It is basically impossible to talk about FromSoftware without mentioning Kentaro Miura. If you’ve ever rolled through a graveyard in Lordran or stared up at a bleeding sun in Lothric, you’ve seen his ghost. Hidetaka Miyazaki, the mastermind behind the series, has never been shy about it. He’s a superfan. But people often treat Dark Souls Berserk references like a simple game of "spot the easter egg," which totally misses the point of why the games feel the way they do.
It isn't just about a sword or a helmet. It’s a shared DNA of suffering.
The Greatsword and the Heavy Burden of Influence
Let’s start with the obvious one. The Dragon Slayer. In the manga, Guts carries a slab of iron that is described as "too big to be called a sword." It’s iconic. In Dark Souls, specifically the later entries and Elden Ring, the "Greatsword" is almost a 1:1 replica of Guts’ weapon. But it’s more than a visual nod.
The weight matters.
When you swing that massive chunk of steel in Dark Souls, the recovery frames are punishing. You feel the momentum. You feel the struggle. This mirrors Guts’ entire existence—swinging something so heavy it threatens to break the wielder just to survive another night against the "Idea of Evil." Most players pick up the Greatsword because it looks cool, but they keep it because it captures that specific Berserk fantasy of being a lone human fighting things that should be impossible to kill.
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Honestly, the Artorias of the Abyss DLC is where this hits its peak. Artorias is, for all intents and purposes, Guts if he finally lost to the Beast of Darkness. Look at the way he moves. He has a broken arm hanging uselessly at his side, he flips through the air with feral aggression, and his silhouette is nearly identical to Guts in the Berserker Armor. Even the official cover art for the Prepare to Die Edition is a direct reference to Volume 28 of the manga. Miyazaki wasn't just inspired; he was translating a feeling from the page to the controller.
Architecture and the Texture of Despair
You can find Dark Souls Berserk references in the dirt and the stone too. Take the "Red Eye Orb." It looks exactly like a Beherit. In the manga, a Beherit is a key to another dimension, usually triggered by a moment of utter despair and a sacrifice. In Dark Souls, it's your key to invading others. You are literally using the Beherit to enter someone else's world and cause misery. It’s a mechanical manifestation of the manga's darkest themes.
Then there’s the scenery.
Think about the Eclipse. That haunting, bleeding sun that hangs over the final act of Dark Souls 3. It’s a visual twin to the Eclipse during the Golden Age arc in Berserk. In the manga, the Eclipse marks the end of a world and the rebirth of a demon. In the game, it signals the fading of the Fire and the end of an era. It’s the same "cosmic dread" vibe. Miura had this incredible knack for drawing architecture that felt suffocating—endless gothic spires, cramped dungeons, and wide, lonely plains. Anor Londo feels like it was ripped straight from the kingdom of Midland, specifically the higher-class districts of Windham.
The Monsters That Haunt Both Worlds
If you want to see where the references get really creepy, look at the enemies.
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- The Bonewheel Skeletons: These things are a nightmare in the Catacombs. They also show up during the Tower of Conviction arc in Berserk. They represent a specific kind of medieval torture—being broken on the wheel—and both Miura and Miyazaki realized that a skeleton fused to a spiked wheel is objectively terrifying.
- The Taurus Demon: This boss feels like a direct descendant of Nosferatu Zodd in his apostle form. The horns, the digitigrade legs, the sheer brute force.
- The Beast of Darkness / Sulyvahn’s Beasts: In Dark Souls 3, those giant, toothy crocodile-dogs that guard the Boreal Valley are almost identical to the manifestation of Guts' inner rage.
It’s not just about copying a design. It’s about the "Apostle" aesthetic. An Apostle in Berserk is a human who traded their soul for power, becoming a grotesque mockery of nature. Every boss in Dark Souls follows this rule. They were usually something noble—a king, a knight, a god—that became bloated, mutated, or hollowed out by their own desires or the curse of the world.
Why This Connection Actually Matters for Players
Understanding these Dark Souls Berserk references actually changes how you play. It adds a layer of "Struggle" (a major theme in both works) to the experience. Guts is known as "The Struggler." He exists in the "Interstice," a space between the physical world and the astral world where demons can reach him. This is exactly where the player character in Dark Souls lives. You are Undead. You are between life and death. You are constantly hunted.
The difficulty of the games isn't just about being "hard" for the sake of it. It’s meant to evoke the feeling of being a human in a world that wants you dead. When you overcome a boss after 50 tries, you are channeling that same Berserk energy of refusing to lay down and die.
Misconceptions About the Influence
One thing people get wrong is thinking everything is a reference. Sometimes a knight in armor is just a knight. Miyazaki has mentioned other influences like Fico, Sorcery!, and even Bram Stoker’s Dracula. However, the Berserk influence is the most pervasive because it provides the tonal foundation. It’s the "dark" in Dark Souls.
Also, it’s worth noting that this isn’t a one-way street anymore. Before Miura passed away, the Berserk community and the Souls community had basically merged. When Miura died in 2021, thousands of players in Final Fantasy XIV and Elden Ring held vigils, dressing their characters as Guts. The games became a way for fans to live inside the world Miura created, even after he was gone.
How to Experience the References Yourself
If you’re a fan of the games but haven't touched the manga, or vice versa, here is how you can actually engage with this connection meaningfully:
- Build a "Guts" Character: This is a rite of passage. In any Souls game, pump your Strength to 40 or 50, grab the largest Greatsword you can find, and wear the most "iron-heavy" armor available. For Dark Souls 3, the Outrider Knight set or the Undead Legion set gets you close to that Berserker look.
- Read the Golden Age Arc: This is where the core of the inspiration lies. You’ll see the prototypes for Griffith (who heavily influenced characters like Gwyndolin and Miquella) and the Band of the Hawk.
- Pay Attention to the "Brand of Sacrifice": While the exact symbol isn't in the game for legal reasons, the Darksign serves the exact same purpose. It marks you. It makes you a target. It ensures you have no peace.
- Look at the Boss Arenas: Notice how many bosses are fought in fields of flowers or ruined cathedrals. This juxtaposition of beauty and horrific violence is a classic Miura trope that FromSoftware mastered.
The link between these two masterpieces isn't a secret, but it is a deep well. The next time you find a set of armor that looks a bit too familiar, or a boss that moves with a familiar savagery, remember that you aren't just playing a game. You’re participating in a decades-long conversation about what it means to keep fighting when the world has already ended.