Understanding the name "Idea of Evil"

Today let's talk about a name that isn't in any of Berserk's volumes but that looms large over the series.

That name is "The Idea of Evil". In Japanese, the God of the Abyss (深淵の神, SHIN EN NO KAMI, from the episode title of ep 82 & 83) refers to itself as 魔の源形, MA NO GENKEI (not pronounced 'KAYE' but 'KEH' with a long EH sound). Furthermore, the kanji for GENKEI has furigana that indicates it should be pronounced イデア (IDEA). So it becomes "MA NO IDEA".

Now, there are some very important things to note here concerning the construction of the word GENKEI, its meaning, and the pronunciation of IDEA ("EE-DEH-AH" for English speakers).

What first needs to be said is that this word is a reference to Plato's theory of Ideas (nowadays often referred to as the "theory of forms"). To summarize it, Greek philosopher Plato asserts that the physical world in which humans reside is imperfectly derived from an imperceptible higher world filled with ideal forms of everything that exists. From those perfect archetypes come every imperfect copy that exists around us, which is why no two trees are alike: because they can't perfectly replicate the "true" tree. Same goes for everything else: stones, fish, houses, mountains...

Plato alternatively uses two words in his treatise: ἰδέα (idea) and εἶδος (eidos). Both refer to the aspect or appearance of a thing, but with nuances that aren't useful for us to go over in this case. What's important is that the meaning they are meant to convey is more that of a "concept" than a "shape" or "idea" as you'd understand it in modern English. This is why it's important to distinguish between the Greek word Miura is referring to (イデア, pronounced EE-DEH-AH) and the English word 'idea', which in Japanese would be written アイディア (AIDIA). The Greek word "イデア" specifically refers to the philosophical concept.

OK, so now that this is clear, what does the word 源形 (GENKEI), on which this furigana is applied, mean? Well, there's a second thing to note here. Miura actually constructed this word by modifying an existing one. He took 原形 (GENKEI), and swapped the kanji 原 with 源. They're both pronounced the same, and they're even pretty similar looking, but this adds an important nuance to the word. The base word, 原形, means "the original form" or the "base form" of something. A meaning that corresponds to that of ἰδέα as defined by Plato.

If we decompose the word, 原 means "original; primitive; primary; fundamental" while 形 means "shape; form; appearance". The kanji Miura swapped in, 源, means "source" or "origin", as in the source of a river or a fountainhead. So the resulting word, 源形, keeps the same fundamental meaning, but it has an added connotation that relates to water, which permeates a lot of things related to the Astral World in Berserk. You'll remember for example the Great Wave of the Astral World, but examples abound, like the original mention in volume 3 of the "ocean of souls" in which lies the vortex, down which is the Abyss, wherein resides a god.

As for 魔 (MA), we've been over it before, so you'll remember that it means "evil", but not just as in "morally wrong", rather as "demonic power".

And that is how we get "the Idea of Evil", which should be understood as meaning "the original form of evil power". It is the source of the evil power that fuels the God Hand and the apostles, and the master that orchestrates their actions.