Let us start by looking at the obvious facts that is right in the face.
When Gaiseric’s story is being told Guts thinks he seems very similar to Griffith. Nobody knows where they come from and they seem unstoppable in their quest for their great kingdom.
When Guts sees what happened to Skull Knight he thinks they are the same. They both got caught in an eclipse where the most traumatizing thing for them was what happened to their lover.
The world seems to function as a whirlpool, cyclic but slightly different every time. Guts and Casca was rescued instead of dying like Skull Knight and the Lady Priestess of the Cherry Blossoms.
So why can Gaiseric not have been the previous owner of the berserker armor?
Gaiseric’s physical existence seems to have ended when the five “angels” came and erased his city. If Gaiseric was the previous owner of the berserker armor the event must have been due to an eclipse. What happens in an eclipse is a sacrifice and the only one being able sacrifice Gaiseric’s city would be himself. It might also be possible for someone that really loves the people in it to sacrifice it, however it would be strange for someone loving so many people to sacrifice them all to obtain something grater.
If Gaiseric were the previous owner, it would mean he sacrificed his city to then mourn losing his lover and going berserk on the god hand, which does not make any sense.
It is very unlikely for the city to be destroyed by the elemental kings since the corpses where branded and legend talks about five “angels” which matches with the five members of the god hand as seen in the flashback and not the four elemental kings. Gaiseric would also needs to survive the event and go on a journey that has not been mentioned where he must have been betrayed. It would also be strange if the city were destroyed with magic while having powerful witches by his side or join up with them after.
From this point it is just about what things might be like if Skull Knight was not Gaiseric. Basically pure speculation to inspire your own theories about how things might be.
So who was Skull Knight then?
If Skull Knight was the Guts of his time, then he would need a Griffith type character to follow and then get betrayed by. It would make a lot of sense if Skull Knight were the right hand of Gaiseric that was given a part of the kingdom or king of a closely allied kingdom.
He could also just be a random king that trusted the wrong guy, but it seems very unlikely that his backstory would be something that has nothing to do with the current story.
If Skull Knight was betrayed by Gaiseric.
The most likely scenario with this theory is that Skull Knight was betrayed by Gaiseric meaning he is one of the five god hand members from the flashback and the only one that would make sense is if Gaiseric became Void. It sounds farfetched since they don’t look alike but if he only whore the skeleton mask in battle it might not be a defining feature if it was actually his great thinking that got him so far.
It would explain Skull Knights focus on Void and Void being the strongest since he made the greatest sacrifice, no one can sacrifice more than the largest known city that was spend a lifetime on.
How did Skull Knight become what he is?
Since it is about Skull Knight it is a good opportunity for me to share how I think a being like Skull Knight came to be. We know the transformation happened when Skull Knight became consumed by his rage while wearing the berserker armor. Guts’ berserker armor takes shape after his Beast of Darkness so it would make a lot of sense if Skull Knights Beast of Darkness was a skeleton and giving in to his rage he became his Beast of Darkness. This skeleton Beast of Darkness must then have been tamed by Flora and Hanarr making Skull Knight.
When Gaiseric’s story is being told Guts thinks he seems very similar to Griffith. Nobody knows where they come from and they seem unstoppable in their quest for their great kingdom.
When Guts sees what happened to Skull Knight he thinks they are the same. They both got caught in an eclipse where the most traumatizing thing for them was what happened to their lover.
The world seems to function as a whirlpool, cyclic but slightly different every time. Guts and Casca was rescued instead of dying like Skull Knight and the Lady Priestess of the Cherry Blossoms.
So why can Gaiseric not have been the previous owner of the berserker armor?
Gaiseric’s physical existence seems to have ended when the five “angels” came and erased his city. If Gaiseric was the previous owner of the berserker armor the event must have been due to an eclipse. What happens in an eclipse is a sacrifice and the only one being able sacrifice Gaiseric’s city would be himself. It might also be possible for someone that really loves the people in it to sacrifice it, however it would be strange for someone loving so many people to sacrifice them all to obtain something grater.
If Gaiseric were the previous owner, it would mean he sacrificed his city to then mourn losing his lover and going berserk on the god hand, which does not make any sense.
It is very unlikely for the city to be destroyed by the elemental kings since the corpses where branded and legend talks about five “angels” which matches with the five members of the god hand as seen in the flashback and not the four elemental kings. Gaiseric would also needs to survive the event and go on a journey that has not been mentioned where he must have been betrayed. It would also be strange if the city were destroyed with magic while having powerful witches by his side or join up with them after.
From this point it is just about what things might be like if Skull Knight was not Gaiseric. Basically pure speculation to inspire your own theories about how things might be.
So who was Skull Knight then?
If Skull Knight was the Guts of his time, then he would need a Griffith type character to follow and then get betrayed by. It would make a lot of sense if Skull Knight were the right hand of Gaiseric that was given a part of the kingdom or king of a closely allied kingdom.
He could also just be a random king that trusted the wrong guy, but it seems very unlikely that his backstory would be something that has nothing to do with the current story.
If Skull Knight was betrayed by Gaiseric.
The most likely scenario with this theory is that Skull Knight was betrayed by Gaiseric meaning he is one of the five god hand members from the flashback and the only one that would make sense is if Gaiseric became Void. It sounds farfetched since they don’t look alike but if he only whore the skeleton mask in battle it might not be a defining feature if it was actually his great thinking that got him so far.
It would explain Skull Knights focus on Void and Void being the strongest since he made the greatest sacrifice, no one can sacrifice more than the largest known city that was spend a lifetime on.
How did Skull Knight become what he is?
Since it is about Skull Knight it is a good opportunity for me to share how I think a being like Skull Knight came to be. We know the transformation happened when Skull Knight became consumed by his rage while wearing the berserker armor. Guts’ berserker armor takes shape after his Beast of Darkness so it would make a lot of sense if Skull Knights Beast of Darkness was a skeleton and giving in to his rage he became his Beast of Darkness. This skeleton Beast of Darkness must then have been tamed by Flora and Hanarr making Skull Knight.