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Can you not hear them?! Every person congregated in this place now desires, as one heart, salvation. They are eagerly awaiting the time of God's victory!
– Mozgus[4]

Mozgus is the most feared and famous Holy See inquisitor. He travels with his group of personal torturers to the city of Albion. His symbol is four breaking wheels.[2] He is the main antagonist of the Conviction Arc, hindering Guts' efforts in saving Casca with his excessive religious zeal.[8][3][4]

Appearance[]

Mozgus is a tall man with pale skin and blue eyes. His most distinguishing feature is his smooth, almost flat face that was the result of years of prostration, where he harshly kneeled and slammed his face into the floor.[9] During his prayers, and whenever he is angry, his face becomes swelled with veins.[2][5] He wears a white garb with gold trimming and a red cloth that had the insignia of the Holy See. Lastly, he wears a red, wide-brimmed hat with ear covers.[2]

After the Egg of the Perfect World turns him into a pseudo-apostle, his transformed state becomes a reflection of his religious ideals. He gains large, white-feathered wings that he is able to use in his human form.[8] In his transformed state, his feathers turn grey and hardened, giving a similar appearance to closed fists. His body becomes completely encased in the hardened feathers, giving him an armored, scaly appearance.[3]

Personality[]

Angered mozgus

Mozgus offended by a villager's statement.

An ardent follower of "God", Mozgus is an extremely devout man whose faith ventures into fanaticism. He greatly emphasizes his religion in everything he does.[10][5][9][11][12][6][13][4][7] He travels with his torturers, whom he cares for.[5] Mozgus is in great distress after learning of their deaths.[3][13]

Mozgus heavily dislikes "heretics".[10] He tried and questioned hundreds using brutal and intense methods of interrogation. To him, a single mole could pass as the mark of a witch or heretic. This made him the target of lots of spite and malice.[1] Mozgus is highly sensitive toward anyone who would "claim" God's will, killing a villager for saying Mozgus would be punished by God for his arbitrary acts.[2]

Despite knowing he appears sadistic and bloodthirsty, Mozgus is aware of the sadness that enforcing God's strict laws entails, as it brings pain to others.[2][9] Still, he feels no guilt for his actions. In his mind, spilling blood leads to exist devoutly for God. This was especially shown during his parable of the holy woman and the dying man, where he teaches Farnese that a person knows not what succeeds in helping.[9]

Mozgus shows a kind side toward the downtrodden, sick, poor, misshapen and deformed.[10] His torturers were personally recruited in his travels, despite their rejection from the rest of the world. He taught them that God needed people with their unusual appearances and hearts filled with hatred from the days where they were driven away with people.[5] Mozgus does not fear death in the slightest and demonstrates immense valor, such as when he and his torturers are cornered by the physical malice in the Tower of Conviction.[11][6] When he is finally killed by Guts, he expresses no cowardice or fear, instead feeling joy in finally being able to be with God.[7]

Abilities and Skills[]

Constitution: as his daily routine of prostration suggested, Mozgus has a high pain tolerance. Due to his ten years of prostration, Mozgus has damaged his knees to the point that he can barely walk, and is unable to run.[9]

After being transformed into a pseudo-apostle, believing his new powers are a gift from the divine, he displays the following attributes and abilities:

God's Armor: in his more monstrous form, Mozgus acquires a stone-hard scaly hide that covers his entire body. The armor is impervious to all weapons, including Guts' Dragon Slayer.[13] However, due to Mozgus' previous wound before the transformation, a small crack in the armor formed around it. Guts is able to exploit this and blow the armor's crack open with the use of many explosives.[4]

God's Breath (ゴッドブレス Goddo Buresu): Mozgus is able to breathe fire, which can incinerate anything caught up in the flames.[6]

Angelic wings: Mozgus also gains a set of large, white angelic wings that allowed him to fly.[14] In his second transformation, Mozgus can use his wings as a second set of arms to perform a variety of more devastating attacks. These included:

  • God's Thousand-Strike Cannon (ゴッド千住キャノン Goddo Senju Kyanon): all of his feathers become fists, while rapidly pulverizing his enemies many times over.[13]
  • God's Pressure (ゴッドプレッシャー Goddo Puresshā): Mozgus crushes his enemies with his wings.[4]

Immense strength: In his original human form, Mozgus displays a large amount of strength, being able to kill one of his would-be assassins out of anger with only his scriptures tome.[2] After his transformation into a pseudo-apostle, Mozgus' strength increases to inhuman levels.[13]

Story[]

Mozgus bible thump

Mozgus killing a villager with his scriptures tome.

Prior to the Albion events, Mozgus recruited several deformed people. He told them that while they were shunned by their appearance, no scripture condemned them either. As such, Mozgus said that both their unusual appearances and their negative emotions were required by God.[5]

Conviction Arc[]

Mozgus is sent to Albion with the Holy Iron Chain Knights to guard him. On the way, the group is attacked by villagers out for revenge against Mozgus for slaughtering their loved ones after their village decided to restock their food supply rather than donate to the church. Ultimately, Mozgus expresses content that none among his faith died in the fight. When he asks one of the rebels about why they attacked him and the villager vows that God will punish Mozgus for his actions, the inquisitor snaps and smashes his scripture book on the man's skull, stating that only the Holy See can be God's mouthpiece. Mozgus then regains his composure before ordering his disciples to execute the remaining villagers with death by breaking wheel and resuming their journey.[2]

Mozgus horseback

Mozgus atop his horse.

Once in Albion, Mozgus invites beggars inside the Tower of Conviction, handing them off with the exception of a mother and her weak child. Mozgus leads the woman to a doctor, who tends to the child. She thanks Mozgus for helping her, and he assures her that he was simply acting out the will of God. He adds the cryptic statement that the payment the child will make for being tended to will be incurred later, and leads the mother, along with Farnese, Serpico and Azan, to a chamber, where Mozgus' disciples are torturing the refugees Mozgus had brought in. He explains that Albion has become a den of sinners, with some having been caught thanks to the Holy Iron Chain Knights and whisteblowers, leading to many confessing. Farnese tries to look away from the sights surrounding her, but Mozgus orders her to watch, saying that this torture is an aspect of the Holy See that she must accept. He then grabs the now-horrified mother and leads her into the chamber, praising her courage and wishing for her to overcome the trials she is about to undergo.[10]

Some time later, he undergoes his daily ritual of worship within the Tower of Conviction. Mozgus is seen kneeling before the statue which represents the Holy See, raises his arms to shoulder level at his sides and slams his whole torso and face down onto the floor.[5] One of the personal torturers states that he has followed this daily and nightly ritual of prostrating one thousand times in prayer for ten years. His ritual complete, Mozgus talks of a story concerning the tower, Gaiseric and a imprisoned sage who proclaimed Gaiseric's sins until an angel was made to descend. The inquisitor calls his pain as dear to him, and says that due to his position, he must be an enforcer of God's rules, even if the enforcement brings much pain to others and prevents Mozgus from having a social life. When Farnese explains her misgivings to Mozgus, he answers with a story and quotes scripture to Farnese, and says that despite all the blood spilling, they must continue to be utterly devoted to God. Together, they leave the room.[9]

ESAMozgus

Mozgus about to be sired into a pseudo-apostle.

After the pagan cult is discovered with its surviving members captured, Mozgus compliments Farnese's heretic-hunting expertise. He asks about her report, in which she said that monsters appeared in the cave. Farnese confirms it, but she adds that she suspects the hallucinogenic inhalant drugs in the cave were responsible for her seeing it. Mozgus then asks about the Black Swordsman, who also made an appearance, suspecting that he acted out of emmity against the Holy Iron Chain Knights. Farnese is surprised to see Casca being led into the room and tells Mozgus that the Black Swordsman seemingly appeared to save Casca. The crow-man torturer tells Mozgus of the woman's status among the heretics: she is apparently their leader, and as he says this the tortured heretics around the room speak to her, asking her to save them. Intrigued, Mozgus inspects her closely and reveals her Brand of Sacrifice, identifying it as the mark of a witch and having her placed in an iron maiden stating that there is need to investigate her in special detail. The spirits inside the iron maiden force it open, spraying blood all over Mozgus and his torturers.[15] Mozgus is taken by his men to the chapel on top of the tower to protect their leader,[11] who welcomes the threat he considered to be a test of his faith.[11] As the blood surged into the chapel, Mozgus and his disciples became pseudo-apostles after being stung by the Egg of the Perfect World.[12]

Chapter 157

A partially transformed Mozgus with Casca in his arms.

The inquisitor, believing the transformation he and his men underwent is God giving them power to guide the people, captures Casca and spirits her off. Mozgus assumes that Casca is the ringleader of the evil spreading through Albion and that the chaos will cease once she is burned at the stake.[16] When Guts arrives to save her, Mozgus was about to fight him until the Bird advise his mentor to let him and the other disciples deal with him while he and the Twins carry out the execution.[17] When the mounds of animate corpses burst forth, Mozgus starts shooting fire and swoops down from the sky before addressing the people below. He assures them that there is nothing to fear. He points to his own wings and declares them a miracle performed by God, and explains that if the refugees are faithful, God will perform another miracle that will save their lives. Mozgus then announces his intention to burn Casca at the stake, professing that her death will make the monsters disappear.[6]

Mozgus leaves Casca in the custody of the efugees as they build the pyre while he and the Twins hold off the mounds.[18] But after creating a barrier to keep them out, Mozgus notices Casca being saved by Isidro and goes after them before he finds himself impaled by Guts.[19] He announces that he will punish Guts for his insolence as he fully transforms into a pseudo-apostle. Mozgus extracts his book of scripture, which has taken the most of Guts' prior attack, allowing Mozgus to live. He orders the twin disciples to focus their efforts while he deals with Guts, partly out of devotion to his faith and partly out of revenge for Guts having killed his other disciples. Guts and Mozgus attack at the same time, with Mozgus' wing attack missing Guts entirely, but the Black Swordsman's strike hits its mark. His sword connects with Mozgus' head, but deals no damage: Mozgus' scales and new strength make him nearly impervious to damage. The twin disciples wield their saws and fly toward Casca, Isidro, Jerome and Nina, distracting Guts. With the Black Swordsman's back turned, Mozgus unfurls his wings, each feather of which is curled into a fist-like shape, and thrusts them at Guts all at once.[3]

Mozgus remarks on the faith of his people

A fully transformed Mozgus offering Guts a final chance to recant.

Mozgus has the upper-hand in the beginning of the battle, nearly killing Guts as the flames keeping the corpses at bay die out. Mozgus, focusing more on Guts than the greater threat, bids the Black Swordsman to listen to the people below them. They desire salvation as one, and eagerly await the time of God's triumph, and asks Guts whether he is willing to see them die by saving the witch Casca. Guts rejects Mozgus' proclamation, saying that all the refugees ever do is pray and that they cannot move forward because of their obsession with a single woman. This enrages Mozgus, who yells for Guts to repent. Just as he begins another barrage of attacks on Guts, the latter notices that the attempted deathblow he inflicted on Mozgus left a shallow wound in his body. Mozgus begins to charge his flames to finish off the Black Swordsman. The latter says that Mozgus' faith may be his source of strength, but is also his greatest weakness. Understanding the subtext of Guts' words, Mozgus glances down at his own chest. Within the wound are several small lit bombs. Guts managed to place several explosives in the wound in Mozgus' chest. Since his chest is where Mozgus' flames originate, the inquisitor unintentionally lit the fuses as he charged his attack. They open the crack on Mozgus' chest wide enough to drive his sword in.[4] His body being consumed by his own flames, Mozgus accepts his death as him getting to meet God soon while grabbing Guts as a final attempt to kill him. But Guts uses his weight and flips Mozgus over the wall of Albion, the burning inquisitor falling to his death.[7] Ironically, the flames from Mozgus' charred body enabled some refugees to survive being consumed by the dead.[20]

Fantasia Arc[]

Mozgus indirectly appears during the journey of Farnese and Schierke in Casca's mind as a projection of Farnese's memory. He is firstly seen as a washing-stone which resembles his face used by Farnese.[21] During the continuation of the journey, Mozgus's head is summoned several times by Farnese for fighting against the field of entrails creatures[22] as well as descending more deeply into Casca's mind without harm.[23]

Portrayal[]

Japanese Voice Actor(s)[]

English Voice Actor(s)[]

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  • The Berserk Official Guidebook states that circa the Conviction Arc, Mozgus was 42 years old, 222 cm (280 cm as a pseudo-apostle), and 145 kg (299 kg as a pseudo-apostle). (NOTE: The Berserk Official Guidebook is highly questionable in its veracity.)
  • Mozgus is the only main antagonist that isn't an apostle, instead being a pseudo-apostle.[8]
  • As Miura stated during the Berserk Official Guidebook onterview, he started to work on the Conviction Arc after viewing the Italian film "Il nome della rosa" (translated as "The Name of the Rose" in English-speaking markets), which comes from the eponymous novel by Umberto Eco. This film features a medieval setting as well as the historical figure of Bernardo Gui, a famous and major inquisitor who serves as one of the antagonists of the main character friar Guglielmo da Baskerville.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 17, "To the Holy Ground (1)"
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Berserk :: Volume 17, "To the Holy Ground (2)"
  3. ^ a b c d e f Berserk :: Volume 21, "Monstrous Priest (1)"
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Berserk :: Volume 21, "One Who Clings, One Who Struggles"
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Berserk :: Volume 18, "Children of the Shadows"
  6. ^ a b c d e Berserk :: Volume 20, "Shadow of Idea (1)"
  7. ^ a b c d e Berserk :: Volume 21, "Tsunami of Darkness (1)"
  8. ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 20, "Hell's Angels"
  9. ^ a b c d e f Berserk :: Volume 18, "Zealot"
  10. ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 18, "Tower of Shadows (1)"
  11. ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 19, "Blood Flow of the Dead (1)"
  12. ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 20, "Spider's Thread"
  13. ^ a b c d e Berserk :: Volume 21, "Monstrous Priest (2)"
  14. ^ Berserk :: Volume 20, "Martyrdom"
  15. ^ Berserk :: Volume 19, "Iron Maiden"
  16. ^ Berserk :: Volume 20, "Those Dancing at the Top, Those Crawling at the Bottom"
  17. ^ Berserk :: Volume 20, "Omen"
  18. ^ Berserk :: Volume 20, "Shadow of Idea (2)"
  19. ^ Berserk :: Volume 21, "Jumping Fish"
  20. ^ Berserk :: Volume 21, "Tsunami of Darkness (2)"
  21. ^ Berserk :: Volume 39, "Flower Storm Monarch"
  22. ^ Berserk :: Volume 40, "Forest of Corpses and Thorny Cedars"
  23. ^ Berserk :: Volume 40, "Final Fragment"

Appendices[]

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