[split]Berserker Fitz (spoilers all Hobb books)

[Farseer]

It's true that it is more the 'berserker' aspect that here relates to Fitz, and why I chose the option, but, still, the specs belonging to you beings are all fogged up. The motto says 'Berserker by birth' not 'born to go berserk'. While they *could* mean the same thing, there is a difference. By his birth and his bloodlines, Fitz was predisposed to intense sensitivity and therefore an emotional state/connectivity during combat which would lead to his going berserker. This did not necessarily mean that he would go off the deep end or 'go berserk' outside of combat (such as how we currently use the term), or that he would fly into a berserker state every time he went into combat. He was born not to go berserk but to bring about change, take time out of its rut and bring balance to the realm once more, aided by his heightened sensitivity and emotion (of which going berserker in combat is a side effect).

As for one side of the subject's family...well...it's interesting that we are quite in the dark about one side of The Family of Fitz. Who is to say that they have not been known to go into a berserker state during combat? Or even those of the Farseer line? Not all ancestors need to have gone into a berserker state for him to have inherited the trait. The stumpy-tailed puppy illustration from Fool's Fate highlights this well. The Skill is stronger in some more than others, and likely so would be the predisposition to go into a berserker state during combat. Even so, I don't believe that labelling Fitz with a motto 'Berserker by birth' has to assume that his ancestors did ever go into a berserker state...just that his bloodlines have made him who he is. Just as the different selves of Paragon, who also slipped into a berserker state during the final confrontation in Ship of Destiny, have made him uniquely who he is.

It could also be further argued that it is Fitz who founded the House Farseer so, though his bloodlines have combined to make him who he is, it is likely he who is the founding berserker of his family, just as he is the true founding Farseer. Fool had lamented that the Farseers of the past had not seen far but Fitz would prove to be worthy of that name and it is by virtue of Fitz proving true to that name that all others of his line, past, present and future, would be known by it.

As it is, Fitz is not typical. Nup, not in any way is he typical and even Fool said something akin to this at some point. Neither does Fitz fit the typical berserker state. He does not get caught up in the emotional hunger and heat of battle for the sake of the battle itself, as many in a berserker state would do, but he gets caught up in the emotions that come with his bloodlines and his role. There have been many Catalysts and even many White Prophets but, as far as we know, only one Changer...and Changer is most atypical. Typical interpretations, or even traditions, therefore just do not fit Fitz.