The Beherit
The Beherit is one of the most important and mysterious objects in the world of Berserk. Shaped like an egg with rearrangeable human features, it is described by the witch Flora as the most powerful object in this world. Its role is central to the cosmic mechanism governing Eclipses and the creation of apostles.
Each Beherit belongs to a designated bearer — it finds him, not the other way around. And no matter how the bearer tries to get rid of it — throw it away, lose it, drown it — the Beherit inexorably returns to him at the moment ordained by causality.
The two types of Beherit
Common Beherit
Common Beherits allow their bearer, at the moment of his ultimate sacrifice, to summon the God Hand and strike a bargain: offer the God Hand what is most precious to him in exchange for a transformation into an apostle.
An apostle is a human transformed into a demon — powerful, immortal, able to turn into a monstrous creature — but having lost his humanity in exchange. Hundreds of apostles populate the world of Berserk, each born from a different Beherit.
The precise color and shape of the Beherit vary with its bearer. Some resemble human faces, others skulls. All share the same nature: rearrangeable human features on a smooth surface.
Crimson Beherit
The Crimson Beherit is of a completely different nature — and infinitely rarer. Only one exists in the world at a time. Its bearer is not destined to become a mere apostle, but a full-fledged member of the God Hand itself.
Griffith has carried the Crimson Beherit since his youth, without truly understanding what it means. The object disappears and reappears according to its own logic, patiently awaiting the moment of absolute despair ordained by causality.
It is during the Eclipse that the Crimson Beherit activates: wet with Griffith's tears and blood at his deepest breaking point, it summons the God Hand and grants Griffith ascension to the rank of Femto — at the price of sacrificing the entire Band of the Hawk.
How does a Beherit work?
A Beherit chooses its bearer by a logic no one fully understands. It may sit for years among a traveling merchant's wares without him knowing its exact nature.
No matter how the bearer tries to be rid of it — throw it away, sell it, drown it — the Beherit returns to him. This property is absolute: causality guarantees the bearer's meeting with his Beherit at the appointed moment.
The Beherit awakens only when it comes into contact with its bearer's blood — but that is not a sufficient condition. The bearer must also be in a state of absolute despair, at the breaking point of his existence.
Once activated, the Beherit summons the God Hand in a space outside time and space. The Eclipse begins. The bearer is offered a choice: sacrifice what is most precious to him to obtain what he most deeply desires.
If the bearer accepts and designates his victims as sacrifice, he transforms — into an apostle for a common Beherit, into a member of the God Hand for the Crimson. His humanity is sacrificed along with his loved ones.
The Skull Knight and the Beherits
One of the Skull Knight's most mysterious behaviors is his habit of collecting and swallowing the Beherits he finds along his path. This gesture, seen several times in the manga, is no trifle: the Skull Knight forges his ultimate weapon, the Sword of Resonance, from these Beherits absorbed and transformed over the centuries.
This sword vibrates at a frequency capable of piercing the space between dimensions — allowing it to reach the God Hand where it believes itself untouchable. In doing so, the Skull Knight turns the tool of apostle creation against its own creators: the Beherits, symbols of the God Hand's omnipotence, become the material of the only weapon able to wound them.
The witch Flora, who has known the Skull Knight for centuries, alludes to this complex relationship between the knight and the Beherits without ever fully explaining it. The mystery remains complete as to the exact number of Beherits he has absorbed, and the full extent of the power they grant him.
