Silat (シラット Shiratto?) is a highly skilled and agile Kushan fighter first encountered by Guts in the Golden Age Arc.
Silat is the leader of the Bakiraka clan and the impressive Tapasa group are his bodyguards.
He claims to be a man with a "bird's eye view of things". Though he says that his clan abandoned self esteem when they chose to be assassins, he is shown to be proud of his abilities and also of his clan.
Appearance
Silat bears the appearance of a typical Kushan with dark skin, long dark hair and wears a mouth cover most of the time. He has thin face lines and angular eyes and a somewhat pointed nose and chin. He has lanky limbs and longilineal body.
Personality
During his first appearance, Silat appears to be very arrogant and looks down on fighters from Midland as he thought that they were poorly trained compared to him. He holds this attitude until being defeated by Guts twice, which makes him become more cautious and observant, which manifests years later when he tells his soldiers not to pursue Guts as Guts had just killed five of his soldiers in one swing. Silat is very proud of his heritage and wishes to bring his clan back its honor and glory that it once had.
Abilities
His combat style is similar to Kalarippayattu (a martial arts form existing in South India) and uses many Indian weapons used by Rajput warriors, though Guts has referred to him as a circus performer due to Silat's exotic appearance, acrobatics and his almost theatrical tendency to call out his attacks.
Despite Guts' mockery, Silat is one of the strongest human warriors in Midland and among his race the Kushans too, as he defeated many knights in the tournament and overpowered Casca later as well as killing a few trained Falcon members. Silat's skill only fell short when faced with the overwhelming strength of Guts, who he now considers his rival.
Silat was able to fight off Rakshas twice, though it was Rickert who finished him off with a forged bazooka.
Story
Golden Age Arc
Silat is first shown as a showy, but certainly more than competent fighter in a Midland tournament. Having easily defeated every opponent so far up until Guts, he had come to view Midland warriors as poorly trained and mocked them. He is later hired to attack the Band of the Falcon, and does so under cover of night, killing the guards silently and effectively. He assaults Casca, keeping her on the defensive and informing her that he will not hold back simply because she is a woman. Casca appears to have lost when Guts interrupts their fight and challenges Silat a second time. Silat is alarmed by the extent of Guts' abilities, watching him casually catch chakrams and use air physics to counter the ten ribbon-like urumi blades he used. Guts gets underneath his urumi and nearly lands a killing blow, but Silat switches to his sai blades and blocks Guts' sword and, in less than a second, realizes they are going to break and dodges. He concedes and flees, but swears he and Guts will meet again one day.
Conviction Arc
Silat is seen again periodically, and having been humbled since his defeat by Guts, does not intervene the next time he witnesses the man fighting, wisely telling a less experienced soldier to keep out. After the resurrection ceremony at the Tower of Conviction, Silat and the Bakiraka arrive and surround Guts and the others. Silat sees Griffith and orders his men to capture him, but they're all repelled by Nosferatu Zodd and Griffith escapes. Silat is then seen in the city of Shet serving a Kushan General laying siege to the city. Silat is stunned when Griffith arrives and kills the General so quickly while every arrow shot in retaliation miraculously misses him. The Tapasa try to kill Griffith but are prevented by Rakshas. Silat and the Tapasa manage to escape when Zodd, Locus, Rakshas, and Grunbeld lay waste to the Kushan army.
Millennium Falcon Arc
He is later seen being chastised by Emperor Ganishka, who relegates the Bakiraka to only scouting for Griffith and leaving his capture to the Kushan Army. Silat isn't disheartened by the demotion since he doesn't want to squander his clan's chance of finally being able to return to their homeland, but he has his reservations about the Emperor from seeing his needless displays of cruelty everywhere. Silat and the Tapasa encounter Rakshas who was sent to open the gate for Locus' cavalry and chase him to a hidden area in the castle. Rakshas shows Silat the process by which Daka are created from pregnant women being dipped into a fluid-filled vat made from Apostles and Silat is horrified by the sight. Before he leaves, Rakshas tells Silat the Emperor he's serving is truly a Demon King. Silat is then shocked to see the Emperor's Apostle form which starts to make his loyalty waver.
Silat watches many conflicts without getting involved and even witnesses Emperor Ganishka trembling before Griffith. He finally intervenes when Laban manages to lead a massive rescue effort of all the captured female prisoners of Emperor Ganishka out of Midland's capital. After they pass the gates, Silat and the Bakiraka appear. The Band of the Falcon's Espionage officer Jarif, a Kushan, asks them to join the Band of the Falcon. Silat refuses saying the Bakiraka only rely on their own strength and not a higher power. Silat lets the prisoners go brushing it off by saying the Bakiraka don't have the manpower to capture every single one. Before leaving, Silat questions Jarif whether or not one should yield to something described as inscrutable? Silat later witnesses Ganishka's transformation and believes he's turned into Shiva, the God of Destruction.
Fantasia Arc
Silat is next seen after Ganiska's defeat, spying on the meeting between Rickert and Griffith. He saves Rickert from Rakshas' assassination attempt, dueling him evenly until Silat cuts his mask in half which demoralizes Rakshas and causes him to retreat. He talks to Rickert afterwards demanding to learn what he knows about Griffith. Silat eventually makes a deal with Rickert that he'll take him and Erica to the Bakiraka's secret village for protection in exchange for his information about Griffith. Silat also said he considered pledging his loyalty to Griffith, but decided he'd never swear loyalty to anybody inhuman again after seeing Ganishka's apostle form. He engages Rakshas again when the Apostle comes for a second assault, and holds him off until the Tapasas arrive and set him ablaze with hoses spraying fire. After Daiba arrives, he flees with the rest of the group on the beast master's Garudas.
Games
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
Silat appears as a boss during the chapter "The Fugitives". Silat is an agile and frustrating opponent, due not in the least to his habit of tossing out homing chakram discs every so often, which will knock the player back. Otherwise, Silat has moderate guard and speed and is liable to land more attacks than the player will notice if they are not careful. When entering Frenzy mode, Silat begins using his urumi blades, flashing them about too fast for the player to land a strike and more than likely dealing high amounts of damage, even creating a tornado.
Silat can also appear as a boss and, less often, an ally in the Endless Eclipse. Certain characters can also accept one of his missions, wherein he desires aid with an assassination attempt and is fought as a boss at the end of it.
Gallery
Notes
- Casca and Pippin both likely originate from the same kingdom of Silat.
- He has only been shown fighting four times; two of his fights were duels against Guts, while the other two were battles with Rakshas.
- The word silat is a collective word for indigenous martial arts throughout Indonesia, a country from Southeast Asia.
- The character was based upon a Sikh Rajput warrior and holds a wide range of Indian arsenal such as the chakram, the aara, the khanda and the katar.
References
- ^ a b c Shikaisha., Nakajima, R., Shimizu, Y., Mochizuki, M., Okada, M., Suzuki, M. (2016). "Berserk Official Guide Book". Tokyo: Young Animal Comics.