“This is so not you. Don’t make it so complicated. Just order me like you usually do.” Guts, Vol. 6 Ch. 4

This was Guts’ response to Griffith pulling him aside and actually giving him an option on whether or not to participate in an assassination plot that he was apparently concerned might infringe on Guts’ morals. “Can you help me?” he asked. A most unusual choice of words for Griffith, both in terms of effectively admitting he needs help and in leaving the decision up to an underling. It was almost as if he was asking for Guts opinion, or even approval. Griffith hadn’t told anyone else about this mission, yet took the time to explain the reasoning for the assassination to Guts. If he meant for it to stay top secret, wouldn’t he keep those reasons classified, no questions asked?

“Do you think it’s terrible? These filthy methods, and not even dirtying my hands. You did all the dirty work. Do you think I’m a terrible person?” Griffith, Vol. 8 Ch. 6

This is a more blatant example of Griffith asking for Guts’ opinion/approval. It involved an elaborate plan kept secret from the rest of the Hawks, in which Griffith played along with an assassination plot and faked his own death in order to catch those who conspired against him off-guard. He forced one of the conspirators to turn on his colleagues by kidnapping his daughter, and set fire to the rest of them while they were all gathered in one room. He returned the daughter unharmed, but had Guts kill both the agent sent to poison him and the kidnappers who he himself hired. However, he let both the daughter and her father live, which was unusual for Griffith, who likes to keep a clean slate against blackmail.

“It’s not that I don’t trust them. The Band of the Hawk has been through so much with me. I don’t want them to know the bad things about me. I want to leave them with only good feelings.” Griffith, Vol. 8 Ch. 8

Was this statement a case of genuine concern? Or a ploy to preserve his image among the Hawks? A bit of both, I’d say. Though he trusted the Hawks fully in battle, he did not trust them with the depths of his soul. He trusted Guts on a different level and treated him differently. He felt safe leaving himself completely vulnerable with Guts. He let him see his darker side, and exposed his secrets, believing that Guts would understand and accept him for who he was. Guts’ feelings, opinions, and input were very important to Griffith. Did this mean he already saw him as an equal?

“Every man, within his lifetime, should at least hope for a life he can sacrifice to the god of dreams. The life that seeks just to live another day... Is unacceptable!” Griffith, Vol. 6 Ch. 6

Griffith valued ideas more than people, and his most sacred principle was that life had no purpose without a dream to guide it. So powerful was his dream that it overcame obstacles insurmountable for lesser wills and drove him forward. It was his greatest form of self-expression. It was also something that Guts sorely lacked, which is why Griffith’s speech about dreams and friendship made such a huge impact on Guts.