Berserker's Armor

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Berserker's Armor is a magical item from the fictional manga Berserk. Initially it is shown to be in the watchful hands of Flora, The Witch of Spirit Tree. Through a conversation shared between her and the Skull Knight and the initial appearance of the armor (the helm was a skull), it can be assumed that the Skull Knight was the previous owner and wearer. Currently, Guts wears the Armor

The Armor itself is very mysterious in origin as well as ability. Schierke once claimed that it was something created by Dwarves. It works by manipultating the Id in a person, changing it to create a perfect Berserker.

First it removes the idea of pain from a person. Guts at first thinks he feels no pain, but realizes he just doesn't care about it. This allows him to fight regardless of injury, especially those self sustained. As Schierke describes it, the human body puts mental blocks on itself to keep it from exceeding what it can physically do. By removing such blocks, a body can move faster and stronger then ever before at the cost of personal injury. It can be assumed this is akin to an athlete ripping a muscle connection by over use. So when Guts uses the armor's power, he is strong enough to fight on par with almost any apostle.

The second change in Id is entirely mental. As the armor is used, the users mind become a torrent of negative emotion. The mind becomes lost in a sea of violent thought, making it and the user into a killing machine. The armor draws out the very spirit of violence in a person and lets it loose. While on Guts, the armor drew out his beastly rage spirit and changed the armor's helm to match. In this form, all Guts can do is attack and kill whatever he sees, endangering friend and foe alike.

The last power is the Berserker's Armor's metal teeth. Fighting at the level the armor allows makes it easy to sustain injury, especially broken bones. When a bone breaks, it is re-inforced by the armor itself by jamming the broken bits of bone back together with many small metal teeth. The armor will reset bone and even dislocation, but if the bone is broken, it will automatically stab it together. Still this is just a way to keep fighting, and not even a temporary fix. It compounds any injury by adding additional cuts to the flesh and perforations to the bone. Schierke has said that the previous owner had been completely engulfed by the metal teeth and only kept on fighting until all his bones were broken and then bled to death from suffered injuries.

Later on it is shown that the Id manipulation can at least be controlled with help. During the battle in Vritannis' harbor against the giant water snake, Schierke found her spirit accidentally caught in the armor as Guts began to use it. Her spirit body was able to open Guts' eye to the situation and woke him from his insanity. Thus he began to use the armor's power but in complete control. While inside the armor, Schierke was able to cast spells and help Guts defeat their enemy.