Warning! Minor spoilers for Berserk chapters 365 and 366!
The mysterious Moonlight Boy’s transformation in Berserk can only mean one thing – that the child has been Griffith all along.
Although never stated outright, readers have assumed for years that the enigmatic boy who appears on nights of the full moon is Guts and Casca’s child. The motherly intuition that overtakes Casca whenever the child manifests has undoubtedly fueled these readers’ suspicions the most, but so has the connection that’s formed between the boy and Guts. But recent events prove that either Griffith has always been Berserk’s Moonlight Boy, or he can somehow hijack the child’s body at certain times. In chapter 364, Guts can actually be seen playing with the Moonlight Boy like a normal father. But then the boy unexpectedly transforms in to Griffith. Miura, unfortunately, passed away before finishing the chapter, and although Berserk has since resumed under Miura’s close friend Kouji Mori, with art now rendered by Studio Gaga, the proceeding two chapters that were simultaneously released have yet to explain this phenomenon.
For the most emotional impact, the truth behind the Moonlight Boy’s actual identity can only be that he has always been Griffith and that Griffith can somehow transform back and forth whenever he pleases. The other possibility is that the boy is his own entity and that the Hawk of Light can just assume control of his body. This latter option creates the impression that the connection between the two can be severed like some sort of exorcism. But if Griffith is the Moonlight Boy, then that would mean that Guts is destined to kill the man who took the form of someone who could be his own son. But the implications are even more severe when taking into consideration that all of the times in which Guts has interacted with the Moonlight Boy, he has actually been doing so with Griffith. The most pressing realization is the scene in chapter 364 when Guts is acting like a father figure to a child.
This is surprising because of the trauma Guts endured during his childhood. Most likely around the Moonlight Boy’s age, his father Gambino not only verbally abused Guts but actually sold his body. As a result of what he endured, Guts understandably came to mistrust everyone and would react violently should anyone do so much as touch him. It’s therefore not too much to assume that Guts also despised children to some degree as it is unfortunately not uncommon for those who’ve had difficult childhoods to dislike children. Moreover, forcing a wounded person like Guts to act like a father always had the potential of causing further suffering for the already beleaguered hero. With this in mind, it’s now devastating to think of how much the potential revelation that Griffith is the Moonlight Boy could taint the progress that Guts made in Miura’s final Berserk chapter. It was believed that Guts had overcome his childhood trauma by acting like an actual father to a boy who was likely his own son. But the possibility that it was just Griffith who helped Guts come to this moment of self-discovery is heartbreaking.
Griffith already has an extensive track record of building Guts up only to tear him down, for it was mostly Griffith who helped Guts trust others again. But after Griffith’s betrayal, Guts had to start from scratch, unable to truly appreciate his new friends until much later. If Griffith is the Moonlight Boy, then that means Griffith just did the same thing again. Who thought that Berserk could have gotten even darker?
