“While I tried to avoid confronting my pain, I became cold-hearted.” Griffith, Vol. 13 Ch. 3

He realized that in order to preserve his own sanity he must keep an emotional distance with his soldiers. He could not let himself feel guilty for their deaths. After all, he was not responsible for lives given freely to his cause. It could be said that Griffith cared by not caring. A leader distracted by sentimental anxiety would cost more lives than one guided by a clear vision to victory. Griffith’s single-minded pursuit of his dream was the reason why so many followed him. They looked up to him and piled upon him impossible expectations that he was under constant pressure to meet. The only way to do that was to keep on winning. The only way to keep on winning was to stay detached.

“The realization of my dream depends on the corpses of my men. It is a dream soaked in blood.” Griffith, Vol. 7 Ch. 1

Facing death on the battlefield is the definition of war. There is no way around this. The only difference between Griffith and the other Commanders was that those who fought for Griffith did so eagerly and of their own free will. In return, he gave them a life more glorious than they could ever have imagined. They went from the dusty streets to the glamour of the palace! They were greeted by cheering crowds and danced at royal parties. And what could he do for the dead? The only thing he could do to justify their sacrifice was to keep on reaching for his dream as hard as he could, by any means necessary, so that they would not have died in vain.

“I will continue winning for them even if it means sacrificing myself for my dream.” Griffith, Vol. 7 Ch. 1

Griffith actively worked to suppress his emotions in favor of cold logic. Though it was possible to raise money for supplies through raids, those cost precious lives. Griffith found a less risky way to raise funds by selling his body to an old perverted Baron for one night. This was a very rational thing to do in theory, and it certainly helped acquire money, but it wreaked havoc on his mind. He denied that it had any effect on him, and insisted it was just a mutually beneficial business agreement, but the image of Griffith obsessively trying to wash himself clean the next morning before clawing his arms to blood is worth a thousand words. He never went back to that Baron for easy war funds again.

“Just when you think he understands everything, he suddenly looks like a kid. Just when you get a chilly glare from him, he laughs like a child.” Judeau, Vol. 5 Ch. 2

Griffith rose to power at a very young age and had a lot resting on his shoulders. It was hard for him to balance the expectations of his troops with the mounting death toll of his army, and stuffing his feelings deeper into his subconscious didn’t come without a price. While his intellect soared, his emotional growth was stunted. He simply never had the chance to properly socialize and develop it past the ego of a child! This gave way to a kind of split personality that swung between innocent charm and absolute creepiness. Woe to those who misconstrued Griffith’s friendly conversation as a weakness, for he could then dislocate their shoulder without batting an eye.

“A friend would not just follow another’s dream. A friend would find his own reason to live. And if someone were to destroy his dream, he would fight back, even if that someone were me. A friend, in my mind, is someone that is my equal.” Griffith, Vol. 6 Ch. 6

Another transformation in Griffith’s thoughts was more subtle, but much more profound. He could no longer afford to see his soldiers as “friends” in the true sense of the word. The way he figured, the world was driven by the extraordinary wills of special people. Special people like him, who thought for themselves, fought for themselves, and worked to establish their own identity. These were the only people that mattered, and everyone else were willing pawns in the games played by these great beings. Yes, to a force such as Griffith, this whole undertaking was a game and the entire world his playground.