A more in depth look into the dragon slayer
this one goes out to my hb dex, luv you man
Size: It’s described as taller than Guts (who is ~6’8 / 204 cm), and as wide as a man’s torso. So, the sword is estimated to be between 6.5–7.5 feet long (2–2.3 m).
Weight: While never stated, fans often estimate between 180–400 lbs (80–180 kg). This is far beyond human wielding capacity — reinforcing that Guts is superhuman.
Blade Edge: Unlike normal swords, it isn’t honed to razor sharpness. It’s an unsharpened slab that relies on momentum and density. A strike from it doesn’t just cut — it crushes bone, shatters armor, and reduces enemies to pulp.
Durability: Despite its crude appearance, it never breaks. Ordinary swords shatter easily against apostles or heavy armor, but the Dragon Slayer remains intact through decades of battles.
Forging and Backstory
Commissioned by a King: A king once demanded Godot forge a sword capable of killing dragons.
Rejected: When presented with the Dragon Slayer, the king dismissed it as absurd and unusable, declaring it worthless. It was left to rust in Godot’s workshop.
Rescued by Guts: After the Eclipse, when Guts returns to Godot’s forge, he chooses the Dragon Slayer as his weapon. Symbolically, both Guts and the sword were once considered “too much” for the world — and together they find purpose.
Evolution of the Dragon Slayer
This is one of the coolest parts: the weapon changes over the story.
Early Black Swordsman Arc
Initially, it’s “just” a massive weapon. Guts uses it to cleave through apostles and hordes of enemies, relying on sheer force.
The mere sight of it terrifies human enemies.
Throughout His Campaign
The sword is soaked in blood, flesh, and malice of apostles and evil spirits.
This constant exposure taints the sword, giving it an aura of death.
By the Conviction and Millennium Falcon Arcs
It is acknowledged as a “demonic weapon” — a sword that has slain so many inhuman beings that it transcends normal reality.
It becomes effective in the Astral World, allowing it to wound and kill ethereal beings (normally impossible with mortal steel).
Later Story
Schierke, the witch, explicitly states the sword is so steeped in malice and blood that it exists “partly in the astral plane.” This makes it legendary, even among magical beings.
Relationship with Guts
The Dragon Slayer is more than a tool — it’s a mirror of Guts’ life.
Weapon of Vengeance: Just as Guts is consumed by his rage toward Griffith and the apostles, the sword is consumed by the blood it drinks.
Burden & Strength: Its impossible weight mirrors the crushing trauma he carries — but also shows his refusal to ever be broken by it.
Identity: Guts is known as the “Black Swordsman” not just for his armor, but because of the Dragon Slayer. It defines him visually and symbolically.
Extension of Himself: With the Berserker Armor, Guts pushes beyond human limits, allowing him to swing the Dragon Slayer as if it weighed nothing. But this comes at the cost of his body — just as vengeance drives him at the cost of his soul.
Symbolic Layers
Miura layered meaning into the sword on multiple levels:
Impossibility Made Real
The sword was originally a failure — too big, too heavy. Guts proves that what the world deems impossible, he can make real.
The Cycle of Violence
Just as the Dragon Slayer is stained forever with blood, Guts can never escape the violence that defines him.
Human Defiance
The God Hand and apostles are divine, otherworldly forces. Guts wields a man-made weapon against them — his sword becomes the symbol of humanity’s raw defiance against fate.
Legend Forged by Use
The Dragon Slayer becomes legendary not because of its creation, but because of how Guts wields it. The sword’s myth is forged through action — mirroring Guts’ own rise from a mercenary to a near-mythic figure.
Comparisons to Real Historical Weapons
While the Dragon Slayer is fantastical, Miura likely drew inspiration from oversized weapons in history:
Zweihänder (Germany, 16th century): Massive two-handed swords, up to 6–7 feet long. Used to break pike formations.
Executioner’s Sword: Broad, heavy blades with blunt tips, designed for beheadings rather than combat.
Montante / Spadone (Iberian Peninsula): Huge battlefield swords meant for crowd control.
But unlike these, the Dragon Slayer is exaggerated to impossibility, emphasizing Miura’s choice to push it into legend rather than practicality.
In the Wider Berserk Mythos
Among magical beings, weapons like the Skull Knight’s Sword of Beherits are mystical and otherworldly. By contrast, the Dragon Slayer is purely human-made — yet achieves a similar mythic status.
It bridges the gap between man and the supernatural, becoming a weapon that forces the world to acknowledge it.
