Adolf (アドルフ Adorufu?) is the father of Collette and a priest that Guts encounters in the Black Swordsman Arc.
Appearance
In the manga, he wears an outfit exactly like Dahl's and plays the role of a priest. His beard and hair are fairly white, and his expression is shown to be kind and understanding. His outfit is assumed to be white, just like the Mayor's and Dahl's outfit, but he is slightly taller than Dahl. In the anime, he is shown to be in his late 50's though he still has dark brown hair. His movement is reliant on the use of a cane, as it is always fairly slow. He wears the standard brown, monk attire with a cap similar to that of monks in the series and yellow shoes just like his granddaughter.
Personality
In the manga, he was a very generous man with a good heart, and a caring father. He was very religious. He was also a peaceful man and believed violence should be avoided. He was disappointed with his nephew's decision of going to the battlefield. He was also benevolent as he wanted his nephew to have a family and be happy.
In the anime, he was shown to be a very kind old man who only wanted the best for his granddaughter and attempts to stop the Bandits, though he fails due to being feeble.
Story
Black Swordsman Arc
Adolf mentioned having a nephew who chose to become a soldier and died five years before the events of the series. He considered his nephew foolish for trying to live by the sword and ending up a nameless soldier rather than the family man he could have been.
As Guts and Puck bicker about how cold he must seem, they eventually hit a road where it's raining heavily. A horse carriage pulls up behind them with Adolf offering Guts a lift, and the swordsman accepts after multiple declines. Guts begins to settle down, meets his daughter and has some wine. Adolf makes an observation about Guts' sword, asking if he's a mercenary to which Guts replies that he is one, of a sort. The old man then says he doesn't have much respect for someone who lives by the sword and dies by the sword, killing other people in that manner...and Guts says that's why he can't really stand priests.
Adolf goes on to tell a story of his nephew with Guts feeling that the nephew got what he wanted in life and he was happy with it. Shortly thereafter Guts falls asleep and experiences a nightmare brought on by an Incubus. Guts manages to kill it and it frightens both Collette and her father to see such a creature. At this moment his Brand begins to bleed and he orders them to stay inside while he goes outside to handle the spirits that are pursuing him.
A possessed Collette kills her own father.
The sudden appearance of the dead frightens the horses drawing the carriage, which forces Collette to fall out and onto the ground. Within seconds she is impaled on a spear of a skeleton, who rises from the ground beneath her. She is tossed from the spear and left in a pool of her own blood, causing the old man to cry out her name and wait for the end to come as Guts continues slaying enemy after enemy. However, Adolf is killed when a spirit-possessed Collette decapitates him.
Notes
- Strangely enough, he appears to be younger in the anime, yet he is said to be Collette's grandfather. In the manga, he appears to be older, and is her father.
- His character is included with Collette's as a replacement to the Puck storyline, so as to not introduce a major character for an anime meant to cover only the Golden Age Arc.