Berserk ~The Prototype~

I don't think I really have to explain what Berserk is. Just about every anime fan out there has heard of it, if not watched/read it. Recently, I found something of a predecessor chapter of the manga called "Berserk ~The Prototype~." It was done back in 1989, when its mercurial mangaka Miura Kentarou was still just a college student, and basically laid the foundation for what became the Berserk manga we know and love. Many of the elements in the Prototype eventually made it into the manga proper: Puck the faerie, Guts' as a one-eyed/one-armed walking typhoon of death, Guts' disproportionately large sword, his crossbow, his arm-cannon, and even the symbol that would become the Brand. However, some things are different, namely Guts' personality (he's more boisterous and irreverent in the Prototype), the eyepatch he wears over his bad eye (which looks rather silly, I must say), the absence of the God Hand (in whose place there's a demon king of sorts called "Vana" that empowers the Apostles), and...

Griffith is a girl.

Man, that was funny. I mean, Griffith as we know him is plenty girlish, but in The Prototype he's a girl, period. In fact, he's the "damsel-in-distress" that Guts has to rescue not once but twice across the 30-some pages that constitute the chapter. Man, I got such a kick of hilarity out of that that I just HAD to share.