List of Berserk chapters

List of Berserk chapters

Cover for the 2016 edition of volume 1, featuring Guts

Berserk is a Japanese manga series written and drawn by Kentaro Miura, and has been published by Hakusensha in the magazines Monthly Animal House (1989–1992) and Young Animal (1992–). Since the late 2000s, the manga has been published irregularly, with frequent hiatuses until Miura's death in 2021. Since then, the series has been supervised by Miura's friend Kouji Mori and drawn by Studio Gaga, consisting of Miura's assistants and apprentices.

The story follows Guts, an orphaned mercenary on his quest for revenge, and consists of five major story arcs: "The Black Swordsman Arc" (volumes 1–3); "Golden Age Arc" (volumes 3–14); "Conviction Arc" (volumes 14–21); "Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc" (volumes 22–35); and "Fantasia Arc" (volumes 35–).

The chapters (called "episodes") are since November 26, 1990, also collected by Hakusensha in tankōbon volumes; the posthumous 41st volume, which includes the final chapters that Miura had created for the series, was released in 2021. 43 have been released as of 2025. Dark Horse Comics has been releasing the English editions of the volumes since October 22, 2003, and began publishing hardcover editions containing multiple volumes on February 27, 2019. The Japanese volumes were re-released with new cover art starting in 2016, following the rebranding of Hakusensha's Jets Comics imprint as Young Animal Comics.

Volumes

List of Berserk chapters

<table><thead><tr><th>No.</th><th>Original release date</th><th>Original ISBN</th><th>English release date</th><th>English ISBN</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>November 26, 1990</td><td>978-4-592-13574-6</td><td>October 22, 2003</td><td>978-1-59307-020-5</td></tr><tr><td>A lone swordsman named Guts walks into an inn where a group of bandits are tormenting an elf named Puck and a red-haired youth. Guts kills all but one of the bandits, telling him to inform his master that the Black Swordsman is coming. Guts later finds and kills the Baron before taking his leave, inspiring Puck to travel with the swordsman. Accepting a ride from an old priest named Adolf, Guts experiences a nightmare and wakes up to an attack by spiritually-possessed skeletons, which kill Adolf and his daughter Colette. Guts and Puck arrive to a town run by a pagan-hunting Count that Guts targets. After provoking the Count's guards, killing many and severely injuring their captain, Zondark, Guts finds himself cornered. He is then rescued by a cloaked, bandaged man named Vargas, who leads him to his hidden laboratory. Vargas reveals he was once a physician and begs Guts to kill the Count, then shows him a secret room containing only an egg-shaped object that bears human facial features scattered around its surface. Guts recognizes the object as Behelit.</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>February 26, 1991</td><td>978-4-592-13575-3</td><td>January 14, 2004</td><td>978-1-59307-021-2</td></tr><tr><td>Vargas explains he once served the Count but fled after witnessing horrific acts, including the murder of his family. Vargas stole the Behelit, a mystical object later revealed by Guts to open a portal to the demonic God Hand. Meanwhile, the Count empowers the injured Zondark by implanting a slug-like creature in him, transforming him into a monstrous servant who battles Guts but is eventually crushed. Guts takes the Behelit from Vargas and leaves him, only for Vargas to be captured and executed publicly. Haunted by Vargas' death and the parallel between their struggles, Guts is reminded of his own losses and rededicates himself to killing the Count. The Count imprisons his daughter Theresia in a tower, claiming the world outside is too dangerous. Guts storms the castle, defeating Zondark again and fighting his way through guards to reach the throne room. Theresia and Puck bond, and she allows him to leave and reunite with Guts. Guts confronts the Count, who transforms into a powerful, regenerative slug-like monster. Despite being severely beaten, Guts remains determined to defeat the Count, even as the battle shakes the castle and Theresia finally leaves her room, drawn by the chaos.</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>October 25, 1991</td><td>978-4-592-13576-0</td><td>April 14, 2004</td><td>978-1-59307-022-9</td></tr><tr><td>As Theresia enters the throne room, Guts uses her as a shield to exploit the Count's hesitation, delivering a brutal counterattack that severs the Count's head. The Behelit activates due to Count's fear of death, transporting everyone to a surreal dimension where the God Hand appear, including the enigmatic Femto, whom Guts recognizes as his former comrade, Griffith. Guts attacks Femto but is repelled, and the God Hand offer the Count a chance to live in exchange for sacrificing Theresia, revealing he previously sacrificed her mother to gain his apostle powers. The Count ultimately fails to make the choice in time and is consumed by a swirling mass of souls. Back in the real world, Theresia, devastated by the events, shortly contemplates suicide. Guts eventually leaves her behind, emotionally shaken and Puck notices his hidden grief. In a flashback, a mercenary band led by Gambino finds a newborn baby beneath a hanged corpse. Shisu, Gambino's lover, takes in the child, who is later revealed to be Guts, despite the group seeing him as a bad omen. After Shisu dies of the plague, Guts is forced into battle and harshly trained by Gambino, using adult-sized weapons and enduring physical abuse. At nine, Guts gets his first kill but is later betrayed when Gambino allows another mercenary to sexually assault him.</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>February 26, 1992</td><td>978-4-592-13577-7</td><td>July 14, 2004</td><td>978-1-59307-203-2</td></tr><tr><td>Raised by his adoptive father and mentor Gambino, the young Guts was forced to kill Gambino when the man attempted to murder him in misplaced blame for his wife's death and the loss of his leg. A few years later, an older Guts attracts the attention of a mercenary group, The Band of the Hawk, when he kills the knight Bazuso during a siege. Corkus attempts to rob Guts before he is saved by the Hawks' female captain Casca, who is in turn saved by their leader Griffith as he grievously wounds Guts. When Guts recovers days later, he is forced into joining the Band of the Hawk when Griffith defeats him in a duel.</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>March 29, 1993</td><td>978-4-592-13578-4</td><td>October 13, 2004</td><td>978-1-59307-251-3</td></tr><tr><td>Guts learns that Griffith possesses a Behelit pendant. Three years pass and the Band of the Hawk grow in power and numbers as they are employed by the Kingdom of Midland for its Hundred Year War against the Tudor Empire. At the same time Griffith rises in the kingdom's hierarchy, while Guts is promoted to raid leader. During a siege, Guts and Griffith encounter the Apostle Nosferatu Zodd, a fearsome immortal warrior who nearly kills them before noticing Griffith's Behelit. Zodd takes his leave while warning Guts that Griffith will be his doom once the latter's dream crumbles while still considering him a friend.</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>September 29, 1993</td><td>978-4-592-13579-1</td><td>January 19, 2005</td><td>978-1-59307-252-0</td></tr><tr><td>Griffith's rise in status and growing closeness to Princess Charlotte is ill-received by Midland's noblemen, with the king's brother Julius orchestrating an assassination attempt during a fall hunt. But Griffith's Behelit prevents the poisoned arrow from touching his skin. Griffith tasks Guts with murdering Julius. Guts succeeds but is emotionally scarred when he kills the noble's son, Adonis, to conceal the deed. Guts hears Griffith tell Charlotte his ideals about what he considers a friend, and Guts realizes that Griffith does not consider him or the others as friends. When news of Julius's death is ruled to be the work of Tudor assassins, the Hawks return to battle following Griffith's encounter with Julius's co-conspirator Minister Foss. During the Hawks' battle against the Blue Whale Knights, Casca develops a fever caused by menstruation. When attacked by the Blue Whale's misogynist commander, Adon Coborlwitz, Casca and Guts fall off a cliff into a river. While they hide in a cave, Casca shares her story of how Griffith saved her from being raped by a noble.</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>March 29, 1994</td><td>978-4-592-13580-7</td><td>May 11, 2005</td><td>978-1-59307-328-2</td></tr><tr><td>Casca continues her story and reveals that Griffith engaged in sexual transactions with the pederast lord Gennon to fund the Band of Hawk. When the two are found by Adon and his men, Guts defeats most of them while covering Casca's escape, eventually coming to a conclusion to leave the Hawks to find his own dream to become Griffith's true friend. Later, Griffith volunteers the Hawks to reclaim the impregnable Fortress of Doldrey from Tudor governor Gennon. The Hawks begin their assault in a scheme to take the fortress by luring out the bulk of the Tudor army so Casca can lead a group to infiltrate it.</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>September 29, 1994</td><td>978-4-592-13690-3</td><td>July 13, 2005</td><td>978-1-59307-329-9</td></tr><tr><td>Casca manages to kill Adon while Guts decapitates the Purple Rhino Knights' commander Boscogn, turning the tide of the battle. The Hawks' reclaiming of Doldrey marks the end of the Hundred-Year War as they return to Wyndam with a ball held in their honor. The Queen, Charlotte's stepmother and Julius's secret lover, hatches a scheme with Foss to poison Griffith during the banquet, seemingly succeeding when he collapses after drinking poisoned wine. Believing that their plan was successful, the Queen and her conspirators celebrate in a tower, only to find themselves trapped as the building is set ablaze. Griffith reveals to have coerced Foss into faking his death to kill his remaining opposition with Guts executing the thugs he hired to hold Foss's daughter hostage for the minister's compliance. A month after the queen's funeral, Guts parts ways with Griffith after defeating him in a duel.</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>March 29, 1995</td><td>978-4-592-13691-0</td><td>October 12, 2005</td><td>978-1-59307-330-5</td></tr><tr><td>Guts encounters a mysterious skull-faced knight who warns him about an event called the Ecplise, set to occur in a year's time. The knight further explains that Guts and his friends are doomed. Meanwhile, Griffith, devastated by Guts' departure, makes a reckless decision in a moment of weakness and is caught sleeping with Charlotte. As a result, he is arrested for treason and imprisoned in the Tower of Rebirth, while the Band of the Hawk is declared an outlaw group. A year later, Guts learns of the Hawks' fugitive status and that Casca is their new captain, prompting him to reunite with them. Guts learns of Casca's plan to rescue Griffith from the Tower of Rebirth, he ends up being forced to fight her as she blames Guts for Griffith's problems before realizing it was not his fault. After the two resolve their issues and consummating their love, Guts asks Casca to leave with him after they save Griffith.</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>September 29, 1995</td><td>978-4-592-13692-7</td><td>January 25, 2006</td><td>978-1-59307-331-2</td></tr><tr><td>Casca and Guts go into the dungeon under the Tower of Rebirth with Charlotte's help to rescue Griffith, finding him mute, crippled and horribly disfigured from a year of seemingly endless torture. They manage to get Griffith out of Wyndam while fighting through the Kushan assassins known as the Bakiraka, the king refuses to let Griffith escape and assigns his retrieval to his most depraved fighting force: The Black Dog Knights.</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>March 29, 1996</td><td>978-4-592-13693-4</td><td>April 12, 2006</td><td>978-1-59307-470-8</td></tr><tr><td>Following their escape from Wyndham, the Band of the Hawk successfully fends off the Black Dog Knights. However, they are soon confronted by the knights' commander, Wyald, a sadistic and brutal warrior who reveals himself to be an Apostle. Despite suffering severe injuries in combat with Guts, Wyald attempts to undermine the Hawks' morale by exposing Griffith's physical ruin and asserting that he is no longer capable of leading them. As Wyald moves to kill Griffith, Zodd intervenes and executes Wyald, before taking his leave.</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>September 27, 1996</td><td>978-4-592-13694-1</td><td>July 12, 2006</td><td>978-1-59307-484-5</td></tr><tr><td>The forlorn Hawks proceeding to rendezvous with the rest of the group at Midland border while unaware that all but Rickert were slaughtered by Apostles. Casca feels she must take care of Griffith, and tells Guts to leave. Delirious and horrified at what he has been reduced to, Griffith takes off in a wagon and crashes into a shallow lake in a suicide attempt. He finds his Behelit and unintentionally activates it when the Hawks find him as a solar eclipse occurs, taking everyone present to a convergence of the physical and Astral planes. The four Guardian Angels of the God Hand appear and inform Griffith that his tribulations have led to him being chosen as their final member. To everyone's shock and despair, this requires him to offer up the Band of the Hawk as a blood sacrifice. One of the God Hand members shows Griffith visions of his consciousness to convince him that a few more sacrificed lives are trivial in regard to the fulfillment of his dream. Before Guts can reach him, Griffith accepts the offer. Consequently, the Hawks are branded by another God Hand member, while the Apostles commence a ritual killing to begin Griffith's transition into a demon.</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>March 27, 1997</td><td>978-4-592-13695-8</td><td>September 27, 2006</td><td>978-1-59307-500-2</td></tr><tr><td>As Rickert bears witness to the Skull Knight and Zodd battling outside the storm entrance to the Interstice, the Band of the Hawk are decimated by the Apostles with only Guts and Casca left alive. Griffith, feeling his comrades' deaths while gaining an understanding of the world and his rule as mankind's judge, is reborn in Void form, christened Femto. Griffith rapes Casca in front of Guts as the latter loses his left arm and right eye in an attempt to save her, the two sprited back to their plane by the Skull Knight. A few days later, Guts learns that Casca lost her sanity from the nightmarish ordeal and that their Brands of Sacrifice will subject them to nightly attacks by various evil creatures. Guts fends off the specters attacking him while motivated by his rage to declare his intent to hunt down Griffith and kill him.</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>September 29, 1997</td><td>978-4-592-13696-5</td><td>December 6, 2006</td><td>978-1-59307-501-9</td></tr><tr><td>Their unborn child mutated by Griffith's rape into the Demon Child that would follow him, Guts leaves Casca under the care of Godo and Rickert as he embarks on a journey to hunt down Apostles and the God Hand after acquiring the Dragonslayer Sword and his prosthetic arm. Two years, following the battle with the Count, Guts and Puck find themselves facing Apostle spawn in the form of elves.</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>January 29, 1998</td><td>978-4-592-13697-2</td><td>January 31, 2007</td><td>978-1-59307-577-4</td></tr><tr><td>Guts rescues a child named Jill from bandits. After a chilly reception in Jill's home village, Guts and Puck discover that her childhood friend Rosine is an Apostle. Rosine has transformed herself and lost children from the village into elf-like monsters, who prey on adult villagers but live joyful and carefree lives amongst themselves. Jill considers joining Rosine's society, until she discovers that the lost children "play war" and kill each other.</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>August 26, 1998</td><td>978-4-592-13698-9</td><td>March 28, 2007</td><td>978-1-59307-706-8</td></tr><tr><td>Exhausted from his battle with Rosine and haunted by his inner demons, Guts is surrounded by the Holy Iron Chain Knights. These knights of the Holy See have been tracking Guts since investigating the aftermath of the Eclipse. After his capture, Guts is interrogated by the commander of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, Farnese, about the demise of the Band of the Hawk. Guts mocks Farnese's authority and faith, provoking her to whip him. Azan stops her and locks Guts in a cage. Puck frees Guts at nightfall, and he takes Farnese hostage to escape. Only the knights' herald, Serpico, gives chase before finding himself surrounded by spirits.</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>March 29, 1999</td><td>978-4-592-13699-6</td><td>May 30, 2007</td><td>978-1-59307-742-6</td></tr><tr><td>The spirits pass Serpico and possess hounds that Guts fights off before killing a possessed horse, with it about to rape a horrified Farnese. A spirit then possesses Farnese and forces her to act out her lust by straddling Guts until sunrise. Serpico retrieves a traumatized Farnese and escorts her back to their camp, allowing Guts a reprieve despite Farnese's demand to have him killed. At Windham, the King of Midland dies having seen a vision about Griffith's return while the Kushan army appears on the horizon. Guts awakens from a nightmare of Casca being burned at the stake as a witch, seeing the Demon Child as it warns him that its mother is in danger. Guts returns to Godo's home, with Erika and Rickert confessing that Casca has escaped from the cave where she was confined. The bedridden Godo tells Guts that he made a grave mistake by abandoning Casca while he tried to drown his sorrow with revenge. After Godo uses the last of his strength to repair his sword, Guts departs to St. Albion to find Casca. Meanwhile, Farnese and her knights see the flood of refugees from Midland's disasters to St. Albion while escorting the inquisitor Bishop Mozgus to the city. While Mozgus punishes accused heretics who attempted to kill him, the prostitute Luca finds Casca wandering alone.</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>October 1, 1999</td><td>978-4-592-13716-0</td><td>July 25, 2007</td><td>978-1-59307-743-3</td></tr><tr><td>Guts kills some Kushan scouts while passing through to St. Albion, followed by a red-haired youth named Isidro who admires him. In Albion, with the surrounding refugee camp in utter disarray from the starved and over-populated masses, Mozgus begins his task in the Tower of Conviction where "sinful" beggars are tortured. Meanwhile, Luca divides earnings from her client Jerome among her fellows. Calling Casca "Elaine" while presenting her as her bandaged and diseased sister for her well being, Luca entrusts the girl to her fellow Nina, who is treating her own disease, while she fetches water. At nightfall, as the Demon Child saves Casca from spiritually-animated corpses near the bank that Nina is fetching water from, Guts encounters the Skull Knight who reveals the God Hand are using St. Albion as the site of a ritual to restore Griffith's corporeal form. The next day, as Farnese finds herself struggling with her faith, Nina meets her reoccurring customer Joachim and tests his love for her by bringing him to a midnight orgy held by the pagan cult's goat-headed leader. Joachim gradually engages until learning that the pagans are cannibals and tries to flee, falling off a cliff. Nina breaks down before seeing Luca, who disciplines her before forgiving her, and then learns that Casca followed her. Casca nearly gets raped by the pagans but is saved by spirits attracted by her brand before the Demon Child disperses them, the surviving pagans assuming Casca to be a witch.</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>March 29, 2000</td><td>978-4-592-13717-7</td><td>September 26, 2007</td><td>978-1-59307-744-0</td></tr><tr><td>Guts arrives to St. Albion and dispatches Holy Knights harassing Luca and her apprentice Pepe. Luca takes Guts to her tent upon recognizing his brand, only to find that a fearful Nina abducted Casca. The group divides to search; Isidro and Puck find Nina and Casca when they are captured by the pagan cult. In their cave, the pagans intend to marry Casca to the Great Goat with Nina as a sacrificial offering, but Isidro distracts the pagans while Puck goes after Guts. When Farnese and her knights, led by Joachim, arrive, Casca's brand awakens the dead which possess some pagans to indiscriminately attack people. Isidro attempts to save Casca, while the Great Goat is transformed into a monster by a mysterious observer. When the Great Goat attempts to consummate his marriage, Guts arrives to cover Casca's escape with Isidro and Nina before following them after killing the Great Goat. But Guts is confronted by Serpico, who uses the terrain and Guts's current state to his advantage. Guts finally manages to drive Serpico off upon disarming him, only to learn Casca and Nina are captured and taken Tower of Conviction. The mysterious observer witnesses Guts, Isidro and Luca make their way into the tower while the spirits within are stirred by two Brands of Sacrifice in close proximity, manifesting as a flesh-eating blob of blood.</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>October 27, 2000</td><td>978-4-592-13718-4</td><td>November 28, 2007</td><td>978-1-59307-745-7</td></tr><tr><td>While Luca and Isidro use Jerome to free Nina, Guts forces Farnese to take him to the torture chamber where Puck tells that Casca is trapped within the blood as it is pursuing Mozgus and his men before they are transformed by the observer. Mozgus burns away some of the blood with his flames, freeing Casca and saving Luca's group, but he intends to have the former burned at the stake while his men attack the latter. Luca sacrificed herself so Jerome can save Nina, only to be saved by the Skull Knight then spirited off by the observer: a Behelit-like Apostle self-dubbed the Egg of the Perfect World. The Egg tells Luca his story of long observation of everyone in St. Albion, detailing his ideals and the event to soon occur. After the Egg flees the Skull Knight with only a mortal wound inflicted on him, the Skull Knight takes Luca to safety as the living mounds of starved corpses rise up. Back in the Tower of Conviction, Guts arrives faces Mozgus' winged subordinate as he and the Twins fly off with Casca. Though Guts manages to kill Mozgus's disciples, the possessed blood causes the tower to partially collapse. The chaos unfolds in the slums, but Mozgus uses his powers to keep the corpses at bay while the refugees proceed to build a pyre to burn Casca on. Guts sees this while noticing the four God Hand members manifesting through the blood. As Luca walks back to St. Albion after the Skull Knight took her to the outskirts, the Egg of the Perfect World swallows the dying Demon Child out of sympathy during his climb up the Tower of Conviction.</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>May 29, 2001</td><td>978-4-592-13719-1</td><td>January 23, 2008</td><td>978-1-59307-746-4</td></tr><tr><td>Enlisting Jerome and Nina's help, Isidro uses a makeshift pulley system to free Casca as she was about to be burned alive. Mozgus nearly catches them when Guts leaps off the tower and impales the inquisitor. But Mozgus's bible shielded him from the attack while he fully transforms. After Isidro's group eliminate the last of Mozgus's disciples, the inquisitor overpowering him while the flames keeping the corpses at bay die out, Guts uses his miniature bombs to blow apart the unprotected chink in the inquistitor's armored body to kill him. After a brief reunion with Casca, the corpses manage to flood into St. Albion as Guts gives his group torches so they can outlast the few remaining hours of night. While Luca saves Nina down below the tower, the Egg of the Perfect World calls the dead to the Tower of Conviction and sacrifices himself to complete the ritual with the Demon Child becoming Griffith's corporeal vessel. The Tower collapses once the ritual ran its course, killing everyone inside it before daybreak as Guts and the others find themselves surrounded by Silat and his Kushans before Zodd drives the Kushans. Guts then sees a newly reconstituted Griffith, yet could not attack him due to Casca while the others use the Apostle's appearance to flee as a Kushan legion arrives. Zodd spirits Griffith away on his back while Guts steals a horse to take Casca back to Godo's home. Isidro departs on his own while Luca pays her respects the Egg and those who died that night. While Nina reunites with Joachim, Farnese renounces her faith and decides to follow Guts with Serpico remaining by her side. Back at Albion's ruins, the Skull Knight muses that the events which occurred will soon change the world.</td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>December 19, 2001</td><td>978-4-592-13720-7</td><td>March 26, 2008</td><td>978-1-59307-863-8</td></tr><tr><td>Guts and Casca return to Godo's home. They find that he died during their absence. Erika and Rickert urge them to take refuge in an elf-blessed cave nearby. By staying in the cave, they could stay safe in the long term without attracting monsters with their sacrifices. Then, the resurrected Griffith appears. Guts attacks Griffith, but Nosferatu Zodd blocks him. Their ensuing duel destroys the cave. Guts decides to take Casca and leave to avoid endangering Erika and Rickert. Puck suggests that Guts and Casca go to his homeland as a potential refuge. Meanwhile, Griffith arrives at a castle in Midland occupied by the invading Kushan army. Griffith and his loyal supernatural warriors cut down the Kushan forces. The Midlander survivors hail Griffith as a guardian angel.</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>June 28, 2002</td><td>978-4-592-13721-4</td><td>May 28, 2008</td><td>978-1-59307-864-5</td></tr><tr><td>Guts struggles to protect Casca. She wanders off and is attacked by bandits. She steals one of their swords and kills them all. Guts holds her down and chokes her out of lust and frustration before stopping himself. She no longer trusts him, so he ties her hands and drags her along. Their downward spiral is interrupted when Isidro, Serpico, and Farnese arrive and ask to join their journey. By sharing their efforts, their struggles ease. Meanwhile, Griffith continues to push the Kushan army back. He has declared his forces the new Band of the Hawk. Midlander refugees, Kushan defectors, famous heroes from distant lands, giants, and demons all rally to his forces. With the help of a medium named Sonia, Griffith enables the spirits of deceased soldiers to exchange final words with their loved ones, inspiring intense loyalty among his camp followers.</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>December 19, 2002</td><td>978-4-592-13722-1</td><td>July 23, 2008</td><td>978-1-59307-865-2</td></tr><tr><td>Isidro's sword skills progress, under Guts's tutelage. Emboldened, Isidro fights a troll to protect Casca and Farnese. When more trolls arrive, a witch intervenes to protect the group. The witch, Schierke, introduces the group to her teacher Flora, who had anticipated their arrival. The witches teach the group about the nature of the world: magic creatures reside in a many-layered Astral World that partly overlaps with the Physical World. They then and use their magic to suppress the evil spirits attracted to Guts and Casca, and arm the group with magic weapons to use against the trolls. However, the villagers are skeptical about the group's ability to protect them. The village priest is certain Schierke is a fraud. Schierke, in turn, blames the Holy See for keeping people ignorant of useful knowledge and driving Flora to live alone in the woods. Finally, the trolls attack the village, intending to eat everyone and everything. Serpico struggles to make his magic weapon function as they advance.</td></tr><tr><td>25</td><td>June 27, 2003</td><td>978-4-592-13723-8</td><td>September 24, 2008</td><td>978-1-59307-921-5</td></tr><tr><td>The group defends the villagers from trolls. Serpico respects the spirits that power his magical sword and cuts down hordes. Isidro does not respect the spirits and sees less success. The village priest tries to stop Schierke from casting a protection spell. She succeeds anyway, and the priest is shaken when she tells him that the four guardian spirits she invoked are the same as the four angels in his holy book. Schierke's barrier keeps out the trolls. Two greater monsters arrive: an ogre and a kelpie. Guts and Serpico fend them off long enough for Schierke to cast a spell. She connects with water spirits that were once venerated at an old shrine over which the church was built, and she summons a flood to wash the monsters away. However, Schierke is unable to leave her spellcasting trance. Her elf familiar, Ivalera, tells Farnese how to bring Schierke's attention back to the physical world. Before she fully awakens, though, Casca and Farnese are swept away in the floodwaters. Schierke tracks them to a layer of the Astral World formed from humans' dark thoughts. There, Casca and Farnese watch as trolls and other monsters assault kidnapped villagers. One villager pleads for help until monsters hatch from inside her and rip her apart.</td></tr><tr><td>26</td><td>December 19, 2003</td><td>978-4-592-13724-5</td><td>November 26, 2008</td><td>978-1-59307-922-2</td></tr><tr><td>Farnese fends off the trolls to protect Casca. The group arrives in time to save them and the other kidnapped villagers. Meanwhile, Guts covers their escape. Schierke begins casting a spell to seal the trolls' lair entrance, expecting Guts to flee before it is complete. However, Guts is waylaid when the corpses' viscera join together to form an avatar of Slan, one of the God Hand. The Skull Knight arrives to rescue Guts, assuming that the God Hand has been summoned. Slan informs him that she came of her own volition and that, since Griffith's ascension, the physical and astral worlds have become increasingly intertwined. Schierke's spell destroys the nearby trolls but seals Guts and the Skull Knight inside. The Skull Knight vomits up a sword that he forged by swallowing Behelits. Using the Sword of Actuation, the Skull Knight cuts a rift through the layers of the Astral World, allowing Guts to escape and rejoin his companions. The group returns to Flora's mansion. They find it in flames, beset by Griffith's war demons. On her deathbed, Flora commands Schierke to give Guts a dangerous artifact: the Berserker Armor. The armor enables Guts to surpass human limits by allowing him to ignore pain, though it exacerbates his already severe injuries.</td></tr><tr><td>27</td><td>July 29, 2004</td><td>978-4-592-13725-2</td><td>January 28, 2009</td><td>978-1-59307-923-9</td></tr><tr><td>Guts continues to fight as the Berserker Armor melds with his body, holding his broken bones together. He is prepared to fight to the death until Schierke enters his mind and reminds him to protect Casca. Flora's lingering spirit covers the group's escape. Guts and his companions reach the coast. After a month of rest, Guts is still physically wounded but more psychologically healed than he has been since the Eclipse. Farnese convinces Schierke to teach her magic. Meanwhile, Windham, the capital of Midland, has fallen to the Kushan invasion. Ganishka, the Kushan emperor, is an Apostle himself. However, he defies their god and intends to overthrow him. Ganishka sacrifices most of Windham's population to gain sorcerous power and counter Griffith's inhuman forces. However, the new Band of the Hawk distracts Ganishka long enough for Griffith to rescue Princess Charlotte. This thwarts Ganishka's plan to marry Charlotte and claim Midland's throne.</td></tr><tr><td>28</td><td>February 28, 2005</td><td>978-4-592-13726-9</td><td>March 25, 2009</td><td>978-1-59582-209-3</td></tr><tr><td>After encountering the Skull Knight, who tells them that Caska may regain her senses, the group finds a child playing in the ocean. Caska forms a bond with the child, and the group takes refuge in a seaside hut. Crocodile soldiers from Kushan then attack, and the group fights to repel them. Following the flow of Od, Schierke locates the spell caster animating the crocodile soldiers. But, amidst the fog, a fearsome Makara stirs. Confronted with such a formidable opponent, Guts has no choice but to surrender to the power of the Berserk Armour. Only Schierke's magic is powerful enough to bring him back to reality. Meanwhile, great armies are assembling in Vritannis. Schierke stands out among the hordes of commoners and soldiers in the city. After quarreling with Isidro, she leaves the group and discovers a pathway lined with the corpses of Kushan slaves. The inhumanity of the scene compels her to cremate the bodies. At the docks, she is approached by a young woman who admires her for being a witch. The girl refers to herself as a 'kite' saved by the White Hawk, and the two bond over their mutual loneliness.</td></tr><tr><td>29</td><td>September 29, 2005</td><td>978-4-592-13727-6</td><td>May 27, 2009</td><td>978-1-59582-210-9</td></tr><tr><td>A group of Kushan children fleeing slave traders along the docks catch Schierke and Sonia's attention. When confronted, the traders reveal the kids are orphans whose parents were executed. Isidro arrives and skirmishes with the pirates alongside Sonia's watchdog, the "duck" knight. They duel the pirate captain and inadvertently rouse a sleeping knight who single-handedly repels the pirate gang. Outside the castle gate, Sonia asks Schierke to join them at the Band of the Hawk, but she turns the offer down. The troupe gathers at a canteen that evening where they fend off drunkards and Schierke dons commoner's clothes. Meanwhile, Princess Charlotte assimilates into the Band of the Hawk. She gifts Griffith and Sonia sweets, and Sonia finds company at the fireside of the lone archer. Back in Vritannis, Farnese practices magical projection while the group fails to secure passage to Elfhelm. Wanting to be useful, she visits her family's estate to solicit her father's aid, only to be rebuked. While there, Farnese reconnects with her brother, Manifico, who offers her a ship in exchange for her engagement to the nobleman Roderick of Schtauffen. Serpico delivers the news. Ruminating on her decision to abandon the group, Farnese encounters her mother who commends her daughter's effusive spirit and ability to find her place in the world. That evening, Farnese attends a ball where her brother and Roderick scheme of conquering the open ocean. Guts and the troupe try to infiltrate the party but are barred from entering by Serpico.</td></tr><tr><td>30</td><td>March 29, 2006</td><td>978-4-592-13728-3</td><td>July 29, 2009</td><td>978-1-59582-211-6</td></tr><tr><td>Guts duels with Serpico, using crumbling pillars to defeat him. At the ball, just before Roderick's engagement to Farnese is to be announced by Manifico, she disappears to find Serpico. A tiger pishacha attacks and Farnese wields a silver candelabrum to defend against the attacker before being saved by Serpico. The tiger and its hoard are killed by Guts. The head of the Vandimion family refutes the use of magic during the skirmish as mere illusions to quell the suspicions of the bystanders. The harbor, ablaze in fire, distracts the nobles and attention is diverted to the Kushan monsters roaming the streets. Roderick offers to convey the group to Elfhelm on his personal warship, and Guts is confronted by Sir Owen who recognizes him as captain of the Hawks's raiders. Meanwhile, Sonia and Mule Wolflame, the "duck" knight, visit the Pontiff and convince him to meet Griffith. As the group makes for the ship, they are overwhelmed by hoards of Kushan forces.</td></tr><tr><td>31</td><td>September 29, 2006</td><td>978-4-592-14431-1</td><td>September 30, 2009</td><td>978-1-59582-366-3</td></tr><tr><td>Guts and his companions are trapped in the port city of Vritannis, which is being overrun by Kushan's Daka forces. Fighting their way through the Daka, they make their way to the port. Guts leads the charge, battling the Daka in front, while Serpico and Isidro hold off the attackers from behind. Guts fights with ferocious intensity. Guts uses Berserker Armor while Schierke casts a spell, summoning an Astral being, the Wheel of Flame, to destroy the Daka forces. As they press forward, a hoard of Makara emerges, but are killed by Guts using the Berserker Armor. A Kushan Galleass arrives carrying a lone sorcerer, the Pishaca Gana leader. Guts attacks but is deflected by a water spout and Schierke, also trapped in the Berserk Armor, brings him back to his senses. Dodging multiple water spouts, Guts protects his allies from a falling ship mast. Serpico joins the fray and together they battle the Kundalini. Schierke summons the wheel of fire for the second time and destroys the giant water serpent. Out of the smoke and fog, Emperor Ganishka emerges in his gigantic apostle form and attacks with lightning. Impressed by Guts's fortitude, Ganishka proposes that Guts joins his fight to oppose the Godhand. Meanwhile, Griffith's apostles, led by Nosferatu Zodd, descend upon the city and swarm the Emperor.</td></tr><tr><td>32</td><td>November 29, 2007</td><td>978-4-592-14432-8</td><td>November 25, 2009</td><td>978-1-59582-367-0</td></tr><tr><td>During a flashback, Sonia tells Zodd he has a choice to fight the sword that once cut him or make it a weapon. In the heat of battle, he crashes into the sea with Guts and the two unite to destroy Ganishka's ethereal body. Kushan's Daka flee the city. The group, carrying an unconscious Guts, makes for Roderick's warship. Outside the Vritannis city gates, the armies of the Holy See Alliance are confronted by an overwhelming mass of Kushan forces. A small contingency from the Band of the Hawk cut through the Kushan battle line and encircle the Emperor's palace. Griffith approaches the Emperor who, fearing his power, assumes his apostle form. He attacks but cannot reach Griffith and is scattered by the wind. Begrudgingly, he forces the Kushan to retreat. The nobleman in Vritannis ride out to meet Griffith and contest the legitimacy of his so-called liberation army. Skeptical of his intentions, they question his authority until Princess Charlotte and His Holiness the Pontiff proclaim Griffith as the savior of Midland. Out at sea, Isidro spars with the Azan, the Moustache Knight, while Farnese and Schierke journey to the astral world.</td></tr><tr><td>33</td><td>October 24, 2008</td><td>978-4-592-14433-5</td><td>January 27, 2010</td><td>978-1-59582-372-4</td></tr><tr><td>Aboard the Seahorse, Guts watches over Casca and Roderick inquires about the nature of their relationship. Casca falls overboard and Guts plunges into the ocean to rescue her. Three armored ships appear on the horizon and Roderick orders his forces to fire upon the pirates, obliterating two of their ships and forcing the pirate captain to withdraw. Guts, asleep in the hold, dreams of the Beast of Darkness who threatens to break its chains and consume him. On the deck, the crew celebrates their victory and Manifico asks Roderick to help him conquer the Elf Island. In Windham, the Knights of Arklow reflect on the events that transpired in Vritannis. A group of children tell them they collectively shared a dream about evacuating the city before dawn. In the castle, Emperor Ganishka lowers himself into his man-made beherit, heedlessly extinguishing all of the Kushan soldiers roaming the city. The Arklow Knights storm the castle grounds to liberate the women imprisoned therein and dress them in armor of the disintegrated Kushan guards. Outside the city, a former Kushan solider, turned Band of the Hawk spy, helps the civilians bypass the Kushan army and the Clan of the Bakiraka. In the morning, Ganishka assumes his new form, a hellish monstrosity of flesh and sinew called Shiva that towers so high over the city, it blocks out the sun.</td></tr><tr><td>34</td><td>September 25, 2009</td><td>978-4-592-14434-2</td><td>September 15, 2010</td><td>978-1-59582-532-2</td></tr><tr><td>The towering Shiva, his ego dissolved, crushes all enemies and allies in his path. A swarm of his smaller monsters emerge to clash with Griffith's war demons. The humans rallied under the Band of the Hawk watch the battle in a mixture of awe and revulsion. Sonia telepathically wrests their attention, reminding them of the sacrifices the demons are making to fight their common enemy before charging headlong toward the monsters. Under Griffith's command, the army lures the monsters into a wall of cannon fire and arrows. Together, humans and apostles fight side-by-side while Griffith climbs the towering mass of Shiva atop Nosferatu Zodd. Shiva, meanwhile, flashes back to memories of betrayal and survival that led to Ganishka's incarnation as an apostle. His soliloquy is torn apart by the Sword of Actuation. Wielded by the Skull Knight, it was intended to strike Femto (Griffith's supernatural form), but Femto manipulates space to redirect the slash. It hits Shiva instead, opening a dimensional tear between the physical and astral worlds that releases a blast of pure spiritual energy.</td></tr><tr><td>35</td><td>September 29, 2010</td><td>978-4-592-14435-9</td><td>September 21, 2011</td><td>978-1-59582-695-4</td></tr><tr><td>Begin arc: "Fantasia Arc" (幻造世界編, Fantajia-hen) — "Elf Island Chapter" (妖精島の章, Yōseijima no Shō)</td></tr><tr><td>Out of the destruction of Ganishka's demonic form springs a new world in which creatures that once inhabited the imagination of mankind suddenly exist in corporeal form. Moreover, Ganishka's massive body, transfigured into a giant tree, stands at the gates of Falconia, the newly materialized capital city of the Hawk. Aboard the pirate ship, the superstitious crew questions their captain who remains hellbent on chasing down Roderick's warship to exact his revenge. The pirates close in on the Seahorse and attack with their transfigured tentacle-monster bodies. Guts singlehandedly repels the monsters while Roderick's crew blasts the ghost ship with cannon fire, forcing their retreat. Multiple leaks breech the hull, grounding the Seahorse on Solitary Island until repairs can be made. Isidro explores rocky outcroppings and finds an ominous looking sea cave but is cautioned against entering by a lone girl named Isma. Meanwhile, Guts and the crew visit the fishing village and stumble upon a statue of an ancient sea god. Schierke and Isidro dine with Isma and swap stories of their adventures for information on the island. Isma reveals that she is an outcast from the village because she is believed to be a Merrow. The tentacle-monsters attack and Guts fends them off until the ghost ship reappear and the pirates threaten to turn them into their monster brethren, whereupon Guts once again dons his berserker armor.</td></tr><tr><td>36</td><td>September 23, 2011</td><td>978-4-592-14436-6</td><td>September 19, 2012</td><td>978-1-59582-942-9</td></tr><tr><td>On the cliffs above the battle, Schierke attempts to use her luminous body to help Guts regain control of his senses. Meanwhile, Caska darts into the fray to rescue a small child, the same child they found during the previous full moon. Guts, with Schierke's help, resists the overwhelming Od of his armor, and the crew regroups on the Seahorse to prepare for the final battle. Lady Farnese is tasked with casting a spell to defend the ship. Schierke possesses Guts to prevent him from going berserk and together they enter the sea cave where they are confronted once again by the monstrous pirates. Guts dodges their innumerable tentacles and leaps into the sea god's mouth. In his absence, the monsters attack the Seahorse but are stopped by Lady Farnese's spell. Only the ghost ship is capable of passing through their defense. Meanwhile, Guts climbs the masts of the ship graveyard within the sea god's stomach and fights the parasites residing therein. On deck, Isidro and the crew wage a fierce battle with the tentacled pirates. As Guts approaches the sea god's heart, it erupts from its cave and sends forth a tidal wave that knocks Isidro overboard. Isma dives into the water to save him and hears voices encouraging her to say her true name. She transforms into her Merrow form and a school of Merrow gather around the island to wage war against the sea god.</td></tr><tr><td>37</td><td>March 29, 2013</td><td>978-4-592-14437-3</td><td>November 20, 2013</td><td>978-1-61655-205-3</td></tr><tr><td>38</td><td>June 24, 2016</td><td>978-4-592-14438-0</td><td>July 5, 2017</td><td>978-1-5067-0398-5</td></tr><tr><td>39</td><td>June 23, 2017</td><td>978-4-592-14439-7</td><td>July 11, 2018</td><td>978-1-5067-0708-2</td></tr><tr><td>40</td><td>September 28, 2018</td><td>978-4-592-14440-3</td><td>September 25, 2019</td><td>978-1-5067-1498-1</td></tr><tr><td>41</td><td>December 24, 2021</td><td>978-4-592-16691-7 978-4-592-10629-6 (SE)</td><td>November 2, 2022</td><td>978-1-5067-3377-7</td></tr><tr><td>42</td><td>September 29, 2023</td><td>978-4-592-16692-4 978-4-592-10635-7 (SE)</td><td>March 18, 2025</td><td>978-1-5067-4641-8</td></tr><tr><td>43</td><td>August 29, 2025</td><td>978-4-592-16693-1 978-4-592-10640-1 (SE)</td><td>October 27, 2026</td><td>978-1-5067-5727-8</td></tr></tbody></table>

Chapters not released in collected volumes

List of Berserk chapters

The following have not been released in collected volumes:

• 083. "God of the Abyss (2)" (深淵の神(2), Shin'en no Kami (2); omitted from volume 13) • 383. "Anādi Avidyā" (無明無始, Mumyō Mushi)

Deluxe volumes

List of Berserk chapters

Since 2019, Dark Horse Comics publishes larger, hardcover "deluxe" volumes, each of which collects three of the regular volumes, except the 14th volume, which collects two regular volumes as well as the Berserk Official Guidebook.

No.	Release date	ISBN	Collects
1	February 27, 2019	978-1-5067-1198-0	Volumes 1–3
2	June 26, 2019	978-1-5067-1199-7	Volumes 4–6
3	October 23, 2019	978-1-5067-1200-0	Volumes 7–9
4	February 26, 2020	978-1-5067-1521-6	Volumes 10–12
5	June 24, 2020	978-1-5067-1522-3	Volumes 13–15
6	November 18, 2020	978-1-5067-1523-0	Volumes 16–18
7	March 10, 2021	978-1-5067-1790-6	Volumes 19–21
8	August 25, 2021	978-1-5067-1791-3	Volumes 22–24
9	November 10, 2021	978-1-5067-1792-0	Volumes 25–27
10	March 9, 2022	978-1-5067-2754-7	Volumes 28–30
11	August 10, 2022	978-1-5067-2755-4	Volumes 31–33
12	November 9, 2022	978-1-5067-2756-1	Volumes 34–36
13	March 8, 2023	978-1-5067-2757-8	Volumes 37–39
14	November 22, 2023	978-1-5067-4106-2	Volumes 40–41 + Guidebook