Dead Spirit

Dead Spirits
Statistics
English Name	Dead Spirits
Manga Debut	Episode 0-2 The Brand
Anime Debut	Golden Age Arc III Descent (2016 Anime) Episode 1 The Dragon Slayer

Dead spirits (死霊) are the spirits of the dead that roam the the Interstice and the shallow levels of the Astral World. They are among the creatures drawn to the Brand of Sacrifice, and come out only at night since they retreat under sunlight.

Personality

Dead spirits are restless and tormented, clinging to life due to lingering regrets. They may become aware of thoughts that a person may have been hiding, and will use this to break down the minds of a victim and force them to act on them, as happened with Farnese and Guts.

Despite being repelled by sunlight, dead spirits are described as yearning to the warmth of a living body's flesh and blood. But they can also possess corpses, skeletons, and inanimate objects like trees and snow. Restless spirits, until they possess a person or animal, do not present much of a threat on their own, relying on sheer numbers to overwhelm opponents with any defensive skill.

Abilities

Thought-reading: spirits can become aware of a person's darkest thoughts and secrets, and have used this ability to torment both Farnese and Guts, with the latter suspecting his inner darkness also had a say on it.

Possession: spirits can enter the body of an individual and control it, leading them to commit acts they otherwise wouldn't; usually heinous and violent. Examples include Farnese acting upon her sadomasochistic tendencies, Guts trying to choke Casca and some of the refugees of Saint Albion eating one another. Dead spirits can also enter the bodies of animals. So far, dogs and horses have been shown as victims of possession by dead spirits.

Vessels

• Humans
• Skeletons
• Corpses
• Pagan tree
• Mad dogs: stray canines that have been possessed by dead spirits, gaining human-like faces with wide eyes and much longer, sharper teeth.
• Mad horses: horses that have been possessed by dead spirits. The horses gain wide, expressive eyes and a more human-like jaw, and can speak the human language. One mad horse in particular attempted to force itself on Farnese before being swiftly decapitated by Guts. Still, the spirit gave it a temporary head of its own. Guts then bisected the horse.
• Snow

Story

Since the Eclipse onward, while Casca was protected from them for a few years by being placed in an elvish cave, Guts fought against dead spirits on a nightly basis while being tormented by them. For this reason, unable to do so for a priest and daughter, Guts typically stays away from other people for their own safety.

The risen dead of Albion.

Dead spirits play a larger role in the Conviction Arc, as the forces of causality trigger the events that bring Casca to Albion, the city itself being infested with dead spirits who either died of torture at the hands of the Holy See's inquisitors or fell to disease and starvation. When Casca's child attempts to protect Casca from possessed pagans, it results in a chain of events that places her within the Tower of Conviction. With Guts arriving to Albion, the presence of two Brands of Sacrifice intensifies the spirits' presence and numbers exponentially. Large masses of spirits begin appearing then. First possessing the members of a heretic group, the mass is identified by Isidro "like the smoke swooped down on them like it was alive". When Casca is captured and taken into the Tower of Conviction, her presence within its walls brings forth the spirits of those who have suffered antagonizing and unjust deaths under the Holy See. These spirits take residence in a blob made of human blood which consumes all humans within reach with the exception of Casca, as the Demon Child was using its energy to protect her.

Dead spirits begin to have less presence in Guts' life after he meets Schierke, who can temporarily seal the Brands with a talisman. Casca's necklace and the talisman Flora carved into the armor also served as a temporary ward.

Other Appearances

Griffith surrounded by spirits.

Griffith can use spirits to give people peace of mind by allowing them to see their loved ones before sending them off. When Mule asks where they go, Griffith replies with the line "To where they will become one".

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk

In the 2016 game Berserk and the Band of the Hawk, dead spirits make up a large bulk of the fodder enemies from the halfway point of the game onward, and the player may regularly be asked to kill up to a thousand of them in one sitting. They are no more dangerous than any other fodder enemies. Dead spirits are also present in the Endless Eclipse. Here, they serve a more challenging function as "Mad Horses". On certain stages, Mad Horses may appear to pursue players across the map and violently and relentlessly attack. The player will be tasked with either defeating them or escaping from them, and the latter will be extremely difficult due to the fact that the Mad Horses will follow the player to the next layer even from as far away as half the map, and move extremely fast. Defeating them is also no easy task, as Mad Horses have immense health and durability, easily outpacing some bosses, and will restore 3% of their own health every few seconds. However, a large reward can be gained for putting them down.

Gallery

Concept sketches of dead spirits, with an outline of Guts for size comparison, for the 1997 anime.

Notes

• In the Visual & Story File artbook, a spirit is known as a "ghost" (ゴースト), while a possessed corpse is known as a "zombie" (ゾンビ).
• During the Incarnation Ceremony, and as acidic blood is created out of dead spirits, a similar event happens in which mounds of corpses appear. According to the Skull Knight and Puck, it's the essence of the malice that permeates Albion. When the mounds converge on the Tower of Conviction and form an outer layer, Puck states that "the living and the dead are crying out in desire for one thing".