Kentaro Miura, the creator of Berserk, broke the norm of making protagonists reflect themselves in their characters. In an interview, he revealed that the character who resembled him the most was Pippin, a quiet but wise member of the Band of the Falcon who had a close relationship with Guts, often referred to as the series’ power duo.
When Miura first planned Berserk, he only had five characters in mind, all based on his friends. Notably absent were characters like Guts, Griffith, or Casca, who emerged as central figures later on.
During an interview with Yukari Fujimoto in 2000, Miura explained that he initially developed Berserk’s storyline organically and drew inspiration for many secondary characters from his friends. Pippin, resembling the Yellow Ranger from Super Sentai, represented Miura himself in his social circle.
Miura emphasized that manga offered the flexibility to break traditional molds and use character inspiration in various narrative elements. This approach allowed characters to draw from multiple inspirations while maintaining narrative coherence.
Miura’s revelation about Pippin’s connection to him provided insight into his creative process and the organic evolution of Berserk’s character roster.
