Berserk: The Golden Age Arc

Guts, a mercenary, attracts the attention of the Band of the Hawk and is forced into joining the group after being defeated by its leader Griffith twice. Once the Hawks defeated the kingdom of Tudor's Black Ram Iron Lance Cavalry, they are recruited by Midland for its war against its rival kingdom, the Tudor Empire. During one siege, Guts and Griffith encounter the demon Nosferatu Zodd, who notices the Behelit around Griffith's neck and warns Guts that Griffith will be his doom. In time, Griffith's gradual rise in status is ill-received by the noblemen, and a failed assassination attempt by the king's brother Julius results in his murder by Guts, who was also forced to kill the noble's son Adonis to leave no witnesses. Guts, emotionally scarred by what he has done, would later hear Griffith discussing his idea of friendship with the Midland Princess Charlotte and is further unsettled to find he and the other Hawks are a means to their leader's end.

For three years, Guts believed his mission was to pursue Griffith's dream together with him. But after coming to understand Griffith's outlook as well as fighting 100 men (and winning), Guts realises that he would need to leave the Band of the Hawk to be considered Griffith's equal and truly be called his friend. After forming a bond with Casca while they are separated from the others, Guts and the Hawks take part in a bloody battle to capture the impenetrable Fortress of Doldrey from the Tudor Empire's army of 30,000 strong defenders. A month after capturing the fortress and winning the war, Guts parts ways with Griffith after defeating him in a duel. Griffith does not take his former ally's departure well, and in a lapse of judgment he is caught sleeping with the king's daughter, Charlotte. Charged with treason for his actions, Griffith is imprisoned in the Tower of Rebirth while the members of the Band of the Hawk are branded criminals.

It has now been a year after Guts' duel with Griffith and his departure from the Band of the Hawk. Upon learning the Hawks have been labeled outlaws in Midland, Guts returns to aid them in freeing Griffith from the Tower of Rebirth. However, they find out that Griffith is a broken man-barely alive and rendered a mute cripple after months of physical and mental torture. When Griffith is reunited with his Behelit while attempting suicide upon realizing what he has been reduced to, a solar eclipse occurs that draws him, Guts, Casca and their comrades into another dimension where they encounter the archdemons known as the God Hand. Told that his tribulations have been leading to this moment, Griffith accepts becoming the final member of the God Hand to achieve his dream while knowing his transition requires his allies being offered as branded sacrifices. In this hopeless battle with the God Hand's monstrous horde of Apostles - former humans like Nosferatu Zodd - Guts's attempt to rescue Griffith fails as with Guts and Casca remaining as Griffith is reborn as Femto. Guts and Casca are spirited back to their world by the mysterious Skull Knight, but not without repercussions: Casca loses her sanity from the nightmarish ordeal she endured of watching her comrades' slaughter and then raped by Femto; and Guts losing his left forearm and right eye in his attempt to force their former leader off her. After leaving Casca under Rickert's care, learning his brand will subject him to nightly attacks by various fell creatures that will seek his life, Guts embarks on his journey to hunt down the Apostles and the God Hand so he can kill Griffith.