts for his cause to fight the God's hand since they fate seems to be connected and be similar to some degree.
Actually we might not be completly sure if Skull Knight wants to take a revenge on a sole member of God's hand of if he wants to take on them as a whole. If Conrad woould have been there in the Qilthop would this seem be similar or completly different?

And finally the woman crest. I like to interpretet and discuss about any sophisticated and elaborated medium (and Berserk is quite deep in my opinion). But I would avoid to read too much into thing because sometimes things are just meant to be decorative. But you also might have a very valid point.
Your arguement leads me to another possibility: Perhaps ALL current member (except Griffith of course) are connected to Gaeseric. But again we know by far not enough to estimate the God's Hands age and their respective entries.

 

[Ramen4ever]

FACTS:
- Lives like Guts in the Interstice and is at least several hundred years old

I would put a note that he may be over a thousand years old. If he's Emperor Gaiseric.

FACTS:
- rides a horse that bears a woman as crest

It's not that important. But if you want to mention his motif's then his skull helmet, those hooks on his helmet look like a crown and his shield has a very interesting rose with "x" crossed thorns under it... symbol. (Well I didn't phrase that too well, lol. ow well you get what I'm saying)

FACTS:
- Was/is befriended with the witch Flora for who was ready to fight although he was kind of harsh to her in their last conversation

I don't think he was harsh. They have known each other for who knows how long. Maybe over 1000 years. They knew each other far too well and I actually don't recall him saying anything harsh. I think his actions say more than his words. He protected Flora who was going to die anyway. For what purpose? Just for the sake of having an old friend die at peace as opposed to being murdered. That should say enough about his character. Makes you wonder how sugar coated the stories Charlotte and Mozgus told were. He does not sound like a Tyrant .. that's for sure.

FACTS:
- Collects Behelits to create a space altering sword (“Sword of Resonance”) which is very likely a weapon designed to fight with God’s hand

This is not really a fact. The name is not really translatable. Dark Horse translations called it the "Sword of Actuation" or something like that. Resonance kinda fails to sum up what the sword does or is. I think Behelit-Sword is the best name for it. Since it is a Behelit covered sword and considering we don't know the extent of it's powers.. I see no reason to call it the sword of resonance. (That's what online google translations call it. lol)

FACTS:
- Seems to be especially interested in Void of the five angels

I will have to double check this at some time. I think this may be a misconception. Though I... can't be sure till I look at the respective parts of the manga. (Eclipse, Zodd fight pre-eclipse, Slan encounter, etc) I'll get back to you on that later.

FACTS:


COMMON SPECULATION:
- Is / was a sacrifice (for Void possibly)

You might want to add that he may not have been sacrificed at all. Maybe only the people in his empire were sacrificed by Void(maybe). There is a chance that he wasn't branded and instead watched his empire crumble. I would add that "he may or may not have been branded in the past" .. we don't know.

---
I'm too busy to reply to the rest, I'll do a new post or edit this one for further comment.

 

[Umbra Wolf]

First of all I want to thank you for contributing these interesting thought and I included some of your ideas in the "compendium".

It's not that important. But if you want to mention his motif's then his skull helmet, those hooks on his helmet look like a crown and his shield has a very interesting rose with "x" crossed thorns under it... symbol. (Well I didn't phrase that too well, lol. ow well you get what I'm saying)

Since some connect the SK to Slan many think that this crest symbolizes his connection to a certain woman in the past. It's a bit far-fetched in my opinion but at the moment it's nearly as valid as anything else.

I don't think he was harsh. They have known each other for who knows how long. Maybe over 1000 years. They knew each other far too well and I actually don't recall him saying anything harsh. I think his actions say more than his words. He protected Flora who was going to die anyway. For what purpose? Just for the sake of having an old friend die at peace as opposed to being murdered. That should say enough about his character. Makes you wonder how sugar coated the stories Charlotte and Mozgus told were. He does not sound like a Tyrant .. that's for sure.

Well that maybe my personal interpretation but he didn't appear to be very caring and tendering Flora but was rather rough. In this confrontation I thought he resembled Guts very much. He acted harsh and rough but was indeed caring for one of his friends.
But I really like the point you are making: He is not acting like a gruesome tyrant. Nonetheless again if you live several hundred years in the interstice and battle demons for centuries you might change your mind.
BTW: I nerver thought of Gaeseric as a particular terrible ruler but rather as a very ambitious man who sometimes used drastic means to reach his goal much like Griffith does. After all I think uniting all of midland was quite a good deed.

This is not really a fact. The name is not really translatable. Dark Horse translations called it the "Sword of Actuation" or something like that. Resonance kinda fails to sum up what the sword does or is. I think Behelit-Sword is the best name for it. Since it is a Behelit covered sword and considering we don't know the extent of it's powers.. I see no reason to call it the sword of resonance. (That's what online google translations call it. lol)

Well, I read this name in any Edited Manga I've found and most of the fanpages refer to the sword as such. I checked it and I found out you are totally right. Hence i deleted this name.

I will have to double check this at some time. I think this may be a misconception. Though I... can't be sure till I look at the respective parts of the manga. (Eclipse, Zodd fight pre-eclipse, Slan encounter, etc) I'll get back to you on that later.

By now I took some distance regarding this whole Void affair. It was and I guess it still is a common theory when I wrote this and I took it nearly as cannon. Assuming Void is the leader of the Gods' Hand (though he might be not) it did make sense that the most powerful good invidual (seen so far) oppose him especially.
If you look at the Slan encounter in particular you might as well say he is connected to Slan. This point is valid as well. I would like to say that it is very possible that the SK shares a unique connection to each member of the GH.
It is quite impossible to say if the SK got problems with one special member of GH in particular or if he wants to take on the whole bunch per se.
I also want to point out that all of the current members of God's Hand might be as well exist since the downfall of Gaeseric's empire. I know there is this every x years a new member is appointed rul (which I never read in the manga itself) but then again there were a complete set of God's Hand that destroyed Gaeserics empire.

 

[JediKnight]

The Skull Knight I think was a warrior who was sacrificed but survived. He might be King Gaiseric, or somehow became a King. I see Gats surviving and
taking the Skull Knights place fighting evil. But the Skull Knight and Gats
have alot in common with each other. I hope it all gets explained.

 

[FrostBlade]

I also want to point out that all of the current members of God's Hand might be as well exist since the downfall of Gaeseric's empire. I know there is this every x years a new member is appointed rul (which I never read in the manga itself) but then again there were a complete set of God's Hand that destroyed Gaeserics empire.

Not Necessaryly.
It's just speculation, but maybe the five "angels" were Skullknight and the four elemental spirits summoned by Flora or the "wise man/wizard" (who was imprisoned by Gaeseric)? Or maybe SK and four friends who were as close to him as Schierke, Serpico, Caska and that little boy (forgot his name) are to Guts?

But that "wise man" doesn't really fit in... what if Gaeseric is represented by Ganishca? Both of them united a really big country under one flag and Ganishca is currently meeting Femto, maybe the other members of god hand will appear as well and that would make the "5 angels".


Oh damn, Miura really left a lot of space for speculations...

 

[SparkHunter13]

It's just speculation, but maybe the five "angels" were Skullknight and the four elemental spirits summoned by Flora or the "wise man/wizard" (who was imprisoned by Gaeseric)? Or maybe SK and four friends who were as close to him as Schierke, Serpico, Caska and that little boy (forgot his name) are to Guts?

But that "wise man" doesn't really fit in...

Mozgus says that the wiseman, imprisoned by Gaiseric, prayed for God to cast judgment upon Gaiseric for his crimes of debauchery etc., after which 4/5 "angels" descended on and destroyed the Midlandic capital. So... how doesn't the "wise man" fit in again?

Oh damn, Miura really left a lot of space for speculations...

Yeah, and I've a few speculations of my own. For starters, I mentioned this in the 303 discussion thread a few days prior to your post:

Those "4 or 5 angels" couldn't have been the God Hand. An Eclipse happens only once every 216 years, so that means the first God Hand was born in 864 BF (Before Femto). Simply put, Gaiseric's empire was felled before the God Hand, as we know it, even came into existence.

Incidently, some have speculated that the "angels" could have been the four elemental gods - the same elemental gods that Schierke summons against the trolls in Enoch village - which suggests it was a magic-user that brought down Gaiseric's empire. Maybe it was the wiseman that Mozgus speaks of... maybe it wasn't. It's anyone's guess at this point.

It's worth noting that neither Judeau nor Caska were certain of the number of "angels" that destroyed Gaiseric's empire, and that most, if not all, records regarding Gaiseric's rulership have been erased or lost through time. My point is that historical accounts may have been altered or even rewritten, and tales of Gaiseric's rise and fall, passed down through the generations, may have gradually changed over time - as is often the case with such things in real life. This means that what we "know" is quite possibly a distortion of the truth...

Take the Dark Ages, for example. Due to lack of data, it was commonly thought of as an era of cultural decline, however, this notion has been steadily proven to be untrue. In Berserk, Gaiseric is portrayed as ruthless, intemperate and warmongering, yet Skull Knight is an honourable warrior who is capable of compassionate acts - such as the time he saved Luca, the prostitute, during a fatal fall from the Tower of Retribution.

Anyway, whatever the situation with history, I'm convinced that it's the four elemental gods - not the God Hand - who are responsible for the Midlandic capital's destruction, especially since Judeau speaks of how the city was obliterated "by lightning and great earthquakes" in the span of a single night. The question is: Who summoned the elemental gods and why?

 

[Travis]

I have to disagree with you Sparkhunter. If you look at the manga when Guts goes to rescue Griffith from being tortured for a year, when they go into that tower and descend to the bottom there are a ton of skulls with the sacrificial brand on them. It also talks about that tower being around from when Gaiseric ruled or insinuates it by saying it's been there since before Midland was formed. I'm thinking whoever was able to sacrifice a Kingdom and not be the King has to be close to him somehow. Maybe a son or heir to the throne had to sacrifice his kingdom?

I kind of wish I knew the timeline, because I'm guessing that one of God's Hand might have came about during this sacrifice. Was thinking maybe the one the Skull Knight went after first when rescuing Guts from the sacrifice ritual. But that's just speculation. I'd be a bit surprised if 4 of God's hands members were around during that time, because it sounds like it was more than a thousand years ago, from the way they describe it. And it's stated that the Emperor's egg is activated every 200 something years. (Can't remember exact number)

I am a bit interested in those 4 light spirits though. There were 4 God's hands too. I'm thinking maybe these light spirits oppose God's hand or are on the other side of the evil, and they could be due for a 5th member. Skull Knight or Guts would be likely candidates if it's at all possible for them to become that, considering their past deeds.

 

[SparkHunter13]

@ Travis:

Okay, we know for a fact that a God Hand is born once every 216 years. Now, Femto is confirmed as the "fifth angel" by Slan, so that means the earliest known God Hand arose 864 years prior to the Eclipse - well over a hundred years after the fall of Gaiseric's empire. In other words, Void, Conrad, Ubik and Slan could not have existed at the time of the empire's collapse - this is the point I was trying to make. However, I've not forgotten about the mass of branded corpses beneath the Tower of Rebirth. I still believe the four elemental gods were involved in the Midlandic capital's destruction for the aforementioned reasons, but they obviously weren't the cause of all those sacrificial deaths.

Incidently, when Femto takes the Demon Child's body as a host at the Tower of Retribution, it's made clear that this is the result of the "Incarnation Ceremony", a ceremony which occurs only once every 1000 years... Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not. Even so, if an Incarnation Ceremony had taken place at the time of the collapse of Gaiseric's empire, who or what exactly would have been granted a corporeal form? Was there once a God Hand before the current five? We can only speculate, but one thing's for sure: Skully is somehow involved in the events that took place a thousands years ago (Duh!), and I'm guessing he'll be the one who finally spills the beans on the matter when the time comes.

Also, what are these "Light spirits"? You mean the elemental gods? The elemental gods don't "promote" humans or actively involve themselves in human matters as the God Hand do. They're simply huge astral bodies that personify each of the four major elements of nature - earth, fire, wind and water. It's also said that each element represents one of the four cardinal directions/points (North, South, East and West), so I highly doubt anyone or anything is going to be added to, or modify this structure in any way.

 

[NickPizzo]

@Travis:
If you want to know the time line you can go here, altough it's not canon:
http://www.skullknight.net/encyclopedia/world/timeline/timeline.html

But I have to agree with Spark, also I have to add a simple statement to clarify that the destruction of Gaiseric's Empire didn't happen during the sacrifice that took place at the Tower of Rebirth:
-We can all agree that the Wise Man mentioned by Mogzuz is most likely Void, that can also be considered as the first member of the God Hand;
-Mogzuz said that the Wise Man was imprisoned and tortured at the Tower of Conviction, NOT at the Tower of Rebirth in Windam, and it was at the Tower of Conviction that he "prayed God to punish Gaiseric";

So I don't see how the corpses of a hypothetical sacrifice could have ended at the Tower of Rebirth. Yeah, they could have been transported, but for what reason? There was not obvious point in doing so, and it can only be considered as an hypothesis.

But if you think that the Wise Man was actually a Magic User and he invoked the Spirits of the Cardinal Point (or some other spirit, but they seem to be the most obvious), to destroy the Empire and AFTER 100 years or more, after having battled with Gaiseric, who meanwhile was consumed by the Durga Armor, maybe feeling that he would have been destroyed, he made the Sacrifice and became a God Hand it all takes place.
It's not stretched to think that a Magic User could have been alive after 100 years, we have seen that Flora had lived for likely 1000 years, like the Skull Knight.

Altough this is only an hypotesis like any other, I think that it's what most likely happened.

The fact that the Wise Man is revered by Mogzuz who is a man of of the Church is simply explained by assuming that the history was distorted by the follower's of the Wise Man, and that also explains why all the people think that Gaiseric's empire was corrupted while maybe it wasn't..

 

[Jet]

Skullknight = Guts. IMO Void, the dude who controls space/time/dimensions etc., at some point for w/e reason sends current Guts in the past. (and voilà! author have stuff to write about for another +100 chapters lol ). Explains why Skullknight attacked Void during Eclipse, why Skullknight behavior so much similar to Guts, and how Skullknight knows so much about Guts(oh and all the rescuing part as well).

 

[ikayto]

Skullknight = Guts. IMO Void, the dude who controls space/time/dimensions etc., at some point for w/e reason sends current Guts in the past. (and voilà! author have stuff to write about for another +100 chapters lol ). Explains why Skullknight attacked Void during Eclipse, why Skullknight behavior so much similar to Guts, and how Skullknight knows so much about Guts(oh and all the rescuing part as well).

that would be the most interesting plot I'd have ever read.

---

Skullknight = Guts. IMO Void, the dude who controls space/time/dimensions etc., at some point for w/e reason sends current Guts in the past. (and voilà! author have stuff to write about for another +100 chapters lol ). Explains why Skullknight attacked Void during Eclipse, why Skullknight behavior so much similar to Guts, and how Skullknight knows so much about Guts(oh and all the rescuing part as well).

but dont you mean void sent past Gats/skullnight to the present in an alternate time line to see what has happened after 1000 years.

Otherwise, if void just sent gats to the past, then skull night and void wouldnt have existed yet.

 

[Jet]

that would be the most interesting plot I'd have ever read.
<hr noshade size="1">


but dont you mean void sent past Gats/skullnight to the present in an alternate time line to see what has happened after 1000 years.

Otherwise, if void just sent gats to the past, then skull night and void wouldnt have existed yet.

Yeah I guess that does make sense, existence of two Guts from same timeline in one universe does sound improbable.

Although it usually depends on authors POV, like in recent episodes of Eureka, Futurama and some other sci-fi shows that deal with time-travel, hanging with yourself from the future was a normal thing. So all the nuances of time travel can be explained differently in any particular series. But nevertheless I still stick to my absurd theory of Guts-being Skullknight (or some his reincarnation) and time-travel idea. I mean from the moment you see that Void dude and his ability(Madara anyone, lol?), its obvious that time travel will pop up sooner or later.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

The snake-haired godhand woman calls the skull knight "Your majesty" in volume 26 p.79, another point hinting at him beeing the emperor Gaeseric.

 

[modoken]

Does anyone else feel that the tower's names have significance? The "Tower of Rebirth" could have been the location of a rebirth ceremony similar to what had happened with Griffith at the Tower of Conviction. This would explain the sacrifices in the bottom of the tower. Everyone fled into the castle to escape the surrounding evil, and the tower was further aboveground. When the sacrifice happened, the castle was swallowed up by the earth, and all that remained was the top half of the Tower of Rebirth. Gaiseric, similar to what happened with Guts, could have fought his way to surviving the Eclipse. IMO, Void and SK were the wizard and Gaiseric respectively. Void was in Guts' role however and wanted power, whereas Gaiseric was closer to Griffith and satisfied once he had conquered everything. Also, it could be that once the God Hand is filled and has a member reborn, then the next time a God Hand comes to be the old group passes on and everything starts again.

 

[mcd693]

I know that the anime is never considered cannon but I'm re-watching the anime, then re-reading the manga and while doing so noticed a line said by zod. When zod confronts guts and griffith, just when he's about to kill griffith, he notices the behelit. Everyone already knows this, but something that i thought to be especially interesting is that he says, "I see. I've seen this double edged ploy before". My opinion is that he's referring to the skull knight's situation in that the exact same sacrifice occurred.

What I don't understand is why SK is always fighting zod? Griffith managed to cut zod's arm off during this fight. If Griffith and Guts went toe to toe with Zod at that point when guts was at 100% then zod could have been killed. How come sk sucks in comparison to zod? Would sk kick ass? At the point of the fight that i am referring to zod says he's been fighting for 300 years. Meaning he's been an apostle or whatever for 300 years. SO, how come sk can't kill him?

 

[Aazholh]

I think SK and Zodd are evenly matched in terms of fighting skill. I believe that is why SK hasn't managed to kill him. Which is really sad, since SK has had over a 700 year head start.

Hey, you ever notice that in comparison, when Guts fights an opponent, the battle is extremely detailed. But when SK fights Zodd, we only see a few panels?

 

[nothingimpressive]

Anybody think skull knight could in fact be rakshas..i mean the mask seem's to have the same protrusions as to imply an upside down crown, he also is seen riding under zodds wing to later be seen fleeing as in par with skull knight...

 

[Aazholh]

Anybody think skull knight could in fact be rakshas..i mean the mask seem's to have the same protrusions as to imply an upside down crown, he also is seen riding under zodds wing to later be seen fleeing as in par with skull knight...

Nah, if SK was already there, why would he need to use the Behelit Sword to get there?

For a while, I thought Rakshas was Jarif?( Jarick?) the Kushan that helped Raban escape from Windam. He was very persuasive during his talk to Shilat. From whatever angle, his helmet dispayed three ovals arranged in the pattern of Rakshas eyes. But we see him looking surpised with the rest of the on-lookers at Ganishka's aftermath. So I guess I was wrong, unless he has the ability to teleport back to the ground or something.