JunJun / Sailor Juno Sailor Moon Trivia

JunJun is a member of the Amazoness Quartet from the Sailor Moon anime and manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. What interesting trivia is there about this character? What does her name mean and where did it come from?

As a member of the Amazoness Quartet, JunJun is the second youngest of the four sisters. She is the one with the green hair and the green theme. The Sailor Moon manga reveals that the Amazoness Quartet are actually Sailor Senshi, collectively known as either the Sailor Quartet or the Asteroid Senshi.

As a member of the Sailor Quartet, JunJun is known as Sailor Juno. The name "JunJun" is thus derived from the name "Juno". But where did Juno come from? Why was she called this name? The reason is that JunJun and her sisters are actually named after asteroids, hence the term "Asteroid Senshi".

JunJun is named after the asteroid known as Juno. This asteroid is one of the four major asteroids that can be found in what is known as the Asteroid Belt. But Juno isn't just the name of an asteroid or of Sailor Juno. It's also the name of a goddess.

To be more precise, Juno is the name of the Roman goddess of marriage (among other things) and the queen of the gods and goddesses. Juno's counterpart is the Greek goddess Hera.

Speaking of counterparts, Sailor Juno is actually said to be the counterpart of Sailor Jupiter, which explains why her theme is green (Sailor Jupiter also has green themes though hers is a different shade of green).

It's actually doubly appropriate that Sailor Juno and Sailor Jupiter are each other's counterparts and could be related to each other because, in Roman Mythology, Juno is actually the wife of the king of the gods called Jupiter (his Greek counterpart is the god Zeus).

JunJun is the tomboy of the group who is also very athletic, which can explain why she's an acrobat for the Dead Moon Circus and why she is known as the Magician of Acrobatic Feats.

The fact that she is an acrobat could be related to Hera in that one of the latter's symbols is that of the peacock, which can be described as showy and flashy and acrobats could be like that too.

She seems to have the tendency to help her targets reach or achieve their dreams before taking their Dream Mirrors.

This can be seen in episode 155 of Sailor Moon SuperS wherein JunJun aided Kyusuke (a friend of Chibiusa's) before taking his Dream Mirror.

This shows howshe can also be described as unpredictable and fickle because (using the aforementioned episode as a reference yet again) of how she gave no indication that she was going to take Kyusuke's Dream Mirror.

In fact, she was helping Kyusuke even before she knew that he was her target. This aspect of her character and personality could be attributed to the goddess that she was named after. The goddess Juno can also be fickle, not to mention vengeful.

And she is relentless in her pursuit of those she hates and dislikes in much the same way that JunJun gave no qualms taking Kyusuke's Dream Mirror even after taking the time to help him.

To illustrate, because Hera absolutely loathes Heracles (or Hercules. He's a demi-god and hero), she did not stop trying to torment him and cause him as much trouble as possible.

So, while JunJun can be pretty nice, you wouldn't want to incur her wrath in much the same way that you wouldn't want to incur the goddess Juno's wrath.

JunJun's loyalty and dedication to her mission can also be related to the goddess Juno. Hera has remained loyal to Zeus even though the latter has kept betraying her.

So, what do you think of Sailor Juno or JunJun? Do you like her character? Is she your favorite member of the Amazoness Quartet?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by MAC-LEOD (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Said image is meant to symbolize JunJun or Sailor Juno due to the green hair and the green theme of the woman in the pic
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Ragnarok Manhwa - Initial Thoughts Focusing On Norse Mythology

Have you heard about the graphic novel entitled Ragnarok: Into The Abyss? Have you read it? What did you think about it? Would you recommend it to others?

While still considered a graphic novel or comic, if you will, Ragnarok: Into The Abyss is actually not a Japanese Manga. Rather, it is what is known as a Manhwa, the Korean version of the Japanese Manga.

Nonetheless, manga or not, I still decided to read it anyway. What drew me to be interested in this graphic novel was its title and the fact that it is said to be loosely based on Norse Mythology.

As I am interested in Norse Mythology, I saw no reason not to start reading this manhwa. I am still in the process of reading it though, which is why the words "initial thoughts" is included in the title of this post. I also added "focusing on Norse Mythology" because I found that I have a lot more to say about this series. I've already written about some of these things like on this post or this one.

With all that out of the way, let's get to the main point of this post. Ragnarok: Into The Abyss is loosely based on Norse Mythology, but the emphasis is definitely on the word "loosely".

The stuff about mythology is what gets me to continue reading this manhwa, but it's not all about Norse Mythology because there are many things in this graphic novel that make it different from how the Norse myths and legends happened. The fact that there are other characters aside from those that appear in Norse stories is only the beginning of the differences, but this one is definitely the most prominent.

In fact, so far, I've only seen a handful of the characters that appear in Norse Mythology including Fenris Fenrir, Frigg and the Norns (the appearance of the Norns barely lasted a few pages. Frigg's appearance lasted a bit longer than that, but I thought it was still rather short). I do hope we'll get to see more of these characters as the story progresses.

The original characters are interesting enough, but there's still so much about them that hasn't been explained or revealed. The story of Ragnarok: Into The Abyss is interesting, but I found the start or its beginning to be a little rough in terms of being confusing.

I mean, I'm still reading it because of its connection and relation to Norse Mythology (though even the characters that are from Norse Mythology don't seem to be exactly at they ought to be), but the whole Ragnarok thing still hasn't really been explained as of yet or if it has, it hasn't been explained all that well.

To clarify that, let me start by saying that, in Norse Mythology, Ragnarok is the twilight of the gods or the end of the world. In the manhwa, it apparently means the same thing and part of the plot revolves around this.

There's more to it than that, but it can all be rather confusing and I intend to read more of the graphic novel before discussing this further. Moreover, with the introduction of new original characters and with many parts different from how it really is in Norse Mythology, Ragnarok: Into The Abyss hasn't yet really explained how all these differences work.

But it's certainly necessary to do so in order for readers to better understand what is going on. For instance, we find out that the character Sara Irine is a Valkyrie, which is perfectly fine, of course.

But then we also find that she is apparently a human from Midgard and I'm left wondering exactly how Valkyries are made, created, or appointed or something in this manhwa because, in Norse Mythology, nothing is said about the Valkyries being human.

In fact, the myths seem to suggest that they're like goddesses since they also live in Asgard and they have the task of bringing warriors and heroes to Valhalla, a hall located in the realm of the gods.

Anyway, I'm hoping that the manhwa will get better and the many questions that I have will get answered as I continue to read this graphic novel.

I'd also like to add some things that I've noticed with this comic, one of which is that I'm finding the fight scenes to be rather long and drawn-out.

Said scenes seem to last for several pages before ending. And a number of fight scene pages don't even contain dialogue, just explosions and action and the like. Those who like fight scenes may not mind this at all, but, for me, I prefer shorter fight scenes so we can get straight back to the plot and get the story moving again.

After all, in the fight scenes I've seen so far, it was pretty obvious who would win anyway like when Skurai pretty much decimated the entire Assassin's Guild all by himself. It would have been better if there was only a short fight scene and we get to know right away who won and who lost.

Another thing I noticed was that there are quite a number of scenery and landscape shots in the Ragnarok manhwa and even pages that don't contain any dialogue or talking at all and all of these seem to have been drawn for the sole purpose of merely showing these things.

Maybe some people won't mind this at all, but, for me, I find that pages with no dialogue and with nothing to see but landscapes and more landscapes stops the story in its tracks and don't really seem to have any purpose at all.

In other words, I wonder about the necessity of adding these pages?

Well, it looks like this post focused on some other things too aside from Norse Mythology, but it mostly focused on Norse Mythology so the title should still count.

Anyway, what about you? What were your initial thoughts on Ragnarok: Into The Abyss? If you haven't read it yet, are you planning to read it? Does it sound interesting enough to you?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Said image was chosen because of its magic and fantasy aspects and how the figure could pass off as a character from Ragnarok
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Valhalla, Hall Of The Fallen Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game Trivia

Valhalla, Hall Of The Fallen is one of the many cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game. But just what is so interesting about this card? What does it mean and what could it be referencing?

For a card with such a long name, the text content on it is pretty sparce, consisting of only one sentence that barely takes 2 lines.

Valhalla, Hall Of The Fallen is a useful Spell Card, particularly for those that have Fairy-Type monsters in their deck or those that make use of a Fairy deck.

But where did the name of this card come from anyway? What does Valhalla mean? Valhalla is actually from Norse Mytholog, and, just like the Yu-Gi-Oh! card named after it, it isn't the name of a person, but the name of a place.

To be more precise, Valhalla is the name of a hall in Norse Mythology and it means "hall of the slain," which explains why the Yu-Gi-Oh! card in question has such a long but appropriate name. In Norse Mythology, Valhalla is located in Asgard, which is the realm of the Norse gods and goddesses.

The king of the gods, Odin, is the one who presides or rules over this hall. With the fact that Valhalla is located in the realm of the gods themselves and with how it is said to be grand, great and majestic, it's no wonder that the the illustration of the image on the Yu-Gi-Oh! card appears to reflect this.

So, what is the reason why Valhalla would be termed as the hall of the slain or the hall of the fallen? This is because the inhabitants of Valhalla are actually all warriors and heroes. But, while these are all people who died due to fighting or during combat, that is not the only criteria in order for one to get to Valhalla.

What is actually important is how strong and powerful these people are especially in terms of their fighting prowess and capabilities. Women known as the Valkyries from Asgard are the ones that have been tasked to select the best warriors and heroes, and, upon the death of these people, the Valkyries themselves will lead them to Valhalla.

This can explain why the effect of this Yu-Gi-Oh! card enables you to Special Summon a monster.

Special Summoning gives you the opportunity to get monsters with high attack and high level on the field without having to sacrifice other monsters in order to do so.

By taking advantage of Valhalla, Hall Of The Fallen's effect, you can summon powerful monsters to help you defeat your opponent in much the same way that the beings in Norse Mythology's Valhalla are also all powerful and strong.

But what is Valhalla (the one in Norse Mythology) for anyway? Why are heroes and warriors being brought there? The reason is that these people will fight and die (yet again) when Ragnarok, the end of the world or the twilight of the gods, comes.

However, until the end arrives, they are free to just lounge around and have fun. Of course, it is necessary to keep in shape in order to be prepared for Ragnarok.

This is why all the warriors and heroes in Valhalla engage in combat each and every single day.

They fight with each other without a care for how many injuries they sustain or how bad their wounds might be because, at the end of the day, any and all wounds are healed and they are once again ready to fight all over again the very next day.

This can explain the limitation in Valhalla, Hall Of The Fallen, which only allows you to Special Summon a monster (and not just any monster but a Fairy-Type one) if you control no other monsters and only once per turn.

What do you think of this Yu-Gi-Oh! card? Do you use Valhalla, Hall Of The Fallen in one or some of your decks?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Eccentric Scholar (CC:BY) from flickr
- Said image is meant to symbolize Valhalla
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

How To Decorate Your Bedroom Card Captor Sakura Style?

How can you decorate your bed room in order to show just how much you are a fan of Card Captor Sakura?

What are the different ways in which you can go about decorating your room Card Captor Sakura style?

The Cardcaptor Sakura or Card Captor Sakura (CCS) anime and manga by CLAMP is an interesting series with a superb storyline and wonderful characters that it is no wonder that there are many who are fans of said series.

Fans who want their rooms to look like shrines to said anime and manga series or at least to have a touch of CCS to it would be pleased to know that there are actually a lot of posters and wallpapers which one can acquire and use to decorate their room.

But is that really all there is to it? Do you just go and get some of these wallpapers and posters and plaster them all over your room and be done with it? Well, some might be satisfied with doing just that, but there may be others who would want a bit more organization as well as a semblance of order in the way they're decorating their bedroom.

After all, there are a lot of CCS wallpapers and posters to choose from. As such, it might be for the best to categorize these items and decide upon a particular theme that you want your room to have.

Of course, the central theme is no doubt going to be Card Captor Sakura, but did you know that you can break this down further into other categories?

The series does feature a lot of characters and even themes, so you can make use of one of these in order to design and decorate your room. So, what are some of these themes and categories that you can make use of in order to properly and adequately decorate your room Card Captor Sakura style?

Individual Characters

Who is your favorite CCS character? You can choose to have your room decorated with posters or wallpapers of just this one character.

For instance, if your favorite character is Sakura Kinomoto, then you can get one featuring her just like the one that you can see to the right, which features Sakura in one of her costumes and she is even holding her staff.

You could get other posters of Sakura in different outfits and poses to add as decorations to your room. Of course, there's no need to be limited to just Sakura. You could go with other characters that you like especially if Sakura isn't even your favorite CCS character. Perhaps you prefer Tomoyo Daidouji or Toya Kinomoto or some other character.

Magic Themes

Don't you think that the concepts or themes of magic in CCS are really very interesting?

The Clow Cards and their power can be especially fascinating and they are all certainly very magical.

If you want your room to appear magical and you wish to feel like you're experiencing the coolness and awesomeness of magic every time you enter your room, then you can decorate your room with a CCS magic theme. You could get wallpapers featuring Sakura's Clow Cards or Sakura Cards like The Big Clow Card, which is featured to the left.

Of course, you don't have to limit yourself to the Clow Cards or Sakura Cards. You could also get posters of the Guardians of the Clow Cards, Keroberos and Yue, in their true forms. You might even decide to get Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon as well.

Friendship Themes

Do you have lots of friends? Do you have a best friend?

Those who hold friendship and friends in such high regard might be interested in decorating and designing their room with a theme of friendship, CCS style, of course.

After all, the series has a lot of friendship themes, particularly in the form of Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji being the best of friends.

We even have Toya and Yukito Tsukishiro as best friends. Sakura herself has many more friends aside from Tomoyo though she is closest to the latter. Be reminded of all of your own friends as you look at the walls of your bed room featuring characters from CCS that are friends or best friends.

Love Themes

There are also love themes in CCS such as by way of Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li.

If you'd like a romantic feel to your room, then you can decorate it by having art prints featuring just the couple such as in the case of the item you can see to the left.

Perhaps you can even get wallpapers depicting some of the scenes in CCS that feature Sakura and Syaoran together especially the ones where the two were starting to get closer to each other. Maybe you can even get ones that show Sakura and Syaoran in their respective outfits as they battle against a Clow Card and attempt to capture it.

Family Themes

Themes relating to family also abound in CCS as, even though Sakura's mother is already dead, Nadeshiko is still very much a part of the storyline such as by way of her appearing in flashbacks or being talked about by her family.

Besides, Sakura is very much loved and cared for by her remaining family members in the form of her father Fujitaka and her older brother Toya.

Toya may tease her a lot of the time, but it's easy to see and be able to tell that he truly cares about his little sister especially in how he always endeavors to protect her.

For those wanting a room decorated with a family theme, you surely can't go wrong by choosing to get posters of the Kinomoto family just like the one you can see above.

You may even decide to get wallpapers that feature Tomoyo and her mother Sonomi or perhaps even ones that feature Clow Reed or Eriol Hiragizawa and his two guardians since they could be considered family as well.

Conclusion

These are just some of the many different themes that you can make use of in order to decorate and design your room CCS style.

Remember that you don't have to limit yourself to merely wallpapers and posters.

If you search around, you're sure to find other possible items which you can use to decorate your bed room such as pillow cases with a CCS design.

Whatever theme or design your room will end up having is entirely up to you. You can express your individuality and your interests and even your own unique style in the way that you choose to decorate your bedroom.

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the images by Daidaros (CC:BY-SA) from flickr, animaster (CC:BY) from flickr, and NAVeX-Sniper (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

VesVes / Sailor Vesta Sailor Moon Trivia

Do you know who VesVes really is? What is her true identity? What does her name mean and where did it come from? And just what is so interesting about her and her name anyway?

VesVes is a character from the Sailor Moon anime and manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. She is a member of the Amazoness Quartet and is the youngest of the four sisters. She is the one with the red hair and the red-themed outfit.

In the Sailor Moon manga, we find out that the Amazoness Quartet are really the Sailor Quartet or the Asteroid Senshi who are actually Sailor Senshi just like Sailor Moon and her friends. As a member of the Sailor Quartet, VesVes is known as Sailor Vesta. The name "VesVes" is derived from the name "Vesta".

Sailor Vesta is supposed to be the counterpart of or is supposed to correspond with Sailor Mars, which explains why both have red themes though in different shades. The red theme is actually very appropriate for VesVes and it's more than just because of her association with Sailor Mars.

But before we discuss that, let's first look into where the name "Vesta" came from. Sailor Vesta was said to have been named after an asteroid called Vesta. The Vesta asteroid is one of the major asteroids in the Asteroid Belt.

Upon the discovery of Vesta (the asteroid, not VesVes), it was thought to be a planet and was initially classified as one before it was instead deemed to be an asteroid.

Aside from being the name of an asteroid (and VesVes, of course), did you know that Vesta is also the name of a goddess?

Vesta is the name of the Roman goddess of the hearth (among some other things like home and family) and the Greek goddess Hestia is her counterpart. Since the hearth is the floor of a fireplace, it makes sense why VesVes is red-themed and why she is the counterpart of Sailor Mars who is also associated with the color red.

With the hearth and the color red, Sailor Vesta can also be associated with fire, which can be said to be aggressive and fierce, which fits with the personality of VesVes.

In fact, in the Dead Moon Circus, VesVes in known as the Magician of Beasts because she is the animal tamer and she even wields a whip as a weapon, which is rather apt for her aggressive nature.

Being an animal tamer could also be associated with the goddess Vesta because, as the goddess of the hearth, Hestia was tasked to take care of the fires of the hearth on Mount Olympus (where the gods and goddesses resided).

She did this by making use of the animal sacrifices that the people offered to the gods.

It is interesting to note that there are actually not that many stories or myths regarding the goddess Vesta in mythology. One of the stories about her is regarding her birth, her parentage and her siblings.

In Greek Mythology, Hestia was said to be the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. She was the sister of the goddesses Hera and Demeter and the gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.

According to legend, when Cronus' children were born, he proceeded to swallow all of them except for Zeus, the youngest (thanks to his mother tricking his father).

Eventually, when Zeus grows up, he defeats Cronus and gets him to bring back his siblings.

Hestia was said to have been the first one that Cronus swallowed, which would indicate that she was the eldest child. However, she was also said to be the last one to be thrown up when Zeus made Cronus bring back his siblings.

This thus seemed to indicate that Hestia was the youngest child. If we went with that, it would fit with how VesVes is the youngest member of the Sailor Quartet.

So, what do you think of VesVes or Sailor Vesta? Is she your favorite member of the Amazoness Quartet? Do you think her name suits her?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by Greenwaves31 (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Said image is meant to symbolize Sailor Vesta since the figure has red hair and is red-themed, just like VesVes
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Amazoness Quartet Sailor Moon Trivia

The Amazoness Quartet are four of the villains that appear in the Sailor Moon anime and manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. Considering they aren't exactly the main characters of the show, what could be so interesting about them? And what fascinating trivia is there regarding these girls?

While there are four ladies that make up the Amazoness Quartet, this particular post will only be discussing said quartet collectively or as a whole. This is because each of the girls are interesting enough in their own right that they have their own trivia page, which you can find in the following posts: CereCere, VesVes, PallaPalla, and JunJun.

The word "quartet" refers to a group of four people (though it also has meanings related to music), which is exactly the number of the sisters (yes, the Amazoness Quartet are said to be sisters), so that's where that part of their group name came from.

The "Amazoness" in the quartet's group name is a bit trickier, but that's partly because the Sailor Moon anime and manga differ in a number of things concerning said quartet. In the Sailor Moon anime, the 4 sisters were playing in the Amazon jungle or forest and this was where they discovered the mirror where Queen Nehelenia was.

Thus, the "Amazoness" in their name could be in reference to where they came from. However, there is also another thing that can be associated with the Amazoness Quartet and this would be the Amazons from Greek Mythology.

The Greek Amazons are a race or group made up only of women. These women are all warriors, and, as you can expect, they are all strong and powerful.

This is just like the Amazoness Quartet who may be young but are certainly not ones that should be trifled with.

The quartet can hold their own in a fight what with their abilities like being able to summon lemures or making use of their Amazon stones.

In Greek Mythology, the Amazons appear in a number of myths and stories. One of these is regarding one of the famous 12 Labors of Hercules or Heracles (he's a hero and demigod from Greek and Roman Mythology).

The labor in question is for Heracles to obtain the golden belt of the Amazon queen named Hippolyte. As the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyte could be associated with the eldest sister in the Amazoness Quartet since both of these ladies are the leaders of their respective groups.

Anyway, Hippolyte actually agrees to give her belt to Heracles so he could fulfill his labor and all would have been well had it not been for the interference of the Greek goddess Hera, the queen of the gods who really (that's pretty much an understatement, by the way) hates Hercules.

Hera causes trouble by spreading rumors amongst the rest of the Amazons that Heracles is planning to carry off their queen. Of course, the Amazons weren't just going to stand by and let that happen, so they all donned their armor and prepared to fight Hercules.

A battle ensues, and, in the end, the Amazons lose and Heracles manages to get the golden belt that he came for. It was even said that Hippolyte had been killed alongside many other Amazons.

This could be likened to the Amazoness Quartet though none of the sisters died in any of the fights that they participated in.

The fact remains, however, that the quartet were the antagonists or the villains in the show and thus, it was pretty much expected that they would end up losing to Sailor Moon and the rest of the protagonists, no matter how good the four girls may be.

Now, even though the Amazoness Quartet were initially only known as villains and followers of Queen Nehelenia, they ended up being redeemed in the Sailor Moon anime although that's pretty much all that we get.

However, in the Sailor Moon manga, we get considerably more than that regarding the quartet as we find out that they shouldn't have been the antagonists in the first place. This is because the four sisters are actually Sailor Senshi.

Just like how Sailor Moon has 4 Inner or Guardian Senshi to protect her (these are Sailors Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury), Sailor Chibi Moon will also have her own 4 bodyguards in the future and these are the four members of the Amazoness Quartet.

As Sailor Senshi, the four sisters are collectively known as the Sailor Quartet though they are sometimes referred to as the Asteroid Senshi. The reason for this is because the four girls that make up the quartet have actually been named after four asteroids.

So, what do you think of the Amazoness Quartet? They are an interesting bunch, aren't they? Don't you think it would have been nice if the Sailor Quartet could have made an appearance in the Sailor Moon anime too instead of being just limited to the manga?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by dolldivine (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Said image was chosen to represent or symbolize the Amazoness Quartet since there are exactly four figures in the photo and they are all different
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Berserker Fate/Stay Night Anime Trivia

Berserker is one of the characters from the anime Fate/Stay Night and this trivia post is all about him.

He is the Servant of Illyasviel von Einzbern and is of the Berserker-class. Do you know who he really is or what his true identity is?

Berserker may not win a bishounen (pretty boy) award anytime soon due to his looks, but, when it comes to strength and power, he is definitely one of the very top contenders.

He is highly powerful and strong, which isn't surprising in the least if you know his true identity.

His real identity is that of Heracles. Those who know about or are interested in Greek Mythology will have no problems recognizing the name. In Roman Mythology, he is known as Hercules and this might be the more recognizable name considering the well-known Disney movie with the same title.

In Greek Mythology, Heracles is the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, making him a demigod. He is a very well-known hero, having a lot of adventures and interactions with a whole lot of people, which might seem strange to be comparing him to Berserker from Fate / Stay Night who isn't exactly sane.

Okay, scratch that. Berserker is definitely insane thanks to the class skill known as Mad Enhancement. This particular skill enhances all of Berserker's attributes, which is part of why he is so powerful and strong.

The cost of doing this though is his sanity. This explains why he hardly says anything during the anime and he has the appearance of being crazy and mad, not just in looks, but even in his actions.

Berserker's insanity due to Mad Enhancement can actually be related to Heracles in Greek Mythology. Before being able to adequately explain that though, it is necessary to note that Heracles' very existence was hated by the goddess Hera (from Greek Mythology. Her Roman counterpart is Juno).

She is the wife of Zeus (his Roman counterpart is Jupiter), and, thus, the queen of the gods and goddesses.

To say that she wasn't exactly pleased with the birth of Heracles would be an understatement as she really tried to give him a hard time and make his life miserable practically even before he was born.

Of course, just as to be expected, she didn't stop tormenting him even after he'd been born. If anything, it seemed that Hera was even more determined to make Heracles' life as worse as possible.

As Heracles grew older, he soon married this woman named Megara and they had some children. However, he was unfortunately not able to get a happily ever after as, thanks to Hera who drove him mad or induced him with insanity, he ended up killing his own wife and children due to this bout of madness.

Now it makes more sense that Mad Enhancement is one of Berserker's skills.

Since Heracles is also known to have a lot of strength as well as being extremely powerful, the huge appearance of Berserker also makes sense including the fact that he is vastly powerful with or without a weapon.

He can easily defeat anyone or hold his own in a fight even with just his bare hands. Speaking of power, Berserker's Noble Phantasm is truly exceptional indeed and can also be related to his identity as Heracles. His Noble Phantasm is known as God Hand: Twelve Labors, which is no doubt in reference to The Twelve Labors of Heracles.

The Twelve Labors brings us back to Mad Enhancement because the reason Heracles even had these labors in the first place was because of how he killed Megara and their children due to his bout of insanity.

Heracles managed to accomplish all of these labors, showcasing even more of his strength and power, considering all of the feats and things that he did such as killing the Hydra and the Nemean Lion.

So how does this relate to Berserker's Noble Phantasm? Well, actually, it doesn't, at least, not directly.

To be more precise, God Hand: Twelve Labors gives Berserker 11 extra lives, meaning he has a total of 12 lives. This means that he has to be killed 12 times before he can truly be defeated.

If he is killed once, he still has 11 lives so he can be resurrected, so to speak. The 12 lives are obviously in reference to the Twelve Labors of Hercules. But, it can be said that it is much more than that because it was said that, after Heracles had finished the 12 labors, he was granted immortality by the gods.

And, indeed, after Heracles died (though it wasn't actually right after he finished with the 12 labors), he was brought up to Mount Olympus where the gods and goddesses resided and he then married the goddess Hebe.

Of course, there's more to his story than that and it's all quite interesting. So what do you think of Berserker and of Heracles from Greek Mythology? Aren't they both such fascinating characters?

It's also really interesting how Berserker's Noble Phantasm, his appearance and pretty much everything about him could be related and compared to the Greek hero Heracles. What do you think?

*Notes:
- Berserker appears in other Fate media. However, this particular post merely focuses on the Fate / Stay Night anime
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Fadly Romdhani (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Said image was chosen because of how the figure could pass off as Berserker what with looking huge, powerful and even scary
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget