Why Berserk fans hate Griffith: The most despised villain in anime

Few characters in anime and manga have sparked as much hatred, debate, and disgust as Griffith from Berserk. For over three decades, fans have argued over whether he’s a tragic figure who sacrificed everything for his dream or an irredeemable monster who destroyed everything and everyone who loved him.

At his core, Griffith is defined by one thing: his dream of building his own kingdom. From the moment he’s introduced in the Golden Age arc, his ambition burns brighter than anything else in his life.

In this story, he saw everyone around him, from his friends, lovers, and soldiers, as stepping stones toward his goal. He admitted as much in one of the most chilling revelations:

“I don’t feel at all responsible for my comrades who’ve lost their lives under my command. They chose to fight for me. My dream can only be realized by building upon their corpses.”

If there’s one single moment that defines why Griffith is hated, it’s the Eclipse. When Griffith was captured and tortured for a year, he was left broken, his tongue mutilated, his body frail, his ability to fight stripped away. Rescued by Guts and Casca, Griffith realized that his dream was now impossible.

The people who had followed him with unwavering loyalty, who had fought and bled and died for him, he marked them for slaughter. This wasn’t just betrayal. It was betrayal on a cosmic scale. He condemned his friends not just to death, but to eternal torment.

If the Eclipse wasn’t enough, Griffith committed one more act that forever solidified his place as anime’s most despised villain: he forced himself onto Casca in front of Guts.

By this point in Berserk, Griffith had become Femto, but this wasn’t an act of some alien god; it was still Griffith, unrestrained. He knew exactly what he was doing. And it wasn’t just violence for violence’s sake. He chose Casca specifically because she loved Guts, and Guts loved her.

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Griffith was always this way in Berserk

Some fans argue that Griffith only “turned evil” during the Eclipse, but others disagree. His choices earlier in the story showed who he really was all along.

• He had a physical relationship with the nobleman Gennon to fund the Band of the Hawk, showing that even his own body was just a tool for the dream.
• He openly admitted that he didn’t see his comrades as equals; only Guts had ever come close.
• He grew possessive and irrational when Guts left, nearly ruining everything by attracting Princess Charlotte out of spite.

Miura didn’t create a hero who fell from grace. He created a man whose ambition always came first, and who shed more and more of his humanity until nothing was left but obsession. The Eclipse in Berserk wasn’t a transformation; it was a culmination.

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Femto vs. Griffith: Does it matter?

Some readers try to separate Griffith the man from Femto the God Hand member, arguing that the monstrous acts after the Eclipse weren’t “really him.” But Miura himself made it clear: Femto is Griffith unrestrained.

When he forced himself on Casca, it wasn’t because he was possessed. It was because he wanted to hurt Guts. When he sacrifices the Hawks in Berserk, it wasn’t because he lost control; it was because he made a choice.

The distinction doesn’t matter. Fans hate Griffith because, even as a human, he was always willing to cross the line. Becoming Femto just gave him the power to do it on a scale that couldn’t be ignored.

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Is there any redemption for someone like Griffith?

Can Griffith in Berserk ever be redeemed in the eyes of fans? The answer is no. Even though later arcs show that fragments of his humanity remain, such as the Moonlight Child linking him back to Guts and Casca, nothing can erase the Eclipse. The slaughter, the unconsented behavior, the betrayal, these are unforgivable acts.

And that’s what makes Griffith so powerful as a character. He isn’t meant to be redeemed. He isn’t meant to be forgiven. He’s meant to embody the danger of unchecked ambition, the destruction caused when one man values his dream above all else.

That’s why fans hate him. That’s why they always will. For fans, it’s not just what Griffith did. It’s that Miura made us care about him first, then ripped that trust away. And that’s why the Berserk fandom hates him.