Griffith

Lore & Background

As a street urchin, Griffith dreamed of acquiring his own kingdom. He became a masterful tactician and swordsman of near-unparalleled skill, founding the Band of the Hawk. After Guts left to pursue his own dream, Griffith's despair led him to sleep with Princess Charlotte in a moment of weakness. Imprisoned for a year and subjected to crippling torture, he realized his invalid state made achieving his dream impossible. During a solar eclipse, Griffith triggered the Crimson Behelit he received as a child. Reminded of who he had always been, he chose to sacrifice the Band of the Hawk to become the final member of the God Hand. Rechristened as Femto, or 'the wings of darkness,' he used the souls of the sacrificed to ascend. Two years later, during the millennial Incarnation Ceremony at Albion orchestrated by the Egg of the Perfect World, Griffith incarnated into the Physical World through the body of Guts and Casca's tainted child.

In Their Own Story

The story turns on the dynamic between Guts and Griffith. After defeating Guts in a duel, Griffith declared he now 'owned' him, creating a turbulent relationship that defined their early years together. Three years after bringing peace to Midland, Guts left the Band of the Hawk, causing Griffith's mental collapse. The subsequent imprisonment and torture broke his body but not his will; instead, it led him to the Eclipse. There, he sacrificed his comrades to meet the power behind the God Hand, learning that everything was arranged for him to become a messiah to judge humanity's final fate. As Femto, he proceeded to rape Casca in front of Guts, corrupting her unborn child. Following this, he created a new Band of the Hawk composed of humans and Apostles to oppose the invading Kushan army. After inflicting a fatal injury on Ganishka to create a global interstice mixing physical and supernatural worlds, Griffith established the kingdom of Falconia as the last bastion of humanity under a dictatorship.

Reader's Guide

Griffith serves as a complex antagonist whose ambition drives both his rise and his fall. Readers should note that author Kentaro Miura did not plan Griffith's antagonism from the start; it began during the third volume after realizing Guts needed an object for his anger, which naturally became a friend rather than a parent's murderer. Miura intended Femto to be Guts' enemy but later decided Griffith should fight in his original form 'powered up' to make their confrontation easier to convey. When Griffith appeared like a protagonist during the struggle against Ganishka, Miura explained this was intentional: by having characters around him express feelings while Griffith hardly speaks of his own mental state, Griffith himself is elevated. To understand his role, focus on his transformation from a human leader who inspires desire and devotion in both women and men, to a God Hand member who sacrifices loyalty for a dream, and finally to the dictator of Falconia.

Did You Know?

• Author Kentaro Miura stated he did not plan Griffith to be an antagonist until the third volume of the manga.
• Griffith is described as so beautiful and charismatic that he inspires desire and devotion in both women and men alike.
• Miura originally intended Femto to fight Guts, but changed his mind because keeping Griffith in his original form made their confrontation easier to convey.
• The relationship between Guts and Griffith was partially inspired by Miura's friendship with fellow manga artist Kōji Mori.