Who Made Guts' Sword? Godot, Berserk's Blacksmith — and How a Real Smith Would Forge the Dragon Slayer
Every famous sword has a smith behind it, and in Berserk that smith is Godot: an old, half-blind blacksmith living in a mine outside Midland's capital, who forged the Dragon Slayer as an insult, kept it as a joke, and handed it to the one man who could use it. This post tells his story, lists every sword he and his apprentice Rickert put in Guts' hands, and then does something only a forge can do — explains how you would actually make the Dragon Slayer in steel. That matters because almost nobody does: of the hundreds of Dragon Slayers for sale, nearly all are cut from stainless sheet or structural plate. Everest Forge is one of a handful of forges anywhere in the world that actually forge real, functional Guts swords — hammered from spring steel on an anvil, edge-hardened and tempered, sharpened, on a riveted full tang — the way Godot is drawn doing it. A real sword, not a prop in the shape of one.
Everest Forge's Guts swords are independent hand-forged interpretations and are not official or licensed Berserk products. Berserk, Guts and the Dragon Slayer belong to Kentaro Miura, Studio Gaga and Hakusensha.
Who Is Godot in Berserk?
Godot is the blacksmith who supplies the Band of the Hawk during the Golden Age arc and, later, the Black Swordsman. He lives and works in an abandoned mine in the hills, with a young orphan girl, Erica, who calls him grandfather, and an apprentice, Rickert, the youngest survivor of the Hawks. He is old, bad-tempered, going blind, and the best smith in the story. He is also the only character who tells Guts plainly that the way he lives will kill him — and then forges him the tools to go on living that way anyway.
How Godot Came to Forge the Dragon Slayer
Years before the story, a king commissioned Godot to make a sword that could slay a dragon. Godot took the request literally. He hammered out a blade so vast, so thick and so crude that no human being could lift it, and presented it as what a dragon-killing sword would actually have to be. The king took it as mockery and exiled him. The sword went into a corner of his workshop, where it stayed for years as a joke, too heavy to move and too ugly to sell.
After the Eclipse, Guts comes to the mine with one eye and one hand. Godot forges him a new greatsword to replace the one broken at Doldrey; it snaps on the first apostle Guts fights. Guts seizes the slab in the corner instead and cuts the apostle in half with it. Erica names it — the Dragon Slayer — and from that night it never leaves him. Godot's insult to a king turned out to be the only sword in the world that fit the man who picked it up.
Every Sword Godot and Rickert Gave Guts
The Golden Age greatsword. Guts' first oversized sword — the one he brings to the Hawks and fights with through Bazuso, Zodd, the hundred-man fight and Doldrey — is never shown being made, and the story does not say Godot forged it; Guts already has it when he arrives. Godot maintains it. It is the sword replica makers call the Raider sword and, in its manga drawing, the Hundred-Man Slayer.
Godot's first replacement sword. Forged after the Eclipse to replace the Golden Age blade. A heavy greatsword that breaks on Guts' first apostle. It lasts one fight.
The Dragon Slayer. The king's sword, taken up that same night. From here on it is the only sword Guts carries. Ours is the Hand-Forged Dragon Slayer Greatsword.
The repeating crossbow, the bombs and the mechanical arm. Rickert's work rather than Godot's: the prosthetic left arm with its hidden cannon, the crossbow that mounts on it, and the throwing bombs. They are what let a one-handed man carry a sword that needs two.
The re-tempered Dragon Slayer. After Godot dies — of illness, while Guts is away during the Conviction arc — Rickert takes over the forge and the upkeep of the sword, repairing and re-tempering it as the years of killing apostles wear it down. It is the same blade, kept alive by the apprentice.
How a Real Smith Would Forge the Dragon Slayer
Godot is drawn working the way a real smith works — heat, hammer, anvil, quench — so it is fair to ask how you would actually make his sword. Very few people have. A giant slab in forged spring steel is a different job from a longsword: the stock is twice as thick, the heats are longer, the slab fights the hammer, and most workshops that sell a "Dragon Slayer" have never put one in a fire — they cut the shape from a sheet with a plasma torch and bolt a handle on. Here is how we make ours in Kathmandu, by hand, and where the drawing and the steel part company.
Start with the right steel, not the biggest piece. We forge from 5160 spring steel, the leaf-spring grade, because it absorbs shock instead of chipping and because it can be hardened at the edge. Structural plate, which some makers cut their Dragon Slayers from, cannot be hardened at all — it is a 27 kg shape, not a sword.
Draw it out, do not cut it out. A slab 174 mm wide at the base is forged to width on the anvil from thick bar, with the taper to the point set by the hammer. Forging aligns the grain along the blade; a blade cut from sheet has no grain direction and flexes like one.
Choose a thickness you can heat-treat. This is the part the drawing cannot tell you. The thicker the section, the slower it cools in the quench and the less of it hardens; past about 12 mm, 5160 will not harden through in oil, and past 25 mm it will barely harden at the edge. We hold the Dragon Slayer at around 9 mm so the edge takes a real temper and the whole sword stays under ten kilograms at 36 inches. A smith who tells you his 30 mm Dragon Slayer is hardened is telling you something impossible.
Forge the tang as one piece. A blade this heavy puts enormous bending load where it meets the grip. The tang is drawn out from the same billet, runs the full length of the handle and is riveted through the wooden scales. A welded-on or bolted-on handle is where every cheap giant sword eventually fails.
Forge the collar and cap; do not cast them. The slotted disc guard and the faceted cap are forged steel, slotted and riveted. Cast fittings crack; forged ones do not.
Normalise, harden, temper, grind. Three normalising cycles to settle the grain after forging, an oil quench to harden the edges, a temper to take the brittleness out, then hand grinding of the bevels. On a slab this size, the grinding alone takes longer than forging a whole longsword.
Then weigh it and tell the truth. We photograph every finished sword on the scale before it ships. Godot would have approved of that part at least.
How a Sword This Size Gets to You
Forging it is half the job; the other half is getting a 7 to 15 kg slab across the world in one piece. Every Guts sword leaves the forge in a wooden box built for it — a timber crate cut to the sword's length and width, with the blade and scabbard padded and braced so nothing moves — not a cardboard carton. We ship worldwide with FedEx Express, tracked, seven to ten days after the forge is done. On a standard shipment your country may charge import duties and taxes on delivery; if you would rather not deal with that, choose our DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) service and we handle the duties, import taxes and customs clearance ourselves before the parcel moves, so there is nothing to pay at the door. Import rules on large edged blades vary by country and are the buyer's responsibility to check; ask us before ordering if you are unsure about yours.
Godot's Lesson
The point of Godot's story is not that he made a great sword. It is that he made an honest one — the sword a dragon-killing commission actually called for, not the flattering one the king wanted — and was punished for it, and was right. That is a smith's point of view, and it is the one we take. We are one of the very few forges in the world that actually forge real, functional Guts swords — hardened steel with a true edge and a one-piece tang, not cut, not cast, not welded from plate — and we would rather sell you one you can lift, with a weight we will state and a thickness we will defend, than a shape that only exists to be heavier than the last one. Functional means forged and hardened like a real sword; at 7 to 15 kg it is still a display and collector's piece, and we say so.
The Swords Godot Would Recognise
The post-Eclipse slab — 174 mm wide, slotted disc collar, back harness
Approx 8.1 kg at 36 in · five blade lengths · forged to order
View Sword
Golden Age sword, anime pattern — channel, twin-plate guard, white wrap
Approx 6.5 kg at 36 in · five blade lengths · forged to order
View Sword
Guts Hundred-Man Slayer Greatsword
Golden Age sword, manga pattern — fuller, block guard, faceted pommel
Approx 8.5 kg at 36 in · five blade lengths · forged to order
View SwordAll three are forged to order in Kathmandu from 5160 spring steel on a riveted full tang, in five blade lengths. For the full story of every sword Guts carries, read Guts Sword – The Legendary Blade from Berserk, and for the numbers, How Heavy Is Guts' Sword?.
Commission Your Own Godot's Forge Piece
A Dragon Slayer at a different length or thickness, Godot's replacement sword, or any oversized blade from your own reference — send us the drawing and we will quote it individually and tell you honestly what it will weigh.
Browse the Guts Sword Collection Request Custom ForgeFrequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who made Guts' sword in Berserk?
The blacksmith Godot forged the Dragon Slayer, originally for a king who wanted a sword that could slay a dragon. Guts' earlier Golden Age greatsword is never shown being made; Godot maintained it, and his apprentice Rickert later maintained the Dragon Slayer.
Why did the king exile Godot?
Because the sword Godot made for him was so huge and crude that the king took it as an insult. Godot had made what a dragon-killing sword would really have to be; the king wanted something impressive to hold.
When does Guts get the Dragon Slayer?
Right after the Eclipse, at the end of the Golden Age arc (manga volume 14). The replacement sword Godot forges for him breaks on his first apostle, and Guts picks up the discarded slab instead.
What happened to Godot?
He died of illness during the Conviction arc, while Guts was away. Rickert took over his forge, maintained the Dragon Slayer and built Guts' mechanical arm and cannon.
Can a real blacksmith forge the Dragon Slayer?
Yes, at a thickness that can be heat-treated. Everest Forge forges it in 5160 spring steel at about 9 mm on the spine, 174 mm wide, which keeps it under ten kilograms at a 36-inch blade. Versions cut from 25 to 30 mm structural plate cannot be hardened and are shapes rather than swords.
How do you ship a Dragon Slayer, and do I pay import duties?
In a wooden crate built to the sword, by FedEx Express, tracked, seven to ten days after the forge is done. On a standard shipment your country may charge duties and taxes on delivery; choose our DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) service and we handle duties, import taxes and customs clearance for you, with nothing to pay at the door.
Does anyone actually forge the Dragon Slayer by hand?
Very few. Most Dragon Slayers for sale are cut from stainless sheet or structural plate with a handle bolted on. Everest Forge is one of a handful of forges worldwide that forge real, functional Guts swords — hammered from 5160 spring steel on the anvil, edge-hardened and tempered, sharpened, with a riveted full tang and forged fittings — and weighs each one before it ships.
Is Godot's replacement sword a different design?
It is a large plain greatsword that lasts one fight in the story and is never drawn in detail. Collectors who want it generally commission a version of the Golden Age sword; we can forge one from your reference through custom forge.
