Berserk’s Guts, known as The Black Swordsman, slew his competitors in an online tournament to crown the most badass anime character.
The Facebook Page “Anime Tournament” recently concluded an eight-bracket user-voted contest to determine anime’s most badass figure. Guts, the protagonist of the long-running dark fantasy series Berserk, came out as the clear victor. He won with 5.9k votes in the final bracket of the tournament, beating the second-place competitor, who had just 2.7k.
Berserk Fans Helped Guts Battle His Way to Victory
It wasn’t an easy victory for the iconic protagonist, as he had tough competition against some of the most popular characters in the whole medium. Just below him in second place was Bleach’s Kenpachi Zaraki, a captain in the 11th division of the Gotei 13, and in third place was the ever-popular swordsman Roronoa Zoro from One Piece.
Other names within the tournament included Madara and Itachi Uchiha from Naruto, Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z and Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen. Guts managed to win in each of his brackets against Dragon Ball’s Jiren, Black Clover’s Captain Yami, and even Attack on Titan’s Levi before passing over Zorro to advance to the final. The comments were full of support for the decision, with very little argument.
Guts debuted in the first issue of Kentaro Miura’s Berserk, published in 1989 for Hakusensha’s Monthly Animal House. The series would continue for decades, generating 41 volumes before the author’s untimely death in 2021. The character is a wandering mercenary who seeks revenge for the betrayal of someone he once loved. He is notorious for his brutal fighting and harsh look with plenty of signature motifs, such as his black Berserker armor, a cannon in his hand, and his missing right eye. However, his most iconic feature is his sword, The Dragon Slayer, a massive weapon taller than Guts himself and often described as “a heap of raw iron” in the series.
Guts’ Berserk Adventures
Berserk tells the story of Guts, a lone swordsman who gets contracted into a mercenary group, The Band of the Hawk, led by the enigmatic Griffith. As he grows accustomed to being part of the group, Guts finds himself thrown into a world of magic, betrayal, politics, love and unbelievable horror.
The story received a 25-episode anime adaptation in 1997, a trilogy of movies in 2012 – which recently saw a re-release – and an ongoing series started in 2016, which the fanbase received negatively. Following the death of its creator, Kentaro Miura, fans expected the manga to be left unfinished; however, the series has continued under the guiding hand of Kouji Mori, a fellow artist and long-time friend of Miura.
Source: Anime Tournament
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