Griffith and the Moonlight Boy vs Guts and the Beast of Darkness
This draws an interesting parallel to the Beast of Darkness dwelling inside the darkest parts of Guts’ psyche, which is is also affecting Guts’ actions and train of thoughts. The funny thing is: the Beast of Darkness residing inside of Guts consciousness as part of himself was established right before he was heading to Albion, around volume 17, where he contemplates Godo’s words about revenge.
The concept of the Beast of Darkness was then cemented further after the Hill of Swords during Guts’ Winter Journey in volume 23. So in other words, the parallel of the demon baby residing inside of Griffith and the Beast of Darkness residing inside of Guts has existed at least since volume 22. That also means Miura had this in mind much earlier, too, given he has to work towards it, foreshadowing included.
As early as volume 16, we already get to see a glimpse of the monster dwelling inside of Guts, with the spirits trying to push him into becoming a monster by sacrificing.
He of course does not like this and with the last of his strength, is lashing out to the demons taunting him. He then collapses from exhaustion, and Pucks shows up to save him.
However, Guts being faced with this danger happens to have the quite opposite effect: after Puck saves him from the spirits, Guts gets up, stubbornly insisting that he will stay the same as ever.
The presence of the Beast of Darkness only makes Guts cling to his humanity even more, especially ever since the Berserker Armor got introduced.
Now we do not know exactly whether the relationship between Griffith and the Moonlight Boy very likely dwelling inside of him is governed by the same or similar rules. But if similar rules do apply, we can attempt to make a couple assertions we can use that as a base for a theory. Here is a summary of what we found out so far:
| Host: | Guts | Griffith |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Human | Demigod inhabiting a physical body |
| “Inner entity“ | Beast of Darkness. Appears to be some kind of demon-like astral being that is also part of Guts’ consciousness at the same time | The Moonlight Boy/Demon Infant. A former human conceived out of love and corrupted by Femto. A demon-like astral being, but appears to have very human feelings and does not appear as selfish as your average Apostle. |
| Influence | – BoD only influences Guts when he is in a bad spot mentally – later: when Guts is using the Berserker Armor | – Moonlight Boy is only in full control during full moon – has an effect on conscious Griffith as well, given he saved Casca from falling boulders in volume 22 (he also may have agreed on building an orphanage in Falconia in episode 358 because Guts’ and Casca’s son inside of him is yearning for a home) |
| Around since | – hinted in volume 16 (post Rosine fight) – manifested further in volume 17 (Guts contemplating Godo’s words) | – obvious in volume 22 (Hill of Swords). – though creating the events that lead to this (Demon Infant being picked up by the Egg of the World in volume 20) required careful planning volumes before (volume ~17) |
| Aim of the “Inner Entity” | – make Guts destroy everything that is dear to him – taking over Guts’ body – turning Guts into an apostle | – receiving his parents’ love – making sure his parents are safe |
| The host’s reaction to the “inner entity” | – struggles to keep his humanity intact | – struggles to keep his almighty demonhood (???) |
Update 26th September 2019:
Given that I found evidence that Femto appears to be possessing the Moonlight Boy’s body instead when I analyzed the Rebirth Ceremony, this table should look more like this:
| Host: | Guts | Moonlight Boy |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Human | Formerly an apostle-like being, reborn as human baby during the rebirth scene |
| “Inner entity“ | Beast of Darkness. Appears to be some kind of demon-like astral being that is also part of Guts’ consciousness at the same time | Femto, Godhand member and thus a powerful spiritual entity, that changes the appearance of the Boy to Griffith as he possesses him |
| Influence | – BoD only influences Guts when he is in a bad spot mentally – later: possesses Guts when he is using the Berserker Armor | – Femto possesses the Moonlight Boy for most of the time – Moonlight Boy is only in full control of himself during full moon, even toppling Femto’s powerful possession – Moonlight Boy escapes Femto’s full control even on non-full moons, given Griffith saved Casca from falling boulders in volume 22 (he also may have agreed on building an orphanage in Falconia in episode 358 because Guts’ and Casca’s son is yearning for a home; Update: as of episode 364 this is basically confirmed) |
| Around since | – hinted in volume 16 (post Rosine fight) – manifested further in volume 17 (Guts contemplating Godo’s words) | – obvious in volume 21 (Rebirth Scene) |
| Aim of the “Inner Entity” | – make Guts destroy everything that is dear to him – taking over Guts’ body – turning Guts into an apostle | – Subjugate all remaining human forces of resistance – Acquire more land as the rest of the nations fall – Conquer and subjugate even in the astral world |
| The host’s reaction to the “inner entity” | – struggles to keep his humanity intact | – appears to try to regain control over his body (and appears to have some success doing so) |
Berserk Analysis 
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