Adon Coborlwitz was the general of the Blue Whale Knights and minor antagonist during the last legs of the Hundred-Year War, including the battle for Doldrey. [1][2][3]
Quick Answers
What was Adon's position within the Blue Whale Knights?
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Personality
Adon had great pride in fighting and war, calling a battlefield sacred to men.[1] He was arrogant and thought very highly of his own skills, seeing himself as a "proud knight of Tudor".[4][5] He was, however, quite cowardly when he faced danger and preferred having his soldiers risk their lives for his sake, appealing to their pride as Tudor knights.[6]
He was a misogynistic individual, stating that a woman on the battlefield "desecrates it" due to being inferior than men in strength and believed the only explanation behind Casca's presence in battles was because she slept with Griffith. He also tauntingly stated that Casca would become his "prisoner", meaning his army's harlot.[1] As a revenge fo the death of his brother Samson, he swore on his pride as an imperial aristocrat that Casca would become his plaything.[3] During the fight in Doldrey, he claimed he wouldn't be opposed to let a wounded Casca live as his plaything.[7] He laughed at Guts' attempts at shielding Casca from arrows as she made her way outside of the Blue Whale Knights' ambush.[8][9]
After his fight with Guts, he became more of a comic relief character, and much more dishonorable, pretending to be dead,[2] begging for mercy, and attacking from behind. He also showed his cowardice and treachery in his final moments when he begged Casca for mercy. After she let her guard down, he shot her with a small crossbow.[3] Nevertheless, he was killed by her in the subsequent confrontation.[7]
Abilities
Adon was fond of giving extended speeches.[5][3] A tenacious individual,[2][3] he also possessed a wide array of ancient techniques supposedly passed down through generations of the Coborlwitz family, which helped him surviving several battles with the Band of the Falcon:
- Rock-cutting Whirlwind: 140 year old technique.[4]
- Hundred-year Convulsive Death: 200 year old torture technique.[5]
- Movement Block (playing dead): 700 year old technique. Known as Kassatsu Jizai in the Dark Horse version.[2]
- Furious Attack Thunderclap Burst (coated with tranquilizer): 1000 year old crossbow technique.[3]
His weapon of choice appeared to be a ranseur or crossbow, with which he used underhanded techniques like the ones above.[4]
Story
Golden Age Arc
Adon confronts the Band of the Falcon during one battle, confronting Casca as he finds her position an insult. He demeans her by commenting that she slept with Griffith for her position. However, due to Casca experiencing a fever whilst on her period, Adon had the advantage and was about to kill her after she refused to join his side as his army's harlot.[1] Impressed by Guts' ability to block his attack, Adon prepares his "Rock-cutting Whirlwind" before Guts brings his sword down on Adon's helmet, and subsequently across it, shearing off the right side of Adon's face. Adon survives the attack, but is too wounded and can only muster the strength to fire a crossbow arrow at Guts as he and Casca fall off a cliff into the stream below.[4]
Adon later sends his men down to the area to find the two and bring them to him dead or alive. Though Guts tries to get Casca to safety after tending to her fever, the two are surrounded by Adon's men as he plans to torture Guts while letting his men toy with Casca.[5] After they defeat several of Adon's men, Guts tells Casca to flee while he single-handedly holds off Adon's men and kills his brother Samson Coborlwitz[8], Adon playing dead when the Band of the Falcon come to their member's aid. Adon returns to Doldrey where he is berated by Boscogn and demoted for his failure.[2]
When Adon notices Casca and her men raiding Doldrey after the bulk of army left as part of Griffith's plan, he confronts her to have his revenge. But as Casca is no longer suffering the effects of her period, Adon finds himself backed to a corner, forcing him to resort to shoot Casca with an arrow dipped in a potent narcotic.[3] In the end, Casca flips over him and lands the death blow.[7]
Notes
- Adon's death in the manga differs only slightly from his death in the anime series. In the manga, Casca jumps overhead and slashes him horizontally across the face splitting his lips from cheek to cheek (possibly cutting into his skull as well). It's not a complete decapitation as his corpse can be seen with his head still intact, though large wounds are present on each side of his mouth. In the anime, Casca does the same movement but cuts above his nose (yet beneath the eyes) where a long red line from ear to ear bleeds before he screams and falls backward. His head is not shown after this. It is likely the cut pierced through his skull completely and the upper portion was decapitated. In the movie, Casca stabs him through the mouth with his own sword after her own breaks.
- In the Berserk film trilogy, his story is rewritten to being forced to help Casca's group infiltrate Doldrey. He is seen not wearing his shark armor.
Trivia
- Adon (אָדוֹן) means lord/master in Hebrew.
Gallery
.jpeg "Adon on horse (1997 anime).jpeg (250 KB)")
.jpeg "Adon Coborlwitz in armor (1997 anime).jpeg (59 KB)")
.jpg "Adon's helmet (1997 anime).jpg (215 KB)")
.jpg "Adon's Shark armor (1997 anime).jpg (192 KB)")
References
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 6, "Battle"
- ^ a b c d e Berserk :: Volume 7, "Battle to Capture Doldrey (1)"
- ^ a b c d e f g Berserk :: Volume 7, "Battle to Capture Doldrey (4)"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 6, "Casca (1)"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 7, "Ready to Die (1)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 7, "Ready to Die (3)"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 8, "Battle to Capture Doldrey (5)"
- ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 7, "Ready to Die (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 7, "Returning Alive"